On the home front...

The blanket I've been working on is finished...

A close up of the border rows and edging...

I'm pleased to be done with all that bright colour and enjoying getting back to something a bit more subdued.  And a new craft!  Well, not really new, but I haven't done any for many years.  So I printed off these simple cross stitch charts from Owl Embroidery.  These are three of the free charts she offers...

While I was searching our my Aida cloth and embroidery cottons I came across this sampler I did when I was in cross stitch mode many years ago.  1999 to be precise...

I'd never got it framed, so it's way past time

I decided to start on this very simple design to get me back into the swing of it...

see my tiny owl!  it only took me about an hour to do it!! :))

And of an evening when the light is not good enough, I'm knitting a scarf for charity.  Using up more of my left over bits and piece...

5mm needles and 2 strand of yarn.  The cream I will use throughout, as I have plenty of that, and then the colours I'll change randomly.

A trip to the library yesterday, and I picked up an Elizabeth Goudge book as Lisa had mentioned her on her blog and I'd never read any of her books.  Really enjoying it...

In the kitchen:  I made a blackberry and lemon loaf recently...

And a vanilla slice...

After all this recent rain, the river is up, and again, the walk track is under water in places...

river deep

won't be going over the bridge today

picnic anyone?  

Despite it being cold, wet and wintery, with snow on the mountains, there are signs of Spring in some of the gardens I  walk past...

And because I'm enjoying The Scent of Water so much, I'll leave you with a little sample from the book...

"Between that memory and the next the cuckoo called in a warm darkness, its note changing imperceptibly to the pealing of a bell, for the clock in a square church tower was ringing the hour.  The grey rock of the church towered above a graveyard where the buttercups were gay about the slanting gravestones.  There was a village green with thatched cottages about it, one of them the village shop and post office, and opposite the lychgate of the church lilacs grew in a tangled mass behind a garden wall.  In the wall was a green door under a stony archway.  It had a round brass handle and beside it was an ancient rusted iron bellpull.  Cut into the stone on the other side of the arch was the name of the house.  It was called The Laurels, though there wasn't a laurel in sight.  The lilacs had grown so tall that their branches hung over the wall and over the arch above the door.  Four steps led up to the door and they were very worn in the middle.  What could be behind the door Mary couldn't imagine.  Not the world she knew.  The thicket of purple and white blossom, the door and the step, were like a picture painted a long time ago..."

setting the scene :)

"Those times of my life when I have been entirely at peace with myself and in tune with the world, when I have felt happy and relaxed, satisfied and light of heart, have all been spent either by the sea, or in the country." - Susan Hill - The Magic Apple Tree

I hope you can find your 'happy spot' and spend some time there...

xx