Something new

 Another new author to me, it's a gentle book with a mother looking back on her teenage son's life, he died along with his dad, the son was troubled in the last few months of his life. She wakes up in hospital and has to piece everything together. Book 16 read this year. 

I have read this author before, I really did not enjoy this book, I kept reading it as it was an easy read whilst the children were sleeping over, I'm not keen on books where you can ascertain the outcome of every action in a positive way, and the woman gets her man at the end. Less said the better, Book 17 read this year. 

More fun with growing, I've tried a few times to grow peanuts (Monkey nuts here in UK), I was chatting online with a guy who has got them to shoot, and followed his advice. As you can see they mostly have shoots, eventually they will be put into a couple of bags, they are a member of the legume family (peas and beans), I have an intolerance to nuts, hubby loves them, these are on a sunny window sill with a radiator below. 

I have some spring blooms showing, hyacinths planted last year, there is a good mixture of colours already in the garden beds. Daffodils of all sizes have buds, sadly it's still rather windy, the taller ones are getting battered. My transplanted primroses are full of bloom, this bed is filling out.

The plant in the downstairs bathroom, is flowering again, it's just a very giving, with such stunning flowers.

Friday evening was good, both little ones were in bed early and fast asleep, Will choose another film to watch, I was in bed by 10pm. Saturday morning started with George at 8am, Molly was still asleep, they were both rested and happy. They came into the garden to help me lay cardboard in the new raised beds, and leaves on top, mummy needs some topsoil. We made cheese and bacon wraps for Will's lunch box this week. I was home early Saturday afternoon, daughter looked relaxed after a bit of pampering and a good night's sleep. Hubby at home had been baking, mince pies in February, using the last of the mincemeat. 

Sunday was home together, we sat for ages watching our outside space and the visiting wildlife, it did not stop raining again. We each have suggestions for outside, nothing big, just enjoying the view, again at the start of another gardening year we are happy with our layout, can't wait for warmer drier weather. Monday is another lazy day, fighting bugs, I will pop to our library, I have books to return. .

Hubby has a bad cold, which I passed to him, in a kind gesture he has passed it back to me, I feel rotten, chest hurts, stupid cough, I did a covid test because I felt so bad, it was negative.

Thank you for your comments regarding our lovely little family from my last post, living so close to them brings us so much joy, sadly school takes up so much of their time and we see less of them. Their lives have changed so much in the last 18 months, daughter is fierce protector of them, ensuring they live their best life.

Half term

 Molly has her own style, quirky comes to mind, 

much like her mum at the same age. 

These are from last weekend, 

she does love her sparkly jacket, and hats.

Hubby made the pancakes on Tuesday, I added all the good stuff, George had raspberries, bananas and ice cream on his, all 3 children had two small ones each.

Molly loves to paint, this Hello Kitty kit kept her happy for ages, I do love her independent way of using colour.

Wednesday was Will's birthday, 9 already how quickly the years fly by, hubby made his favourite red velvet cake, made with plant based ingredients so Molly and George could have some. No photo of Will, he asked me not to post any. 

Molly slept over on Tuesday, George instead of sleeping over went home really late on Wednesday, Will on Thursday, having them one at a time works better for us. It's nice to give individual attention to each child, they are happy and comfortable here. It was great having them here together for 3 days, mummy took home two each day, but we did both get tired.

We did not go out anywhere, the weather was just so dire, both little ones loved the different toys and puzzles here, Molly loves paper and crayons, George is still car mad, Will has an army game he loves playing on his tablet, not for too long, we watched a movie together, plus he started reading a new book we gave him.

Later today I will drive Will home, I'm sleeping over, daughter has a spar afternoon,  evening and Saturday morning at a local hotel,  time for her to relax, I'm  very comfortable at her home and the children are all good at bedtime, hopefully Molly won't wake up too early.

Crafting

 This is my starting point, these are the part used balls of yarn from socks, plus a couple packs of hand dyed yarn which I have had for years, it's a nice mixture of colours, I hope to use the smaller balls mainly and add colours where required, each of the new shanks should make 3 different colour patches. 

In here are the rest of my 4ply yarn, there are only a couple of full balls, all the random shades are on the right, these are going to be my first choices along with the yarn in the above photo, the plain colours can be added if I require a different shade. I have pulled out 3 full balls which are handy to keep.

I decided on black for the contrast, so many of my random balls have grey and blue in, so black stands out. I could not find any locally, so I had to wait for delivery, I'm not in any rush with this, I can take my time and enjoy the process. The first row I have used my blended yarns, the second row plain colours, I think I will keep this mix, gives the blended colours space to shine. 

The smaller balls shown in top photo, are in my workbasket next to my chair, handy for me to use, I can also pop the balls I am using in as well, they can roll and jump as I pull on the balls and hopefully not fly onto the floor for Lilly to chase. The yarn in the second photo is in a plastic propagator lid from the greenhouse, it's big, so it can stay on the spare bed, we don't have anyone due for a visit in the near future. 

I got in a terrible mess with 11 different balls of yarn on the first round, by the second I had worked out a method which stopped most of the tangles, I am packing the colours for each row after use together so I can use all the different colours. I am stitching in all the ends after each 'row', it makes my work tidy and saves the horror of doing it all at the end. 

I will still have loads of yarn left over, I really want to shrink it more, these are mainly sock yarn, so tough and not so fluffy, there are some baby yarn which is soft and fluffy. I have seen a circular blanket which I am considering as well.

Flowering

 Just one last bloom, stunning. 

More buds on plant in bathroom. 

Homegrown daffodils, 

 these from the front garden, the wind and rain had battered them.

A sneaky purchase at Tesco.

I have read this author before, the plot was very deliberately slow, it took me longer to read, the plot opened up the life of a recluse artist after her death, there wasn't a dramatic twist, everything was revealed throughout the plot. Book 14 read this year.   

Another author I like, set in Ireland, a boy is dead, another charged with his murder, the dead boys friends are all sticking to the same story, DCI Reynolds is asked to have a second look. I enjoyed the plot, nice twist at the end. Book 15 read this year.

Friday turned into a good day, car passed MOT with no issues, it was dry whilst we were in town, I had previously sorted my jewellery box, I have so much I don't wear and daughter did not want any of it, so I took some to a pawn shop, £360 for gold, £35 for silver.

Saturday was dry, so an hour outside in the garden, I had to redo the netting on one veg bed, Lilly had found a way in, did a bit of cutting back, and a general tidy around, as always it felt so good to be outside. The automatic greenhouse window opened for the first time this year, it was warm inside. I've a couple of huge pots which are empty, I would like to use them in the front flower section of the garden, I have enough plants for them, I hope to swap out a few smaller pots, they have been increasing over the winter. 

We got some Chinese dishes from Tesco which we heated at home for our tea, opened a bottle of prosecco, again we re-used our cards, it's the 5th year, no flowers or gifts to each other. We did get red tulips and a card for the little ones to give their mum, daughter was happy.  We read most of the evening, only watching The 1% club on TV, which we love.

Sunday back to rain, it was dark and grey from the start, it did not stop raining, so a day inside, I did some more on my 2025 book, a bit of knitting and more reading. It's half term here, so we will have days with children, all three have separate hospital check ups on different days, so mummy will drop the others here on the way.