Bath Christmas Market

You know that the festive season is fast approaching when the Christmas Market in Bath springs up.

Sadly I didn't have as much time as I would have loved to explore it this year.

I was in Malta on my holiday for most of the days that it was running.

I did manage to pop in to Bath one evening to have a quick look.  Unfortunately I only had about 45 minutes before the stall holders started to pack up so I wasn't able to really get much shopping done.

Maybe next year :)

This will probably be the last blog post of the year.  We're off to Yorkshire at the weekend to spend Christmas with James' family so it's just left to say Merry Christmas to you all, and I wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful 2013.

See you next year :)

Snow!

First off many apologies for the lack of blog action round here at the moment.  Lots going on ..... I'm moving house, have been on holiday and have a wonderful new man in my life.  Hopefully in the new year, once the holiday madness has passed I will get back to regular blogging.

I haven't done a whole lot that is creative recently, but when I went on holiday I took a little crochet project with me.  I decided to have a go at making some snowflakes.

I managed to make quite a few while I was away in a couple of different patterns, I used up two balls of yarn infact.

However, none of them made it in to the suitcase home.  They are now all hanging on the christmas tree and around the apartment that my sister and nephews are living in in Malta :)

This of course now means that I have to make some more for myself!!

I've treated myself to a couple of lovely hanks of yarn called Willow Tweed by Louisa Harding, its an Alpaca, merino and silk mix.  I'm also attempting to make them on a slightly smaller hook, I used a 4mm hook for the ones I made in Malta and I'm trying a 2.5mm hook for the new ones.  We'll see how it goes :)

Smile......

....... life is good.

I know I'm being a terrible blogger recently but life is so busy lately.  I hope to get back in to the bloggy habit soon, there are so many positive things going on here at angelcat manor at the moment I can't wait to tell you about it all.  I just need to find an extra hour or five in the day and I'll be set.

I miss chatting to you all and it's been ages since I've been able to catch up with your blogs too so hopefully I'll get some time for that soon.  Until normal service resumes hope you all stay happy and healthy.

Time Flies

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. Time really does get sucked in to a big black hole sometimes!! I've had a bit of a lazy month, busy doing nothing.  But it's nice to take a break and step back from the madness once in a while, to forget about cramming as much as you can into each and everyday and just watch the hands on the clock tick by.

My hands haven't been entirely idle though work on the throw is continuing.

I'm almost there, just three more rows to add and it'll be done.  It does take me a while to sew all the ends in on these crochet projects, but it'll get there.  I am working on a couple of other projects too now which means this one has slowed down a bit, but it's a nice thing to do in front of the TV now the evenings are starting to get quite chilly.

Piles of colour

The crochet throw project is progressing well.  I have piles of colour in my little project corner at the moment.  I love bright colours so this is a joy to work on, makes my heart sing :)

Family Fun

My sister and her family are moving abroad next week so I've been spending a few more weekends than usual with them these last couple of months before they go.  We have been having so much fun.

There has been hugs with my nephews

tree climbing

lots of pulling funny faces and laughing

doing my best Lorax impression

making bubbles

feeding the ducks

walking the dog

feeling the breeze in our hair

eating icecream

And lots and lots of smiles

I will miss them all so much, but hope that the new adventure they are about to embark on brings them happiness and their own little slice of heaven.

Starburst Progressing

I've been busy hooking so the starburst blanket is making good progress. All the centres are done and I'm starting on the second rounds.  I wonder how long it will take to get all these to finished blocks?

I don't think I mentioned that the directions I'm following for this can be found back in Mollie Makes Issue 2

Mans Best Friend

If you have been kind enough to have been reading for a while you might remember that I have recently been walking my friend's dog. It's something that I'm still doing and loving. What a great excuse to get out in the countryside everyday.

I more or less take Naz along the same route everyday with a few minor variations, but what a beautiful walk it is.  I get to enjoy views of the beautiful English countryside

My faithful friend leads me along quiet country lanes.

We get to enjoy fields of beautiful wildflowers.

look how these fabulous views make Naz smile :)

More than anything i want my friend to make a full recovery soon, but I have to admit I will be more than a little sad when my dog walking skills are no longer required!

Starburst Begins

A new crochet project has begun.

I'm using these lovely yarns.  An aran weight by Tissa.  There were cheaper opinions in the yarn shop but these are so soft and beautiful to work with.  It was my birthday last week so I figured what the hell, I'd treat myself :)

I made a test block just to make sure I could get through the pattern ...... now I'm good to go.  Let's hope this throw comes together quicker than the waterlilies cushion :)

The dragon has spoken

It's been a while since I made a gift for someone who responded to my 'self' blog post earlier this year.  The months are ticking by fast now so I'm going to have to make sure I pick up the speed a bit to get everyone a little something made before the end of 2012.

The dragon has spoken once again, the next name has been drawn and as you can see from the picture above, stitching has begun :)

Okehampton

My little car is off the road at the moment so I'm limited as to the places I can get to explore at the moment.  Luckily I have lots of happy memories to relive from trips earlier this year which will keep me going for the time being.

Earlier this year I took myself off to Devon for the weekend to spend some time in the great outdoors doing a bit of walking. I took a wonderful walk around the Teign Valley but unfortunately I managed to delete all the photos I took from that walk off my camera ..... first time I've ever done something that silly!!

Never mind, no use crying over spilt milk as the saying goes. I did manage to save the photos I took from a lovely short wander round the town of Okehampton.

Waterliles Finished

I can hardly believe that I am finally writing this post. My first crochet cushion is finished.  It's been about two years in the making as other things distracted me from working on it constantly.

It was a big learning curve and it's far from perfect but it's done and I made it :)  I am happy happy.

I got the measurement wrong on the back panel and it finished up being a round or two too big, but luckily crochet is pretty forgiving and I managed to fudge it when I joined the two layers together so no unravelling had to be done.

I'm so pleased with how this turned out, and I think it looks lovely on my bed.

Even more exciting ... I've been itching to start on a nice colourful blanket and had already gone out and bought the yarn I needed but was determined not to begin until this one was finished. Now I can pick up hook again and get started.

Zennor

Just a few shots that I found and realised that I hadn't posted from my few days away in Cornwall earlier this year. Looking at these makes me want to go back right now, lol.

These were all taken on a fabulous walk round the South West Coast Path from St Ives to Zennor.

In Zennor church there is a chair with a beautiful carving of a mermaid.  This is not a great picture but it's the best one I managed to get.

I absolutely loved seeing this beautiful art work.  It's something that I've wanted to see for many years, it was pretty much a life changing experience for me, which I know might sound a bit strange it's only a chair after all!!

I've visited Cornwall many times over the years and this has always been on my list of things that I wanted to see, but I never got round to it, mostly because I always gave in to doing the things that the person I was with wanted to do in lieu of my own preferences.  So this trip when I visited on my own I got to do what I wanted and when I wanted to do it, it was nice to feel independent and empowered and somehow I have felt like a better version of me since then.

Quit procrastinating

I don't know about you but I have a whole heap of projects laying around the house in various states of finish. Some are just barely started while others are almost there. All have been neglected for their own reasons which are many and varied ;) 

Take this hat for instance, all the elements were made I just had to sew them together.

So why in the hell did that take me six months to get round to .... who knows?  Sometimes you just have to quit procrastinating and get on with the finishing.

Getting Lost

There is something to be said about getting lost every once in a while. We all have routines in our lives ... paths, roads and routes that we take all the time to get to work, the shops, the kids to school etc. But its good to go out and get lost once in a while don't you think? Whether we live in the urban jungle or amongst fields and trees in the countryside there is always beauty to be found, sometimes it all takes is a quick a wander off your usual beaten track.

I have lived in my town for 9 months now, but haven't really explored my local area too much, I'm always hurrying off to get to somewhere else.  So the other day I decided to put on my boots and take a wander from my own front door.

I found meadows surrounded by trees......and even a bit of blue sky look :)

There are dangers to be associated with heading out of your comfort zone though, look at the size of this giant stinging nettle behind me .... walkers beware ;)

You also have to not be afraid of the weather.  We are experiencing the wettest summer I can remember so if you're worried about getting wet there isn't much hope that you'll be getting far!

If you're super lucky you might stumble across the green man, hanging out protecting the woodland..... can you see him?

I found beautiful lakes I didn't know were just round the corner from my flat

fabulous bugs

and mesmerising patterns in nature.

All this and I was only out for 40 minutes, I can't wait to get out again for a longer walk.   So go on, go out and get lost for a while, I dare you ........