A Blatant Copy.

A couple of weeks ago Julie from Little Cotton Rabbits had a shop sale. Milo got his eyes on this little chap


( image taken from Little Cotton Rabbits )

Aha I thought this could be an excellent idea for Christmas . So at 10pm I was poised ready to type "buy" and hopefully win him. As the clock ticked I typed furiously but alas it wasn't to be . I just missed out - I was 2nd .The next day Milo asked if I'd won him ( I had told him it was a competition) , when I said no his face dropped and he looked so sad.
After he had gone to school I went to the library and found a pattern in a Debbie Bliss book for a similar elephant. I e-mailed Julie and asked if she would mind if I attempted to copy him. Julie being the lovely lady that she is said no she didn't mind and even told me where I could get the wool for the jumper. ( now you know my secret Kitty ! ) How nice was that?
I knit up the pattern but didn't like the original arms and legs so I messed around until six limbs later I got what I wanted. Then for the jumper - after 3 attempts I finally hit on the right size.
What do you think of my copy? I'm thinking about moving the eyes?



Do you remember back in August I was coveting this magazine



thanks to one of the kindest and most generous bloggers I have yet to meet this magazine landed on my doorstep. Even though it was no longer on the shelves she contacted them and asked if they would send her a copy. Thank you so much again Kellie. I have to say it is one of the best magazines I have ever read and there are so many gorgeous things in it. My aim for next Christmas is to do this knitted blanket. I think I'm going to be shouting " mam help" a lot. Did I mention that one of Kellies quilts is going to be featured in the next issue of Quilters Companion - no, well now you know so go check it out all you lucky Australians.



There wasn't just this magazine in the package she sent either - oh no , there was also these



Just how cute are these little animals. As soon as all my Christmas projects are out of the way I am going to learn how to make these, but I can't decide which one to start with - maybe the hippo



but then again I do have a bit of a thing for elephants



decisions decisions, I want to make them all!!


Tomorrow we are going to attempt another family day out in the car now that the petrol pump relay thingamujimmy has been fixed - wish me luck...

OOhhh I nearly forget to tell you all - I haven't had any chocolate for 5 whole days ( hot chocolate doesn't count cos I don't do tea or coffee ) don't I feel good , not craving it or anything - nope hmmmmm nope

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Crafting With Milo.

We thought we'd show you what Milo has been up to on the Christmas crafting front.



Mammy drew some Christmas trees



Pops drew some santas



Milo glitter painted around the outlines but it was mostly his own work and designs





He had a proper little production line on the go.

On the car front, it's apparantly on it's way back as I'm typing this. The garage man said it was the petrol pump relay that was at fault!!

And I think I'm in danger of becoming a pink/gold sky bore. Has anyone else in the UK noticed the beautiful skies we've been having lately or the strange weather of giant hailstones with thunder and lightning at the same time? Very weird.



Hopefully I'll have finished something to show you next time ...

The Joys Of Motoring !!!!!!!!

On Thursday Hub and I walked for miles looking in garages to find ourselves a car - have you noticed that you actually need a car to get to these out of the way places ? Anyway , we found the perfect family car for us. plenty of room inside and a big boot for the pushchair and for camping stuff in the summer. It had just been brought into the garage so the guy said he would get it all cleaned up and then bring it to our house so I could give it a test drive. The test drive went fine and a friend of ours who knows about cars checked it out , gave it the thumbs up so we agreed to buy. The guy said it needed a few more bits and pieces doing to it so took it away and then dropped it off for us yesterday afternoon. I kept checking out of the window to make sure it was still there. It might just be me but doesn't it seem odd leaving something you own out in the street?



This morning we loaded the car up and with me shaking like a leaf we set off on our first journey. Our first destination was my parents house to show them our purchase. My parents live in a village with only one road in and out of it, as I was driving round the roundabout at the top of this road the car died - slap bang in the middle of the roundabout -- kaput -- nothing. Hub and a very kind man pushed it off the road and into a bus stop. My dad arrived to help and started the car straight away saying it might have been a bit of dust in the petrol as we had just filled it up. We spent some time at their house watching a lovely pheasant in their back garden and then decided to go for a spin along the coast .





It was bitterly cold ( I forgot to mention we did have a very thin covering of snow this morning) but the waves were amazing and it was a really great feeling just to be able to stop whenever we wanted and then jump back into the warmth of the car and go somewhere else.



We decided to stop for lunch of hot roast chicken and sausages , but when it came time to start the car again - NOTHING, it just wouldn't start and the sudden smell of petrol was overpowering. I tried to call the garage where we bought it only to be told they were closed on Saturday!!! Luckily there was a mechanic from the AA ( car breakdown service) close by, he had a look and told us that the cap had came off the fuel pipe so there wasn't any fuel getting to the engine. He managed to mend it temporarily but said we must get back in touch with the garage we got it from on Monday .



So off we set again, 5 minutes down the road - NOTHING AGAIN - to say that both me and Hub were furious was an understatement. What with 2 upset and crying tired kiddies I think if I put into words how we felt I'd be banned from Blogger !!!! We called the AA and a lovely man called Ken came to our rescue



He deduced the petrol pump had burnt itself out and very kindly gave us a tow home



This photo is courtesy of hub who thought it quite amusing I'd asked him to take a pic of our tow truck.
So there you have it - my first drive out and my first tow home. Driving is great fun isn't it?

I Can't Think Of A Title!!

Am I the only one who thinks the Title is the hardest part of a Blog post to come up with ? I always write my post and then end up coming back to it - oh well.
Anyway what else have I done this week apart from passing my test of course ......

I've got about 3/4 of the quilting done -



I took Tess's advice and just used my normal foot, even though it's stitch in the ditch it's really hard and most of the lines are far from straight but it's getting there. I think maybe my wadding is a bit thick ..



I've also finished this cowl, it's a christmas present for the MIL . I was given the wool and have a bit left so might whip up a pair of wrist warmers to go with it.



It was my first attempt at knitting in the round and only took a few hours so I was really pleased with it. I found the pattern on Ravelry but the lady also has it on her blog so if anyone fancies a go here it is . I did 12 blocks of 10 but think maybe 10 blocks would have been enough but I did use an Aran wool so I think it just depends on the type of wool as to how many blocks you do. I have to say thank you to Milo for being a rather reluctant model as the pictures of me with it on were just awful..

I've posted my magazine swap and will be posting my Christmas swap in the next couple of days. There is another WIP nearly finished and another one I've just started. I'm beginning to wish I'd started my Christmas presents a bit sooner!!

We've also been doing a bit of leaf playing



Hope you are all having a lovely weekend and are enjoying this lovely sunny weather.

edited a few hours later -- How do you know when you have eaten far too many original Pringles ? The inside of your lips shrivel and go numb hmmmm

I Did It, I Did It, I Did It - Yeah

Wooohooo I'm dancing around the room like Carlton from the Fresh Prince, well I was. After quite a few lessons and a change of instructor I have passed my driving test - words cannot express just how happy I am at this precise moment in time. No more getting buses and taxis with the grocery shopping and finally being able to take the family on proper days out . Now the hunt is on for a car.
I haven't got any new pics as I forgot to get batteries for the camera so am just showing a few random ones

Me, don't think my legs have seen the light of day since.



The day Sunderland beat Newcastle for the first time at home in 28 years - I had my colours on
too



I don't think I mentioned before that during the summer Hub took Milo to his first cricket match. Milo was actually shown on the TV..... typical Milo!!



Now I;m off to celebrate with pizza ....

Our Sunday

I have a new toy so I just had to do a post to test it out - yep I have a new laptop , well it's not brand new but it might as well be and it is so so so much better than my old one which used to take about 10 mins to change pages. So I thought I'd tell you about our day.

After being woke up by Milo about 5.30 am again I was not looking forward to the day , especially when Hub said that we really should go grocery shopping. Now I absolutely HATE grocery shopping but we went anyway, well we had to or starve. It went okay I suppose.
Back home Hub did all the unpacking while I put G down for his nap. Then me, hub and Milo had lunch of roast chicken and ciabatta rolls - yummy.

After lunch Milo sat in the kitchen colouring in



Hub decided to make Pumpkin pie ( none of us had had this before, but we couldn't let all the pumpkin from Halloween go to waste ).



Whist I finished off this little lady for another little lady called Grace that was born yesterday. I could hear the pair of them singing to Bob Marley in the other room. That would be Hub and Milo not the two little ladies..



Hub called me into the kitchen , not only had he done all the washing up and tidied everything away but ....



isn't it amazing what you can do with dried peas?

G got up and had his lunch then danced to The Wiggles



Milo had his hair cut - he really needed it as he was getting a serious basin head - he didn't want it cutting, can you tell?



He cheered up after it was done though or maybe that was due to the blasting of The Ramones!! The before and after pictures don't look that much different but believe me when I say there really is a huge difference



The pumpkin pies turned out a treat, just enough cinnamon and the texture was like old fashioned custard tarts... perfect with ice cream.



Supper time while listening to No Use For A Name.



Both the boys are sound asleep now, hub is watching NFL and I've got Spanish Football on - we've just had pizza ( which I didn't like much), but all in all not a bad day I think.
Hope you all had a lovely Sunday too.