Saturday, February 11, 2017

Just Summer Chillaxin'

Hello Friends,
Welcome to a lazy Saturday at home.
It feels somewhat strange to have children growing up and going their own ways enough that we have more leisure time on the weekends (as long as I still feed them at regular intervals)  The father, and the children, in this house all have a tendency to gravitate to electronic devices on the weekends which gives me some fibre/papercraft/reading a good book time.  Whilst I regularly fight this and wish they would spend more time outside I am somewhat outnumbered.

So what's been happening?

Reading: I am currently obsessed with Outlander. Waiting for Series 3 and reading book 3 and seriously debating whether to buy the book of Outlander knitting patterns.  It has been in my book depository cart, then out, then back in again.  Somehow I think that while chunky rustic knits might look AMAZING on Claire Fraser, they will probably just look kind of lumpy, farm girl and smell slightly of sheep on me.
I was lucky enough to get my copy of "No Scrap Left Behind" this week. I LOVE it.  It makes me want to sew. I do have a crafty, sewing day planned for this week so stay tuned.
I am also reading "The Light We Cannot See" which I have wanted to read FOREVER but so far my Outlander obsession is winning out over it.  I am reading "A Tale of Two Cities" for our rav reading group.  So many famous lines in it but I still can't confess to being much of a Dickens fan.  I suspect that there may be others firmly planted in the Austen camp that feel the same way? He does have a tendency to "over" describe.

Knitting: I just finished this http://www.ravelry.com/projects/nelliebligh/tashirojima-haori-cardigan-test for my niece.  I kind of hate it, kind of love it.  Love the pattern. Hate the acrylic wool.  The way the pockets are knitted in blows my mind and I love that I learned how to do something totally new.
I've also been knitting little hats for kindy babies.  3 girls in a row and still 2 more pregnancies for Autumn so I will be knitting for a while yet.

Crochet: A friend recently taught me how to do C2C crochet and now I am addicted. I am using acrylic (ugh) in different shades of blue to do a Wrap With Love. I can do a square and a half in a night so this might be the quickest blanket ever.
Kathy recently had a Spin along on Rav and I was lucky enough to win a project bag which has come in perfect for storing my WIP square and a couple of balls of wool.

The garden: EVERYTHING has gone to seed and the birds are eating the nectarines faster than we can. Because of the heat the nectarines only last a few days off the tree.  I need to try some nectarine recipes or at least stew some up but it has been so hot here (finally!) that the thought of spending time in the kitchen is just blah.  My roses are loving the combo of recent rain and sudden heat.

Papercrafting: I went to a SA training day with my Close to My Heart upline last weekend and was reminded of the difference between "Heart" and "art" - I snuck in a few hours Wednesday to finally get photos onto pre-done/demo pages - 24 pages in just a couple of hours.  I put them into albums this morning. A good feeling.  Get those pages finished!  While we are on the topic, I hope you are enjoying the bi monthly blog hops?
If you have ever thought of being a consultant then there is a great joining offer this month and also a fab re-start for those who have been consultants previously. 
This afternoon I need to do some more pages for my February workshops.  I love that I am finding time for scrapping again and seem to have regained some of my lost mojo!

Dyeing: I had a go at overdyeing my peach coloured cardigan. I like it so much better now. I think I will even forgive it for being the project I worked on when James missed the plane to New Zealand for our wedding anniversary!  Amazing what a difference colour can make. The brown is so much more me.  

Kids: Dan starts footy clinic tomorrow morning. Wish us luck.  Maddie started ballet this week. How stinkin' cute is she?
I also love that her teacher is just joyful and fun and totally not serious and the other "ballet mums" were totally normal and not all pretentious.  I think it will be a very easy 45 minutes of wait time with my knitting each week.

Hmm, well that is it for the moment.  If you are still skulking around here but haven't left a comment in a while why don't you just add a "hi" and tell me what you've been doing with your Summer?
I'll be back on the 15th for another CTMH paper pack blog hop.
Happy Weekending,
Nell
xxx





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