Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

I am not one to be beaten by yarn and needles so I started my gloves project again. As there was very little wrong with the beautiful peacock vintage mohair yarn, I picked out some size 7 needles (see conversion chart below) and cast on a few extra stitches. Courtesy of Simply Knitting This time the gloves were far more successful due to simple things like counting the rows and the stitches and making both the gloves exactly the same. I know that they are better because I have finished them and already lost them to Josie who was my model for the disastrous but rather hilarious photo shoot.   It was getting a bit dark so we went outside Herbie kept getting in the way And then Josie really get the giggles I'm just pleased she likes them. I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it easier

As if my knitting wasn't bad enough already, I decided to have a go at my own free style pattern and although creativity is fabulous, when making gloves, I feel that there does need to be a bit of consistency. I am not the type of person who can bear to wear odd gloves, irregular patterns are fine as long as the irregular patterns are the same on both gloves.  I had no doubt that I was likely to stray on to another project between gloves so made a few notes as I went. I was completely confident that I would forget which needles I used, number of stitches cast on and crazy deviation from an actual stitch that would manifest itself in my project.   I veered away from the cheaters lace stitch pattern I found on the Internet after just two rows. (You can find the original pattern here ) I used 3.5mm needles Cast on 32 stitches K2, P2 to make a rib however long it happens to be ( I was hoping that I could measure this as I certainl...

It is amazing how quickly children bounce back. Charlie is back on form again today, making up for all the eating that he hasn't done over the last couple of days. We stayed at home though and took things easy because he wasn't 100% and Josie had an ear ache. I did have ambitions of sitting around in the garden crocheting but my spot was quickly taken up by Herbie. She looked so comfortable that I didn't have the heart to move her and I had pretty much finished collecting all the lupin seeds. I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it easier

Today has been my least favourite day of the summer holidays. My husband and I were up for a large amount of the night with Charlie as he has some nasty bug. My boy is usually larger than life, similar to an unstoppable tornado wreaking havoc throughout the house, but when he's poorly I can't help becoming tearful. He is still actually quite tiny and vulnerable. He was burning up and all I could do is watch him anxiously as he drifted in an out of sleep on the settee.  I managed to get a few jobs done around the house including sewing labels into the new school uniform and a little bit of gardening. The usual noise, laughter and shouting was replaced with hushed whispers so that we could allow Charlie to rest. Josie and I did some yoga in the garden. I was quite envious of Josie's flexibility and slightly saddened by the decline of mine. I very much hope that Charlie is feeling better tomorrow and that he sleeps well tonight. I would love it if you could l...

My perfect Sunday is one of simplicity, the beach in the morning and the allotment in the afternoon. Despite leaving for Botany Bay early, the beach was packed with happy people enjoying the beautiful English summer time.  The children played in the sea with our little boat, it clouded over and then Josie and I swam in the sea in the rain. I haven't swam in the rain since I was a teenager. It was perfectly warm, a touch on the humid side actually but the rain splashing on the sea was rather lovely. They do look like little angels. After this mini heat wave. the allotment was in need of a drop of water and I was very grateful to have my little helpers drenching everything. My sunflowers are also enjoying the warmth of late summer. And I like nothing more than cycling home in the twilight with a basket full of goodies including my sweet peas which always smell delightful. I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I...

Inspired by our trip to Broadstairs Folk Festival yesterday, we had our own festival today at home in the garden. It was another glorious sunny day with proper summer holiday temperatures, blue sky and blazing sun. We set up the teepee and the umbrella for shade and plenty of fun crafty activities for a relaxed day in the garden.  The children designed their own temporary tattoos.   We made some Lego jewellery. Shrunk some shrinky dinks And the caterpillars continue to grow I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it easier

 Last night we collected enough raspberries from the allotment to make some jam which was perfect for a sunny breakfast in the garden this morning. Broadstairs is almost my favourite place in the world and this week is Folk Week so the perfect seaside destination to take my mum to. Broadstairs has such a traditional British seaside feel to it, that you can't help but have a rather lovely time. Throughout August there is the twice daily Punch and Judy show with Sponge Bob Square Pants joining the more traditional Punch, Judy, Baby, Policeman and crocodile. Both Charlie and Josie felt the need to leave the show to come and tell me that. We all had a dip in the sea and the waves were a bit rough so several went over the children's heads. It was a touch chilly with the sea breeze. And the caterpillars have doubled in size to 6mm I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it eas...

After neglecting my garden and allotment for over a week whilst I enjoyed myself camping, today I needed to try and rescue my plants from the bind weed, slugs, snails, caterpillars and all manner of uninvited guests. Charlie helped me in the garden and Josie got her bedroom ready for our very welcome guest, my mum. We got ourselves some baby caterpillars to raise into butterflies, which are currently measure approximately 3mm. Charlie has a collection of various sized caterpillars as well. On the way back from collecting my mum at the station, we picked some blackberries for a crumble.   And there were plenty of flowers, fruit and vegetables to pick at the allotment.  I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it easier

Camp breakfast  The older children riding in from Kingsdown on the journey home. The stacking of stones The exchange of stones I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it easier

There are people who travel half way round the world for their holidays. They spend time checking in at the airport, squished up for several hours on an aeroplane and end up in some truly exotic. I do like to travel and see the world however I am just as happy being crammed into the car for half an hour and heading back to basics at a campsite on the Kent coast. Today's camping expedition, with our Lemonade Stand partner family, really promoted the independence of our older two. Whilst I took the littlies in the car with me, the other mum took our nine year olds on the train with their bikes and then they cycled along the seafront from Deal to Kingsdown.  They even got to go back to the tent by themselves after rock pooling whilst we spied on them using the super zoom on my camera during our clifftop walk. They are still too young for champagne though, that was just for us mummies. I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm worki...

The wonderful thing about photography is that it captures that moment. Children grow too fast. Days, months and years fly by and it makes me happy to hold on to those precious memories. Today I had the pleasure of meeting up with our best man from our wedding and meeting his family. I had not seen him since Josie was a baby (although my husband had seen him more recently) and now he has his own beautiful wife and adorable daughter. I hope that the years will not fly by until we see them again but fear that the days will slip past. There are so many friends with their own families that we rarely see, it just makes these photos even more special. I do love how our children automatically become friends with our friends' children. Josie is such a caring child and an angel when it comes to looking after little ones. Another day, another country park with glorious weather and the most lovely people.  And in a flash that moment has gone forever and off they go into...

A quiet early morning breakfast outside the tent I couldn't camp without these guys Feeding our left over bread to the swans A last play in the park  A final train ride Good bye Wellington Country Park I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it easier