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'.

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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