Life, love and little things - September

I mentioned in my Meal Planning Monday post this week that I can't believe it's Autumn already, yet there's a distinct chill in the air, my trusty Saltwaters have been swapped for Converse and soup has been made for lunches. Add to this a batch of coughs and colds all around and it's undeniably time to dive in to scarves, sweaters and stews. 

Last month on the other hand was glorious - sunny days drifting into warm evenings, apples starting to tumble from our trees, sunhats, sandals and salads all around. 

These pictures all come from my Instagram where I regularly pop up little insights into our days, be they messy play, baking or simply coffee and lego... 

I've spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen this month, apple butter, variations on banana bread and some egg free oaty bars as well as preserving tomatoes and green beans from our garden. 

Harry and I have spent a lot of time in the garden, playing in his teepee, splashing in the paddling pool and thoroughly watering the veg patch - well, the bits he can reach! 

I've also started trying to pretty the house up a bit - we're on an inevitable road towards having to renovate and decorate our spare room. It's only a matter of time before we need to move Harry into a big boy bed, and we're facing a mammoth task involving replacing carpets, a window, building a cupboard, painting louvre doors (I loathe this with a passion) and stripping the paper before repainting. I think mammoth may be an understatement. To get me in the mood for home improvements I reorganised our much hated fireplace to try to disguise the loathed crazy paved facade. 

My crochet blanket I talked about here is proceeding, albeit slowly. The glorious sunshine did not encourage sitting with a blanket on your knees! I'm hoping to have it finished for Christmas - my target of a stripe a day may be halted by my plans for *whispers* Christmas crafting which I need to get started on fairly promptly. I'm about a third of the way through my blanket though so getting there. 

Life, love and little things. July 2016

I've been on an unplanned hiatus from these posts for a while, for absolutely no reason other than those horrible headaches and migraines which are blighting my days. However, that doesn't mean there aren't wonderful things in my life and as always I'm looking forward to sharing them here.

I finished another blanket this month. This one's a baby blanket for a dear, dear friend who's expecting. It was a lovely thing to hook such love into every row, for the Mama and her bubba. It was also incredibly pleasing to stitch something that I finished in a shortish space of time.

I'm still working on my massive neat ripple for our bed. It uses the Last Dance in the Rain colour pack from Scheepjes for their crochet-a-long in memory of Marinke Slump. I've written about it here and am fairly decided I'll tackle the pattern again, some time next year. I've currently got 2 blankets and some cushion covers on my hooks, and I'm also thinking about socks!



We had our annual Brownie holiday in July - which was the first time I've been away from Harry for two nights, and the first time in the new kitchen in the Division's holiday house. It was glorious to cook in, so much space - and made me loathe our kitchen at home a bit more! The holiday theme was Alice in Wonderland, so on Saturday we had a Mad Hatter's Tea Party - with the ubiquitous jam tarts, cheesy caterpillars, White rabbit sausage rolls and some playing card fairy cakes. Drink me potions and Eat me fruit also featured on the menu. The girls had a wonderful time and I really enjoyed my role as QM.



July is M's birthday and this year was a big one - so a special cake was in order. Harry helped me and together we made him a Funfetti cake with blue buttercream - which is what happens when you let your toddler choose the colour! Topped with a fondant road and some lovely wooden cars from Babi Pur, M adored it. And it tasted lovely too.

The end of term for Guides clashed with some lovely sunny days, and despite having had my feet in the paddling pool at home all day we finished our term in the same way - only adding ice creams into the mix!

The glorious summer weather has not just meant long days in the garden, but lighter food as well. M is not a fan of salad, so I've been roasting peppers, courgettes, mushrooms, red onions and garlic and topping them with our favourite dairy free Heck sausages, or stirring them into pasta. I've also had a (very successful bash) at recreating my favourite Carrefour carrot salad that I eat by the bucketful when in France.

Despite not blogging much, July has been full to the brim of fun and family and of course some fab food too. Lots of blessings for me to recount in my Bullet Journal and of course say thank you for.

If you like these sneaky peeks into our month, why not follow Penelope's Pantry on Instagram for regular snapshots into what's going on.

Dancing in the rain: Crochet and Mental health

Crochet and mental health don't, at first sight, seem to be natural bedfellows. But did you know that handcrafts like crochet and sewing reduce your heart rate and relax you in the same way that meditation or prayer does? Anecdotally, even Einstein is said to have knitted between projects to 'calm his mind and clear his thinking.'

However, mental health is a serious thing and whilst for some people crafts like crochet can help them to manage their condition, for others it's just too much. It's essential to remember whenever we think about mental health conditions that they're serious, not something to be dismissed, or categorised as people being 'over-sensitive'. I myself have had serious issues with my mental health in the past and am not ashamed of taking anti-depressants to help with that. For some people talking therapies or things like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help. For others, sadly, their battle is too hard, or they slip through an over-subscribed, seriously under-funded system and they lose their battle to the disease.

Marinke Slump (also known as Wink) was a crochet designer - she blogged at www.acreativebeing.com. For her, crochet enabled her to express herself and connect with like-minded creative people all over the world. She designed Crochet Alongs (CALs) to share her love for craft, colour and to connect. Before she lost her battle with depression she shared her last CAL idea with the Dutch yarn company Scheepjes - it was a blanket inspired by the sea and it's beauty. In honour of her memory, Scheepjes and Marinke's friends and family have finished this CAL in her spirit to keep her in our memories and will be making a donation to ww.Mind.org.uk (the Mental health charity) in Marinke's name.

A dear friend Sarah pointed me in the direction of this CAL, and as soon as I read the background I knew I had to participate. Dancing in the rain yarn pack ordered, Facebook group duly joined - I started to hook my squares. Sadly, as a relative beginner to crochet (and on losing several squares that fell out of the buggy) I found that Marinke's blanket was beyond my skills for now (I have every intention of returning to it in the future). Undeterred however, I have continued to crochet in her memory and am making a sea inspired neat ripple blanket using the gloriously soft Scheepjes yarn. My blanket will top our bed, reminding me on a daily basis of the importance of self care to maintain my mental health.

If you are a crochet - novice or advanced and wish to participate in this CAL - the details are on the Scheepjes CAL Facebook page and I would recommend (as always) buying your yarn kit from Wool Warehouse where there are options for all three colourways and both the investment yarn pack and the cheaper one - which was all I could stretch to.

Please do let me know if you use craft to help with self care, or if you're participating in this CAL.  If you'd like to follow my progress, do make sure you're following me on Facebook and Instagram which are where I share my blankety updates.

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Love, life and little things for April 2016

This month I'm tired, and I don't just mean physically, I feel utterly exhausted and drained. We've all had a silly virus/ infection type thing which robbed me of my voice for a few days and it seems to have really wiped me out. I've cracked open the Berocca and the Floradix and am plodding onwards. Onwards and upwards or at least forwards. I'm taking pleasure in the simple things - putting my feet up for half an hour, with a hot coffee and a Trio being my treat of choice at the moment.

I've got a few posts in the offing, but Harry's having a funny few weeks with his naps. Since he dropped to one nap, it's almost solidly been at least an hour and a half after lunch. Just lately - and probably to do with the change in the weather or being poorly - or the dreaded back doubles which are starting to make their existence known - he's managing an hour at best, and sometimes in the morning, sometimes the afternoon, and on really scary days... neither. Please don't mention nap dropping to me, he's not even 2 yet!

My favourite recipe of the last month has to be my Chickpea and sweet potato curry - we've eaten it more times than I care to admit - not least as it's syn free, and Harry loves it. The punchy flavours of the chilli, garlic and coriander really sing to me at the moment, and as a bonus it's cheap, full of veggies, and relatively quick to put together.



Once again Harry's language has come on in leaps and bounds over the last month - developmentally this is such a huge time for him - it's no wonder his daytime sleep is all over the place. And with those words, a growing obsession with modes of transport - especially trains - is emerging. Similarly, his imaginary play has come on in leaps and bounds - his chick, and bunny are frequently fed, offered milk, have their nappies changed and last night his sheep was given his dummy.  It's so lovely to see this development, and watch his awareness of the world around us change day by day.

I have the joy of starting a new blanket - this one is hopefully to be a new baby gift for a dear friend who's expecting. However, originally I thought it would be relatively gender neutral but it's turning out to be very girly so I think something else may be in order, just in case she has a boy. The blanket is Lucy's Harmony - and I'm thoroughly enjoying working the granny squares in such glorious colours, it's a really pleasure to sit quietly and make.

 There's been a distinct shift in the weather this month, in the space of a week we went from snowsuits  to sunhats. Last year I sewed elastic on Harry's sunhat, this year I'm unashamedly using bananas & biscuits as bribery. We use a sunblock from Superdrug - in SPF 30 which I religiously apply every half an hour - in an ingenious roll on design. It's fantastic as whilst Harry is quite used to having creams applied because of his eczema,  but the novelty of a rollerball keeps us all a bit calmer.

My handmade home: crochet bunting

This crochet bunting is relatively quick and easy to knock up, and a fantastic way to shop your stash - I used lots of leftover yarn from my blankets, making it practically a free project.

I love bunting. Always have, to me it speaks of spring fairs, festivals, sunshine and summertime. I've been keen to make some for the house a while now. I have some amazing Hungry Caterpillar fabric from Higgs and Higgs that is earmarked to be stitched up for Harry although I've held off as I've not bought any tape yet. Well that and I've been crocheting like a woman possessed since last September.

Our home is a work in progress, before my redundancy we had a to-do list that we hoped to work through relatively briskly, dealing with the 70's tastic decor and a few more fundamental issues too. However, as always with these things, life got in the way and so we're slowly, happily and lovingly making the best of what we have.

I'm not really an ornament person so our mantle is adorned with photos and a cross stitch sampler I made when I was 16, but it needed more colour - something to brighten up the expanse of concrete. Crochet bunting it was...

I used Lucy's pattern for the granny bunting that adorned Yarndale a couple of years back - it needed a bit more concentration than blankets as I had to learn how to change colours when not crocheting in rows. Lucy had no pattern for joining the bunting triangles so rightly or wrongly I used a colour yarn I'd not used thus far in any of the triangles (Stylecraft Special DK in raspberry) I started with a chain of 20 and then used double crochet along the top of each triangle, joining them together with no gap, another chain of 20 at the other end finished my first row. Once I'd gone along one way, I turned around and went back, doing another row of doubles, this time into the stitch below. It was quick, easy and beautifully effective. As you can see from the picture above. Even M said (and I quote "The fireplace looks less pants than it did before"

I even made M some in motor racing colours - I'm just such a good wife!

So, crochet bunting... and brightening up our home. It's all good. Why not have a go at shopping your yarn stash and making some pretty bunting.

Next up on the crochet projects is a Crochet along in aid of Mind, the mental health charity.

I'm linking up this post with Attachment Mummy's Friday fabulous linky - do pop over and see what everyone else has added.

Life, love and little things - March 2016

March has been a busy month for us, Harry's vocabulary grows seeming hourly at times, and with that comes new challenges - what does "tee" mean in the context of breakfast? Answer, Weetabix. Of course it does. Our days potter past in an blur of playdates, toddler groups and a seemingly endless supply of washing, ironing and housework.

I convinced M to invest in a new sling - the beautiful Toddler Tula in the 'Look for the helpers' print. We bought it from Babipur a favourite website of mine - the stockist of my much lusted after Grimm's Rainbow. I know Harry would adore it. As would I. Ahem. We've used it countless times already, and being London based it makes travel on public transport so much easier. I would still love a wrap, but this is quick, easy and practical. I've always loved baby wearing, and toddlerwearing is just as convenient, and snuggly. And surprisingly less heavy than I feared.



The weather has been ghastly this month so we've done a lot of sensory play - cloud dough, play dough, cloud sand and fingerprinting have all been winners. Although given Harry's tendency to try to eat ALL new sensory play things it's a bit stressful for me. On a long replacement bus service I read the brilliant 150 screen free activities for kids which has given me some brilliant ideas for wet weather play.



Because of Harry's allergies, Easter is a chocolate free zone for us, so we've made our first steps into the world of Lego. To say M is over the moon would be a huge understatement. Harry's Duplo set is lovely, beautiful primary colours (completely non gendered thankfully) and has been played with daily since Easter Monday. We're also trying to work on his understanding of 'Tidy time' now we have the Duplo and aside from stashing some emergency bricks in the seat of his car (because clearly everyone needs some emergency Lego) he's been really good at joining in with putting all the blocks back in their box. I should just say how much I love the fact that his Duplo came in a massive Lego storage brick.

My eczema has flared up something chronic this month - my poor legs are covered and my hands are starting to go too. It used to be that eczema for me was entirely related to stress, but these days it's far more closely linked to being tired and an inordinate amount of hand washing. Now we've excluded Harry's allergens, we can manage his eczema with Lush Dream Cream, but of course that doesn't touch mine (that would make life far too easy!) so I'm always on the lookout for something that works. All suggestions welcomed...



Anyone that follows me on Instagram will have seen that I finally finished Harry's stripy blanket and my crochet wreath. My next big project is going to be the Last Dance in the Rain blanket made to a design started by crochet blogger Marinke of A creative being who sadly lost her fight with depression last year. Each yarn kit will include a donation to Mind, a charity doing such important work around mental health issues. If you are a crochet-er then please do read the post on Marinke's blog and consider getting involved in the Crochet along.  As always I'll be posting my progress on Instagram. At the moment, I'm being thrifty and using up the ends of my Cottage cosy stripe yarn to make some bunting for the fireplace.

My handmade home: Crochet wreath part 2

The stripy wreath was gorgeous, brilliantly cheering, perfectly adorning the door to our lounge. And then I thought I'd just try and crochet some flowers. You know, just one or two. And use other people's patterns and colour schemes. Make it easy on myself. Twenty eight flowers and countless unused leaves later I'd reworked a design to suit how I liked it and just gone a bit haywire with the colours. All of them. Ahem. And it works, it's a glorious riot of colour, roses and violets adorning the beautiful stripes. I smile each time I see it. Which to me makes it perfect.

Here are some pictures to show the finished article.

My handmade home: a crochet wreath

I've written previously about learning to crochet - and anyone who follows me on Instagram will be familiar with my burgeoning love of crocheted colour as inspired by Lucy's beautiful Attic 24 blog. The crocheted wreath above is, excitingly, the first project where I've picked my own colours and worked it up to my own specification. It's based on Lucy's May rose wreath, and will eventually be bedecked with crocheted flowers - I have a copy of 100 Flowers to knit and crochet in my Amazon basket as I'd like to stitch some violets, pansies, primroses and other spring flowers. As yet, I've not clicked buy so those plans are on hold.

I've had a couple of emails asking about the wreath, my colour choices and placement so I thought I'd type this up but with heavy signposting to Attic 24, as although this isn't exactly hers I feel like you should look there first.

I didn't buy any yarn for this project, but used my leftovers from my Cosy stripe Cottage blanket pack, combined with those from my most recent Sunny Granny stripe blanket.

I did buy a 25cm half circle wreath ring from Wool Warehouse, and my hook was a 4mm.

I started with a foundation chain of 35, and then each stripe was made up of 2 rows of half-double crochet.

Working from 12 o'clock, anti-clockwise around the wreath, this is the colour order I used. I have an uncanny ability to lose stitches so check my count with each stripe.

1.   Lipstick	26. Violet
2.   Sage	27. Spice
3.   Aster	28. Raspberry
4.   Violet	29. Sage
5.   Fondant	30. Meadow
6.   Spice	31. Citron
7.   Gold	32. Denim
8. Cloud	33. Lipstick
9.   Lavender	34. Aster
10. Raspberry	35. Violet
11. Denim	36. Fondant
12. Khaki	37. Spice
13. Pale rose	38. Gold
14. Lipstick	39. Claret
15. Gold	40. Cloud
16. Citron	41. Meadow
17. Wisteria	42. Citron
18. Sage	43. Fondant
19. Meadow	44. Raspberry
20. Cloud	45. Lavender
21. Denim	46. Sage
22. Rasperry	47. Pale rose
23. Lipstick	48. Aster
24. Gold	49. Gold
25. Fondant

This took me about a week of much stress crocheting to complete. I then darned in my ends - oh how I loathe this task, and every time I make anything striped I ask M to remind me to do them as I go. As yet this hasn't happened. My last task was to stitch the wreath up first so it was one long strip, and then around the ring and then wander around the house holding it up and asking Harry and M where they liked it best. It's currently residing on our lounge door - as yet unadorned by flowers and makes me beam every time I see it. I'd really like it on the front door, but we don't have a porch so it would get wet and wrecked.

I would happily make another one of these - they're relatively quick and add such a cheering brightness to a room. Another beautiful addition to our handmade home. Up next on my hook is some bunting for our fireplace, based on a granny triangle type pattern. If you'd like, I'll be sure to add another post covering my colour choices and some lovely pictures.

I've added this post to Attachment Mummy's new Friday Fabulous links - hop on over there and see all the other fabulousness.

#PeriscopeMyProgress Learning to crochet

When I became a stay at home mum it was a huge change, for many years my identity had been sewn up with my career. A Workforce Development Manager by trade I was used to leading a team, working with senior managers, spending a lot of time on trains and being surgically attached to my BlackBerry. Fast forward 8 months and I'm so happy and so much more relaxed than I've been in goodness knows how long. My pretty frocks, manicures, hair and make up have been switched out for skinny jeans, converse and sunblock. That BlackBerry is long forgotten and not missed at all. And I spend every day learning about my son. All good so far.

However, I like learning and when I decided I was going to stay at home I set myself 4 objectives for this year:

1. To learn quilting
2. To learn coding
3. To learn to crochet
4. To find a way of working that suits us as a family 

Earlier this year I won some fabric in a competition from Higgs and Higgs which heralded my introduction into quilting. This post, details my progress and the quilt now has pride of place on the back of our sofa. I also have some Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric set aside to make Harry a quilt to the same pattern for Christmas. 

Coding is a slower process - I'm starting to get my head around it, and am better at using plugins now. Although sometimes a simple task will still phase me - I tried to install the shareaholic plugin the other day and was completely foiled! And don't get me started on Click to Tweet which I will defeat. 

Which took me to number three on my list and todays Periscope. Filmed shortly after I'd put Harry to bed, displaying my full of cold voice in full. I explained about learning to crochet and said I'd link up the resources I'm using here: 

Bella Coco is the Youtuber who I've found most accessible to watch and listen to, her blog is also really helpful too

Attic24 is the blog that I have saved as permanent inspiration. I've been following her for years, but only finally picked up my crochet hook with intent last week! 

My Crochet board on Pinterest for inspiration and how-to's 

I will be continuing to #PeriscopeMyProgress as part of Jennifer's challenge as part of my continued development in using Digital tools and my skill development in producing quality content, by combining it with crochet I'm hoping to distract myself from the fear I feel at being in front of the camera.