Larry Lobster

Living rurally, without regular access to a large book store, I buy a lot of books online. This can often result in disappointment, especially with crochet books, where often there are only 1 or 2 patterns in the actual book that I like. last year I started using my local Library's online book reservation service, and have been milking it big time ever since. I start by going through my Amazon wish list to see if there are any copies in the libraries in my region - if there is, I stick in a request and usually within a week have a copy in my hot little hand. This weeks bounty brought me a copy of this book:-

Its a fantastic little book, with some unusual and very exciting animal designs. I decided to try out the Larry Lobster pattern - easy to follow, quick to make, but as often happens with smaller fiddlier projects, the actual assembly of the toy is very fiddly and takes longer than the crocheting process.

My boys loved the lobster and today I have had a request for a shark and a mummy and baby pig. Overall a nice, less cutesy take on amigurmi, I might have to place an order with Amazon for this one.

Smelling sweet once more..

I stopped using antiperspirants over 8 years ago when pregnant with my first child. My main motivation was the worry of my precious milk supply being tainted with all the nasties present in modern day deodorants. Since then I have probably worked my way through every single 'natural deodorant' on the market, with varying degrees of results, none of them really keeping my armpits fresh or whiff free for long. That is until I discovered a paste deodorant made by Lush called Aromacreme. Pretty pungent stuff, containing Lychees of all things, and strongly scented with patchouli oil, it worked like a dream - t-shirts could be worn for days on end with never a hint of B.O, I was so happy....until this year, when Lush decided to stop making the product as some customers had complained of rashes - GUTTED!

No more!! I have found and successfully managed to recreate a recipe for my own version of Aromacreme, only this time its even better! So, thank you to 'How about Orange' for this fantastic recipe - I'm good to go for summer.

Spoils on the Charity Shop Front...

A couple of good buys today from the K&D Voice Charity shop...

Summer Dress (John Lewis) - £3.00. I was pushed for time so didn't bother trying it on, fortunately its a good fit, slightly too low at the bust, same problem I have with most tops and dresses as I am of the petite height variety (short arse really, but petite has a better ring!), so I might take up the shoulder straps...
Next up, a Per Una cardigan, also £3.00, both items are in immaculate condition, welcome additions to my summer wardrobe, all for under a tenner!!!Oh and finally, a quick look in the box room on the way home from a run this morning, turned up a nice, and very large red dish..£1.00 !!!! and it goes perfectly with some smaller bowls I inherited from Cathy my Mother-in-law, yes I'm chuffed with my spoils!!

Baking for pleasure

I've been busy baking this weekend. I do take a lot of pleasure out of baking, and have a repertoire of about 5 recipes I make fairly regularly. If I question my motivation, I'd like to say it is because I want my children to eat healthier treats, that are lower in fat/sugar/additives than the shop bought equivalents. This is of course true, but also from a selfish point of view, I am quite greedy and you just can't beat that fresh out of the oven, with a good cup of coffee taste.

I made a tray of cinnamon buns this weekend. I got the recipe from the cookery book 'Falling Cloudberries' by Tessa Kiros. They are a little bit of a faff, or should I say, they take a bit of pre-planning, making and letting the dough rise, but they are delicious, and as you can see didn't last long. Great for the kids to take to school as a mid-morning snack (my two boys have to take into school their own break time snack every day) or for breakfast.

Spring Garland for my bedroom

The end of this month will mark 6 years in our current house. Our bedroom has been a sorely neglected space - forget 'relaxing haven', more like dumping ground for clean/dirty laundry, piles of children's books by the bed and other random clutter..When we bought the house it had wood chip wallpaper on the walls, which we duly stripped only to find the plaster was so damaged it needed re-skimming. So that has pretty much been the state of play for the last 3 or 4 years. We finally got our act together a few months ago, and the room is taking shape.

Over the past few weeks I have been crocheting a blue garland for our room, just making a few
random floral shapes when the mood took me. I strung them together today whilst the sun was streaming through the window and am pleased with the result

'Little Darling, it feels like years since its been here'..

The thermometer soared to the heady heights of 18 degrees today - warmest day of the year for us Scots, and for once it was the weekend! To celebrate we pulled out and dusted down the garden furniture from the garage and lit our new BBQ. 'The Boxroom', our local Charity furniture/bric-a-brac shop will no doubt be mentioned on this blog many times. I try and pop in once a week for a hake around, and often hit the jack-pot. I picked up the Weber BBQ back in January, when nothing was further from my mind than sizzling sausages -£2.00!!! Can you believe it?
Viva Sunshine!!

Starting Up

I have been contributing to the GWI blog for over a year now, but this is my own personal blog, a place to share and talk about things that interest me and show a little bit about my life living in North East Scotland.