Remembering

My mum painted this picture recently and I thought it was lovely, quite a surprise as she has never picked up a paint brush before!

She was 16yrs old when war broke out, a fact she does like to tell me a lot. One of her brothers was a Commando and another in the Parachute Regiment. She wanted to do her part so joined the W.R.N.S.
At 94yrs old she is the last one of her family and her memory is now very bad, thankfully she can still remember the war years although she will have forgotten my sisters and I have all visited her this week.  We need to make sure that we never forget what that generation did and make a determined effort to record all those stories they love to tell.
They were all heroes.

Monday, memos, mail and me

Hi to everyone on this glorious start to the week, at last we have some sunshine.
Things have been quite hectic here

 we have celebrated a birthday, some post but none of it for me this time

 had a lot of wet weather

 and enjoyed a rather yummy breakfast, I tried to keep it light, surely not too many calories there?

and then it was over to mum's as she had a hospital appointment. The weather was kind to us and we were able to do her garden and take her out for a coffee and cake.

waving to Sian and wishing you all a good week x

my life of knitting

I can't remember when I first started to knit or who taught me but I think it must have been my sister who could always do things better than me. I do remember trying to knit myself a mini dress when I was about 12yrs old, thankfully I gave up as it would only have looked good on Twiggy and would have taken me years to finish.

The knitting really took off when I was expecting my first child and I was able to make little matinee coats and crochet a shawl in the sure knowledge I had complete control of his wardrobe.

Each child would be put in a little knitted cardigan and I would feel very proud of myself

by the time I got to number four child I felt experienced enough to try harder patterns and you can just see the Fat Controller on this cardigan, it also had Thomas and I think Gordon or James on the back. Oh the hours of untangling yarn as I knitted away for my little darling, it really did try my patience.

Then came the bad years, no one wanted my knitted garments. A jumper I lovingly knitted for my husband was worn once and then left in the wardrobe till I took it to the Charity Shop in the hope that someone would like it. I made several jumpers for myself but they always made me look like an elephant, a beautiful cabled sweater that nobody wanted and a bed jacket that was finished late on Christmas Eve for my Mum, she never wore it.

I decided knitting was not for me and gave away all my wool, as always I was a failure.

 Then came the grandchildren and I was tempted to get out the needles, I was quite pleased with this little top

so made it in another colour, unfortunately it was too small!

 I had a go at making a bag

 a family of snowmen

and some hats.

Now I have my knitting journal and I want to note down all of the things I make. There will be a section for old knitting and different sections for socks, shawls, knitted animals and maybe if I'm brave enough and lose 2 stone I might attempt a garment again. A nice loose cardigan, long enough to cover all the lumps and bumps, it can't be too hard surely?

catching up

It's been a busy few weeks here with little time to spare for my blog, so I thought I would do a little catch up as I find this helpful when I'm making layouts in the future.

 We all got together for Folk Week and there were lots of long walks down to the front to see

 The Thanet Rock choir perform

 15. The Folk Week team logo

 Morris dancers

 There was time to celebrate a new teenager

 listen to Dan Walsh who is a fantastic banjo player

 enjoy fish and chips on the pier

 stand and watch the waves and also get considerable amusement from people caught unawares

 he had smoked salmon with scrambled eggs

 while us lesser mortals had a full english, one even moaning because of the lack of baked beans

as my handsome grandson celebrated his birthday

 we were entertained in the park

 which lead to new skills being learnt

 we paddled

 and searched 1. A naturally occurring heart

 the weather was perfect

 and kept us very busy

 I even managed to do a few prompts from Shimelle's latest class

In all a good few weeks. I hope you all had a wonderful summer.

memorandum Monday

Hi to Sian who has a fun new idea for this year, do go over to her blog and have a look.

I've had a busy time with all the family and today I'm trying to get back into my normal routine. I did want to share this little story which really touched me and has made me learn something new,  my mum can still surprise me.

We had a lovely time with her this year although her memory doesn't get any better. For years she has given me money for Christmas as she is too old to sort out presents for everyone now. She did come to us with a gift bag though which I opened on Christmas Day, a lovely box of biscuits for everyone. I was talking to my sister yesterday however who asked me if I had a necklace from mum, she had received one with the biscuits. Fortunately I hadn't thrown the bag away so I quickly got it out and had a look. There at the bottom of the bag was a little gift I hadn't noticed, a necklace with a crystal heart. Mum had gone out and bought three as a surprise for her daughters. It was lovely that she had thought of doing that and I shall always cherish this necklace. It makes me smile though to think she was sitting next to me when I looked in the bag on Christmas Day and had completely forgotten what she had done!

a family weekend

Last weekend was filled with trips to the beach.

ice creams at Morelli’s

lots of stories

and plenty of jigsaws

I had all the family here so was very happy

and one happy Grandad was at Wembley with son Peter for the american football. He informs me he was given the wrong flag, he supports the lions. This means nothing to me but is apparently very important!

another year

Early Monday after our jog I was given these beautiful flowers

We then drove to Blean wood for a walk

there are so many interesting carvings to spot there

lots of trees which leave me determined to learn their names, I recognise oak and chestnut but not much more

as I walk along I often think about those that have passed that way centuries ago

can you spot the little mouse that was too busy eating to worry about us?

it was a day of being spoilt by all the family with lots of craft things to help me find my mojo again

and for the long winter nights ahead the excitement of starting a new project

Thank you to all my family for making my day so special xx

Postcard exchange

A while back I took part in Sian's postcard exchange.

I sent mine off last month and I know most of them arrived ok.

Here are the ones I received, I’ve enjoyed looking at them over the last few weeks.

Thank you to Laura, Sheena, Mare-liez, Debs, Susanne, Lizzie and Sian x

a peaceful stroll

Yesterday Ian and I decided to go out for a while, I find walking always helps to lift my spirits. I also wanted to take a few snaps with my new little camera.

and yes, it worked!