Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

  We've been on a couple of camping trips recently and both have been lakeside locations. Vast areas of tranquil waters are beautiful whatever the season, I just love the light and reflections, come rain or shine. 5 things I love about being lakeside 1. The early morning sun than glistens on the rippling surface. 2. The stillness of water despite the approach storm   3. Mist rising from the cool water in the warm of the rising sun.   4. The hypnotic effect of water and clouds. They even work on the dog.   5. Even seven year olds aren't too old to feed the ducks                   Posted with Blogsy

The Killing doesn't really sound very summery, but it's more a new way of watching TV than the subject matter. Technology has changed our viewing habits greatly and stuff like Netflix is ideal for someone like me who never remembers or knows when great stuff is on. Watching a series on Netflix works perfectly with crocheting a blanket in the summer holidays. By the time I have finally wrangled the kids into to bed after all the feeding and entertaining of small people, I'm seriously ready to sit around crafting and escape into a dark shadowy world of make believe crime and murder. Last summer it was Breaking Bad, episode after episode, there whenever I was ready. No waiting until the following week to discover what happens next. Jesse Pinkman and Heisenberg were part of my life. This year work on the hexablanket is accompanied by the gloomy rain drenched Seattle based drama, The Killing. There's something comforting about being so warm on a summer's evening watchin...

In a perfect world there should be a vast amount of idleness about in the summer. Since the children have finished school though, I feel that I have been rather busier than usual organising this and sorting out that. The garden always seems to require my attention and the feeding of the smalls involves enough activity to fill my days. My Summer has been rammed with an active type of idleness but I dream of being busy doing nothing. It seems a while since I have sat and simply stared at the sky without having to resolve arguments, think about what I'm cooking for lunch or watch out for potential issues that might shatter the peace.     We are going camping twice more before the end of the summer and I plan to be as idle as possible. I intend to sit by the lake, stare at the trees and lie around cloud watching.       Posted with Blogsy

When I started my summer project back in the middle of July I simply had a couple of bags of bargin charity shop yarn and a bit of a dream. With weeks of summer ahead and plenty of resources I thought I could easy crochet a blanket and had my eyes on the prize.   The hexagons began to pile up, Josie named the project the hexablanket and I knew I was on the right track because an eleven year old didn't like the colours because they were too granny-ish.   I timed how long it took to make one hexagon (15 mins if I did it non-stop without any interruptions from demanding children), did the maths and worked out how long it would take to do each row in relation to the time I would be able to devote to crochet. As the weather got hotter and hotter it did seem rather absurd to be making a blanket in a bikini. And then I got distracted by embroidery (see E is for embroidery ), entertaining the kiddos and life. I remembered how epic crocheting a blanket can be. Not epic in the sense...

I've never had a guinea pig of my own or any of the smaller fluffy pets that are kept in cages, but this will be the third summer that we have had them to stay as guests. We will be looking after a couple for a friend for a week which will be just about bearable for my husband so probably the only chance my kiddies will get of the little snufflers. Today we sadly discovered that the second of a guest piggies from last year had died and were at a little bulb planting and seed scattering event for Henry when we were asked to be pet sitters, which cheered up my children and the little girl who has now lost both of her pets. As a seven year old with his limited experience of the world, Charlie has yet to learn the sobriety of such occasions and made us laugh by asking inappropriate questions. Will there be food at the funeral? How about drinks, there should be at least drinks? Now their guinea pigs have died can we have their cage for Sherlock (our dog)? This is Henry enjoyi...

I'm not a massive fan of loom bans. Yes it's great that the kids are doing something creative and it makes a change for them not to be plugged into an electronic device. In my eyes though, they are a little on the ugly side, a touch too plastic and they get everywhere, even my allotment. Josie is in my team on this one; we both prefer friendship bracelets. There are just millions of more intensely beautiful colours and textures involved. Even Charlie has swapped his arm full of overly tight loom bands which were practically cutting his circulation off, for the more delicately knotted friendship bracelet.   And then there's the another issue to address. Those loom bands are going to be around far longer than the tiny fingers that are making them whereas the friendship bracelets can go in the compost. The Guardian even went as far as to question whether they might be the next environmental disaster. What do you prefer?   Posted with Blogsy

  We are all pinners of pins but how much making actually goes on? As for finishing what I've started , thank goodness there no such thing as the unfinished projects police, they would throw the book at me. It isn't that I get bored with a project, I am simply distracting by new and exciting ideas. There's always a new plan popping into my head like embroidering my frankly quite ugly denim shorts. The thing about my shorts though is that I seem to wear them all the time, especially for gardening and the allotment. They are perfect, my Swiss Army knife, keys, phone and poo bags (for Sherlock) fit in the pockets and they are comfortable enough to go climbing down into the river and rescuing children from trees.   One of the aspects of summer projects I love is crafting in the sunshine. These shorts now have the memories of a day at the beach stitched into the very weave of the fabric forever. And finally to finish (although I'm not sure I have actually completely to...

Ahhh the delights of dahlias. Summer wouldn't be so gloriously colourful without them. For the third year I have grown them from seed and it's such fun anticipating what colour they will be from those tiny tightly closed buds.   This is one of the beds where they hang out and the mass of green foliage is starting to give way to a riot of multi-coloured blooms. Some plants are from this year's seedlings, other are survivors from last summer thanks to the mild winter. I never know whether you should lift the tubers or leave them be. Somewhere in the attic is an ancient book about dahlias that I always intend to read but never get round to doing so. I'm a bit of a novice to be honest but I'm learning and I do know that this is a stunning cream pom pom dahlia. These are red cacti that I lifted from my old garden in Autumn 2012 and have been perfectly happy in this pot since then.   I think quite a lot of my success so far has definately been down to luck but next ...

  I didn't even know that I liked begonias until I had one of my own and now is rather love them.   As I take pictures of my beloved flowers I always think about how much I am going to love having these photos in the winter when the warm sunshine is gone and the garden is bare. The sweet peas disappear forever. And all that is left of my dahlias will be gnarled and ugly tubers. The sunflowers will simply be a paper bag of seeds waiting to be planted in the spring. And sometimes the skeletons of courgettes plants remain frosted away to twisted lifeless structures. I'm really glad it's only 1st August.   Posted with Blogsy