Goodbye February

February has flown in and it's hard to believe today is the 28th. This week has been big on work and small on craft. I am hoping to rectify that tomorrow with a day devoted to me and my challenge of a block a week....did you think I had:

a. Forgotten

b. Given up

c. Changed the challenge to "a block a month"

Today instead of work we had a day out. We headed east towards snow covered mountains.

The Cairngorms from the shores of Loch Morlich.

On the drive up to the top car park, the snow drifts at the side of the road must have been about 5ft high. The car park was packed with cars and the slopes were packed with skiers and snowboarders. Somehow it just didn't feel like Scotland! We've been up at the Cairngorm Railway a few times and it's been so windy you could hardly stand upright, but today in spite of all the snow it felt relatively mild. Great to look at - but I am not a skier - I just know I wouldn't be any good at it!

We headed back down to Aviemore and had lunch in The Druie and a very decadent cup of hot chocolate!

They also had a very tempting display of cakes....it's a good place to eat if you are ever in Aviemore.

We had a nice drive through the surrounding countryside  - lots of sheep feeding on hay and turnips in the still very brown fields. These ladies were quite camera shy.

We ended the day with a trip to The Bookmark an independent bookshop in Grantown on Spey, a good browse later we left with a bundle of books. The perfect end to a lovely day.

Cats and Crochet

I was working from home today  - which is great because I can linger in my pyjamas long past a decent hour! However, it's not all good - time seems to disappear at an alarming pace and before you know it I have missed elevenses and lunch. So, feeling slightly hungry, I closed down the laptop and put the phone away and I have made myself a cup of coffee.

I treated myself to a cat poster and badge from Audrey Jeanne - it was lovely to receive a box from France yesterday - I am now on the hunt for a frame.

Still on the cat front - I couldn't resist this book when we were in Oban last week about the Tobermory Cat - the photos are very funny - the cat seems to spend most of its time holding up the traffic on Tobermory High Street. We didn't get over to Mull last year - so we will have to make amends in the coming months! Tobermory is a big day out - they have a bookshop and an ironmongers as well as lots of other shops!! - and it just looks so cute.

I started to make a kindle cosy before Christmas as a present for someone - however, I ran out of oomph and abandoned it to the "projects never to see the light of day again" pile. I came across it at the weekend and realised that it was just the right size - when folded in half - to become a mobile phone cosy! Hoorah! So I just had to sew up the seams - don't you just love it when projects get finished!!

Talking of finishing projects - I used up a ball of yarn that I had been crocheting with unsuccessfully - it just didn't want turn into anything - so I unraveled it and found that it was a good colour match for the edge of the my granny square. Maybe I was feeling chilly, but I was drawn to folding it in two and using it to keep my shoulders warm.

It was a good reason to use a lovely brooch given to me by a very good friend last year when I was at a very low ebb. It's a needle felted landscape by the lovely Lisa of Lil Fish Studios - check out her blog!

Wedding Work

Another day helping out my catering friend - this time for a wedding - I know, Sunday is a bit of an odd day to have a wedding. I've helped out at a few weddings over the last 12 years and the one thing that always fascinates me is how different they all are.

The tables were pretty formal and the flowers were very simple - just white roses.

In the drawing room, of what is a pretty unique large house, there was a vase of beautiful pink roses.

There were lots of candles dotted about too.

It was hard work and a long day and my feet are really feeling it tonight. We've received evening invitations to two weddings this coming spring - it will be nice to be on the other side for once!

Short and Sweet Saturday

Happy Saturday....cat on knee, crochet hook in hand and a baseball film on TV.

A Hat For A Baby

A new baby boy for a couple we know - so I knitted a hat to give as a gift. The pattern is from a Debbie Bliss baby book and it only took about half a ball of Baby Cashmerino and a couple of hours to knit. 

Wouldn't it be something if all knitting projects were that quick to finish?

It's snowy on the tops

As it was Mr M's day off yesterday we headed out for the afternoon - another dry day and ever so slightly mild. Although we have had negligible amounts of snow at the house this year, the hill tops have had a phenomenal amount.

This statement made half an hour into our car journey supplied my better half with endless mirth for the rest of the day. Yes, I know it's a lot colder up there at 3000ft - but it looks like there's too much! Wouldn't it be better to share some of it with the rest of us down here at sea level?

Glencoe looks amazing (far too much snow up at the top!!) - we parked below the Ballachulish Bridge and I scurried back up the steps onto the bridge to take some photos. Up on the bridge is a memorial to James Stewart - James of the Glens - Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped" which is set round the infamous Appin murder, is a brilliant and favourite book and I just love the 1960's film with Michael Caine in the role of Allan Breck - it's cheesily good.

We stopped to have some late lunch at the View Cafe at Castle Stalker - we succumbed to large portions of homemade apple pie and ice cream. It goes without saying that the views of the castle are great and there was some very jolly knitted bunting round the windows.

Back to work today........

Crochet Happy

Starting off the week with happy thoughts and crochet hook in hand. First of all the lovely impulse buy of Juno yarn last week has been turned into a "Romantic Crochet Cowl Collar" by Kuwa Yoshiko Kuwabara - I love the search on Ravelry - by typing in the type of yarn and quantity you can narrow down the patterns that will match - I think that's neat. The wooden button has just been waiting for a moment to attach itself to something suitable.

Second happy moment - I won a £10.00 Amazon token through a competition run by the village hall to promote its new website - you had to be the first to tell them what was on at the hall on a certain date at a certain time - it was the travelling vet surgery! I wasn't going to email them as I was sure a bundle of people would have beaten me to it - but I decided to try my luck and yeah....I won! I decided to spend my winnings on a lovely little crochet book - Crochet with Color by Kazuko Ryokai - it's translated from Japanese and there are some great patterns.

Third happy moment - just giving in to the completely relaxing granny square and using up two balls of  Mini Mochi Bodega Bay (which is in California, so google tells me) from my yarn stash.

Wishing you a week of happy........whatever you are up to.

February Sunshine

It was lovely to wake to blue skies this morning and I was determined to make the most if it by heading off to enjoy some of the scenery. Evie was out in the garden in the morning and was involved in a minor scuffle in the porch - I thought it was a vole or a mouse that had escaped indoors and was now hidden under all the shoes. However, it wasn't. It was a Great Tit that had flown into the porch and was hanging onto a yet to be put away Christmas door decoration.

It was a bit dazed and didn't seem very keen to let go of Mr M's hand, but eventually it flew off and seemed none the worse for it's moment of excitement.

In the afternoon we headed off up country and a long stretch of single track road later we reached the beach. The best part is the walk through the dunes before you get to the beach - the sense of anticipation as you hear the waves break on the sand and just before you catch sight of the sea.

We almost had the beach to ourselves - some people were heading off the beach as we arrived. It was nice to see my shadow as I had begun to feel a bit like Peter Pan over the last few months. I am wearing the hat with the tassels - just in case you are wondering??!!

I can never decide what time of year I love best at the beach - there is always so much to look at whatever the season. Lots of kelp was washed up on the tide line today - a sure sign of past stormy seas. There were big stretches of sand untouched by human (or dog) feet.

It started to turn a bit chilly and the light was starting to fade as we headed back to the car and headed home - hoping for sweet dreams tonight after breathing in all that sea air!

Short and Sweet Saturday

It's definitely soup weather - Cullen Skink - first time making it for me.

St Valentine's Day

It's a very sad day when a grown woman has to resort to this sort of thing on St Valentine's Day - and as if I didn't feel ridiculous enough as it was, a red squirrel was very angrily shouting at me from the beech tree during my heart creating moment.

As I was on a bit of a roll on the bonkers front, I filled up one of the bird feeders with all my yarn ends - just incase the feathered visitors to the garden feel in need of a new look for their nests. I came across this on a blog last year and have been saving little ends of yarn ever since.

Maybe it's because it was Friday or I was reaching overload on watching the Winter Olympics - well done Lizzie Yarnold, you were awesome at what must be the most terrifying sport ever devised!

Anyway, yesterday the post brought me an impulse buy - although in my defence it was on sale! Two lovely skeins of Juno Alice DK from Loop. I have already been working with one of them on a crochet project - it just needs to be blocked before it is photographed.

Never one to finish one project before rushing on with another.......I have finished knitting the Seed Head Mitts.....one mitt sewn up and the other to finish off. I wish I didn't dread the making up bit as much as I do.

Block 4

Trying to catch up with my patchwork block a week challenge. Asking myself why I set myself a challenge in the first place. Deciding it's my challenge so I can make up my own rules. Used the sewing machine instead of hand stitching and felt guilty.

Anyway - it's block 4 and it's called Basket Weave - it looks fairly neat - on this side at least!

I'm reading and enjoying "The Bookshop" by Penelope Fitzgerald and can commiserate with Florence about the levels of damp, but am pleased that I've never had to live with a rapper (and I don't mean music). It's a stormy night here on the West Coast of Scotland - off to read a few more chapters.

Dreaming of Spring

I feel a bit guilty to have been moaning about our weather, when faced by the images today of the widespread flooding across the south of England. It must be truly awful to be powerless to stop the rising water and the damage to your home and all its contents. I feel very fortunate to live where I live.

Although I love the winter and the frost and snow when it comes - even when they forecast it this year it fails to materialise - I still love the approach of spring. I started knitting a pair of mitts from a pattern I had ripped from the "Quick Knits" section of "Knitting" magazine - not sure which month or year!! The pattern is called Seed Head Gardening Mitts and I am using a very vibrant green Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I thought they deserved to get a bit of the brief early morning sunshine.

I couldn't resist some pots of tête-à-tête narcissi and hyacinths and of course bunches of tulips when shopping last week. Spring.....spring.....spring......

Mr. M has just installed our new satellite broadband and we are speechless! Suddenly we have the power to watch video clips on You Tube, Pinterest images don't take minutes to load and tonight I uploaded these photos in seconds.....this is a big deal........we may not speak to anyone for several days!!

A Walk in February

In between the ever present showers - people keep telling me that it's been raining here for 5 months.....thanks, I hadn't noticed........we went for a little drive and a little stroll.

By way of an explanation, so you don't think that I am completely bonkers......Evie is very used to wearing a harness and lead and will go for a walk - after a fashion. Our old cat Boris was a great companion on a walk (no lead required) and the house we lived in, at the time, was right at the beach. We would go for a walk across the shore most days, clambering over rocks and gazing out to sea - if you've never been for a walk with a cat, you don't know what you are missing!

Anyway, a cat has moved into the next house along the road to us and he has been spending some extended visits in and around our garden. There has been much meowing at the back door and at the kitchen window - much to Evie's disgust. Although he is a very friendly cat - not more than a kitten - I'd rather he didn't hang around hunting birds and scaring off the red squirrels. It's also meant that Evie hasn't been out exploring much - as it's hard to predict when he is about.

So - finally, I get to the bonkers bit - we thought we'd take her out for a run and a walk up a quiet forestry track. I can't say that she was overly impressed, but that was more to do with the weather which turned pretty wet and windy......shoulder perching is one of her favourite things.

Short and Sweet Saturday

I've been adding more rows to my shawl and deciding that I love to crochet.

A Day Out

A day out in the big town with friends.....it felt pretty raw out and about, but there was a hint of blue sky now and again. There is still a bit of snow high on the hills too.

After the chore of supermarket shopping was done, we headed for lunch at a rather nice restaurant on the loch and when you are inside you feel like you are right out on the water.

It felt very civilised to be out to lunch - it doesn't happen very often!

On the way back to the car I spied something too good to miss and had to retrace my steps to get a closer look. Not quite a Citroen 2CV but a Dyane!

Isn't it lovely....I've a real soft spot for 2CVs....we've owned three over the years. It's good when a car makes you smile.

I've been under the spell of a cold and cough kind of thing for the past couple of days. Hope it goes soon!

New Cake

It's been a good day. First of all a visit to a friend I hadn't seen in a while - so it was nice to catch up and the soup she made was lovely. Then back home to do a bit of housework, fill up the bird and squirrel feeders and then a bit of proper work - some days there is no escape.

After all that, I decided to do a bit of baking. It's been a while since we hit the supermarket and we are down to an uninspiring packet of plain biscuits - but there were enough ingredients in the cupboard to attempt something more appealing. I randomly opened a cook book at a Cinnamon Nutella Cake and knew to look no further. I have often done this only to be thwarted by the lack of a key ingredient!! Not today though......

......one hour later and the cake was ready and it tastes very nice even if I do say so myself! I think I need to try out a few new recipes this year, I don't get bored with eating the old favourites, but sometimes I get bored with making the same things. It feels good when you know there is a bit of homebaking in the house - it's like having fresh flowers - or a recently hoovered room!

I need to look out some fabric for patchwork block number 4.....Basket Weave.....I thought I might train my brain with a colour chart.

Sewing up a glove tonight and might just start on something new.....or just crochet a few more rows of the shawl.

Hello February

February....hello......you arrived with snow.....which was a nice change from the rain. There was a decent covering over everything and I ventured out before it was completely light to take a photo. As I walked down to the road through the snow I knew it wouldn't last.......it just felt too light and fluffy....does that make sense?

Country Living magazine arrived in the post and an American crochet magazine I had ordered to have a look at arrived too. Just the thing to while away the afternoon on a snowy, then wet weekend.

I was working for a friend on Saturday night at a catering function. They are always hard work, but usually fun too and it's a nice team of people to work with. It's a change from my normal work, which sometimes, is no fun at all!! When you live somewhere rural and a bit remote, you sometimes have to turn your hand to all manner of things. It makes for a varied and interesting life sometimes. Anyway, feeling confident that there would be some hanging about time during the evening, I put some yarn and a crochet hook in my pocket before I headed out. Needless to say we were constantly on the go for the whole six hours and the yarn and hook stayed in my pocket, but it was somehow reassuring to know it was there.

I tackled a mountain of ironing on Sunday - how did it get so big? Why does it get so big? One of the great unanswered questions in my day to day!

I also helped Mr M with a burn clearing project - part of the route downhill was obstructed by a stump and had silted up with peat so the burn was overflowing and running down an alternative route swamping a lovely oak tree. Well, when I say I was helping, I was sort of making some dams further down the burn and generally getting wet and muddy. Some things you never grow out of!

I decided to use up the rest of the Mini Mochi yarn to make a pair of gloves to match the beret. One glove done and the second nearly finished. I thought the vintage washboard needed an outing - I don't think it's ever been used.