Sunday @ Home

Last Sunday was a day of activity for all in the Lee household.  Most of it centred around the garden or the shed.  Who says we don't live the high life around here?
First there was putting the washing out in the sun.  It was a case of sun, no sun, sun, no sun (you get the idea)

Whilst that was out drying I made brownies

The boys tidied the small shed.  John needed somewhere for the winter tyres which have only just come off the car !

I pottered around the house tidying things away whilst the boys made stuff in the big shed.

John came in and made fruit tarts for dessert.

Then we decided to put up the greenhouse which we found in the shed.  I thought I'd have a go at growing some tomatoes this year.  The thing was the weather decided it had other ideas and it started to hail half way through construction.  All was abandoned until next weekend when we can finish it off and get some plants in.

I thought we had some Great Tits back in both those boxes this year but I haven't seen them for a day or two and I'm wondering if they've had a better offer somewhere else.

How was your weekend?

Hanging Hearts

I'm in the middle of a colour change in the bathroom.  It's been five years since we put the new bathroom in and I felt that a change was a good as a rest.  Out has gone the lime green and in it's place is blue with splashes of red.
I looked for bits and pieces to dot around the place.  I found these for £6.00 on the Next website.

and thought " I could do that".  So I looked out some re-cycled fabric, bought one or two small pieces of material in my local craft shop and dug out some old buttons and made these whilst waiting for supper last night.  They now hang from the shelf in the bathroom.

I'm not sure how much they cost to make but the fabric that's left over is big enough to make another 30 or so bunches

Hello Monday

Hello to finding out "Who dunnit" in Broadchurch (the best thing on TV recently).  Both John and I think it's young Tom but then I've never been much of a detective so I'm probably way off the mark.

Hello to the Teenager taking his first exam (Art) on Wednesday.
Hello to the same Teenager being in his last full week in S4 before taking his exams and becoming a 5th year.  It seems like five minutes since he started school.
Hello to taking Moss to get his claws trimmed.
Hello to a well earned manicure at the weekend.
Hello to the Teenager going back to clay pigeon shooting lessons now the weather is warmer
Hello to having the car one day this week so I can do a bit of retail therapy.
Hello to paying for our holiday accommodation.  Not long now :0)
Hello to possibly joining the local bowls club.  They're looking for new members and my friend Karen asked if I'd like to come along :0)

How's your week shaping up?

Simply a Moment - April 13

Monday 15 April 2013 - 11.55am

It's quiet at last.
It's been a really busy morning.
Today is the first day back at school/work after the Easter holidays.
It's time to sit in the peace & quiet and eat lunch.
No kids asking for exam timetables or lost property.  No calls for first aid.  No missing locker keys or misplaced PE kits.
Just the sound of the fan, the wind through the ceiling vents and the odd car travelling along the road outside.
It's lunchtime for me.
It's my quiet time whilst everyone else is in class.
I'm the only one here.
Time to read or gaze out of the window.

Read more Simple moments over at Trimming the Sails with Alexa.

My Sunday

Yesterday was the only really lovely day we've had over the entire Easter Holidays.  And in true form it happened the day before we went back to school/work.

In the morning the Teenager had his room blitzed from top to toe, I did some baking and John sprayed a radiator.  Exciting or what?

Later once the sun had moved into the back garden I got the gloves on and did some tidying up.  I always think that once the garden is tidy and you can sit outside in it it's like having an extra room in your house.
Moss, the ever lazy Labrador didn't even move when I cut back the ivy.  There was no way he was moving from the only sunny spot he's seen in a long time.

The only thing blooming at the moment is a pot of miniature daffodils.  They certainly do add that little bit of colour to a very drab back "Yarden".

John came out and cut back his apple tree.  He tried to give me a lesson in pruning it but I gave up listening after the first "Cut here" LOL !

Time to take Moss for a walk

and a swim in the pond

Then home for a well earned glass of ice cold cider and a sit in the sunshine (no jacket required).

How was your weekend?

Paper Hearts

After doing the housework and shopping this morning I sat down with a frothy coffee and Steve Wright on the radio and made some paper hearts.  I'd found the idea on Google images and thought "I can do that".

Easy peasy.
Four hearts - different sizes. (I used 4.5 Inch, 4.25 inch, 3.5 inch & 3 inch)
Two card, two paper (the original had printed paper but I suppose you could use patterned if you wanted.)
One button
One bit of string
One quote (optional)
Glue

Draw some lines around each heart then layer them card, paper, card, paper.   Add the string, quote and the button and hey presto.  I added my string in between the two big hearts just so you don't see it on the back.

The original one I saw had machine stitched lines around each heart but drawing them is just as effective.

Is it Spring yet?

The sun has finally put in an appearance today and for more than five minutes. :0)

I hope the sun is shining where you are.

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

Anthony J. D'Angelo

A bit of baking

Brownies.........

Pineapple upside down cake........

Mmmmmm !  Yummy  :0)

A silly 10 on the 10th

This is the first time in 2013 that I've done 10 Things on the 10th so I thought I'd do a silly one.
Whilst I was tidying up my photos I found these I'd taken way back in 2009.  My mum had bought the "Nearly a Teenager" a little ceramic man which, when watered, grew grass as hair.  He was "Too Old" for such things so I grew him instead  :0)

 1::  First hair

2::  Strange that I have one long hair and hardly any others.

 3::  That odd length hair really does need cutting

 4:: I'm not having my hair cut.  I'm growing it.

 5::  Still not getting it cut.  So there.

 6::  Na na na na na.  I'm rebelling.

 7::  Simon Cowell is my hero.  (too much X-Factor I think)

 8::  OK so maybe that was just a phase I was going through.

 9::  I promise I'll keep it shorter from now on.

  10::  What?  This is short.                                              
                                            

I give up trying to get teenage boys to get their hair cut.  Anyone else have that problem?


I hope you enjoyed my 10 Things on the 10th.  I'm not sure if Shimelle is still doing 10 on the 10th but you can always pop over an take a look just in case

Holiday crochet

I'm so pleased that I've been able to finish this cushion.  I started it before Christmas and then it got put to one side while I finished other long forgotten projects :0)

I made my favorite granny Square from my "101 Granny Squares" book using the colours from my ripple blanket.

The front is made up of 16 sqaures in four colour combinations.  It took me a while to figure out what went where but I think it turned out OK in the end.

The back is another favourite Granny Sqaure but I just continued with double crochet rows till it was the same size as the front.

I'm pretty chuffed with how it's turned out and now I'm planning on finishing the blanket I started last year too !

Hello Monday

Hello, hello, hello.

This week it's....

Hello to the second week of the Easter holidays.
Hello to doing some necessary housework!
Hello to John having a phone interview on Wednesday.
Hello to the Teenager doing some revision.

Hello to doing some baking.
Hello to doing some crafting.
Hello to some nicer weather. So far this week we've had beautiful sunshine, snow, hail and sleet. Er Hello it is Spring you know  :0)

I hope you're all having a good week.

Crochet 101

I've finally finished crocheting together some of the 101 Granny Squares I made in 2010.  I'd un-picked it several times over the last few years and then abandoned it all together last year.  It wasn't quite as easy as I thought trying to sew together different sizes and shapes (funny that hey?)

Anyway after much huffing and moaning that it wasn't right, I've managed to finish one small blanket.

I started off laying the squares out to see what fit where.

 There were quite a few to choose from.

and eventually I stitched enough together to make a small square which I then edged and added some scallops.

It looks quite nice draped over the sofa.

I've still got quite a lot of squares left over but I'm not quite sure what to do with them yet.  Any suggestions?

A day out

Yesterday........

the Teenager and I took the train through to Aberdeen as he had an orthodontic appointment.

We travelled past hills that still had a lot of snow on them.

We spent a while looking for some new jeans.  Not easy to find a 29" waist with a 34" inside leg.  It seems if you have long legs you should have a big waist!!!  Luckily for me the Teenager is not into brands or expensive clothing.  He likes what he likes and if it only cost £8 then so be it (I've taught him well).  We ended up in Primark where we managed to get 1 pair of normal jeans and 2 pairs of coloured.  He's happy, I'm happy and I'm glad I don't have to take him shopping again for a long time.  He's a fussy person to buy for lol :0)

We went for his appointment and were in there 10 minutes but left with the good news that his fixed brace can come off at the next available appointment.  Unfortunately as there were no spaces left for next week he's having to wait until May as I can't get the time off work to take him any sooner and he'll be in the middle of his exams.  He's pleased as that's a whole 6 months earlier than thought.  He'll have to wear a retainer for a while but it won't be long till there will be no more 5 hour trips for 10 minutes appointments.

Photo from Google

We had lunch in Pizza Hut in Union Square where the Teenager actually had a conversation with his mother.  I know.  Who knew that teenagers could speak to their parents with out the embarrassment factor?  We had a laugh about some of the clothes we'd seen today and decided what we would do for the 4 hours in between his appointments next time we come through.  He also managed to eat his 14" pizza in record time so we could get the earlier train home.

Photo from Google

All in all it was a good day and it's nice to know that I'm not too embarrassing to be seen out with :0)

Hello Monday

Yes I know it's Tuesday again but yesterday was a very lazy TV/crochet day and I couldn't be bothered with putting a post together.  How bad is that?

Anyway this week it's....

Hello to the first full week of the Easter holidays.  This is the first time in I don't know how many years that we aren't we are going away or have visitors.
Hello to a trip to Aberdeen with the Teenager for the orthodontist.  Hopefully not too many more trips to go.
Hello to John having a few days off this week and us getting out and about.

Hello to seeing a bit more sunshine.  It was actually out yesterday.
Hello to doing some Weight Watchers baking and cooking.  I love baking but as both John and I are watching what we're eating just now I thought I'd try the lighter side of baking instead   :0)
Hello to a night out with friends on Saturday.  I'm really looking forward to that as we haven't all been out together for months.  (Weight Watchers will have to take a back seat that night.)  LOL :0)