Operation Declutter Nests

So i'm back and had an amazing few weeks......celebrating my 30th locally with friends and family and then more friends and family celebrations in London, followed by a trip away with the husband to celebrate our first wedding anniversary (i hope to do a post with pics about all of this as we really did have a lovely time).
I've returned with a new enthusiasm for decluttering our home and after catching up on some of my favourite blogs this post  by Lucy @ Attic 24 encouraged my enthusiasm.  Mr N will really appreciate this as my 'nest's' as he calls them drive him mad!!

It was all about where to start and I thought surely my microwave can't have anywhere near the 66 items on top of Lucy's so I started with the kitchen..........

eek I have been meaning to get around to this for a very long time....I counted 71 (bowing my head in shame) things on top and that was counting some things e.g. candles as 1 item, so your's wasn't that bad after all Lucy :)

But now it is beautifully clear......

I then moved onto the window ledge a smaller job, but still an area in need........

3 tubes of hand cream above the sink is really a little excessive so a little declutter and i'm left with a cleaner looking window, although the view needs some work (Mr N is doing some major renovations on our back yard and i'm hoping to be well on the way to a beautiful garden by spring).............

and after all this I thought i'd earned a stroll in the park with my two furry friends

It really was a beautifully sunny afternoon and both myself and the dogs loved it, after our 2 weeks apart. 

I returned from our jaunt to enjoy a delicious cup

of jamaican blue mountain coffee

whilst I reminised about mine and Mr N's recent trip

Well not a bad 1st day back, poor Mr N has returned to work today and is on a long day so I hope my start on the decluttering cheers him up when he walks through the door.  And if that fails to do the trick, we're having chicken wraps tonight with some of the Busha Browne's Pukka Hot Pepper Sauce that was his holiday treat to come home with, as he loved their snapper wraps with this at lunch....hope my chicken wraps live up to expectations.  Off to get the last load of holiday clothes out of the washing machine and hope to be back tomorrow for finished friday



Holiday Time

I'm away at the moment, so no posts for last week or this week.   I'm working hard on my September Scavenger Hunt so hope to get the list completed in plenty of time and will have some crochet pics upon my return

Christmas Swop

Hopefully i've just joined my very first swop, you have until 15th September to join:


http://hookinwithlaalaa.blogspot.com/2011/08/hello-folks-i-hope-youre-all-having.html


And until the end of November to send your swop items so go get yourselves singed up, how very exciting

August Picture Scavenger Hunt

So my very first Photo Scavenger........I underestimated the time it takes to do a post of this size and upload all photos etc....note to self....must be more organised next time

some of these were taken on our visit to Torquay in August to see one of my sisters and then visiting my auntie and her partner near evesham on the way home.


a fountain...........

with a seagull looking like he was about to have a bath


a picnic...........

a bit of alfresco dining in my sisters back garden in Torquay the closest we got to a picnic this month, but it was very nice and followed by some meat done on the bbq

bread.............

there were lots of bread stalls at the Wirral food and drink festival, but I particularly liked these heart shaped iced donuts so took this photo to include them

a funfair or festival.........

so the first day in Torquay, we set off for the day and I was armed with my camera and scavenger hunt list with my husband shaking his head at me.  Whilst we were driving down to the sea front I was readin my list of photos to look out for when I read this one and said.....'this one I think I will struggle to get'  then we got to the end of the road and there it was, a funfair, well I squealed with delight.....completely over the top.  But it certainly made the husband laugh and he loved joining in after this.



also managed to get a visit to Wirral food and drink festival, these are the New Zealand dancing sheep

street food.............

I did mean to take a picture of the fish stall in Torquay, but completely forgot.  So this is one of my favourite photos of a holiday we went on 3 years ago this week (not a particularly good photo but one that brings back lots of happy memories).  We got engaged whilst we were in Cyprus and the ring was too big, but I have it on in this picture, with the dress I was wearing the night we got engaged, eating corn on the cob bought from a street stall.  There are a few of them dotted around all grilling fresh corn on the cob and it tastes delicious.


something ancient.....

taken on our visit to Torquay, my husband wasn't impressed with my scavenger hunt at first and then really got into it and so this one was for him as he insisted we wouldn't find anything more ancient than dinosaurs (although admittedly these probably aren't that ancient!!)


something bizarre (or beezarre!!!)

a bit off a cheat I suppose, but it was quite bizarre seeing my husband dressed up as a bee keeper, checking for honey.  These are the newly aquired bees at my aunties and alas no honey yet, but we are led to believe that is quite normal at this stage, so maybe on our next visit.  They are building their lower nest as seen in the second picture, but nothing in the higher sections that you are allowed to harvest.


mountains..............

we normally head over to Snowdonia so I was hoping for a trip that way this month to get my mountain shot, but we've had lots on and didn't get there so this is a previous trip.  Our eldest dog, monty, cooling off in the water after a scramble up a mountain, he has his own mountain harness and loves it.


a sport...............

taken as we zoomed past in the car, so slightly blurry
a boat........

saw many in Torquay and Plymouth, decided to post this one as slightly different, being out of water
material ...............

bought about 8 weeks ago to make curtains for my front bedroom, but i'm very nervous as not done a project on this scale before.  I will get round to it...one day!!

a market...................

an ostrich egg amongst the chicken eggs in barcelona


Hope my photos are ok and thanks for keeping it open for anyone to join in......looking forward to this months list

Finished Friday

So 2 reveals for this weeks All Finished Friday Projects.  But before that, good news.....I have finally defeated my nemesis and have almost completed the dolls alive dress and romper (just buttons to add to both...so an excuse to visit the button shop tomorrow :) )  and I'm half way through a hat.  So I hope they all fit and the little girl loves them.

Right....on to the finished projects......

The first is a newborn cardigan, (design by Kay Jones...she has lots of patterns on ravelry and this is the first of 4 that I purchased from her, so looking forward to making the others)

I did add an extra row onto the arms as they looked a little short, so hope it fits....but better to be too long than too short (at least they can roll the sleeves up and have growing room)

I do really like the bobble stitched detail on this, it isn't like anything i've seen in the shops....

So on to the second and a big favourite of my and everyone whose seen him so far (especially my mum...she has requested her own!)  Named by his new owner Monty Bear (or his parents really as he is only 1!!!)

The pattern is a lion brand bear in a jif, again off ravelry, but this time a free pattern so make sure you take a peek.  Again I made a few alterations......I used a size 6 crochet hook and Wendy Mode Double Knitting yarn (50% pure merino wool).  I used two strands and he took just over two balls of the darker brown and a small amount of the lighter brown.  He is stuffed with toy stuffing and I decided to crochet his eyes and nose as he is for a one year old, I didn't want to risk and removable parts.  And then I felt he needed something extra as he was for such a special birthday...........

A jumper....so I knitted a front and back in stocking stitch with a moss stitch top and bottom and crochetted some buttons for the front......and the back.......well that's the special bit...........

His initials and the number one as a memento of his special day and in red and white as they are Manchester United household so no doubt he will dislike anything blue at some stage, important to consider all these things!!!!!!!
Now i've not got a great deal of experience of knitting in my adult life so I was really pleased with how the jumper turned out, especially the detailing on the back.....although I know there is always improvement to be made.  I also would cast on less stitches next time as I used 40 for the front and the same for the back which made the jumper slightly on the big side.
But all in all I'm really pleased with how he turned.

Lots to look forward to this weekend, the husband was off today so we had a pub lunch, followed by ice cream from nicholls ice cream in Parkgate, which is famous on the Wirral, do pay it a visit if you're ever in the area.  Then out for tea and cocktails tomorrow for the start of my birthday celebrations and another meal on sunday....so really being spoilt

Enjoy your weekend