Share the Bloggy Love Around

Yeah, yeah, the Spring Fest is on and thank you to all who left a comment yesterday. I'm frantically thinking what I can take pictures of to celebrate this season. And talking of 'frantic' ...

... I've just been on FM's blog and read this post. In the comment section I see that we have another blogger who is willing to crochet some squares for the blanket. Many thanks to Frantic's antics. Do pop over and visit her. I really enjoyed reading her blog. She's certainly contracted the crochet bug.

As FM says 'Share the Bloggy Love Around'.

Let's share - yeah yeah
the ups, the downs, the laughs, the frowns
Let's share the Bloggy Love Around.

Let's share - yeah yeah
the thoughts, the skills, the stories, the thrills
Let's share the Bloggy Love Around.

Yeah, yeah - I'll stop now!

Spring Fest

Last year we had a Virtual Spring Fair where bloggers joined in to create a memorable celebration of spring. Click on the link or on the Virtual Spring Fair label at the side.

Is anyone up for joining in with a Spring Fest this year? This time I thought we could make a photo scavenger thingy where bloggers could post just pics, or pics with narrative on one or more of the following -

seating

pictures of benches, garden chairs, places to sit in the garden

refreshments

pictures of drinks (cocktails J and C?), sandwiches, finger food, salads

entertainment

pictures or videos of dancing, singing, music making, acting, puppet shows, pony riding

bric-a-brac

pictures of somewhere in your home or on your travels of various pieces or lots of tat, dust collecting objects bric-a-brac

toy stall

picture of a toy or game (I'm sure everyone has something stashed away somewhere even if it's only a pack of playing cards)

cake stall

picture of cakes, buns, biscuits

plant stall

pictures of flowers, plants, seed packets, gardening books

decorations

bunting, table decorations, fancy dress

I'm sure you can think of more categories. Suggestions please.

spring crafts

spring celebrations

spring stories

artwork (spring lambs, Jill?)

I thought that we could celebrate spring on Sunday 5th May and I'll link to your blog posts so we can all enjoy the Spring Fest together. Who would like to celebrate this wonderful season with me?

xx

Friends' Bloggy Blanket Update

Alison has been busy again crocheting squares for the Bloggy Blankets. Here's her email. (Hope you don't mind me putting it out here, Alison. Just say and I'll take it off pronto.)

Hi again Mum

Sorry to have been a while, but we have been up in Norfolk setting up the campsite for the start of the season, not that anyone wants to go camping!!  We had a few hardy souls over the Easter weekend, but mostly they were in campervans. 

Anyway, have finally got round to crocheting some granny squares for the next Bloggy Blanket.  I played around and managed to get the 4ply wool to work up to a 12cm square, which I was really pleased about.  I had brought quite a few different colours from Mum's attic, and thought it would be nice to crochet some stripy ones, using light and dark contrasts in each colour.  Once I started I got quite carried away but could not complete the set as I had no light green on board.  The set did not look right without a green so I cheated and went out locally to buy some light green DK wool; I have also been seduced into making more innocent hats (for the Big Knit 2013) so will use my extra DK wool for that.  We are on the north Norfolk coast which is not particularly well served with craft shops, but can get cheap King Cole and Cygnet DK in Wells, which I think is fine for this type of project.  I was very pleased with the result and even remembered to take a photo to send to you this time.  I am sure there is a design for a bigger afghan using the same technique of contrasting shades in one square, but I am no good at designing. 

Well, thank you once again for organising the project; like you I have a few projects on the go now (not sure how that happened, I had become quite disciplined about finishing one project before starting another) but if the blankets are still being made in a few months time I am happy to contribute some more squares, just keep updating the pages on the blog.

I hope you are ok, I have noticed you do not blog quite so regularly at present, although many bloggers seem to be less active - as many have admitted, there does not seem to be too much 'new' stuff to say!! 

Thank you for joining in with the Bloggy Blanket. I hope more people will be inspired to join in. I just love those 2 tone squares. Your last paragraph has kick started my brain into creating ideas for new posts, one of which involves more 'joining in' from other Bloggers. Stay tuned!

Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow

I'm slowly adding to the list of 'can do' dances and improving slightly on others. One thing I've found now is that I can remember the dance but not the name and vice versa. Just got to put the 2 together and I'll be there!

Here's my list from last October.

And here are more dances adequately mastered.

Bossa Nova Blues

Caribbean Calypso

Saunter Together

Square Tango

Harry Lime Foxtrot

Tina Tango

The Boston Two Step

Jacqueline Cha Cha

Mambo Marina - this one's hard

These ones I've just learned.

Rhumba Rosalie

Midnight Jive

There's not a chance of me learning this one!

Glenroy Foxtrot

I was awarded a 'Silver Medal' at the last dance class. (Everyone who turned up received one!)

Pity I still can't do a proper jive.

xx

Yip, yip

The fancy dress party is over and these costumes are no longer needed. No, no. Two large, fleecy throws, polystyrene balls, pipe cleaners, material, wadding and pom poms were sewn and hot glued together to produce these characters. Yip, yip. A large hole had to be cut out of the centre to make the mouth. Yip, yip. Eyes glued on at a jaunty angle. Yip, yip.

After the party they lay discarded in the garage. Yip, yip. Now what?

Make cushions? Yip, yip.

Make smaller throws? Yip, yip.

Make cat beds? Yip, yip.

Throw away? No, no.

xx

Very Much Alive

It's a rather appropriate title for today, however, this post follows on from yesterday's tour of the flowers.

The main flowers here are orchids whose blooms last months.

One bunch of daffodils has flowered today.

No flowers here, just pretty foliage on the fern.

Very much alive - Happy Easter!

xx

PS I'm sorry but I've switched word verification on again. Anonymous keeps commenting trying to lead anyone who reads to very dubious sites. I'm fed up of deleting him/her/it. Sorry.

Kitchen Window - March 2013

Not much has changed from last month except for a new bunch of daffodils and an Easter egg cup. Happy Easter. The plant is still up on its cookie cutter plinth because the window sill collects water. Whoops, I see I've not taken my compost bag (old bread flour bag filled with peelings) out to the compost. Tut, tut.

I promised Jill from Land of the Big Sky (put your glasses on now) that I'd take her on a tour round my artificial/dead flowers. At least you'll see some blooms.

I always keep the statice

from bunches of flowers. I can just see a poppy head there as well. Happy Easter.

These roses just get moved around from room to room and vase to vase.

This vase holds an assortment of items - wooden sticks that florists like to put in bunches of flowers, dead seed heads of flowers from the front garden - dead roses and the odd artificial flower.

You've seen these tissue paper chrysanthemums before. 

Here's another seed head this time from an allium plus a vase of wooden, papery roses.

More artificial flowers here plus a little bit more statice.  (It turns up all over the place.) Can you see more dead rose heads?

They are surrounding another allium head.

The 'odd' bunch brighten up the downstairs toilet!

The latest dead roses are the bunch DD received on Valentine's day 'displayed' in the Buddha bottle. The odds and sods are put in the loft room (my office, sewing room, crochet chamber, reading room, Lego centre, knitting den, music studio, dance studio!) with me.

The garden glass flower

Odd blooms and the plastic leaves
that puss cat likes to chew

Christmas blooms

DD's sweetie wrapper blooms

Note to self - please tidy up the table by the bed.

I'll show the live plants another day.

xx

Welcome to my new follower. Hope you enjoyed the tour.