beachy tea

Suffolk beaches, beach huts, pebbles, bunting, stripes, these have inspired the creation of a new teacosy for my brown betty. Rather indulgently I've used the Blue Sky Alpaca cotton in tulip and drift because the colours are perfect and the plain stockinette stitch and broad stripes show them off wonderfully.




This is a really simple teacosy, with a moss stitch border to give the idea of sand, while the stripes remind me of a beach hut. This is how I did it ::

Cast on 32 stitches. Work 6 rows in double moss stitch, then switch to the second colour and commence stockinette stripes, of 6 rows each. Work 11 stripes, or 66 rows of stockinette. Work six rows of double moss stitch in the original colour. Cast off 32 stitches. Fold the rectangular piece of knitting in half and seam the sides with invisible mattress stitch. Leave a gap in each seam for the handle and spout.

baby hat

This is my first attempt at any sort of babywear, and I've tried to make sure all ends are woven in and it's as sturdy as possible. I've made it from the same organic cotton as the yarn intended for the wedding blanket. It is for the newborn that is soon to make an entrance in the lives of my two friends, they don't know whether it will be girl or boy.

The wedding blanket (for the same couple) has stalled due to the expense, so I am contemplating a pair of booties to match, and (I know its selfish to make something for yourself from yarn intended for a gift...) a striped teacosy for myself.

radio bliss

Just a quickie...Radio 4's Women's Hour have a new 10-part dramatisation of one of my favourite books; Wives and Daughters.

It starts today...

Wives and Daughters

new home

here is a sneaky peek at some corners of my new kitchen...kitchen fireplace and pantry

On saturday I went to the Vintage Bazaar in Frome, which was a real treat. It was crammed with stalls selling vintage homewares, kitchenalia, fabric, trimmings, vintage clothes, books, and even handmade cloche hats.

spain

Gibraltar, mojitos, flamenco, tagine, Morocco, nelson, beads, beach, cafes


The homelyheroine in me had a lovely time too....


There was an amazing bead shop in tarifa, with hundreds of hand-painted wooden beads, and gorgeous jewellery made from the beads...




This is my little haul...




I also bought this pretty lilac leaf ceramic dish...




There were some delicious cakes...




And some lovely tiles...

Oh dear, its been a while...

...since I've put my head round the door isn't it. Faithful readers, I am still here.

Well, what's the gossip?

I had a lovely holiday in Spain, it was a much prettier place than I had imagined, and I daresay I'll post a mosaic of photos for the curious that will give you the gist of it.

I've moved house, and I'm all safe and sound in my new home, a dear little cottage that I like to think is a bit like the one in the 1995 'Sense and Sensibility' film. Plenty of white wood panelling, and a fireplace is practically every room. A proper little kitchen too which we've managed to fit a dining room table into, and a pantry.

I've started my OU course, which was pretty terrifying at first, but is so far not too difficult. Maybe I'll report differently after the first assessment...

I had my first ever house-warming party, to which I lured people with the promise of a chocolate fountain, and was stunned by the generosity of a relatively new friend who has some game in the cake department. She showed up with this stunner...

And yes, those roses are entirely made of sugar, and she made them with her own fair hands, impressive, no? Needless to say she is baking her own wedding cake (she of the Westonbirt wedding, which has now changed location to a Devon cliff with a private beach for the day).

More soon, there is much to tell, and many blogger-friends to catch up with.

holiday

Thanks for all your lovely messages of support, and practical advice! I managed to get the cake there, and assembled it at the bar while Mr HH and my sister shielded me from view. Perhaps I overdid it with the chocolate cream filling, as by the time it was served it had melted down the side of the cake a little, and was 'artfully' disguised by the waitress who added yet more cream on top of the white roses. On the whole though, it was successfull, my mum seemed pleased at least!



Tomorrow I am going on holiday, hurrah! My bags are packed, I have my euros, nothing left to do but catch my flight. I'm flying to Gibraltar, Gib, The Rock, the port for British sailors since the days before Aubrey and Hornblower (ok those two are fictional), that strategic military base with roaming monkeys...

But I'm not staying there, I'm heading for an empty beach on the Costa de la Luz, rural Spain, with a view of Africa across the Straits...

Hopefully there'll be a few day trips, to Cadiz and Tangier, whale watching and churro eating.

And some good reading, I'm taking 'Anne of Green Gable' which I've never read (!) and the new Muriel Spark bio just out in paperback. See you in two weeks!