My nephew, Max James, was born on Saturday 7th July 2012 at 7.50am. He weighed a whopping 10lbs 9.5oz!! We knew in advance that my brother and his girlfriend were expecting a boy, which was good news for me as I took advantage of all the small amounts of blues and greens to make up this blanket. I hope they like it!
I'm trying to get our garden looking lovely but the weather isn't really helping at the moment!!!
We were given an orchid by some friends last year when they came to stay with us on the weekend of the Royal Wedding. I haven't really done a lot with it so was really surprised when a beautiful pink flower appeared!
We also have a rose in our garden that we got as part of our wedding flowers 6 years ago. We had these exact roses at our wedding & we got the florist to make up 3 pots, one for each of our Mums & also one for us. The rose is called Once in a Blue Moon &, although we have had buds & flowers before, this is the first year that the rose & colour has actually resembled those lilac roses that were present at our wedding.
I've also been planting lobelia and geraniums, which I have in abundance thanks to my Mother-in-Law planting about 600 seeds!! I'm also pleased that my hydrangea is returning this year (another flower that we had at our wedding), although when I bought it last year it was a mixture of blue, purple & pink flowers whereas it looks like it might just be pink this year, but will still look wonderful, I'm sure!
With the rain & a poorly household this week I think the garden is going to have to wait, but fingers crossed I'll get round to it soon.
xxx
I finished my second baby blanket of the year a month or so ago & it has already been received by my school friend, who had a little girl on the Jubilee Weekend.
It was my first attempt at a ripple & I was really pleased with how it turned out. I got some ribbon free with an issue of Mollie Makes magazine so decided to use some on this blanket to "finish it off".
All in all, a very successful blanket!
xxx
I've been awful lately with this blog! So much for my new-year resolution!!
We went on holiday at the end of May to Fuerteventura. We went with my parents for a week & had a lovely time. We hadn't really had a holiday since our honeymoon in 2006 so it was a well-needed break. I would really recommend it if you're looking for somewhere warm to go but don't like the heat. Although the temperature was high, there was a constant breeze to cool you down so at no point did any of us feel like we were sweltering!
We took the girls to a massive safari park/zoo, Oasis Park on one of the days, which was amazing. On top of the usual animals, monkeys, wild cats, hippos etc we saw a few of the shows. The sea lion show was fantastic & they actually brought a HUGE sea lion out into the crowd. We also saw a parrot show where they had lots of different parrots doing various tricks (very clever).
The best show for me though was the reptile show - mainly because Hubby was picked out of the crowd to participate, along with 3 other people. Hubby actually volunteered but the others were picked out of the crowd and were obviously petrified at the thought of getting any closer to the 3 crocodiles that were swimming around in front of us! They were taken into the enclosure/stage under the impression that they were going to help feed the crocodiles. The keepers had them all line up & had a fantastic way of winding up the nervous ones to make them more scared - it was hilarious when one of the keepers crept up behind one man & pinched the back of his knee & made this poor man jump out of his skin!!! I'm cruel, I know but it was funny. In the end they didn't have to go near the crocodiles & instead were presented with this massive python that was lifted from out of a box behind them all, over their heads & straight into their unsuspecting hands - again, a very funny moment!
The Oasis Park was a lovely day out but it was sooo hot! It was in the middle of a desert almost, so there was not a lot of breeze.
We also spent a morning visiting the sand dunes & chilled out on the beach. The girls absolutely loved paddling in the sea (first time ever for both of them) & it was fabulous to watch them having so much fun.
To be honest, we didn't really venture that far from the hotel too much more as we were happy chilling out by the pool. Our hotel, Hotel Suite Atlantis, was in the northern part of the island, Corralejo. Despite some initial problems when we first arrived with checking in, I really liked it. There were a few pools, one of which was directly ouside our room & was never very busy. The girls had their first swim on holiday & they really enjoyed it. The pool was not heated so it was very cold when we first got in & the girls didn't like it at all, but by the end of the week they were loving the water!
All in all, we had a really lovely week - it's a shame that our week away coincided with the week of gorgeous weather in the UK so we came back to the rubbish weather!
I've got a couple of photos but our laptop died this week before we had backed up our videos & photos - grrrrrr!
xxx
How are you? I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post!
I'm not really sure what I've been doing over the past month. I know that we've been preparing for our holiday in 2 weeks - yay! It's our first holiday since our honeymoon in 2006, so we're really looking forward to it. We're going to Fuertaventura with the girls & also my parents so it should be lovely, although I would imagine very busy as well as Abby has started walking so we'll no doubt be chasing her around everywhere!
Crochet-wise, I finished the baby blanket for my brother's forthcoming baby & am half-way through another one for an old school friend who is expecting her second baby in June/July. I will take photos this weekend for you to see.
Domestically I have been trying to keep on top of everything & have been doing quite well. I have recently discovered Brocante Home and have become a tad obsessed with it! I'm loving it all & have found a new interest in reading about vintage housekeeping & the history behind it all. I think Hubby thinks I'm a bit odd but I'm really enjoying indulging this side of myself!
Anyway, I haven't really got any more news. I hope you have a good weekend.
xxx
I hope that you all had a lovely Easter break, whatever you did. We had a nice time, quiet but still nice.
We've just come back from a weekend visiting friends in Kent, which was lovely. We hadn't seen these friends for 12-18 months so it was good to catch up. While we were there we popped in to see Hubby's friend & his 3 week old baby. This is the baby I've been making the blanket for. They had a little girl so the blanket was finished off in pink. I'm pleased to say that they really liked it! I took a few photos of the finished item before I wrapped it - they're not great quality but hopefully you'll be able to see how it looks!
I've already started on the next baby blanket, which is for my brother & his girlfriend, who are expecting a boy at the end of June/beginning of July. I will take some photos of my progress soon.
It's back to normal this week with Freya back at nursery tomorrow, so back to the early mornings & trying to be organised!!
Have a good week.
xxx
We decided on the spur of the moment last Sunday to go out for a picnic. Someone in our local fish & chip shop recommended that we go to Clumber Park so we thought "why not?!"
The weather was absolutely glorious so we packed a picnic, the girls & the dog & took ourselves off out for the afternoon. I have to say, it was lovely.
The park itself is in Sherwood Forest so is surrounded by trees, wildlife, greenery & all things nature! There is a walled kitchen garden (which I couldn't look around this time because we had the dog with us), a stunning lake-side walk, a chapel to view & a little courtyard area with a couple of shops/cafes and a plant sale. If you're ever in the area & the weather is nice then I would highly recommend a visit. In fact, they do have a campsite there so we're thinking about taking ourselves back with our tent in the warmer months.
I took a few photos with my phone but they really don't do the place justice!
I hope you have a lovely long Easter weekend & eats lots & lots of chocolate!
xxx
