Weather

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not!

It's been a funny old week. On Monday it snowed all day but didn't lay properly 'til 6pm, by 9.30pm we had been notified by school that Tuesday would be a snow day.

We spent it wrapped up cosy at home, I was busy knitting, Em was doing art work and Tony was working from home. Late morning the sun came out and melted all the snow. 

Wednesday was back to normal but we had an activity day at school, this meant that some students were out on trips to Brighton, Goodwood Sculpture Park, Arundel, London - Love Through the Ages Poetry conference, Lion King and Solihul to visit Landrover. Others were taking part in school based activities: Business enterprize day, Disability Awareness and coursework catch-up for the year 11's.

Friday was comic relief dress up in the 1980's - Most of the staff were in costume and students came in 1980's costume or home clothes.

Knitting completed this week for Easter decorations are two sheep from Jean Greenhowe's Christmas Special booklet. Having made the cream one I had to try something different, so mimicking the sheep of the South Downs I made one with black face and legs, then for a change used some oddments of King Cole Splash so sheep looks as though she has been touched by the rainbow.

Finally tomorrow would have been my Grans birthday, she died in 1991 but I still think of her often, she taught me how to knit, she spent many hours knitting beautiful cardigans for me to wear to school and at home. She was a very skilled knitter and could knit a pair of sock for my father quite quickly. She once showed me how to unravel an old hand knit sweater to gently steam the curly wool straight again for knitting, how to lengthen the sleeves on a jumper, to knit an outfit for my doll as part of my primary school needlework classes. She stopped knitting when her eyesight began to fail due to the muscle in her eye not working properly. I also love, crochet and sewing which my Mum taught me. I taught myself how to cross stitch from books borrowed from the library.

Hope you have a good week Jane xx

Time has Flown Again

I hadn't realised it was so long since I last posted but I have been busy knitting.

Earlier in the year I knitted a rainbow cosy for my little teapot I use at work. Everyone admires when they see it on my desk and it makes me smile because it is so bright and cheery.

At the end of the summer holidays I finished the ripple lap blanket off that I had started a few years back. I love it because it keeps my legs and feet warm in the winter whilst watching the tv. I made it using the ripple pattern from the crochet stitches book I have and the yarn is the DK baby wool i had left over and wanted to use up.

In November I made a  cowl for Em, the first one in King Cole red aran yarn from a pattern on Ravelry

Then i crocheted a cowl in purple also for Em. This one was an adaptation of the Purl Bee pattern I started with double the starter chain and used two balls of King Cole yarn similar to Galaxy but without the sequins. It was an acrylic yarn which didn't tickle.

My final piece for this post is the beautiful Owl Sweater from a pattern by Kate Davies which can be found on Ravelry click on the word pattern above to follow the link. Em decided although she loved the eyes for the Owls that they would catch on everything including her hair as it is quite long now.

 That's all for now, back soon I hope

Jane

Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!

Half term is here and school and College are on hold, time to kick back and take it easy. Late mornings, lazing about the house -well mostly as Tony still has to work. Saturday was spent in Dorset visiting family, Sunday was a lazy day with a visit to the cinema in the evening to see 007's latest movie Skyfall. Outstanding film and loved every action packed minute Daniel Craig was everything one expects James Bond to be.

With the arrival of the cooler weather here my yearning to knit has returned. I finished off a lovely ripple scarf which I knitted in Regia Sock yarn. Presently I am crocheting a ripple blanket for me to use in the evenings whilst watching tv. Today we have a house full of teenagers celebrating halloween with scary movies, costumes and pizzza. Just off to warm up the pizzas. Happy Halloween Jane x

Tempus Fugit

Time flies when you are having fun! Since I last posted we spent the summer holidays visiting my parents in Dorset.  Then we drove to Paris to visit Tony's family, they took us on a day trip to Rouen and saw the Grand Horlorge. in paris we visited the Trocadero and its museum opposite the Eiffle Tower with our cousins.
At the end of our five day stay we brought Auntie back to England to stay with us for two weeks. We visited Brighton - The Royal Pavilion and the shops, also London to see the sights and visit Harrods, many places and villages across Sussex too.

After we had safely delivered Auntie back to the Eurostar train to return home to Paris, we flew off across to Italy. We spent a week in Florence, Italy which was wonderful. The daily temperature was between 33-36 degrees, the sun was glorious after all the weeks of rain soaked summer back home.  We retreated inside each day around lunchtime/early afternoon to cool off and rest before returning to the streets in the late afternoon. We visited all the sights, ate delicious food, we browsed the many shops, took far too many photos but we had a wonderful time.  Back soon Jane x

Oh No It Hasn't Gone Away (the rain)

We seem to have become Eeyore like, in so far as we have a permanent rain cloud stuck over the UK. Many parts of theses Isles are suffering awful floods and the mess and loss that goes with it, but as usual the British sense of grit and determination to get on with it and enjoy the "summer" come what may has surfaced.

One of the girls at work is leaving at the end of this week so we went out for a day last Saturday, we stopped for lunch in the Ship Inn at Itchenor. Then we boarded a friends boat and he sailed us around Chichester Harbour. We had such fun in spite of the weather and we filled the day with lots of happy memories.
Nearly time for the summer holidays which we have lots of plans for, see you soon. Jane x

Rain, Rain Go Away.

After the excitement of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee ( I watched every moment of the TV coverage) life has plodded on punctuated by rare moments of sunshine. Most of the rest of the world is intrigued by the English obsession with the weather, and our obsession at the moment is when the sun will return. We are now officially fed-up with all this rain and the flooding it brings.

June half term we spent Thursday up in London and went to Leicester Square and found M & M's World it was amazing, Chocolate and Peanut heaven with lots of funny photo oportunities.

Today is our village fete and i am hoping it will be dry and sunny as I am running a coconut shy with the Guides and Rangers. Hopefully back soon Jane x

Spring time and Stitching

Spring has arrived and with it the promise of warm sunny days, Em is studying for her GCSE's or Secondary school certificates this summer. My stitching mojo wandered off for a few months having been over worked last summer, but it is slowly returning. I have picked my way through a cross stitch heart for a special friend. I have finished off a little owl cushion which I started with intentions of it being a birthday present but it wasn't finished in time. Currently I am working on a cross stitch sampler for Em which we designed together for her 16th Birthday. Not long to go to the Easter Break, I just hope that the good weather holds and yet we desperately need rain. See you soon, Jane