Bit of a catch up!

Time seems to move so quickly these days, but it's good to be back with a solid internet connection!

In the last few months, I've been busy with a new job, crafting and life in general. :)

I had some wonderful news last month - I entered a gardening competition as a giggle back in April and was "judged" August. I've only been here since last Christmas, so it really was just a bit of fun for me to enter. My little courtyard garden is full of containers that make me smile.

A dismissed-by-cat litter tray planted up with cat grass and cat mint; painted tin cans with summery flowers; old baskets stuffed with carrots; my treasured fuchsia cutting from my grandmother's plant snuggles and thrives in lego, tossed out storage tubs with beans, courgettes and sweet peas;

various garlands, birds, wreath and a squirrel feeder crocheted and pinned to the fences and sheds and knitted birds and mushrooms hiding in the foilage.

Not to mention my mismatched patio set and Hawaiian style umbrella! It's a garden that makes me giggle and delights my inner child.

I was floored when a letter came in the post telling me I'd won the Best Small Garden category! £50 of gardening vouchers are now happily nestling in the back of my purse ready for me to splurge come the spring. Weee!

There's been knitting - just for me. A pair of Sourwood Mountain mittens, made in the Mode DK yarn that my son treated me to for mother's day. I've been wearing them a lot - they're gorgeous for keeping my hands warm now the weather has turned chilly. They're roomy enough with the ribbing for me to slip a pair of gloves underneath them too for extra toastiness. Perfect. I just adore the leaves on the back of the hand :) I also made a Calorimetry too, from Patons Colour Work Aran - deliciously soft and squishy and keeps my head and ears warm without having to negotiate an "up-do".

Finally, a quick little collage of the Christmas gifts I've made so far - I'm determined that I only give handmade this year (apart from a few bought bits for my son), and it's been fun to make things that the recipients have either asked for or I know will be put to good use :)

Must be time for a coffee now?