New, old, knits...

The men went to see some live cricket yesterday. Normally E and I would enjoy watching it too but 7 hours sitting still in the freezing cold did not appeal, so we got dropped off in the city and went in search of vintage shop bargains.

E is the ultra cool one who looks good in most things but there are a few sweaters cropping up in these places now that span the age appeal. When I lived in Oxford and before E was born I used to have a couple of over-sized wool jumpers, bought from a shop in the Covered Market. I think they were about £50 back then and sold like hot cakes. Most were bright and colourful. They were fabulous to wear instead of a coat on a crisp autumnal morning. Over 15 years later and one is a little on the small side and the other is brighter than I would wear now. When I spotted one in a vintage shop for a tenner I assumed it must be falling to pieces or have big holes in it, but no, it's perfect. Plain navy with a big cream coloured star on it and still the perfect jumper for dog walks. I had to wash it by hand today and it has come up smelling wonderful. Actually I had cricket match spectating in mind when I bought it, J's first is coming up soon and we'll be watching E play this year too.

I couldn't resist the colourful stripey scarf in Oxfam for a lowly £2. It seems to be pure wool but not itchy. Not my usual thing but something to keep the critics happy who say I have too much grey in my wardrobe. Who me?

Talking of grey. My favourite buy was definitely the grey sweater. Just a simple design with a wide neck which rolls over. It doesn't have an info label as such but it feels like a cotton/silk blend. It is the palest grey with little colour flecks in the yarn. Right up my street and looks good with the new stripey scarf. A bargain at £5 from Oxfam too.

E bought some vintage rings for £2 each and a vintage sweatshirt. We must have walked hundreds of miles (well it felt like it) and we drank lots of tea (for me) and coffee (e).

I must be getting old though. Not only am I aching from head to toe today I also had to get out a calculator to work out how old I am going to be in October (it came up in conversation). Lost count and losing my marbles!

Oh Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun...

I accompanied M on an assignment in Ipswich recently. It's a bit of a long way for us but with the children otherwise occupied I though I would go along to keep him company on the journey. With a 6am start it was more a case of being there in person. I'm ashamed to say I nodded off on the journey there and nodded off on the journey back. It seems I need my beauty sleep these days!

Despite Ipswich being generously sprinkled with charity shops (I must have popped into at least ten) I came home with just one purchase. A fourteen inch Barney the Dinosaur in immaculate condition for £1.50. Initially intended for the dog (since his Teddy got covered in whatever they are spraying the fields with at the moment) I realised on the way home that a certain someone might 'borrow' Barney for a while despite the fact that she is 15. She won't thank me for sharing that she was a big fan once upon a time and I was never allowed to get on with the housework when he was on TV, oh no, I had to 'join in'. Oh boy, that was really beyond the call of duty. I still know the words to the sunshine song off by heart. Catchy.

The saving grace was dragging M into an arty looking cafe that was right up my street. M 'gets' these places now even if he does complain that the china doesn't match and his mug hasn't got a handle (it wasn't broken just arty!). The cafe was called 'Snob's Coffee Shop' and I think I am right in saying that it is located within the town hall. Spectacular ceiling above the cafe!

I love these places, just look at that groovy suite! 50s or 60s? Fantastic 70s lamp shades. Victorian armchairs. Modern art on the walls, for sale. Quite an eclectic bunch of customers too. With a craft gallery next to the cafe it is definitely worth popping in if you are ever in Ipswich.

Zulu...

Meet Zulu. Voodoo's big cousin. So called because he is a few ears short of a headdress! Sshh, don't say that too loudly, he's a bit sensitive about the size of his ears.

Yep, I think I'm done with the rabbit thing now.

Voodoo rabbit...

This little bunny is a bit late to the Easter parade. He has been a day or two in the making and very nearly got consigned to the reject pile on account of being rather fiddly for my large hands. Grrrr, those colour changes! Now that he has been assembled (with much fiddly and frustrating needlework, hence the post title!) I like him a whole lot better and all is forgiven.

He is exactly twenty centimetres tall, including his ears, which happens to be the dimension of my hand, from base of palm to top of middle finger. I am going to scale him up a bit though and make him a big cousin who stands a little taller.

Love the way he uses up odd bits of DK; there could be a whole rabbit family before long!

Easter hibernation...

Inspired by the real thing, of which we have quite a few here, I rustled up a wee hedgehog yesterday whilst Harvey was having a deep hydro cleanse, trim and blow dry (a bath and a hair cut).

The hedgehog has had a warm and cosy night under a pile of crispy beech leaves and now he's having a little wander about. Luckily the dog is not keen on hedgehogs and is giving him a wide berth.

He is probably thinking, 'is it the end of winter?'. I don't think so.

Settling down for the Easter break...

Aargh! The end of term crept up on me suddenly! My quiet time has now ended for a fortnight. I am thankful for a teenage sleepover tonight. It means we only have the all singing, all humming, noisy boy here tonight. One at a time works well. As you can imagine, the constant humming and random sound effects do sometimes wind big sisters up. Mind you, with loud music in one bedroom and sound effects in the other I am sometimes quite grateful I am deaf.

I've done as much spring cleaning as possible given that the kitchen knock through has begun and the master craftsman, ie. M, has strangely decided to finish the bathroom that he started five years ago! We've had a functioning bathroom all this time, it just lacked a few finishing touches; tile trim, pipe boxing in, blinds and a little shelf I've had kicking around for five years! Men are definitely from Mars.

Meanwhile, I've had a pleasant hour tackling all the skeins of cotton I had lying about in my cottons basket. These pesky things have to be wound into balls before you can use them or a big tangled mess is guaranteed! I just love the muted colours of these organic cottons, they look like they are straight out of the countryside.

The wool winder is great fun so I got a little carried away and rewound all the oddments of cotton too. They were already in neatish hand wound balls but now they are even neater! Such simple pleasures.

I made the little mouse in a very short amount of time during my afternoon ritual; watching a rubbish movie. In this household I am now known as the Queen of Cheese. These movies involve such themes as overcoming paraplegia, finding your birth mother, solving ridiculous inter-family murders. Actually, one of my all time favourite films was on the other day and J actually came out of his bedroom to watch it with me; Bugsy Malone. He first saw it when he was four and very much into wearing a hat all day long. We had to seek out a suitable hat and purchase the DVD of the film and I think he must have watched it a hundred times!

The mouse pattern is from Inside Crochet, issue 35.

Friends...

There was a bit of a commotion this morning when Ted woke up. It seemed to be coming from the tall boy's bedroom. A cheeky little character with a red and white striped jumper was swinging from the light shade in search of bananas.

As soon as he caught sight of Ted peeping round the door he swung over and landed right by his feet. This daring stunt startled Ted somewhat but not forgetting his impeccable manners introduced himself as 'Ted'.

Monkey knew he was a monkey but he didn't want a dull name like Ted so the two of them put their thinking caps on and decided Monkey should be called 'Marvin'. The two of them have been inseparable ever since. Ted has shown Marvin where the bananas are kept and Marvin has introduced Ted to the biscuit barrel. Ted had never known such pleasure as Oreo's until he met Marvin.

If you listen very carefully you can just hear the two of them chattering away on the sofa. I wonder what they are planning?