Friday Chat Day

Hello friends

Here we are again, thank you for stopping by.

Kicking off this week's chatter with my latest project 

on my crochet journey.

Crochet:

It's squares. 

When I first discovered crochet just over a year ago I admit to: 

(a) not liking squares very much and (b) finding them very tricky.

The wonderful Lucy at Attic 24 has now converted me.

This is the beginnings of the Hamony Blanket - 126 squares in total,

good job I'm liking them now!

So I began, completed two lots of squares for the pattern but I kept making mistakes

and realised I had to find a system where I do the rounds continuously on all of them.

I came  up with this.  Doing round 1 for all of them, round 2 and so on.

It is satisfying but I think I may need bigger plastic envelopes.

It might not look perfect but it is working and I have this little one

overseeing things.

Don't be fooled by that face, she's evil - brings in mice nearly every night!

(We still love her really).

And many thanks to Hazel who sent me details of this yorkie crochet pattern.

It is now on my list to do. The pattern can be found here.

Recipe:

Going a bit healthy this week. 

Overnight Oats.

I recently discovered these and it has made me view breakfast very differently.

It's filling and stops me grabbing a biscuit around 11am.

A great way to use up fruit - fresh, dried or frozen.

I buy the supermarket's cheapest porridge oats so works out economical too.

Adding honey or yoghurt makes this even more delicious.

This was yesterday's topped with frozen raspberries and grated apple.

50g rolled porridge oats,

¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)

Pinch of salt

100ml milk (or water)

The night before pop the oats into a jar (any jar with a sealed lid).

Mix in the cinnamon, salt and milk.

(The salt balances the flavour for when you add toppings).

Place in fridge.

In the morning loosen with a little more milk if needed.

Eat cold but if you prefer warm, pop in microwave

for 30-60 seconds.

Add your favourite toppings: berries, bananas,

tinned/frozen fruit, honey, natural yoghurt, dried fruit –

whatever you have to hand.

Eat and feel righteous!

Click here for the Overnight Oats printable.

This recipe has also been added to the Recipes page/tab 

at the top of the blog here.

Garden:

Everything is growing thanks to lots of rain this week.

I adore Hostas, this beauty is over 20 years old. It was in the garden

when I bought the house and I transferred it to a pot a few years ago.

I'm not the only one that likes Hostas - pesky snails!

I've got a few snail traps - filled with beer and salt as I prefer not to use chemicals

but nothing truly seems to stop them. 

I've read about copper tape around plant pots to ward them off - 

anyone tried the tape?

Telly:

I'm pleased to report I managed to watch all episodes of

Elementary before Amazon Prime switched it to purchase only,

I'm certain you were all worried about that :) 

It's actually an admission that I sat on my bum crocheting for hours!

I also managed to watch a few more things this week:

The Salisbury Poisonings on BBC iPlayer

I remember seeing this unfold on the news in 2018 but viewing it 

dramatised truly impacts upon you the severity of the situation.

Also a bit of a 'bonnet viewing':

Cranford on BritBox.

It was lovely to revisit this series based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novels.

A stellar cast and I had forgotten how funny it is (along with some very sad scenes too).

Bits and bobs:

I follow 1bike1world on social media, a man and his cat cycling the world.

The pandemic has thwarted his plans somewhat, he was grounded in Hungary for months.

I'm happy to report that he is back on his bike and 

Dean and Nala now have a website - you can visit it here.

And if you are surfing the net I definitely recommend A Chick Called Albert,

all YouTube videos can be found here.

Alwyn Wils from the Netherlands and his expertise at rescuing animals 

and bird hatching adventures. It started with Albert, 

a quail that hatched from an egg bought in the supermarket.

This weekend with it being Father's Day we are planning a socially distanced

picnic in Mum and Dad's garden.

Still a bit tricky with Mum shielding but we couldn't let Father's Day

go by without celebrating.

With each of us on our designated chairs and blankets it should work out well.

As long as it doesn't rain that is.

And how could I forget...this blog post was brought to you under

typing supervision of Bella!

Wishing you a lovely weekend whatever you may be up to,

take good care.

Much love.