My favourite things, Mollie Makes, & the Great British Sewing Bee ,& lets Knit Socks.

Its been a glorious day here in Lincolnshire. Its been so warm that the shetland cardi I put on first thing this morning had to come off at about 11am. In terms of weather, that is amazing!
The day started off well with a lay in bed until the postman knocked. Poor guy was totally laiden. Mr T had ordered some new tools for his new job he started today. It seemed they were all delivered today via Royal Mail & I had my newest edition of Mollie Makes delivered to me & a new book I had ordered form Amazon. Its called Knit Socks by Betsy Lee McCarthy. The book is lovely & has some superb patterns for hand knitted socks which I adore making. The socks depicted on the cover are the ones I really want to make.

I really need to go through my yarn stash to see what I can use or need to order for them. The book contains 17 sock patterns. There are some great instructions on how to cast on for stretchy sock tops & how to use circular needles to knit in the round. There are also other great tips for knitters to use. I certainly would recommend this book if you are interested in making socks.

Mollie Makes is a regular through our door. There is always something I am interested in or want to make. This month is no exception! 

Look at the puppies on the front cover. They are finger puppets! Inside this month is an array of articles I cannot wait to read.

One thing I will be making is a similar fascinator to this one.

I think the placement of the rosettes will be different .We have another wedding to attend later in the year & with a posh frock , I think it will be perfect!

The rest of the day was spent outside in the sunshine, doing a bit of gardening. When Mr T had finished his job , we even sat outside & had our lunch of homemade soup with rounds of crusty bread , tomato ,ham & melted cheese. Mmmmm!!!

I have managed to get a great deal planted today. The garden is starting to come along nicely & in a few weeks we should be getting salads from it & have a few flowers growing as well. 

The chickens got moved today as well to their permanent run. They have been very helpful , turning over grassed areas for me so I have not had to work quite so hard at getting rid of turf when we have created planting beds.

Nothing is flowering yet & still the daffodils have yet to emerge. The cold weather has put everything so behind & with a very late planting of my bulbs this spring , they are even further behind everyone else. Having said that , I will have blooms in the garden after everyone else s have faded!

I am off now to watch on catch up this weeks episode of the Great British Sewing Bee.   I am so hooked !!

Snow & excitement in Lincolnshire!

The past week has been quite an exciting one & that is nothing to do with the snow! I do have to admit to getting a tad excited when the snow did arrive , but I am so over that now! I want a non slippery walk with my dogs & No1 man on an afternoon  & to not have things I love doing cancelled because of the snow & cold weather.
You want to know what else I have been excited about? After far too many years dithering, I returned to an art group. There is a wonderful gallery nearby called Lincolnshire  Gallery & on a Monday morning , they hold an art class. I went along with a friend & we had such a lovely time.I came away feeling as though I will eventually be able to produce something worthy of calling art. Everyone was so friendly & welcoming . I feel full of inspiration ! I am going again tomorrow even though it is snowing heavily outside at the moment.
Below is a sketch I did at the class in 10 minutes. It surprised me what I could achieve if I really pushed myself.

Our new DSLR cameras arrived this week as well. Mr T & I are now learning to use them & I am certainly  looking forward to producing some better images for this blog at least. I have been wanting one of these for some years now so this is a real treat. They came just at the right moment too with all this beautiful icy weather. I got some pretty shots & they were only taken in my garden! 

 This is the tip of a Ceanothus shrub caught in the ice.

  Bejewelled spiders web .

Mr Robin on his daily business collecting seed from under the bird feeders.

 Maisie caught on the windowsill!She is so naughty!!

 Across the fields looking towards Holbeach. The trees are entrapped in ice , making them look spectacular in the sun.

I hope you have had a great week as well.
I will be back with some more creations I have to show you very soon.