Out and about...

This week we've had a lovely week off of work and have been blessed with decent weather.

After a day of rest on Sunday, we caught a bus to Cissbury Ring

It was bliss, being in the heart of the countryside, so peaceful

Just surrounded by the sounds of nature

with views of the rolling fields in one direction, and across the town to the sea in the other

We weren't just there to take in the beautiful surroundings, but we knew there were plenty of Geocaches to find

It was a fabulous place for finds, and we bumped up our total by finding 11

The next day was another rest day, but we did take a trip to the cinema to see Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children

Midweek and we were on the bus to Brighton. I really wanted to go once I'd heard there were a trail of snow dogs

It seems we're always hunting for something whilst we're out!

It was great searching the lanes and seafront for these amazing doggies, all looking so different as they've been transformed by different artists

The following day we spent more time at home, but with lovely weather we did take some beach strolls, but can definitely feel that its Autumn now as the temperature has sure dropped

I took a trip to the hairdressers for a much needed colour. I've gone back to red to cover those 'natural highlights'

At the weekend we had a visit for hubby's sister and had a lovely day around town, stopping for afternoon tea and fun on the pier

Although we've been out and about a lot, on our rest days with our feet up in front of the tv, I've been beavering away on the mandala

I've managed to complete 3 rounds which I'm very pleased about

To give you an update I'm currently on round 94 out of 111

Despite a change of routine I've still kept on track with my eating

So a great week, relaxing and fun, but tomorrow it's back to reality and work :-/

A spot of Geo...

Just popping in to say "hello", but I have to admit that I haven't managed to achieve any crafting whatsoever! None! Zilch! Zero! I have missed it as it is my main relaxant.

Sunday we were off work and after some housework we went into town to try to do some Geocaching. We were half successful finding 2 out of the 4.

The week seemed very hectic at work, so I didn't get much time in the evenings.

Ive finally decided to join slimming world, its much needed. I'm finding it tricky so far of thinking of things to eat, but hopefully i'll get into the swing of it!

On our midweek day off we met up with my Mum, and had a lovely day out at Bognor.

The sun was shining, we had a lovely relaxing day catching up

And managed to find 3 more Geo's too!!

Fingers crossed that I can manage to juggle my week of fitting in meal planning, cooking, food shopping, work and get some much loved crafting in!!

Until next week x

Cycling and Mandala Madness...

So I made it through the busy Easter time at work, and the actual day at home was a nice lazy one!!

I haven't made too much progress with my basket, it has grown in stature a little, wibbly wobbly though it is, I'm still loving it!

The reason for not completing this project, is I got distracted by something else!!

Now I very rarely follow a pattern, but now and again something jumps out at me, and I think it's good to test yourself, and it helps to learn and grow.

What I had seen was a picture of the Mandala Madness Cal (crochet along)

It looked to have plenty of interest to keep my attention, and plenty of different techniques to try. So I chose a colour palette of purple and green and gave it a try.

I found a video tutorial by It's all in a nutshell on her blog. I'm not sure I would have managed without the visual help, but I have thoroughly enjoyed each round and I've learnt so much

The BIG lesson to learn, is pay attention to what you're getting into, and read the small print, because this I thought was the finished piece, worked over two weeks.

I now find that actually this is an 18 week project!!!

This is already 12" wide, so the end result must be enormous!

So my dilemma is do I stop now or continue??

On one hand, ive found this fun, ive enjoyed seeing how all the rounds link together, I'm curious as to how this will end up looking (its a mystery cal, hence no pictures of the end result) and I'm sure I will continue to learn. But, I don't have much crochet time so this will be all I get to work on, I cant paln what other colours to use without knowing what it looks like, what will I do with it when its complete, I like the way it looks right now, and I wont get the chance to play around with the ideas I have with what ive learnt so far!!

Any opinions welcome...

Last week we were able to get out on our bikes for the first time since moving to the coast.

No nasty hills to contend with just lovely flat ground with fantastic views. We had to do the obligatory café stop

We went as far as Ferring, before doing an about turn. On the return instead of a straight ride, we searched for Geo's on the coastal route. It was our best haul yet, finding 15!

It was quite a busy route to be searching, and they were tucked away in various places from benches and signposts to trees and walls, and under beach huts...

(can you spot the floating teddy bear!?)

We have a week off this week so hopefully more chance to explore and make

until next week...

Basket progress...

Short and sweet this week, as work is at it's peak season, so it's all pretty hectic. I just wanted to show you an update of my crochet basket, which currently I would say is at 'Bowl' stage, but I'm loving it so far!!

I think I got the increases a little wrong, but it doesn't show too much as I've continued, and with each row I'm learning!

We did manage a little seaside walk this week, but it did get cut short after an emergency trip to Specsavers to fix one of the lenses in my glasses.

We did the 2 mile walk to Lancing, as we were invited to a family dinner, but only had the opportunity to find one Geo en route...

Until next week, fingers crossed for some more sunny days...

sea walks and puffs...

We've been in our new home, and we're starting to get settled and get into a routine. Thankfully as we have a spare room, it means we don't have to sit and look at all the boxes yet to be unpacked and sorted! We got our new washing machine delivered and installed, so no more trips to the launderette!
The weather hasn't been amazing, but on Thursday we were able to venture out along the seafront. We will never tire of watching and listening to the waves

And we enjoyed watching 2 little birdies at the waters edge, trying to avoid the crashing waves

We also got our first glimpse of birds flying in formation

We had gone out without breakfast, so when we came across a garage, we decided a pit-stop was required!

On the return walk we stopped to look for Geocaches, and although it was next to a busy main road, it's amazing how discreet you can be!

I've tried to get back into crochet, and decided to just do a simple project to get the creativity flowing again. It turned out not to be quite so simple, as I intended to do puff stitch petals, except I got confused with the cluster stitch. I made a start and realised the petals were looking quite flat, so had to look up the correct technique.

All is not lost though, as I think a combination of both squares will look pretty good. I've had these bright, sparkly yarns in my stash for a couple of years, but now that I have a lovely, large cupboard for all my yarns to be stored, rather than boxed up in the garage, I have access to them all.

Now I've got my stitches organised, I should be able to get the squares made up quite quickly

Until next time...

Blocking Blooms...

On our day off last week, we were lucky with the weather, so after the chores were done we were back on our bikes. We cycled to Woking town centre, and stopped to look for our first Geocache around the WWF building. We made our way back, and found 3 more, but they were harder to find so we saved the others for another time, and cycled the rest of the route back...

I have continued working on my orange blooms this week

As I have so much blocking to do, and a towel really wasn't ideal, I sourced a set of foam mats, although technically play mats, they seem to be a popular, affordable option.

They have worked so well. The pins pop in so easily and stay in too!

The flowers are coming together. All the orange petals are made so i'm just adding the red edging and joining as I go and then blocking each flower

I'm thinking about writing out a pattern for this one, but as I haven't written a pattern for someone else to understand, I think I may need to do a bit of research first!

The weather has been quite erratic this week. From bright blue skies to deep, dark heavy rain clouds, but whichever we've had it's been very humid

Our flat is pretty hot, so when it gets too much, we have a lovely lake we can visit. just down the road

I never tire of this view, and a lap of the lake is a perfect stroll in the sun

We did have a sneak treat this time !!