Little words of wisdom

 

Dreary January

image from Freepik

Both January and February can be such dreary months in the garden, can't they?  Especially, if like us, you didn't get round to tidying up the borders before the bad weather set in!  To be fair, though, I took these photos on Sunday and although it was chilly, the sun was shining brightly 🌞  

What dragged me out of the warmth of the house was spotting the flower on this rose ~ once again the lovely Eustacia Vye is putting out a bloom!  We'll ignore the thistle that's taken root in the tub 😉

Then I noticed that one of the rhubarb plants, Goliath, is also starting to put in an appearance.  I was a bit annoyed, though, when I saw that it appears one of the neighbourhood cats has been digging in the bed 😒  I think we will have to build a cage around the bed this year to keep the little buggers out!

On my way over to the other side of the garden, my eye was caught by the shining white flowers on this hellebore.  The plant label has long since disappeared, I'm afraid, so I don't know which variety it is.

I was sidetracked by the beautiful little hellebore on my way to have a closer look at the pretty pink flowers on this viburnum.  Although it does have a plant label, alas the lettering has completely worn away but I think it may be Dawn.  It's been flowering for a little while and seems to be starting to go over now, but nevertheless it's continuing to add a welcome splash of colour.

And back indoors I saw that this pretty pink-tinged succulent, the name of which I have absolutely no idea, is putting out a spray of little flowers too!  I suppose the motto is that even "dreary January" can have some little spots of loveliness 😊 

Weeing for Britain!

Is that Too Much Information, my lovelies???  Oh well, you should know by now that I try not to shy away from the less salubrious aspects of my life 😄

In my last "weight-loss journey" post I mentioned that I would share with you how things were progressing, although I had already privately decided that I wouldn't be posting about said journey every week.  Instead, I'm going to post when I reach certain milestones along the way ~ I'm pretty sure you don't want a blow-by-blow account of my weekly weigh-in 😉  I have personal goals to aim for that I will post about as I (hopefully!) reach them, as well as letting you know each time I lose 7lbs.  So I guess now is as good a time as any to let you know that I have in fact lost 8lbs!

Although I have rejoined Slimming World as an online member, I haven't actually started following their weight-loss plan yet.  Since the New Year I have been making slight alterations to my eating habits, though, whilst using up the things I had in the freezer that had a higher fat content than I want to consume going forward.  The main change has been in the amount of bread that I've been eating ~ note that I say "bread", not "grains" 😉

We already have porridge three times a week and I  add a good handful of frozen cherries to mine, plus a level desert-spoon of lemon curd.  Previously the other mornings would be a couple of slices of toast topped with butter, one slice with marmalade and the other usually with Marmite.  Then lunchtime would usually be something-on-toast, a sandwich or other bread product.  I've now made a conscious decision to only have "bread" once a day, plus I'm no longer buying the goat butter that I used to have.  On the non-porridge days I'm instead now having a couple of Weetabix, topped with milk and a good dollop of my favourite yoghurt ~ FAGE Total 0% yogurt.  If I do decide to have toast for breakfast, I now have one slice just with marmalade and the other with a thin smear of the spreadable butter that Adrian likes to make it easier to then spread some Marmite over.

I am still having bread at lunchtime on the porridge/Weetabix days if I fancy it, but I spread over a thin layer of Hellman's Light Mayonnaise instead of using butter.  If I could trust myself to only spread a thin scraping of my beloved goat butter I would still be using it, but alas I know myself well enough to realise that that's not going to happen 😏  On the days that I have had toast for breakfast, though, I don't have bread at lunchtime.  Instead I will have stir-fry vegetables with, say, tuna, or perhaps a cheese omelette.  We really like Cathedral City cheese and have recently changed over to their lighter mature cheddar ~ we like it just as much as the full-fat version.  Some days I will have a really big bowl of soup, but now omit the bread that I would previously have had to accompany it!  I've also rediscovered a taste for celery and often have a couple of sticks with whatever lunch I'm having ~ it's satisfyingly crunchy, and much better for my health than a packet of crisps 😉  Actually, to be fair to myself, I cut waaaay back on my crisp consumption some months ago because of the high blood-pressure and pre-diabetes issues.  I'm also eating more fruit and a good deal less chocolate than before.

All of which, I suspect, is what has lead to the marked increase in weeing that I am currently experiencing.  I'm sure that once I get more into the swing of the Slimming World plan, everything will start to calm down a tad!

So watch this space for news of the next half stone loss which, fingers crossed, won't be too far off 😊  

 

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) 

Tentative plans for 2026...

I've got a few ideas of things I'd like to make during this coming year but as you all know, my lovelies, I can be very easily knocked off-course into an entirely different direction!  So let's say that these are extremely tentative plans, just to be on the safe side 😉

I would definitely like to make more gifts during 2026 and, as I mentioned earlier in the week, I do have a few ideas percolating around in my little butterfly brain.  I've been meaning to make at least some of the gifts for Beverly's annual Christmas Every Day shenanigans virtually every year since I started the tradition ~ alas, I haven't managed to get myself organised to actually do so yet 😄 I would like to remedy that situation this year so will be hunting through my books for suitable things to make.  I'm certainly not aiming to make all 24 of the gifts, but nevertheless it would be nice to sprinkle in a handful of handmade items throughout December.  I do already have a few ideas of things I could make, and I'm sure looking through my craft books will throw up even more 😊

I've got four "big" projects planned for the year, two of which are blankets, and I've spent some time trying to decide how I want to make said blankets.  I have a specific "theme" and colour scheme for one of them (Special Project One) and the other is to be yet another stash-busting exercise!   I thought that I might as well use the same pattern for both, though, as they will end up looking totally different to each other because of the different colours I'll be using.

You have no idea, my lovelies, just how many motifs I pondered over until finally trying out these three 😳  I quite liked all three, especially the cute little hexagon at the bottom, but they all seemed just a tad too small ~ I really don't want to have to spend weeks and weeks making these blankets!  I used double knit yarn to make the samples but I really don't think they would have been large enough even if I'd used Aran-weight to be honest.

 The top hexagon is by Annie Design Crochet, whilst the square and tiny hexagon are both by Bunny Mummy.  They are all perfectly nice motifs but none of them really "called" to me.  Then I remembered that amongst the patterns in Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting (where my favourite crochet chevron blanket pattern comes from), she has one called The Starburst Flower.  It's basically a granny square with a pretty flower centre comprising of puff and cluster stitches, with each round in a different colour.

Again, it's a lovely pattern but I found it just a little too fiddly for something that I really want to grow fairly quickly 😉 

In the end I mashed together aspects of some of the different motifs I had come across to make the one I've decided to go with.  Now, I'm definitely not claiming that this design is original as I've no doubt that someone, somewhere, will have had the same idea ~ it's just that, unfortunately for me, I didn't come across it when I was doing my humungous trawl of motifs!  I want both blankets to look like non-specific-flower flower gardens ~ if you see what I mean 😄  I used some Aran yarn from my stash with a 5.5mm crochet hook to make the sample, and it ended up about 5" square.  I used one colour to represent the centre of the flower, another for the two rounds of petals, and a third to turn it into a square.  The "petals" could be made in two different colours, which might look very pretty if they were two shades of the same colour ~ pale and deeper shades of pink, for example.

Anyhoo if you'd like to make these flower squares, here's the very simple instructions:

Round 1: chain five and join to make a circle.  Chain four, then make 15 double-trebles (US triple crochet) into the ring: 16 stitches in total.  Join in the top of the starting chain four and fasten off.

Round 2: join the "petal" colour between any of the double-trebles and chain three; make one treble (US double crochet) in the same space; chain one.  Make two-treble clusters, separated by chain one, between each of the remaining double-trebles.  Slip stitch across to the first chain one space.  16 two-treble clusters in total.  

Round 3:  chain three in the chain one space, and make a two-treble cluster in the same space; chain two.  Make three-treble clusters in all the remaining chain one spaces, separating these clusters with chain two between each.  Slip stitch into the first cluster and fasten off.  16 three-treble clusters in total.

Round 4: join a new colour in any chain two space.  Chain three and make two trebles (US double crochet) in the same space.  Make three trebles into the next space.  Make three double-trebles (US triple crochet), chain two, three double-trebles in the next space ~ this creates the first corner of the square.  Make three trebles into each of the next three chain one spaces, then make the second corner.  Continue the pattern round to create the square, and fasten off.

As you can see, I am definitely not a crochet designer ~ it took me a fair bit of trial-and-error to come up with a simple motif that I liked, and I don't think I'll be going "off piste" again anytime soon 😄    

It's hard to believe that we are halfway through January already, so I will have to get myself organised (😏) as I've got a lot to do this year!

Little words of wisdom

 

Changing my mind.....yet again!

No further updates on Beverly's jumper, I'm afraid, but I will have to stop procrastinating soon and get it finished.  I haven't really progressed with the leftover Aran yarn blanket, either, as my butterfly brain has been rather preoccupied with yet more things to make 😏  At least the shawl is coming along, though!  

What I didn't tell you in my previous post was that I had actually started to make this shawl a few weeks back, using more yarn from the stash.  I can't even remember when I actually bought this yarn but I'd never got round to using any of it.  It's King Cole Authentic cotton mix double knit (50/50 cotton and acrylic) and I bought three 100g balls of a few different colours.  I had a look on the Wool Warehouse website and couldn't actually find a yarn called "Authentic", although they do have a King Cole yarn called "Simply Denim" which looks very similar.

Anyhoo, I decided to use up the Black Denim shade to make this shawl.....

and really wasn't keen on how it was looking, most likely because black is definitely not one of my favourite colours 😳  The photo above probably doesn't show the colour properly ~ the lighting in the dining room wasn't what you'd call brilliant, as we've now gone from heavy snow to gales and heavy rain instead!

Another of the colours in this King Cole batch was Red Denim, with red once again not being a colour that I am particularly fond of and one that I very rarely wear.  So what's a girl to do???

Well this particular girl decided to combine the two shades together to see how that looked 😄  Of course I then had to use a larger hook (7mm) and decided to use a different pattern too!  I remembered the corner-to-corner shawl I made for my Mum a few years ago and decided that was the way to go with this one.  I really like corner-to-corner as the work seems to progress at a very satisfying rate of knots.  Once it's reached an appropriate size I'll work across the top to make a straight edge.  I probably won't bother to give the other two sides of the triangle any kind of border, as it's just meant as an extra layer to keep the draught off my poor aged neck and shoulders 😉

I mentioned at the start of this post that I've been thinking about other things to make.....I've got three big projects in mind (and no doubt I'll get side-tracked by smaller ones, too, over the course of the year!) and will share the "big" plans in an upcoming post 😊  

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)     

Resistance is futile...

...the force is too strong 😏  I find it really, really, really hard to just have one project on the go at any one time ~ a new pattern appears or a fresh idea pops into my poor little butterfly brain with alarming regularity 😄

I have managed to finish the "patchworky" stash-busting blanket, though, so I think I deserve a gold star for that ⭐ I've had another shuffle-round of our blanket collection and this latest addition is now residing on the sofa in the living room 😊 

Nope, it's not a giant antimacassar 😄  You may recall me chopping and changing my mind over the blanket I was making for our niece for Christmas? Well, I had a fair few of those humungous 400g balls of Aran yarn left and rather than just adding them to the ever-increasing stash, I decided to plunge straight in and make a blanket with them.

 The yarn (from Wool Warehouse, naturally 😉) is Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Aran Tweed in Honeycomb (which is what I ended up using to make Michaela's blanket) and Haze, along with Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Aran with Wool in Mill Blue, Light Natural, Green Heather, and Purple Heather.  I hadn't been keen on the colours placed together once I could see them in "real life" as it were, but I thought I might like it better if I alternated the colours with the Honeycomb shade to keep them separated.  I did order a little more of the Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Aran Tweed in the shade Plum to even out the balance of lighter and darker colours.

Once again I'm following my favourite chevron pattern from Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting.  The original pattern uses a lot of different colours, as you can see in the version I made for my friend Olive which used twenty!  This time, though, I'm just using six "colours", each alternated with Honeycomb as a "neutral".  I'm using the colours in the same order throughout, and following the number of rows for each shade that is specified in the pattern ~ I really like the randomness of the number of rows and think it works well whatever colours are chosen.  I'm hoping to use it on our bed when it's finished but will probably need to frame it with a wide border to make it large enough to be a coverlet. 

This is going to be a pretty big blanket once it's finished, so needless to say I am alternating it with other projects ~ no, I still haven't finished poor Beverly's jumper.....but now that I've restocked my dishcloth stash, I have started making a shawl for your's truly 😄  

Flat-pack.....joy???

image from Freepik

We've been intending to change our dining table and chairs for a number of years now, and finally got round to doing so before Christmas.  The set we had (which wasn't actually a "set"!) was only meant to be a stop-gap whilst we had our old house on the market.  We wanted something a little less bulky than the pine set we had had for years as it rather filled up the dining room, and naturally we wanted to make the house look as spacious as possible 😉

To be honest I had never really been keen on the dining table, not least because of the configuration of the legs which meant that we could never get the chairs pushed right beneath it.  The chairs were sort of okay but were awfully heavy ~ plus they really needed seat pads as they were very unforgiving on one's nether regions if they were sat upon for any length of time 😯

We also have a second television in the dining room along with an easy chair and footstool, and a side table.  By the way, I know that the walls look pretty horrendous but please be assured that they have been thoroughly cleaned of mould.  Unfortunately the staining just won't shift anymore than this.  Be prepared, my lovelies, as I'm afraid you're going to see more of the damaged walls and woodwork in this room further down the page 😯  One day we'll finally get round to having this room gutted and redecorated, but in the meantime let's all just ignore how horrible it looks 😉 

It took a lot longer to finally find a set that we liked, and was also suitable for the space we have, than we thought it would!  In the end we found something to fit both criteria from an online company called Grain & Frame, who would both deliver up here and for a reasonable cost.

It is very well made furniture but did come flat-packed ~ which is always a tad fraught 😏  To be fair, the table and seating bench both went together very quickly and easily.  The chairs, though, were a little more difficult but we got there in the end!

Most of the time it's just the two of us, and on the odd occasion when we do have company it's not usually more than two or three extra people.  We therefore decided to go for the 4-6 seater extendable table, in the dark oak shade.  Of course this is a totally different shade and wood to the cabinet against the wall.  Now,  to be honest I'm quite happy not having matching wooden furniture shades but eventually we hope to be able to house the crockery and my blue and white china collection that's in the cabinet elsewhere.  The intention is that this will be our "forever" dining table set, so we decided to go for the wood and shade that we liked best 😊  

It's a simple design and as you can see, the extension leaf is completely removeable.  We don't need the longer length on a day-to-day basis, so we have stored it away to use as and when it's required.  It's so nice to be able to slide the chairs all the way beneath the table!  Plus with the added bonus of them not having high backs like the old chairs, the dining room seems much more spacious than before 😄  

We decided to just have four chairs and make up any additional seating which may be required with a bench ~ which doubles-up very nicely as a side table 😏  Whilst it's longer than the old one, it isn't as deep so has created more "walking space".  It's also taller, so the little footstool now slides right out of the way when it isn't being used.

Of course, we are now a tad paranoid about protecting the tops of both the seating bench...

and the dining table 😉  At some point I will get another tablecloth.  This one is perfect for if we need to use the extension leaf but it is a little long and cumbersome for day-to-day use.

As you can imagine, we are very pleased with our new furniture.  The old chairs have gone to a new home, and we will ask Restart to collect the two tables (which are currently residing in my craft room!) when the weather is better 😊

Little words of wisdom

 

Snow days and dishcloths

We've had a fair bit of snow recently, with yellow weather warnings (which are still in place 😒) and one day with an amber warning 😳  Both of us tend to avoid going out when the weather is like this ~ as we get older, we are much more conscious that a fall could result in broken bones!  I haven't been totally idle, though, as I decided to restock my dishcloth pile using up some of the cotton yarn in my stash.  I like to have a good stock of dishcloths as they are chucked into the washing pile daily, waiting to be washed with the next lot of towels.   As some of the older ones have now gone in the bucket under the sink to be used as cleaning cloths, the dishcloth stock was starting to look a little depleted!

In case you were wondering, no I haven't sewn Beverly's jumper together yet 😏  I keep putting it off but will definitely have to stop procrastinating and just get the bloody job done!

Anyhoo, back to the stash-busting dishcloths, all made with oddments of cotton yarn from my stash...

The first one is just a simple square of treble stitches (US double crochet).  Normally I would start a row using three chains to equal a treble stitch, but recently I've discovered that using just two chains tends to make a straighter edge.  I think it's a particularly good idea if you don't want to add a border, as the edges look nice and neat.

I used two double knit yarns held together for this cloth, with a 5mm hook.  The blue is Sirdar Cotton DK and I think the beige is as well as it looks to be the same.  I had a look on my go-to yarn store, Wool Warehouse, and they do still carry this yarn.  The shades on the website are named, though, whereas the blue yarn I've used just has a number so I don't know if it is the same.  The beige I used has long since lost it's label so I have no idea if it was named or just numbered 😄    

Next I thought I'd try my hand at a knitted cloth, and this is the result.  The pattern is called Grandmother's Favourite Dishcloth Pattern but I'm afraid I can't remember where I found it 🤷  As you can see, knitting doesn't come very easily to me 😉  It is a simple pattern, though, just garter stitch worked from corner-to-corner with yarn overs to create the lacy edging.  This batch of dishcloths have mostly been made with leftover oddments, and this was another that had lost it's label.  It's a thicker-feeling yarn than the blue and beige used above, although all my cotton stash is double knit.  I used 4mm knitting needles but think it might have made a "stiffer" fabric if I'd used slightly smaller ones.  The pattern called for increasing on each row until 44 stitches were on the needle, then to start decreasing.  I wanted a larger cloth, though, so continued until I had 64 stitches.  It would probably look a tad better if I'd blocked it but as I've told you before, my lovelies, I never bother blocking dishcloths ~ although I expect I would if I were making some as a gift.

I may well have another go at this pattern using finer yarn and smaller needles, as I think it would make a lovely little dolls' house blanket.  I also think it would make a rather nice shawl using bulky yarn and much larger needles.  Whatever yarn was used to make a shawl there wouldn't have to be any decreasing to turn it into a square, of course, as I could just keep going until I had a triangle the size I wanted 😊  I suppose if I really wanted to torture myself, I could attempt to make a dolls' house-size shawl 😏

This rather jolly dishcloth was made using Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK in the shade Poppy.  I don't know if this yarn is made anymore, it certainly doesn't seem to be available on the Wool Warehouse website.  I made this in half trebles (US half double crochet), working into the back loops of the stitches.  It's a nice "scrubby" texture for a dishcloth but I think on reflection I should have made it a little bigger!

And finally, dishcloth number four is made with all the little bits of leftover oddments that I had.  It's just a square of trebles (US double crochet), made using a 3.5mm hook to create a slightly thicker cloth than 4mm would have done. 

The closest I've got to the great outdoors for a good few days now ~ standing in the safety of the porch doorway to take a photo 😄

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)     

Reading round-up: December 2025

image from Clipart Library

Vegetarian Living January 2019

Vegan Food & Living December 2021

Slimming World July 2021

Slimming World August/September 2021

Slimming World November/December 2021

Slimming World January/February 2022

Slimming World January/February 2022

Slimming World March/April 2022

Slimming World May/June 2022

Gardeners' World January 2025

Gardeners' World February 2025

Gardeners' World March 2025

Clothes to Sew for 11 1/2" Fashion Dolls Volume 1: Linda Wright

 

Clothes to Sew for 11 1/2" Fashion Dolls Volume 2: Linda Wright

Modern Knitting Patterns for Fashion Dolls: Susan Dunlop

I mentioned in last month's round-up that I had a lot of magazines to get through and I've made a start on 'em, as you can see 😄  I'm not a vegetarian, let alone vegan, so I really don't know why I bought those two magazines!  I've enjoyed the Slimming World magazines, though, especially the inspirational stories of the folk who've managed to lose weight.  There are some good recipes in them, too.  I've got a fair few left to read as I took out a subscription for a year, as well as a whole year's worth of Gardener's World magazines, along with two other subscriptions that I haven't even made a start on yet 😯  I haven't taken out any more subscriptions recently, though, so once I've worked my way through the pile there should only be the occasional magazine now and again ~ mind you I am considering taking out another sub to Slimming World so watch this space 😉

I didn't get round to reading any more of the humungous list of fiction that I've still got on my Kindle, but did read through some of the sewing and knitting books I treated myself to with Christmas money.  I must say that I was extremely impressed with how quickly said books got here, especially as the estimated delivery date was 5th January!

I'm afraid that the rest of Mr Austin Freeman's collection of stories has indeed been put on the back-burner and to be quite honest at the moment I'm not sure if I will ever finish reading them 🤷  Never fear, though, I still have plenty of books, both on my Kindle and sitting on a shelf, patiently awaiting my attention 😏

I've enjoyed sharing my book lists with you in 2025, my lovelies ~ it was so good to get my "reading mojo" back!  Here's hoping that 2026 will be another year filled to the brim with lots of reading, too 😊

Happy New Year!

image from Freepik

Happy New year, my lovelies ~ sending wishes for good things in 2026 for you all 😊