Eylash crocheted Christmas tree

Finished. It was really easy. I used 4mm needles as they were already lying around and some fuzzy yarn. 

Cast on 3 stitches and knit one row.

Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of each row until the desired length is reached.

My cone was the inside of a machine knitting cone. I have a few left that I kept as 'they would probably come in handy sometime'. They have now as ...

I have a few other fancy balls of yarn left. These came from the CS. I've started on the white and this time I'm using 5mm needles to knit it up even faster.

xx

PS The triangle knitted is an equilateral triangle. I shall have to experiment to see if I can do an isosceles triangle. Maybe I shouldn't increase every row for this.

xx

Little bits of home

Another autumn display in the bathroom.

Here's one in the kitchen on top of the wall cupboards.

Thinking of Christmas with this one. Bought some yarn from the CS and have started to knit a Christmas tree. I've saved some cardboard cones and thought I'd just wrap a triangle of silvery yarn around. May work.

xx

Not a good day

... for the seagull we found with a broken leg in our garden. The vet could only do one thing as the break was so bad.

So sad. We hope it wasn't one of our 'pets'.

xx

Tidying the garden

A major clear of the back garden today with the dwarf beans pulled up, the last of the potatoes dug up, courgette plants cleared and the last of the corn harvested.

The cobs were cleaned up and bagged for the freezer with some smaller ones kept for our salad for tea.

The runner beans will be uprooted tomorrow which will only leave the leeks and a few beetroot.

There's still colour from the poppies which spring up everywhere.

The Chinese lanterns are looking particularly vibrant nestled amongst their leaves. I shall pick them for displaying sometime. Autumn cometh.

xx

Heritage Tour

Took a tour of one of our local theatres today as it is a Heritage weekend. The Grand is a beautiful small theatre in the heart of town. It was only a short tour but we got to see behind the scenes - the dressing rooms,

the Fly deck, where all the scenery and lighting is controlled ...

and the stage. Here's a view from the stage showing the 2 circles and the gods.

The ceiling and walls are very ornate.

On the stage was some memorabilia about Kenn Dodd.

The stage gave me instant vertigo as it slopes towards the orchestra pit.

Lots more information was displayed around the theatre itself.

More information can be found here.

Back onto the promenade for a picnic sandwich, we were just in time to welcome back the many people who had just completed a sponsored Memory walk in aid of Dementia.

It turned out to be a beautiful day ...

after a very windy and rainy start. Can you spot me in the webcam picture below? I'm in there somewhere.

xx

Change over

From September onwards is the change over from Summer to Autumn. It's becoming noticeably cooler and the evenings are drawing in. Time to add the woolies to the wardrobe, don the boots and put on jackets and coats. Time to decorate in an Autumnly fashion around the house. So today, after the workout of morning routine, hoovering downstairs and tickling with a feather duster I did my 'artistic, Autumnal arrangements'.

(Stuck a few dried up seed heads around.)

Allium seed heads are quite spectacular. Out came the pine cones, which will transition nicely into winter decorations - how many weeks is it until Christmas?

In the kitchen the harvest is being brought in - ie a corn cob which is busy drying out in the desiccator.

At weekend I will pick off the dried up French bean seed pods and save the seed. The runner beans will be next. DH has already investigated the seeds in one of the very large courgettes and picked some very ripe and tasty tomatoes to put into jam jars. Once the tomatoes have rotted down he picks out the seeds to save for next year.

xx

Workout - weight lifting

This morning I walked to the supermarket with my trusty pull along trolley and loaded up with groceries. A full trolley is quite heavy especially with a large milk and several tins and cans. Walking back I pull, alternating left and right arms. Ta da - weightlifting workout plus a 2 mile walk. Sorted.

xx

PS for Jules and Jill in answer to the question 'Is all the effort worth it?'

This is the second time I've made pasta with the machine. The first time was just as messy but the pasta cooked in no time and melted in the mouth. Totally different from bought pasta.

Is all the effort worth it?

Pros

excitement, contentment, wonder, satisfaction, culinary delight, clean kitchen once cleared up!

Cons

messy, lengthy process, takes time, easier to open a packet

Another pro is that the pasta can be frozen or left to dry then stored. If it tastes wonderful from frozen or dried then one big pasta making session could result in quite a few meals, cutting down the time of preparing a meal.

Watch this space.

xx

Another workout

This time it's making pasta. I really shouldn't watch too many YouTube videos. I've made pasta before but decided it was much too messy. Here's my pasta dough - just 2 mugs of flour and 2 eggs with a little water to make it into a firm dough. I mixed it up in the mixer to start off with but then got busy with my arm muscles.

Pasta machine from the CS at the ready. It would only fit on the table so there was a lot of walking backwards and forwards. I cut the dough into 4 manageable sizes ...

and did an initial roll out on the board.

Into the machine on setting 9, working down to 1, on to the other side of the machine to make spaghetti and fettuchini.

The handrail of the oven came in handy for the draping.

Then came the clear up.

Kitchen floor, back room floor, table and counter tops.

Yep, it's messy.

Here's the video that inspired me - what a lady.

xx

PS Chicken cacciatore next.

First workout of the day

or 'Morning Routine'.

Walk downstairs.

Put the kettle on.

Let cat out of back room and feed and water.

Put the toast on and Weetabix in bowl.

Brew tea.

Pour tea.

Take breakfast tray upstairs

 to bedroom and have breakfast in bed.

Bring breakfast tray down and empty/load dishwasher.

Wipe down all surfaces. 

Sort cat tray.

Sweep and mop floor.

Take out recycling and rubbish.

Walk down to garage and open up bringing back food I want from the freezer.

Do chores for the day - see here.

xx

PS I know when the sheets need doing as the bed rapidly gets filled up with crumbs! No matter how many times I brush out the crumbs there's always one tiny one to be found when I roll over. :)

xx

Oh no, not another one

Oh yes, more than one actually. This large courgette was destined to be another courgette surprise. First I cut it in half and scooped out the seeds then drizzled it in olive oil and popped it in the oven until it softened.

For the filling I used some Feta and Mature Cheddar cheese and some of the tomatoes from the greenhouse.

Back into the oven it went until all was cooked and starting to brown. We did not eat straight away but come suppertime I put one section under the grill until heated through. Delicious. The other half was whizzed up the next day with some stock and made into soup. 

Our edible back garden feeds us well.

I'm up to the 39th bunch of grapes and there must still be the same number still left on the vine. I eat the grapes for my 'afters' and also another bunch at suppertime.

Today I roasted the flesh of another giant courgette, along with some garlic, onion and tomatoes. Whizzed again and there's enough soup for 2 more days. For tea today I'm making a warm Asian salad and a smaller courgette will find its way into that with runner beans, carrots and spring onion. I'm certainly getting my 5 a day at the moment as our apples and plums are now ready to be munched through.

xx

PS re the coach - I'm one of those 'travel sick' people but the coach we travelled in was nothing like the coaches of my youth. There were foot rests, air-conditioning and very comfortable seats. We also had a coffee/toilet stop on the way.

Trip out

I had my first experience of a Grey Brigade coach trip yesterday. 

Great fun as we didn't know where we were going. We ended up at Barrowford, a small pretty village in which was the Pendle Heritage Centre.

A small stream meandered though the village and we walked along it through the park gardens,

ending up at a local hostelry for lunch, which was beautifully presented.

Onward we went in the afternoon, up and up, along very narrow roads, extremely narrow roads,

to Clitheroe. The first narrow road the coach went up was the wrong one so we backed up about a quarter of a mile and immediately proceeded to the next frightfully narrow road.

We said hello to the sheep on the hillside.

A tour of the main street of Clitheroe whiled away the afternoon along with an ice-cream and a trip to a CS!

Good company, good food and great scenery. Must do it again some time with the LWJ.

xx