Pure joy of an afternoon: PUNTING

Last Sunday afternoon we simply had one of those blissful beautiful afternoons: pure peace, perfect pastime: punting on a gloriously hot sunny day.
A breeze whispering past your ears and caressing your shoulders. Geese and ducks to watch and / or feed and later we saw the most delightful families of ducklings too. Dragonflies of every hue: black to blue and green to turquoise.

Cherwell Boathouse: punt #82, brand new and JJ at the helm of the pole. Everyone happy.

Serenity prevailed. I cannot remember the last time we felt so utterly relaxed and ''chilled'' and no alcohol or food involved, just water, a boat and warm sunshine.

Miss E learning a few of the technicalities.

Miss Y , determined to join in, practices her skills with the oar.

Soon distracted with simultaneous video-ing and feeding of duckling family. And hey that's not stale bread, these were organic corncrackers intended for luch/snacking.... much more appreciated by these adorable cuties.

4 hours later, back where we started. Lunch at the pub on the river, where Miss E had to keep checking the goal status of Englandv Germany. Such was the day that the ignomineous defeat did not affect us.

This was with my new camera!!!!! Now many more catch updates to come- weather permitting, being a confirmed sun worshipper I don't blog when the sun shines!!!

PGL, Portsmouth, Pure pleasures, Present and a Parcel from Japan!

Not that any of it can beat this PUNTING day but do visit soon, when the other p's will be blogged. More crochet on the way too, very Promising.

Old book, memories and MODERN designs to crochet and wear

This is IT, a lovely lovely book I discovered at a yarn shop in Bovey Tracey, Devon when we were there in the half term holiday. It was a shop copy and very old but I found it on Amazon!
It has the most terrific memories for me as it features many crochet patterns which I have seen before in a Dutch needlecraft magazine called ARIADNE to which I subscribed in the mid 1970's and all through the 1980's. My sister even had it sent to Canada for me when I lived there in the 1984/1985.

This is my all time favourite and I simply MUST try to make it , maybe in a turquoise or blue colour? It's in a wool but the pattern does not state an aran thickness. The crochet cabling is stunning.

A zigzag relief design.

More creamy snowy wooliness in crochet cables.

Terrific lattice, great for cycling on my orange bike too!

Very unusual but intriguing stitch this, still all crochet!

Fabulous patterning in mohairs too. Another fave, a must make, as soon as I have sourced the right mohairs
Boucle too.Summer jumpers in cotton for children and adults alike.

This was just a taste, there's 60 patterns in the book and I can't wait to start trying them out.

PGL funtime adventures and a little crochet

Sorry, these posts are getting more and more rare these days, blame the job you know. Lots of days spent travelling and working but a quick update here. Rona jacket squares now over 50 % crocheted although not all of those have had their ends sewn in yet. That's more at 25%.
Quick gander at how the back may be shaping up. Quite a surprising bit of crochet and sewing in got done while on a PGL activity holiday in Devon.

On our day off, after 3 days and 12 intensive activity sessions we went to Torquay beach.

YEP, I DID it! Stood at the top of the trapeze pole with my raging fear of heights, my breathing laboured and my heart racing so fast I don't think it's EVER beaten so fast! Rational thought ( in that due to harness etc it's actually very safe) had to overcome natural survival instincts- ie the thoughts that screamed: DO NOT DO THIS!

There is Miss Y shimmying up the pole koala bear style.

Getting from the ''bearhug of pole'' postion onto the platform is actually harder than it looks! Athletic and the bravest, Miss E excelled in this task and repeated a perfect jump and swing 3 times!

Caught the pole and hanging superbly. Check out the platform- which should be horizontal- to ascertain the orientation.

Wow, with the fencing there was no stopping the advances of Miss Y: LUUUUNGE

Give me a hook rather than a bow anytime

Climbing: Miss Y had a good go at it.

Miss E reached the top every time, she's the monkey in the family. Well done everyone!

6 days and 24 activities later with a day off for miniature ponies and a visit to an amazing wool shop there will be more soon, see you later.