Hints of Madness

Good evening

Wow half term went quickly didn't it - we'd just got the hang of lie-ins and no uniform and then 'beep beep beep' the alarm was going off this morning and it was back to packups and early starts. Nevermind, the positives - just 6 weeks till the next holiday! That's just 60 more white shirts and then no more white shirts! The boys school wear polos in the summer term and then as from September, big son will be in own clothes and little son wearing the new school uniform they are bringing in :)

Right - madness.

We went to Southwold yesterday as a family. When we were walking along the Prom, I spotted 4 little black shapes bobbing about in the sea - oh seals thought I - wrong - surfers;

Brrrrr - am sure even with wet suits the North Sea is cold in February - also we don't get the waves here for surfing - mad people!!

More madness today. The sun was shining so I decided to hang the washing on the line. I must remember (1) clean white sheets are tempting to sniff - however they don't mix with red lipstick! and (2) check what washing you are sniffing - I thought it was an armful of my t-shirts, not MrVV's pants!!

One final piece of madness - agreeing to play air hockey against the boys when we were in the arcades yesterday - damn MrVV and his camera phone and uploading unflattering pics of me to Facebook!

I'll leave you with one final picture - Boy Son v Little Son;

The final score board - Big Son (3 wins), MrVV (2 wins), Little Son (1 win) and me - of course I lost all my games.

Right see you later in the week - I've my Monthly Makes for Feb to share with you, hopefully some hint of spring photos and I might even get the Photo Scavenger Hunt pictures finished too (struggling here this month).

xxx Vicki xxx

Celebrations and making

Good evening

Now where did we leave off last time? Oh yes, the early start and someones 16th birthday. He had a lovely day out in London - got called up on stage and the over 300 students sang Happy Birthday to him - I think he went the same deep red as his school jumper! Oh and his teacher bought him a muffin and put a candle in it!!

As he was stuffed full of junk food and too tired Friday night, we saved the birthday cake till the next day. He wasn't too stuffed full of that to enjoy a meal out Saturday night and his first legal with a meal pint!

Now I was a big gutted when I found out the other week that the picture editing site (Piknic) I use is closing in April. I'd started to wonder what I could use instead and was happy when someone else suggested looking at Pixlr. I did and I think I could learn to like it and use it. There are some limitations but I think I've worked round those. First I loaded the 2 pictures into MosaicMaker and then put that collage into Pixlr to add the effects - not as quick as before but I'm happy with the results. Might even find time to make a new header sometime soon.

Now the weather this weekend was pretty pants - cold & very frosty on Saturday and then more snow yesterday morning. We eventually got out for a walk yesterday and most of the ice had washed away and it was fairly safe underfoot. All the indoor time meant apart from watching the rugby, I could catch up on some making;

Mini-raggies to come to Southwold with me later this month.

Teeny Tiny Hearts and Flowers courtesy of Lucy's blog - I shall put these together as a garland - just a hint of tradition towards Valentines Day tomorrow - don't expect anything else - we are not doing that this year! Instead we ordered each other a CD each and have agreed no cards!

Its half term here (I think it is just about everywhere??) and of course my growing boys are constantly hungry - coupled with little visitors tomorrow it could only mean one thing - baking time. Chocolate fudge cookies - so tasty - should still be some left for tomorrow!!

The week is filling up nicely - seems to involve me handing over money to the boys for various things as well as catching up with my family.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Happy Birthday 'Sweet' 16!!

Good afternoon

Yep another birthday! This time its big sons and he's reached the milestone of 16 - sweet in his own very special way!!

One cake has been made and is awaiting his return much later today;

A continuation of this years chocolate cake and icing theme!!

The day started early, very early - this early (note the light on the AM bit);

Why?? A school trip - a GCSE History revision day at a University in London - they were leaving school at 6.30am prompt - so we were awake early for big son to get showered, fed, down a couple of cups of coffee and open some cards & pressies too.

We've even got to wait till early evening till we can sample the cake!!

Not heading out tonight instead we are off for a meal tomorrow - someone is looking forward to being allowed a pint of cider with his curry!!

Have a good weekend all - I shall be avoiding the ice and staying in with the rugby and a basket of body parts to turn into mini-raggies!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Marooned!

Good morning

Have been marooned indoors now since Sunday - the snow started to melt and then refroze - its done this 3 times now and as a consequence the drive and lane are like a skating rink and far too slippery for me to venture out. I watched one neighbour slide sideways down the road this morning in her little car and that made my mind up - another day indoors for me!

The conservatory roof keeps starting to clear and then it freezes again - leaving slabs of snow hanging waiting for someone to stand under there and get covered comedy style. There's also been some lovely icicles hanging from there too;

At least it means I've caught up with domestic stuff and have had a chance to catch up on some making too. Firstly upcycling a skirt I made years ago into a dress with the addition of some fabric I bought many moons ago as I just liked the feel of it. Both parts are a brushed cotton and oh so soft. The skirt part was made from a vintage Laura Ashley dress I bought a sister when she was pregnant 10 years ago. The deal was she got to wear it and when she'd finished I'd get it back as I loved the material. It was made into a skirt for me and other bits of the fabric have appeared in quilts and makes since. The skirt hasn't been worn for a while so I decided to make it into something I would wear - I cut the top part off and made the top of the dress yesterday afternoon. This morning to the 2 parts got put together and the moment of truth dawned - would it fit and would I like it? Yes and yes;

 Now getting a picture of me wearing it was tricky - there's no-one here to take a photo and the light is bad and obviously if you are taking a pic in the mirror you can't use a flash - so here's the best of many attempts;

I've also finished 3 cushions towards next weekends stall;

My sewing space was tidy when I started working - however it doesn't take long to get messed up and won't get another tidy until I've finished making stuff;

I've been rather lucky this last week - I've acquired not one but two new cameras! The first one was a reward sent to MrVV for being the top seller on an auction site he uses. He had no use for it as he's got a rather nice digi-SLR he treated himself to last year - so he gave it to me. Its a Nikon Coolpix S610 and is a better spec than the Pentax Optio I have been using for the past 18 months. So I gave the old camera to little son as he wanted a small point and shoot camera that he can take out and about. In turn it seemed that he had MrVV's old camera and wasn't planning to use that anymore so he gave that one to me - and I am rather taken with it. I'd forgotten how simple it is to use and its been my camera of choice this week;

 One new toy

and another one!!

It meant when the Green Woodpecker visited the garden the other day to trash the snow in search of a good meal, I was able to capture him with no problems at all;

Had to laugh at him throwing snow out of the way so he could find a patch of grass - he spent ages there so I assume he found what he was looking for!!

Right I'd best be off - want to make a cuppa before I have a wander around blogland to see what you've all been up too.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

The one with snow in it - part 2

Good evening

I know 2 posts in one day! Well I've time to kill whilst my dinner is being cooked!

The teens got dressed pretty quickly for a weekend and after we'd found boots to fit little son (pesky growing boys!), we all headed outside. The snow was deeper that it first looked;

However my feet stayed dry - good job, I can't get my wellies on at the moment - my stupid foot can't get round the bend in the welly.

The menfolk decided that snow rugby was a good idea;

With snowball throwing added in for extra fun.

One of those rare photos of me - with big son;

Of course it wouldn't be a snow post without a snow angel pic;

We did head off for a walk but the unevenness of the snow was making my ankle ache so I headed home.

Once everyone was in, it was time to put the kettle on;

This afternoon has been spent like yesterdays - watching the rugby, drinking tea and finishing off a crochet make or two.

The snow shows no sign of melting so far - the boys are hoping that school is cancelled tomorrow - I think that unlikely but you never know.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

The one with snow in it - part 1

Good morning

Thought I'd get in first with the snowy post!!

We had a little yesterday and then a bigger load overnight;

BBQ anyone?

 Someone has been about looking for food - good job the feeders are full and MrVV has just gone to defrost the birdbath.

Untouched snow - even the tatty trailer looks better with its white blanket.

One car not going far today.

 The summerhouse - wont be sitting out there today.

Instead after the obligatory walk in the snow (yes I'll be careful), I think I'll spend this afternoon the same as I did yesterday - crochet, a mug of tea and a rugby match to cheer at :)

Once the teens are dressed we're off out to play - expect photos of snow angels and snowballs sometime soon.

Have a good day.

xxx Vicki xxx

A ta-dah moment :)

Good evening

 

Another cold day here in Suffolk - I had to brave a quick cycle to visit my parents earlier and the journey there was in the very cold head wind - the sort that completely takes your breath away. If the weather forecast is to be believed we should get a good covering of snow this weekend - tomorrow I'm off to buy some thermals!!

 

Now I've a finished project I want to share with you - normally I'd head out into the conservatory to take pictures as the light is best there but not today - its just too cold out there. Instead I opted for the warmer front room where the light isn't as good.

 

I started this Giant Granny Blanket when we were camping in Dorset in the summer - finally the last round was finished yesterday!!

Its been a usable size for a while now - it got lots of use when I was stuck on the sofa in plaster. I knew it needed finishing before the yarn got used for other projects! So here we are - 43 rounds of trebles and a final 2 rounds of doubles. One snuggly and cozy blanket - just perfect for keeping warm on the sofa these cold nights and for taking camping when the days start to warm up.

I'm glad I had enough yarn to finish the edges of with the doubles - it makes it look really neat.

 

 

A pile of squishy crochet loveliness.

Now in my last post, I promised to share the tale of a little mix-up with you. Quite simple - 2 families living an hour apart - one date arranged for lunch. 2 families both sitting at home wondering where the other family were. One phone call - disaster both think the other family is coming to them!! We jumped into the car and amazingly made it there in under an hour! It turns out, I was right - they should have been at ours! Oh well - nothing got wasted. Sundays buffet lunch became dinner Monday night and my boys are happily working their way through this victoria sandwich I made!!

Right back to the crochet I head - time to try and finish a few more squares towards my 100 square blanket (currently at 70 squares).

See you soon - keep warm

 

xxx Vicki xxx