Progress and ripping back

 Hoot in a Boot was a new start at the Somerset retreat in March, It's the only thing I've been stitching on since so I've made good progress.

The making-up instructions use felt for the backing, I need to have a look around to see where I can buy some wool felt, I think the wool kind will be much softer and easier to handle than the synthetic.

Remember the Whitmore sweater I was knitting?

I'd knitted the second sleeve down to the cuff ribbing a few nights ago and tried it on again.  When I looked again I thought It looked too big.  I did knit a gauge swatch and it's the same size I knit previously, but this one just feels too big in the body, and I've got a sneaky feeling it might 'grow' when washed, perhaps this yarn wasn't the best choice for this project.   So, I've decided, (more  or less) to rip it all back and use the yarn for something else.  

I know, all that work,😭

 I do love how it looks on the hanger, but I probably wouldn't wear it if it feels big.  I'd considered ripping back to the underarms but I think the increases start in the yolk, I'll check first before ripping it all out.

Arty had a birthday this week, can't believe he is seven already!

He's such a cheeky monkey, and the complete opposite to Oliver.  Oliver is the spitting image of his dad and can be quite serious and Arty is just like his mum and a bit of a rascal, but a very lovable rascal. 

~~~~~~~

We haven't had the promised rain here yet, well, not enough to make any difference anyway so I've popped down the allotment this morning to water what we planted and now I'm going outside to plant up my sweet peas.  My conservatory is in danger of being taken over by the runner beans I planted too early so I'm going to throw caution to the wind and plant them out over the weekend.  If they survive, great, if they don't I have some more beans I can put in to replace them.

We haven't got anything planned for the Easter weekend, Mark is off work until Tuesday and other than taking some flowers to the crem tomorrow I don't think we will be doing anything.  The kids will pop in on Sunday for their Easter eggs, I'm not doing a egg hunt this year.  I've bought them one egg and some sweets each, It's hard for me not to over-indulge them but with four children to buy for it can get out of hand.

Hope you have a lovely Easter weekend whatever you are planning.

-X-

Springing up all over

 We're only a little over a week into the lighter nights and already I'm not keen.  I struggle with lighter nights much more than when the nights draw in, I find it hard to call it a day and be done when It's still light, It seems there is always one more thing that has to be done and then before you know it it's time for bed!  I need to be stricter with myself, set myself a reasonable cut off time for the day to be done.

I have been making the most of the nice weather though and spent some time Monday afternoon at the allotment and got carrots and radish seeds in and also planted some of the onions I'd started off at home, (thank you to whoever mentioned starting them in cells, I'm sorry I can't remember who it was now to give you credit).  

I've covered them all in mesh just until the seeds start to pop up, then I'll set them free.

I've tidied my greenhouse out again and moved some of my sweet peas and sunflowers into there.  Mark got me a couple pieces of wood to make more shelving space, I have plenty more seedlings to go in there over the next few weeks.  Everything is doing really well at the moment, the only things that don't seem to be showing any signs of life yet are the dahlia's.

I made the mistake of sewing my runner been too early and now they are already quite big and it's still not warm enough to put them out!  They're in decent sized pots so I'm hoping they will be ok until at least the end of the month.

I bought two dozen hazel sticks locally from fb market place so we are all set up ready to plant them out once the weather warms up a bit more.

We have a strawberry patch all planted up and a few more added today because I drove past somewhere that was selling them for 50p each, couldn't pass up that bargain.

I collected our Spring seed pack today, we get a free one twice a year, 26 packets of mostly veg and salad but there are some flowers in there too.  Looks like I'll be busy again over the weekend, ha ha.

And there is a plug plant party at the allotment on Saturday morning so I'll be going to see what's on offer, they are all free so might as well take advantage.

My garden is coming to life too with all the sunshine we've been having.

My hosta's have grown such a lot in a week and there are alliums popping up all over, the Pieris is putting on a lovely show.

I came across this photograph on Google showing a completely cloud-free sky across the whole of the British Isles, apparently the image, which was taken on April 2nd, was so clear that sediment patterns could be seen off the coast.  March was the sunniest since records began with 185.8 hours of sunshine.  It has certainly been a lovely start to Spring, much better than last year when we had snow and sleet in April.

We are still getting wonderful blue sky's here, although we are forecast some much needed rain on Sunday and into the following week, the kids break up for Easter on Friday so of course it was going to rain, lol.

 In-between all the outside jobs I have been knitting and stitching and I will share an update on that next time.

Take care

-X-

Another month gone already

Another month of the year gone so quickly, but the weather has been good and a lot of jobs in the garden have been ticked off, so that's good.  I over-seeded the top lawn last week, I haven't seen many birds stealing the seeds so fingers crossed we should see signs of growth in the next couple weeks.  I also went ahead and purchased two small raised beds for the top of the garden, we have yet to fill them, but that's ok I'm not ready to plant anything out just yet.

The one last big job outside is to jet wash the path and patio, that is on tomorrow list of things to do.

We still have daffs out and for once they haven't been battered by rain or snow.

The grass just before over-seeding, there should be fewer bald patches in a couple weeks

Yesterday was Mothers Day here in the UK, we went out for lunch with Joanne and the kids, Stevie and Jenny popped round later in the afternoon.  They all spoilt me with lovely cards, flowers and gifts, Joanne also got me a seat I can use for gardening and planting, that will save my poor knees 😂, (not in the photo as it wasn't assembled)

As you know Joanne and Gavin are no longer together but he usually makes sure Bonnie and Jacob have something to give Joanne for Mothers Day but for some reason he didn't offer to take them to buy her anything this time so me and Mark took them out on Saturday to get flowers and choose a gift, they also made her cupcakes while they were here.

They wrapped everything up and when I took them home hid everything in Bonnies wardrobe, they were so excited to give her the things they'd bought, Joanne said they went and woke her up at 6am 😆

I've been for my second physio appointment this morning, I think the exercises are slowly working and he was happy that I could now do a more difficult version of one of them.  I'm still in pain most days, some days are worse than others but I'm following the exercise plan so hopefully one day everything will settle down.

Mark had the results of his prostate biopsy last week, it was benign, so nothing nasty to worry about, which was a relief.  He has another appointment in June to assess him again to see what they can offer him in the way of help as his prostate is enlarged and that's what's causing him to have frequent bathroom visits.  The letter also listed some of the treatment options, tablets are the easiest treatment, the operation for more troublesome cases doesn't sound very nice and requires time in hospital and at least four weeks at home.  Needles to say he is hoping that he will be able to have the tablets option.

I've been stitching lots this past week and made great progress on my Hoot in a Boot which I'll share next time.  

Wishing you all a wonderful April

-X-

Weekend stitching retreat

 I've had the most wonderful weekend away, it was just what I needed, stitching with friends, chatting and laughing and eating tasty food.  I mentioned before that since Christmas I haven't been stitching but I enjoyed sorting out and kitting up a new start to take with me and certainly made up for my few months stitching drought while I was away.

I decided to start my weekend on the Thursday, I spent the day in Wells and had booked a Premier Inn for the night so that on the Friday morning it was just a short drive to our hotel for the retreat.

I've visited Wells a few times, It's not a big place but has City status because of it's Cathedral, not many shops but It's nice for a wander round.  I had thought of looking around the Cathedral this time but I felt the £14 entrance fee was a little expensive plus I'd only got an hour left on my parking ticket so It wasn't really worth it, but an excuse for a visit another time.

Such an impressive building, and as you can see it was blue sky all the way on Thursday.

Wells is also home to one of the oldest residential streets left in Europe, Vicars Close.  It was built in the 14th century to house the Vicars Choral. Today it is still home to the vicars choral for the cathedral the organist and vergers.

Those chimneys are impressive arn't they

It was a thirty minute drive from the hotel in Wells to our retreat hotel so I was able to arrive nice and early on Friday to start my stitching weekend.

Our stitching room was upstairs and was perfect, big enough so that we all had space but not so big that you couldn't interact with others, plenty of light too.

There were some vendors through the weekend selling charts fabric and other stitching goodies as well as a freebie table and a destash table.  Karen and Anabelle did a fantastic job of arranging everything and looking after us all, they also hosted a smalls exchange and a raffle.  I think most of the attendees donated a raffle prize, the money raised, (£200), went to the prostate cancer charity in memory of Anabelle's step dad who sadly very recently lost his fight with prostate cancer.

I didn't take part in the smalls exchange but a good number did, there were some amazing and creative finishes.

I'd kitted up Hoot in a Boot to take with me and thoroughly enjoyed stitching again.  I had taken my  Mary Margaret stitching along in case I wanted a change but I was enjoying my new start so much that she never saw the light of day.

I avoided temptation and didn't add to my stash except for a new, larger grime guard and a chart from the de-stash table.  I think is a fairly old chart as I remember liking it years ago, and It still appeals to me.

Love the words

So that was my first weekend retreat and it won't be my last, I've put my name down for the November one :-) 

I didn't take my laptop so I'm behind on blog reading and commenting , I will catch up on your posts during the week.

-X

Oh dear, it seems I've been picked up on a spelling mistake 😂 I've corrected it now, I'll try better with the editing next time🤣

Just another manic Monday

 Not manic at all really, It's been a rather a nice day, I just couldn't come up with another title 😁

I'm still knitting away on my whitmore sweater, another couple nights and I should be done with the body.  I might order another small circular needle so that I can knit the sleeves at the same time, that way I can make the decreases at the same time.  The sleeves on the last one I made are just a little tighter than I would like, so I'm going to keep trying it on this time and make them where I think they need to be. 

I'll be going on a weekend stitching retreat soon and have been sorting out what I want to take.  I'm thinking a new start might kick start my stitching mojo.  I narrowed it down to two charts, Hoot in a Boot and North Pole.

I have the threads and fabric for both but I'm leaning towards taking Hoot in a Boot, It'll be a quicker stitch and with all that black stitching there will be less chance of me miss counting while chatting 😉 

Isn't that Santa great though? I'm going to have to start that one as soon as I can.

I will take my Mary Margaret stitching with me too In case I fancy a change.

My MRI results came back last week and I had an appointment with the GP.  I have bursitis in my hip also a small cyst and tendinopathy in my glute.  There is also mild tendinopathy in my right glute.  So I'ts what the first doctor I saw said it wasn't back when It all began!  It's getting on for six months now when this pain began and In all the visits not one suggested this is what I could be, I had to more or less insist on the MRI otherwise It wouldn't have been suggested.  At least now I know what It is and It can be fixed.  I've called several times to chase up my physio appointment through the GP but have been told it could be months, so went ahead and booked one myself and was seen this morning.  Before he had even read the results from the MRI he assessed me and got it spot on right away.  I've now got a set of exercises and finally feel like someone has listened to what I'm saying.  I'll go back again in three weeks so that he can see how I'm getting on.

Mark had his prostrate biopsy last Monday, he was told the results come back pretty quick but still not heard anything so fingers crossed that no news is good news.

I planned on a couple hours in the garden again this afternoon but it's gone very cold here again today, It's supposed to pick up tomorrow though.  Mark put sharp sand on the top grass on Saturday, we did the same last year and It definitely helped with the drainage, It's not as spongy as It was last Spring.  I need to get some compost and grass seed now so we can over-seed at the weekend.

There's always something to do isn't there🙄

Have a good week

-X-

Knitting and sowing

 I started a new project at the end of February, It's one I've knitted before, the Whitmore sweater by Ami Louden.  I'm using yarn that's been in my stash for a few years, Hayfield Sundance DK which I bought at one of the NEC shows with this project in mind.  It's a 50% acrylic cotton mix so should be perfect for the Spring/Early Summer.

I got the ribbing done on the neck the first night.

And this is how it's looking five days later.  It doesn't look very much for five evenings of knitting, but in my defence it is a lace pattern and each row is different so you are constantly checking what needs to be done, although with the exception of a couple of rounds that I found difficult to memorise once you have knitted a few repeats you get a feel for it. 

Forty nine rounds made up the first part of the yolk followed by second part of eight rounds.

Each section of lace pattern is separated by stitch markers, so if you do make a mistake it's easy to see where you've gone wrong.  I've put the stitches on a stitch cord to try it on, and so far so good.  Once I split for the sleeves I've try it on again.

That's all I'm working on at the moment, I'm enjoying it and as yet don't have the urge to cast on anything else.  I still haven't picked up any stitching.

I popped to the garden centre on Monday and bought my onion sets along with some peas.  I noticed that they were selling loose pea and bean seeds so instead of buying a packet of runner bean seeds for £3.49 I had the same amount for just over £1  There were a number of varieties to choose from so I asked for advice and was told that the Enorma variety was the best seller and the one they sold out of first, so that's the one I bought.

I bought the dahlia tubers from B&Q.  I've avoided dalilah's for years, the last lot I planted didn't grow very well and the slugs devoured them, but I loved this colour so we'll have to wait and see how they fair.

My tomatoes and the beans are all sowed, I should have enough tomatoes for the allotment and at home.

Margaret asked about our allotment.  It's not an allotment in the traditional sense as we don't have as much growing space as those would give, those are run by the local council and it's really hard to get one, even though a lot of them are overgrown and obviously not tended.  Ours is a smaller plot on a former potato field, they are managed by Roots which is more like a community scheme I suppose.  We do pay more than a council plot would cost but as I said, council plots come with disadvantages.  When you get your plot on a Roots site it is already laid out and fresh compost added, If you give your plot up you have to clear it or pay them to clear it for you, so you can start growing right away.  All garden tools, water, compost, manure and chippings are on site and available for all to use.  At the start of every season we get a growing pack with seeds and information on growing.  There in an online members site where you can ask questions, get information and there are also courses you can book onto.  They are no dig and try to be as eco friendly as possible, no plastic is allowed on site.  I liked that we could start growing right away last year and most of what we grew was from free plug plants we were given when we signed up.  We pay £20 per month, but as I share it with my daughter we pay a tenner each.  We're both ok with that and for what we get I don't think it's bad at all and the plot size we have is plenty big enough to grow what we need.  They have schemes all over the UK, If you click on the link it will take you to their site and you can read more about them.

The nice weather has continued all week and I'm still trying to make the most of it, I jet washed the drive yesterday so that's another outside chore crossed off my list.  I heard on the radio that today was the warmest day so far this year, it was 15°c here but not as sunny as previous days.  Looks like it's set to continue into next week after a couple day with some showers.

Have a lovely weekend.

-X-

Making hay while the sun shines

It was one of those

 March days when the 

sun shines hot and

 the wind blows cold:

 when it is Summer in the light, 

and Winter in the shade 

(Charles Dickens, Great Expectations)

After all the rain and damp weather of January and February we can be tricked into thinking that Spring and better weather are here, but we have to make the most of the nice days so It's been nice to get outside and start some of those jobs that need doing.

I spent all day Saturday at the allotment, I was down there by 10am intending to stay until lunchtime, but once I got started I thought I might as well carry on and get it all cleared, I left at 4.30pm.  I slept well that night!

At least It's all tidy and ready to grow again.

Today has been spent starting to tidy my own garden up.  The shed has been sorted the Summerhouse cleaned and I've made a start on clearing the rest of the leaves.  The grass is still a little wet at the top end of the garden but some sand and re-seeding again should sort that out in the next couple weeks.  I'm always surprised how quickly it drys up once the weather starts to get better.

I bought some pots out from the side of the shed that had some Spring bulbs in from last year, they will add a bit of colour in the next couple weeks.  I'm glad now that I didn't empty them last year, I'll do the same again this time when they are finished.

I've sowed my sweet-peas and my potato's are chitting, we are going to take the potato bags down to the allotment this year and grow them there, some of the sweet-peas will be taken down there too.

I cleaned out my greenhouse last week and potted on some geranium and petunia plug plants I got at  garden centre.

I'm considering buying a small raised bed for the top of the garden, my thoughts are that it would be good to grow tomatoes in, my greenhouse isn't really big enough to grow them in and I don't want pots in various places.  That's another thing on my list to do this week, sow the tomato seeds and also buy some onion sets for the allotment.

I'm not one to wish time away and get one season over and on to the next, but it has been lovely to see some brighter weather and think about what we can have a go at growing this year.

Enjoy the rest of the week

-X-