a bunny giveaway..

Perfect little purses is having a giveaway for a wonderful little bunny, so pop along and be in with a chance!

A weekend in the New Forest

This weekend we spent a lovely few days in a chalet in the New Forest and lucky for us the sun shone until the day we were due to come home.

We saw lots of ponies and foals - and those that didn't have foals seemed to be pregnant. it must be the time of year. We didn't see many stallions though, I assume they must be off on their own somewhere.

I just found this adorable!!!

We went to Lymington on Saturday afternoon and had a look around the shops after lunch, and also went for a nice walk by the marina. There was even time for an ice cream - well when isn't there time really??

The marina was lovely and the water looked beautiful. What I would give to have a boat all to myself!

Sunday we gave Leah a treat and went to Longdown activity farm. There were loads of baby animals, including these little goats. can you believe that for every feed the farm uses 45 litres of milk for these little ones!

They are so adorable! We even got a chance to feed them ourselves (excuse my head being missing, Richard was more concerned with getting Leah in the photo than me!)

There was a small animal petting area so we got to hold baby chicks (so delicate!)

and even stroked some rabbits....

After, we stopped at an area of the Forest called Bolderwood where there is a viewing area to see some wild deer. they were a lot closer than the time we came before, but still didn't take a very good photo. You get the idea anyway. What's peculiar is that the area smells really musty, it must be the deer although you wouldn't think they would!

I had to post some more pictures of the ponies, they say it all really. This is why I love horses :o)

I think this one was expecting :o)

From Milford on sea you could clearly see the Isle of Wight and the needles (the light house). Again not a very good picture, I must get a better camera!

Finally Leah and her Daddy partaking in her favourite pastime at the moment, throwing stones on the beach! it was a lovely weekend, just such a shame we always have the washing to deal with when we get back :o(

A spring cardigan

I decided to make Leah a white cardigan as for some reason she doesn't have one and it is a good colour to go with most clothes, no matter what colour they are.

I chose this little cardigan and although it is supposed to be age 18 months it fits her perfectly (to fit 56cm chest). I decided not to add the ribbon detail as stated in the pattern, so instead I chose some little ladybird buttons to add a little colour.


I think they are rather charming!



She wore it on our weekend away to the new Forest this weekend (see later posts) but were almost not going to make it seeing as Leah was sick all Thursday night. I felt so sorry for her when she had nothing left in her stomach but was still being ill every half hour. Good old Mummy stayed up with her until 3.30am and stayed awake while she was asleep in our bed until 4.30am. Funny how they bounce back at that age - she was fine the next day! Shame about me, I felt rotten on Saturday and slept all evening, then nearly passed out Sunday Morning. Lucky a bit of breakfast fixed that :o)

A late evening trip to the beach.....

meet Percy the Pixie our new addition!

Here is my latest little creation for Leah, a little Jean Greenhowe tooth pixie called Percy. Isn't he cute?

it was flawless!

I don't normally watch TV talent shows, but whilst browsing the box I saw these and I was soooo inpressed. Their name is Flawless and you can find the link here. Tell me what you think!

Another good ride

I had a great two hour ride yesterday and got to ride one of the big horses at the stables whose name is Chaka. it was a really good ride and quite uneventful compared to some of the others we have been on.

I think the most eventful thing was coming across a tractor and plough on one of the tracks which none of the horses liked, but luckily no one came to any misdemeanor!

The weather stayed dry and as it was overcast there weren't too many dog walkers about which is always a relief. He was really well behaved, the only thing with such a big horse (he is 18hh plus) is that the transition from canter to trot is sooooo bumpy it bumped me out of the sassle each time! He also needs a lot of room to get his strides in, so he didn't stay in canter as long as some of the ponies. I still enjoyed him though, although I know I will be aching today adn tomorrow, especially my thighs and shoulders!

I just had to post this!

As I was checking through my photo folder I came across this one which I took a few weeks back when Leah was eating her lunch. I think she looks so sweet I had to share it with you all! What a shame she isn't an angel like that all the time LOL! (well most of the time she is as good as gold bless her).

On a different note I hope everyone has a nice Easter. Leah and I will go to Church tomorrow morning and have a sing to the hymns, and I think she may do some drawing too!! (they have a little table and toys at the back for the kiddly winks).

Finshed Leah's tunic

I managed to get this sewn up yesterday afternoon whilst leah was in the garden with Richard, so all I have to do now is to sew on the press studs at the back. I really like this pattern and it is so quick to knit up. Even the sewing isn't too bad! It's a little big for her at the moment and she is still wearing the first one I made her, although it look more like a jumper now :o) These tunics are the only time I have used Bergere De France yarns, and I really like the finished item.

Progress so far.......

I wanted to show the progress I am making with Leah's cardigan. I am pleased so far and have managed to do the decreases for the armholes without too much trouble so far - I haven't even had to undo anything due to incorrect patterning!!! (is that a real phrase??) I am looking forward to finishing this as I think I will be really pleased with the final garment.


These are the current socks I am knitting and I am not really getting the vibe with these ones. The pattern repeat is really straightforward, but I am bored already. I expect they will get finished eventually. They are the Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina and are well worth a go as they do look good, I just don't really have the urge with these - a bit like my lack of enthusiasm with the Monkeys!!

On another note our shower decided to stop working this morning. Luckily I phoned the fitter who did our kitchen - who can also do electrics - and he's coming over to put a new switch in, in the next hour or so. Not bad for Good Friday. I expected to be without the shower until next week. Leah didn't mind too much though, as it meant we had to share a bath this morning!

Another little cardigan

I don't know what it is at the moment, for some reason I just love making these little baby cardigans, they are so cute and quick to make! This is another for my friend who's baby is due at the end of May. I do hope she likes it.


I really like the lace pattern and as it is knitted in DK yarn it is super qick to make!


I have some other patterns in a similar style, so will probably make her some of those too. I have just enough of this yarn left to make her another two cardigans....

A birthday day out at the farm

some colour work for the spring

I was having a look through some old patterns ready to throw out, when I came across a Patons Booklet with a lovely little fairisle cardigan and sweater set. I decided that I had most of the yarn in my stash already so it was a good project to tackle head on!

I have only done about 3 quarters of the pattern repeat and am fairly happy with the result so far. I haven't done anything like this for years, so it will be a bit of a challenge for me not to mess the pattern up - let alone get the increases correct for the sleeves!!! I am hoping this will be anive thing for Leah to wear in the summer when you have the cooler evenings, especially when we go to Cornwall!

The (soon to be) birthday girl....

Just a quick picture of leah and her cake - more to come once Mum e-mails me her photos.....

A busy baking day

Tomorrow we are having a party for Leah's second birthday (which is on Tuesday), so today I - well we- have been busy baking cakes!

We made a raspberry Victoria sponge cake which I iced and decorated, 24 plain fairy cakes and 18 chocolate fairy cakes. I iced and decorated them all this evening and I am trying to stop myself from raiding the cake tins!!

Tomorrow morning I've got to make half a ton of sandwiches and get the rest of the party food ready, so tonight I'm going to have a rest before the rush tomorrow.....