My Big Fat Greek Cushion!

Since I last posted, I have had the most wonderful holiday in Greece. I have been to the same place 7 times now, and have got to know many of the people in the village, which is so lovely, It is like going to visit my Greek family every time I return.

The view from the hotel is sensational - across the ocean to Zante on one side and mountains on the other.

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The colours of Greece are just wonderful -  so many shades of blue.....

 ...and of course the sensation yellows of sunshine

Before I left home, I made sure I packed all the essentials!!! I wanted to use the colours of Greece to make some bunting, but eventually decided that a good project for my holiday would be to attempt, for the first time, a round cushion..

So at siesta time every day, I couldn't wait to pick up my hook and create!!! However, it all went a bit wibbly!

For some reason I thought if I carried on it would right itself........wrong!!! In fact it got worse and worse. So eventually I stopped and made some bunting and beer mats. That was real therapy as it turned out as it should!

When I got home, I didn't really know what to do with my wibbly wobbly cushion cover front, then decided the only thing to do was to remove the green edging (which represented olive trees) and make a back to match, which I did. It was still wildly wavy! So today I blocked it, but didn't do an amazing job - I need a proper foam mat and blocking pins really.

Anyway, popped out and bought a 14" cushion pad (even though the case was only 12"), came home, popped it in and sewed it up.

Here is the end result......my Big Fat Greek Cushion, TAAA DAHHHHH!!!

Hardly perfect, and more octagonal than round, but I am still rather pleased with it as in the cold chill of winter, it will certainly bring the essence of Greek sunshine into my world!

Over

Well, tomorrow is my last morning watering at the garden centre until March, so I thought I had better let you know that at 10am tomorrow, summer 2013 is officially over!  I will really miss arriving at work at stupid o'clock, as I would never usually get up so early, but just look at what is waiting to greet me......

I have Robbie the robin who chats with me every morning and follows me round while I water! Oooooh - and just look at the amazing view I have while I am working....

..

I am truly sad the season has ended, but hasn't it been great?  A proper summer - I know we waited a long time for it, but oh, worth every minute! The gentle warmth of the early mornings, promising heavenly blue skies and hot sunshine by midday, then winding down into comforting, balmy evenings under star studded midnight blue skies. Mmmmmmmm, heavenly!

All too soon it will be chilly mornings, heavy dew on the cobwebs, golden leaves and the delicious smell of distant bonfire smoke, swiftly followed by short days, cozy fires and regular visits from Jack frost.

Then the early snowdrops valiantly defying snow, rain and winds.........daffodils........ Spring.......and back to watering again...... !!!

A hooky first!

Wooooo hoooooo!!!!! I am soooo excited! After several months, I have just finished crocheting the last of 168 granny squares for my very first proper delicious hooky blanket! It is simply amazing how working with such gorgeous colours lifts the soul!

Working on the final few squares:

The whole 168 granny squares just waiting for the ends to be weaved in, then I can join them all together:

Originally I thought that 10 squares x 12 rows (a total of 120 squares) would be a perfect size, but soon realised that would be a bit on the mean side, and to be a decent snuggly sofa blanket,  I needed to make it at least 12 x 14. Amazingly that small increase needed an additional 48 squares!

When all the granny squares have been joined together, I am going to add a border, which I have never attempted before. I think I will go for quite a simple one this time, and although I have been researching various ways to do it, am feeling less than confident! I think that as the squares look so good, I am worrying about ruining the blanket at the last hurdle!

Anyway, all being well, I am hoping to get my 'Very First Proper Delicious Hooky Blanket' finished in the next couple of months. As soon as I do, I will post my very first official 'Whooooo Hoooooo Moment'!!!!

Watch this space my lovelies! xxxxxxx

Happy happy joy joy!

Ooooooh! I am soooo pleased with this lovely colour filled granny heart bunting! It has taken me a week or two to complete, but crocheting with these deliciously yummy colours has really lifted my spirits. In fact, the amount of energy and happiness I got from hooking these hearts in such lovely colours was just extraordinary.

I got the pattern from the very talented Bunny Mummy, although I did make it slightly differently (wrong actually!) as the patterns are written in US terms, and I made a mistake with the UK double treble, adding in an extra stitch! Oh well, it didn't seem to matter!

I do need to give it a bit of a iron, but I was so keen to see it up that I got a bit carried away. Not like me!!!

Crochet bunting and more....

Well, at last I seen to have more or less got the hang of this crochet thing, although I haven't yet finished my russian dolls - I have made all 4 but seem to have lost one of the faces! I think the embroidering of the eyes and mouth is putting me off a little, but that's the beauty of crochet - I can have several projects on the go, and pick them up as and when I am in the mood for them.

I have been particularly enthusiastic on the bunting making front, deciding that as I have Irish ancestors from the early 1800s, it would be just churlish not to celebrate St Patrick's day in an appropriate crochety way! I am rather pleased with it, and it didn't take too long. The fact that I made it at 2am in bed, is neither here nor there!

..and in it's St Patrick's day position, along with some heart bunting. I liked the hearts so much that I just couldn't take them down!

 My next project was to attempt a daffodil, following a pattern written by the lovely Lucy on her blog attic 24.  To be honest, I thought it was a little beyond my capabilities, so I was more than a little delighted at the result!

And finally, last night I finished my first Christmas decoration of the year ....I know, it's a bit early, but sooooo pleased with it! I just hope I get the enthusiasm to make some more before December, as it did take me a stupidly long time to complete.

Hope you like these and perhaps get inspired to do some hookying yourselves! Thank you for looking!

♥ ♥ ♥

A happy hooky holiday!

What a wonderful surprise I had the other day! It was a spectacularly warm and sunny day, and I returned from work with the intention of having a less freezing/wet/windy/foggy walk than usual with my lovely dog. I must admit walking the dog every day has been somewhat of a challenge this winter as the weather has been simply awful, but she enjoys it so much, and I always feel so good when I get home....anyway, I digress!

I got in to a message from my darling daughter - she had popped up to Wowo campsite at a farm near the Bluebell Railway, to stay in a shepherd's hut, and asked if I would like to join her. Well, having made pies for 6 hours, and looking forward to my 'weekend' -  a couple of days of nothing, I had to think about it. For a millisecond!! So, around two hours later, the dog was walked, I had asked my neighbour to look after her and my chickens for a day or two, I was packed and winging my way to another adventure.

Packing was....well....different! My major decision wasn't what clothes to take (none - just what I was wearing plus undies and socks!) but what colour wools to pack! A relaxing couple of hours crocheting was definitely on the agenda, and I couldn't seem to make my mind up what I would make. I am halfway through making a set of Russian dolls, but thought something a little simpler would be better, so packed lots of reds and pinks to make roses for a summery flowery wreath I have in mind. Plus, I couldn't resist it -I took my half made Russian dolls!

I may re-make the second one as it looks a bit teeny...I will see how I feel when all four are done.

I arrived at my destination, and although it had been 8 months since we stayed in the shepherd's hut, it felt like I had never left it! We decided to have a meal in a local pub, then came back and wiled away the evening relaxing and basking in the warmth of the log burner, and even managed to crochet a few teeny flowers for the spring tree, by candlelight.

In the morning when I woke, I was greeted with a freshly cooked bacon and egg sandwich brekky, and we ate outside by the stream. Astonishing to think of the howling gales and driving rain we had encountered here last June - it was really mild and the sky was so blue - and it's only February!

We found a sunny spot in the field, and took our wool with us and set up for a day finishing the crocheted twigs. We had been given a wide necked bottle for the display at the pub the previous night, and my daughter made a little cover for it, which looked very cute.  The day was completely idyllic, and the time flew past. Before we knew it, the sun was going down and it was getting chilly again.

So we returned to the warmth of our little hut, and apart from a quick dash to the compost loo, we were toasty warm again! In the evening, we popped out for a delicious takeway curry, then sadly, after a lovely evening, tucked up in bed for our final sleep in the hut. We did have our lovely twigs to enjoy for the evening though.

The next morning we left to return home, but gave our flowers to the lovely lady who runs the campsite. They were always intended for her, but we enjoyed both the making and looking at them too for a while! 

Bye for now Wowo, bye shepherd's hut, bye sunshine, bye stream, bye twigs.

Bye compost loo!!!

We'll be back xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A very strange day indeed!

Life has been somewhat full on over the last couple of weeks, culminating in an extremely challenging evening last night, so this morning, when I woke up, I decided  to cheer myself up by treating myself to a couple more chickens. Now most of my 6 chickens are rescues of some sort, either end of lay free range girls, or ex battery hens. They are also all knocking on a bit, and as most of my chooks seem to be heading for the 'henopause'  egg laying has become a rather hit and miss affair recently!

Firstly I had to decide whether to go to a poultry seller with many different varieties of chickens (mmm - tempting!) or whether to go locally for the much cheaper option. I decided to discuss it with my daughter, but it was a bit early, so thought I would wait an hour or two. So I walked the dog and popped into the farm shop over the road for some veg. I was 11p short, but as I work in their garden centre during the summer and they know me, they said I could drop it in later.

I contacted my daughter to see if she would come chicken buying with me, and we opted for the local option, and she and her partner picked me up. They wanted to visit the farm shop on the way, and I said I wanted to pay the  owed 11p so went in with them. That was when it all went a bit weird!

I came out with a new part time job. As a pie maker.

Hahahahahahahaha! How random was that?

We than went to buy the chickens, which I was treated to, and so I would like to introduce you to them. Meet Pudding and Pie!

What a strange day this has been. I have to keep reminding myself I am now a pie maker!!!