Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

You can expect to see ramblings including but not limited to the following: knitting, sewing, crochet, housework, DIY, interior decorating, gardening, family, music, comedy, history and local events. There may also be rantings, which are likely to be mainly about rudeness and bad grammar, but you will be warned in advance when a rant is about to happen so you can look away.

I'd be delighted if anyone wanted to comment on any of my ramblings or rantings.

Saturday 28 May 2011

The Socks are finished!



I know it's late and I've already blogged today but a momentous event has occurred and it just can't wait.  The Socks are finally finished.  I started them at the sock-knitting workshop at The Wool Sanctuary earlier this month.  They were just a practice pair really to learn the techniques but nothing can stop me now and I shall be knitting more and more socks with much more exciting colours, so watch this space....

My birthday and other achievements

When last we spoke t’was my birthday eve. Since then, important news has been received that I HAVE A FOLLOWER! Only one (so far), but it’s (she’s!) a very good start.

My birthday was great. We got up early and went back to Dr Fox’s Tearooms for breakfast. It was amazing. Here’s what I had

Proper butcher’s sausages, thick-cut bacon, sauté potatoes, home-made baked beans and fried eggs, with lots of hand-cut crusty toast. It was delicious. So much so that I posted a review on Trip Advisor, here’s the link.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g191282-d2013465-r109420171-Dr_Fox_s_Tearoom-Weston_super_Mare_Somerset_England.html#REVIEWS

It’s their first review, I hope they like it.


It was incredibly windy so we passed a happy few minutes jumping from the shelter into the wind. I don’t think we looked insane at all, what do you think?

Then Mr D & I toodled down to my sister’s house in Devon, where I had more presents, some lovely “cuckles” from my gorgeous niece and nephew and TWO cakes! My mum had done this one for me:

And my sister made a delicious Sultana Loaf Cake from Delia’s Book of Cakes which is a big family favourite.

http://www.kitchen-delights.blogspot.com/2006/10/sultana-loaf-cake.htm

In other news, I have been invited to become a committee member in the Women of Weston WI (or WOW-WI). I am very proud to have been asked and looking forward to learning my title, which I have been promised will be very grand. I’m hoping it will also have a rude acronym. Believe it or not there isn’t an existing WI in Weston-super-Mare so this is a new group and I’m excited to be a part of setting it up. I hope we can keep the good parts of the tradition of the WI (like baking and jam-making) but get rid of the old-fashioned image. Our first Committee Meeting (sounds very official!) is mid-June.

I went back down to see my sister yesterday. She had lots of gardening which needed doing and with 20-month-old twins, needless to say she doesn’t have much time to do it, so I went down to help. Unfortunately it was quite rainy, but we still managed to get quite a lot done, between (and during!) showers. Hopefully I’ll be able to go down again soon in better weather and finish it off.

My sister, with her hands full, literally

Little Marcie* and Popstar* are so much fun and I have acquired a new name, Hennie. A slight improvement on Neng, although I will always remember Neng fondly! My sis’ car was in the garage so I had the car seats in mine; I was a bit nervous about the responsibility of driving them and driving is not my favourite pass-time by any stretch of the imagination, but it was fine, they even went to sleep.

This weekend we will be earning our next free holiday by collecting my sister-in-law from the airport. She works on a cruise ship and is home for a few weeks between contracts. I think she is flying into Heathrow (don’t worry I will check before we leave!) so I will have plenty of time to finish off My Sock. Hopefully I will be able to post some pics of both my feet encased in cosy hand-knitted woollen socks (yes I know, just in time for summer).

In traditional Bank Holiday style, we’re also hoping to get some thrilling DIY done. There’s nothing to compare with starting Saturday morning with a trip to the tip; the best bit about it is when the camera reads your number plate and welcomes you! The back part of our house has been a work-in-progress for ages now, but the end is in sight; we need to do some more plaster-boarding to get it ready for the plasterer to come. I am really fed up with the house not being finished and being a mess all the time so it will be good if we can make some progress. To give you a giggle, here’s a pic from the last Bank Holiday of Mr D camping it up in his demolition gear.

* (names have been changed!!)

Saturday 21 May 2011

Birthday Eve


Hello,

It's my birthday eve today and I went to Knit Club at The Wool Sanctuary this morning. It was good fun as usual and I got chatting to the girls either side of me about their blogs. It reminded me that I set this up ages ago and have been rubbish at doing anything with it, so and my final day of being thirty-two seems as good a time as any to resolve to get on with it.

So why have a blog? I'm not entirely sure what the motivation is and I am ever so slightly concerned that it might be a little narcissistic (sp?) to think that anyone will want to read my ramblings. However lots of lovely folks seem to do it so it can't be too bad... I love words and language but don't get many opportunities to write so it will be good to have an outlet for that anyway.

I've been having a lovely birthday weekend so far. I got home on Friday night to find that Mr D had arranged for some of my lovely friends to come and stay. Loopy Lou and I had a session of nail varnish application; she has come on a long way on the make-up front since our uni days when I once witnessed her applying eyeshadow with vertical strokes! After a couple of glasses of fizzy, we walked down to my favourite restaurant, Oak and Glass - wonderful food and wine and friendly service as usual. If you ever go there a trip to their beautiful toilet is essential, lots of gorgeous original Victorian features! I recommended a visit to Dave; when I told him to expect something special, the middle-aged lady he walked in on was not quite what I had in mind! It took him a while to recover. It was a lovely evening of cackling laughter and talk of old times.

Today after Knit Club where everyone was very kind about my carrot cupcakes, I finally got to Dr Fox's Tearooms on Knightstone Island. I have been meaning to go there since it opened in April and I am happy to say I wasn't disappointed. The owner has done a fantastic job of the restoration and the menu and setting are both wonderful.

This evening Mr D is cooking his favourite Thai chicken curry so there are lovely smells floating in from the kitchen as I write this. Loopy is about to walk in with some snacks and drinks, what more could a girl ask for...?!

www.thewoolsanctuary.com
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/470640/carrot-and-cream-cheese-cupcakes
http://www.oakandglass.co.uk/
www.drfoxstearoom.co.u