Let's go on a nature hunt!

Little Miss doesn't return to Nursery until this coming Monday, so I've been trying to balance my days between getting back into the school-run routine with Little man and completing house hold chores (and a little bit of knitting/crochet thrown in!) with playing and entertaining her.

She is a natural at self-play, and is a joy to watch as she makes up whole games for her toys and uses different voices for all of them.

This morning however, I needed to get out!
Across the road from us there is a stretch of woodland, which breaks up our estate. The children affectionately refer to is as "The Jungle".
With a small bag to collect any treasures found, a very excited Little Miss and I made our way up the hill towards the trees...

 and we found ourselves surrounded by glorious woodland...

Instantly there were things to find...berries and beautifully constructed webs...(I used to be scared of these as a child but appreciate their delicacy and technicality as an adult)...

and a solitary Comma butterfly, whom I'm sure was just posing!...

Blossoms on the black berry bushes and Hedge Bindweed

Little Miss was very happy to find a Dandelion flower and thrilled to discover two Magpie feathers. We have a Magpie that keeps coming to our bird table to steal all the mealworms - although I'm sure its not the same one all the time, the children recognise "him" and refer to him as "Mr Greedy"!

We followed several little trails to see where they led. It would appear there are others whoms homes back onto this lovely woodland who are keen to leave bits out for the wildlife, whether its a man-made home or some water...

I hoped these little trails, which looked like they may have been made by hedgehogs, might lead us to find one....

Unfortunately, the only one we found, once at the top of the woodland and in the clearing, were the remains of one poor soul...

Although it was very sweet when Little Miss declaired "Oh no Mummy! He is broken! He must be in Heaven now!" Bless.

So after a quick spot of hide-and-seek...

(Honestly, she couldn't understand why I was laughing so much!)

...We came back home and made a collage of all she had found...

Happy days! Now time for a spot of lunch!
Thank you for taking the time to get through all that!

Thats all for now. Until next time, you take care now x

A Jumper fit for a Dog

I have been steaming away on my Happy Ripple over the last 10 days or so.
I was thinking I had nothing to show you in the mean time, but was wrong!

About a two weeks ago, my sister asked me to re-produce a jumper I had knitted for her dog, Teddy. The last one I made him, he loved, but started to out-grow and when my sister washed it, she decided (in all her "wisdom") to dry it....in the microwave.....

So, the jumper was no more. I had two days to kill whilst I waited for two news balls of Stylecraft to be delivered as I ran out for my blanket (they were two colours I added to the colours Hubs bought me and I only had a bit left to start with). And as the colder months are now fast approaching, I figured now as good a time as any!

Therefore I made her, or rather him, a new jumper!..

The pattern is from an old leaflet I ordered years ago...not sure why I ordered it to be honest! But he loves it so that's all that matters! It might look a little snug, but its fine...he is just very fluffy!

That's all for now. Until next time, you take care now  x

Turning Leaves Cardigan...Tah-da!

I actually finished this about two weeks ago, but it was a few days before I got the buttons for it and another week until I got around to sewing them on!!

But after nearly a year (!), this cardigan is FINALLY finished! I first wrote about this cardigan in January this year and you can read it here. It was a real slow burner; spits and spats were done at a time and then left for weeks.

It got to a point where I just couldn't justify getting more yarn for a new project, knowing full well that I still had this to finish.... But I am so pleased with it!

The pattern info and link can be found  here on Ravelry , and the style is that oh-so-cool "boyfriend cardi" look. I don't do cool, so I will just plump for "slouch"!

I will, however, go as far as to say it is SUPER comfy and I'm really looking forward to using it to wrap up warm in this autumn/winter time! Good old Stylecraft Special DK comes through again!

That's all for now. Until next time, you take care now x

Happy Ripple....WIP

I wont write much to go along side this post, but just to say that my Happy Ripple, is indeed a very happy ripple!
Im just over 2 repeats in and loving the flow and the up and downs of the waves of this blanket....I will let the photos speak for themselves....

The colours are:
Stylecraft Special DK:

cream: 1005 

apricot: 1026 

candyfloss: 1130 

fondant:1241 

raspberry: 1023 

lipstick: 1246 

citron:1268 

lemon: 1020 

meadow:1065 

aspen:1422 

turquoise: 1068 

sherbet: 1034

Thats all for now. Until next time, you take care now x

Summer Holibops

Warning; this is going to be photo heavy!!

I have really been enjoying the last couple of weeks of the holidays and feeling like the kids are too!

Now, normally, I wouldnt post pictures of the children, but as this post involves them a lot, they will be making a couple of appearances!

We have been practicing on their bikes...which meant also Little Man could take his stabilizers off and have a go at "proper" bike riding...and he did very well!

We also got a chance to get out the kites we had bought ages ago and had a whale of a time with them!

 They also played on the bight and colourful climbing frames and had a go on the craziest round about I have ever witnessed! It went up and down, side to side and round and round!

The Zip line was also a great treat - even I had a go! Well, who could resist?!

After all that excitement, we have been at home the last day and a bit, colouring, playing, making and, of course, lots of dressing up!

We have also had a couple of extra fluffies staying with us! My sister's two rabbits, Blue and Pepper (who look soooooo much like my two, Sky and Marshall - at the back of the photo) are staying with us whilst she moves home...a whole 3 doors up the road from us!

 Their new hutch isn't arriving until Tuesday, so we have them until then. Cuteness over load!

Finally, I have had little scraps of time to make a real go on my ripple....I'm calling it my "Happy Ripple", because it genuinely makes me feel happy each time I look at it! I will post more info on it in a couple more days as I want it to grow a bit more :-)

Thats all for now. Until next time, you take care now x

Colour Happy

I am in a very colourful mood at the minute!

I tried to stay "sensible" and keep to pastel tones and calming colours. It didn't last. I. Need. Colour!
And lots of it!

Lets start with the cupcakes I made with the rugs rats at the weekend...yum! yum!

Then lets look at my new/recycled wool boxes for the new stack of Stylecraft Special DK that Mr Blossom Trees soooooo sweetly bought me!

It made me want to sort out all my crochet things as I'm a bit "knitted-out" at the minute! So I searched in about 15 different places until I found all my coloured crochet hooks and put them in a jar to show off/locate easily!

This shelving unit also seemed the perfect place to keep my Granny Stripe blanket for the mean time, before it gets finished....

Although the wool from Hubs was a very sweet pressie, it doesn't consist of all the colours I need to finish the Granny Stripe...so naturally I had to play with the colours to make a new blanket!...Ripple this time!

It took me about three false starts before I decided I'm only happy with rainbow colours!!!

So these are the colours I've chosen for the new Rainbow Ripple....

When I show off the ripple (so far) in a couple of days time, I will list the colours then!

And finally, I wanted to show you the photos I took yesterday of my mum-in-laws garden. It just looks amazing!

 Happy colours everyone!
Thats all for now. Until next time, you take care now x

Little Happies

The Summer Holibops are in full swing at the Blossom Trees residence! Lazy mornings and films and playing in the garden and friends coming around and lots of pancakes (only because I've perfected them now!)

...Lots of fun!

And lots of little happies to show you!...

The very clever and amazingly talented Mr Blossom Trees as finished the hallway radiator cover to match the hallway table he made!...

...So pleased with our entrance hall now! It could do with a fresh lick of paint, but for now, it is lovely and just what I wanted.

I also bought a few new garden-ey things! Lots of bulbs and seeds for next year, some new gloves and a couple of new tools...

Only the Daffodils can be planted now for next spring, so that has been done. The rest are patiently waiting their turn next year to be planted! It will take a couple of years but I'm so looking forward to having a beautiful, flower-filled garden!

The next Happy, is from this old friend; that today has been washed and placed on our bed...

I haven't picked this up in so long! Its made with Stylecraft Special DK yarn. I am GOING TO get some more of this as FINISH IT!!!....I have pre-warned Hubby! For another one of the 17 colours (yes really!), that I have used in making this, it will come to about £27. Not bad really! That should be enough for the rest of the blanket and the edging. I could have got so much further with this blanket if I hadn't diverted off onto so many different projects!

I have now fished my Boyfriend cardi (HOORAY!!!), but as its yet to have its buttons on, I will hold off the reveal until a later date!

That's all for now. Until next time, you take care now x