After nearly 12 years of posting and 559 posts, I have finally had enough of Blogger and moved to Wordpress. You can now find me blogging at:
https://daisychains.wordpress.com/
Blogger seems to lack huge amounts of functionality these days, plus no longer has apps available to use on phone or tablet, which seriously hindered my posting now that I have LO. I have used Wordpress for several years in my professional existence and really like what you can do with it, plus I already had an unused blog over there which I used for a joint blogging thing about a decade ago. The time came to resurrect it, and turn it into my blog.
So, thank you for reading my blog over here, and please come and find me in the new place!
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Garden in December 2016
I didn't get round taking pictures on the first of the month, but these were taken just before Christmas.
The lawn is looking very green with all the rain it's had.
The grasses at the side are dying down now it's cold.
But there are some signs of life - Clematis 'Wisley cream' is just coming into flower!
The Japanese anenome is covered in fluffy seedheads.
And something else coming into flower! The Daphne is about to flower for the first time.
Winter flowering pansies flowering. In winter.
The Sarcococca is about to flower too.
The lawn is looking very green with all the rain it's had.
The grasses at the side are dying down now it's cold.
But there are some signs of life - Clematis 'Wisley cream' is just coming into flower!
The Japanese anenome is covered in fluffy seedheads.
And something else coming into flower! The Daphne is about to flower for the first time.
Winter flowering pansies flowering. In winter.
Monday, January 02, 2017
Garden at the beginning of August - October 2016
August
I got really behind with my garden at the beginning of the month photos this year. Once LO was mobile it was hard to get outside with a camera and take pics, and then get them transferred onto my computer and edited for a blog post. So, this is a quick round up of some of the pictures I took.
One of LO's Christening presents - beautiful flowers, it's a stock called 'Joy' from RHS Wisley.
Beautiful flowers
The OH watering the garden during a dry spell. With some assistance from LO who liked moving the hosepipe.
September
Beginning to look a little Autumnal, and the colours are fading a little bit.
Apples ripening on the standard tree. We did well for apples this year, although they came out quite small - didn't have enough rain at the right time.
Ripening apples on the espalier tree. This is a different variety which ripens later.
The Japanese anenome in all its glory.
One of the fuchsias
The sedums just coming into flower.
Some of the Pyracantha berries.
October
The Japanese anenome border beginning to look very autumnal!
I got really behind with my garden at the beginning of the month photos this year. Once LO was mobile it was hard to get outside with a camera and take pics, and then get them transferred onto my computer and edited for a blog post. So, this is a quick round up of some of the pictures I took.
One of LO's Christening presents - beautiful flowers, it's a stock called 'Joy' from RHS Wisley.
Beautiful flowers
The OH watering the garden during a dry spell. With some assistance from LO who liked moving the hosepipe.
September
Beginning to look a little Autumnal, and the colours are fading a little bit.
Apples ripening on the standard tree. We did well for apples this year, although they came out quite small - didn't have enough rain at the right time.
Ripening apples on the espalier tree. This is a different variety which ripens later.
The Japanese anenome in all its glory.
One of the fuchsias
The sedums just coming into flower.
Some of the Pyracantha berries.
October
The Japanese anenome border beginning to look very autumnal!
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Knitting round up 2016
I anticipated not getting much knitting done in 2016, thanks to having LO towards the end of 2015. But I was delighted to find this wasn't the case! LO turned out to be a champion sleeper, which meant we got our evenings back relatively early on, and soon eased back into our previous routine of finishing the evening with an hour's TV and knitting on the sofa. So, I've enjoyed some really good TV this year (The Missing, Homeland (OK, that was the previous year but we recorded it as didn't want to watch it accompanied by a howling newborn), Deutschland 83 were particular highlights, but we also got through the whole of the first series of Outlander and part way into the second series.
What I did struggle to find time for was actually planning knitting projects. I was on maternity leave for all but three days(!) of 2016, but there wasn't much time for getting out different yarns, swatching, carefully browsing Ravelry and selecting a pattern. Which means there has been a LOT of sock knitting in the last year, as it was easier just to go into the sock yarn box, grab a ball and get on with a straightforward pattern.
I already blogged earlier in the year about earlier knitting projects, so this post is to bring us up to date.
I made a Pocket Ted for my God-daughter's birthday. It was very fiddly to knit, but she seemed to like him, so it was worth it. The pattern is a good one, it's fiddly because it's so teeny tiny. The tin formerly contained travel mints.
Gemini was my big garment project of the year, knitted in Mirasol Yarns Lachiwa, which I'd bought on sale a few years ago, so this was a stash project too. The yarn is a lovely linen/cotton mixture and good to knit with. I only got this blocked over Christmas though, so won't be able to wear it until the weather is a little warmer.
One of my more recent projects was a Sensory Caterpillar for my Godson, who has special needs. This was a fun pattern to knit, and I used Stylecraft Classique DK 100% cotton as it's available in bright colours and is sold in the local haberdashery. There is a rattle in one end, and a squeaker in the other, but I couldn't get the squeaker to squeak at all!
Oops, photos out of order, but it's already taken long enough to do this blog post so I'm not going to start rearranging now. This is Gemini blocking.
And, finally, some fun things I've received! This was my return-to-work present from Mostly Knitting. Cool or what?! (well, actually nice and warm as it was rather chilly on my return to work).
A yarny Christmas present - a skein of Countess Ablaze Lady Persephone sock yarn. The photo doesn't really do justice to the depth of colour in this yarn.
And my current project! I wanted something different for self-striping sock yarn, so found the Tootsie Rolls pattern. Simple and fun to knit, and works really well with those stripes after a bit of trial and error. The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4ply yarn in the Holly Berry colourway, which seemed appropriate for the time of year.
I have become slightly addicted to WYS yarn this year, which is probably why I haven't managed to knit up more than I've acquired. Although I would have done if I hadn't been given the Countess Ablaze yarn for Christmas. See, unexpected present, I hadn't planned for that... Apart from the sock yarn, the only purchases have been for presents, and I've only used part balls from the cotton which explains why the stash has grown more than I anticipated.
My stash totals for this year are:
Yarn in: 2573 metres
Yarn out: 2159 metres
So I acquired 413 metres more than I used (but the Countess Ablaze is 424 metres, so there!).
I'm anticipating a lot more knitting from stash in 2017, as how much does childcare cost?!?!?!?! So, I'll be aiming to do the majority of my knitting from stash next year, with purchases limited to presents and things I need in addition to stash for particular projects (for example, I want to knit a jumper for LO to use up some DK I have in my stash, but I only have two balls left so will need to buy a little more to have enough). I'm also going to be interested to see how much knitting time I get now that I'm back at work as the evenings are all a bit of a gallop now of work, commute, hurtle to nursery, hurtle home.
What are your knitting plans for 2017?
What I did struggle to find time for was actually planning knitting projects. I was on maternity leave for all but three days(!) of 2016, but there wasn't much time for getting out different yarns, swatching, carefully browsing Ravelry and selecting a pattern. Which means there has been a LOT of sock knitting in the last year, as it was easier just to go into the sock yarn box, grab a ball and get on with a straightforward pattern.
I already blogged earlier in the year about earlier knitting projects, so this post is to bring us up to date.
I made a Pocket Ted for my God-daughter's birthday. It was very fiddly to knit, but she seemed to like him, so it was worth it. The pattern is a good one, it's fiddly because it's so teeny tiny. The tin formerly contained travel mints.
Gemini was my big garment project of the year, knitted in Mirasol Yarns Lachiwa, which I'd bought on sale a few years ago, so this was a stash project too. The yarn is a lovely linen/cotton mixture and good to knit with. I only got this blocked over Christmas though, so won't be able to wear it until the weather is a little warmer.
One of my more recent projects was a Sensory Caterpillar for my Godson, who has special needs. This was a fun pattern to knit, and I used Stylecraft Classique DK 100% cotton as it's available in bright colours and is sold in the local haberdashery. There is a rattle in one end, and a squeaker in the other, but I couldn't get the squeaker to squeak at all!
Oops, photos out of order, but it's already taken long enough to do this blog post so I'm not going to start rearranging now. This is Gemini blocking.
And, finally, some fun things I've received! This was my return-to-work present from Mostly Knitting. Cool or what?! (well, actually nice and warm as it was rather chilly on my return to work).
A yarny Christmas present - a skein of Countess Ablaze Lady Persephone sock yarn. The photo doesn't really do justice to the depth of colour in this yarn.
And my current project! I wanted something different for self-striping sock yarn, so found the Tootsie Rolls pattern. Simple and fun to knit, and works really well with those stripes after a bit of trial and error. The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4ply yarn in the Holly Berry colourway, which seemed appropriate for the time of year.
I have become slightly addicted to WYS yarn this year, which is probably why I haven't managed to knit up more than I've acquired. Although I would have done if I hadn't been given the Countess Ablaze yarn for Christmas. See, unexpected present, I hadn't planned for that... Apart from the sock yarn, the only purchases have been for presents, and I've only used part balls from the cotton which explains why the stash has grown more than I anticipated.
My stash totals for this year are:
Yarn in: 2573 metres
Yarn out: 2159 metres
So I acquired 413 metres more than I used (but the Countess Ablaze is 424 metres, so there!).
I'm anticipating a lot more knitting from stash in 2017, as how much does childcare cost?!?!?!?! So, I'll be aiming to do the majority of my knitting from stash next year, with purchases limited to presents and things I need in addition to stash for particular projects (for example, I want to knit a jumper for LO to use up some DK I have in my stash, but I only have two balls left so will need to buy a little more to have enough). I'm also going to be interested to see how much knitting time I get now that I'm back at work as the evenings are all a bit of a gallop now of work, commute, hurtle to nursery, hurtle home.
What are your knitting plans for 2017?
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Garden at the beginning of August 2016
Still getting caught up, but at least it is still August!
Lawn at the beginning of th month, with a baby for scale. LO really enjoys playing in the garden, although it's a bit more difficult now she's crawling as it's hard to get on with anything before she has to be removed from somewhere she's not meant to be!
Apples ripening on the standard tree. There are several on it this year, and they seem to be ripening slightly earlier than usual.
Lots of apples on the espalier tree. This one is further behind the standard, and produced a lot of apples, which I was a bit late thinning so they are all still rather small and green looking. I have hung CDs up already in the hope of protecting the crop from the squirrels this year...
Looking over the raised bed by the Golden rod and Physocarpus. These have grown really tall this year with all the wet weather earlier in the year.
A new plant! This is Salvia 'Joy', which was a Christening present for LO. I had fun deciding where to plant it for her. There was also a cardboard container shaped like a hand grenade which was a "wildflower bom", which we're going to have fun throwing into the border later in the year!
And the first lot of raspberries are ripe. Since then we've had another whole sieve full, as well as all the ones LO ate in the garden.
My patio containers. I'm pleased with them this year, especially as there's little I have really done to maintain them.
I held an open garden event and coffee morning two weeks ago, which was a little stressfull to organise with a baby around, but went really well. It was fun to show off the garden to the thirty people who came, and I raised £170 for charity!
Lawn at the beginning of th month, with a baby for scale. LO really enjoys playing in the garden, although it's a bit more difficult now she's crawling as it's hard to get on with anything before she has to be removed from somewhere she's not meant to be!
Apples ripening on the standard tree. There are several on it this year, and they seem to be ripening slightly earlier than usual.
Lots of apples on the espalier tree. This one is further behind the standard, and produced a lot of apples, which I was a bit late thinning so they are all still rather small and green looking. I have hung CDs up already in the hope of protecting the crop from the squirrels this year...
Looking over the raised bed by the Golden rod and Physocarpus. These have grown really tall this year with all the wet weather earlier in the year.
A new plant! This is Salvia 'Joy', which was a Christening present for LO. I had fun deciding where to plant it for her. There was also a cardboard container shaped like a hand grenade which was a "wildflower bom", which we're going to have fun throwing into the border later in the year!
And the first lot of raspberries are ripe. Since then we've had another whole sieve full, as well as all the ones LO ate in the garden.
My patio containers. I'm pleased with them this year, especially as there's little I have really done to maintain them.
I held an open garden event and coffee morning two weeks ago, which was a little stressfull to organise with a baby around, but went really well. It was fun to show off the garden to the thirty people who came, and I raised £170 for charity!
Thursday, August 04, 2016
Garden at the beginning of July 2016
OK, so July ended up being rather busy and, despite my best intentions, I didn't get round to blogging at all. Oops. I haven't yet taken the August pictures, but here are the July ones to get it started.
One lawn, with LO playing.
My newly arranged pots on the patio. I am really pleased with how these are looking now.
I cheated and bought ready-planted hanging baskets, having worked out that buying two hanging baskets (as we didn't already own any) plus the plants to go in them would be more expensive and a bit of a hassle with limited time available. The idea is then to re-use the baskets in future years. The water butt is getting a lot of use now the weather has turned warm. We've actually managed to completely empty it once already, even though I got the biggest one we could fit in.
The sedums are beginning to flower, and are really popular with the bees.
I had to thin the apples on the espaliered tree as so many had grown, as you can see below. Last year we lost all of them to squirrels anyway...
So pretty, we've had this Anthemis tinctoria E.C. Buxton for about five years, and I usually put a plant support in for the flowers, but didn't get round to it this year. It looks so pretty mingled with the sedum below! Think I might do the same thing next year.
The raspberries are growing well, and have now almost got ripe berries on them.
And the rhubarb went completely crazy in the warm weather with all the rain earlier on!
Phew, July done. Now I really must get round to getting the August pictures taken...
One lawn, with LO playing.
My newly arranged pots on the patio. I am really pleased with how these are looking now.
I cheated and bought ready-planted hanging baskets, having worked out that buying two hanging baskets (as we didn't already own any) plus the plants to go in them would be more expensive and a bit of a hassle with limited time available. The idea is then to re-use the baskets in future years. The water butt is getting a lot of use now the weather has turned warm. We've actually managed to completely empty it once already, even though I got the biggest one we could fit in.
The sedums are beginning to flower, and are really popular with the bees.
So pretty, we've had this Anthemis tinctoria E.C. Buxton for about five years, and I usually put a plant support in for the flowers, but didn't get round to it this year. It looks so pretty mingled with the sedum below! Think I might do the same thing next year.
The raspberries are growing well, and have now almost got ripe berries on them.
And the rhubarb went completely crazy in the warm weather with all the rain earlier on!
Monday, June 20, 2016
Garden at the beginning of June 2016
Bit late this month, but finally I get round to posting pictures. The lawn has the addition of a small baby playing on it this month, as LO has been enjoying the warmer weather and the new lawn.
This is a mixture of plants, including one of my favourite Heucheras, in one of the borders
This is one of the Physocarpus, which has lovely flowers on it this year. I can't remember them being reddish in colour last year, but maybe I've just forgotten what they were like?
The Escallonia 'Apple blossom' which we bought on holiday in Bath three years ago is looking lovely.
And the grasses this side of the garden which I planted five years ago are looking good.
This is the finished view of the new patio and garage. So pleased with the final result - it was worth all the upheaval as we now have a useable garage, plus a lovely patio to use. I cheated and bought the hanging baskets ready-made, as finding time to garden with a baby around is quite difficult.
This is one of the Physocarpus, which has lovely flowers on it this year. I can't remember them being reddish in colour last year, but maybe I've just forgotten what they were like?
The Escallonia 'Apple blossom' which we bought on holiday in Bath three years ago is looking lovely.
And the grasses this side of the garden which I planted five years ago are looking good.
This is the finished view of the new patio and garage. So pleased with the final result - it was worth all the upheaval as we now have a useable garage, plus a lovely patio to use. I cheated and bought the hanging baskets ready-made, as finding time to garden with a baby around is quite difficult.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Several knitting projects
I was going to go on a yarn diet as I'll be on maternity leave for almost all of this year, but present yarn is excluded. I took LO into London
to meet up with some friends, and managed to make my way to Iknit as well, where I found they stocked West Yorkshire Spinners sock yarn (something I've been greedily eyeing up online). Two balls found their way home with me (Bullfinch and Cayenne pepper) initially intended as a present, but then the recipient let it be known that they had a present in mind, so I bought them that instead and kept these for myself! I am now using the Cayenne pepper to knit a Thousands cardigan, using some leftover sock yarn as the contrast colour.
I then had the bright idea of knitting a Thousands cardigan for LO, and some knitting group friends were doing a bulk order to save on postage, so I ordered two more balls of Signature sock yarn in Poppy seed.
I've got a couple of finished project to finish off. This is a hoodie for my Godson's birthday, when he'll be two. The pattern is Playdate Hoodie, a free Lion Brand pattern, and I used some John Lewis Heritage Aran from my stash. It's a nice pattern, with not too much sewing up to do.
I've also finished a pair of socks. These are another pair of Garter rib socks, for me, using Baby og Hosegarn sock yarn from my stash.
Up until now I've had one project on the go at a time, as I didn't think I'd have time to do much knitting with a baby around. But I've had a few incidences of her falling asleep in the car, and me having to sit in a car park, outside the house and wait for her to wake up (we haven't got a travel system, so I remove her from the car seat to take her out), when it would be really handy to have a small knitting project with me. So I think I'm going to have a home project and a project to take around with me from now on. Haven't decided what this project will be though, but probably another pair of socks.
Like last year, I'm keeping track of yarn acquired and used this year. So far:
Yarn used: 1455.1 metres
Yarn acquired: 1600 metres
so I have a bit of work to do to make the first figure bigger than the second!
to meet up with some friends, and managed to make my way to Iknit as well, where I found they stocked West Yorkshire Spinners sock yarn (something I've been greedily eyeing up online). Two balls found their way home with me (Bullfinch and Cayenne pepper) initially intended as a present, but then the recipient let it be known that they had a present in mind, so I bought them that instead and kept these for myself! I am now using the Cayenne pepper to knit a Thousands cardigan, using some leftover sock yarn as the contrast colour.
I've got a couple of finished project to finish off. This is a hoodie for my Godson's birthday, when he'll be two. The pattern is Playdate Hoodie, a free Lion Brand pattern, and I used some John Lewis Heritage Aran from my stash. It's a nice pattern, with not too much sewing up to do.
I've also finished a pair of socks. These are another pair of Garter rib socks, for me, using Baby og Hosegarn sock yarn from my stash.
Up until now I've had one project on the go at a time, as I didn't think I'd have time to do much knitting with a baby around. But I've had a few incidences of her falling asleep in the car, and me having to sit in a car park, outside the house and wait for her to wake up (we haven't got a travel system, so I remove her from the car seat to take her out), when it would be really handy to have a small knitting project with me. So I think I'm going to have a home project and a project to take around with me from now on. Haven't decided what this project will be though, but probably another pair of socks.
Like last year, I'm keeping track of yarn acquired and used this year. So far:
Yarn used: 1455.1 metres
Yarn acquired: 1600 metres
so I have a bit of work to do to make the first figure bigger than the second!
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