GinnyKnit

My boys quilt is finished at last, all ready to wrap. it was a labour of love and my heart went into every stitch. He loves a nice blanket so hope fully this will be his new favourite. Snapped a pic of him in his Mummys hat reading his school book. Am looking forward to a peaceful Christmas with lots of pennypinching tricks up my sleeve. Also managed to finish this for my darling son and his wife, hoping they love it as much as everyone else does.

I have just finished a throw for my son and his wifes new home. A couple of my friends had done this pattern and I rather liked it so gathered together the yarn from my stash and bought an extra ball of white and I was away. I am really pleased with the effect  and am now looking through the bags for some green to do one for my daughter. I had a stall at a charity craft fair on Monday at cafe Logo's in Salford. Sadly not many people came throughthe door but I sold a doll - the cream Victorian girl in the photo - and had a lovely time with my friend tracy and all the lovely stall holders and organisers. I also had the best cup of carrot and lentil soup I have ever tasted for £1.'When life throws you lemons you make lemonade' as they say. It was lovely to get out for a few hours and be in good company

Here is my little cotton rabbit, she is so beautiful - Alpaca body and Patons cotton plus a little basic 4 ply. I think I may make a couple more as gifts. All the yarn was gifted by 2 of my dear friends which makes her all the more special. Have emptied my big freezer and re-organised ready for Christmas. Next stop is an order for approved foods so the larder is full. I bought, cooked and sliced 2 legs of lamb and a huge turkey leg so thats various meals including Christmas dinner. Roast spuds will be done and frozen too, they taste so much better cooked twice. I just cool them before freezing then chuck them in the oven on the day and they are crispy and light as a feather. Have made lots of presents already and Dgs has \his quilt which just needs binding. Have some frames to fill with crafty goodness but have put something away for Hubbys and can't for the life of me remember where the heck I put it. 

I consider myself lucky that I have never been abroad - strange thought - no, because people seem to fall in love with places and I would not be able to go back on my budget. So I fell in love with the North East of England! This was our main destination Beamish Musuem. We booked a bargain motel deal, packed our lunch and nibbles and headed North. Only minor glitch with hubbys health on the way and we were soon settled in our room. We had a drive round the first evening to see where the museum was, picked up a fish and a portion of chips between us and settled down for the night. Of course I had pen and paper with me plus a bag of yarn and a hook so plenty to do while hubby played patience, read or snoozed. Next day we went straight to Beamish as it opened at 10 am and Hubs slept late. Had our breakfast from what we had brought with us and planned to eat out there. We certainly were not disappointed- first thing the ticket is valid for a year and we only paid for Hubby as I was

I really must get myself blogging more often, its lack of inspiration mostly, though I do get ideas when I am no where near the lappy. Had a near tragedy last night, my sewing machine went clunk and stopped working. It is many years old and cost me £10 plus a Jean Greenhowe Victorian knitted doll so I havent done too badly out of it. I decided there was nothing to lose in taking it apart so set to with my trusty WD40. I cleaned all the interior gubbins and left it till this morning to make a decision. I am very happy to report it now works again !!!! Am in the midst of making a quilt, however it looks patchwork but is really printed fabric. I bought a Tesco quilt cover for £1.50  and a valance for the same thinking I would make myself a pretty double quilt cover from them but it was begging   to be quilted. Just have to do the edging  and its done. Here is one of my many makes this month, its a gift for a dear friend and really took no time at all. However I have decided I have t

My boy asleep, sadly he has gone to chase butterflies in heaven now. He is greatly missed and its very quiet here now. Thanks to an irresponsible pitbull owner he died very quickly on the 9th of August. On to better things, here are my brooches I made from felt displayed on a stand that I found in a charity shop for £3. My darling grandson is doing well and is off to France to see his other Grandad, he loves to fly and will ove France. Hubby is sleepy a lot now but Im keeping busy although somedays I get bored. I soon find something to do, pinterest and Ravelry can waste hours.

Success - I have courgettes! After the last couple of disastrous years growing this year is slow but much more successful. The greenhouses have been worth their weight in gold and well worth the investment. I even have a couple of cucumber plants that may or not produce something. It doesnt really matter they joy I feel in getting this far makes my heart sing. Soft fruit seems to be  doing very well even the 5 year olds redcurrant bush that has sat there bald of fruit has come into its own. Last year I got 3 strings of berries and was happy, this year its loaded to the hilt. I think it cost 99p from Lidl so quite a bargain. I also managed to make a bin full of compost which I have been using as a base for all my plantings.  Michael has taken to gardening and was overjoyed to find he can work Grandads hosepipe. Unfortunatley he turned it round just after this and sprayed himself full in the face - the look of shock and the slow motioned affect it caused in all 3 of us was wort

April wore me out then re-charged my batteries. I spent lots of time starting crafty things, finishing craft things, stocking up the cupboards and then managed to go away for a few days. Jenni, Anthony and Michael took off for Spain on a bargain holiday so I managed to book us a break in Lincolnshire too. Whilst they were away Michael had his 3rd birthday so we saved his pressies till we got back and here in all its glory is the doggy cushion I made him  I was very pleased with the outcome  but decided the crochet was too open to stuff as it was and needed a dog shaped cushion pad making, which was quite easy if a little fiddly. On opening his parcel he gave the dog a big hug and looked amazed at it with a big grin on his face - perfect result!

I made this very special blanket this week for Reubens Retreat a very special place for children. Reuben took on holiday in Devon and was found to have a brain tumour, he died a matter of days later, To help then get through the day his parents decided to fundraise and build the retreat in his memory.. My little donation is the blanket, the first of several I hope.  http://www.reubensretreat.org/

This weeks haul from Approved Foods has filled my cupboards to the brim and my heart with joy. I love getting parcels and have been lucky this year as I have received lots of lovely things. The AF order was to finish off my stocking up. I spent £16 plus a fiver postage and am very happy with what I bought. After the cakes I have been buying Hubby from the market shop I decided that although they are only 50 -75p each there were barely 4 good slices in them so got some very nice madeira and double choc muffin mixes in this batch. Also wrap kits, rice, bran flakes and white beans which worked out very cheap. My son buys belvita breakfast biscuits (when they are on offer) and drinking chocolate as he avoids caffeine, I got a large pack of both for 99p each. The powdered milk is a bonus as we have started using it for Hubbys porridge and baking as I cannot carry huge bottles of milk. Hubby seems to be sleeping a lot as the pain goes away for a little while or rather he is sleeping a