Crimble bimble

Well I do hope that you all had a lovely Solstice and Christmas.
Since the last post we have been very busy. The painters finished the house and the scaffolders removed the scaffolding. Here is the house before (at the end of September) and after (on Christmas Day)

We are so happy with how it is. DH reckons that the house seems warmer because of the new layer of paint, he, he:-)

We also had the Winter Solistice Dinner Party on the 19th, a few days early but on a Saturday so that people would be able to stay later. I managed not to burn anything. On the menu was:

Pear, Celariac and Stilton Soup with Garlic Bread

Venison and Red Wine Stew

Mushroom Stroganoff (without the mash)

Roast Potatoes

Dauphnois Potatoes

Roast Parsnips

Carrots and Peas

Red Currant Jelly

Apple Crumble and Custard

Christmas Pudding and Brandy Cream

We didn't actually have any room for the Christmas Pudding, lol! so I still have it. There were also cheeses and biscuits but to be honest we were soooo stuffed we gave them as miss too.....we did have a few chocolate truffles though with some Plum Vodka (remember that?) which went down very well...mmmm.

Then on the 21st it snowed quite a bit. We usually don't get much snow here so whilst the rest of the UK seemed to be grinding to a halt under a thick layer of the stuff we got off lightly with a couple of inches. The 376 bus kept on a trucking and I was still able to get to work although the pavements in Bristol were pretty trecherous.....I did manage to stay upright,  more by luck than judgement I might add! Others were not so lucky especially on Queen Square which had turned into an ice rink by Wednesday.
Here is our house in the snow, looks very pretty. The hens are not to sure though. Miranda looks perturbed!

Christmas Day we just chilled out all day in front of the fire. We all had porridge for breakfast, here are the hens enjoying their Christmas Porridge.

It was pretty chilly outside with the last of the snow clinging on

We then opened our pressies and watched movies all afternoon, scoffed some cheese and biscuts and had a glass of wine.

Boxing Day we went to my sister and brother in laws with the rest of DHs family - his mon and dad and little sister. All in all, we had a lovely time, thanks guys:-)

The Garter Yoke Cardy is coming along fine and I have been able to do a little bit each evening and occasionally on the bus as well, although it is now getting to the stage where its a bit big for public transport. Last night I completed the body section so today I will start the sleeves. I would like to make the sleeves tapered like normal sweater sleeves so I will have to do some sums.

Anyway here it is so far....sans sleeves...

Knitting History is made and a New House is delivered!

Yesterday something historic happened, bear with me here as this is an "Historic Knitting Happening" so it will only really be of interest to the Knittyverse, all other persons of a non-knitty persuasion may find it rather dull. The event was the arrival, by post from America, of a very special knitting pattern.

The full story of the rediscovery and remaking of the sweater can be found here at the Twist Collective
I reckon that I will probably make it slightly longer and with the slimmer sleeves....not too sure about steeks through! that might be a bit much for me and what happens if you want to recycle the yarn at a later date? you wouldn't be able to. I will need to think some more on the matter of steeks.

The Garter Yoke Cardy #2 is coming along nicely. Last night I split the body and the sleeves and am a couple of rows into the body section now. I think that I will make this one a little longer in the body and also add shaping to the sleeves so that they are more like standard sleeves than the original design.

The builders finished off the house this week. We now have a new chimney pot, a repointed chimney stack, all the render has been repaired and so have the guttering and down pipes. The painter arrived on Tuesday and cleaned and prepared the house for painting and on Thursday I came home and someone had delivered a new house! well that's what it looks like. Our little scruffy white house has been replaced with a smart cream coloured one. DH says it looks like it has been iced, like a cake. The painter is also painting the doors (front, back and outhouse) and door jams so it will look super when finished. Maybe it will be all done for Christmas with the scafolding gone as well, yipee!

 

We had a slight hen mystery this week. On thurday when DH went out to shut the hens up for the night he met one of them in the garden! she was trying to get back into the enclosure. Heaven knows how she got out and DH was not sure who it was as it was quite dark at the time and he just picked her up and popped her over the fence and she joined her sisters in the hen house. The next morning I checked all round the fence but there are no holes. Now every time I go past them I am counting to make sure there are still three little brown hens, lol!

Yep...there are three:-)

Frosty morning

It has been getting proper chilly here recently. On Friday morning we woke to a frosty start. The veggie patch looked quite pretty in the frost especially the chard leaves. The frost picks out the ribs on the leaves very well.

The hens, having never seen frost before, where rather perplexed at first but very soon just got on with things.
I gave them some left over chips.
They were not too sure at first .....but Miranda decided to investigate......

As soon as she started tucking in Caroline spotted what was going on....

and she went over to investigate as well......

By the time I went to work all the chips were eaten up! Chicken & Chips...ooops!, shhhh!

So that was Friday morning, but today it has been quite sunny out even though with all the rain we have had recently the ground is completely saturated so it's not really very good for gardening. Never the less I have managed to clear a lot of the garden in preperation for next years veggie growing and I have harvested all of my beetroot. Here it is, well, some of it.....

It is waiting for me in the kitchen. I think I will bake them all in the oven and then slice and freeze some of them for later and have some for tea tonight. It seems a shame to pickle them or make them into chutney when they taste so yummy fresh. Whilst I was trawling the interweb for beetroot inspiration I found this website - www.lovebeetroot.co.uk apparently beetroot is very good for you - bonus:-)

I have also been kintting this week. In fact I even managed some knitting on the bus..twice!. The second swatch for the Garter Yoke Cardy came out at 18 stitches and 26 rows over 4 inches on size 3.75mm needles! so thats aran (worsted) yarn being knit on little thin needles!?. I must be a loose knitter 'cos that is kind of nuts isn't it? Anyway, we have gauge which this the main thing and thats all good. The swatch washed at 30 degrees in the machine and came out exactly the same size as it went in - hurrah. So the cardy has been cast on and I am now at row 30, yay! only umpty million rows to go.

Here are some progress pics.....

Here we are on Wednesday evening about four rows in.

And this is where we are today....

Yay!

Prettyness from Overseas

When I got home this evening there was a little cute envelope waiting for me. It had come all the way from Los Angeles, California!...... and inside were these.....

Arn't they lovely?
These Holiday cards have been designed and made by Jen aka The Fabled Needle . They are available to buy from Jens shop "Love, Liette" where you will also find all Jens lovely prints, illustrations, stationary,  knitting, crochet and sewing patterns. I think they make lovely Solstice cards.