Angel Jem's City Cottage

Sometimes creativity just flows around a person. I think what happens is the more you do it and actually have a completed object (whatever that is; a mug, a bag or a painted gate) then the  more you crave that good finished feeling. The mental pen-tossing feeling of "Yes!!! Done that and it.is.gooooood!!!!" And you browse blogs and think I can do that!! Sometimes you don't move fast on a thought, sometimes the thought and the action happen at the same time. And sometimes you get two weeks off work and find that the choice is mossin* or housework. With a sore knee, I chose mossin a lot this holiday. Morrisons have a lot going for them. We (the Princess and me) went there one morning for some plants and actually pies for lunch and ended enchanted by these little kits. £3 each, only. Bargain! The paint that came with them was.... OK, but not inspirational. Fortunately I have a large collection of acrylic so it came out and away we went. I also had a small house...

My chunky bag is lovely, and very comfortable to use. I got the strap wide enough not to scrunch up and not so wide as to be irritating. However, the problem with knitted or crocheted bags is that they stretch with use, and earlier this week as I rushed impatiently to use it, I noticed the length increasing as the width decreased Fatal! And so not what I wanted! So there was nothing for it. I ordered my lining from ebay, this rather lovely sounding red cotton with green polka dots , and waited for it to come. By the way, did you know that you can spend your nectar points on ebay? Cracking! All the points I save from Sainsbury's where we do our main shop can now be spent on ebay (washi, material, yarn....) And on Saturday I got up early and set to work.  The lining goes beautifully with the bag, the green dots were almost a perfect match for the Aspen (jade green) Stylecraft chunky I used.  I have lots of bits I carry in my bag. This is my tablet and my phone in...

You get the Ladies' Spring Dinner. For the past two years our church has held a Ladies' Spring Dinner. A couple of people volunteer to host a table, and others come as guests. There is a lot of thinking, crafting, squirrelling and making that goes on and then one Saturday everybody gets busy. The tables are laid, decorated and prepared. And they are brilliant. Can you spot; the Monopoly table. the Roses table, the Strictly table, the Grand National table, the Love Hearts table, Spring time in Manhattan, Springtime with Pooh, Jam and Jerusalem, the Sewing Bee, Roaring Twenties, Poker Face, Angels, Tiffany Blue, Music, A Scottish Fling or Blue Heaven? Our table (my friend Nicola and me) was called Jam and Jerusalem. We both belong to the Women's Institute so it seemed like a good idea, as well as making table gifts an easy call. Jam, right? The flowers were from two gardens, also WI members, and we mismatched plates, cups, saucers, knives and forks to our hearts cont...

It was a really quick make; one day for the front, an evening for the back and a bit of a morning to join and bind. Aside from the fact that it didn't even need a pattern (duh. It's a granny square) and the most complicated bit was the border (a row of single crochet, and then the two colour border I used on my ripple blanket. It's bright, it's colourful and it's comfortable.

WARNING; This post is MASSIVE and full of photos of crochet.  Still reading? Last week I read this post about a chunky bag on Attic 24 .  My, but Lucy can really crochet. I mean, really. I wonder if she has a family of elves hidden in her understairs cupboard who sit, patiently, hooking away to complete her projects. Although, not elves. Elves are too... ethereal to crochet. It takes a more down to earth species to crochet. Like dwarves (no, too heavy handed) or gnomes (euch! too green fingered) or..., yes, I have it... hobbits. Crochet is an ideal hobbit craft. It's quick, easy, portable (so you can do it at the pub) and makes lovely stuff in the round. Perhaps Frodo really crocheted his tobacco pouch, or Sam hooked his garden flowers with pleasure as he sat back outside Bag End. You can find ideas for hobbit crochet here , but my favourite has to be either the crochet Smaug  or the idea that Geek Central has amigurumi figures with separate clothes made from fe...

OK, if I'd worked on this none stop and it took me this long I would find a different hobby from crochet. But life, work and Christmas have hampered my progress somewhat so I don't feel too bad about a blanket that has taken me from November until now.  Simple ripple, the instructions are here, I followed them imprecisely, which is to say I did what I felt like anyway. The border is dinky, from Attic 24 as well, but my 'puter is saying no to finding the page. I will try and put the link on later. It's pretty but uncomplicated and enjoyable to do. Of course it is typical me to finish the blanket just as Spring and warm summer days make their presence around the corner felt... but I have Plans to use them. You'll see.

It's been holiday time around here the last two weeks, so I have actually had time to do things. A lot of things. It's as if not working but being in a job I wanted to get things done. Strange feeling. I usually just lie down and let it pass, but this Easter I decided to go with the flow and just (ahem, Nike quote here) just do it!!! And I never even wrote a to do list. In fact my to do list for the holiday was just a lot of errands that I didn't need desperately to do but might have done if I got the time. Instead I did some bigger projects, the kind that sit on your brain and make you think, " I want to do that, and will do that .... if I ever get the time...." I have a Ta Dah! post to do which I will post tomorrow, but today here is the start of the next project; a granny square cushion cover. It's using up all the little balls left over from my ripple blanket Attic 24 (how much do I like her colour combinations!) and, really, needs very little explan...

And I'm bringing a friend, too! Two whole days of hooky yarny goodness! Yippee!

Whether this is your most sacred festival or not, Easter is always a chance to contemplate new beginnings; death and rebirth, and the joy of being. May this Easter bring you peace, joy, love and a heart of gratitude for all the great gifts of the world. Michaelangelo's Pieta; in miniature, of course!

Thursday. No tutee turning up at 10am. No child out anywhere until midday at the earliest. No place I need to be. I can lie in. My essential kit; my Kindle app on my tablet, Audible on my phone and a decent magazine. Not in shot (but even more essential) some lavender handcream , a chai tea and a lock on the bedroom door.

A complete excess of soft and fluffy. I gave the Easter boxes to my Mini Me and told her to decorate the fireplace. The Fireplace. I still love having a mantle that can be decorated. It's funny, I love my Christmas decorations to be up for the full month (I'd love to put them up in October, personally) but Easter is a much shorter period of celebration. Perhaps it's because of Lent; lots of my friends are abstaining, resisting, preparing. It seems to run in the face of Lent to get the house decked out in fluffy sweetness. The' tree' appeared last year and has stayed. I like marking the seasons  in a small way with the decorations on the tree. So this week, the last before Easter seems the right time to nod in the direction of the season. My fireplace is ready and my daughter has done her worst; it's a riot of chicks, fluffs and everything cute. Overkill? Is there a house in the country that doesn't have any of these fluffy chicks somewhere? I ...

Back again after 3 months. I am really bad at anything requiring consistency. Never can manage too many days on the run but today I need to record my gratitude. Really I need to get my gratitude out there. My Dad, who makes things and takes me to B&Q and is always there. I am so grateful for him. An hour sat chatting with Number 2. He's 14 and mothers are not often spoken to as knowledgeable colleagues of Minecraft and Steam but tonight I was. Yarn packs by Attic 24. Dang but that girl is lucky to be so famous for crochet. I'm glad it's possible. Pasta meals. Quick, easy and tasty. Thank God. Sarah Ban Breathnach. I'm reading Peace and Plenty, a sort of financial tome. Will I have more money at the end? I doubt it, but I'll be happy.

Last Monday I took my Mini Me off for breakfast. We had to get up early (for a holiday) at 8am to take DP to school. Poor lad, he's in his GCSE year so he had 4 days in school for revision and extra cramming during his Easter holidays. Thank God this week has been easier on the lad, with a chance for more lie ins. A fruit smoothie for elevenses? So we took the opportunity of spending quality time together, Mummy and Daughter. This was a chance to go to Dunelm Mill (we have a new one near us now ; we both love a good smooch in a homewares store) and to indulge in their excellent breakfast special; pot of tea and a bacon bap for 2.95. It's always expensive to take a whole family out; breakfast for all of us would very easily mount up to £15 or £18. This way even with our coffee and cake for elevenses it came to about £10 for a morning's worth of quality family interaction. Does anyone else love those caramelised biscuits? I adore them!  This way we got to talk a...

Have I told you that I love my parents? Like, really love them? It never fails to surprise me how much I owe to them, not just life and a happy childhood, but just always having what I need and letting me have it when I need it. Can you see which flags have been cleaned? You betcha!  And in my mid 40's they are still turning up trumps. Like my garden clean up and my patio woes. Dad just trolls up with a power washer and a warning (don't let it run on one spot for too long. That's powerful enough to wipe off the top of the slabs. And don't point it at anybody. OK so sometimes he forgets I'm a  mature sensible adult. ) This is the back patio. We cleaned as much as we could on Sunday  and finished off the far corner on Monday after we got a long enough hose. Mid process. The sun was generous enough to make a pretty patio shine beautifully.  And I waited until Sunday and Monday when I had a couple of free hours and took my Mini me into the garden to work...