september

for us has been tough getting back into the routine of school & work, but i always love the change of this season & the opportunity to prepare for the coming winter, i watched as my hubs has dug over & re-turfed the lawn, i've done some clearing & tidying in the garden {& brought a little of what's left of summer into the house to be enjoyed} G did his bit by planting 25 bulbs as part of his 'beaver' challenge, so {fingers crossed} we will be looking forward to a beautiful tulip display come spring,  i've made 'lots' of jam, all using fruit gifted from our neighbours, which in turn will be gifted back to neighbours & friends, we've eaten a lot of apple related puddings {& discovered i make a mean 'apple puff'} i've got some autumn knitting on my needles, which i'm so looking forward to wearing, embracing autumn all the way!

got there in the end

one of my friends had a little baby girl on the 31st august & i've been trying to knit her a little something ever since, three attempts later i finally have something to give to her - i'm just hoping the little one hasn't grown too much!

i used some patons eco cotton i got from kemps, it was lovely to knit with & i just love this colour, very girly without being too pink, i'm not quite sure what went wrong, i tried two different patterns before settling on this one, it was from an old 'patons' baby booklet called 'fairytales', this was pattern number 17, i raided my mums pattern stash when we were visiting over the summer {she used to own a wool shop 20ish years ago} so i know it's now out of print, it did highlight my love of 'top down - knit in one piece patterns' as i hated having to sew this one up at the end!

details over on ravelry

the carrot thief

we didn't really have enough space out back to grow carrots in our garden {next year i'm contemplating growing them in the front garden} but i had a go at growing some in pots, i knew they would never get very big, but i just roasted them whole with other veg & they were very tasty, they'd happily been growing away in a pot on the deck until Barney realised what they were, you see he loves carrots, i often give him a stick or two when i'm peeling some for tea, so once he knew he had a ready supply he could help himself to they started to go missing! i had to move them

they've been living on the garden table for the last few weeks, but with today's wet & very windy weather they got knocked over, not quite sure how as it's a heavy tub, but maybe it had already been pushed slightly off the table by one of the little folk living here, but then lots of other things have been flying around the garden today {what's left of the poor runner beans has taken a huge battering} so i retrieved what was left of the carrots {some still so tiny they'd be great props for O's dolls house} i've also made a apple & plum crumble as we all need something warming today, first day back to school / pre-school, aside from the wind it's certainly been very quiet around here

september - really?

i knew it was coming but really - here already? we've spent the last week of our holidays over with my folks, enjoying lovely walks, a farm trip, a short shopping trip into brighton {without the little folks!} & a little visit to the village funfair, all good fun

i have a weekend of getting organised ahead of me, it will feel good to get back into a routine next week & maybe find some time to spend with the sewing machine, having returned home to find a parcel of this goodness on my door step, after winning a little giveaway over at m is for make

camping in the cold

last weekend we went camping in the new forest, this is the second year we have gone camping at this time of year & i imagine it will be the last, having pitched the tent in pouring rain, we spent the rest of the weekend avoiding the showers or wrapping up from the cold {i packed plenty of woollies & hot water bottles!}

it wasn't really all that bad, the kids had a great time & so did barney, who was very well behaved on his first camping trip, we picked a nice quite pitch, in what was very big & busy camp-site, we did a lovely lovely long walk {with the reward of  pub lunch at the end} spent time with good friends & did get to see some sunshine  - so not really a washout!