2016 Montage

I love this time of year; for me it’s a real time of reflection, a time to look back in wonder at the year gone by. 

And what a year it has proven to be, both personally and here at the Nest too.  This year I have created a montage of my favourite memories, both hooky and the not so hooky!

January 2016

WriteOnImage635941710229816305

Started with a lovely little trip to the worlds smallest library…in a phone box and finished with felt flowers.

February 2016

WriteOnImage635941700701818089

Was filled with my Flower Fiesta installation and saw the release of a yarny little leaf pattern…on the house of course!

March 2016

635952209085949052 (1)

Maybe one of my favourite months this year as it was full of hookiness, creativity and some much needed soul restoration . Some much needed time away from studying for a PGdip, juggling placements, family, home and a whole heap of essays!  There was the Robins Nest Square pattern release, followed by a tutorial for joining with a double crochet and a BIG thank you.

 April 2016

april-2016Well, April really did whizz by under a heavy cloud of essay pressure, but I did find time to look for some lovliness and learn a new yarny skill despite a Woolly dilemma.

May 2016

may-2016

Was permeated with bluebells, al fresco dining and a woolly win.

June 2016

june-2016

Left me feeling chuft!

July 2016

july-2016

 was celebrated with a yarny give -a-way and a growing pile of PHD’s

August 2016

august-2016

Brimmed with crochet goodness; hooking al fresco, completing the very V blanket and tutorial and not forgetting the graffiti robin.

September 2016

sept-2016Saw the calm before the storm, a quilting Ouch! and the launch of The Grandma Collection.

October 2016

oct-2016Oh my days!

October held the secret of happiness…alpaca walking!  Enough excitement for one month you might think, but there was also the release of The Grandma Mary Tea Cosy pattern.  Too much!

November 2016

nov-2016Was bleak to be honest, but there was a WOW and a fond farewell

December 2016

636181886133248986-1

Ahh December and homemade damson gin, hooking virus style (post coming soon) and planning for project 2017 (launching in the New Year!!).  And there you have it…a whistle stop tour of my 2016.

I do have one more special thing to add before I sign off for 2016 and that is to you…Thank you so much for journeying with me, I love having you along.  I am always amazed by folk dropping in and reading what I write, it humbles me to my core.  I hope in return you have enjoyed and been inspired, encouraged and been blessed. 

Here’s to a very yarny 2017!

xxxxx

Farewell Autumn…

Wow…

Humph!!…did you hear that…or is it just my tinnitus again?  I think it was the sound of me falling onto the sofa from a parallel universe; where the last few weeks have spun by in a blur and may have possibly been the fastest few weeks in history. 

A fleeting glimpse of the super moon...
A fleeting glimpse of the super moon…

I was hoping to have posted this weekend about the second tea cosy in the Grandma Collection, but that may well be next week end now…so sorry.  It would have happened, but I think that in exiting the parallel universe I left my little pencil case of hooks as  I can’t  seem to find them…most distressing. 

There has been quite a bit of Christmas hooking going on, but that will have to remain under wraps for now, enough to say I am in love with the pattern and can’t wait to share it with you all. 

So, whilst I acclimatise back into the earthly realm, I will leave you with a little snap shot of the last few weeks…

An Autumnul walk
Autumn is slipping into winter
wp_20161029_16_13_35_pro
but glorious colour can still be found
and if you know where to look you can still find cosmos
and if you know where to look you can still find cosmos…
The boys are still being boys...
The boys are still being boys…
getting balls stuck up trees...
getting balls stuck up trees…
I do love them so...
I do love them so…

wp_20161029_16_45_07_pro

taboggoning at the snowdome was pretty awesome also...
taboggoning at the snowdome was pretty awesome also…
instagramcapture_eb859cc2-9408-4743-bac4-7d3e0bfa058d
A sneek peek of some of the lovlinesss in store for the second tea cosy in the Grandma Collection….

Oh ok then, just a  very quick look at some of the Christmas hooking…

just don't tell anyone...promise.
just don’t tell anyone…promise.

xxxxx

Nest Rhythm

 

october-festivities-diversecity

I think that we are  starting to get a rhythm here at the nest…finally.  New job, full time, school, homework, housework and Saturdays.  Oh how I love Saturdays.

  This morning started early with a park run and new personal bests for us all

___-parkrun-is-coming-to-varsity-lakes-parkrun-is-a-free-weekly-5km-timedI have a love, hate, love relationship with running.  I love the idea, I hate the running bit then love the buzz after a run; that lasts for the whole day.

Saturday is always better when yarn is delivered too.

win_20161008_13_26_44_pro

win_20161008_13_27_39_pro

I know exactly what to hook with this ‘new to me’ yarn and I am eager to see how it hooks up as it is ridiculously soft and the colours are divine. 

Rather than complete any PHD’s recently it seems I’ve added to the list…

I had a yearning to do a little more broomstick crochet, but had forgotten how to start and finish each row.

instagramcapture_6f929a33-7f33-4e2c-acb8-004cbd7fb467but a little hooky play during lunchtimes this week has it all sorted

instagramcapture_1ece3533-c4c3-4581-9f76-9fb6326abf27

I think I may make some fingerless mitts, with this yarn now I’ve got the broomstick down.

capture

And of course the next tea cosy in the Grandma collection is being designed, if only in my mind at the moment! 

So cheers for dropping in…

wp_20161001_17_26_27_pro

hope you have a great weekend

xxxxx

 

Making damson gin…

Well what is a girl to do, when she is given a surplus of damsons?…

Gin of course!

I have read that many recipes for damson gin, I became confused.  What follows is a conglomeration of several.

WP_20160823_18_17_48_ProThe ingredients are this simple…

550g of damsons (because that is how much we had!)

250g of granulated sugar

1 litre of gin

1 litre mason jars x2.

WP_20160826_13_27_22_Pro

First I sterilised the jars with boiling water. 

WP_20160826_13_29_03_Pro

Then skewered the damsons with a sterile darning needle to get their damson juices flowing.  I divided the damsons equally between the jars. 

WP_20160826_13_37_41_Pro

Next, I added 125g of sugar into the first jar and 125g of sugar into the second jar. 

WP_20160826_13_38_42_Pro

Finally, adding 500ml of gin into the first jar and 500ml into the second jar.

I gave the jars a little shake and then popped them on the larder shelf where it is dark…this is important storage information apparently! 

I’m not sure if it is a good thing that there is an air space in the jars or not.  Looking at the unopened gin bottle there was an air space.  So I think I am going to have to do a bit more research.  I may be topping up with a bit more gin, but I will let you know if I do.  The jars will need a little shake each day for the first week and then weekly after that. 

All the recipes differ on how long to leave the gin until you crack it open.  Some say 3 months others 6 months and then others a year!!!  I  should imagine it is when desperate!  Again I will let you know.  I am hoping it will be in time for Christmas, unless I get desperate before that!!

 xxxxx

 

 

Crowning glory

It seems that I am busier than ever before which makes any  spare time very precious.  So as the sun has chosen to shine for  a brief couple of days (Seriously…this could be the sum total of the British summer time!!!) I have chosen to spend my time outdoors and make the most of it.

WP_20160505_17_10_01_Pro
Dining al fresco in the garden

The warmth of the sunshine has caused an explosion of foliage and weeds!  So I cleared a patch of rogue nettles in the growing garden and rediscovered a little hosta…

WP_20160508_17_47_48_Pro
Can you see it at the back…it is tiny!

Mr. R dug up the blackberry and raspberry bushes which quite frankly were looking very ugly.  I have pondered their removal for some time, but sometimes you just have to cut your losses.  Their fruit bearing has been lousy and that’s a polite way of putting it!

WP_20160508_17_48_04_Pro
So we have a blank canvas of a flower bed which is going to include Jasmine

Talking of losses, we lost our last chicken this week…sad news! We have decided not to replace them, so the chicken run has been dismantled and we are deciding what to do with this space. 

I also made a return to bluebell wood, and was met with this utter spectacle…

InstagramCapture_22a5323c-ec79-4014-80bd-80ce2c403647

 

And I just had to stop the car to photograph the present crowning glory of the British countryside…

Fields of just WOW!!
Fields of just WOW!!

All this colour led me to the garden centre

InstagramCapture_babf8757-c198-41f9-afa1-45e115b2ce33in pursuit of summer annuals for my kitchen window box

InstagramCapture_b6d64afd-0b4a-4864-8828-e74cdbf88b8a

a sweet pea tipee

InstagramCapture_a67f65c3-81dd-499c-846b-a80462cd4a1fand a little bit of something yummy…

lettuce and spring onions

WP_20160514_18_21_27_Pro

so not much crochet time, but I did get half an hour in this morning

InstagramCapture_b1e1474d-aadc-4596-9ef3-9d5bcd71e7d0Have a great week.

xxxxx

 

Bluebells, bulldog and crochet…

Well lets start with the bluebells shall we!  It is fair to say that the weather around these parts has been bizarre.  We have literally had four seasons in a few hours.  Rain, followed by blue spring skies and then a few moments later hail or snow and thunder.  This is what fell from the sky during little ones football training

WP_20160426_19_07_20_Pro

It was absolutely freezing needless to say, and totally out of the blue, as the start of the training session had been sunny.  Any way, I promised you bluebells, which the crazy weather does not seem to have hindered.  Here they are…

InstagramCapture_2813bf9b-9c55-43cb-a62c-557cf88342d5 These little delicate flowers make my heart very happy and I just love climbing to the top of the hill, where the tall trees stand grandly, graciously carpeted beneath with this blue hue of lovliness. 

starting the climb to bluebell wood
starting the climb to bluebell wood
the grand trees
the grand trees leading to bluebell wood
emerging out of bluebell wood
emerging out of bluebell wood

Once through the wood and out the other side, the boys played and climbed and we took the long path back to the van.  Stopping only to watch a kestrel hunt and to watch miss Jess and a rather handsome springer run rings around each other….oh and to play a game of bulldog.  Of which I do not have any photos as in the first instance I was too mesmerised, in the second instance miss Jess was way to fast for me to photograph and lastly an out of breath me isn’t for photographing! 

So to the crochet…

InstagramCapture_ac322cf3-1e4b-4d14-8704-0118ac92a786InstagramCapture_32dae13b-7b34-4c2e-afa8-a8fa4dad19b3

mostly hooked at the skate park, whilst the not so little Robin practised ‘jumping the box’ and ‘airs’ on his bmx.

xxxxx

Looking for the lovliness…

Well, I’m sorry for my noted absence, there are just two weeks left until exam and essay deadlines and to be truthful  I’m worried that one of the boys might fall into the laundry pile and never be seen again!

I’m shattered and busy, busy, busy… my mind has many yarny creations whizzing around and I really need some colour therapy, but I feel overwhelmed and hence my hook has fallen silent (temporarily).  So to keep my creative mind sane I have been looking for the lovliness that surrounds me daily… and taking photo’s…this is April.

A birthday breakfast
A birthday breakfast
WP_20160412_10_53_31_Pro
elevenses with my Mom and Dad.

WP_20160412_10_29_05_Pro

A heart from Mr R
A heart from Mr R
A coffee made with a whistle always reminds me of Gran
A coffee made with a whistle always reminds me of Gran
A lovely present from a friend
A lovely present from a friend
Alf in his favourite puddle...
Alf in his favourite puddle…
Rhubarb sprouting
Rhubarb sprouting
hellebore raising its head
hellebore raising its head
WP_20160423_14_10_19_Pro
clematis budding
WP_20160423_14_07_32_Pro
climbing clematis well…climbing!
Spring is here sort of...
Spring is here sort of…
It was warm enough yesterday for the first cuppa out in the garden
It was warm enough yesterday for the first cuppa out in the garden
but today it has been cold, so these tulips brought the spring inside
but today it has been cold, so these tulips brought the spring inside

But mostly these lovelies have been the loveliest…

the Robins xx
the Robins xx

xxxxx

Where did that week go!

Well where did that last week go to?  

With only about 8 waking hours left of the spring break, to cram in as much  fun as possible…I will leave you with some photo’s which capture my week.

Phototastic-09_04_2016_a56ef296-d285-45bd-980f-48a6872e825bInstagramCapture_4a1d2301-49bd-4301-a81a-8f45742db12c

wp_20160404_18_22_37_pro

WriteOnImage635954720782369825

 

WP_20160330_18_00_22_Pro

InstagramCapture_667771d3-e58c-4f57-9c2b-94035895cd52

WP_20160401_15_38_17_Pro

WP_20160401_15_35_43_Pro

Hope you a  had a good week

xxxxx

waiting…walking and a wooly dilemma…

As I have been waiting extremely patiently for the postman to bring me a yarn shaped parcel; walking has featured as a daily pass time since the weather has been so cheery.

WP_20160328_16_05_54_Pro

We have stomped over fields in the sunshine,

WP_20160328_16_07_03_Pro

rambled down pathways

WP_20160328_16_12_01_Pro

and climbed over gates.

WP_20160328_16_17_16_Pro

We have wandered through woodlands and I have admired the dappled sunshine dancing on the ground.  In the evenings I have been hooking this…

WriteOnImage635951127893990240

a light weight artfully simple angled scarf (designed by the very talented Tamara over at Moogly) in a 4 ply Sirdar country style yarn.  The colour is 0392….meh!  I do so dislike it when a colour just has a number and not a name.  It is a beautiful old pastel pink, which now I have started, I cant put down.

WP_20160330_12_48_29_Pro

Still waiting…we have visited orchards

WP_20160330_13_44_22_Pro

and  walled gardens

WP_20160330_12_39_49_Proand stumbled across these little guys (very cute indeed).

WP_20160330_14_48_40_Pro

Finally, a yarn shaped parcel arrived and a dilemma.

WP_20160330_14_49_32_Pro

Well, I just couldn’t resist this gorgeous wool alpaca blend in (0519) or charcoal grey.

WP_20160401_18_06_50_Pro

Nor this beautiful compilation of cotton.  So, now I have the Robins nest squares to finish, my artfully simple angled scarf and new yarn screaming “hook me, hook me!”  What a fabulously fantastic woolly dilemma to be in. xxxxx