Best Buddies

Tired after a busy morning of cat - chase - dog.

Toodles...L x ♥

In My Garden - May

In my garden....

♥ Pansies and Violets enjoying the ongoing cool weather

 ♥ Sweet Williams surviving another year

 ♥ Daisies my favorite flower

 ♥ Beautiful Peonies

 ♥ Peas.....YUM

 ♥ Peppers growing very slowly.....

 ♥ Radishes and Beets and Self Seeded Tomatoes

 ♥ Chive Flowers

 ♥ Lovely new chiminea courtesy of my Big Boy

 ♥ Squirrel!!!!  Very fuzzy photo taken through very dirty dining room window.  We haven't seen squirrels in the thirteen years we've lived here thanks to our dearly departed Jack Russell.  They are slowly appearing now he has been gone for many months.  I guess the yard is now deemed 'squirrel safe' - the little dog sure did love a good squirrel chase!

 ♥ Beloved Apple Tree.  Only two blossoms this year, so sadly no apples.  Not certain why so few, but hopefully this little tree is just settling in as we've only had it 18 months.

♥ The Mister's handy work!  Finally stairs up the back hill.

  ♥ My beloved tree up the road.

Loving my garden this year and just taking a few minutes to enjoy the spring growth and document the progress for another year.

Toodles...L x ♥

Small ♥ Scale - The Inner Child is Out

If you're not EVER about indulging your inner child, then best skip this post before you think I've gone totally mad.  Which of course, I may have, but I'm fairly certain thanks to Mr. Google I am not alone.

To the point, about two years ago I came across this delightful blog and have been enjoying the tales of this fabulously crafty lady and the amazing things she makes and finds at the Op Shop.  It was from reading this blog that I spied a certain big eyed curiosity from my childhood.    I have never known what happened to the dolls of my childhood, I am sure once I'd been gone across the pond for a few years my Mum passed them on after tiring of the space they took up in the shed.  I was intrigued by her big eyes and woeful expression, did I have one of these as a child? This girl seemed familiar and it wasn't long before I was hooked.  However, these girls are expensive, not just a few dollars too expensive for a 45 year old wanting to indulge in a short term love affair with her childhood, but eye-wateringly expensive.  So for two years I admired them from the pages of google and flickr, watched them sell for silly money on eBay and continued to fall in love.  I then one Sunday evening, with a little push from the Mister (after many days/weeks/months researching the BEST/SAFEST way to buy one) I found my myself clicking the Buy It Now button on eBay.  Instant buyers remorse ensued  but after about 48 hours I started to get excited.  Ten days later this little brown package arrived in the mail.

Well timed it was too because I had just spent my morning thrashing out THE most horrendous report for work and I needed a little lift.

I have to say it was exciting and terrifying to open the box. Had I just wasted my money? Would she be as adorable in real life?  Then I spied these delightful flowers.     

The writing on the box made me smile.  Not sure why I was surprised to see very little written in English, she had after all swanned her way around the globe all the way from Hong Kong.

  And here she is! Nicky Lad Neo Blythe courtesy of this seller on eBay, should you be on the search for a good place to buy Blythe.

Opening the box of course required the help of my new assistant, Mrs Spud (previously thought to be Mr. Spud...opps!)

And now the madness of knitting and crocheting all things tiny has set in. I know, I know, that is completely bonkers, but do you know just how fast you can crochet a tiny  hat?  Minutes I tell you, very rewarding.

 And I have to thank my Blythe for allowing me to successfully create my first ever knitting pattern!  How ever tiny it may be.

 Oh and tiny sewing has commenced too.  Frightfully tricky and patience testing.  It may be short lived.

Oh and in case you are wondering, it did take some serious pleading/begging to convince the Mister it was ok(ish) for me to spend a little bit of my bonus check on something completely frivolous.  He, like many (my three boys), couldn't quite grasp why a women of my aging years needed a doll.  The little push that sent him over the edge to say, yes it's ok, was a gentle reminder of a trip to the Lego Store last year to indulge his love of those little blocks. Of course those block purchases are in his mind justified by a certain three sons, who of course have no interest in a doll!

So there you have it, a little introduction to Miss Blythe.  I feel like I have bared my soul and may have scared all three of my readers away.  Never fear, should you dare to come back I promise I will NOT be posting feverishly now about all things Blythe.  Lucky for you one of the conditions of this purchase involved promising NOT to spend my days photographing said purchase (I snuck these in when the Mister was outside...hence the crappy photos)

Toodles....L x ♥

P.S. If you want to see some seriously amazing girls, type custom  Blythe into Flickr, and be careful not to fall in love.

Patchwork Blankie - It's Done!

 I've been finishing up all sorts of projects these last few days.  I might even have another finished reveal tomorrow! Now don't pin your hopes on it because you never can tell what might happen to my blogging motivation between now and then.  
Anyway, I am sort of making up for lack of posts and productivity with another finish reveal today!

• Started by the Christmas Tree, Christmas Day 2012
• 22 colours
• 169 squares
• Stylecraft Special DK and King Cole Pricewise
• Purchased from Deramores (best online yarn store ever!)
• Loved making about the first 15 squares and then hated  every square after
• Loved it again when I put the final row of purple half doubles around the edge
• Destination - the caravan!

Might need to give myself a wee break from making blankets - they are taking over the house!

Toodles...L x ♥

Little Houses :: Finished!

Finally, a finished project.

A little decoration for above the fireplace, although it might wait a wee bit for the Mister to install a hook so I can hang it.

Toodles... L x ♥

P.S. Happy Mothers Day!

The Potato Chip

Introducing my new assistant.......

Spud Monkey.

Yes, he thinks he's all that and a bag of chips.

He loves to sleep in my knitting basket,

Chase yarn when I am crocheting,

Slide down my Ipad to make the screen change,

Make himself dizzy watching the needle go up and down on my sewing machine and

Nap on my lap while I work.

I think he's a keeper.

Toodles . . . . L . . . . ♥