Crochet Doily Rug

 I ran across this on Ravelry and just wanted to share it with you.  It is a crochet rug; which is really crocheted the same as a doily only on a giant scale.


Leftlady on Ravelry, who Blogs at The Handmade Rainbow

Emma used 900  meters of 10mm upholstery piping she received with the purchase of an upholstery machine and a huge crochet hook.

Isn't it lovely?

Christy

Walnut Creek Winery Graduation Party

Dinner

Rob and the all American Coke, authentic style bottle too, the older folk at our dinner table were laughing because the Boy was trying to screw the top off, no this is the real deal, bottle opener needed.

Dining on the Verandah

Dining by the pond

Young Grad Section

The old Italian mama section

Le dejeuner sur l'herbe

Dancing Area

Graduation Girl Lori

Last Saturday, I know I'm a week late posting these, we went to a Graduation Party at a Winery: which was very nice.  But!

Have you ever gone to a party and as soon as you get there you realize you have not dressed correctly?

Yep!  That was me.  The invite was Dinner and Dancing at a Winery.  We've had the invite since January so you figure dressy, winery, dinner, dancing.

Oh well!  It wasn't too bad, I wore a blue linen shift dress, which could be dressed up or down, pearls which were pretty bling, you know chunky and chains.  If I'd only listened to Mr Bit Brit and taken the flats, I wore gold heals (thrift find, first time wearing them, less than comfortable) I could have changed out into them, dumped the pearls and I would have been fine.  Oh well live and learn.

Christy

Squirrels In Our Oak Tree

We have a family of squirrels that live in our oak tree.  They have lived here as long as we've been here.  They have a nest half way up the tree where the main trunk splits into two lesser trunks going up.  It's an ideal position.

 The new patio that Mr Bit Brit just laid for me is underneath the oak tree, so when we sit on the patio now, they very much feel that this is an invasion of their area.  

They place themselves on the tree peering down at you, chattering away and you know they are saying this is our home and space what are you doing here? Just look at those feet.

 If you look hard you'll see her up the tree.

This one is positively peering at me making me feel most uncomfortable.

As a child the word Squirrel was my favourite word.  I think it was the SQU sound.  It was also a word I found hard to spell at six years old.  But I soon learned to spell it being a Squirrel Nutkin fan.  I always loved the picture that Beatrix Potter painted of the Squirrels on their little rafts. 

Christy

P.S.  They have eaten just about every apple off my tree and the others fell off, so no apples this year.  I haven't tasted one apple off this tree since I planted it six years ago.

Robins Nesting In Climbing Hydrangea

Here is an update on the Robins nesting in our climbing hydrangea on the pergola.  They have hatched out of their blue shells and here they are in all their featherless fragility.  I think that there is a third one hidden, but not sure.  Mum works very hard finding bugs to feed her babies, see her beak is full of bugs to feed them.

Christy

I'm So Excited

OK it doesn't take too much to excite me in my small world.  Yesterday I went to the Thrift Shop and came home with some bits and bobs which I'll post another time.  But what I saw was a Duncan Fife table outside with two leaves to it $25.00.

Now I didn't think about getting it as I don't need a dining room table.  Today while at work though the light bulb went off that maybe with my 25% coupon it would have been a great table to use in the garden for the Graduation Party, cheaper than buying one of those long plastic ones, which cost $40.00.  I have two of those, but was going to ask around because I figure I need four more.

Well I phone Mr Bit Brit, but he's not too happy at another thing going into the garage and which one was it etc, etc.  So I said OK, I'll go after work and see if it's still there.  Well of course it wasn't, but now all the tables out front have been reduced to $10.00.  So I walk in and ask if any of them have leaves to them and joy of joys one little round dining room table quite sweet, is looking even better because it has two leaves.  I was so happy to find this out.  So with my coupon and tax, less than $8.00 for a long dinging room table; which I will use outside for the Grad Party.  You can't beat $8.00 and it's a dear table.

Will post photos on this later.

Christy

Pizza, Polish and a Pedicure

OK remember in my previous post I said we went over to friends for Pizza.  Well I was also offered a pedicure and then well I might as well get my nails done.  Love the colour.  We also watched Drop Dead Diva.  I'd never seen it before, fun series.  I watched two so have 37 to go.

Also I'm wearing my all time favourite flip flop shoes, gold leather and super comfortable.  I bought them in the south of France Villefranche-Sur-Mer.  It was towards the end of our cruise and I had only bought one pair of comfortable walking shoes; which were comfortable but I think you need to change out even a comfortable pair of shoes.  My feet were in dire straights and I came across these after a day walking all around Monaco.  Just right, flat, nothing on my toes and gold to go with evening wear or jeans. 

I have worn them to death and even took them to the shoemakers to see if he could revive them, but no go.  And I've never found another pair quite like them.  I live in hope.

Christy

Cold Antler Farm

Cold Antler Farm or CAF is a scrappy Washington County Farm in New York State and the Farmer is Jenna.

I have followed her Blog for several years now.  She recently made the huge jump from secular job and farming to just being a farmer.  Jenna has written several books which when you visit you will see on her side bar.

I know you'll enjoy the trip.  From videos of harnessing up horses and taking trips to the Ice Cream Parlour to the joys and sorrows of life on a farm.

Cold Antler Farm

Christy

My Weekend

Hi folks how is your weekend going?

I started out with every intention of tidying up and clearing out the basement.  Since putting in the new sewer system, if you follow my blog you will know what a saga (Sewer Saga) that was, we no longer have any problems what so ever in the basement.

I did have it sorted out and nice down there, then a series of unfortunate events (love that phrase from the Lemony Snicket books, my boy just loved those growing up, I digress) just messed it all up and although it has been cleaned etc it never got back to what I wanted it to be, a place to craft and do fun projects.  Instead as so many basements do it became the place to dump things, well not quite but almost that you don't want to get rid of, but don't know where to put them.

So as I said I started out with that in mind, recruiting hubby's help, but fatal, we took coffee out on to our new patio which Bo is working on, the weather was so lovely after a night time rain, the birds were chirping the light was beautiful falling through the old oak tree, that I got side tracked into gardening.  Digging up some Cleome which has sprung up in all cracks and crevices and planting it in these long old super heavy wrought iron planters.  Some went into instant shock so not sure how they will do.

Then we put the glass table on the patio and cleaned it, out came the umbrella and chairs, then we ran across two old captains chairs, in the garage, that I must have picked up in the trash but have no memory of where they came from. The wood needs oiling and a new fabric back on one. Plus the patio needed sweeping pots of hosta moved around etc

So after that we were just getting down to me working on the captain's chairs and Bo laying more pavers, when friends phoned and said come over for Pizza.  So on the spur of the moment we did so and that was the end of continued work.

We do have plans to get back to it later on today, Sunday, we'll see.

The patio will be a nice addition for the Graduation Party we are having for Rob, and that's another thing I need to get going on.  The other evening we did pick up all the plates, glasses, silverware and napkins from my friend, the one I think should go into a catering business, Miss M.  I have decided on buffet style, but that's a whole other post.

Christy

P.S.  The little Robin's have hatched out of their blue eggs and are little scrawny pieces of fluff.

Conway Hall London

After lunch at The Lamb Pub we continued on our London Walk.  Passing

 The Conway Hall Ethical Society

The Society was formed in 1793 by a group of nonconformists known as Philadelphians or Universalists.

In 1926 they built new premises, Conway Hall, at 37 Red Lion Square, in nearby Bloomsbury, on the site of a tenement, previously a factory belonging to James Perry, a pen and ink maker. The name of the society still reflects the original location. Conway Hall is named after an American, the anti-slavery thinker, Moncure Conway, who led the Society from 1864–1885 and 1892–1897, during which time it moved further away from Unitarianism.

 In 1888 the name of the Society was changed from South Place Religious Society to South Place Ethical Society under Stanton Coit's leadership. In 1969 another name change was mooted, to The South Place Humanist Society, a discussion that sociologist Colin Campbell suggests symbolized the death of the ethical movement in England.

Red Lion Square

Red Lion Square itself has an interesting history and some names you may recognize, associated with it.

Christy

Night Time Rose

Night Time Rose or better still Night Rose, that could be a name of a perfume, maybe it already is.  I transplanted this Rose in spring, not the best of times to do it as it already had tiny buds on it.  It was by the Pergola and never truly thrived, so I moved it to my back garden by my kitchen where I get most sun.  At first I thought it wasn't going to take, then I thought it will take but no flowers this year.  How I was pleasantly surprised when my lovely rose bush did put out several roses.  Next year should be really good.

Christy

Graduation Dinner At Italian Restaurant

To celebrate his Graduation we went out for an Italian Dinner; which we thoroughly enjoyed,  As we  hardly ever eat out, so a treat for us all.

Christy

Cape Henlopen, DE The Boy's Adventure

Lovely sandy beaches along the coast here.  I have come to love this area, for it's salt marshes, and the pines.  I was always partial to a more rugged cliff type shoreline but so many areas have their own natural beauty that you come to love them in their own right, not in comparison.

The Boy wanted an adventure and it seemed that everyone was working or committed so he decided to go for a couple of days to The Shore camping.

The Shore for us either means New Jersey or Delaware.  He asked me what I thought was a good camp site and I said Cape Henlopen, DE; which is a State campsite right by the sea.  From us this is about a three hour drive.

I always thought that I could never live in a State too far from the Sea.  Over here in the States we say I'm going to the Shore, when I was a child we always said I'm going to the Seaside.

So Rob packed up his tent and some of our camping gear his bike and set off in his new car on an adventure.  We really weren't sure that he had everything he needed, but what the heck he's a teenager and he can figure it out.

So these are some of his photos from Cape Henlopen, it is lovely there.  The smell just walking through the pines which are so typical of the coast here and the tangy saltiness of the sea, so restful.

The Delaware and Chesapeake Bay areas are Key Migratory Routes for birds flying to and from the Arctic to South America and Monarch Butterflies in Cape May, NJ which fly all the way to Mexico for the winter (not the same butterfly, it's like a relay)  On the shore line here we have these crazy looking Horse Shoe Crabs and they lay literally millions of eggs and the birds gorge themselves on these on their stop over flying North.  The whole Eco system is crucial.

Since the State Park there used to be a military area during WWII it has a lot of old off the beaten path roadways; which I rather think the boy enjoyed.

Christy

WWII About Camp

Some around camp pics from the Reading Air Show.

Christy

Tiny House Blog Giveaway

Have you ever thought of a get away in your back yard?  A little shed where you craft, write and dream?  Have you considered down sizing your house, making your home in a much smaller dwelling, then you might like The Tiny House Blog.  It's quite inspirational.

At Tiny House Blog Giveaway.  I won a giveaway, I'm the last one listed there.  Smalltopia an E-Book by Tammy Strobel along with A Little Book of Letters also written by Tammy Strobel.  I have been enjoying these and want to review them further to benefit from them.

I'm a little late in getting this posted, but time flies.

Christy

Voila! WWII France, State Side With A Dose Of Pennsylvania Style

 

 
Vignettes of life in France during WWII.  I do so like the Tailors Shop, also the French  Garage along with the kitchen and take note of the stove; which is to die for.  Not French though true Pennsylvanian and made down the road in Royersford.  Wouldn't you love that beauty and she works because she was warm when I walked by her.

Christy