Oops! Me Made May

I nearly forgot this was May 1st.

can't stop,dogs to walk

Pam xx

Rinse and repeat.

When my younger brothers were little one of their "treats" was to eat what ever our Dad left in his lunch box. On the odd day that he ate it all they would create a fuss.
Mum wised up and started making 2 extra sandwiches for them to have.

Roll on far too many years and I am now having to put extra food into Ben,s dish so that Herbie can finish it off. I realised that he would leave a little of his and then sit beside Ben waiting to scavenge the scraps.

Ben is set in his eating habits and I know exactly how much to give him so now there is always a little left for Herbie.

Small children are much the same no matter race, creed or number of legs.

The second cowl is now off the needles and a third variation is in progress. These are a quick knit and by changing the stitch pattern I hope to stave off boredom until I have knit up several more odd balls of yarn. They take around 50 - 60 grams depending on the thickness of yarn. The current pair are in Drops Karisma on 5mm needles with a 96 stitch count. Photo to follow.021465 This sequence of numbers is Herbie's doing. He loves the laptop so I will have to sign off before he tries to steal it.



                      TTFN                                       Pam

Quick Fix and other treats.

As I said earlier Herbie decided that he was part Tigger and could quite easily scale a 4' fence. So to make the garden safe the SO had to become a Heath Robinson for an hour. He used what was available at home before measuring up for a proper job.

The gate had a temporary tall extension of old wood and chicken wire.

A fence had a bit built on as he was able to leap up and jump down the other side.

I have watched him roaming the boundary looking for another way out for 3 days and he has failed. Bingo!

The So had a wood kit from Francesca for his birthday and spent parts of the week building this. It was put way frequently as Herbie was fascinated by it.

It is on the dresser at the moment but will have a permanent home soon.

It really needs to be behind glass as these gears would not take kindly to dust.

My scrappy socks are finished, they are warm, they fit and all the ends are woven in. I have pulled yarn for 2 more pairs

I did intend to get another pair on the needles but got distracted. How many times does that happen? 
Loads.

I was looking at Ellie Jones (Crafthouse Magic) blog and spotted "free patterns". 
I went and had a look. 
It would be rude not to.

There were 2 cowls, among other patterns, that took my eye, one buttoned and the other lacy. Now I nearly always wear a scarf of some kind, if my neck gets cold it seems to trigger a frozen shoulder. 
Quite often in the summer that means stuffing a scarf into a pocket or bag, not really ideal. Sooooo I dipped into the stash and pulled out a skein of Malabar, a blend of cotton and silk sadly discontinued now, and cast on the lacy cowl. I knitted it to the pattern.

I like it but the yarn does not really have enough structure, it could do with being a bit deeper as well.

Cue another stash dip. This time I found the leftovers from a cardigan, pure Merino, with the body that the pattern needs.

2 birds with 1 stone, all the yarn will go into this version, which incidentally I am knitting on a size smaller needle. I have also swapped out the stitch pattern for another, so a bit more brain power used. I will be knitting this at least 2" deeper, it is a shame that I did not use magic loop as I could have tried it on as I went.

I did a 6 row garter stitch border in the hope that it would not curl up but it still wants to. I hope that once soaked and blocked that tendency will disappear.

The day is another sunny but chilly one, washing pegged out again and is already dry. That will be ironed and put away soon, the rest of today,s chores are done and I aim to get a little time in the garden later.

At the moment there is nothing on the horizon so, fingers crossed, I will make Knit and Natter tomorrow.

I baked for the freezer last week and this morning I made a batch of sultana scones (now frozen) and a large Impossible Quiche that will be lunches and maybe even the odd breakfast for the next few days.

I am freeing up gardening time so this weather needs to stay put.

On that note I think that I should get that ironing out of the way and get the gardening gloves on.

              TTFN                                            Pam

Home again in one piece.

What a start to the day, shrieking wind, of the banshee variety, driving rain, of the neck freezing variety and 2 little dogs who were hell bent on going out. Regardless of anything.

We donned coats and, in my case, wellies and braved the elements.
We lived to fight again.

I went off to Morriston and did the stress test, I had to grit my teeth to complete it but felt that it was important to do so if possible.
Now I have to play the waiting game to hear what comes next

They did have a cosy nap later in the morning, not in their bed, they love to hog the sofa.

I am keeping this short and sweet, Herbie is telling me in no uncertain terms that it is way past walk time. Ben is snoring but at first touch of the leads he will be up and ready.

Enjoy the weekend as best you can.

                        TTFN                                        Pam.

Hell and set fire to it.

I am so annoyed with my "trusty" camera. I took some photos of Herbie and Ben snuggled up snoozing together and they evaporated.

I will watch them like a hawk to catch the next time. 

We had a very wet day again yesterday but today it is sunny and bright and very blimmin cold. The wind is cold enough that I wore hat, gloves and scarf to do the dog walks.

I am planning a Garden Centre Trip for the weekend ( I hope that doesn't bring the rain back). I want to change my window boxes over, the miniature daffs have all but died back and need to be put in a corner to rest till next year.
I have some Petunias and hope to find some trailing Geraniums and upright Fuchsias. I had Fuchsias in them last year but they grew so fast that I had to put them in the garden.

I missed the boat on summer bulbs so I may look out for some in pots, I will leave them in the  pots and just tuck them in here and there.

The SO enjoyed his day and is engrossed in building a locomotive with tender, we will have to shuffle things around to make space for it. I do not mind at all, everything that he makes is attractive and deserves to be on display. And after all I have a room full of my hobby.

The scrappy socks are growing, both heels have been turned and the gusset decreases finished on one. The minute they are off the needles I will cast another pair on, I have a large collection of odds and ends of sock yarn and do not want to fall down the rabbit hole of cosy memory blankets. That is where my dk yarn goes, I caught Herbie chewing on a corner of one yesterday mmmm.

Just look at this, he just threw himself down on his favourite "bed" and I asked the SO to snap him, he is snoring now so I will sneak off in a minute.

Once he is down he tends to stay put for a little while, giving me the chance to get a few chores done.

I am off to give the kitchen floor a once over with some white vinegar and hot water, I try not to use chemicals and that leaves the floor shiny and the smell goes really fast.

                   TTFN                                                Pam

PS. I just want to say hello to my new readers I hope that you enjoy my meanderings. 
A word to all, old and new, I will try not to post so many pics of Herbie that you have to zone out. It may be difficult though. 


                                      Pam xx

Clean bill of health.

For Herbie, that is, he had his first visit to the new vet this morning. She was very thorough and Herbie raised no objections to her ministrations.

He will be neutered at some, not too distant, point in the future. Not yet though as only his left testicle has descended.

He weighs 11.2 Kg and his heart and lungs are sound, eyes, teeth and gums are perfectly fine.

He has had 2 walks and a big play with Rufus this morning and has finally collapsed.

As you can see he is ready for instant action with heffalump and ball close by.

I finished these last night while watching telly, for far too long I should add.

They were knit on separate needles in tandem, 2 at a time is just not possible at the moment.

These scrappy socks have been loitering for quite a while so they are taking precedence now, I have the rest of the scraps sorted to finish them. I have used the same remnants in each sock but have not worried about pattern matching. I am happy to be able to snatch the time to knit, the finesse can wait till things settle down. Fingers Crossed.

I had a lovely day in The Flying Goose yesterday, the rain hammered down  but I had a steady flow of customers on foot and by phone. Lots of chatting happened, lots of fabric comparing and choosing took place. All in all a good day, it is wonderful how the crafting community can always find something to talk about. Ideas are exchanged freely and information shared gladly.

I did go in early and had 15 minutes in Debs wool shop, I looked at some new yarn but was very good and bought nothing. The same with the fabric, even though I was sorely tempted AND there is a sale on. 

If I could be as focused on my diet  I would not be carrying a couple of extra stones about.

There! I said it and not 10 minutes ago I was tucking in to a Walnut Brownie from Gower Cottage Brownies. It is the SO's birthday and Francesca sent him a box, along with books, bars of fancy chocolate and a wood kit model to make up.

On that note I really need to get off my btm and do something, possibly some ironing.

                     TTFN                                                 Pam

There's a kind of hush...........

all over the house, for now.

Quite simply both Rufus and Herbie are worn out. They have been tearing around the garden and hurtling through the kitchen every now and then, just to see what I am up to. Ben follows them every now and then, he does not like to miss anything, but soon returns to the relative sanity of indoors.

The SO has been turning out the shed and storage lockers, all is now neat and tidy, and has had the incinerator fired up. The rubbish has been burned so there will be no smoke over the weekend.  Hopefully the weather will stay kind and there may well be washing pegged out and/or outdoors activities happening.

I have cast on another sock, Petunia Dursley's Double eyelet Socks a free pattern by Erica Lueder of Dreams in Fiber. I have had the pattern printed out for ages and decided that it was past time that I knitted it. I am using a Crafternoon Treats skein, Think Pink, a blend of 95% Romney Lambswool and 5% fawn Shetland, this is very deep stash indeed.

I do have other things that should be getting my time but, given the lightning bolt called Herbie, I need to be able to abandon my knitting at the drop of a hat, or even a ball or toy. I am not knitting 2 at a time, which is my preferred method as it just tangles up when jettisoned.

I did manage to get some baking done for the freezer this morning. A couple of crunchy top lemon loaves and chocolate sponge rounds, most of which have been cut, wrapped and popped in said freezer. I made a batch of Semolina Shortbread as well, it is ages since I made the recipe and had to look it up. There are many versions but I use Mary Berry's, it never fails.

Dinner will be something with salad, last night we had a pasta dish with a creamy garlic and chicken sauce. It was very garlicky and I made some Garlic bread just to reinforce it. No vampires here.

I will be in Llandeilo next Tuesday, not for knit and Natter unfortunately but in the quilt shop so all is not lost.

On Wednesday Herbie is going to the vet for a once over and will be booked in for neutering.

Then on Friday I will be having the stress test in Morriston hospital, a busy week ahead.

I did a biggish shop yesterday, filled all the gaps in pantry, bathroom and cleaning cupboard. I do this every month or so and then just buy fresh stuff once or twice a week. It suits me and I very rarely run out of anything. I hate the thought of having to go to the shops for 1 item, it is either a waste of petrol or pay through the nose in the village shop, always supposing that they have what I need.

That's it for now, Herbie is flat out beside me and has not even lifted his head. Normally I only have to touch the lap top and he is bouncing all over me.

Rufus is on the floor waiting for his dinner and Ben has claimed the other sofa. It is like the calm before a storm. I will enjoy it while it lasts.

Here's hoping that you all have a great weekend, with lots of lovely Sun.

                            TTFN                                 Pam