End of 2016 Roundup

Well here we are on the last day of 2016, it doesn't seem five minutes since I was saying that at the end of 2015, where has this year gone?


I have been making monthly collages of photos that I have taken during each month throughout this year - it is surprising how many things you forget so I have enjoyed making these and looking back at things we have done each month. 


So here we are:-


January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August

September

October

November

December

As you already know and can see from the photos above there has been a lot of crocheting going on this year - definitely 2016 was the year of blanket making. In total seventeen blankets were completed - fourteen of these were for the Sunshine International Blankets of Love which were donated to a local residential care home, one other charity blanket was donated to Ronald McDonald House fundraiser, one was given to a work colleague for her baby son's cot and the final one was the Scheepjes CAL blanket 'Dancing In The Rain'. 


Here are the fourteen Sunshine blankets ...

and here I am with a couple of the recipients at the residential care home. I am pleased to say all the residents seemed really pleased with their blankets and I hope they give them as much joy as I had making them.

Well I think that just about rounds off 2016 and all that is left for me to do is to wish you all a very Happy and Healthy 2017, I hope it brings everything you wish for and I look forward to continuing to read your blogs throughout 2017.

Christmas Card Exchange

For the first time I have joined in with a Christmas Card swap organised by Amy from Love Made My Home. 


I was partnered with Jo from Through The Keyhole.  This was great as Jo's blog was new to me and I feel I have met a kindred spirit as our tastes seem to be very much along the same lines and I have really enjoyed reading through her blog which is now firmly on my favourites list.


Here is the card I received from Jo, I love it as it is personalised with her home town and with a lovely Christmassy scene. Thank you so much Jo.

Many thanks to Amy for organising this swap. I have linked to Amy's swap page where others are sharing their cards.




This just leaves me to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas. Have a good one!

Five On Friday - crochet mania!

Hello, Five On Friday time again hosted by Amy at Love Made My Home. 


Well my post this week is going to be dominated by crochet, I have been crocheting up a storm just lately. I am pleased to say that I have now completed fourteen blankets for SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets of Love) and I will be taking these to the residential care home this afternoon.

My fourteen SIBOL blankets (2016)

They have now been packaged and given names - yes, SIBOL blankets have to have a name. I struggled with this bit but thankfully some of my Facebook friends came up with some suggestions to help me. They also all have a crochet butterfly attached (the SIBOL logo).


I will show you the last three blankets which have all been completed in the last couple of weeks.


I spent nearly all of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday working on number 14 with breaks only for eating meals to get this completed on time. I have to say I am really pleased with how it has ended up, it was probably the most time-consuming of them all - I do like to make life difficult for myself. I have called this one Jan's Garden.

Pattern: Painted Roses by Sandra at Cherry Heart

This is blanket number 13, a straight forward ripple pattern for this one which I can crochet whilst watching TV or listening to music/podcasts or even reading on my Kindle. I have named this one Rippling Brook.

Pattern: Neat Ripple by Lucy from Attic24

Number 12 has been called Fields of Gold, I came up with this name as I was listening to Alexander Armstrong singing Fields of Gold whilst I was working on the blanket and the colours just seemed to fit.

Pattern: Cosy Stripe by Lucy from Attic 24

So what else have I been crocheting lately? 


One of my friends has been without heating as her boiler has given up the ghost so I made her these and hopefully they gave her a bit of comfort.

No pattern for these but inspired by Heather from The Patchwork Heart

I am taking a bit of a break from crocheting blankets to do a few projects that have been calling to me but I know I will be itching to get back to blankets before too long. 


Please visit Amy's link up where there are lots more Five On Friday posts to discover.

                   

Love Made My Home

Five On Friday - a random five!

It is great to be back with Five On Friday, thank you Amy for organising this yet again. My blogging has been on a back burner for a little while so it is good to be back in blogland.


1.  One of the main reasons for my absence from blogland has been the fact that I am working to a deadline to get my Sunshine blankets completed. As my regular readers will know I set myself a target of producing twelve blankets to be donated to a local residential care home to give to the residents for Christmas. I completed twelve blankets but then on speaking to the home I decided to try and get a couple more done (well thirteen would be unlucky wouldn't it)! I now have thirteen completed and am well under way with number fourteen - I am really down to the wire with this one. I have planned to get them all photographed and packaged on Monday next week ready to take to the home on Friday afternoon. Hopefully I will manage to get this one done in time. Here is a photo of it in its current state.

I will hopefully be back soon with a crochet related post - I have lots to show you.

2. I treated myself to a slow cooker a few weeks ago and I am loving it. During this cold spell we have been having I have enjoyed warm tasty meals and it is ideal for Slimming World recipes - my current favourite is Campfire Stew, so yummy and tasty. The main ingredient is a gammon joint which you shred up once cooked and mix in with the sauce, the meat just falls apart once cooked, I will be making this lots more.

3.  When I was on holiday at the end of October I treated myself to a new Christmas decoration which I love. I haven't decorated yet but just got this out to show you. The dome just sits on a base and is battery operated. However you can sit the base on a saucer and use a night light if you prefer. I am looking forward to getting the tree and the rest of my decorations out but I anticipate I will have a couple of weeks of nagging to do yet before the men folk will get my tree out of the loft! They definitely don't get excited about the onset of the Christmas season.

4.  Having read Amy's blog today about having an untidy desk I suffer from the same syndrome. However over the past couple of weeks I have made an effort to become more organised. I am lucky that a friend gave me this stationery carousel for all my numerous pens etc. Thank you Janice - I love it!

5.  Carrying on with the organised theme I saw one of these in my friend's house and just had to get one. It is an Ikea Raskog cart (trolley according to my DS2)! It is brilliant, so much room in the trays and already my crafting corner has become a lot more organised. I still have a bit of sorting to do but this is such a handy gadget. I love the little magnetic tins that are easy to attach to the sides of the cart. 

Please visit Amy's link up page to find links to other five posts. 

A beautiful morning for a walk in the countryside

Who can resist a walk in the countryside on a bright sunny November morning?  I certainly couldn't.


Our walking activity has slowed down just lately for various reasons so it was so good to get out in the fresh air and sunshine.


We chose one of our favourite locations and set off with camera in hand. One thing we noticed was how many holly berries there are this year - is this the sign of a hard winter to come?


I will let the photos do the talking and hope you enjoy them.

Thank you for visiting if you have made it this far. Have a great weekend and I will be back with another blog post soon.