Vintage Pattern

My choice of pattern today is linked to the fact that my niece had a new baby daughter 3 weeks ago 7 weeks early.  She was quite poorly to start but after 3 short weeks she is out of hospital and reunited with her wonderful Mummy and Daddy. To that end I chose a baby pattern which although old is still quite usable and contains both knitting and crochet patterns.

It is a Baby Collection by Robin, the original price just 20p and is illustrated both in colour and black and white. 

 

The back cover depicts a pram rug and a cot cover, which I love.  The bright colours of the squares makes it such a delight so I am putting it on my to do list.

 

The matinee coat is also delightful and would still be on trend today, lots of shops are selling this style of baby coat at the moment.

 

This is a little old fashioned now but I crocheted this many years ago for my eldest daughter who is now 30 years old.  That was definitely a blast from the past.

 

Another crochet shawl which would be a quick make and still usable in this day and age.

 

Do bootees, mittens and such go out of fashion? 

 

I enjoy sharing my vintage patterns, hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  A very warm welcome to my new followers and a big thank you for all the lovely comments that you leave.  I really do enjoy hearing from you.

 

See you soon.

 

 

Sunday Afternoon Tea

We still have a Sunday roast, today it was roast chicken and all the trimmings, roast potatoes, roast parsnip, green beans and broad beans, broccoli, carrots, celery and gravy.  The green beans and broad beans were a particular delight having come out of the freezer originally from our garden a wonderful taste of the summer so recently gone by.

We have had quite a lazy day pottering in and around the garden enjoying the warmth of the day and playing with the dogs.  Truly enjoying and appreciating each others company.  We started to discuss our collection of Royal Albert china and how sad it was that after 30 years of collecting it was hardly ever used.  Family have bought us pieces as gifts over the years until we finally had everything including, glasses, cutlery even casserole dishes and vases.  A beautiful pattern Country Roses that we both still love.

So today was the day we decided to use it more and appreciate its beauty and the love that each piece represented, as each piece was given to us as gifts over the years.  We do much the same with our Christmas decorations remembering each piece and what they represent as we decorate for the season.  So it was afternoon tea in all its glory.

The sandwiches were salmon and mayonnaise, beef and wholegrain mustard garnished with cucumber, celery and the last of the home grown tomatoes.

The cake was a carrot cake with a cream cheese topping and walnut pieces.  Of course there were scones it wouldn't be afternoon tea without them, we didn't have the jam and cream that would have been too indulgent.

Crisps and chedders just because...

Served up on a stand that was bought to display cup cakes at our eldest daughters wedding bringing back more lovely memories.

 

Do you have a collection of china stuck in a cupboard or is it out and used everyday?

 

See you soon.

 

Autumn Pursuits

The temperatures dropped yesterday and both my husband and I felt quite cold so we lit the stove for the first time this season.   Autumn is here and the wonderful pursuits that go with it. It is such an uplifting thing to do, the joy that we both get from watching the dancing flames and the heat our little stove belts out makes it an all round enjoyable experience.  We love putting the kettle on the stove and making tea, there is nothing nicer  than afternoon tea in front of the fire and sharing it with loved ones.

There is always a down side to anything wonderful.  The downside to a wonderful fire is that it needs cleaning out the next morning, thank goodness I didn't have to do it.

 

I have been working away today on a secret mission for the wedding that I cannot share yet.  I have also been working on some napkin rings for some little gifts. 

I covered the ring with some green fabric and then using the glue gun, glued leaves/poinsettias/Christmas roses onto the ring.

Quite a simple but overall effective napkin ring.  To finish using jute twine I have tied them in twos to be given as gifts.

A very productive morning, even if I do say so myself. 

 

The garden is slowly been cleared, bed by bed, pot by pot in readiness for its deep sleep over the autumn and winter months.  The falling leaves are already causing a problem on the patio, once they are wet it is very slippery and can be quite dangerous.   Another job that never seems to end, clearing the leaves but one that brings back lots of lovely memories of leaf printing with my daughters making wreaths and such in readiness for Christmas.  I must remember to do that with my beautiful Grandchildren.

 

All in all a good day, hope yours was too.

 

See you soon.

Yarn Along

It is quite a dreary day here on the East Coast of England.  Overcast with occasional showers and the temperatures have dropped so it feels a lot cooler than it has of late.  It is lovely sat looking out over the field watching various birds and creatures come and go.  Unfortunately they are too quick for me as soon as I get the camera they have disappeared.

I love the thrill of a new project and a new book, so I am blessed this week I have both.  I have finished the granny squares for the cushion they need stitching/crocheting together and finishing off.  I have started another cushion using the yarn I managed to buy off a car boot sale at a bargain price.

I love the colours, I am just not a fan of acrylic but I do think it would be ideal for when the children are around as it washes so well.

I have just started to read About Grace by Anthony Doerr so I haven't formed an opinion yet.  The reviews are quite good so I am looking forward to putting my feet up and getting started.

 

Two new things, a new project and a new novel, that should keep me going for a couple of days.

 

Once again joining gsheller.com/2014/09/yarn-along-195 Ginny over at Small Things for the yarn along.  Looking forward to seeing what is on your needles/hook.

 

See you soon.

Albums and Pumpkins

Continuing on from yesterdays post I spent another couple of hours today sorting through photographs and making some cheap albums more fitting for my craft room.  I have covered them with Harris Tweed and made a heart embellishment to finish them off.  They are now fit for purpose for my prince's and princess's albeit the grandchildren.  I made a lot of the toppers so I have some ready to make some notecards a very useful thing around here for lots of purposes.

I am always so impressed by the variety of patterns/colours of tweed available.  I am running low on stock of Harris Tweed as I haven't visited the islands for over a year.  It is hoped that we will be moving there shortly.

I was impressed how easy covering these inexpensive albums were and how effective they now look. 

 

I spent some time reading blogs that I like to follow and clicked onto fleachic.blogspot.co.uk/ where I was totally inspired by some thrift shop pumpkins that she had come across.  What a great idea I thought and spent the next hour or so sorting out a couple of old jumpers and got to it.  Drum roll please....and here you have it two jumper pumpkins in place by the front door. 

Perfect for the first day of Autumn.

 

See you soon.

Scrapbook Sunday

We got up this morning to a very wet and gloomy morning, the forecast was for a bright warm day.  I suppose they can't get it right all of the time but it would be nice if they got it right now and again.

Moan over I spent some quality time with my parents and chatting to my family on the phone and then had a couple of hours working on the children's scrapbook, (the Grandchildren's that is).  I intend to sort out the surplus photographs and make an album for each child.  I will share that with you when I have finished the project.

In the meantime here is the first scrapbook page showing Wilbur's first day at Nursery...he was a brave little soldier and seemed to enjoy it. 

Next up is a page of Bertie when we met up for the day at Spalding.

Finally the last two pages are of Lily and Daisy as two beautiful ballerinas, getting ready for their dance class that they seem to enjoy so much.

A very pleasant couple of hours spent sifting through photographs, reminiscing and chatting about past events.  Wondering where the time as gone and how quickly the children have grown.  How wonderful it is to be blessed with family.

 

See you soon.

Car Boot Treasure

 

I had a lovely stroll around Stickney Car Boot sale this morning, which was quite a large one considering the overcast sky and the predicted rain forecast.  Luckily it didn't rain and we had a lovely stroll chatting to my Mum as we wandered.  We also bumped into my niece and her family and caught up with all the family news so that was quite nice.

 

I got really lucky with a big bag of apples for 50p that since arriving home has been made into 4 bags of apple sauce for the freezer.

 

I also bought carrots for 50p from a man who had surplus from his allotment so that was a good find and enough there to freeze some for stews as well.

 

I got a big bag of kindling for £2 perfect for the stove and I thought a really good price.

 

10 die cast vehicles for £1 was next on the list, perfect to top the car box up as the Grandchildren take a few home every time they visit.

 

We stumbled across a stall selling craft things that had once been sold in a craft shop that had stopped trading, a very busy stall as you can imagine.  I managed to secure some yarn and buttons, I know I didn't need either but (there is always a BUT) the price was too good to walk away from.  The yarn was 50p per ball.  Could you have walked away? 

 

I then paid 50p for 3 odd balls of grey Aran...bargain!

 

The buttons were Minnie Mouse wooden buttons that I fell in love with and perfect to use on a red cushion which is what I have in mind for the red wool.

 

Finally some Christmas paper chains, perfect for the Grandchildren to do if visiting near Christmas and at a bargain price of 10p.

 

All in all some wonderful bounty,  some wonderful company and a healthy stroll, what could be better?

 

See you soon.

Indoor Autumn Preperation

I have been really good with preparations indoors this year and have started ticking off the list already.  I must exercise some self discipline and finish the outside jobs.  I went shopping this morning and ticked off two things on the list, a kindling bucket and candles.  A more distinct Autumn smell and colour was needed.  The kindling has already been sourced and stored.

I need to make an appointment to get the boiler serviced, it has a full service history so it would be a shame to let that go.

 

The quilts on the beds need to be changed from summer weight to a heavier tog and  then as the season gets cooler the sheets changing to flannelette from cotton.  I have already added blankets/throws to the end of the beds to use as and when.

Summer hats need to be stored away and replaced with cold weather hat/scarves/gloves.  I already have the perfect place to store them so that should be an easy job.

Some of the throws on sofas/chairs need to be changed or added to give a more Autumnal feel and to use to wrap napping children.

Some new floral arrangements need to be made to replace some of the summer offerings.

The biggest job of all is to sort out the wardrobes, changing the seasonal clothing over and getting rid of clothes that I no longer wear.  The hardest job of all is to sort out the shoes, I am a great fan of the summer flip flop and sandal.

 

A couple of hours making a few Autumn décor alterations and I should be done.  I wish I could say the same about the outside.  How are your preparations coming along?

 

See you soon.