Behind The Scenes

Hello my lovely friends.  How are you all?

I must admit I'm finding it easier to pop in and out of Instagram and Facebook at the moment so, just for the summer, that's where you'll find me.  Far from being neglected though, there is a fair bit of behind-the-scenes work happening on my little blog.  If you look up at the web address, you'll notice you're now at www.pink-milk.co.uk and all without you feeling a thing (hopefully)!  I have lots of plans and ideas for the autumn which I'm scribbling down in that there pretty notebook.  I do hope you'll love them.

Oh, I have just released a new crocheted bag pattern too ...

Lulu is an uncomplicated soul.  She skips through life laughing, uplifting hearts in her wake.  By day she is a lover of colour and whimsy.  By night, she favours understated beauty.

The pattern includes full written and photographic instruction for both bags pictured and I have classified it as being 'easy' because it really is.  I'm selling the pattern through the Love Crochet website as an instant download and the price you see will include VAT at your own country's rate.  If you fancy making your very own Lulu bag, it can be found here.  I've also listed my other patterns on Love Crochet, including my Neopolitan Cushion Cover which I used (omitting the bobbles) to make the plumptious pink one you see above.

As soon as Blondie Son has received his GCSE results next week, we're off to Spain so I'm currently thoroughly enjoying putting together colours for a suitable little holiday project and, shock horror, I've just realised that pink is nowhere to be seen! ;-)

I do hope you're all having a simply wonderful summer.  I will be back blogging in earnest in September.  Until then, toodle pip.

xxx

The Seaside Thing

We did the seaside thing, D and I.  Just a couple of days in beautiful Dorset.  We strolled along gorse-lined Studland beach when there was barely another soul around, the sand between our toes and the sea breeze through our hair.  We ate salty chips from polystyrene trays in Swanage under flapping flags and the watchful glare of seagulls and fed coins into noisy arcade games.  We bought fudge (and yarn!) from busy shops and dodged pushchairs and excited children.

July was a bit of a mixed bag to be honest.  I greet August with slightly recharged batteries and lots to share with you.

Back very soon.

xxx

George's Hollyhocks

George lives opposite.  My bedroom window looks directly out onto his front garden.

How lucky am I?

xxx

Little Pleasures

Oh how I'm LOVING this glorious weather!  I LOVE that I can get up in the morning, pull on as few clothes as possible, slip on my (new) flip flops (LOVE!) and that's it, done.  No make up, no faffing.  I am in my element!

I LOVE to have my first cup of coffee out in the garden.  I am an early riser and wouldn't miss my first blissful and uninterrupted hour of quiet for the world.  The early morning haze, heavy with promise of yet another beautiful day.

I have an old belfast sink just outside the back door and it's full of lemon-scented geraniums.  If I gently bruise the leaves between my fingers, it releases the most wonderful fragrance.  One of our favourite restaurants in Zakynthos last year had huge great planters full of them all around its perimeter.  If I close my eyes, I LOVE that the smell takes me right back there.

I'm LOVING snipping a few roses for a pretty bedside posy.  The bush is positively laden this year so there is always plenty to spare.

I am LOVING the song I Can Change by Brandon Flowers.  When it comes on the radio, I turn the volume right up and swirl around the kitchen like a loon!

I must tell you about my new toy!  I LOVE it!!!  It's a hand-operated wool winder which I bought from Amazon.  It reminds me of a 1970s Fisher Price toy to look at but my goodness it's fun.  It takes just seconds to wind an entire ball of yarn into the most pleasingly neat little 'cake' and I've even used it to unravel some crochet.  Uh oh, I can feel an addiction coming on!

It's far too warm to crochet with wool at the moment so I'm LOVING working with cotton.  I've always been quite hard to please when it comes to finding a cotton I enjoy crocheting with but I must admit to being quite taken with Rowan's Handknit Cotton.  It's not at all splitty and doesn't feel as coarse or 'stringy' as some.

♥ ♥ ♥

Please never underestimate the value of your own small pleasures, my friends.  Life is fragile and, at times, downright difficult.  Last week, I was so terribly sad to learn that Wink, writer of the beautiful and hugely inspiring crochet blog, A Creative Being, had taken her own life after a battle with depression.  Rightly or wrongly, my own sadness quite quickly turned to frustrated rage and I shared my feelings over on Facebook and Instagram.  I wrote ...

I'm sorry if this offends you or makes you uncomfortable but I'm so incredibly angry and I need to vent. Depression is a nasty, nasty scourge. It claims far too many lives. How dare it? There is still a taboo which surrounds depression which pisses me off. It is NOT a sign of weakness. It is NOT a guilty secret. It is either a chemical imbalance in the brain or a very natural reaction to adverse circumstance. I was diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 18. It's tried its best to floor me but I'm not having it. There is far too much joy in life and I refuse POINT BLANK to let depression spoil it. I take medication and have done for nearly six years. I am whooping its ass. I have a feeling that creative people are more susceptible so I urge you, with every inch of my being, seek help if you are struggling. You are too beautiful and precious to let depression bring you down. I will be ‪#‎wearingflowersinmyhairforwink‬ and sticking a middle finger up to depression.

This is something I feel very passionate about and so, after some thought, I decided to share on my blog too.  Of course, I don't have all the answers but what I can do is talk quite openly about my own experiences.  If we all do the same, we can banish the ridiculous shame and ignorance that surrounds depression.  And it really is ridiculous if you consider just how many of us are affected.  Life is wonderful.  Please don't let depression fool you into thinking it isn't.

xxx

Gifts

Gifts from Mother Nature.

"Tulips, brazen painted hussies,

Part their bright lips trying to seduce

The busy buzzing bees far too bold for dainty tussies

Vibrant tulip flowers produce

Visions certain to please."

Mary Havran

Oh to be able to dry washing outside again.  *pleasurable sigh*

Gifts to self.  Another Sascalia print, this time for my newly-decorated bedroom.

It's my fourth which I think qualifies me as an official collector.  This is 'Flower Girl'.  She has a vulnerability about her and a look of wistfulness in her eyes which appeal to me.

The gift of opportunity to indulge.

A gift from God.  Ed Sheeran's performance on The Brits 2015 was nothing short of breathtaking.  I'm not normally one for watching things over and over again but I can't imagine ever tiring of this.  Exquisite.

A gift of love … and much-needed time and space to let me breathe for which I'm so grateful.

xxx

Yesterday

Sunshine,
two modest bunches of spring flowers,
a yarn delivery,
a surprise gift from a lovely friend,
a wonderful accolade from another and
a bit of faffing around trying to create a crocheted anemone for no reason whatsoever.
A good day.
A really good day.

xxx