Wow! I Did The NaBloPoMo Challenge!

I am quite amazed that I have completed this challenge! The last week has been hard because of feeling under the weather but on the whole, this has been really enjoyable!

I will try this again, but maybe not next month!

There are a couple of things I will try and do differently I think. Trying to do my post earlier in the day, is one. Most of my posts have been after 10.30pm! This puts just a little bit too much of a time pressure on one, particularly if you've no idea what you are going to write about! (And trying to watch CSI at the same time.) Taking more photos earlier in the day is another must. So many pictures have been shadowy because I hadn't realised how dreadful our lighting is until now!

So, it is 11.30pm again and I guess that is the end of February 2010!

Here's to more blogging and crafting! See you next month.

Squeaky Saturday

Today has been busy shopping with children. Exeter was heaving with people and Scary needed some new jeans. Well, I say needed. She needs new jeans like I need more material in my stash! Anyway, we went in for jeans and came home with an item of clothing loosely resembling a coat. Hey ho!

Consequently, not a lot else has happened today. So I will show you a little something Mad Child is working on. I gave her a sewing box for Christmas; one of those that opens up into different layers. So she is making herself a pin cushion.

First take one piece of cheese:



and then some little mices:

I wonder who will get the cheese?

See y'all tomorrow!

Fruitless Friday

I'll admit I am struggling this week.


I think it is mainly that I have been under the weather and so haven't felt like doing much.


I did manage to make some Lemon Cakes today. This one:



is for us and there is another one for the Senior Citizens Cake Stall tomorrow morning which is still in the tin. By the time I had made these and a few phone calls, I was ready to sit down again. The most craft I have managed has been a bit of my bright ripple blanket.




I did however browse a little on good old ebay, looking for a few fabrics towards a quilt I am planning for my bed. At the moment I have stolen a fleece from the living room to keep me warm when Marathon Runner works nights but if I am to believe that my mantelpiece will be ready for my birthday (!), then the fleece will have to be returned to it's rightful place. Re The Mantelpiece - one man has come to measure for the brackets and the wood has been taken away to be polished and varnished, so here's hoping....




Anyway, back to the material. This is what I have bought today:

I am going for greens and creams with a little brown and perhaps red thrown in but I want it to be a bit more contemporary than I usually manage. We'll see.

Anyway, off to Exeter tomorrow with the girls to buy jeans and trendy things. Nothing for me then! See you soon

Crochet Nonsense!

Whilst rootling through my wool box today, I found these:

I made them some time ago and had forgotten all about them.

I'm back into the pointless range of crochet, I think.


What should I do with them?

Seems a shame to just leave them at the bottom of the box, unloved.

Maybe this should be my task for tomorrow.

Another garland perhaps?

Midweek Blues

I used to think the Injury Lawyers for You (sorry can't bring myself to write in text speak) advert was irritating.

That was before the Halifax 'radio station'. I am certain that I will NEVER EVER open an account with Halifax. What is it about that advert that is soooooo irritating?

Mind you, Go Compare comes a very close second. Along with Cheryl Cole and her shampoo and some toff telling us about a credit report. Oh yes, and webuyanycar.com. In fact, there are so many annoying ones at the moment, it puts me off watching the tv completely.

I am sure there are some good ones out there. At least, there used to be.

Or am I just getting old and grumpy?

Don't answer that!

On a more positive note, I discovered weheartit.com today. Lots of lovely photos on there, although I thought it took a long time to load.

Wouldn't you just love to be here:

doing a little bit of crochet or patchwork, sipping some tea (or maybe Pimms) and perhaps munching on a scone or two, in the warm sunshine?

Eleanor the Emu

I've been working hard to finish Eleanor today so it's already 11.30pm and I'm only just starting my post!

I think I might give her some eyelashes, just so it's obvious she's a girl!

It was quite an easy pattern but the feet just took forever!

Ever Seen A One-Legged Emu?

Well, you have now!

Do you remember the "Super Cute Crochet" book I bought last year? My friend's birthday is next week and she said how much she liked the emu when she looked at the book so I'm making this one for her.

This book has peculiar little biographies of each character, the funniest of which is about Andy the Alien. He came to Earth because they don't have cheese on his planet. There are also the Sugar Mice, so named because they think they look like the pop band, Sugababes. You get the idea.

My friend and I were sniggering at the descriptions and so I think I will have to write one particular to my friend. She is very eco-conscious so I think we will go along the lines of: Eleanor the Eco Emu. She doesn't fly because of the carbon emissions and she runs really fast to minimise her footprints.


What do you think?

Snotty Sunday

I don't get colds. Really, I don't. Can't remember the last time I had one. Must have been at least ten years ago.

But ... I've got one now. I think it is making up for lack of snot for the last decade.

I'm lying on the couch alternately shivering and sweating, trying not to look at the cobwebs on the ceiling.

So forgive me this short post.

The only plus side is that Marathon Runner is cooking the tea, everyone is staying out of my way and I'm getting a bit of crochet done, in between wiping my eyes and nose!

Look, he's made chicken pie!

And I'm making an emu! As you do, when you're not feeling well ...

Silent Saturday

I've seen some people do 'Wordless Wednesday'. Well, this is Silent Saturday!

Do you like it?

First, Take One Ghastly Vase ...

Someone gave this to me a few years ago and I'm sorry but I've never liked it. I have lived with it in the downstairs loo (or 'cloakroom' if you're posh) for ages, waiting for her to use the loo and see it but she must have the constitution of a camel because no matter how many coffees I pour into her, she never 'goes'!

I've perched it precariously on the windowsill and placed tall flowers in it, secretly hoping someone knocks it off. I have treated it rather shabbily and plopped it in the sink rather roughly and the wretched thing is still haunting me. I put it into the charity box, and Marathon Runner brought it back in because 'he likes it'!!!!

So I give up.

I do like the shape however, so maybe there is hope.

Attic 24 does some lovely things with jamjars here. It gave me an idea.

Marathon Runner is still complaining that he likes it the way it is and that he doesn't see why it needs a tank top. We'll be eating chicken in a basket and wearing flares next, he says.

However, I have reached the point of needing to decrease and I've made the bottom of it too tight to fit over the middle of the vase!

Would it be cheating if I did 'back and forth'/flat rows and then sewed it up?

Think I'll leave that problem for tomorrow!

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo .....

Mad Child wanted to go to the zoo and, as it is half-term, we thought this might be the ideal opportunity. The weather wasn't promising; it has been bucketing down all night! The journey down to Paignton Zoo was awful with driving rain and fog and lots of people that were driving waayy too fast! I did 55-60mph nearly all the way down (40 miles mainly on dual carriageway or motorway, and a bit of town roads at the end) and everything was passing me. I think I might have overtaken one tractor. I don't consider myself a slow driver but I do like to see where I'm going!

And so we arrived. And the rain stopped. Just like that.

Flamingos greeted us, in all their fluffy pinkness (I think they had just shaken themselves dry!)

Mrs Lion came to see us in all her haughty gloriousness. But all the animals were padding about in masses of mud and I felt so sorry for them. Particularly the ones that come from warmer climes.

Lots of animals were hiding away from the damp (Mad One was a bit disappointed she didn't get to see the wolves) and we had lots of backsides presented to us! We did see lots of strange coloured things though, like this snake

and the blue-est parrots I ever did see but impossible to photograph!

The red panda was more co-operative:

All in all, a lovely day with Marathon Runner, Mad One and Giggly Girl and we came home to homemade vegetable lasagne. Wasn't I organised?

Now I'm flopped in front of the fire, half-watching the tv and wondering if I can do some of Scary's crochet ripple blanket before my eyes finally involuntarily close ... zzz.

Craft, hmm, maybe tomorrow ...

First Steps to a New Mantelpiece!

I am determined to have a new mantelpiece to put my birthday cards on! We have a little over six weeks so do you think I have a chance? We have found a piece of wood (don't know what type!) and had it cut to size. I have arranged for someone to sand and polish it but first we need to get everything measured by the guy making the brackets and so we are waiting patiently for him!Wish me luck!!!!

In the meantime, I woke up to this:
so there's another little job that needs doing!!!!

Oh joy!

Sweets

Ever since we had all those sweets around on Valentine's Day (yes, they are all gone!), I have had a bit of a thing about sweets and maybe making them into garlands.

We have these sweets which are made of glass on the coffee table:

and they usually reside in a very old ashtray (we don't smoke but I love it too much to throw it away).

So I had a little scour on the internet to see what I could find. There are a few sweet/candy garlands made simply with real sweets either hot glued or stapled together but I was looking for something a bit different to that.

More like these crochet sweets perhaps

but this is more like it:

This is another version on Flickr here

BUT this lady seems to have it bad

I hear you say obsession like it's a bad thing!!!

Wham!

My youngest Mad Child is a bit strange, hence 'Mad'. At first sight very laid back and easy going but then WHAM! she hits you with something so way out it's all a bit Damien Hirst!



She goes to Guides, with her best friend Giggly Girl, and last week had been doing some craft. All the girls are trotting out with decorated wooden spoons, all lovely and colourful and pretty. Very Country Living; mostly floral and cute.



Look what I've made Mum:













"Oh isn't she lovely!" says I, secretly thinking 'come on, hurry up, it's flippin' cold and I'm missing CSI'.



Just as the word 'lovely' comes out my mouth, she flips it around and there's the WHAM moment:

Do you think I should worry about her mental state? Or is it just a phase?

Valentine's Day!

He knows how much I like magazines and how hard I try to resist them!

Then he made me scrambled egg, grilled tomatoes and bacon for breakfast! Yum!

My name is Ellouise and I am addicted to making garlands! I was still making them this morning!


I put these beads on the bottom as Mad One is rather keen on penguins. I think I have had these beads ForEver. I remember playing with them as a child in my Mum's button bottle.


Yes, I know the gun's a bit weird but it's a family heirloom! I found my crochet hearts from last year and other bits and pieces that I have collected on a red theme.

Remember those little heart shaped silicone cases that I bought? I filled each of the six with different sweets. Lovehearts, of course

and some gobstoppers and heart shaped things and letter shaped things and sour things and more sour things.

We also had some Lindor chocolates in a little dish bought from Paperchase last year.

And not forgetting a bumble bee, synonymous with Valentine's Day of course - not sure where he came from!

Don't forget some sweet treats to eat!

I managed to save some of those ginger nuts I made yesterday.

And does anyone fancy a slice of chocolate cake?

Guess what, I forgot to take a picture of The Pie!!!!!!! Duh!

Baking Day

Do you like ginger biscuits?

I made one or two today.

Mad Child also made some 'fork cookies' or something like that. (I think that's what she said!!!) She looked up the recipe and did it all herself whilst I battled with the computer trying to put a Flickr montage onto my sidebar (I was unsuccessful!)

There's also a little chocolate something in the background for tomorrow!

I also started The Lemon Meringue Pie but didn't quite have time to do the topping, so I will have to do that in the morning! (So no pie in bed tomorrow morning!)

He was a little late home from work this evening(!!), so I think it's a good job I've at least started The Pie methinks.

It's really heart-warming to get nice comments, thanks a bundle people and so glad you like my witterings, Ramble Time- Reinvented!

Here's hoping you all have a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day, with lots of chocolate and flowers and kisses. That's what I am hoping for (oh and a little bit of Pie!)

See you soon