ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END...

 

The Easter holidays have been and almost gone! The two weeks have been a very welcome chance to unwind, relax, meet up with family and knit! We spent the second week in North Yorkshire and although the weather was not the finest, we had a lovely time. Oscar did too!

These gorgeous foot warmers were started as travelling socks on the long journey northwards, but the beautifully bright self-striping yarn made for pretty addictive knitting. The pair were completed in record time!

I started this little cardigan for Evie's new brother or sister, due to be born in May and managed to complete on the journey homewards on last Friday. Here it sits awaiting seaming. It might have to wait patiently, as it's a job I hate!

This morning, the final day of the holidays,  dawned bright and sunny with a stunning clear blue sky, which was very welcome relief after the cold and rain of yesterday. The beach it had to be! We were up, ready and gone by 9.30 a.m. and on the beach after a speedy cup of coffee. Holkham, on the North Norfolk coast has to be one of the most beautiful of beaches anywhere. In fact, it IS the most beautiful! 

To avoid the cardigan seaming job, I started a cute sweater for the new baby too. I hope he or she is going to like my thoughtfully chosen 'spring greens' colour! I'm not so sure my daughter will ;-)

We stopped off for a bite of lunch at Blickling Hall, before heading homewards just as the clouds began to roll in.

All in all, a lovely Easter break!

HOORAY FOR SUNSHINE, BOO FOR NUPPS!

Guess where we've spent our weekend once again... out and about on the beautiful North Norfolk coast. Thank you so, so much Mr Sunshine. You have no idea how much I needed you this weekend. It's been really glorious; warm, still and sunny! After another manic school week, it has been most welcome.

On Saturday we drove up to our favourite beach, Holkham. The boardwalk through the trees, was swarming with dozens of 'Ruddy Darter' dragonflies; all enjoying the sunshine. Oscar swam and we drank tea and ate Sticky Toffee Pudding cake at the Holkham Hall tearooms. I'm sorry, but there's no photo. Our two forks swiftly demolished the lot before I thought to take a shot!

This morning was spent at Whitlingham Broad. Once again the sun shone and once again Oscar enjoyed a swim. We had lunch in the Barn before spending the afternoon in the garden. I'm now just delaying the start of a mountain of lesson planning and performance management organising. YUCK!

There has been a brief return to the needles this week too; mainly during this weekend, although the dreaded blanket ends got sewn in one evening during the week, when I felt too brain dead to control two needles, so opted for the single darning one instead. Job done! I promised you one last shot, minus the ends. Earlier, whilst still knitting, I had thought of adding a border, but now it's finished I think it looks just fine as it; plain and simple. 

Oh yes! At long last I have managed to get beyond the first five rows of the Baby Batman shawl. I made errors several times that called for a complete frog. It's not really that difficult, but my mind keeps wandering off onto school related business and then before I know it, oops! I am now using a lifeline after every tenth row.

I have to say that I have NOT enjoyed finding the easy solution to successful 'nupps', but the solution is making the whole enjoyment of the knit a lot more pleasurable. I've not worked them before and just couldn't seem to get the tension loose enough to then be able to purl all seven stitches together on the reverse row. Probably, through repeatedly having to redo because I had dropped the last one or two loops of the nupp, my skill level has increased and I am having much more success. The other answer to the problem lay in using a lace circular, rather than an ordinary one. It has a much more pointy end.

However, this does NOT mean that I have become a 'nupp' fan. So just remind me, if ever the need arises, that I do NOT wish to work with them again, thank you very much! :-)

That's all for now. Have a good week everyone!

SUMMER'S END..........

Hello there! I seem to have been absent without leave over the last couple of weeks. Sorry! I have been out and about with family and friends, making the most of the beautiful sunny weather and of the beautiful area in which I live. Norfolk is seen by many as a rural backwater, with no motorway and seemingly, far away from the rest of civilisation.

This however is far from the truth. The rail link to London is less than 2 hours, we have a fine city and are spoilt for beautiful beaches, stunning countryside, a wealth of wildlife and big, blue, endless skies. Can you tell that I love where I live?

We love nothing better, than a trip around the North Norfolk coastline, usually stopping off at our favourite beach, Holkham. There's a delightful little tea shop attached to Holkham Hall, that offers the most delicious sausage baguettes and dogs are welcome, both inside and in the pretty garden.

We also stop off at Blakeney, where little sailing boats bob up and down and children dangle their legs over the edge of the promenade, hoping to catch a crab or two.

 It's such a pretty, unspoilt area.

We had little Sophie staying with us for a few days and made the most of another lovely attraction, Banham Zoo. It's only a 40 minute drive out of Norwich and well worth a visit. All the animals are clean, well looked after and appear happy. It makes a grand day out. Certainly Sophie thought so!

We have also had fun with a rather different bunch of apes, scattered around our city over the last few weeks. They are the 'Go Go Gorillas'; 54 adult and 67 baby gorillas forming a delightful art trail around the city. Needless to say, we took Sophie. She was a little uncertain at first, deeming their faces, 'a little bit scary!' However, once  she had spotted the gorilla decorated with teapots and sporting bright red lipstick, all was well.

So, as you can see, there has been very little 'work' done, of the knitty kind! Never mind, there'll be plenty of  time when the cold, dark evenings come upon us. For now, let's just enjoy the great outdoors and make the most of our beautiful surroundings. I'll leave you a few more shots of Holkham Beach.

Moody, magical and always stunning!