Wipe off the cobwebs....cough, cough, splutter, splutter....

Hello!

If it's possible for a blog to have accumulated dust and cobwebs then this little blog of mine certainly has! It's been nearly 2 months since my last post and although I thought I would hit 2015 running, the days have slipped by like the stream in our new garden and here we are on the 17th Jan.... Hey ho....

So, what's been happening in my world? First up....WE MOVED HOUSE!!!! I'm not going to go into the gory details of the actual move (let's just quietly push that to one side and say that without the greatest husband and mother in the world, I wouldn't have gotten thru it) but here are some pics of our new home....

This is taken from the front gate but the house extends at the back quite a bit so is bigger than it looks here. The most wonderful thing about the house is the park-like garden. We have huge expanses of lawn (great for playing cricket!) and a stream and lots of lovely shady trees (very handy for SA summers - temps here have been +35C)....

Here's the stream complete with Pooh-Bear bridge (please tell me that you've also played Pooh Sticks off a bridge....)

There are zillions of plants but most of the flowers have died back now as it's been so hot. However, I did manage to snap a few before they finished.

A beautiful Buddleja - one of the first plants J and I bought in our first garden. Almost impossible to kill!

A Chilean Potato Vine - we had one of these in our garden in the UK and they are stunning when flowering. If you don't have one in your garden, GET ONE!

And this rather lovely little number which I think is an Orchid but I can't be sure. If any of you know, please leave me a comment....

The garden is full of nooks and crannies like this little water feature with higgledy-piggledy steps behind it going up to yet another lawned area. The birds love the water but my labs are a little put out that they can't sit in it to cool down!

So we've moved in, settled down and are very happy. It'll take us a while to get used to being back in a suburb again with all the hustle, bustle and noise that comes with town life, but in general it feels like we've been here for ages and it's only been a month! As you can see below our front door is always open so if you're in the area, feel free to pop in for a chat!

On the "needles" front, remember this from November?

Well, it got frogged (for those non-knitters among you, this means "unpicked") and became this

The cables just weren't happening for me and I'm much happier with this. Here's my Ravelry link. I really like the moss stitch sleeves and the "arrow" pattern on the front (very slimming)!

I also made a scarf for a good friend who has a birthday soon. She loves scarves and has to get up very early in the winter to get to work so really appreciates as many as possible! This one is red (her favourite colour), chunky, fluffy and has a little sparkle too, just for fun! I tried to make a heart shape with the scarf but now I think it looks like a really weird pair of lips!!!

And finally, I was given some yarn a while ago by a friend which is discontinued. She had no use for it and it's been in my stash for some time so I decided to make this. Here's progress so far....

Although the yarn is 4 ply which is usually quite soft, this particular 4 ply has 60% wool so is a bit "scratchy". I'm hoping it will soften up after a wash but to it's credit, it's lovely to work with and is the most beautiful teal blue. The pic really doesn't do the colour justice so I'll try and take better pics when it's finished.

So, that's me. Old year gone, new year up and running. School starts next week and mania will become my new best friend so for now I'm just enjoying these last few days of lazing around at home, knitting, watching TV and generally being a slob!

I hope your Christmas season was good and that your New Year has started full of good things.

Til soon.

xxx

What do you think?

I'm planning to restyle our living room and I need your help. I have four different accent colour schemes in mind and I can't decide which one to go for. We have a biscuit coloured lounge suite (3 seater sofa and two squishy armchairs) and lots of African art on the walls - mainly animals but following a distinctly 'natural' colour scheme (browns, creams, oranges etc). Think sunsets and the african bush.

I've done some collages of the different colour schemes and need your help to decide which one you think would fit best. I have my favourite but am interested for other opinions.

Here goes. The first one is my Duck Egg scheme. I LOVE duck egg blue. Doesn't really go with the whole 'Africa' thing but it's the colour of the sky and we have sky here....LOTS of sky.....

My second scheme is Glorious Green. My favourite colour is green so I guess this is a natural choice for me.

My third choice is Berry Red. I really like brown and red together but am worried that during our very hot summers this scheme will make the room too warm. Could be good as a winter scheme though...

And finally we have the Spicy Orange scheme! Hubby loves orange so this one was really for him but now it's together I really love it too! What do you think?

Am knitting and hooking as usual but have nothing as yet to show for my efforts. Thanks for stopping by!
Til soon.
xx

Chair Love!!!!

Hello! My week has been relaxed (now that I'm on school hols) but both my boys still had school so I found I had a couple of hours each day to myself....a rare treat. I've been getting on with the knitting commission I posted about last week and have added a couple of rows to my blanket but mostly I finished something I've been working on for months. Let me start at the beginning.....

A while ago whilst wandering around a local antique shop, I spotted this

A beautiful wrought-iron rocking chair!

She was a little tired, a little jaded with paint peeling off in places and a few cobwebs here and there but I loved her!

I bought her (despite the fact that we had NO spare money that particular month), and I cleaned her up.

Then I sat back and thought about cushions.

She needed some, no doubt about that, but what kind? Fabric or yarn? Muted tones or a colour blast?

I couldn't decide.

Then suddenly I had a vision and I knew exactly what I was going to do.

And I've done it. And here she is ......

...complete......

....in all her fabulous beauty.......

Is she not gorgeous? Is she not a riot of yummy colour? She sits in our living room at the moment but I know in our next house there will be the most perfect verandah for her to occupy, perfect for her and perfect for me with my coffee and my yarn.......

Happy Easter everyone.
Til soon.
xxx

D's Bedroom...

I've decided that 2012 will be the year that I make a concerted effort on my house. Most of the rooms are ok(ish) but all of them need finishing off and definitely de-cluttering!!! My first project is going to be Little D's room.

Firstly, from now on I'm going to stop calling him Little D and instead he'll be just D. He's 8 years old this year and is no longer 'little' and I can hardly call him Medium D so D it is! I am, of course, referring to my youngest son whose ripple blanket you'll find here.

When we moved into this house some 7 years ago he was very little so I painted his bedroom walls white up to the picture rail and above that pale blue with clouds and kites. I loved it, he loved it and everyone that saw it loved it so all was good with the world.

Not so any more. D's now decided that it's too babyish for him and that he's embarrassed to bring friends home to play in case they laugh at him so CHANGES MUST BE MADE!!! No-one's going to laugh at my child!!! (I'm now officially in Warrior Mummy mode.)

When I asked him what he wants for his room his answer was simple 'Guns and soldiers!' Um. Not a space theme then? No. How about an undersea bedroom? No thanks. I want guns and soldiers. Oh dear. Warrior Mummy's confidence started to crumble as I envisaged him sleeping among AK47 rifles and rocket launchers. Deep breath. Calm down. Let's google some ideas......

First I saw this mural which, if I was remotely talented as an artist, would be PERFECT!!!!

I quite like the idea of these soldier stencils around the room and D could help me do them.....

I REALLY like this bedding. There's no way I'll find something similar here in SA (very limited choice) but if I can find some camo fabric then I could probably run up a couple of reversible duvet covers myself. May work out cheaper too!

Then, I saw this which is going to be my model for his room. Most of it I can do myself (even the walls!) and the rest I can probably rope a couple of friends in to help me with.....pretty please???

I know it's pretty 'themed' like those scary bedrooms at the Disney hotels and D's won't be quite so hectic but I love the window blind, the beanbag and the vines on the walls. He doesn't have a bunk bed but I can probably get some camo netting to hang over his bed like a mozzie net and...... (as you can see I'm getting quite excited and enthusiastic about this project)!

So what do you think? Good for go or stop right now and go for something a little more classic??? Give the boy the bedroom of his dreams (within budget of course) or convince him that he really needs something more conservative??? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?????????????
Advice will be appreciated.......
xxx