Ouch!

My right hand is sore from cutting material up :-(  Right at the base of my thumb.  And I have a LOT more to do!  It will be really worth it in the end though.  I now have a HUGE crochet hook so I'll be able to start my rug as soon as I have all the preparation done.  The t-shirts are for a standard type rag rug so I will be going from having hardly any rugs in the house to rug overload!
Anyway the experimental slow cooked breakfast turned out ok.....not a resounding success but not a complete failure either.  It could do with some fine-tuning for my family's particular tastes but I quite liked it.  It was a lovely smell of apples and cinnamon to come downstairs to.  Even Zack had 2 helpings so it couldn't have been THAT bad!!!  Anya refuses to eat anything but chocolate porridge (porridge with a bit of cocoa powder/drinking chocolate in) so was unimpressed, Dave said it was missing something but it was nice anyway.  Oh well, I'm sure the more I make it, the more I'll put my individual twist on it.  It probably didn't help that I couldn't find any ground flaxseed for it as stated in the recipe.  I added extra oats to help soak up the liquids which helped a bit but I'm not sure what the ground flaxseed adds to it?  I've never used it and don't really know what it is!  Answers on a postcard.....
Dave is still working on his project, disappears into the garden room occassionally for an hour or so.....
Haven't done any more knitting recently, bought a row counter to help so I don't have to keep going back and counting rows - it drove me mad!  Just couldn't remember how many I'd done and forgot to write it down somewhere! 
I tried one of these home-made recipes for Mod Podge yesterday.  Looked ok.  Decided to brighten up a flower pot with Anya's help.  Had some crepe paper laying about from Xmas so thought we could cover the pot with it.  Had yellow, purple and blue.  It seems to have worked.  The podge went on ok (maybe get one of those sponge brushes though for future) and did another coat after first one dried.  Looks ok kinds of "old-paint" look.  The terracotta shows through the paper a bit but I like it and so does Anya so that's what matters!  We're going to plant some flower seeds in it :-)  I'll put a picture on later.  Got to go out and meet mum for lunch now or we'll be late!!!

Valentines...a day late!

Hi hope you all had a nice V-day yesterday?  I spent most trying to finish off a cushion I started to make for Dave for V-day 3 years ago!  While I'm in a sewing mood I thought it would be a good time to finish it and give it to him.  He started a project for me too but I'll be waiting a little while for it.  It's a lovely idea though and will look great when finished - I'll show you when he's done.
We didn't want to spend money on silly little things or flowers etc.  He even made me a card (his first ever!) which was really lovely and sweet.  I think I'm rubbing off on him!
Anyway this is the cushion I made

The hearts are felt and sewn on with white zig-zag stitch (admittedly very wonky - I'm not the best with a sewing machine), the D was sewn with red thread in zig-zag and the cushion is stuffed with normal toy stuffing.  The main part of it is a black furry fabric which is very cuddly.  Dave really likes it and it has pride of place on his armchair.  The downside is that it's so comfy he falls asleep on it!  Oh and Anya wants me to make her a pink mini-cushion to cuddle now......
I've actually spent a lot of today being not very well with my vertigo.  When my tablets took hold I was able to get downstairs and spent some of the morning cutting up t-shirts and other items of clothing ready for a future project.  Got some more car stuff sorted out thanks to my wonderful hubby - they might have found the master key at last!  Well tomorrow will be a full day of shopping and moaning children so I'd better get the breakfast put on ready for the morning....
Overnight cinnamon-apple-oatmeal





Fingers crossed it turns out ok!

Scentsy

Can't wait for the new Spring/Summer 2013 Scentsy catalogue!  Not only have they got some lovely new scents and warmers but they also have new buddies, one of which is a HEDGEHOG!!!!  Now that probably doesn't excite most of you but for anyone who knows me personally you will all understand how unimaginably excited that makes me!!!  I am hedgehog OBSESSED! I have ornaments, fluffies, slippers, windchimes, frames, pens, Oh goodness LOTS and LOTS of different things with hedgehogs on them, so you see this is quite a big deal to me.  His name is Havi and I have GOT to have him!  There are 5 other new ones too which I will no doubt mention eventually but eeeeekkkk!!! I'm still bouncing up and down about it!

Here he is, how cute?
Now whilst looking at the new warmers I came across these ones.  They are adorable!!!

The blue one is called Peek-a-blue and the pink one is Pink-a-boo!  Even the names are cute!  Perfect baby shower or christening gifts!  And with the Newborn Nursery scent bar you just can't go wrong!  Here are a couple of close-up pictures of them:

Peek-a-blue

Pink-a-boo

So sweet, aren't they?
Anyways time for bed I think.  No knitting done today I felt so rubbish that I actually fell asleep on the sofa after the kiddies went to bed.  Only woke up when Anya got up not feeling well.  Off to bed methinks..

A new discovery

Thanks to a friend I have discovered www.lakenheath.bookoo.com, an online yard sale site that a lot of americans based in and around Lakenheath in Suffolk use to sell their unwanted items.  I thought I'd check it out will let you all know how I get on.
Dave is still wearing the earring I made him yesterday!  I will make him a proper one at some point and also get a photo but he's being camera shy right now!
Anya is still screaming and crying every time I leave her at Playgroup even though she's upbeat before I am about to go.  Any ideas about this?  I've tried bribery, getting her attention taken away by distraction, staying for a few minutes and starting an activity with her, I'm totally at a loss now. I feel like a really mean mummy when I leave and can hear her still crying as I walk out of the gates and back to the car.  I know she's ok while she's there when she has calmed down and has a lot of fun but it is little comfort when my baby girl is sobbing cos she doesn't want me to go.  All the ladies that work there are lovely people and I have friends who's children have been there and are going there so nothing odd going on. I'm just baffled and frustrated by her behaviour.  I hope that someone can give me some advice before I break and stop taking her.

component jewellery???

Ooh not feeling to well today but at work anyway.  Caught a bit of D & V I think but it'll pass so I'm not signing my will just yet!
Dave's been on and on about some jewellery he has seen online that people have made out of electrical components such as resistors.  I had a moment of inspiration today and made an earring for him with 3 different coloured resistors.  I will post a pic later when we are at home and I have the camera.  Quite proud of myself as I only used the resistors and some hot glue.  Obviously if I were to do it properly and not on the spur of the moment the piece that goes through his ear would be a proper silver-plated earring piece and not one of the legs of the resistors that I cut off pinched and glued to the back and then bent into a hook shape to hold in!!!!
well better get back to work...

Starting to get the hang of this

Cardigan....sort of!

This knitting lark isn't so bad really, the picture is of Anya's cardigan so far.  Sorry about the lighting I only had the lamp on.  It's a weird shape I know but hopefully when sewn together it will look lovely.....

It's a pale purple colour, not exactly lilac but I can't think of the colour right now at 1 in the morning!  I'm very proud of myself as the last time I was knitting was when I was about 10!  so 22 years of not knitting and I'm having to re-learn the basics as well as learning to read patterns and new techniques like the wrapping and turning I had to do on this to shape it on the bottom right.  I am finding myself thinking more and more about crochet though....will have to try a simple square and then maybe a flower sometime soon.
Anyhow, my other knitting project as I mentioned before is my scarf:

Scarf....

Again sorry for the dark photo, the bottom colour is a kind of grass green and the next colour I have started is a deep crimson with purple flecks in it.  They look great against each other and I have a third colour to add which is a dark purple and I'm going to keep alternating colours until I've used them all up or I get some more that will fit in with these colours :-)  This is just an in-between project for when I get fed up with following a pattern and just want something that I don't have to think to hard about lol!
Tomorrow I will be at work but when I next get some free time I'll be turfing out all of Dave's and my clothes that no longer fit or are a bit shabby and I'll be mostly cutting them into strips to make rag rugs, If Dave has any shirts that no longer fit they will find themselved turned into dresses for Anya (see my Sewing board on pinterest for a link to the tutorial for this).
Anyhoo I'd better get to bed, got kids to get ready and work to go to in the morning.  Just hope I can stop thinking about crafting long enough to drift off......Oh and have I mentioned Mod Podge and the home-made versions of it yet??? Well.....
Oops!  Off I go up the wooden hill to bedfordshire....here I come pillow soon to be without pillowcase as I'll probably turn it into a dress for Anya as well in the near future......

Pinterest!!!!

Right, well, car probs have calmed down a little so other than to say I love the space  and driving it, I'm not going to mention the car in this post today.
Knitting.....trying to knit at least!  Going much better than previous attempts I have about half of the first part of Anya's cardigan done with very little trouble apart from when it came to shaping under the sleeve holes.  I had to watch 3 tutorials on you tube before I got wrap and turn down.  So got a delivery of some chunky wool from ebay and started knitting a scarf for myself with it.  first time I have changed colours but it seems ok so far.  Only started it so I had an easy(ish) project to go to when I got frustrated with the cardigan ;-)
I will post pictures on here when I get a bit of time (and piece and quiet!) to do it.  I am very proud of my work so far.  Also trying to learn crochet - never one thing at a time eh?
Found a great tutorial on pinterest (look on my knitting and crochet board) on how to make a rag rug using single crochet.  It is a very clear and very easy to follow tutorial for a round and an oval rug.  I will be on the search for old sheets, curtains etc that I can rip into strips and use for that.  Watch out everyone I will be digging through your laundry lol!!
Another thing I found on pinterest was a very elegant and rustic looking wall mounted shelving unit made from a wooden pallet!  Look out work - Dave and I will be upcycling a couple of the pallets you have laying about outside not being used.....
I cannot believe that I have only just found out about pinterest - how have I managed to exist without it?  The hints, tips and ideas on there are amazing.  It is full of a wealth of knowledge from all over the world.

Anyway have to go now as got food to prepare and Anya trashing my non-toy space with toys because daddy doesn't tell her not to so that makes it ok. Grrrr!!!