Focus

Chris decided he wanted roast chicken for his birthday meal, so that´s what he got, but I have been experimenting with different flavours for homemade stuffing and chose walnuts, cranberries with fresh sage and a little rosemary, along with onion, garlic and breadcrumbs. I usually swell the breadcrumbs with hot water, but decided to use homemade chicken/veg stock. It made all the difference and was a hit.

I also made a lemon meringue pie which again went down well. With all the goings on in the kitchen I forgot any photos, oh well.

Wonderful to have the family over for the evening and they stayed the night, then I left early with them so Antoni could go to work and Theo nursery. Then Rebecca and I went off to the shopping centre for last minute bits n bobs. Not a very successful trip, we didn´t like the merchanise, she tried on 10 pairs of jeans, (didn´t know there were so many variations) none of which were suitable, everything seemed to have a large price tag too.

We decided we were big boys and girls and what we didn´t have we wouldn´t miss and focus on a wonderful, enchanting family Christmas, enjoying Theo and each others company.

Hope all your preparations are in the swing

take care

xcx

Catch up

Gosh the time has just flown by

Been enjoying my Yaya duties, prepping play days, cutting out fabric and paper shapes for sticking, walking round the garden, (bunny came too, just not teddy lol) collecting leaves, twigs to turn into hedgehogs, we even made a card for Mummy and Daddy using cosmetic disks for a snowman.

Theo loves baking, we´ve made muffins, biscuits, fairy cakes and include him in all aspects of prep (within reason) for meals so he feels included and interested to eat it. I stayed over with Rebecca and Theo for a few days as Daddy was lucky enough to go on a business/pleasure cruise across the med. Starting in Barcelona and ending up in Italy. Then they stayed here for a couple of days too.

Rebecca is enjoying her rather intense course in Spanish and Theo is now using some Spanish words, some he has picked up from nursery and some from us.

This year it was so enjoyable to dress the tree with them, rather than half hearted as last year and lovely to see Theo pick up on the room decorations too.

The granddaughters have been busy too, both winning a first in their groups in the cheer leading competition. 

Just getting over a really heavy cold, Theo was quite generous in sharing, its hanging on, as they do and now Chris has succumbed. 

Noticed a few flowers in the courtyard which were a little surprising, we have had such a mixed bag of weather, heavy rain, really cold, high winds, warm again, so it was quite uplifting to see the Gerberas had flowered again, the begonia, although a little over, was still flowering and then found this little type of flower growing in the pot.

Even the geranium is having another burst

I finished another jumper for Theo, although forgot to take a photo, with another one on the needles, still haven´t sew up the jacket, but its ready to do so.

Tomorrow is Chris´s birthday and we are all having dinner together and they are staying the night, should be fun.

take care

xcx

Ask Grandma

We have been having quite a bit of rain lately, every thing certainly needed it but now of course the weeds grow.

The sensor in our upstairs water tank has gone on the blink, we were alerted to it as water started cascading down the landing walls and stairs, it is automatically fed from the deposito, so we are having to pump the water up with one of us listening to how full the tank is and the other ready to turn off the switch. So we have been wet inside and out but we have nice clean stairs! lol, luckily the stairs are all tiled so at least there was no soggy carpet to worry about.

Had another lovely morning looking after Theo as his Mum was doing her spanish lesson. I had printed out various patterns of under water themes and we spent nearly an hour colouring and sticking. The other day I had cut out various shapes, trees, a house with opening door and windows, stars etc and found some lace that resembled flowers, we had great fun sticking the shapes and embellishing the flowers with Theo proudly taking his pictures home to show Mum and Dad. I´m looking forward to making Christmas crafts with him, and making a card for Mum and Dad. 

He was wearing this great top yesterday, made me smile. 

 He had just woken up and was getting ready to leave so he was a bit dazed, the message basically says, ask Grandma anything, if she doesn´t know she will make something up.

I have picked up the stitches for the collar of his jacket, then just need to sew it up and it will be ready. I have been doing the blanket too, so that is slowly coming on. I ordered some yarns from Deramores and tried the Wool warehouse too so that Rebecca could bring them over with her. She brought them up yesterday so I´m getting itchy fingers lol

take care

xcx

Catch up

 It´s cooler here now, quite autumnal, the log burner has been lit too, I hate being cold and our lounge is on the north side so gets chilly. It used to be the donkey stabling before it was reformed so stays cool in the summer, but a bit much in the winter.

Rebecca, Antoni and Theo moved into their apartment last Friday, there was a delay over paperwork at customs so they had to wait for their belongings till then. I have been looking after Theo too as Rebecca has signed up for twice weekly Spanish lessons. She can speak and understand a certain amount of Spanish already, but she wants to be able to join in and converse fluently.  Great fun, zooming cars etc along the floor and building robots and shapes with bricks, he has been a little unsettled with his change of routine, which is to be expected, but he is getting along fine. He has visited the local nursery a few times with each stay slightly longer, children have their own way of communicating so the language isn´t really bothering him and one of the teachers speaks English, so that helps. We have been repeating key words in Spanish to him for a while now so he gets to hear them so hopefully he will soon pick it all up.

We have been sharing our car until they can get one, it´s worked out quite well, they have been able to organise paperwork etc, all of which is done in person at the various offices and usually reams of it. we don´t go out much anyway. We have the annual car rally this weekend which means the mountain road is closed, so they may as well have use of it. This year they seem to have got it well organised with road blocks on driveways and side roads. Previous years when we didn´t know about it we have come across rally cars tearing round the bends, extremely disconcerting, so now we just stay home.

On a sad note, one of our furries, Benji, has been missing for three days, so unlike him as he loves his cuddles and food and is never far away. We just can´t find him, he has been a little under the weather so maybe he has just done what they tend to do gone off by himself. 

We took Rebecca´s two furries to them yesterday so they were happily exploring their new home, loving climbing up the packing boxes and acquainting themselves to the new environment.

Well a few chores to be done before Theo´s visit this afternoon, so better get going.

Have a good weekend

take care

xcx 

Exciting times

Our exciting news is that Rebecca, Antoni and Theo are relocating back to Spain.

Back in September, Antoni was offered a very good promotion with his company. They are based in Italy and wanted him to head up a team in Spain, working remotely, so they put the wheels in motion to move back.

So much to organise, packing everything, which with the new rules has not been easy given they have to provide a full inventory with values to import their belongings, they even have to pay tax on it!

Their two furries have already come over using a very good pet courier service, in fact the same one that took them to the UK and they are here with us now until they all come over.

We have overseen the first van load which went into storage, with the second one leaving as they lock up.

They were going to stay with us for a few months whilst they searched for accommodation, but during their holiday they found a nice flat in the local town, close to amenities, so by the time the van comes over they can put it straight into the flat.

So, Sunday is the big day, they are staying here for the first few days. It will be so lovely to have them close again and so looking forward to spending quality time with them, especially Theo, who is now chatting away, picking up more and more words and doing all the things a 21 month old does.

We have also been coordinating, organising Christmas and birthday presents and stocking up on various items that we cannot get here like cosmetics 

I succumbed to a rather nasty bout of diverticulitis which meant a bland diet and lots of rest, so not alot was going on, thankfully that has now cleared up. Managed to get some weed clearing done, but with the cooler weather things have gone a little rampant, so pruning is the next job.

work in progress 

This area is called the dog run, which has been used in the past when friends have brought their dogs round but they haven´t been very sociable with the furries. It runs between the house and garden, quite useful at times.

I had a rummage in the stash and found some material for a wall hanging for the bedroom. Just simple squares, but I want to add embellishments, so that´s on going.

Still knitting another jacket for Theo, then I decided to use up the yarn from previous jumpers and jackets and crochet them into a blanket so Theo can snuggle into it. It´s very simple and something that I can do without too much concentration.

This little chappy joined me in the courtyard, quite small, but I loved his long tail, usually you see them minus a bit

We seem to have lots of baby praying mantis around too

Logs have just been delivered 5cu m so better crack on and help getting it away in the wood shed

take care

xcx

 

Frustrating

Well, they all left on Monday evening, it was a difficult journey due to plane delays here and long queues for immigration in the UK, but they arrived safely all be it not until the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Rebecca must have picked up a cold bug on route to here, luckily she only had it for a couple of days, but on Tuesday I went down with it and obviously decided to make a meal of it. Summer colds, hateful things. On day 4 now, might invest in shares in Kleenex lol

We had a trip into Javea, about an hours drive away, to visit the beach. The sand wasn´t the same as before, (most of it had been washed away in storms) the replacement sand was very course and gritty and so difficult to wash off, but Theo enjoyed himself.

Theo warmed up to the pool so much quicker this time and I managed to capture all the fun and giggles on video, lovely to keep and rewatch.

It was our friend´s birthday recently and Chris painted a portrait of one of her dogs, she was so pleased and I made her an anklet, unfortunately it was a bit too long for her, so I am going to make another one. The spiral pattern I use cannot be undone and I used number 11´s and tiny number 15´s, never mind it can go on my board at the restaurant. Always difficult to get the sizes right. 

I started another one too, using soft pink.

At long last the car seat has arrived, what a palaver, we were told to expect delivery on Monday and we were in all day, no delivery, only to find out they had said we were absent! Nooo, same again on Tuesday, we were absent. Which meant they couldn´t be bothered to drive the 15 minutes up here from Benissa, grrrrrr. After contacting El cortes Ingles on their customer service  number, which surprisingly was a Uk number and complaining they obviously gave them a rocket, well I hope they did, and we received a call on Wednesday from the courier wanting directions, even so he would only drive to Maria´s restaurant not directly here, didn´t really matter, its only a couple of minutes away, but that´s not the point. I don´t understand why the couriers refuse to come up here, after all it´s part of the service, wouldn´t you think!?

Arrangements have now been made with a company in Benissa where our parcels can be delivered ready for our collection. Mad!! but will stop the hair pulling exercises

No other crafts happening, just a bit of reading and a sore head lol

take care

xcx

They arrived

The planned trip happened, yeah....

They arrived quite late on Saturday evening, Theo was so excited he refused to sleep all day and had half an hour in the car on the way here, far too little sleep, so he was quite beside himself, but first thing he checked out was his sticker wall in the kitchen, satisfied they were still there, he moved on to the toy box, yup ok it´s there, then would you believe he went straight for the watering cans to help with the plants.

Then he checked out the furries and wanted to give them a couple of their treats. He remembered every step in the house was quite happy  chatting away, then he gave cuddles and flopped.

Sunday was a recovery day but he enjoyed the pool and was so busy reacquainting himself he didn´t really want to eat,  busy busy, to much to see and do lol

Monday and Tuesday has seen us attending various places putting paperwork into place, just when you thought you had it sorted, nope, they wanted another piece of paperwork, so back again.

So Yaya (grandma) duties have been called upon and I´m told he really chatters away to me, tale of the old iron pot as my Grandma used to say, or my Dad would say yeah and the wheel fell off. 

Early mornings and early nights, gosh they can be quite exhausting, wouldn´t change it for the world. It´s so fascinating to see the changes in Theo in just over the month, more words, total understanding and he is using signing to say what he wants.

So lovely to see their little family unit and create memories.

On Tuesday it was Mum´s funeral, we had all the links and were able to participate via internet, as did other members of the family in USA, New Zealand and England. Lovely service, with all 3 siblings giving their own tribute. welcome address, poem, based on describe your Mum in 3 words, and Chris´s slide show to Ed Sheeran´s Supermarket flowers. If you haven´t heard to song then only Ed can say it as he does.

They have taken the car to visit friends which is lovely as they have 3 small children too. Now I´d better go and think of something for dinner.

take care

xcx

Bit cross

 Well miffed actually

We ordered a new car seat for Theo, ready for their visit in plenty of time, 7th August, with a status of in stock and a delivery date of the 13th. Then it was moved to the 17th, now its a question mark.

So we have had to reserve a hire one, it´s not that expensive but just a hassle of driving 40 minutes to collect it then having to return it. It´s just the fact it was only ordered because it was in stock and the company are very backward in replying to emails  grrrr

We were told about a new charity shop that had opened in Teulada, about half an hour away, so we paid a visit taking items to leave.

I was hoping to find some books for Theo, buying English books from Amazon.es is expensive, I was in luck, I found some board ones, a few simple Spanish ones, including first 100 words and various others with lovely pictures that we can explore.

 16 books all told total cost of 1.60 euros

I spotted a complete wooden puzzle too for 1e, a push along truck and a soft play house

Total of 4.60, well chuffed.

 Theo seems to be into bugs, bees and butterflies at the moment, ideal.

Now we just have to wait until the travel lists come out tomorrow and just hope we are not on them.

Just picked another 2 containers of cherry tomatoes, double to quantity of the ones in the photo, (forgot to take a pic), roasted, blended and made into Moroccan meatballs in tomato sauce. It´s the blend of spices that makes this dish, coriander, cumin, chilli, sweet paprika, garlic granules

Better go, some chores to do before the groceries arrive

take care

xcx

Beading

 We have been having temps reaching 41C, phew that´s warm.

So have been hiding in the relative cool of the finca, I decided to make some more beaded jewellry to top up my board in the restaurant.

Bit of an up hill battle though and its so sticky all the beads stick to my hands and the thread seems to want to tangle. Still I achieved 2 necklaces and 3 bracelets

I also made a dinosaur for Theo´s toy box

The cherry tomatoes have gone berserk so I roasted some with herbs and made it into a sort of pesto, then with some nice spices used it for a chicken, tomato risotto. Must make some more and freeze it as it went down well.

We´ve had some courgettes and a few beans but neither have done very well this season, but the chilli plant, which must be about 5/6 years old now is doing ok along with tasty peppers.

Rebecca, Antoni and Theo are due to come out at the end of August, but then the powers that be are reviewing whether Spain will go on the red list, so we are all keeping our fingers crossed it doesn´t happen as they are so looking forward to their break.

take care

xcx 

Sad day

 Very sad day yesterday as Chris´s Mum passed away, she was 92.

She had suddenly become unwell this last month, including a stay in hospital but she is now at peace and no longer in pain. She had visits from family in the morning and we did a video link for a brief time, so it felt like she was waiting to say goodbye to everyone, then slipped away

Mum was the local lollipop lady for many years, then worked as an assistant in the village chemist, so many people knew her and it´s quite heart warming to read condolences from so many. 

She will be greatly missed.

It will be extremely difficult to attend the funeral so we are arranging for a video link so we can join in that way, strange times.

xcx

Wonderful time

 Wow, where has the time gone?

I know we all say it but it´s so true, Rebecca and Theo stayed with us for a whole month, absolute bliss 

 all the face time of the past months certainly worked as Theo fitted in so well and was quite content with his new surroundings. We have quite a few little steps in the house, but once he was aware of them he negotiated them very well. One of his favourite words is cat and he was enthralled as one after another of the furries appeared, he loved to help to feed them and giving them their special treats. He was very kind and gentle with them too.

Rebecca and I took him several times to the beach, we made sure we arrived early and left before the sun got too much. He wasn´t too sure of the sea but had great fun in the sand.

Every evening he would trot off to get the watering cans and helped Grandad to water the courtyard plants. We are having good crops off the cherry toms etc and he was very good and didn´t pick ´the little balls´ as he called them.

Theo gained so much confidence in the pool too, wary at first but then enjoyed playing on the wide steps and launching himself off.

Rebecca wanted to take us out for a late lunch, so we headed to Calpe port where all the fish restaurants are, she has been missing her seafood, Theo was good as gold, sitting trying all the different dishes, before they came over he had no real interest in food, so this was so lovely to see. Whether it was the change of environment or a few Grandma tricks, but he was soon eating away, enjoying the spices and herbs I cook with, trying sandia (watermelon), although he preferred to eat it rather than have it blended as a drink. He ate copious amounts of fruits and it just seemed to click how nice it all was.

I was able to watch Theo whilst Rebecca caught up on some sleep, Theo was not a good sleeper, but with lots of help and support we managed to correct that and he is doing so much better which in turn relaxes Rebecca. She was so much more chilled and we felt recharged with sharing, talking, lots of hugs and cuddles and generally being together after so long. 

It was so wonderful to watch his antics and see him working things out, some of them left us asking how on earth he managed to do that, especially with things we thought we had made safe, very clever.

Then it was time to say goodbye, a bit of a faff getting the relevant return tests but it was done. It was so quiet when they went and they left a big hole. I kept busy decluttering and sorting things out, miss them very much

The lovely thing is they are back again at the end of August for 2 weeks, with Antoni this time, soooo looking forward to that. In the meantime its back to face time but now he is holding his hand out for me to do walking round the garden and the little piggies, so sweet.

A few chores to do, although we are up in the early 30´s C so it´s a bit melting, glad we have the pool

take care

xcx

Bliss in stickers

 Really can´t quite believe it....

On a spur of the moment decision, Rebecca decided to bring Theo over and stay for a couple of weeks. I last saw them back in the beginning of March 2020 with Theo being a babe in arms to now being a little tornado.

She decided on Thursday and arrived Sunday morning, just in time before they changed the rules yet again. Theo was a good as gold on the journey and enjoyed looking out of the planes window. He was happy with his toys and books.

Theo certainly recognised us immediately and he has settled in well. We have been having great fun, he is really into his stickers and now I have a sticker wall in the kitchen. It´s the little things that bring such joy, seeing him interact with everything including a few things he shouldn´t lol, but then that´s what learning is all about.

I bought him some magnetic alphabet and number tiles which we have spent hours playing with using our fridge freezer as a base, Rebecca´s one is housed in a wooden case so ours is ideal. He loves taking things out and then putting them back in their little case.

We have been into town where there is a little playground for him to enjoy, along with a trip to the supermarket where he has enjoyed finding exciting new goodies to taste. We also popped into the bazaar and picked up a water jacket for the pool, he wasn´t very enamored with it and took it straight off. Luckily our pool has wide shallow steps so he will be able to play without getting into the pool properly.

Lots of hugs and cuddles, reading books, bath time, he is so patient with the cats too, after months and months of just longing for the moment, it´s hard to believe he is really here with his lovely Mum.

I have also been able to give Rebecca some quiet time of her own, especially as Theo doesn´t sleep very well, and we are all enjoying being all together at last.

Today Theo and I made a pasta box and spent ages playing with tubs and scoops, yesterday we turned the toy box into a water bath and got thoroughly wet, he was watering the plant nearest to him, then I said perhaps he should try another plant, so next load he toddled off to find another one. He understands so much and he loves his colouring books and crayons.

Look at those curls, just had to share 

Right has better go, bathtime soon and more Grandma (Yaya) duties

take care

xcx

Anniversary

Finally found my round to it, as I was going to post on Tuesday but things got in the way, like doing some indoor painting especially on one door. Really hate the smell of gloss paint, but it had to be done, one of those itches that needed to be scratched. As you can see it was long overdue!

A good tidy up on the shelves, old phone boxes thrown away, (the things we keep!) and the wood wall trims painted.

Tuesday was quite a special day for us as it was the anniversary of when we first met, 50 years ago! really! 50 whoa.

On Tuesday 22nd 1971 I was allowed to attend the Arbor youth club in Pyrford, Surrey. for the first time. It was quite a large building, with cafe, table tennis and snooker room, outdoor areas for 5 a side and a large hall where various activities took place, and where eventually I joined the Ladies weight training team and went on to be the Captain.  My older brother was a leader there and  I was only allowed to go as he could keep án eye´ on me. That went down well, not, but something I would take as long as I could go.

This rather nice looking chap kept walking passed me, very shy, but eventually someone introduced us and the rest as they say, is history.

Oh my, look at those white socks

Chris had booked a table on the terrace at Maria´s and had taken some pink cava along to chill, he also gave me a lovely bouquet 

We had a lovely meal, I chose swordfish, Maria presented the cava (no corkage) and in fact gave us a bottle of wine that comes with the meal as we left. Lovely gesture.

Well I had better go and get on with some chores, we are having visitors (all being well) on Sunday so a bit of a spruce up is needed.

Enjoy your weekend

take care

xcx

 

At last

 After 4 years of laying dormant and being left near the kitchen window, my Orchid has just produced this beautiful stem  although another flower has opened after taking this photo

I really thought it had had it, although the foliage was good, so nice to see it revive itself. Will have to look on google as to its further care.

Also in the courtyard, a second pot of lilies has flowered, I think I prefer this colour to the rather bold, brash orange ones.

I have knitted a little jacket and a pair of dungarees for Theo´s little rabbit. My idea was it might help him to learn to dress using the button and poppers on the straps of the dungarees. I made sure I fastened them well and will advise that he plays with them with parental supervision.

I found one of the old flower pots had cracked and was going to throw it out, but then I thought about it and decided to try to create a little fairy garden. I dug out the contents, saving the one little plant that had survived, found another couple of broken pots and started building. It isn´t the prettiest of pots but hopefully by the time its planted up you won´t see much of it. Unfortunately it is situated where we get full sun most of the day, it´s also very heavy, so it´s a bit of a slow process.

 Today we had a trip out to the foreign office in Alicante north, to secure our TIE´s, basically an up to date identity card. We had to wait as they were running over an hour late, but it was very straight forward having all the paperwork in place, so after finger prints were taken and being told the cards could take up to 4 weeks to be produced, that was it, finished. Collection is from a totally different office in Alicante, thank goodness for Google maps.

Better go and get on with the evening meal

take care

xcx

 

 

A finish

Finished Theo´s little jumper, weird pattern, short body but extremely long sleeves, so I changed it using the measurements for his jacket. Not overly happy with it and I don´t think I shall be doing another one.

 Still it gives him another jumper to mess about in.

We had a "little" harvest this week of the peas, Chris is one of those who likes to eat them straight from the pod, so I think a few went awol lol

We had a second similar picking a few days later, just enough for a taster.

Earlier in the year I had to prune back Rose´s rose, it had some sort of fungi and I wasn´t sure if it would come back, but I´m so pleased with it, flowering well

We had to retrieve our post so a little jaunt into Benissa. They have opened up a new Chinese bazaar, that makes 3 now! so I decided to have a nosey round. This one has a wider range of home accessories which gave a few ideas, not so much craft items as the other one, different items so it will be a case of hunting around between the two largest ones.

On my mooch I spotted some alphabet jigsaw puzzles, ideal for Theo. One has numbers on the back too, I shall keep them here for him to play with and plan to make some drawstring bags to hold the pieces once they are unwrapped.

 

They are all wooden, bright and cheerful and for 2.80 euros each, I thought quite a good bargain.

I also repotted my avocado plant. Grew this from the seed a couple of years ago, it obviously enjoys its new home and spreading its roots with its new growth. Wonder how many years I have to wait until it may produce fruit lol

 Our car is a little poorly at the moment, needs two new wheel bearings, so we are home bound until they can lend us a courtesy car and get it fixed. Never mind, the sun is out after our wet weekend 

take care

xcx

Quick trip

We managed a quick trip into Jalon, a nearby town that we really don´t frequent unless it´s for the vets. It has a funny vibe and doesn´t feel right.  They have a HELP charity shop there and I was hoping to find some suitable books for Theo to share during our video calls and to have here for when! they come over. Wasn´t a successful trip, the shop was really quite empty, then on the the vets to collect preventative flea treatments only he had forgotten to order them! Back on Tuesday.

I have planted okra again this year, putting more down than last as they seem to take so long to mature, also more french beans, as I noticed the snails have been busy again, despite putting crushed eggshells around the plugs. The same with the courgette, we have one more left, so have to barricade it in lol

Theo´s little jumper was nearly finished, or so I thought, but looking at the 2 glaring mistakes on the back, I just had to undo it, funny isn´t it, once you know it´s there it´s too hard to ignore.  The pattern is one row knit and the next P1 and knit 1 into the stitch below, never tried this before and somehow (lack of concentrations I expect) I had reversed part of 2 rows. Oh well on it´s way now.

A couple of years ago, Chris bought me some lilies, they have come up every year, but this year they have made such a lovely display. Just have to be careful to remove the stamens because of the furries.

 I´m also pleased the Gerberas are doing well, they are so colourful

Right, a jumper to finish, enjoy the weekend

take care

xcx

Dickie birds

 I received my first vaccination a couple of weeks ago, having registered on line. First I received a temporary SIP number (Spanish health care) and a couple of days later an appointment, although the appointment system didn´t seem to be adhered to, just a long queue. No real problems except with my dodgy immune system it exacerbated the fatigue, hey ho, overcoming that now.

Chris now qualifies for a permanent SIP card, so armed with lots of paperwork we went to the local health centre to register. I now have a temporary card which can be updated with yet more paperwork at a later date and Chris has his full one. Two big ticks on the ´to do´list.

The tray of peas have now been transplanted to their final site with round green beans waiting in the wings. Can´t say the same for the courgettes they just seem to be snail food.

Another hanging basket

This is our sage and rosemary patch, so pretty with all their flowers, gone a bit wild I think

and a sea view across the back garden - difficult to see, but it´s there

Getting to grips with one of the back beds, tough as old boots to weed.

With the warmer weather, out came the old flip flops, rather boring and very plain, so I jazzed them up a bit by adding a little bling with the glue gun

I purchased some chenille type yarn at the Chinese bazaar, 2e a ball, so for 5e I have a nice soft tactile cushion for the outside furniture. Never knitted with yarn this thick and needed 9mm needles, just plain stocking stitch, bit hard going but a nice result. As there was quite a lot left I picked up another one to make a second

Rebecca and I talk a couple of times a day, mostly with video so we can play with Theo and watch all his antics. The other day I was playing ´two little dickie birds´ with him, bit of a difficult concept for him only using two fingers, but at the end when Paul flies back he ran off and came back with his ball to show me. Well I suppose at that age ball and Paul do sound the same.

So I thought I would make some finger puppets for him to make it a bit easier

As he is not playing with them directly, I added embellishments and used the glue gun, so no sewing.

He loves to bring me things to show me and we join in together when he has quiet time with his books. Trying to make the most of a still very difficult time.

Well better be off, have a good weekend

take care

xcx