As promised, a quick peak at the blanket I am knitting for Baby C. The pattern is the Ziggy Blanket from The fourth little Sublime hand knit book and I'm using Rowan Cashsoft DK in shade 515 (tape). The pattern's not a difficult one, but does require to keep your wits about you so that you remember just how many to knit and purl on each row!Now I just need to make sure I finish the whole thing within the next couple of months! ... read more
A chocolate filled Easter
It's been an Easter weekend that I think I'm going to remember most for the variety of chocolate consumed whilst doing a million and one other things! There was only time for one bit of baking though which was an opportunity to try out a new seasonal recipe. I've had the card for Waitrose's Chocolate Nest Cakes for years (possibly since 2001 looking at the date on it!) and have only just got round to trying these, although as I needed to transport them to a friend's house in the car I made them into Easter cupcakes rather than nests so that they went in a tin ... read more
Easter jobs
Somehow we are already half way through the long Easter weekend. I'm not too sure how that has happened. Lots has been done both in planning for Baby C's arrival and in the garden (when the rain has held off). Time with my laptop has therefore been lacking. Photos will follow, just as soon as I locate the camera in amongst all the DIY stuff! ... read more
Registered Post
It's sometime funny what things I see that make me stop and take a photograph. When Mr C and I were in Hastings Old Town we came across this post box (outside what I understand used to be the old Post Office) which I believe to date from the reign of George VI. I've seen old post boxes before, but not one that features advice on not posting valuables in it. I'd be intrigued to know the history behind things like this, but guess that if you're not local then it's not always that easy to find out. A shame, but fascinating all the same. ... read more
Bodiam Castle
If you asked a child to draw you a picture of a castle I'm pretty sure you'd end up with something that resembles Bodiam. The round towers and large moat give it a simple look which just makes it seem even more fairy tale like.Sadly it was chucking it down with rain when Mr C and I visited, but despite this it was still a lovely couple of hours wandering round. Definitely the kind of place that I'd like to take Baby C to when he or she is old enough to appreciate a good fairy story featuring knights and princesses! ... read more
It’s Not Easy Being Green – Dick Strawbridge
After all my list based reading lately I actually went off-list for the last book that I read. Ever since watching the TV series a few years ago and having a bit of a "green epiphany" I've been meaning to read the accompanying book, yet it was only last week when I finally spent an Amazon gift voucher on a copy of It's Not Easy Being Green: One Family's Journey Towards Eco-friendly Living.The book follows the Strawbridge family as they move from Malvern to Cornwall to embrace a new green life. The book is written in a very chatty style and covers ... read more
RSPB Dungeness
Another of the visits that Mr C and I made whilst away was to the RSPB reserve at Dungeness. This shingle filled reserve almost looks lunar as you approach in the car, but I'm pleased to say that it gave us one of the best days of birdwatching that we've ever had. Mr C's been keeping some good records of what we saw, especially photographic ones, and if you pop over to UK Nature Blog he's included a complete list as well as a couple of posts on specific sightings of the meadow pipet, Great crested grebe and the rarer Slavonian grebe.A quick stop-off at the Rye Harbour ... read more
Chartwell
Our journey down to Hastings included the need to stop off for lunch somewhere and the fantastic new National Trust iPhone application told us that by 12 noon we were very close to Chartwell, so off the M25 we turned and after a brief detour due to a road being resurfaced we soon pulled into a very busy National Trust car park. Luckily there was plenty of space still in the restaurant so food could be acquired to ensure that myself and Baby C had enough energy to make the most of our visit. Chartwell was home to Winston Churchill and his family and the house is set up so fantastically that as ... read more
NTTVBG: The Illusionist – Jennifer Johnston
Before I can get on to telling you all about my travels there's a NTTVBG read to catch up with as today we are busy discussing The Illusionist by Jennifer Johnston over on Reading Matters' blog.Having initially read the back cover of this book I admit that it is the sort of thing that I may well pick up myself so I was quite looking forward to this read, especially after many of the others that had been chosen so far have taken me out of my comfort zone a bit.Stella initially meets Martyn on a train. A chance meeting that eventually leads to marriage and ... read more
A couple of days in Hastings
A few days away in Hastings to celebrate our wedding anniversary means that I've been doing lots of things that I want to blog about, but I haven't had the time to do so! Look out therefore over the next week for news of visits to Chartwell, RSPB Dungeness and Bodiam Castle. There was also time for a wander round Old Hastings, an fantastic art purchase and I also seem to have come home with more books that I left with (but don't tell Mr C that as I don't think he's realised yet!) There's also another discussion of the NTTVBG tomorrow - luckily I'm ahead ... read more