Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)    

Not a lot going on...

...mostly just crochet, to be honest 😏

I came down with a cold a couple of weeks back, and didn't start to really feel better until this last weekend.  It seems to have been just one "health" thing after another this year, although I shouldn't really complain about getting a cold I suppose.  I haven't had much energy so have kept myself occupied with crochet and reading!  

I've made good progress with Beverly's sweater, though, despite feeling sorry for myself 😉  I confess that I've been putting off sewing all the pieces together, but I really must get on with it.  Because of her shift patterns and no public transport on Christmas/Boxing Day, we won't be spending Christmas Day with her.  Instead we are having Christmas dinner early, on the 20th, which will be a combination of both Christmas and Adrian's birthday which is on the 18th December.  I'd really like to have the sweater finished by the 20th, so I really must stop procrastinating!

I also managed to surprise myself by getting Beverly's annual "Christmas-Every-Day" packages wrapped and numbered in very good time!  I didn't feel well enough to take the little packages over to hang them up this year, so instead I put them all in a very large Christmassy bag for her to take one out each day which Adrian delivered when he went over to Kirkwall last week.

 

I know it's a tad naughty but I've started another project, which has sidetracked me from the sweater 😄 I'm still trying to use up more of the leftovers stash, so pulled out an assortment of the colours that I have the most of to make a patchwork blanket.  It's a Dottie Angel pattern, her "ordinarily extraordinary blanket", which I have made before.  It's a simple pattern and grows satisfyingly quickly.  My squares are 23 stitches wide by 14 rows high which isn't as large as those in the original pattern, but I like the way these smaller squares look so "patchworky" ~ very satisfying 😊

In other news we've had our first proper snow of the season, which gave me the ideal excuse to continue hibernating 😏  Thankfully it didn't hang around too long but I expect we shall see more before next spring.

We've also been lighting our log-burner in the evenings.  It's so lovely, very cosy, and nice not to have to sit bundled up in thick cardigans/sweaters!  We were very thankful for having this extra source of heat last week when we had a power cut one evening.  It didn't last more than a couple of hours but it's amazing just how quickly the house cools down once the heating goes off 😳

 

Little words of wisdom

 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)    

Little words of wisdom

 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)    

Little words of wisdom

 

Remembrance...

image from Freepik

They shall not grow old,

as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

from his poem For the Fallen,

written in September 1914

 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)    

Little words of wisdom

 

One project finished...

and another one begun ~ after a few false starts 😏

You may remember my post last month, my lovelies, bringing you up-to-date with my crochet projects.  Well, I've finally finished the gift blanket I seem to have been working on for ever 😉  

The yarn is Hayfield Bonus Aran Tweed in the shade Honeycomb; it's a 6% viscose, 20% wool, 74% acrylic mix.  Corner-to-corner works up pretty quickly and I felt it only needed a very simple edging, so just added two rows of half trebles to finish it off.  I'm very pleased with it 😊   

My new project is using up some more of my yarn stash ~ I'm making a sweater for Beverly 😳  As you can see from the photo, this is King Cole Drifter double knit, in the shade Ohio (a 69% acrylic, 25% cotton, 6% wool mix).  I bought the yarn from Wool Warehouse a long time ago and it seems to have been discontinued.  It is, as the label boldly declares, a very soft yarn indeed and is lovely to work with.

However this is the first time I've ever attempted an actual garment ~ apart from some very simple dolls' clothes ~ so I'm not too sure how long this will take to finish 😄

It's a simple pattern (Yarnsmiths Cedar Sweater), though, comprising of rectangles with very little shaping so fingers crossed it won't be too traumatising!  Having said that, I still managed to get myself into a bit of a muddle with the gauge swatch 😏  The pattern calls for a 4mm hook but when I made my swatch I had too many stitches across the row.  So for reasons that I cannot for the life of me fathom, I tried again.....using a 3.5mm hook!  Naturally, I ended up with even more stitches and I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that it took me a few minutes to realise that I actually needed a larger hook 😳  I tried again with a 4.5mm hook and thankfully it was third time lucky.  I still hadn't finished being daft, though, because instead of making my starting chain with a 5.5mm hook, I used a 5mm one instead ~ then found myself wondering why the bottom edge was resembling a banana!  I also managed to mis-count the starting chain, and ended up one stitch short. I managed to add an extra stitch, though, by somehow fudging an additional chain ~ don't ask me how I managed it as I've no idea to be honest!  Oh well, I got there in the end 😉

Do you like my stitch markers, by the way?  They are cute little teapots in lots of different colours 🫖 I'm adding one at each tenth row so that I don't have to keep counting from the beginning.

The pattern uses Yarnsmiths Merino DK Superwash yarn in four different shades but I wanted to use up some more of my stash, hence the King Cole that I'm working with.  I got Beverly to choose which yarn she liked the look of, and this is what she selected ~ green is her favourite colour.  

And finally, I thought you might like to see the lovely carnations that Adrian bought me last week.  I ordered some pink ones from Tesco with the weekly delivery a few weeks ago, but they were quite disappointing in that they didn't seem to last very long.  These came from the Co-Op, though, and their flowers generally last quite well.  Pretty as Miss Schlumbergera's blooms currently are, it's still nice to have some cut flowers in the house 😊

Reading round-up: October 2025

image from Clipart Library

Mr Pottermack's Oversight (a Dr Thorndyke novel -British Mysteries Collection): R. Austin Freeman

Pontifex, Son and Thorndyke (a Dr Thorndyke novel -British Mysteries Collection): R. Austin Freeman

When Rogues Fall Out (Dr Thorndyke's Discovery) (a Dr Thorndyke novel -British Mysteries Collection): R. Austin Freeman

Dr Thorndyke Intervenes (a Dr Thorndyke Novel - British Mysteries Collection): R. Austin Freeman

For the Defence: Dr Thorndyke (a Dr Thorndyke Novel - British Mysteries Collection): R. Austin Freeman

The Penrose Mystery (a Dr Thorndyke Novel - British Mysteries Collection): R. Austin Freeman

Felo De Se? (Death at the Inn) (a Dr Thorndyke Novel - British Mysteries Collection): R. Austin Freeman

I'm very pleased with the amount of reading I managed to achieve during October ~ it does rather make up for my lack of enthusiasm earlier this year!  As you can see, I am still reading the British Mysteries Collection ~ or to be more accurate, re-reading them.  I'd forgotten just how many stories are in this collection, and they aren't exactly short stories, either.

Adrian usually goes up to bed a fair bit earlier than I do (I'm very much more of a "night owl" than he is 🦉😄), and that's when I do most of my reading.  I've been finding, though, that I'm also reading more during the day rather than putting the TV on, which has to be better I think 😉  I don't know if I shall get through so many books this month, though, as I've just finished one crochet project and have started on a new one!

I still haven't got round to dusting her, but thought you might like to see how Miss Schlumbergera's blooms are coming along ~ she is just so pretty, even with a light covering of dust 😊

Peace...

 

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)