One of my strongest childhood memories is my doll called Jemima. Made lovingly by my mum from a Clothkits kit I have no idea what happened to her in the end, but things like the detail on her dress still seem crystal clear in my memory. I was a child born in the 70s. I think all of us had something from Clothkits at the time. It was just the way things were back then. I was therefore completely thrilled when I passed by the relaunched Clothkits stand at the Knitting and Stitching a week or so back and spotted Jemima smiling out at me. Jemima's now called Kitty. Or maybe she was ... read more
Clean Break – Val McDermid
Years ago I read most of Val McDermid's books (well all the ones that had been published at that time) and completely loved them. I was therefore thrilled when a bag of books my mum passed on to me included Clean Break. It was a while since I'd read any of Val's books and although I think I must have read this before I still loved it!Kate Brannigan is the main character in Clean Break, as well as a number of Val's other books. Kate is a private detective, working in Manchester and taking on all kinds of jobs that come her way. In this particular book Kate is ... read more
So many things…
So many things to tell you about that I'm not really sure where to start. Some fantastic books; a great, although tea-less, trip to the Knitting and Stitching show; exciting knitting and sewing purchases; a new knitting project and a new blog that Mr C and I have been working on as a side project! If you like nature here in the UK then take a look at UK Nature Blog and tell us what you think.I promise not to neglect here though. In fact there's so much to tell you about that I plan to be back very soon to do just that! ... read more
King of the Castle – Susan Hill
This was the first Susan Hill book that I had read and I have to say that I wasn't initially all that impressed by it. I'm the King of the Castle follows the story of two boys (Edmund Hooper and Charles Kingshaw) who are brought together when Hooper's father employs Kingshaw's widow mother in their large country house.Hooper takes an instant dislike to Kingshaw and goes out of his way to make it clear to the boy that he is not at all welcome in what Hooper consider to be his home. Hooper quite simply makes his life sheer hell. The book does bring ... read more
Missing mojo
Since we moved house I seem to have lost all sewing and knitting mojo. I'm not really sure why as I keep wanting to do things, but have just not been motivated to do so for the last couple of months. I'm hoping that this is going to change as I am missing not having something on the go. A trip round the shops on Saturday resulted in one purchase that may help and to make things even better a parcel waiting on the doorstep upon my return. In the last couple of years I haven't actually made myself anything to wear on my sewing machine. Plenty of bags and household items, but ... read more
Garden help
Look at who came to help me plant the rest of the spring bulbs in the garden this morning. This particular robin always seems to appear when either Mr C or I are out doing anything in the garden. Today, he sat on the fence for a while watching me dig holes for the bulbs. When I'd finished he even decided to inspect things more closely! At times he was only a foot away from me and he didn't seem at all bothered that I was there. Luckily I had the camera to hand, but taking good bird photos with a small point and shoot camera isn't exactly easy. ... read more
Compost related gifts
The wonderful Compostwoman was incredibly kind when Mr C and I moved house and sent me a lovely housewarming present. I have to say that I loved receiving a parcel in the post - it's something that is so unusual these days that it was very exciting when the postman knocked on the door, even more so as I was off work ill that day. Compostwoman being the green woman she is it was an environmental package in the post! She included a CD-ROM entitled the complete guide to home composting that Mr C and I are looking forward to learning from. Composting is something that we ... read more
Needlecraft is sew last year?
I was quite intrigued to come across this post on the BBC news website earlier today. When I first saw the article I thought it was all old news. I've written on here before about how more and more people are trying to follow the wartime ethos of make do and mend. I've certainly seen the republished Government guides from the time and have heard about how much sales of sewing machines have increased. What I hadn't realised though is just how "hip" it seems to be becoming. It seems that Topshop of all places are regularly selling out of the ... read more
Mushroom & bacon tarts
Whenever I go in a supermarket I'm always on the look out for free recipe cards that they often have available. I'm not so good at actually using said recipe cards when it comes to deciding what to have for dinner.After being amazed at just how many of these I had collected last week I made a real effort to actually make some meals from the various recipes I had collected and I have to say that so far I have been very impressed with the results. One very simple dinner came from a Waitrose recipe for Mushroom and bacon tarts which are served with creamy ... read more
V&A Knitting for Victory
I always look forward to receiving e-mails from the London Stitch and Bitch group. They're normally funny and have useful likes in to various knitting resources or other knitting related things that are going on in and around London. Today's e-mail was very much the same and one particular thing caught my attention.When I initially read the title V&A Knitting for Victory it sounded like the sort of thing that would be right up my street. Something that combines knitting with my interest for all things war-time. I clicked through and was even more excited to see that it was a ... read more