Definitely not the dreariest weekend of the year

On the radio I heard about tips to overcome the post festivities blues......here is now this weekend was brightened up!

Bought myself a nice bunch of yellow roses....but have made a note that from now on, to buy British Daffodils. Last year we saw the fields in the Isles of Scilly, and we really must support home grown flowers.

Discovered some hidden treasures in the freezer, whilst 'stock taking' and deciding where I am going to put the Seville Oranges which have appeared at the weekly fruit and veg market. So apart from roasting a big free range chicken, no other cooking required for the weekend.

Saturday morning, went out to Warwick with Mr S, and in the afternoon went to Leamington on my own, to page homage to the Sales Gods.....did not see anything I wanted, but roamed around, window shopping and popping into some of Leamington's independent stores, and getting myself little treats.

I DISCOVERED a lovely shop: Decorative Cloth of Leamington Spa, selling sewing things. Their reels of lace and ribbons are just gorgeous, and they have lovely rolls of natural fabrics, as well as lovely prints. It feels such an inviting place with all the things I've been looking for. I think I shall be visiting Leamington far more often from now on.

Mr S and I went on our first walk with a local rambling club, finishing off with a good Sunday Lunch. We had about the best weather since the cold weather started at the beginning of November. When we returned Mr S won the gold star of the week, by cleaning all the mud off the boots.....the gold star was awarded with a plate full of freshly baked scones for tea!

I found a wonderful Knit along on Ravelry, where I can learn some new techniques. The pattern designed by Ann Kingstone, has a clever design for a scarf, which pulls you along, like a good book.

Completing knitting

I've had a lacy project on the needles since May 2010, and for a number of reasons which some knitters would sympathise with, just wasn't getting finished.

I was thinking of what New Year's resolutions I would consider in November....well this year I was determined that I would be well prepared for Christmas and the New Year.

In the end I decided to consider resolutions much more often, so in November, I decided that I would tackle the scarf....I started again on 24 December, and finished it yesterday. I gained courage and determination to complete after gaining inspiration from Ravelry. For any knitters who have not yet discovered Ravelry.....go there, please, your life will be changed!


In Kenilworth we have a lovely Knitting Group, and this week, I took my scarf and finished the edges....and here it is, curved around a lovely lot of beautiful hyacinth bulbs, which Mandy gave me for my birthday.

There is a final process which changes the bumpy scarf into a flat one where the pattern is shown off to best effect. It takes starting by a soak of around 30 minutes to relax the fibres, then about 45 minutes to position dozens of pins to stretch off the piece. Sometimes I rather like the textured effect, and maybe when a lace item is washed a second or third time, I dry the item flat without stretching. In Victorian and Edwardian times, people used to send off their lace and knitted shawls to women who wash and reblock items for a living. In one of the recent episodes of an Edwardian Farm, a piece of lace was being washed. The post was extremely reliable and an item could be back with the owner in less than a week!

New Year and New Diary with hand made cover

This is the time of year when I get my new diary out, and transfer some information to the new one. I had snatched a cheap one for my handbag, but have had to keep looking for it. The reason is that it is (was) BLACK, I hate BLACK. Anything that is black seems to disappear beneath an invisibility cloak as far as I am concerned. So I was suddenly inspired and found some fabric which goes with my handbag and which is colourful!

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A couple of days of quilting and sewing, and I have a nice soft pretty cover to my diary, and it is removable, so I can use the same cover next year. But oh the mess....so many little bits of thread, so out came the vacuum cleaner. Nothing like having a good clean to see in the New Year.