Great Eccleston Agricultural Show

I've had an ambition to go to an agricultural show for years and this year is the first time I've made it to one. Despite weather which ranged from heavy showers to to hot sun to gusty wind, we had a lovely time, seeing animals great...



and small... (we think there should be a new class for showing 'Simultaneous Buggy and Dog Handling')


Checking out the big boys' toys...


And inspecting the wide, wonderful and yes, sometimes downright weird range of items competing for prizes. These included many, many cakes...


Some lovely quilts- the circles one is my favourite and already has me thinking about a 'big girl's bed' quilt for M (yes, she's only four weeks old, but it might take me a while!).


Beeswax and honeycombs- have to show this to my sister, who has been taken on as an apprentice beekeeper at the media company she works at (it's in London, they have a hive on the roof! And no, beekeeper is not her actual job)

And finally...my Fairisle pullover! All those months of fiddly colourwork, anguished frogging after I misread the pattern, re-knitting and then not being able to wear it because of the baby bump and finally it ends up winning first prize in 'Garment Knitted in a Fashion Yarn'!

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. Inspired by SouleMama

Dodging the clouds

The week so far has seen weather forecasts whose bark was worse than their bite. Monday afternoon saw these spectacular clouds sweeping in off the sea, yet we managed an hour at Sandscale Haws with nothing more than a few spots. Yesterday was meant to be okay in the morning then awful all afternoon, so we duly dashed out with a lovely gang of friends for walking, play and picnic here in the a.m. only to find that the afternoon was also rain-free until 5-ish. Today, if the reports were to be believed, we would be deluged (we were during the night), so a blanket den was duly built in the living room and no promises of going outside were made. So far? A mere sprinkling, and that while out for a drive along the coast road, where the brunt of the weather hits.
Still, all this indoors time has meant more progress on Manu, which, now that the sleeves are finished and the yoke is in progress, resembles more of a garment. I made the sleeves on four needles as I couldn't get the hang of them on a circular, but switched to a circular for the yoke. Hmmm...maybe a problem as my tension seems to be a little bit tighter on the circular. I'm hoping it won't show up too much in the finished item- it certainly doesn't on the pictures. The yarn is quite fluffy and the tension is fairly easy throughout, so maybe blocking will even things up a bit. Or I'll pretend it's a design feature! Looking forward to knitting the pleats soon...

Three's company

So far, so good. There are some logistic puzzles to be solved when it comes to getting baby, toddler and buggy to and from the car/ up and down stairs etc. but we seem to be surviving. I know it's not that big a deal, mothers have been coping with more than one child for a long time, but for me it's a new challenge. Having friends has made a big difference to this- today we were up and at 'em before most sane people would emerge unless they had to go out to work. We headed for Fell Foot for football on the grass and much fun in the playpark. You may remember a certain very smart pair of red sandals bought at the start of the summer- they are holding up in structure, but not in looks, especially with regular soakings under the tap in the back garden and in muddy puddles- today was no exception! Little M slept peacefully throughout these adventures, as seems to be the habit for this chilled little girl. And yes, I even managed some knitting yesterday, although the picture is a demonstration of how something very unpromising can become something lovely (I hope). From left to right is the unfinished Manu cardigan sleeve, the completed sleeve and the body. Honestly it is! If only you could reach out and feel how soft the yarn is, and see how nice the slight colour variation when it forms a marl effect. Oh well, maybe when it's completed and photographed begin worn!

Weekending

The novelty of a rainy day after all the sunshine soon wore off, so when the clouds parted just a bit this Sunday afternoon we headed out. Our first choice plan was PYO strawberries, but perhaps unsurprisingly we found the farm but couldn't find the farmer. Plan B was Low Sizergh Barn, to walk their Farm Trail. The sunshine held, the baby slept in the front carrier throughout and it was felt that the most was made of our last day together before the end of paternity leave. Tomorrow its just me and the two babies- yikes! The benchmark for how well things go will be if I add a few inches to the second sleeve of Manu at some point in the day. Yes, that's right, even with all the events of recent weeks, I've somehow managed to get the body and one arm completed. I'll try and post some pics soon.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. Inspired by SouleMama

Thank you letters

I'm a big fan of the ailing art of letter writing. I'm no luddite, but I do think it's sad that as short a time ago as when I was at Uni letter writing was still the way that my friends, family and I kept in touch. I still have some of those letters and postcards, which is more than I can say for the emails, text messages and Facebook posts that have come to replace them (even though there are some people I wouldn't have managed to keep in touch with if it wasn't for these new media, admittedly). One letter writing habit I was brought up with, and intend to pass on to my children, is that of thank you letters. I know that most people nowadays see a phone call or text as an acceptable way to acknowledge a gift, but I just feel that it's so nice to get something dropping through the door that doesn't have a window and a demand for payment inside. Having said that, until my two babies are old enough to write for themselves, this commitment can mean a lot of work around birthdays and Christmas! P's birthday was just ten days before his sister's arrival so for various reasons I found myself still needing to get 'Thank Yous' out by the time she was settling in at home. So the requirement was- inexpensive cards with a personal touch, requiring minimal effort from a tired mummy. The solution was: find a black and white picture of a bicycle (for my wheel-loving boy)on the internet, write a standard 'thank you' message for the back, print multiple copies and get P to colour the pictures in his own unique style. On future occasions I promise to get a bit more fancy but for now, these will hopefully be more welcome than another bill through the door...