Walks in March- such warm sunny days!

It's a shame there's no associated sounds as the birdsong just lately has been WONDERFUL.

28th March was a very warm day : into the twenties so the dogs went for a cooling -off paddle.

Pip even wandered downstream following a floating twig and ''fishing''.

Serenely beautiful.

Ripples and reflections.

New green leaves: HOPE and NEW BEGINNINGS.

The trees too were ''greening'' up.

Had a nasty and malevolent shock in Mid March while I was away- stalked via e-mail -and these quiet- but birdsong musical- and serene walks were a balm to my soul.

Looking back at those snowy days

Hello again, I'm back at last!
Fingertips split open in those frosty days and could not type, also kids off school a lot due to snow so we have had some fabulous ''family times''.Snow stayed from 5th January to 16th January and for the first few days it was very much enjoyed.

Lucy loved it.

Pippa loved it although slightly less so than Lucy who kept rolling in it!

Everywhere was so BEAUTIFUL...

Not our snowmen but those of some sculptural teenagers:

Lots and LOTS of sledging was done, me included: WEEEEEEEE!

The town was transformed.

We walked everywhere, once school was open again. Pulling our sledges with school bags and shopping.

Dogs looked on at the kids playing in the snow day after day.....

So fascinating did the windowsill prove to be that it's Pippa's preferred perch all day long ever since!
So that was our 11 days of snow and quite a bit of hibernating inside as well as all the fun in the first few days! It was fun but we're oh sooo glad it's all gone and we're back to normal: for now.

There's lots to catch up on: there's frost photos, cuttlebrook in the snow,recipes for applecakes and ''Holy Balls'' ,some crafting and some quilting and crochet too so I hope you'll be able to visit again soon!

Bumbling day

Today is a kind-of-a bumbling day I have decided. Alas to bumble is not in my Concise Oxford Dictionary so I will attempt to explain. Quiet contemplative and very spontaneous in terms of activities. Play nice music in the background and make a few things and/or bake or/ and mop a few floors and then daydream with a cup of tea followed by some crochety-playtime?

If and it IS a BIG IF at the moment: I can work out HOW to do it( not terribly teccie IT minded)

I am going to load the above crocheted fingerless gloves pattern onto Ravelry as a free download.

In case you may be interested I will post the link in a following post and you'll need : 2 balls of DK wool and 1 ball of Hummingbird 4 ply from Artesano which is a lovely soft 100% alpaca. And a 4mm or 4.5mm hook depending on size required. Mine are very popular with both daughters as well as myself- for dog-walking see later.

Had some lovely hookey-playtime the other day and the above was some of it. And guess what??

It'll become a pattern in ISSUE 6 of INSIDE CROCHET magazine!!! I'm remaking it in another yarn delivery of which I am awaiting eagerly so keep your fingers crossed that the postal strike

a. Doesn't happen and is resolved amicably between all parties.( yes I dream)

b. Is resolved very quickly after commencement

c. Excludes Oxfordshire

d. Has a trial run in North Wales and is then abolished. ( oops sorry to all in North Wales)

e. Results in Richard Branson setting up his own ''freepost'' delivery company...As a charity to all craft presons....

Ok I've gone mad. Must stop and arrange my thoughts in some kind of order.

Walked the dogs early today. Lucy came into her first season a few days ago now. Just BEFORE I realised this was happening I walked her in our local nature reserve in the afternoon. OH OH.
I am now PERSONA NON GRATA with all dog owners in the vicinity of this park.
The tall tales of bitches on heat ARE all true after all! It never hapened with Pippa so I doubted the veracity.
Dogs came a bounding up and sat adoring by her side, while she- o- daft- one rolled over to have her tummy licked! Poodle,alsation,labrador,schnauzer,westie, sheepdog it made no difference.
Neutered or not, all males came to pay homage. In fact one alsation was forcibly removed by his owner to walk home on a lead..... Only to dash miles across town and back to the park when his owner let him off once they were home! He came right back to Lucy's side.
WOW! If only I could attract such adoration? Actually, no thanks. I'd rather be crocheting or embroidering.... Not that anything happened, Lucy was on a lead and I was right there by her side. She started ''showing'' a few days later.
Back to the point: I have been walking them in a far field where there are no other dogs until today when I thought I'd walk them very early: before 9 am.

Lucy constantly stretching ahead, eager to be off-lead and impatient to explore.

Pippa slow and reluctant, plodding along. Often just sits for a while. If taken off the lead she simply watches us walk around the reserve and waits until we walk past on the way back to be picked up to go home....

My wrists will shortly be joining my ankles!!! My arms are stretched so much daily. Here I am under the centre of a willow tree.

No colour outside- I don't like ''white skies'' much! Give me BLUE any day!!!

Here to cheer me up is an image by TON SCHULTEN a famous contemporary DUTCH artist .

This is on my ''mood board'' from a calendar of a year ago. See more of his excellent colourful style here. And finally as promised here is one of the Joseph Murphy books I was on about the other day.

This is quite absorbing and excellent at lifting one's mood. When I am home alone all day it can be good to have a read now and then.

Have a GREAT bumbling day, I'll bumble some more and go play the piano and read....

See you soon.

Post Script: TON SCHULTEN -For more colourful inspiration see his ''webwinkel'' at the link above.AAAh,OOOOH,

FABULOUS COLOURS!!!

Brownies and dogginess

This is the volcano batch of brownies with some icing sugar to entice the girls- not that they need enticing... These turned out thinner and wider and there were 12.( but not for long!)

Here is a little doggy-play of doggy interaction for you: I was entranced and amused and hope you will be too. Once upon a time there was a mat which Pippa often sunbathed on. This mat was chewed to near oblivion by puppy Lucy and this morning I was sweeping it all up to tidy the garden....

Pippa spots her fave mat in sunny position and takes ownership. ''Huh you woke me up!'' '' But mu-um I want to chew this corner a bit more, don't you see?''

Mum: yawning: '' come-on stop this now,look at the mess!'' ''mmm, me chew chew chew.''

''Look mum this bit smells grrreat: sniff, sniff, chew chew.''

''It's too hot in the sun, let me tug it to the shade?'' This is with mum weighing about 15 kg still sitting ON the mat and a slight 9kg Lucy doing all the pulling... ''I'm not moving: I LOVE the sun.'' '' If I get hold of it over here I can pull better...''

'' GRRRRR , you just remember who's pack leader!'' Pippa gives Lucy a quick nip on the ear.

And sits back in the sunshine.

Lucy, undeterred, carries on with the underside of the mat.

Rolls over to lie underneath it. Pippa stays grumpily in her sunny spot.

Peace restored both dogs enjoy different parts and aspects of the old mat. Sunbathing vs Chewing.

I was fascinated to watch this doggie interaction, I just love the way they behave with each other, sometimes gentle- like licking each others noses or inside the ears- and sometimes friendly ( curling up on the sofa together) but also occasional disagreements.

Time for elevenses and cutting the other batch of BROWNIES!!! Yummeeeeee!

Oh look! Lucy appeared within seconds as if by magic: butter wouldn't melt....

She's got her paws on the chair and that: ''ple-ease can I have one?'' look.

LOOK, SEE?! I'm a really really REALLY long dog: I CAN reach the TABLE!!!

This was Lucy at full stretch: standing tip-toe on her hind legs and trying oooh so very hard to reeeeeach.

EEEEK ! Yes she really DID almost make it to pinch one. It was a matter of a few inches.

Aaaah she had a dog-chew toy instead.

These brownies are strictly for humans only.