Busy Fingers.

Just after Christmas, I received a parcel from Bumble Bee cottage in Guernsey. Gillian had struggled to get willing participants for her Pay It Forward gifts, so she asked if I would be a willing recipient. She sent me a box of gorgeous Guernsey toffee's and some sweet Christmas cards that I shall be sending to special people next year. Thank you Gillian - I had forgotten that I had volunteered and it came as a lovely surprise!. I wont be asking for volunteers to carry the PIF on again, as I have done this already, but I will be sending gifts to 3 unsuspecting people - but if you receive one, you are not expected to continue the PIF. I have already sent a parcel to Michela - you can read all about this here (as I didn't photograph it before I sent it!!)

I have been busy knitting a neck warmer (appropriately!!). I loved the colour of this wool. It reminds me of the colour of the sea at Porthcurno in Cornwall. One of my bloggy friends will find this landing on her doormat hopefully this week. I'm not going to say who as it will spoil the surprise. I have one more gift to make and send now.

Ive also been busy crocheting a push chair blanket. I see some lovely colour combinations for crochet on your blogs, but I seem to be stuck in a nautical colour themed rut. I need to be more experimental.

My conservatory floral display is keeping a smile on my face. I planted the paperwhites early November. They grew this tall in about 3 weeks which was encouraging, but they seem to have stopped growing altogether now! Can't wait for the Hyacinths to bloom.

Ive discovered another hazard to walking home in the snow. I walked on the edge of a small town last night as it was dark and I thought it would be safer (although longer) I had to walk on the pavement as it was fairly busy with traffic. I looked up to see the most dangerous looking icicles hanging from the guttering of the houses! Scarey!

As cold as Bastogne

My hubby loves anything to do with World War 2, and one of his favorite programs is the excellent "Band of Brothers". My title refers to the episode in which "Easy Company" are in Bastogne in Belgium mid battle, in foxholes in the forest in freezing cold temperatures with little or no medical supplies and totally inadequate clothing. At the end of the episode, one of the American soldiers who actually fought in the battle explains that whenever it is really really cold, he says to his wife that it is " As cold as Bastogne". It is one of the most tense pieces of television that I have ever seen. This morning, in South Yorkshire, it was as cold as Bastogne.

My New Years Resolution for 2010 (as every year) is to lose 2 stone, except this year, I really am setting goals in order to achieve this. One thing I plan on doing, is walking home from work (about a 2 hour walk - it takes 15 mins in the car!!) as often as possible. In order to do this, I have to get a lift there in the morning (but I think in Summer, I may walk both ways.). The main problem is that all the routes are either on a very busy dual carriageway (with no pavement - suicide!!) or through very lonely lanes and woods - so I have to do this when hubby can walk to meet me (it only takes him 1 hour 5 mins - he has very long legs and mine are very short).
On Monday, before the huge snowfall, we did the walk. Come along with me.

As you can see it was a great afternoon. One walk takes me past this church.


With its lovely Lych Gate. The Church is in a very remote spot. I suppose it wasn't always so. Several of my very ancient relatives are buried here (according to my mother) but they have no headstones as they were a very poor bunch. I'll have to get to have a look at the records one day.

As we neared home, the sky was a very striking shade of pink.

I thought this photo of the lane that we walked down illustrates how deceptive blogland can be. Who wouldn't want to live in this gorgeous little cottage with its smoking chimney and delightful garden? Well me, I wouldn't live here if you paid me. Why? I couldn't get a decent picture to illustrate this, but the M1 runs straight through its back garden! About 50 yards from the house. Whilst it may look idyllic, the noise is incredible.

One thing I am making the most of, is my precious slow cooker. On Monday, I left a piece of rolled Brisket cooking away all day. Today it was Chilli. Great for me, as I am at work slaving over a hot computer all day, but torturous for anyone left in the house with the delicious smells wafting around.

I did also walk home yesterday - a different way, but no photos as I was concentrating on staying upright - the snow was up to my knees!! I am really enjoying not using the car.

Revealed at last!!!

I can finally reveal my PIF gifts as all the recipients have now received them.

Firstly, for BumbleBeeCottage I made a tote bag and lavender bag in a Christmas fabric as she has a bit of a thing for Christmas (if you pay her a visit, she appears to have her tree up already!!). I also added a button "B" and some snowball buttons to her bag. I also made her 3 Scottie dogs for her tree and a denim corsage with buttons in the centre.



For A Bun Can Dance I chose a yellowish theme as she also has another blog called I choose Yellow. I love the American "Jail house rock" panels so popped one of these on the pocket panel of her tote bag. I also sent her a daisy corsage and a grey felted one and a bag of yellow buttons.

For Andamento I embellished her tote pocket with white buttons and a few beads. I knitted her a neck warmer for her bike rides (you don't want a flappy scarf for such activities) and also made her a lavender bag and a denim corsage.

I have to say that even though I was short of time, I really enjoyed making something for each of these lovely ladies.

I have a new car - do you like it?

Yes - you've guessed it, I am only joking. I missed out on a trip to London on Saturday. I had organised a "Dad & Lad" excursion for the men to go to the MPH show featuring Top Gear Live at Earls Court. I was going to tag along for a lift and had planned to visit Borough Market (for starters!! ) but something cropped up and I had to stay at home. The car above is a Bugatti Veron and is worth approximately 1.8 million and is owned by an Arab Sheik who says he is prepared to sell it. Judging by the number plate, I think he is pitching this at Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton!! Anyway, the boys had a great day out.

I used up the last of my birthday money in Waterstones last night. I love the Cool Camping books and have stayed at quite a few featured sites. Great browsing for a very rainy and blustery evening.

Batten down the hatches in St Ives Noelle!!

Elsecar

The next village on from Wentworth, is the old mining village of Elsecar. All the mines around this area were owned by the Fitzwilliams of Wentworth. Elsecar is quite rundown in parts, but a lot remains of it's historical and industrial past, and it's worth a visit if you live close by. Elsecar Heritage Centre is housed in the old pit yard. Fortunately, many of the older buildings here have been well preserved, but have changed their purpose many times over the last few years. The building below used to house the Earls private railway station, and photographs used to be exhibited showing various Kings and Queens of England arriving at the station - such was the importance of the Fitzwilliam family. It was a science museum at one time, and now it houses a kids indoor play area, but the fabric of the building is still the same as it was when it was first built.
The yard houses a fantastic antiques centre and bottle museum. Its more expensive than a car boot sale, but still not too pricey and they have some wonderful items. They also hold auctions here too. It also has various craft shops - some good, some not so good, but the card making supplies shop is huge and worth a visit.
It is also home to a steam railway that runs most weekends - they sometimes have celebrity visits from Thomas the Tank engine!! They have an enormous old engine shed that has been refurbished that hosts events such as plays and exhibitions. It was the "Mind, Body & Soul" weekend today. I peeped through the window and it looked fantastic!! People were having Reflexology etc (heaven!!) It also has a couple of decent tea rooms.

Further along the railway line is the Newcommen Beam Engine - apparently the only one left in the UK that is still working in the same location as it was built in.

We walked along the Dearne and Dove Canal. This is the canal basin. It was fed originally by the large reservoir in Elsecar. At one time, the "Res" had a beach of sorts and Elsecar became known as "Elecar by the Sea" as local families headed here to enjoy the fine weather. The canal used to send Coal from the mines far and wide, but these days it is totally unusable for boats.

It is however host to an abundance of wildlife. Whilst on the walk, we saw an enormous caterpillar, a heron, a kingfisher and if you double click the photo below, you may be able to spot (in the middle) one of the biggest dragon flies I have ever seen. Let me know if you can see it.

A lot of the houses that the Fitzwilliam's built for the miners still stand. This is locally known as "The Bun & Milk Club". It now is private apartments, but I think they used to dispense food to poorer families from here.

This row of pretty miners cottages is called "Reform Row" They are very small and the doorways are tiny.

The old flour mill on the side of the canal is now home to a stain glass manufacturer.

If you do visit Elsecar, make sure it is on a weekend, as nothing much is open any other time, and it makes a great place to visit in conjunction with Wentworth up the road.

I haven't done much crafting over the summer - preferring to be out and about when the weather allows, but I purchased some very nautically coloured wool in the John Lewis sale earlier in the year, and occasionally I have picked up the knitting.

Hope you are making the most of the Bank Holiday weekend in the UK. We had a major lie in this morning with bacon butties for breakfast/brunch (hence the "local" walk!!) but are planning a longer walk tomorrow if the weather holds. xxx

Blue and White Theme

We seemed to have a blue and white theme running through last weekend. Firstly the sky was my favorite shade of sky blue, with the odd fluffy white cloud. A perfect back drop for my favorite white roses.

I call this shot "Sole Survivor". I was supposed to have a swathe of Delphiniums in my garden, but the ****** slugs won out despite the vigilante tactics employed by the hubby!!!

My favorite light cotton spotty jammies attempting to keep me cool . I am officially "hot in bed" according to my hubby, but unfortunately not in a sex kittenish way, more in a peri menopausal woman way.

I picked up my knitting needles again for the first time in a while as I couldn't resist this Rowan Denim cotton.

And this is what I made - I call it Random stripe.

And finally this is what persuaded the Tram conductress to stop the tram so that he wouldnt lose his mother. He was wearing the right colours. Blue and White.

More Wool

Many thanks to the gardening genius that is JuliaB http://marmaladepatch.blogspot.com/ - you correctly identified the purple sprouting broccoli that I had completely forgotten about. I knew that there were peas in the mix, infact I thought that they were all peas, so I was most suprised when they looked different - ah well - lesson learned. Managed to make it to the wool shop in Wentworth eventually and bought a hank of recycled sari's. Has anyone done anything with recycled sari's? I'm looking for inspiration. It really is an Aladdins cave in there.

Does anyone recognise my library book bag?

And on the 3rd attempt!!

Well!! After 2 false starts HOPEFULLY here I am!!!

Ive missed my morning on the sofa with James Martin to get this up and ready. Its been 1 step forward, 2 steps back!! but here goes.

I'll start by showing you a bit of my knitting. I used to knit loads, but I think ive lost a lot of patience over the years, so now I stick to the very simple. Ive knitted lots of these for presents as they are a) quick to do, and b) very cheap to make. They take 1 ball of chunky wool (managed to find this Rowan wool for £1 per ball in my second home - Dunelm Mills) big needles (no 9) cast on around 18 stitches and rib until you run out of wool. Add a button that I sew on firmly (no button hole) and pop it over your head for a cosy neck warmer. Voila