Monday, April 11, 2016

A Woolly Week

There are no prizes as to guessing who is the slowest knitter in this neck of the woods. Why, it is me of course. My husband quite rightly said to me the other day that if my lovely woolly is to be seen round and about this far rural outpost this Winter, I should perhaps get a move on.

My aran jumper is progressing, albeit a little slowly; a little too slowly for my liking. =) The cranium gymnastics are still in full swing. If there were prizes given out for amazing, cranial gymnastic, feats, then I would have a medal of the shiny, gold kind pendulously swinging around my neck!!



My pretty aran is not quite where I would like it to be as I have damaged my shoulder as a result of maintaining the garden, whilst my husband recuperated after his operation. Yes indeedy, I have shovelled one too many barrow loads of mulch, pulled out one too many weeds, lifted one too many heavy objects.....you get the picture...... hence, making it difficult to knit my aran jumper.

But.....I have been doing a little knitting of the easy kind. While gadding about the countryside last weekend, we happened upon a pop up shop where the lady was getting rid of all her 'stuff' that had been piling up over the years. My eyes fell upon these lovely mohair scarves which hale all the way from Bonnie Scotland. Nine lovely scarves, oozing pastel prettiness. The thought did cross my mind that these mohair pretties would make a lovely blanket. So holding on to that thought I purchased a couple of balls of cream mohair wool to knit strips of cables, joining these to the cut up scarves at intervals.




Knitting these strips is child's play and are rather easy on my rather lame shoulder. I can knit these whilst watching the TV at night, something which I cannot do with my aran pretty. These knit up rather quickly and I have begun to join them at the seams, stitching them to the patched scarves.

The beginnings of what perhaps will be a pretty, lap size blanket for those chilly evenings.



And...........what do roses have to do with all things woolly, I hear you ask?? Absolutely nothing at all, except perhaps they enhance my cabled pretty. =) Besides, our roses are in their last flush of blooms. Each morning now, there are only a few pretty roses to greet me. Jack Frost has been paying us little visits, reaching his icicle fingers here and there. I have no doubt the infamous Mr Frost is building up to his glacial crescendo where the full force of his frost-bound presence will be in full swing. Perhaps these will be the last blooms until next Spring.









Yes indeedy, me thinks that these are the last of our pretty roses for a good while.

Some lovely friends from Sydney are whisking my good husband and my good self away for a little holiday to an idyllic, undisclosed location......somewhere down the beautiful east coast of Tassie next week, so I will be missing in action for a couple of weeks.

So, until the next time, 'tis toodles from me.




Linking up this week to Janine's lovely blog, Rainbow Hare.



Friday, April 1, 2016

Come, let us have some tea........

......and chat about happy things. Happy things such as a tea cup exchange where ladies from all around the world swap pretty tea cups with each other. The lovely Stephanie, from The Enchanting Rose hosted another tea cup and mug exchange, an exchange in which I was delighted to be a party to.

The art of tea drinking is a very serious matter. There is nothing quite like an ambrosial cup of tea  and a natter shared with a friend, is there?? 


My parcel of tea-time delight has winged it's way from Hampshire, England. Valery Anne who has a lovely blog called Mrs T, sent me all these pretties!



In my parcel of tea-time delight  Valery Anne gifted me a lovely tea cup. It is the sweetest design of tiny, pink roses. It has the name Patra stamped on the bottom.



Valery Anne sent some aromatic tea bags called Morning Glory  which hale from a company called Teapigs which Nick and Louise, the owners of Teapigs, started in November 2006. The tea bags were peeking from within this pretty, teapot box. Isn't the box sweet. Valery Anne fashions the most beautiful cards and boxes.


Valery Anne fashioned this gorgeous card. It is so pretty with its lace, ribbon, flowers, pretty paper and depictions of tea cups. The pastel shades are delightful.









In my parcel of delight was also a teapot, tea cup/mug coaster. Isn't it sweet.











Valery Anne also sent me a teaspoon from her spoon collection. It is one which she bought 20 years ago from Palace House Beaulieu which, Valery Anne enlightened me, is the family home of Lord Montagu and is one of  the Treasure Houses of England. How lovely of her to gift it to me.



Mmmm.......this magical brew, "Morning Glory",  wondrously creates pretty, lace patterns which delicately float to  the surface. =)


It has been said, "tea is water bewitched". It is, isn't it. Many of us enjoy tea every day; the aromas and the flavours that delight our palette. So many of us have our favourite teas. So many of us enjoy the variety of tastes and textures of our favourite teas. As for me, Valery Anne has introduced me to a new tea. I must say the Morning Glory tea which she gifted is a delight to my palette. Another reason why lovely Stephanie's teacup exchange is wonderful.........it introduces us to new friends and the opportunity to savor and drink teas from all over the world.


Another lovely tea cup exchange. Thank you Stephanie for your generosity of spirit and the selfless time and effort you put into this exchange. You are amazing! AND.....thank you Valery Anne for all my pretties! I love, love, LOVE my pretty, new tea cup.


So....let's put the kettle on and all have some tea!