Whhhiiiiizzzzzzz .....

there went three weeks of my life.

It happens to me every year, part of the joy of being in retail at this time of year.  We had a very very busy season this year which is great and now I get to appreciate 'normal' time and get all of my 'normal things done.  This in a way is a great thing, otherwise I just might not realise how special my life can be.

I have been a wee crocheter in my spare time.  The baby blanket is coming along at a great pace - for a turtle that is.  I am a wee bit nervous of the colours, I have found out that I am going to be a nannie to another boy - which is a very exciting thing.  So now I am a wee bit concerned that this blanket is a bit 'girlie' compared to Rydah's technicolour one.  So as a backup I have started a hexagon blanket in bright cottons.  I am not too sure about this either but I just love the way that this one looks on this blog.  So there, procrastination has struck but I am sure that one of these blankets will be just right.

Then I have been making something for me.  I have always loved these stones on this blog.  So that was my Christmas treat, to sit and cover a stone.  I just loved it!  I have now made two and they look rather fine side by side.

Snacking Seagulls in the

I took these photos a wee while back but they just make me smile when I look at them.

We were out having coffee when this rather lovely seagull decided that the ground was just not up to his standard.  Cheeky thing happened on a plate which was still half full.  Not sure if this occurred because of a fussy human didn't find the meal up to standard or if the chef hadn't put the love into the meal when he/she cooked it.  But anyways the seagull was just totally impressed with the offerings on the plate.

Other folk sitting around were just horrified at the fellow but I think because I was making such a fuss of him there were too scared to chase him away.  I always loved Johnathon Livingstone Seagull - so this fellow became my Johnathon. and if he is a she then she will be my Harriet.  How do you tell if a seagull is a she or a he?  Fascinating question.

Super Amazing Blankets for Super Beautiful Grandkids - part 2

I thought I was going to have a few years off before revisiting the baby blanket marathon.  But no - another call from that darling boy, I'm going to be a nannie again!!  So exciting - but wow, these two kids of mine have got their work cut out for them for the next few years.
So the planning started again.... what to make, what to make.  So many choices I must admit that I jumped from one idea to another - ooooo.... and I must admit to the fact that I jumped from one purchase to another.  So much fun!
First up on the idea was some lovely hand dyed yarn from a local lady who operates under the name of Olive and Emma - here.  I purchased her lovely rainbow yarns and lots of grey - I had intentions of knitting a blanket with rainbow hearts, just like the hottie bottle cover shown here.  But then when I thought about it and remembered that these kids live in the tropics and this is beautiful merino - not the most intelligent idea of the month.
So onto the second idea - I found a beautiful crochet motif blanket in a magazine I sell in the shop.  It is in a warm beige with bright coloured flower motifs sewn around the edges.  Exquisite.  And then I found some equally fantastic yarn in cotton and silk to make it.  I was so geared for this wee one to be a girl that I hadn't really given much thought to what I would do if a wee man appeared on the scene.  Plus I really really love the rug and could see it thrown over my couch.  Sigh.... where to go from here?
Well I have certainly taken the long road of getting to the blanket I would actually make.  I was sorting through some drawers and found some cotton yarn I had bought a year or so ago to make a blanket for my bed.  I hadn't been happy with how the crochet squares had turned out so it had been put into the replanning drawer.  Well here was the perfect use for it.  I already have a ripple rug on the go - I saw it a while back on Attic24 and had started one of my own.  I just love rippling so I finally got to a place to start my own new ripple rug for the new family member.  The photos below show just one weekend of rippling and I am super pleased with the results.  I am sure that the colours are going to be fine for boy or girl - I will wait to complete the borders when I know more.  Brown/Blue for a wee man and Pink/Green flowers for a little lady.  Oh - I so hope it's a girl.... I can just see a mass of flower motifs being worked into a very special flowery border.    But we shall wait and see - only a few months to go now.

So that's the story of the baby blankets.  I do think this wee family will stay at two parents and two kids for a while and I can start making other bits and bobs for these two very special young peoples.  I do love being the Nannie, even if it is from afar.

Super Amazing Blankets for Super Beautiful Grandkids - part 1

Now anyone that knows me well knows that I like nothing better than starting amazing beautiful projects that I get totally obsessed with.  The success rate for completing these projects is relative on a few things.  First up is whether or not another bigger obsession appears that totally obscures the previous one.  Then there is happiness factor - whether I just LOVE the project and can't put it down because it is so goddamned fantastic.  Then there is a responsibility factor - whether I am going to be held accountable for completing a project.  That last one doesn't happen too often as usually the projects are for myself so I can tell myself that there is no hurry and tomorrow is another very beautiful day to think about getting back to a project.

So anyway - where is this post leading?  Well 15 months or so ago my very precious son rang to tell us that we were going to be grandies.  Yikes!  Was he ready - hell, was I ready?  Well once the dust settled and I got to know his lovely gal and decided that yep he was ready and I was ready - well then the planning all about what I was going to make started.  Well I hummed and harred until I settled on this lovely blanket on Ravelry found here.  The next issue was what colours - these kids of mine weren't making it easy by not finding out whether they were having a boy or a girl.  So I settled on bright and found some bamboo/wool mix in delicious colours.  And I commenced knitting….. and I kept knitting….. and then I knitted some more…. until the day arrived when all I had to do was sew in the ends.  WOW!  For a day I was no longer a procrastinator - I was a FINISHER!!

So here is the finished product next to my kiwi's (just to remind young Rydah of his kiwi roots) and here is the young man himself under my beautiful FINISHED project.  But the story does continue - more in a moment or maybe a day or two.

Whiizzzzz! There Went A Week!

Can't believe how that week just passed me by.  I achieved a bit, thought about achieving a bit and missed out on achieving some things.  But all good at the end of the day because I can just add those slipped things to the list of things yet to be achieved ;)
I have popped a picture of tonight's dinner on this post because it was such a simple thing to make but the taste value was out of this world.  First up I roasted some squash pumpkin in the beloved coconut oil.  Roasted it in their skin and did them really well till they were crunchy but so soft inside.  Then I diced up some carrots, celery, zucchini, broccolini, asparagus and I'm sure there was something else but for now what it was escapes me.  I stirfried them in some avocado oil till they were cooked but still had a wee bit of crunch.  I removed them from the pan then poured some cream into it and reduced that down to white sauce consistency.  Oh my!  I simply popped some pumpkin and vegetables onto my plate and poured the cream over the vegetables.  On VERY scrummish dinner in a very quick time.  So easy to get your plate of veges with this dish. 

Shearing Time!

Spring has arrived today so all excess baggage needs to be dropped off at the door.   Time for the girls to shed their woolly winter coats and enjoy lots and lots of sunshine.   I always worry a bit about how they are looking under all that wool - no need for worries this year, these girls are looking a-ok.  I was going to post pictures of the girls getting shorn but really it doesn't show them in a good light - all dignity certainly flies out the door on shearing day.  Needless to say that there was a bit of ruckess, lots of spitting and generally argy bargy for an hour or two at The Farm Up The Hill.  I have ended up with six beautiful fleeces all sitting in bags in the shed.  Weather permitting I intend to clean all the foreign matter out of them on Sunday and get them off to the spinners asap.  I have decided on two-ply and I have found the perfect singlet pattern that I just need to knit.  I am sure the girls will just love it when I go and sit down in the paddock with them - they won't think I'm at all nutty I am sure.   I love the way they look after they have been fleeced. All sleek and racy and ready to go.

Tastes of summer

The weather is finally getting warmer and there are more and more seasonal veges coming into the shops.  I am really really lucky in that one of my customers makes her way to the Farmers Markets and buys me bags of seriously good tomatoes every Saturday.  I really appreciate these sweet bombs of flavour.  I also bought my first bunch of asparagus this week and they have all come together to make one heck of a tasty dinner.

I made a tomato sauce by frying a red onion, two stalks of diced celery and lots of garlic.  I then added heaps of diced fresh tomatoes and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Simple.   I already had some diced pumpkin roasting in some coconut oil.  I then simply baked the snapper in fresh lemon juice and steamed the asparagus adding a smear of butter towards the end. 

So simple, so tasty and so easy.  I certainly did enjoy. xxxxB

Happy Scrappy Nine-Patch

Finally went searching for my scrappy ninepatch quilt.  Of course I looked in the most obscure stash spots in my sewing room first.  When they proved unfruitful I glanced through my baskets of projects all ready to be worked on and there it was, all in it's own basket.  Yay!

I just love the stripping that I have used with the purple and green.  I had the stripe in my stash and went hunting for the green and purple to go with it - and voila! perfect stripping.  The cream linen was another fabric I had collected somewhere along the way, not patchwork fabric but just seems to fit in perfectly here.  I got all despondent with it when I ran out of the swap blocks - I wanted it bigger.  But now I have got it out and played with it I think it is the perfect size.  I am now imagining a border of the cream linen and having a lovely scrappy floral applique as a border.  OH!  So I will have to look how much of the cream I have - if there isn't enough I guess it's a perfect opportunity to find another cream/beige fabric to take the scrappy another step.

So there is that quilt.... one of many on my to-do list.  I haven't played with fabric for so long but now I can feel the urge returning.

One Cog of my Knitting Obsession

Thought I would share one of my current knitting projects.

I am knitting this scarf with the devine Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe with the feather and fan pattern. 
I couldn't resist a ball of delightful wool when I went to the shop for something completely different - one stroke and I was a goner :)  Or at least my purse was.  Really loving how the colours are working with the feather and fan pattern.  Making this has made me realise that there is always stuff to learn no matter how long you have been doing a craft.  I figured out that I have been putting my yarn around the needle all wrong when doing a YO.  Crazy!  So once I sorted that out I was off and now I just have to keep knitting to get to the next colour in the ball.

I cast on 76st and used the following pattern. Row 1: k2, k2 tog x 3,[(yo, k1) x 6, k2 tog x 6] x 3, yo k1 x 6, k3 tog x 3, k2
Row 2: purl
Row 3: knit
Row 4: purl
Repeat these 4 rows until all the wool is used.

It's a lovely easy knit now that I have the pattern down pat. Very quick to grow and will be so lovely and warm for next winter.

So much more to show and tell - I'm going to really enjoy popping all this pictures on here and then putting up the finished pictures super soon.

The colours remind me of this picture I took in the weekend of our lavender.  Its kind of a reversy colour thing tho.... the green and the purple are doing the opposite dance in each photo.  I love the combination of these two colours.  It has reminded me of a lovely nine patch quilt I made from some swap blocks many moons ago.  It came to a grinding halt when I ran out of the nine patches - they are all scrappy and I tied them together with a combo of green and purple. I will have to find it and post a photo tomorrow... and then maybe I will have to start making some nine patches of my own.   Now off to bed to knit myself to sleep. :)

Alpacas in the Mist

Up here in the hills things can be so different to down in the city lights.  Came home on Monday to thick mist and very nosy alpacas.  There must have been a huge downpour just before I made it home as everything was just dripping with moisture.  Managed to grab these shots of the girls - loved the way the old dead poplars looked in the background too.  Next on my wish list is a decent camera.... in the meantime my phone is doing an ok job.

 I love these girls but I really need to get things moving with them this summer.  I would love to breed again but need to raise "boy" money by selling a couple of them.  So bring on summer and lots of pictures on Trade Me and hopefully lots of people that want to buy my girls.  In the meantime they get to hang out and eat and poop and sleep - they seem pretty happy doing just that.

My Sunday Post - that did a wee stint in NeverNeverland

Sunday was a very lazy relaxed day of in my world.  Bit of shopping with Tom for his birthday then home to play with knitting and crochet.  I have started my blanket for Lewis' and Zoe's baby (due in March) - may the powers that be let it be a girl because this is a VERY girly blanket.  Plan B in reserve so just have to get them both on the way.

I love Sundays for so many reasons - one of them being that I can cook up a storm at my leisure.  Tonight's inspiration for my dinner (yes I usually cook two meals) came from an insert in the Herald.  Hot Smoked Salmon Cakes - few adjustments to fit my amazing eating regime of the moment and I have created what looks like the most amazing dinner of the month!  I have a small rack of free range pork in the oven for himself, a few roasted potatoes and a few more peas and he'll be a happy man.  I love the fact he is so easily pleased but some days it makes me anxious that he is so easy to please.  But I'm not his mother and he just loves these simple meals.  On to my wonderful salmoncakes tho - they are smelling devine and I can't wait to try them in their cooked state.

I roasted some red kumera in my wonderful Cere's unrefined coconut oil and then smashed them up.  The kumera's were still wrapped in their skins - the best part I reckon.

Then I mixed together some seeded mustard (sugar free), chopped parsley, lemon zest and juice, beaten egg, salt & pepper, chopped red onion and added the salmon..... oh yum!

Then it went all together and wow - it really looks like my dinner is going to rock tonight.  I then rolled it in processed wholegrain oats and have left them to sit while the other dinner cooks.  Maybe some capers next time... I love freestyle cooking.... and that is partly for starting this blog, just so I can remember what I cook and then play with it some more.

So while that is all happening I have made the time to start my journey in the world of blogs.  I'm not brave enough yet to tell folk about what I'm up too.... I'll just take a few weeks to get the feel of all of this and then maybe I'll invite a few people to drop in and have a look at what I'm up too.  Great to have made a start and I really look forward to placing a few more words on this page as the day's go by.

Confusion in the blogger world!

I just love reading over this blog. It's so me and my muddled head with so many things happening - or not happening for that matter.

Anyway - the confusion is that I started a new blog and I thought it was under this email. But no! Hmmmm..... I can find the blog but have no idea how to access it so I shall transfer it to this one and them I have all my stop-start blogs all together! Funny how this seems to be a spring thing restarting my blog. But life has a good feel about it this year so lots to share.

See you there.