Monday 1 April 2013

Easter chilling!

Easter daffodils (1)


Hello there! We are making the most of the long weekend, relaxing in our new house. We did go out on Saturday, down to one of our favourite haunts in Suffolk. On the way we stopped off at Woodbridge to take a look round the market. Unfortunately, it decided to snow while we were walking! I did feel sorry for the stallholders, desperately trying to cover up all the goodies on their stalls. We bought some smoked garlic, it smells deliciously strong in the kitchen.
 
 
snowy suffolk 005

snowy suffolk 007
 
 
After that, we went on to Aldeburgh, to have our first 'al fresco' fish and chips lunch of the year. Not many people had the same idea, because we didn't have to queue for once! We took our bags of piping hot fish and chips down to the beach and sat on the wall. Mmmmmmmm, they did taste good, and the sun shone on us while we were munching! It's hard to believe that these photos were only taken around an hour after the previous ones, isn't it? Welcome to British Summertime!
 
 
snowy suffolk 009


snowy suffolk 010


Florence took her first tentative steps outside this weekend too. She was curious, but also nervous. Everytime she heard a loud noise, she retreated to the security of the house. I shall give her a little outside time each day during the holidays to try and get her familiar with her surroundings.

 
first steps (4)


first steps (5)


I received a wonderful squishy parcel from my friend Cathy in Canada. We have been swapping yarny parcels for several years now, and I know that I am going to be in for a treat each time I open the package. Cathy sent me some beautiful fibre in stunning shades of blue and green, along with two different sock yarns. As well as that, there was a handy knitting project bag, some silver stitch markers and an extremely cute purple sheep brooch! One of the yarns is produced by Debbie Macomber. She writes knitting fiction, I had no idea she also had her own range of yarns. This one has some angora in it and is so, so soft. It is destined to become socks for me!! Here, have a look for yourself.
 
 
swap with Cathy (2)


strange grazing sheep (4)


I have promised myself some long overdue spinning days this holiday, I'm sure I shall be a bit rusty!

I have finished test knitting some mitts for my friend Marianne. They were good fun to knit and I'm sure you'll like them too. Once Marianne has released the pattern, I'll show you how mine turned out. I am finishing up one last WIP before getting on with the job of sewing together my mink and cashmere cardigan. Finishing off is not one of my favourite things, so I have been putting it off. However needs must, because I have recently had to throw away two of my cardigans because of holes! Hopefully I will have a finished cardigan to show you next time!
 
Yesterday, we decided to make a loaf of bread from scratch. We usually just bung everything into the breadmaker and let the machine do all the hard work. But we are enjoying watching Paul Hollywood on the BBC showing how to bake all different types of bread. We started off with the basic bloomer, and several hours later, were rewarded with the most delicious loaf. I could quite easily have scoffed half of it there and then. Mmmmmmmmm. See you very soon! xxx
 
Breadmaking

8 comments:

Michele in Maine said...

Oh, well done on your bread Helen! What a perfect loaf!

I hope Flo is very careful on her outings. Coyotes are such a problem here, I can't let our kitties out at all. They must content themselves with 'bird TV' out the window!

Snow and daffodils are the order of the day here too! Spring is very slow in coming.

Have fun spinning!

quantumtea said...

I have Paul Hollywood's bread book, we baked the Guinness Molasses bread last week and it was wonderful. Your bloomer looks tasty!

Claire said...

Yummy to the bread and the squooshy parcel. We have been very lucky in our little corner of Kent and had very little in the way of snow. It's been cold but sunny.

Lynne said...

What a great parcel, the sheep brooch is fab! Good luck to Flo and her adventures in the outside world!

snoopydogknits said...

Dear Flo! So good to see her taking her first tentative steps outside. Great to see the first al fresco chip of the year too!!! Enjoy the hole! Rosx

Anonymous said...

oh flo! so exciting for her to get to venture to the great outdoors!
i love that beach picture. so so gorgeous. i wish i could just walk right into it!
-melissa

Jennyff said...

Chilling indeed, that poor snow covered furniture. I hope by now Flo is well acquainted with her new patch and enjoying a bit of spring weather. If only.

Celia said...

We got snow the day before Easter, but it melted by Easter. I love the yarns. Very pretty colors.