My New Project – yarns to be used.

For my new project, I am using a selection of yarns. The first is a combination of the rolags I bought at Festiwool, Hitchin and some grey merino I had in my stache.

I am also adding in some of the very white Polworth fleece, which I hand-carded recently:

I also have some purple and grey merino which I will work in.

This is how the finished project will be: a short waisted button-up cardigan with a large collar:

So far I’ve done the back up to the armholes in a plain purple merino. First picture gives the true colour and the second picture shows the detail with the flash turned on:

The flash sure makes a difference, doesn’t it. The first pic is very accurate.

This project will not be finished quickly. I am still spinning the wool into yarn and in between I am working on other projects. However, I will come back and show you as and when I finish each section. I don’t have enough of the purple to finish the back so I may use the mixed purple and grey from the armholes up. Let’s just wait and see shall we.

Meanwhile, five weeks to go until my new grandchild appears. It’s getting exciting. Pity they are in South Carolina. We won’t be visiting very soon!

Oma

Dylan update – September 2014.

My little grandson Dylan is on holiday this week, in Wales. He’s having a great time judging by this picture.

Holidays are so necessary in our busy lives but it is hard for some of us to afford them these days. Larry and I have been having days out this summer rather than weeks away and I’ve enjoyed it very much. After buying the new car in May, it made sense to be careful for a little while and although holidays can be fun, they can also be a lot of work, what with the packing, planning, navigating etc.

I’m not sure if the wetsuits were really necessary! but I’ll leave you with some more pics of the happy family enjoying their summer break:

My grandson Sammy – update.

 

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,

Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown,

Tapping at the window and crying through the lock, Are all the children in their beds,

it’s past eight o’clock?

The explanation of the words to Wee Willie Winkie was to teach children to associate every day tasks with their own lives. Before the days of the wireless, television and the Internet great reliance was put upon the Town Crier to pass on the latest news and information. ‘Wee Willie Winkie’ was the children’s version of the Town Crier! The author of the poem was William Miller (1810 – 1872) and the first publication date of the words to Wee Willie Winkie was in 1841.

This adorable child is my grandson Sammy.

Have a wonderful Sunday everybody.

Oma x

Dylan update – July 2014 and a flash back to the past.

It seems that Dylan’s transformation into Spiderman is complete!

Dylan is now nearly four years old.  His birthday is in October, like mine and so the big 4 is just around the corner. He is a very active little boy who enjoys dressing up and posing for photographs. Whenever I see pictures of him or observe his behaviour when he comes to visit, I can’t help thinking back to my own three little boys when they were the same age. It doesn’t seem so long ago to me, you see; although in reality it is 36 years since my eldest son, Robert, was four years old.

This is Robert, aged 4 and his brother Edward aged 1. David wasn’t born yet. The year is 1977.

 

The photo was taken by a professional photographer. I know that at the time we could hardly afford it, but I so wanted a nice picture to keep so we stretched ourselves. The days when my children were little were the happiest of my life. It is hard to compare those days with these days when I am almost a different person. I look back and I think, did this really happen? Why did it go so quickly? Looking at the picture above, it would not be long before Robert started school proper and then it would be ‘teacher said this or teacher said that.’ and I would no longer be that most important person in his life. For now he was mine, all mine and we shared everything together. We lived in a happy bubble, not having much money, but having plenty of time.

My grandson, Dylan, has just had his first professional photograph taken at the Nursery where he goes twice a week. I think it turned out very well, don’t you?

Have a lovely Sunday all of you. Just want to say a big thank you for following my blog and sharing my life and my memories.

Oma

 

Sammy is one year old today!

Hip Hip Hooray, Sammy is one today! Truly my cup is full and runneth over. Little grandson number 2 is one today and we’re just been out for dinner to celebrate the day.

Here he is on the new slide his other grandparents bought him for his birthday and later on, after he’s had a little sleep, he’s off to the playground again to have some fun.

His mummy is a teacher and therefore has this week off work so isn’t he lucky.

Sammy is such a dear little soul with a big dimple in his chin, just like his mum and his maternal granddad. He has his daddy’s curly hair and big blue eyes.

Below you can see a picture of Sammy’s daddy at the same age (on the left) and Sammy himself on the right.

One year old is such a milestone, isn’t it.

Oma

 

Dylan at the seaside.

This is my little grandson, Dylan, having a great time at the seaside this weekend past.  He is still enjoying Spiderman and wears anything spiderman related that he can find. Looks cute, doesn’t he.

We haven’t seen very much of Dylan lately and I do miss him, but we were finding that having him all day was too much, especially as he kept asking ‘when is daddy coming to collect me?’ Clearly we ancients are not his idea of fun even though we tried very hard to amuse him all the time he was with us.

It is hard for working parents, I know. But it is also hard for grandparents who lack the energy of a three year old.

We were discussing the situation with one of my other sons the other day and he explained that these days, the 30 somethings were an ‘entitled generation’. They have been brought up to expect things done for them. This has quite a big impact of all our lives. If you are of that generation, reading this, I don’t want to sound harsh. I can only tell it how it is to us.

We have given free child-care for 3 1/2 years, but it’s never enough or so it seems. I would love to be 30 something myself but I never will be again, sadly. I do not have the will or the energy. When Dylan came along, I thought it would be like taking care of one of my own little boys, but I quickly discovered that things, which I took for granted in the 70’s, I can no longer do. For example, I could only lift the baby for a little while and when I leaned forward to put him in the cot, my back hurt unbearably. I needed help and got it from J, but he also got tired very quickly. Even with three of us here, it is difficult to be ‘on’ all the while throughout the day.

So things have changed here. We only see Dylan when his daddy brings him round, but at least we see him sometimes. It is not enough for us to have him for just a couple of hours. He needs care all the day so it is very much an all or nothing situation. I know there are lots of grandparents who don’t see their grandchildren at all for one reason or another and there are many who don’t have any grandchildren and never will have and I feel for them.

Life is so different to when I was young. I was so happy to be at home with my little ones and enjoyed every minute. I didn’t get bored or ‘brain-dead’ being with children. Life is very much what you make of it, isn’t it.

So I’m getting used to the new situation, slowly.

Oma

Happy Easter and Sammy update.

 

 

My little grandson, Sammy, is growing fast.  He is nearly one year old already. Can you believe it? For Easter we bought him some small, white chocolate Easter bunnies and a gorgeous book about Peter Rabbit. He came round to visit this morning with his Daddy and we had the pleasure of watching him open the parcel. Too soon for chocolate today but he may be allowed a little tomorrow.

News! Sammy is crawling and gets about the room crab-like and quite fast.

Down at the garden centre, business is booming.  Feast your eyes on these delights:-

The shops are full of Easter Eggs.  Which one is your favourite? This year mine is an Aero egg, full of bubbles and I’m looking forward to eating some of it tomorrow.

Have a wonderful Easter Day tomorrow from all of us at the cottage 🙂

Oma

 

My grandson Dylan, update

My grandson Dylan is into super heroes, especially Spiderman. Here he is in his spiderman sunglasses. Looks the part doesn’t he!

We haven’t seen him too much lately because he’s been going to Nursery. Don’t they grow up quickly!

ChildhoodChildhood, sweet and sunny childhood, With its careless, thoughtless air, Like the verdant, tangled wildwood, Wants the training hand of care.See it springing all around us — Glad to know, and quick to learn; Asking questions that confound us; Teaching lessons in its turn. Who loves not its joyous revel, Leaping lightly on the lawn, Up the knoll, along the level, Free and graceful as a fawn? Let it revel; it is nature Giving to the little dears Strength of limb, and healthful features, For the toil of coming years. He who checks a child with terror, Stops its play, and stills its song, Not alone commits an error, But a great and moral wrong. Give it play, and never fear it — Active life is no defect; Never, never break its spirit — Curb it only to direct. Would you dam the flowing river, Thinking it would cease to flow? Onward it must go forever — Better teach it where to go. Childhood is a fountain welling, Trace its channel in the sand, And its currents, spreading, swelling, Will revive the withered land. Childhood is the vernal season; Trim and train the tender shoot; Love is to the coming reason, As the blossom to the fruit. Tender twigs are bent and folded — Art to nature beauty lends; Childhood easily is moulded; Manhood breaks, but seldom bends. David Bates

I hope this Wednesday brings you joy 🙂

 

Oma

Baby Sam’s First Christmas and a new project for me.

This is my second grandson, Sam. He is sitting on his mum’s lap, opening his Christmas presents. He is a little confused about it all because it is his very first Christmas and he’s not sure what it’s all about. The quilt over his knees was his main present from me. You can see more about it here… I think he likes it. It has a jungle theme so I bought him  a tiger to go with it and a storybook called ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’. Don’t you just wish you were that age again?

So now that I’ve finished that quilt, what am I working on next? Well, here it is, a quilt for Larry (my husband). When I was in America, I loved going to Joanne’s Fabric Emporium. They have every sort of craft going on in there and they are very big on quilting. I was inspired every time I stepped through the doors. Now that I’m back in England, I feel deprived because the nearest shop I have to that is quite a way away and my local shop is tiny. I buy a lot of materials online, but I did bring some American themed material back with me so the quilt for Larry has an American theme (in case he gets homesick) and I’m making it in a homespun sort of design. I fell in love with the homespun style while I was there and for those of you reading this who are English and unaware of the style, take a look here:

I love the spooky nature of the Primitive Style. It appeals to that side of me as I love all things natural and home-made.

Here’s a preview of Larry’s quilt, which I still have to sew up. The layers are in place like  a sandwich and I’m pinning them together so they don’t shift about when I sew.

and one more picture of Baby Sam’s first Christmas:

Oma 🙂

Dylan update – Dylan has a new house!

This is my little grandson, Dylan. He has some big news. A week before Christmas he moved into a new house! Here at the cottage, it was very exciting news because the move had been on/off, on/off, on/off, all through December. There was a small snag concerning the Land Registry and that held everything up. (Isn’t there always a small snag!!!). Anyway, in the end all was well and they moved in on a fairly nice day without too much wind and cold.

It took till lunchtime to get the van loaded at the old house and then til tea-time to get into the new one. By then everyone was tired. Dylan came to the cottage for the day while everything was going on and Larry was ‘on loan’ to help with the move. My son and his wife coped admirably and even seemed to enjoy it.

The next day the priority became putting up the Christmas decorations. The other grandparents did a lot of that, so that by the end of day 1, the house looked like Christmas had arrived and the family were very happily ensconced in their new abode. I don’t have pictures yet, but suffice to say it is bigger than the last house and Dylan has a very nice, new bedroom to put all his new toys in.

+++

Christmas is now over, in the main; although because I love it so much, I refuse to stop celebrating in my own quiet way. This afternoon I intend to sit down and watch ‘Holiday Inn’ because I really enjoy that film. I have a new, digitally coloured version, which is excellent.

When I woke up this morning, there was a hard frost all over the ground. Larry had never seen such a thick frost before. It looked like snow to him. No doubt he will mention it in his next missive, which I must encourage him to write.

So now I must get back to the kitchen. We have roast lamb for dinner today. It is already smelling wonderful…