Happiness is....

Firstly, I have warm toes, I have been wearing hand knitted socks for weeks, I love everything about them, they also look so good. I have had loads of comments from friends, I shall have to start another pair as I love knitting them as much as wearing them. 

 My book for 2018 arrived this week.

 Lovely to look back

 Even to read what I was doing 2 years ago, on this day.

I am completely pleased with my latest blog book for the year 2018, this being my 9th book where I have taken each post into print. My 1st book was for 2009 and 2010 together, all the rest are one for each year. I do often look at my books, I like to read back, our grandsons love to see their photos, and it's a great reference for my crafting.
I normally have the book printed in November, I make the book on my computer and when finished I upload to the printing site, but there was an issue and it would not upload, I had tried everything and had thought, that's it no more books. Hubby had a guy in to fix an issue with his computer and we turned mine on for him to check and I remembered this issue, it took the guy less than 5 minutes to sort it and free the book to be uploaded. For the past 9 years I have saved my name Poppypatchwork and password on my computer, but to log on the site separately I use my email address, it seams they must of changed the setup, I probably got an email, which I did not read, I did hang my head in shame.
I'm doing nothing at the moment, last weekend wore me out, all the worry for George, and my daughter, I have ate chocolate twice in the last few days. We had George for a couple hours on Tuesday, mummy had her hair done, she was going to cancel, but we wanted her to go, it was good for her and we loved having George to ourselves for the first time, he is again improving and eating better. Thank you for all your kind comments, bloggers are such wonderful people, we share so much together. I also find so much support from a facebook group for grandparents of DS children, it's sad to see sick children, but it's balanced by seeing so many DS children doing so well in their lives. There is alot of love in our world, under all the madness of modern life.

Finish and homecoming

I have finished this small blanket for a baby, the colours are more for a girl than a boy, so it is not for George, my daughter has a friend who has a baby girl and I will gift it to them. 

 I did not use all the yarn, it is already bigger than the blankets I made George and Will, this yarn will be added to my crochet square blanket I am making, this uses the thinner of the 4ply yarns, so the squares all come out a similar size.

 New book, new author for me, I enjoyed every word, could not put it down, I guessed the plot well before the end, but it did not matter, the ending was abrupt, but it allows you to finish their story. I will look out for more of her books. 

George came home yesterday, this photo was taken in the baby unit, after his treatment and looking so much better. Thank you for your kind comments, he is 2 months tomorrow and just so young to be having difficulties breathing, we know its a symptom of DS, but the doctors said he is a strong baby, we all worry about our children and grand children of all ages, but seeing a baby struggling for breath is heartbreaking. 

Yesterday was fun with Will, he is such a happy little boy, he spent some time looking out of our spare bedroom window watching the gas men fill the huge holes, our street is starting to look normal again, they have only done our side of the street, everyone is watching to see if they start digging up the other side.
Will spent time outside with hubby doing jobs in the garage and garden, he does love to spend time outside, he decided he would like pizza for lunch 'to warm him up', and had a long nap in the afternoon. He does no sleep every afternoon, but he was yawning when he came in, all the fresh air finished him off.
When he woke we drove to the hospital to collect mummy and George, our house is much closer the daughters house to our hospital, and I drove them all home, had a beautiful cuddle with George, I did not stay long grandma and grandpa were on their way for cuddles and checking to see if the lovely family were OK, they had been away for the weekend and I know grandma was desperate to see them.
Today we have George for a couple of hours, daughter has things to do and we all agreed it better he stays in the warm, Will is at nursery. So no plans, the heating is on and the house is warm, I hope to do some reading or knitting or maybe just cuddle a beautiful little boy.

Not the best

My Hellebore's are in bloom, this one is planted in the ground, I did plant 2 others but they have not grown, more casualties of our heavy clay soil. 

 This is in a pot at the back of the garden, along with a grass my younger daughter gave me for a birthday gift a few years ago. 

 These is still colour in the garden, these pots are placed in between the large fruit pots, by the decking. 

I have not done much in the last few days, it's too yucky to go outside much in my garden, and I have nothing I can do, my greenhouse this time of year looks after it's self other than a bit of watering. Our streets are mucky from all the gas works, our pavements are full of holes.
Friday I spent the day at home, without gas as they renewed the pipes, and they required access to our gas meter in the day, which is in our kitchen, our house has been completed, but it all took much longer than expected, the gasmen had problems with neighbours in the street, I don't understand why people think it's OK to be rude to workmen, who in this case are safeguarding our gas. Daughter came over to keep me company with Will and baby George, who is not too well, we put a stool by the window and opened the blinds so Will could watch the men in the holes, it was a lovely time chatting together.
Saturday we walked to the library, I gave up reading, Blood and Honey by Graham Hurley, I managed 200+ pages, it was interesting to know the locations in the book, the plot had 2 stories and the private lives of 2 police officers, but it was slow and I struggled from the start, so now I have 3 more books to read.
Saturday evening we had an evening with some neighbours, but sadly we left early after a call from daughter, George had been taken to our local good hospital with breathing difficulties, he was given oxygen for 2 days which helped him to breath and kept his heart rate down. I spent most of Sunday with daughter in the baby unit, George looks so tiny in the bed, it has been very worrying time, we hope he will come home today. In the past 2 months George has stolen our hearts, as did his older brother Will and all our grandsons, I'm finding being at home waiting for better news hard going,

Planning a new projects.

Our village is going to have a poppy display this year, on our local facebook page an appeal was posted asking for ladies to make poppies, so I collected the pattern, purchased some cheap yarn, and now I need to knit. 

 I think I have found the knitting pattern  to use with this yarn, it's 4ply, I have 400 grms of baby merino, and 100 grms of the hand dyed. It's knitted top down, which I love, if I should run out of yarn I can get more, the site still has the lighter green with same dye lot and have 47 balls, so I should not have any problems.  

 

The design, I will make my colour bands much bigger, and I have a plan for the sleeves to be a bit different, maybe use some blocks of contrast colours. 

 This collage of 4 show other knitters choice of colours, 

these images were taken from the pattern site. 

I am really glad I found a design I like, I am enjoying knitting the squares, but being so small, I feel all I am doing is casting on. I have made a couple jumpers knitted neck down one with stripes and I really enjoyed making it, the stripes on the sleeves worked with ease. I can't sit and do nothing, watching TV on dull days is just not an option, I do like reading, but I'm struggling with my latest book. Last year I was making the huge ripple blanket for our spare bed, a perfect project as it was colourful and warm whilst making it. 

We have not done much, the boiler fitter was in our kitchen for 2 days, but now it's finished we are very pleased and the house is much warmer. 

Monday we had Will, who was very interested in the man working in the kitchen, I had to keep taking him to see the progress being made, we walked to the village for lunch, Will does love to see the ladies at Darcy's, he took his doctors items and was helping a lady there to feel better, real fun, everyone loves a happy toddler. Later mummy came to pick him up with George, so we had loads of cuddles with him, he was wake, his eyes following the noises and light, he is gaining weight, but still a small boy. 

Tuesday we finally got our kitchen back, I spent the afternoon cleaning and putting things back, it was not too grubby, the guy was a clean worker. I also went out in the morning for coffee with the sign ladies, we still like to meet and chat, it was at my neighbours house so I did not get wet. 

Wednesday was a day at home, I sorted some sewing, daughter has purchased a king size quilt which she wants me to cut down to 2 cot quilts. Later we walked to the village, our streets are very messy, the gas men are digging huge holes in the pavements, they try and be clean, but with all the rain it's hard for them. 

Tuesday into Wednesday was the most rain we have seen for years, it was non stop for hours and very windy. The weather caused no problems in our garden, the broken fence panels are blown towards the neighbours garden, and her overgrown plants keep them upright,