High Tea Floral

This is the second High Tea Floral Throw I have made and I still love it.  The pattern is designed by the very talented Jen Tyler from Hooks n Tales.  She is based in Cape Town, South Africa and designs the most amazing blankets and squares.

I wanted something completely different from my first one, so I chose colours from my living room and incorporated them into an essentially white blanket.

I didn't do this one all in one go as I had other projects on the go as well, so it took a little longer to finish than the first one.  She also gets very weighty, which is something you don't want on your lap in the middle of summer.

I am in awe of Jen's ability to put stitches and patterns together.  After making the round section I had no idea how she was going to be able to square it all off again.  But she did.

My favourite part is the border.  It is perfect for finishing off the whole look.

She is just about big enough to fit to the edges of our king size bed.  I'm sure she'll be nice and cosy in the winter.

My first one was a little more colourful.  She now lives in Norfolk with my mum-in-law, who loves her.

Me on Monday - 27 September 2021

It's been a while since my last "Me on a Monday".  Mainly because work has been so hectic, the last thing I've wanted to do is look at another screen when I get home.  I'm OK with popping in and out of blogging at the moment.  I don't  have to post every Monday with what I've been up to and that's OK.  The Thursday posts were written in the summer holidays and were meant to be the second post of the week, but it hasn't turned out that way.

In a nutshell this is what has happened in the last few weeks.............

Work has been hectic!

There was flooding locally, and where we live, made it onto the news, with the most rainfall in a single day.  Thankfully it only lasted one afternoon and not too many homes were damaged.

Hubby and I took a trip to Liverpool for the first time in 18 months.  I have to say, we haven't missed much.  Apart from a few more stores closing down, not much has changed.  No need to rush back!!

We have booked a short break to York for November.  One, so we can see our grandson and two, so we can celebrate our eldest's birthday.

Our grandson started school and seems to be loving it.

I have started my first Christmas blanket using the pattern from Attic24.  I'm loving the Christmassy colours.

We have been watching Vigil on TV.  Which is the best programme of the week.  Closely followed by All Creatures Great & Small.  Got to have our weekly dose of Yorkshire.

This weekend I turned 55 and celebrated by going to the hairdressers to get the grey covered and going out for a meal with friends.  Low key, no fuss.  Just how I like it. 

And that's all for now.

TTFN

Pumpkintastic

This year, for the first time we decided to grow a pumpkin.  We bought one small plant from the local garden centre and went home and put it in a pot.

It soon started to grow and we had lots of little pumpkins appearing.  Unfortunately when they got to a certain size the died off.  Hubby Googled all things pumpkin and found out that it meant that they weren't being pollinated properly.  The next time we had male and female flowers (who knew such a thing existed?) he mixed the two together and things began to take shape.

I watched closely over the next few weeks to see if it would grow.  And it did.

And it kept growing.

Until it was ready.

It's a little early for Halloween so I think next year we will start growing them a bit later.

Scottish Road Trip

Actually it was a Scottish flying trip.  The last time we drove up, the weather was awful and the traffic was so busy that we said we wouldn't drive up again.  This year after flying and it not taking any less time or being any less stressful we decided that next time we would drive!!  Next time though we're going to split the drive over two days and see a bit of the Scottish borders on our way up.

The main reason for going, was to see friends who we haven't seen for two years (facetime doesn't count).

Oh my goodness I can't tell you how much it meant to actually hug these people once again.  I have missed their company so much.  We couldn't have managed without them all when we first came back from Houston.  They are a blessing.  They are our family.

We were only there for 5 days but there was so much laughter and joy I didn't want to leave them to come home.

We stayed up late chatting, we walked the dog around the Gordon Lennox estate, where used to walk Moss.

We made homemade pizza, in the pizza oven Mrs B's son built and met up with more friends. We walked along the beach at Cullen, we went out for a meal with friends and had a get together with my friends family.  We had hoped to get a pancake from Baxter's café but the visitor's centre has been closed permanently, after having to close due to the pandemic.

Hubby and his pal popped to the shop for more wine and came back via his pal's old stomping ground in Buckie, whilst I spent the day with my friend Mrs S and her hubby.  It was so nice to catch up with them both.  Mr S is having some health issues at the moment so it was good to see him looking well.

All to soon it was time to fly home.  Plans have been made for a visit, from some of the Scottish Office, to us in October and I'm already planning next years trip.

I count myself very lucky to have friends like these.

BASC Game Fair - Ragley Hall

On our first night at the lodge we found ourselves having dinner in the pub.  As you do when it's only a five minute walk down the lane.

We hadn't planned anything for the weekend so we surfed the net and found that the BASC Game Fair was being held that weekend at Ragley Hall.  It holds claim to being the largest Game Fair in the world and we could see why.

About a 2 hour trip from the lodge we made our way through beautiful villages and countryside to Ragley Hall.  

It was enormous and I mean enormous.  We've been to quite a few game fairs over the years but never anything on that scale.

There was everything from falconry to gundogs, ferrets to fishing plus any other outdoor country pursuits you could think of.

We messaged the Younger Male and asked him which colour Labrador he would like.  He of course said black.

Considering that there were approx 30,000 visitors over the three days, we didn't feel closed in or squashed.  The stall were close together but didn't seem to be full.  We got our lunch early to beat the rush and found a grassy place to sit and enjoy a coffee and cake.

My favourite thing of the day (apart from the Labradors) was the sculptures.  There are some really talented people out there.  It's a shame everything was well out of our price range.

 

I'm already looking at places to stay for next year.  

Me on a Monday - 6 September 2021

Here we are again.  Back on a Monday.

Last week had two days left of the summer holidays then it was back to work on Wednesday.  By Friday I was thinking, "What six weeks holidays?"

I met my friend Miss M, in Waterstones, on Saturday for a long overdue catch up.  It's been two years since we met for a cuppa and it was as if we'd only seen each other last week.  That's a true friendship.

Thank you to the lovely staff in Waterstone's coffee shop who didn't mind us sitting there for four hours!! 

Have a great week.

TTFN.

Croft Castle

Whilst we were away in Shropshire we thought we'd make the most of our National Trust membership and visit a local castle.

Croft Castle is about half an hour from the lodge in the village of Yarpole in Herefordshire.  It has a long and varied history dating back to the Doomsday book in 1085.

You can read more about the Croft family here. 

Built in the 17th century, the medieval fortress was destroyed in 1645 but the main house survived.

The medieval church of St Michael and All Angels was built in approx 1300.

The croft family lost their home in 1746 but bought it back 177 years later.

There is a huge parkland with lots of trails to explore and a three acre walled garden which is looked after by two gardeners.

Considering it was the summer holidays when we went, it was very quiet.  Lots of time to explore before stopping for tea and scones.