Big Happy Blanket - April/May update

Caution: This post contains highly colourful scenes of a crocheted nature.

During my unexpected blogging break during April I became a whole year older.  I am now at an age where I keep forgetting how old I am, I find myself counting back to 1977 to work it out.  I'll let you do the maths! My birthday was a rather understated affair as I was rather sickly with sinusitis (never had it before and never want it again, yuck).  Hubby still owes me a White Company wild mint scented candle too as we never made it to the shops to get it... *COUGHITYCOUGH*

Also during April the Big Happy blanket became ever so slightly bigger.

I took all these pictures on Easter Sunday, which was a few weeks ago now, so as I type it is bigger still.

So far the blanket is earning its name.  It is very hard not to get happy when you look at it :)  The colours are completely random and usually based on whatever colour Lillia pulls out of the bag to use next. I am loving how it is coming together.  I am looking forward to the chilly winter days already....only 7 months until Christmas you know, I'd best speed up.

Trying to be clever I went upstairs to get an "aerial" photo of it...

...I wonder if you can see it from space yet?

Hello.

Major apologies for my sudden extended absence.  Our 5-year-old had one day short of three weeks off for the Easter holidays, and with the extended bank holiday weekend for Kate and Wills everything turned into a kind of long and lazy holiday.

The weather has been...well...pretty spectacular. We've had many long,warm,sunny days here in the south of England so there's been lots of yummy eating and drinking in the outdoors...

Pimms o'clock gets earlier and earlier ;)

The Royal Wedding weekend was a patriotic fest of fun and champagne :)  Seriously, there's nothing like a bit of good old British pomp and ceremony to cheer you up and give you the excuse to drink before midday.

And during this little hiatus from blogging I have also been doing a small amount of naval-gazing.  To be or not to be?  To blog or not to blog?  Well....

I have been blogging since before blogs existed - anyone remember Diaryland? ;)  When I was very sick I blogged through it and never thought about stopping because it was essential to me.  If I'm completely honest I edit myself a lot more on Snipsnaphappy.  So do I stay or do I go?  Well I will always blog that's for sure, so now it's to decide what kind of change I need to make.

In the meantime though there has been a lot of creating going on and I have plenty to share with you.  So please bare with me whilst I am indecisive, there's plenty to keep you distracted whilst I muse.

I need to share with you the progress on the Big Happy blanket...

..and a few other things besides...

And finally...I am feeling MUCH better these days.  More on this in a future post but I am almost feeling kind of normal again.  More from me in a day or two, but for now I have a glass of wine and Eurovision.  Until next time dear readers...

xx

Secret Post Club - May

I have been LOVING the Scret Post Club so far.  Kudos to Heather of Notes from Lapland for being so darn clever and organising the whole shebang.

May was my second month as a member and I received a fabulous mix of goodies all the way from Canada.  Here's my loot (do excuse the piccies in this post, I couldn't be bothered shifting upstairs to get the proper Nokia camera so the ickle one had to do, that's pregnancy for you)...

I got a seriously lovely parcel full of lovely goodies.  There was a real handmade and natural feel to all the gifts with lip balm made with natural ingredients, organic moisturiser and gorgeous natural soap ...

I have the cutest little tinned candle to light whilst I am soaking in the bath (using my new soap of course) and that crayola shaped soap?  It's made with goat's milk and is from Etsy! Lillia was delighted with that as she stole it from my stash!  Though I am pretty sure it was meant for her anyway :)

She also included something called "Fiesta Mix" - a spice blend that you mix in with sour cream and mayo to make a dip.  Hubby whipped that out of my hands pretty quick!  Can't wait to try it.

My sender, Audrey, didn't include a note or any clues to her blog so I'm afraid to say I googled her.  Sorry Audrey!  She has a beautiful crafty blog that is definitely worthy of a cup of tea and a good half hour on the laptop, I just hope she forgives me for outing her!

Now please excuse me, I have some dip to go mix up...

Shell Mosaics

Aw, thanks all of you for the lovely comments on my last post :)  I am beginning to feel a lot better thanks, baked beans don't make me heave anymore, must be a good sign!

In the absence of any crafting activity recently I thought I would try to make my return to blogging with some tales of my adventures this past week.  We took a little "staycation" and did some fun things close to home.  On Thursday we went to Margate where we visited the Shell Grotto.  At £3 per adult and £1.50 for the little one it was very reasonably priced, the entrance and the shop were modest and relatively low key, so all-in-all we didn't have massive expectations.  But it turned out to be pretty special indeed. 

(Be warned the rest of this post is about to descend into pure mosaic geekness, if you are not into mosaics, shell mosaics or the like then look away now.)

As you go in you are greeted by a massive commemorative shell mosaic, created more recently than those mosaics in the grotto itself...

 I mean, seriously...wow.  It's made of shells! Look at the colours, incredible.

Then it's down some stairs that lead you under ground and to your first glimpse of the mosaiced grotto...

According the the information we were given the mosaics depict the journey of life, from birth, growth, death and then a celestial afterlife.

The detail is amazing, look at this shell rose...

There are flowers...

 And hearts...

The whole place, despite being dark and small and under ground, feels very calm and safe.

It was discovered in 1835 and nobody is quite sure how long ago it was actually created.

It was an extremely inspirational place to visit and I am now itching to get started on my next mosaic.  I have been collecting white pebbles and sea glass for a while now with the intention of making a mosaiced mirror and now I think I will get started.  Just as soon as I stop feeling too nauseous :)

If you are ever in Margate I can highly recommend a visit, they even have the cutest little cafe and the shop sells beautiful shells and decorative shell items and none of it carries a hefty touristy price tag.  Well worth a visit.

A little time off

We have had a beachy week.

A little time out from work and routine.

It's been a lovely break.  But not the entire reason I have been absent from blogging, or rather intermittent in my presence at least.  No the main reason is that I have been too sick to look at the computer screen for the length of time required to edit photographs and write text, or concentrate on reading all my favourite blogs.  Plus I have had every shred of energy sucked out of me so by the time I have worked, commuted, mothered and eaten I am usually straight off to bed.

Sound familiar to anyone?  Yes, I am pregnant.  10 weeks to be precise.  Having miscarried last November we have been really anxious, so we had a private early scan last week to confirm all was going well, which it was.  We will have another scan in two and a half weeks so we have all fingers and toes crossed. 

It is a worrying and exciting time, so for now we are enjoying a little beachy sunshine on the shores of Kent.

More on our adventures to come this week I promise!  I have been too sick to do any crafting, but I am slowly beginning to feel a bit better so I am hoping normal service will resume shortly.

:)