Deliberating...

A little bit of show and tell today! Look at this gorgeous yarn from M at Christmas. He had the good sense to ask for help with choosing and described my taste as 'natural, nature inspired and with a touch of luxury'. Mmmmh! He has been paying attention after all!

Llama, angora and silk blend each with the corresponding knit pro crochet hook. Needless to say I have been deliberating over what to make with this luxury bundle. Wrist warmers are a strong contender because I only have a hugely chunky pair which are great for warmth but look a bit ridiculous and you need an overnight bag just to carry them around when your hands overheat (yes that's how chunky they are!).

Oh yes, and you see that equally gorgeous silk crochet hook roll? Thank you to my brother and L, I love it. My previous hook roll was designed for knitting needles; so it was, quite frankly, rubbish for storing hooks!

In the meantime I am looking at my basket of odds and ends and thinking of doing a 'using up' scarf with thanks to T at Driftwood (link in my sidebar; I still can't do links from blogger for ipad) for inspiration. T is using sock yarn for a shawl and it is absolutely gorgeous. Since I don't knit or crochet socks I will have to dig out all my DK odds and ends.

Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre

Every now and then I get a little bit homesick. I miss the accents that I grew up with and even after all these years struggle with the various regional accents I encounter up here. Just half an hour in any direction and the accent changes quite drastically. Rather than moan about it I tend to just want to get out and about and explore the region I am living in, perhaps in the hope that there will be a little corner somewhere that feels like home, or perhaps just because that's what we did when we were children; at least we always seemed to take the dog somewhere different every weekend!

M obliged today and after running a few boring errands we headed in the direction of the Lincolnshire Wolds. I wouldn't go as far as using language like skippity heart beats but I do feel something quite powerful when I see proper hills. Is there any better feeling than climbing one and sitting at the top to admire the view?

We just had time to stop in Caistor for coffee and lunch at a place that was featured in a programme called 'Village SOS'. The building is called The Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre. It is part library, part cafe and part heritage centre. There was a small exhibition of photo-etchings there today. I was glad that gluten free was catered for in the cafe and found that their rocky road was gluten free too! Happy days!

We had a short walk mainly around the market square which was interesting for its Georgian architecture. Apparently a fire in 1681 nearly wiped the whole place out. Some of the road names were entertaining; Duck Lane even featured a topiary duck. There was also Horse Market and Butter Market.

There were tiny little alleyways and side streets that reminded me a little of Rye in Sussex though Caistor is tiny in comparison. One thing is for sure, the roads up here are nothing like they are in the South; the country lanes were very quiet on the way home. I do like quiet roads.

A visit to the tropics...

On the last day of the Christmas break and with everything washed and ready I was keen to get everyone out of the house for some fresh air today. Suggestions of long muddy walks are not usually received enthusiastically. The children like their technology too much and it has to be said so does M. However, put an old pinboard in front of them, with 'Post Its' of all the local places we could go and suddenly it becomes a competition to choose our destination for the day! They forget that they didn't want to go anywhere in the first place!

We compromised today and headed for the Tropical House in Lincoln. It is only small but it offers up a few photo opportunities; handy if you've left your GCSE photography homework until the last minute! It looked a bit neglected today; a bit of litter, dirty beanbags and a dead fish. I even felt like dusting the big leaves of the cheese plants!

Away from twitter, playstation but sadly not away from the iPhone, we did manage to have a good chat and laugh over big cups of coffee and hot chocolates just a short walk into town. Today was quite an amusing day for people watching. An unusual man with a rubber mask on walked into our coffee shop (and removed the mask thank goodness), selected a cake, threw it on the floor, announced he wasn't paying for it, scooped it up tightly in his fisted hand and left whilst stuffing it in his mouth. A tried and tested method of getting a free cake methinks!

Our five yearly trip...

I managed to persuade M to indulge me in a family day out to IKEA! We last went about five years ago with much huffing and puffing and everything we bought then has been in constant use since. It was talk of meatballs and pasta sauce that finally did the trick (but I have to say the food was a bit disappointing).

Our shopping list wasn't ambitious at all; 6 mugs for the mug tree, magazine files, a picture frame, a tea pot with a built in strainer (for loose leaf tea) and a tray. We found everything except for the right size frame.

We spent the longest in the toy department despite Jake proving that they are both too tall and old for IKEA children's furniture now (see photos!). Ella couldn't resist a cuddly rabbit, felt pens, coloured chalks and new pads of paper. Jake had always wanted an IKEA snake. I guess you are never too old for cuddly toys.

Although it was a conquest of sorts getting M to agree to go, I didn't let on that I would be happy not to go again for another five years! I much prefer junk shops!

Happy New Year!

Christmas came and went all too quickly. It was nice and relaxed this year. The children turned twelve and fifteen in December. I can hardly believe it. On the one hand it's less faffing about with Santa's cookies and special deliveries. On the other it is a little sad.

Lots of nice presents exchanged hands. I am snug in my cashmere sweater, and the bright red colour is a nice change from charcoal grey according to my family.

Yarn and knit pro hooks were in my special delivery. Perfume and books too. Oh and Mrs Claus picked up a cue I didn't realise I had given (I said I wished we had chosen something more exciting for our wedding dinner set than plain old white Denby) and started us off with the gorgeous Halo range. I absolutely love it.

The mountain boards went down very well with the children who by and large managed to stay upright on them at a popular sledging hill we knew of. I on the other hand, did not manage to stay upright. I think my mountain boarding days are over. There were mutters of disapproval about our two county cricketers doing something slightly dangerous just before the cricket season but as Ella would say, 'YOLO'. You only live once.

On a more sedate note, M and I learnt to play backgammon. My brother and Lili bought mum and dad a set a few years ago and so I nudged them in the same direction for us this year. It's great, I love it. Now I just need to work on tearing M away from his iPhone and iPad for a game now and then.

Mollie came with us to my parents house for Christmas this year. We usually leave her in the capable hands of a young neighbour but she tends to turn into a psycho rodent killer and sometimes brings her conquests inside. Not only that but mum has never been keen on cats. Well not only did Mollie surprise us by not fighting the neighbourhood cats, or running away, or shredding the curtains, she revelled in being the centre of attention! She curled up on anyone's lap and sprawled out in front of the fire and showed off by leaping in and out of a cardboard box. Who knew we had such a diva on our hands? She hid behind a sofa for three months when Harvey joined the household so we imagined 'change' was not something she was good at.

Going back to school on 8th now seems a long way off. I am keen to get back to school and work routines that leaves me to get on top of the housework and start implementing the big clear outs I am dreaming of. Hopefully this will be the year of the big kitchen knock through too. Oh joy. Mess and dust and nipping out to the caravan to cook dinner!

That just leaves me to wish you all health and happiness for 2013. Thank you for dropping by.

Juanita x

look who's in town...

Aw! Reindeer! I think I was the one most pleased to see the reindeer in town this evening! The children were cold and clutching new CD's they were keen to take home and download to their iPods; so it was Mummy standing there with a big smile on her face pointing out the cute little baby reindeer standing next to the huge Daddy reindeer!

I guess we are past the whole Father Christmas and Reindeer thing now. Boo.

nesting...

The run up to Christmas is great for ploughing through my 'to do' list. Even though no-one is coming to stay I'm still preparing the nest for festivities and generally 'cosifying' the place (that isn't a word but I like it).

Cosifying takes a lot of energy so I try to call it a day round about 3.15pm which happens to coincide with the daily Christmas movie, huh, how convenient!

Trouble is I feel lazy watching a movie in the day time so I also have to crochet. The crochet gifts are all finished and wrapped. I needed something fairly straightforward (doing raised trebles whilst watching Christmas movies was ambitious for me!)...

...so I stuck my head in my wool cupboard (it's only a small canvas thing in case you are imagining a huge French armoire or something!) and dug out the wool and pattern book for this circular cushion. I've no idea why I didn't get straight onto it shortly after purchasing the yarn; it has been in there for at least six months.

It's pretty bright and colourful but I can live with that because it is also quite tweedy and natural looking at the same time; like a big pile of crunchy autumn leaves.

It's a Rowan pattern using just trebles; the colours have fabulous names! Tractor, Trailor, Mini, Camper and Pick Up. In fact I'm using Lorry instead of Trailor; they must have run out of Trailor in John Lewis where we purchased them and Mr H said, 'go on, I'll treat you' which he is very good about actually. I am far more careful with money than he is!

So, round and round we go. I hope I'm not too bored by the time I fasten off and start the back!