Smile :-)


Lots to smile about at the moment as we have just moved to a lovely new house, which we are having fun making our home.

This morning we had a break from unpacking and had a walk into the woods across the road to look for smile stones.

I only recently heard of these after seeing the #smilestones hash tag on social media. People are hiding decorated stones to find and rehide (after posting a photo on Facebook or Instagram).

It was lots of fun even though we only found 3 today!

Bank Holiday 

This has been my cosy corner for a rainy bank holiday Monday, luckily we did lots of walking yesterday so I didn’t feel too bad for lazing around. My poncho is coming on just a few more rows before I start the border.

I’ve also got a new book “Let’s go camping” by Kate Bruning which arrived today. It is an adorable little crochet camping adventure which I can’t wait to have a go at! 

It’s been a lovely relaxing day, hope you’ve all enjoyed your long weekend!

🌸Flowers for Jenny🌸 with love ❤

I’ve followed Jenny’s story via @littleboxofcrochet for a while now and it truly is heartbreaking, I made my flowers today with love, it would be great if as many people as possible could make some to send , I’ve copied the details from instagram for anyone who would like to send some.

On my hook: Moving on…

Stopping by to wish my blog a happy 5 year blogiversary! 

Currently enjoying some spring hooking, pushed myself out of my granny square comfort zone (only slightly!) and following an English pattern, as I learnt from American video patterns this is a big thing for me. All firsts for me in the world of crochet, I’m trying to move on and learn more! 


I’m really enjoying this project, it started off as a scrap wool project before I bought the yarn for the real version, however it’s not turned out too bad so I plan to finish it completely.


I have been following the Simone Francis pattern which can be found on Ravelry here,  however, I plan to do a scalloped border to finish rather than the rib. I should also add, I made less of a cowl as I felt the full one maybe too much, however I may make the full one for version 2.

In the kitchen: Arroz al Horno

Just had to share this amazing recipe for Arroz al Horno, a traditional Spanish baked rice dish, real comfort food!

It’s the second time I’ve made it now and it tastes fantastic, even better now I have a big enough dish to make it in.

Tonight it served 7 of us with enough for seconds, served with garlic bread and a green leaf salad.

The recipe can be found over at Hodge Podge days blog here.

It’s very reasonably priced to; make about £1 per head including the sides! I used black pudding instead of Morcilla sausage and have tried it with both pork and chicken, definitely prefer chicken. There are so many variations of this recipe and I think it would be easy to adapt to suit your family.

Project 365: Days 22 to 28

22/365

I’ve been entering lots of competitions again, the dog has won two this year already so I’m trying to catch up!

23/365

Another 6am dog walk find! This seemed quite unusual for where I live and made me smile!

24/365

Unexpected guest for tea, luckily I had this bubbling away so was well prepared (even had enough left over to freeze!)

25/365

The closest I’ve come to forgetting a day! The group I’ve joined is quite (actually very) strict actually so it encouraged me to take an emergency winter sky pic!

26/365

After a really busy tiring week I was glad of a Friday night curry and boxset night! It was ambitious to think I’d need them all, managed 4 episodes of life on Mars before falling asleep!

27/365

Another food pic, I was so proud when I made pitta breads and they came out the oven looking like them!

28/365

Littlest W collects tea monkeys and today he has had a new one to add to his collection “green tea monkey!”

Another week complete, nearly a month in!

Project 365: Days 15 to 21

 

I am taking part in another Project 365 challenge which I started on 19th December, the full set so far can be seen in my Flickr set here https://flickr.com/photos/25431714@N04/sets/72157674219046924

15/365

9 mile frosty  walk on bank holiday Monday, loved the icy leaves.

16/365

Love my Yankee Jars!

17/365

Back to work and slow cooker early morning preparation!

18/365

6am dog walk and we found this window!

19/365

Rain looks so pretty on the windscreen!

20/365

Homemade waffles!

21/365

Woody was upset he hadn’t appeared in my 365 this week!

In the Kitchen: Awfully good waffles

Well, I’ve been meaning to try making waffles since I bought my sandwich/waffle maker last year however the first one broke when I tried to change the plates (they sent me out a new one) so I’ve been a little apprehensive!

This morning I gave it a whirl and so pleased I did! I’ve never tried waffles before so wasn’t sure what to expect, these were lovely and light and fluffy.

There are so many recipes on the Internet but I went for BBC Good food’s “Awfully good ones” just for the name!

The boys loved them, only downside cleaning the waffle maker after! It’s an awful design, please someone invent one that’s easy clean!