DOGS, DEFORESTATION and EASTER HOLIDAYS....HOORAY!!!!!

 Hello there! YAY!.... the Easter Bunny came and left me some chocolatey goodness....... to make me smile! Thank you Easter Bunny.

This made me smile too.... it accentuates a more humourous aspect of a currently serious topic. It takes nothing away from the real important issue, just adds a new slant.

It made me laugh! It's always good to spread a little humour! There, that's better, all nicely relaxed.............

.............. Hooray! Relaxed, full of chocolate and looking forward to a two-week Easter break. The holidays couldn't come quick enough and now they are here. Time to welcome Spring and recharge the batteries and finish off one or two little projects...... or should I say BIG project, in the case of the 'Special Ripple Blanket'. Our little granddaughter is due to be born in early May and I have not even reached the halfway mark yet. Oh well.... looks like this holiday is going to be filled with 'rippling'.

I have completed the 'Very Special Teddy' though and am really pleased with the results. It's a very easy knit and although I used the pattern in Debbie Bliss's book 'Simply Baby', it can also be found free here . It takes just two balls of Baby Cashmerino.

A couple of weeks ago I treated myself to a new craft book. Years ago, I used to sew quite a lot, making small baby dresses and little dungarees etc when my daughters and son were small and then progressing on to dance costumes and silk painted card stitching. My machine has been safely tucked away for a number of years, except for a brief dusting off two years ago, when I stitched the wedding stationery for my son and daughter-in-law's wedding. You can see the very simple design design here. I have recently been seeing some lovely Cath Kidston fabrics around the net (I'm not always a fan of her stuff, but have spotted some gorgeous designs. So, when I spotted this book I just had to have it. Call it a small Easter gift to myself.

It is laid out beautifully and all instructions are clear and simple. There are some really lovely projects inside.

It even includes all you need to make the very pretty bag shown on the cover of the book. Excellent value!

The weather here in the East has been rather 'hit and miss', with some sunshine, but also some pretty heavy showers and cold winds. We did manage to dodge the showers to take Oscar to, what is becoming,  his favourite place to hang out and meet his friends.

He's just five months old now and getting bigger and bolder by the day. The water park is perfect for giving him some freedom off his lead. He has learnt to 'come' on command and is very, very sociable with all dogs, humans, ducks and swans. They are not all quite so keen on him though!

Even though it has not felt very Spring like, with a sharp, cold wind blowing these past few days, there are so many signs that make the heart skippety happy with memories of warm sunshine and lazy outdoors days. The shots below were from our garden just this morning.

We're off to Pickering, in Yorkshire for a week next Friday. It's one of our very favourite 'get away from it all' places and I'm really looking forward to some peace and quiet, beautiful country and coastal walks, fine food, good ale and ................ introducing Oscar to our favourite peaceful place!!! I just KNOW he'll love it!

Have a great week everyone, wherever you will be and whatever you will be doing.