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Wednesday 22 July 2015

Wednesday already

Hi, I cannot believe it is Wednesday evening already.  I am happy that it is because in two more sleeps I get to see Frank again.  It is like having a little holiday each weekend.

Since I last posted I have done more of the Cute Critter Purses, in fact here is a photo of the four I have done so far.
 A rabbit, puppy, pig and cow!

I have one more to do which is a grey cat and then I am going to have a little rest for a couple of days from making them because I have an idea about a toy I would like to design and/or crochet.  Then after my little rest, I will have another two purses to make for one of Franks colleagues at work.

I have been feeding the birds each day and this morning I had a treat of seeing a close up of the Heron that is always lurking around the edge of the lake.  

He is standing there like he owns the place and I know he is only after some of the fish in the lake.  He doesnt seem to have an appetite for bread although saying that, the squirrel came up to me today and took a piece of the crust from the slice of bread.  He had to run fast to get away because them nasty crows were chasing him.  I do like the crows but I am beginning to think they need a bit of a telling off now and then.  

It has been rather warm here still, in fact, the word is humid.  I cannot stand it, I do not know how you guys who live in hot climates can put up with it.  One of the podcasts that I watch called Come Knit With Us lives in Phoenix, Arizona and it is always over 100f, no way!  I could not manage that, I would be grumpy all the time.  In fact yesterday (Tuesday) I checked the temperature of my office and it was 96 f, no wonder I had the hump and a headache.

Oh well, it is almost 9pm and I am ready to go and get some sleep.  Hope you all have a good week and shall be back again soon.....take care.

Sunday 19 July 2015

Gosling progress and other cute critters

Hey do you remember the goslings I took a photo of at the beginning of June, here is the photo to remind you...
of their cuteness.  It is a shame that they dont keep their yellow colouring as they get older.

I have been feeding them every morning, five mornings a week in fact and they have gradually got nearer and nearer, bigger and bigger.  They still making that gorgeous tweeting sound even now...here is a photo of them on Friday 17th July at around 0800,  
There are still four of them and you can see they are starting to get their proper feathers now.  The tail feathers were the first to show and now they are getting their wing feathers.  I have even fed one of them out of my hand and they are so adorable that I just do not know how I have stopped myself from trying to stroke one!

I have spent the week doing the norm of work routine and trying to get back to my jogging too, I did get up rather early one morning and switched on my pedometer and kept it on the whole day and was surprised to see that I had done over 16,000 steps.  However, my knees and ankles were killing me the next day so I decided to switch on the pedometer app on my phone every day, even in work because I do a sit down job and to see if there is any difference in my steps.  Nope!  That is all I can say.  I walk to work, I walk home which is 10,000 steps.  I kept the pedometer on all day and by the time I took it off after walking Tammie it was still £16,000 steps so I guess I am still doing a fair amount of movement.  I will, however keep the pedometer on this week just to make sure that I am getting enough exercise, it is also helping me to see how many calories I am using and makes me watch what I am eating too.  I have been comfort eating and I have put 4 kilos on which is not good at all, which is probably why my knees and ankles hurt too.  

On the crafting side I am still doing my mitred blanket but I am also making Cute Critter Purses to sell so that I can boost my savings.  Here is a couple of photos for you to see the progress..


They are pretty easy to crochet for an experienced crocheter like me.  I have eight to make already and am now on the piggy one.  

I still have the Cow one to do soon and that is going to be the hardest because of the colour changes but am looking forward to it.


I have had a lovely weekend with Frank again and always feel low when I have to leave him so I am now off to have a little nap and then to do a little bit of crafting or even gardening....bye for now.




Sunday 5 July 2015

Engineering Works on the Trains

I would say at least once a month the District Line Trains are closed for the whole weekend for engineering work to be done which meant it was going to be a longer journey than normal to get to see my Frank.  The good thing that the Transport For London does when these things happen is that they put on a free bus to take you to the various train stations.  They are much quicker than the normal bus routes and obviously you do not have to pay.  So I got the free bus to Dagenham Heathway Station and then got on the 174 bus to meet Frank in Romford.  I took that time thinking about what I can put on my blog and took a random photo of inside the bus....


Obviously this photo is for those living in other countries and may wonder what the inside of a British Bus looks like.  Theres not much to see really, lets face it, the driver is at the front on the right, you press a bell to tell him or her you want to get off.  

Anyway, we met in Romford, sat outside Poppins Cafe with Tammie and had some brekker and then slowly walked down to the vet because Tammie had to have her booster injections.   We then walked back to Romford Train Station which is not part of the District Line and headed back to Kent.  We had to get to Stratford in order to get on the Jubilee Line to North Greenwich so that we could get the 486 bus to Welling.  It did not take as long as we thought and was in Kent by mid day.  

We was going to go for a walk through Greenwich Park but were both so tuckered out from a busy week we just wanted to get in and rest.  Frank did take a photo of Tammie sitting on my lap whilst on the bus, its not very flattering of me but here you are..

She looks like she owns the bus by the way she is sitting on my lap with the leg hanging off the side.  She is truly spoilt!

We spent the rest of the day watching a bit of tv, sat in the garden for a while and I did some knitting on my mitred blanket whilst Frank read his latest book.  He loves reading, gets very engrossed in them.

I decided not to do any baking this weekend and was glad for a rest, I even ended up having a rather long nap but that is what the heat does to me.  

I tried to take a photo of the blue tit that had landed on the feeder that John bought a few weeks ago.  Its not a great picture but you can just about make him out on the left of the feeder.  They move so quickly that I had to poise myself with the finger on the button and trying to stay in focus to get a shot of him.  

On the crafting front I have finished one side of the mitred blanket and am now working on the other side.  Once I get that bit done I can just keep on adding squares until I get the length I want.  Then I can work on more of the design that I have planned for it.  I must admit though, when your working on a project that does not need much concentration, I tend to let my mind wander into my own thoughts, worries and memories and that I truly believe is good for you.  Anyway, here is a photo update taken Saturday evening whilst Tammie was having her rest and taking up a lot of the sofa.

Do you think she looks comfy there, she always gets in the middle of me and Frank when we want to cuddle....which is rather annoying!

Frank escorted me back to Barking Sunday morning which was not easy leaving him, but we had no choice otherwise if we had left it late for me to get home then the train and bus that I needed to get would have been absolute manic.  Trust me, it is not nice when you have a back pack and a little dog to carry.  We said goodbye which chokes us all the time and I got back to Dagenham by mid day.  I tidied up and then went for a little jog to get my mood up a bit and then came home and did a light dinner for Ross and Emma.  They went out and I decided to do my blog and a bit of crafting.

I finished off a little candy bag that I am designing and am thoroughly pleased with it.  The idea was that you give it as a gift bag with either sweets inside or even a little present for someone....

I got some King Cole Glitz double knit yarn in red and mixed it with the white.  Am rather pleased with it.  I then thought I would have a go at another bag but do it in crochet because I actually need a project to put in my bag to take to work with me to do in my lunch break.  So I just sat here an hour ago and this is the progress I have made so far...

It has certainly come together much quicker than knitting one and am now debating whether to have a go at a Christmas Stocking or not!

I did change my bedding after dinner and decided to get my Primrose Afghan out just to brighten up the bedroom and here it is again for you to see.


It is so pretty and I still have a lot of yarn left over.  

Oh well, I am off to prepare for another week at work and another week missing my Frank. I will try and blog again within the next few days and hope you have liked the ones I did last week.









Thursday 2 July 2015

Co-Op English Tea and Tipsy

Hi everyone, back again to another blogpost to bore you.  I hope not anyway.

Lets face it, this week has been about the unbearable weather and me moaning about it.  I just cannot help it because I am never happy about it.  I love spring, I love Autumn, I put up with Summer because everything flowers lovely and there is a blue sky above our heads.  I am not that fond of winter because of the long dark nights but I do like to wear my knitted hats, scarves, shawls and gloves.

Today has just flashed by, almost like a strike of lightening to be honest because the minute I got into work and stuck into the chores of the day, the morning went and it was 1pm already.  I finished off what I was doing and sat out in the garden at work about 1.30 for a cuppa and a knit.  Then after what only seemed like five minutes of going back into the office, it was almost 4pm and I had made a big dent in my work load so I am hoping to get things cleared tomorrow.  Thats my plan anyway!

I came home and the rain started to arrive and a clap of thunder but it really was not that much and by the time I got home, it had all stopped.  I walked pup straight away and then spent half an hour ironing because to be honest, it had been sitting there for about 2 weeks and it took me half hour to do.  I hate ironing!!      I then got washed and changed for bed and ended up watching a podcast called Tilly Trout on youtube about knitting.  She lives in the countryside with her family and spends a fortune on yarn and good luck to her.

I then made myself a nice cup of Co-Op Loose Leaf Tea, here is a photo for you to see.

You simply put a teaspoon of tea leaves in the strainer (which is the blue thing in the photo on the right), pour on hot water from the kettle and let it be for five minutes.  Then pull the strainer out which holds the wet leaves and then pour in your milk.  It makes a stronger cuppa and it is perfect!  Much better than a teabag.  The added bonus too is you throw the leaves onto the soil in the garden around the roses, dig it in and your giving the ground some natural compost.  That is what my Nan says anyway!

I have done another two squares on my mitred blanket tonight, eaten a little chocolate and a peanut butter sandwich and am now wishing I had not because now I feel even more guilty that I have not been jogging for quite a while.  I have got to get motivated with that again....

It is now 9.15pm and I am ready to hit the sack, so I will leave you with a photo of Tipsy who came in moaning from the garden because I wanted to lock up. 

Night everyone, it is finally Friday tomorrow.




Wednesday 1 July 2015

Hot, Hot, & Heathrow Debate

I am so glad that I have survived the day in the hot office, in fact, when I came out of the office to get the bus home, it was hotter outside.  The trains have slowed down because of possible damage to the rail tracks, my partner Frank said it was unbearable on the trains from Kings Cross Station.  The temperature here in Dagenham is 34 degrees right now and we are expecting storms.  I checked one of followers on Instagram and they live in Darlington which is in Yorkshire and they videoed the storm that hit.  The thunder was LOUD!

I am going to spend the evening chilling now, I have the fan on full blast in the front room and hopefully it will keep me and Tammie cool.

I am now debating whether to knit on my mitred blanket or to do some more of my bag design.....

I shall leave you with a photo of our Prime Minister David Cameron debating about the new runway proposed to be built at Heathrow Airport.  Lets hope it doesnt happen, more homes to be torn down and beautiful countryside to be ruined....


I am off to boil a few eggs....