The one where she fills up her bookshelves...

It's taken me a little bit longer to write this post than I'd planned. Partly it's because I haven't been feeling well, but mostly it's because... well... I forgot! It's going to take a little while to get back into the swing of things as far as blogging is concerned, but I'll keep at it.

The last 2 week have mostly been about books. Both reading and buying. I get most of my books second hand. There are 2 reasons for this:

1. The cover prices are ridiculous. I rarely buy a book at full price and even more rare is the time when I'll buy a hardback. Supermarkets are a real blessing with their cut price books... but better still are charity shops. Which leads nicely to...

2. Pre-owned books. There's something a bit sad about a book no one wants anymore. I guess I have a bit of a "puppy syndrome" with books - I want to take them all home! When the pages have been softened, and the spine cracked - oh, yes please!

So this is what I've added to my collection over the last 2 weekends:

Some are new (3 of them - thank you very much to Darlington's book clearance shop!), but most are second hand. One charity shop was offering 5 books (Yes! Really! 5! F-I-V-E!!) for £1 - quite refreshing since most charity shops want you to pay an arm and a leg (relatively speaking, of course!). I think I'd rather pay the extra 50p or so and get Amazon to deliver!

I've been doing a little bit of crochet, but not much. Somehow the mood hasn't been right for it.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, J and my dad moved some paving slabs from the front garden. The previous occupants of this house had decided to make a driveway... well, with a 12 inch drop from the street to the "driveway" it was never going to happen!
I had plans for those paving slabs. Big plans... Want to see? You do? Ok then!

Ta da! My little patio. It's perfect on a hot afternoon (yes, we did actually have one or two - if you blinked, you probably missed them!), with a cup of tea and a good book. It's also surprisingly peaceful for a built up area - lots and lots of bird song with the occasional siren or lawn mower thrown in for good measure!

We bought a few plants to spruce up the front and back gardens a bit today. Lots of violas - which I love, and they seem to love the soil here... and this:

I can't remember what it's called now, and the tag fell off somewhere between the garden centre and the car! It reminds me of forsythia - though it most definitely isn't forsythia. I can't wait for it to grow a bit and develop its own personality now it's free if the pot it came in.

I'm not sure if this next photo will be good enough for you to see the hydrangea...

It's pretty small right now. Can you see it? It's tucked in on the right hand side...

I always hated hydrangeas... until we went to France. Wherever we went, every house seemed to have at least one hydrangea - often the gardens were full of them (is it some strange law in France??).
By the end of our week, both me and J agreed - hydrangeas are beautiful... especially the blue ones!

So we got this one today (yes, blue!) to remind us of France... Hard to believe that August (and a return to France) is so close now!

Ok, I think I've rambled on enough for now... I'll leave you with Mr T and Miss E having a snuggle.

Enjoy your week!

It's been too long...

... but I am finally BACK! Not just to blogland, but to life in general - and of course, that means lots of crafting!

I've been busy (amongst other things) turning this:

Into this:

As you can see, we are starting to settle in. Mr T was at home straight away... It took the others a little longer.
Sadly, Miss P had to go to a new home. We miss her and her fresh eggs, but we weren't allowed to keep her here, and at least we know she will be ok and with other chickens once again.

Miss P would have loved our new "blank canvas" back yard:

I managed to pick myself up a bit of a bargain last week:

Can you believe it was only 99p in a charity shop? I saw it, and knew I had to have it (useful for hiding some of my yarn stash, don'tcha know?!?) - I was expecting it to cost a bit more, so I was really thrilled!

Ok, on to the crafting!
I've been working on a promise I made a while ago - a little snowman and penguin:

My pastel squares blanket (my first attempt at join-as-you-go, so be gentle in your comments! Mr T and Mr R thoroughly approve though!):

It's not all been about using up my stash... I bought this:

To be turned into a blanket made out of squares like this:

Pretty, huh? I don't think the lady in the shop thought it would come out quite this good when I told her my plans and she eyed up my chosen colours. What can I say? I'm a misunderstood genius!!

I've been working on a few things for my Etsy shop too, which I'm planning to put up next week. A few pairs of earrings, another hat and scarf set, and a new bag based on this one:

Ok, that's all for now... I missed so much crafting during the move that I don't feel as if I've had my "fix" unless I squeeze in a good 12 hours!

I've got something really good to share with you next time... I just know you will love it as much as I do... But, I've said enough! You'll have to wait and be surprised!

Lesson learned: Always make time for crafting... If you don't, madness is only a very short step away!