More Bloody Thievery

Sigh... again there has been some criminal activity.

I live on a quirky street with nothing much behind the house but a footpath and a wood.  You don't realise this at all from the front of the house and this is probably why it's been relatively trouble free in all the years we've lived here.  Sadly, this is no longer the case and we have been discovered.  Last year lots of burglaries. More recently scrap dealers helping themselves to stuff without asking and now this

Our lovely victorian flagstones. Stolen.  It makes me so angry.

On a slight positive, the culprits were spotted loading them onto a van at 7.30am on a Monday morning and the reg no has been passed onto the police. Hope they catch them.

New Old Things

My mum is having her kitchen redone and has had a bit of a clear out.  I now own a couple of fabulous old tea sets.  They belonged to my grandmother and she got them as a 21st birthday pressie so that makes them 1930s.

They are just lovely and I'm longing for some sunny days so that I can sit outside and sip tea from them while crocheting doilies. Might have to have a floppy sunhat and a floaty frock as well.  Oh and maybe some gloves......

So pretty, so delicate

Loving the Art Deco colours of this set

Gloomy Days and Dog Parades

Hmm... it's been 2 weeks since half term already but here's an update on what we all got up to.

Firstly the weather.  As usual it was a typically gloomy and murky February half term.  Of course, we've had some glorious weather since going back to work/school but hey ho - so it goes.

Not really nice enough to venture very far we mainly stuck to nipping to Memorial Park in between downpours.

A rather gloomy Memorial Park

As it turned out, everyone else seemed to have the same idea and it was like a dogs day out.  Looks like we were all seizing the moment and dashing to the park before the rain came down again. We had to avoid this jolly get together as Sally is not the most sociable of dogs and gets a bit apoplectic when just one other dog is nearby. Can you imagine the fuss we'd have with this veritable canine crowd?

Bit of a doggy get together!

What do you mean you think I'm a dog!

We took another path and checked out the bird box.  The girls took part in a bird box making event last year and have decided that this one is absolutely, definitely, without doubt the one that they made. I just agreed and took the photo as instructed!

Could this be the box that the girls made?

That was pretty much the sum of our outdoor forays over half term.  We did go and see Tangled which was great fun and the best Disney film in a long time.

Hooray

On closer inspection my LYS isn't closing down. They're having some work done. Phew! Don't use it that much but it's nice to have when I need to go and squish stuff.

Bad news

On the way to the dentist I noticed that my local wool shop is looking decidedly empty. Looks like it has closed down. What a bummer! I could be wrong, and it could be that it's being done up or something but I suspect not. Sigh...

Dental update

The girls were due for a check up today so I made an appointment for me too. Sat in the chair with a huge sense of impending doom to be told that it wasn't a hole in my tooth but some tartar build up that had chipped off leaving a sharp edge. What a relief!

So £45 worse off and an industrial power-washing (scale and polish) later I have lovely stain-free and smooth teeth again. Phew!

Tooth Problem

Not the children for once - but me!!

A piece of one of my lower front teeth has fallen off. There's a hole now. It's sharp. I can't stop fiddling with it with my tongue. It's going to cost a fortune to fix.

Still, at least it doesn't hurt. Yet.

Chilling out at home

The weather over the weekend wasn't so great and yesterday there was even some sleet for a while. It's been rather chilly at times too.  Nothing for it but to find a cosy nook and get on with some knitting or crochet.

Not to mention, enjoying a lovely blazing fire of an evening too.

New camera joy, Rotten Wood and appalling stink

My old faithful Kodak camera finally conked out for good last year.  It was only a 4.2 megapixel camera but always took lovely, lovely shots.  So we decided we needed a new camera, set a budget and got a little fujifilm finepix compact camera.  Full of anticipation we have tried all the different modes.  It's pants.  Really, really, really, REALLY pants. The pictures are too overexposed, you can't focus properly with it, there's no view finder ( thought I could get used to not having one but I can't) and we hate it. We realised that it isn't about the megapixels - it's all about the lens. The Kodak had a really great lens hence the good pics.

So I started looking on ebay to see if there were any of the kodak camera that we had for sale. There were, all bids unsuccessful so in the end we have got a second hand Nikon D40 digital SLR. And it is justawesome!  Just getting to grips with it but it's looking pretty fab so far.

We trundled up the road to Rotten Wood so that the girls could let off some steam and to play with the camera a bit.

There aren't many signs of spring there just yet but the amazing brilliance of all the green moss is spectacular. I particularly like the almost furry look it gives to some of the branches.  There are lots of interesting fungi about too.  We all love the fallen trees as they are so much fun to clamber about on.

And of course, we had to visit the elephant tree.

The only downside of our little trip was an appalling stench near the entrance. Like something dead. Honestly, I was retching at one point and I really thought I was going to be sick  - it was so bad. Fortunately, it did disappear after a while but it was quite possibly the nastiest smell I've ever smelt. Not the usual manure/muckspreading kind of thing... definitely a rotting flesh kind of thing.... ughhh... And even now a few hours later I keep catching a faint whiff of it. Yuk!

Half Term Begins

Well it's half term at last.  There are a couple of those pesky 'inset' days tacked onto the beginning and end and despite working term time now I still don't have quite enough days off to cover those as well.

Friday inset day the girls were home with daddy and nipped out for a bit of a walk.  Barbie 1 and Barbie 2 just simply absolutely definintely had to go along too and were happy to pose for a couple of glam outdoor shots.

Barbie 1 and Barbie 2 proving that outdoor activies can be glam!

As usual, older girlie managed to find something interesting. And many fables were invented and elaborated upon concerning the 'death skull'.

Weather hasn't been too good over the weekend so there hasn't been a great deal going on really.

Birthday Pampering

Well my older girl is now 8. How time has flown. I just can't believe how quickly the years have passed. It seems like the blink of an eye sometimes.

Anyhow, we decided no more big parties so we had a Body Shop pamper party for some of her friends from school. It was a blast.  A really fun time was had by all. Vicky, the lovely (and rather glam) Body Shop consultant came along to pamper and preen them... there was some facial treatment, a foot scrub spa and some toenail painting. There was a little bit of glitter and lippy too but nothing to American Beauty pageant!

 

The Birthday girl in the middle of the foot spa session.  Lots of fun being had at this point.

Loving the spa caps!  Also check out the latest granny stripe just muscling into this picture on the right!

And of course, there had to be cake.  The most chocolate-y cake ever. Which is what we made yesterday afternoon. Smartie decoration done by the birthday girl.

A super fun girly time was had by all. It was gorgeous!

Best socks ever!

I am taking part in the Sole Sisters swap on Ravelry and my package arrived yesterday. You make either socks or mittens for your partner. My parcel came from Norway which filled me with excitement as it was sure to contain some woolly and warm wonderfulness. And I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was completely bowled over by the socky magnificence. In fact they go far, far beyond mere socks. They are stockings. Fantastic, awesome stockings! Just look at these babies....

 Ooh they are soooo toasty.  I shall wear them under my bike pants on chilly rides and they will be just perfect for chilly evenings on the campsite when we head back to the lakes.  Just love them!

Many, many thanks to Ann from Norway

Sunday Night Indulgence

a bottle of champagne left over from Christmas, brand new series of Being Human and a new granny stripe thing to do. Bliss! don't think life gets much better?

You're never fully dressed without a smile

Just had to share this fabulous photo of baby O.  Oh and just wanted to point out my ripple blanket in the photo too!!

Good Stuff

Things that made today a great day to be alive;

Glorious sunshine, tweeting birds in the morning and some fabulous socks from the lovely Sorbus (her Ravelry name). This lovely lady sent me some gorgeous socks to brighten up a grey January. And they do, they really, really do. They are blue, yellow and shocking pink and I adore them. There was also a selection of Scottish tea which I shall quaff over the weekend - hmm may need to make some cake to go with it. What do you reckon?

 So bright and cheery. Love them. There's nothing nicer than socks made for you by someone else!

Finished Objects! Yes...Really!!

Well, amazingly there has also been lots of knitting/crochet action of late. The usual mad rush of finishing off Christmas knitting. No photos though but there was; socks for Dad, hat and mittens for mum and crochet mitts for my sister-in-law.

Was feeling rotten over the holidays and the only thing I could be bothered to do was crochet.  So that's what I did. I used up some Sirdar Denim Ultra that's been lying around for I think 4 years. Originally it was meant to end up as an aran jummper but is now a gigantic granny square instead. It was all I could manage when I was under the weather.  Quite pleased with it though.  Did an edging which makes it look a bit more finished off.

 I love its simplicity and it gave me an enormous sense of well being to complete it when I was feeling so lethargic and rubbish!

There have also been socks.  2 pairs for friends of the girls.  Nice and bright socks.

A pair of garter rib socks done using a Zauberball, colourway Tropical Fish I think. Lovely and bright - if they weren't a tad small I'd keep them for myself!

 More kids' socks. Plain stocking stitch this time done in Opal Surprise.  Again lovely bright colours. Love them.

In progress are the above beauties. Pattern is Nemesis and they are done in some fabulous EasyKnits bamboo/merino sock yarn that I got in the UK Knits Winter Warmers swap just before Christmas.  Slurrrppp!  These are for a swap I'm doing and I will have a hard time letting go of them I can tell you... sigh...

So there you go, a crochet blanket and 2 1/2 pairs of socks so far this year.  Pretty productive n'est pas?

Catch Up

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I posted. Lots been going on though, including of course, the above mentioned celebrations.  Lots of flu-type lurgy here though and we were all under the weather at some point during December. All better now though and set for the New Year.


Just before the bad weather and the lurgy struck the girls had their bessie mates round for tea and a fun time was had by all.

We had a walk round the park and the tale of the "Terrible Trumpeter" of Memorial Park was born.  There's an old bandstand that is all overgrown and the path that runs past it is a bit spooky. A spooky path just has to have a ghost story and so it began.... and got elaborated on all the way along the path.  The gist of it is that the trumpeter got hold of an enchanted trumpet that took him over so that when the band finished playing he carried on playing until midnight on a full moon.  When the sun rose he had disappeared and all that was left was the trumpet, innocently awaiting its next victim. On a full moon the sounds of his amazing playing can be heard at midnight until dawn when it fades away....

Well the girls were enthralled and lapping it up.  A man suddenly appeared round a corner and you should have heard the shrieks!! Poor chap didn't know what to do with himself! He was only walking his dog....

Baby O finally arrived on Bonfire Night and is doing well.

All together now.... aaaahhhhh! Aren't they lovely when they are so little.

Then the cold weather came.  It's lovely when you can sit inside and look at it but a bit of a nightmare when you are trying to get on with normal life.

 Off to the park for a snowball fight.

Christmas came and everyone stopped by on Boxing Day. The kids had a whale of a time as they rightly should too! Loving the Batman costume!

Little O fascinated by the Christmas fairy lights.

After all the excesses and lurgy that was part and parcel of this year's seasonal celebrations we all felt well enough to venture up Pendle Hill to blow away the cobwebs.

The snow is all gone now and it's the usual rainy and miserable weather.  Bit frustrating as it's just too wet to do much of anything at all at the moment.  Here's to some brighter weather soon so that we can get out some more.

Crimewave returns

You may remember that a few months ago some cheeky gits burgled us. Well it's happened again!  In a weird kind of way the thieves have sort of done us a favour. You see the oven was on it's last legs so we recently got a new one. The old one has been sitting in the back yard for about a week - we just haven't got around to taking it to the tip.  Anyhow, after the last burglary we got a webcam with motion detection and fixed it and up until today nothing of any interest ever turned up.

Well apart from this cat burglar, of course

But today, well see for yourself. Two dodgy lads came into the garden and helped themselves to the old oven.

Have contacted the police and passed the images on to them. Apparently, there has been a scrap van going around lately on account of one or two skips in the vicinity. If they'd knocked on the door when we were in we would have gladly given them the oven. Just can't believe the cheek. They've walked around the back, come into our garden and helped themselves. That is just not on! Hope they catch them and throw the book at them!

Darwen Tower

Making the most of a bit of decent weather we all decided to go for a walk to Darwen Tower.  The Tower is pretty dominant in the skyline around those parts and it kind of looks like a rocket from a distance. Thus with a vague bonfire night connection it seemed the ideal place to head for.

Darwen Tower - looking a bit dark and satanic!!

The octagonal tower is on Beacon hill and was completed in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and also to celebrate the victory of the local people for the right to access the moor. It was opened to the public on 22 September 1898.

We decided to get there via the very lovely Sunnyhurst Woods.

Sunnyhurst Woods - A lovely late Victorian/Edwardian park

We strolled through the lovely woods and then climbed up to the reservoir before heading across to the tower itself. A gloriously crisp and clear day - we could see for miles and miles. To the coast, the lake district, yorkshire dales, saddleworth moor and lots more. Lovely.

Taking a break and admiring the stunning views

Kept stopping to admire the lovely views and say hello to other walkers. Then we bumped into a couple with a pair of donkeys. They were taking the donkeys for a walk! Must have taken them quite a while as everyone they passed would stop and make a fuss of them! Us too!

Donkeys out for a walk too!

Now the girls want donkeys for pets....

Got to the tower and went up to check out the view even more. Grandparents had brought biccies and hot chocolate so we sat in the sunlight and tucked in.

A great little walk. Well worth it, if you are in the area.

Please to remember the 5th November...

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

Bonfire at Clitheroe

Due date for my stepson's baby has long gone. It was due 24th October. Must be all the fireworks but a hospital induction this weekend was narrowly averted and baby O decided to arrive on Bonfire Night (well afternoon actually but night sounds better!!). A healthy baby boy, 7lb13 and the home birth that the parents wanted. What a good do. My prediction totally wrong - I was convinced that they were having a girl.

The bonfire we were going to go to last night was postponed until tonight on account of the rain. So we had to make an emergency trip to the firework shop to pick up something to let off in the back garden as all of us girls were dreadfully disappointed. 5 reasonably decent rockets and some fountains. plus sparklers -you've got to have those. So not too bad on the night after all.

Tonight we changed our minds about the bonfire and went to Clitheroe instead of Higham as it was £10 to go to the one in Higham which is a bit steep. Just a donation of your choice in Clitheroe. Plus we met up with some friends that we haven't seen in ages so that was pretty cool too. Massive bonfire with a guy and impressive fireworks so all in all worth the trip.

Clitheroe Fireworks

There was some additional entertainment too. There is a Norman castle in Cliheroe which is floodlit at night and some cheeky young whippersnappers had discovered that if you stand in just the right spot you can cast a huge shadow on the castle wall. There were all kinds of rude shadows going on which whilst completely immature were also pretty funny.

"Look, they are dancing together again" said the girls. "So they are", said I laughing my socks off.