schorchio!

Boy was it a hot day today - 22 degrees in 7.40am on my way into work, and 29 degrees at 5.40 on my way home - I've not idea how hot it got during the day but I'd wager we were into the 30's. Our office felt like a greenhouse though because as is typical on hot days, the aircon was not working.

I had a super busy weekend. On Saturday I got the train up to Grantham to pick up our new (old) car that I bought on ebay a couple of weeks ago. I've never bought a car on ebay before and I have to say it's quite a scary thing to do. Fortunately the seller had described the car well and we got what we were expecting. We're taking it into the garage this week just to make sure it's all OK on the inside too.
On the return home we stopped off in a pretty little village (where I used to live when I was young) called Edith Weston - in Rutland. After googling for pics, I was surprised to see that my old house is now a rental cottage. It's a very pretty and tranquil olde village with very old stone cottages a plenty. Its also right on Rutland Water, again, pretty and tranquil, so I would definitely recommend a visit there.

Yesterday, I was busy making cute little jumper monsters and Kitties in preparation for Handm@de Winchester next weekend. Pics soon - not enough light tonight.

Today is my Dad's 60th birthday - happy Birthday Dad. Thanks to Parceforce (said through gritted teeth) his parcel didnt arrive in time. I made him a card too. I hope he likes it when it finally arrives tomorrow (?)Tomorrow I'll be getting on a train again, and then a hot tube across London to the O2 arena to see Kings of Leon (woot) - and if that wasn't enough excitement for one week, on Friday, I'll be in London again, this time in Hyde Park to see Blur (woot woot). Yes I am a lucky girl!

at the printer

This last couple of weeks I've been working on some cards which I am getting professionally printed (in big quantities!). They went off to the printer today and hopefully they should arrive within the next week - very exciting. Do you want to see?
The day job is manic at the moment - some very long days being spent in the office right now. I'd much rather be out spending time in the sunshine, the green house or sewing - roll on the weekend. I'm glad the days are long though - we had an amazing sunset last night - this was taken at about 9.30:
I'm also tweeting. Much to my own disgust, I have succumbed to twitter! I like it for the fact that I can just write a few words each day when I don't have the time or energy to blog. If you want to follow me you can find me via the link in the sidebar.

I'm off to water my plants, the poor things are really parched.

weekend fun

Why do weekends just seem to zoom by? I suppose one of the benefits of this is that I do always try to make the most of the time - a nice mixture of time spent with my family and crafting and pottering in the garden was what happened this weekend.
I went to LEGOland on Saturday with my sis/bro in law and my nephews. If you've never been, it is a nice day out - especially for kids and the landscaped grounds are lovely - needless to say a nice day was had by one and all. One of the attractions I like most is miniland - lots of different countries made from lego bricks. This is London (click on pic for supersize version):Today I've been sewing up some softies, making some cards, and pottering about in the greenhouse. Today I picked a cucumber, a couple of radishes and a strawberry from the greenhouse, so me and Mr Monda shared a bizarre and rather nouvelle cuisine style lunch of a radish each mixed with some chopped cucumber followed by half a strawberry - we really know how to live in this household!
I'll leave you with a question. Pear or Kiwi? :o)

blue and green

Thanks for all the well wishing comments from my last post - I'm just feeling a little run down right now. Down but certainly not out.

I'm just popping in quickly today - I'm busy beavering away on various things at the moment as well as preparing for handm@de Winchester in a couple of weeks. Spinning many a plate seems par for the course of late.
I made this brooch when I wanted to take a break from making jumper kitties. I've been wanting to make some new brooches for a while, something a bit more summery, and less felty. I've used some fabric strips - denim from a pair of old jeans, a napkin I purchased from Laura Ashley in the sale and a couple of vintage buttons from my stash.

This is a sneak peek of another little project I'm working on:Without even realising - both my pics in this post are blue and green. How nice that I co-ordinate without even realising I'm doing it.

I seem to have lost all sense of priority with my making at the moment and I don't know why this is - perhaps I just like making things difficult for myself? Perhaps this is a mid year crisis? Perhaps I should stop procrastinating and do some making.

it's oh so quiet

So I've been a little quiet around these parts lately. A lot is occupying my thoughts and world right now but it's not really stuff I feel I have the energy to write about, partly because I'm feeling a little run down and lack lustre. It's a small miracle that this is happening at the moment:Back soon, hopefully with more oomph and pizazz.

a good cause treasury

One of my chicks has been included in an Etsy treasury with a good cause theme. A little non profit organisation called Little Hen Rescue in the UK are aiming to rehome 11,000 ex-battery hens by 29th June.
If you can't rehome a hen, you can sponsor one, knit a jacket for one of the poor birds who has lost her feather due to stress, anxiety and ill treatment as a battery bird, or you could volunteer your time to rescue hensCheck the Little Hen Rescue website for more details. Also Annette Tait sums it up quite nicely in her blog post here.
Thanks to Pey for featuring me in the treasury and for highlighting such a good cause.

writing a recipe - for a monster

It is June already. Crazy.
I have a craft fair coming up in just over a months time, and apart from papping my pants about how little I have made recently (I need to remedy this with immediate effect) I have been testing out some ideas for packaging my softies. This is one of the labels for the back of the packaging:I've also been beavering away on some more greetings cards - this time using coloured cards that come with co-ordinating spotty envelopes - very sweet. The cards have a slightly shiny surface which is a little tricky to draw on as the pen glides much more easily when drawing. I do like the effect though and have enjoyed making this last batch. They have all been photographed in readiness for the shopI'm also really enjoying my garden and greenhouse - I'm a bit surprised at myself actually about how much I am enjoying it all. The first thing I do when I get home from work is to go and have a look at what is bigger than it was yesterday. I'm pleased to report that is is all coming along nicely - the slugs have gone on a teletext holiday which is great - I wish they had taken the flies with them too however. The first thing to fruit is my strawberries and it won't be long before they are ready to eat. mmmmm strawberries.