WIP Wednesday.

Not one, but 2 WIPS on the go this week.

I of each!

First up, knitting

its a secret project as I am doing a test knit for Sara's texture crafts

no details sorry, but you can take a peak at my colour combo

I have to say its nice to be knitting for a change...

Then, yup you guessed right, another ripple blanket

no 1 sons, hes having a stash buster ripple so will be a blanket of many colours

The main colourway will be parchment as I have a few balls of that, then as many 'male' colours as I have in my stash of stylecraft.

one day Ill get to finish my girly blanket!

In other news, I need all your positive vibes for no 1 son

 an internship [ apprentice] keeper job has come up at the Zoo he volunteers in, this is exactly what he wants, its in the African section so would be working with the Rhino, giraffes, zebra, ostriches etc.

Zoo keeper apprenticeships/internships are notoriously difficult to get and rarely come up, I have warned him he may not be successful but its all good experience applying for jobs.

Please keep everything crossed that he at least gets offered an interview.

Trees.

Second to my love of the sea is woodland.

I love wood, I love trees and I especially love old trees.

So today as the sun was shining we decided to take the hound for a lovely woodland walk.

A quick drive up the motorway and we are at Westonbirt Arboretum, a bit early to enjoy the glorious Autumnal colour changes but on a day like today it was still beautiful.

The hound was well behaved, he sniffed and sprinkled the whole way round, hes knackered now! that was his second walk of the day !

It was a beautiful and much needed breath of fresh air, just hubs and I, the boys not feeling the need to enjoy nature! I was totally restrained, just bought a bottle of water and didn't even venture into the shop.

Just a quiet one.

This weekend is just a quiet one, after our scare we are not planning anything much.Hubs has had a quiet few days, a few little ' heart jiggles' but other than that hes doing ok, off to see the nurse on Monday.

This morning we popped over to Waitrose to use a voucher we had, don't normally shop in posh shops, but hey, the sun was shining!

Managed to grab some  'diet' bits that ALDI doesn't stock and stocked up on beans and pulses, had a bit of a shock at the price of lamb, planning on a lamb and apricot tagine for dinner, [SW recipe ]

Managed to get a cheap bag of lamb ' bits', bought some electronic weigh scales to help with shrinkage, head is currently in the right mindset to lose some weight this week! and just general food stocks.

I was very restrained, I could have spent a fortune.

shopped out we decided to make the most of being boy free and headed to the marina to grab a coffee

you'll note there are no cakes, biscuits or other treats there!

The weather was gorgeous, cant believe its the end of September.

Home and hubs did a bit of a garden clear, no 2 son headed out to archery and I just crocheted!

Last night I managed to finish my Coast Ripple blanket

I absolutely love it, just a few more ends to weave in and its done. No 1 son had a bit of a green eye moment, as no 2 son has a blanket for camping and now we have 1 he wants 1, not that he comes camping mind you!

So what else was there to do but hook on another! not that I haven't got any other projects on the go.

This is another ripple, stash busting in shades of blue and green, have lots of parchment to it will be parchment based with colour ripples.. It might get finished by next winter if hes lucky!

Tonight of course is Rugby so no 1 and hubs are going out to watch it, no 2 and I will be home alone, might watch a film?

Then tomorrow? who knows, the sun is meant to be shining again so the hound might get a special walk.

Bump.

Sometimes you need a bump to bring you back to earth.

I've been so wrapped up in working out the logistics of MY life that I tend to forget hubs.

He's a  quiet do'er is my hubs, rarely complains, always says yes and most annoyingly 'doesn't say when hes not feeling too good.

Well last night I had a little wake up call, he called from work to say he was feeling unwell and could I go get him as he didn't want to drive, the old heart atrial fibrillation thing had reared its ugly head again. Hes 2 years post op and we haven't had anything untoward since. I checked to make sure he didn't want to get an ambulance but no he just wanted to come home.

Late evening dash to his work to find that they had called an ambulance, he was having chest pains too.Now I am really concerned. His heart was all over the place, I was quite glad the ambulance had been called. Turns out silly hubs had been feeling unwell for a while.

The problem was now both our vehicles were out in the middle of nowhere and both my boys were home alone, I know, they are old enough but I knew they be worried. Hubs went off to hospital and I headed home waiting for a call to find out where they had taken him.

A tense 2 hour wait, nothing, now worried even more..Decided to call our closest A&E, yep he was there.. the person answering the phone couldn't tell me anything but said she would tell him I called, at least I knew he was awake!

A short while later he text to say they were doing tests but he felt better than he did. Expecting him to stay in A&E for a while I headed to bed until we knew more. 

2.30am he was ready to go home.. YEAH.. 

Up and out to pick up hubs, all was well. no heart attack, just an AF attack, we can cope with that. Worrying that it has started again though. Not quite sure what the process will be now?

When I arrived to pick him up I pulled in by the bus stop at the hospital, which is right outside the entrance, to find this

Yarnbombed .

Managed to get home by about 3.30am, off to bed and next doors blooming builders decided to swap the skips over at 6am !! not a happy bunny. This morning I am knackered so decided to take an annual leave day, hubs was going to go to work !! NO.. hes taken a day off too.

Having a free day, hubs still sleeping, decided I needed to get back to slimming world, [ missed the last 2 weeks due to work], I knew it was going to be bad as have had a bit of an 'eating and drinking social life', and last night did some emotional eating.. But I braved it, and yep, weight gain. Hubs heart scare scared me, I am a heart attack waiting to happen, its not about wanting to lose weight its about having to lose weight. 

So its back to the beginning with that one, AGAIN...I just need to find my will power as seem to have lost it..

More sorting.

What a weekend, I feel like I have not stopped, Murder mystery dinner on Friday night out with friends last night for a meal. 

In between I decided on some more Autumn cleaning, blitzed the kitchen and cleaned all of down stairs.That's alongside the normal washing and ironing fest.There must have been something in the air as both the boys decided to blitz their bedrooms too,  not quite sure what's bought that on, maybe my own downsizing impressed them.

They  have sorted into piles, keep, chuck and charity. Then put what they are keeping away neatly, without prompts for me, Blimey....Its a bit of a shocker. Now I just have to move the piles to its destination, the tip or charity store, hubs is on lates this week, maybe I can talk him into it.

Hubs has been clearing the garden, veg patch and greenhouse, were still getting tomatoes growing, and chillis, well they are huge

Those chillis are longer than my hand.

We've got peppers and aubergines still doing well too. Hubs managed to get a last crop of beetroot in, I love beetroot, so this will keep me going for a while

we've still got the veg patch to finish clearing, there's some sweetcorn, cauliflowers, carrots, and heaven knows what else hubs planted, should get quite a stock in, am sorry I didn't pay much attention to the garden, note to self try harder next year!

In between I did manage to get out for walks with the hound, not too far just out back to the river, it was glorious this morning and when I got down to the river I had a pleasant surprise

The matthew was returning back to the city

even the sea cadets had taken their boat out

All in all a good weekend, no guilt about not going anywhere, happy to stay home and give the house some love and continue with my less is more approach, it seems to be catching on, lets hope it lasts.

Now I'm going to make a nice easy chilli for supper then sit down for some  well earned RnR

WIP Wednesday.

I am so in love with this blanket, I don't want to finish it.I love the colours, the feel and the pure simple joy of hooking it every night

According to the pattern I have another 28 rows to go! as this is for Barry Bongo, I am thinking that's going to be way to long, we don't need overhangs as its a snug bed space. I am thinking may be 10 more rows then complete the edging and that will be just perfect, I am averaging 4-6 rows a night, its a double size blanket, using stylecraft special double knit with a size 3.5mm hook, that seems to suit my style.The pattern is  from attic24, I am thinking I may well just do another to use up all my odds and ends.. I have a basket full.

Catch up: The last day of the school break.

Remember I said we were going to the Harry Potter Studio tour?

Well it was fab, all bar the long and scary drive in my little teeny car.

But we made it and had a fab day, if you are a Harry potter fan its definitely worth a day out, the props for the film were amazing, we will definitely be going back again! 

The boys had great fun, we took loads of pictures but their in that silly face era and most had their friends in the pics so I cant post them, here's a few that can be shared

I have to say it was fab, lots of interactive stuff and so much to see, well worth a visit.