Ile De Re

We've just had the loveliest holiday!

There is a little island, off the west coast of France at La Rochelle, called Ile De Re.

It's beautiful.  Steeped in history.  Approximately 20 miles from tip to tip.

We camped and, being the fair weather camping novice that I am, were delighted that the sun shone every day.  The best way to get around was by bicycle; there are miles and miles of cycle paths.  The island is very flat - a blessed relief for people like me wanting nothing other than to effortlessly tootle and enjoy the scenery.

There are vines as far as the eye can see.  We sampled a number of delicious wines that the island produces ... naturally!









Hollyhocks grow absolutely everywhere.  From solitary stems in pavement cracks to abundant bushes.






These Dublin Bay prawns were delicious.  I also nibbled away at the seaweed garnish which was surprisingly delightful.  Sort of like a meaty lettuce.  Until the waitress said "ooohhh, algae, non, non, non!"  Yikes!  I spent the next day or so thinking it might be my last!

I love the IDEA of oysters.  In reality, no thanks.  Sea snot.

No technology.  No make-up or hair straighteners.  No routine.  No obligations.  Just me and my little family and nature's playground.  A joy.

Hxxx

Edited to add : I've just been reading up about Ile De Re and it would appear that Johnny Depp has been known to holiday there.  Damn.  Had I known, I would have kept my eyes peeled!

Too Hot To Crochet - A Rambling Catch Up

Well, perhaps not now, but it has been!

My poor little blog has been a bit neglected this month.  What can I say?  I'm a fickle creature.  The weather has been so glorious I've been outside as much as possible.

Pottering among the perennials!

Just soaking up the sun and surrounds.  Isn't it wonderful to feel the Vitamin D coursing through your veins?

One of my favourite things about the sunshine is the way it brings people out of their houses.  I absolutely love where I live; a long tree-lined road inhabited by folk from all walks of life.  We have a real sense of community which is in no small part down to the efforts of a handful of us who started a monthly get-together at the local church hall after the success of a Golden Jubilee party ten years ago.

Anyway, I don't know about you but I find it hard to crochet when it's hot.  My hands get clammy so hook-wielding is a struggle and the thought of anything woolly near my skin gives me the willies.

My stripy cushion is sitting unfinished ... 

and my poor little thingummy (following the lovely Annaboo's Crochet Along) is still legless!  I don't think I chose the best yarn to be honest, (Debbie Bliss' Eco Cotton), it's stupendously splitty!

What I am thoroughly enjoying at the moment is cross stitch!

Things seem to have moved on massively since I last cross-stitched about ten years ago.  Or perhaps that's just me?!  I'm sure it used to be all about Winnie The Pooh and twee bookmarks.  Things have gotten so much prettier and fresher and there is so much inspiration around.

The Cath Kidston 'Stitch' book rekindled my interest, as did the wonderful Helen Philips, cross stitch creator extraordinaire!

One other reason for my extended absence might just have been *hangs head in sheepish shame* my new addiction to Instagram!  I love it!  If it's your thing, do come and say "hello".  My privacy settings are quite stringent as I've had one too many dubious types wanting to add me to their list of 70000 followees but I'll know who you are if you blog.  I'm 'pinkmilk40'.

Cheerio for now and, to my fellow Commonwealth friends, I do hope you enjoy this deliciously long weekend and have a very ...

xxx

This Morning ...

Where to start?

Shall I ...

or go back to bed and try and get rid of these ...

*sigh*

Hxx

Edited to add - I have heard talk that haemorrhoid cream can help with lines under the eyes but daren't  have a go in case I break out in huge weeping pustules!  Have you ever tried it?

From The Pens Of Babes

I just wanted to thank you all for the wonderfully kind comments regarding Blondie Son's creative writing achievement.

Sadly he didn't make it through to the final 50 of the BBC Radio 2's Breakfast Show 500 Words competition.  He is not at all disheartened and, to be perfectly honest, is hugely relieved as he loathes any sort of attention!

His mum, on the other hand, is not the shy and retiring type and has decided to publish his entry here on her own little piece of the internet for posterity ... and because she is as proud as punch and she can!

The final 50 stories can be found online here.  Do have a look if you get the chance.  I've only read a few of them so far but it really does warm my heart to see how talented and creative our children are.

May the 4th be with you all ...


Vaermina

The going was tough. M'aiq wiped his sweating, feline brow and looked up towards his destination. The temple stood, dark and mysterious against the sunset. The trek had been long and punishing. At first there had been five of them. They decided on the spur of the moment to visit the temple after a long night of drinking games. Skooma had never been M'aiq's strong point. Yet, here he was now. The last man standing.


Fe'tiq had been the first one to go. He had been jumped early on by a frost troll. He didn't stand a chance. After that, the expedition had stopped being fun and games. It was serious. Malir and Jt'e had slipped on the treacherous mountain path they had had to traverse. Cr'she had gone last. They had been trekking through the Alik'r pass when they had been ambushed by bandits. They had taken down most of the depraved humans before Cr'she had been overwhelmed. She went down fighting. M'aiq was doing this for them.


His sensitive eyes sensed movement in the undergrowth ahead of him. A group of bandits preparing an ambush. He unsheathed his razor-sharp claws and rolled stealthily into the shrubs lining the road. He moved silently up behind the group. There were remnants of a fire, as if they had extinguished it when they saw him. He studied the thieves. One of them seemed very young, 14 at the most. M'aiq could have taken them with his eyes closed. He could see the fear in the boy's eyes. He spat on the ground. There had been enough death for one day. He moved silently past and rejoined the road once he was sure the bandits had stopped searching for him.


By this time, the large orange sun had set and the moon was casting a cool, white glow onto everything. It made the temple look breathtaking. M'aiq moved towards it carefully. His feline instincts detecting a trap. About two metres in front of him lay a barely visible wire. He carefully stepped over it into the sleepy temple beyond. There was an unusual purple mist drifting aimlessly along the floor. From the centre of the tower there came a scream. M'aiq abandoned his stealth and sprinted towards the sound. In the centre of the tower, a young girl was tied to a wooden post. There was blood running down her chest. He ran down to her and started untying her.


"What happened?" he asked in his rasping voice. A deep bellow erupted from behind him. He spun around to see a towering man walk down the steps behind him.


"You can't do anything now." he cackled. "She is the sacrifice."


Behind M'aiq, the girl starting coughing. He turned around to see that her eyes were no longer normal. They were full of the purple mist. There was a grotesque smile on her face; she was watching M'aiq with an eerie pleasure. 


"He is coming!" the man announced. "Behold... Vaermina!"

By Sam (aged 13)

May Flowers

Hello you.

Apart from a brief glimpse on Monday, this fella (or rather his larger, hotter cousin) hasn't made much of an appearance around these parts for some time now ...

I bought him in Spain a year or two ago and still can't decide whether I find him friendly or a little sinister.  (Spot the ladybird?)  Still, he sits on the fence surveying the garden goings-on.

I'm really trying to find joy in the rain but am fast approaching saturation point.

I took the dry window of opportunity on Monday to have a proper poke around the garden.

We have a south-facing smallish town garden which is now officially lawn-free.  I'm no plant expert but I know what I like and I do try and get to know what I grow.

The Viburnum is always one of the first things to burst into flower.  This year it hasn't disappointed and is covered with huge fragrant pompoms ...

The Crab Apple tree (malus gorgeous) is in full blossom ...

The Polyanthus is like sunshine in a pot ...

The strawberry plants are flourishing and just starting to flower ...

Oh, and a note just for Nicki - my anemones are FINALLY growing!!! (I confided in Nicki that I suspected I may have planted the bulbs upside down because nothing had emerged after three or four weeks.  Note to self, learn patience.)

One of my favourite things about having a blog is looking back at previous years.  Gardenwise, I'm sure things were a little further ahead last year.

If I were to put a positive spin on the recent foul weather, I would have to congratulate myself on being reasonably up to date domestically!  When it's yanking down with rain outside, there's no choice but to stay inside and 'do stuff'.  Feel quite self-satisfied yesterday and fed-up with housework though, I indulged in a creative afternoon.  I'd previously bought some gorgeous linen-mix fabric and was itching to sew.

Regular readers of my blog will know that sewing is not something I do very often.  I am a very impatient raving perfectionist which is an extremely frustrating combination.  I sometimes struggle to transform the pictures in my mind to satisfactory reality.  I love to make small and neat items but, frankly, large things scare me!  However, I knew exactly what it was I wanted to achieve.  I took my time, measured everything at least twice and made this ...

A perfect cushion cover!  (Blondie Daughter needs a little work on her camera skills - this photo was the best of a bad lot, trust me!)

I say 'perfect' because every seam is painfully neat and spot-on straight and I even added lace!!!  I completely forgot to take a picture of the reverse which is a plain stone-coloured linen; the envelope closure trimmed with a teeny pink velvet bow.

I didn't use any sort of pattern, just tape measure and logic.  I'm so proud of it I could yelp!!!

I know Blogland is crammed full of wonderful seamstresses who could run up a perfect cushion cover in ten minutes with their eyes closed (and oh how I drool over your beautiful creations) but I'm sure there are just as many of you out there to whom it doesn't come quite so naturally, like me.

I'm on a roll now and am about to embark on project number two ...

... watch this space! ;-)

Before I go, I would like to make my annual mention of Madeleine McCann.  It will be five years tomorrow since she was abducted while on holiday in Praia Da Luz, Portugal.

The police have released this new age-progression image as a guide as to how she may look now.

If you see a young girl you suspect may be Madeleine, please contact the police immediately.  I have updated the link on my sidebar with the contact details.

Still hoping and praying for your safe return sweet girl.

xxx

What A Busy Week!

Hello, hello!

What a very busy and sociable week I've had.  Whilst absolutely lovely, I am now craving some home time.  Today finds me with my hair scraped back, comfies on and looking an absolute bugger but I really don't care as I'm officially hiding from the outside world.  My face is scrubbed clean but slathered with antibiotic cream - horrid bumpy rash/infection thing all over my chin.  Hmm, attractive.  D has just told me I look "natural and sexy" though!  Good job love is blind.

So, this week, I've spent some time with my lovely sister-in-law and baby nephew, I've had lunch out with a dear friend, I've had supper out with another dear friend (big blow-kiss to Rebecca who tells me she checks my blog every day!), I've had doctor's appointments, school meetings, art class ...

As I say, busy.



Yesterday, Blondie Daughter's school year group trouped to a nearby college for a mini workshop on Victorian Life and Charles Dickens.  I volunteered as a parent-helper because the lady running it was Lucinda Hawksley, Charles Dickens' great-great-great granddaughter.  She was brilliant.  I gather she originally trained as a teacher which didn't surprise me - the way she engaged the children was fabulous.

Whilst on a literary theme, permission to indulge in a proud mummy moment?  If you listen to BBC Radio 2, you may have heard mention some time ago of Chris Evans' Breakfast Show 500 Words creative writing competition?  Open to 13 year olds and under, I encouraged Blondie Son to submit an entry.  We received this email a couple of weeks ago ...

Congratulations! The story you submitted, “Vaermina”, is through to the next stage of the Chris Evans Breakfast Show 500 WORDS competition.

Next, it will be sent to the National Literacy Trust for the second stage of the judging process. If it makes it into the Top 50 stories, we will let you know by the end of April. 

We received 74,000 stories and this one is in the top 2,000, which is a brilliant achievement. 

Well done and good luck!

The 500 WORDS Team
The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, BBC Radio 2

Even if he gets no further, we're chuffed to bits!  My son, the writer!!! :-)

In purchase news, I'm extremely pleased with this new rosy throw...

It's from Tesco believe it or not.

I've loved Katie Daisy's artwork for some time and finally treated myself to one of her prints ...

It's propped up on my bedside table while I decide where to put it.

Gorgeous isn't it?

In crochet news, I've frogged my spring ripple blanket (I was making heavy weather of it for some reason) and, instead, am revisiting this old friend ...

... but I'll tell you more about that next time.

D has a gig tonight so it's a deep bubble bath and an early night for me.  Oh yes, and new Primarni pyjamas ...

xxx

Edited to add ... I'm going to start replying to comments using the 'underneath' option so do please check back if you've asked a question or said something lovely ...

Sharing The Crochet Love x

I found the loveliest 'perfect crochet heart' pattern and thought I'd share it with you.

It's HERE.

I sat and hooked these in one evening using some of my brightest yarns.

They're now strung across the mirror in my bedroom.

Pretty aren't they?

As long as nothing falls down in the middle of the night and strangles him, D's a very crochet-garland-tolerant husband!

Hxx

January 2014.  When I originally published this blog post, the Perfect Crochet Hearts pattern was free.  The lady who designed the pattern has now put a cost on it of 99p, such was the interest I suppose, and it can be purchased from here or here.  Sorry for any disappointment.