Friday Chat Day

Hello friends

Firstly, wow what a speedy sellout for this month's charity kit.

I increased the number of kits this month too.

I know a couple of you missed it so I will increase the amount again 

for the August kit, hopefully everyone can grab one.

It is always on the first Sunday of the month, the blog post

is published at 6.30am (automatically, I've not quite managed to be awake then)

and I follow it up with notifications by email and on social media.

Crochet:

I seem to be trying to break a record for how many WIPs I have.

I'm slowly joining together the squares for my Harmony Blanket and

then I started this project, a blanket following the 

Attic 24 Hydrangea pattern using Deramores Studio DK.

This is an order so I felt entitled to start it and let other
projects fall by the wayside.

But...in between I thought I would make a start on the squares for an

Attic 24 Summer Harmony Blanket, a brighter design than the original.

This is me organising the squares for round 3 

with very little help from Bella!

The crochet has taken over the lounge, dining table and bedroom.

The boys comment - often!

Recipe:

I've failed on the cooking front this week but I do have a little excuse.

We had an issue in the Emberson household  - no hot water.  

We thought the heating programmer had died but it turns out it

was a fuse in the boiler isolation switch.

It took Mitchell and I three days to work that out.

For those days we boiled kettles, washed hair over the sink,

it wasn't so bad but they balked when I suggested getting a tin bath! 

So with no recipe this week let me proffer up something else - 

a little cooking appliance/kitchen gadget that I purchased and we love.

It's a Tower Mini Panini Press Grill.

  

We've had it for approx 3 months now and it gets used every day.

So far we've used it to cook bacon, burgers, pork loin, 

courgettes, green beans, mushrooms, filled wraps, re-heat pizza slices, 

toasted sandwiches and for what it is actually designed for...

a panini, but that was just the once! 

It is worth stressing it is diddy, but that hasn't really hindered us.

The plates are not removable but it wipes clean very easily with 

just a cloth and warm water. 

Available on Amazon here - price at the moment is £23.00,

when we purchased it was £18.95 - cheeky! 

I'm not affiliated with Amazon, sharing as it is fabulous little item. 

Garden:

Someone please keep me away from the Thompson and Morgan website!

It is safe to say I've got the gardening bug.
These are little Phlox plant plugs that arrived this week.
They do ingenious packaging.

And here's two of my plants from Freecycle.

No idea what they are, hoping the larger shrub survives,

builders had ripped it out of the soil to create a driveway

so it had suffered a little.

And trying my hand at some Passion Flower cuttings.

Chimney pot was also a freebie on Freecyle.

And all our herb seeds have now sprouted.

My garden bin has arrived from our local council,
I’m excited about it – that’s a tad worrying!  

I’ve subscribed to a ‘mini garden bin’ as since I’ve been doing more gardening 

I cannot  dispose of garden waste in my general bin and
trying to get to the tip is like a military manoeuvre,
you have to book a slot online and 

fill out a 25 page form (slight exaggeration). 

Telly:

This week I've stuck with the BBC iPlayer.

Caught up with all episodes of Last Tango in Halifax.

Starring Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid, a couple who rekindle a passionate

relationship after 60 years apart. 

What starts out to be romantic and sweet soon develops to be complicated.

Faultless acting, charming with twists and turns,

British drama at its best.

Still with BBC iPlayer - Strike.

Based on the books by Robert Gailbraith (aka J K Rowling).

A retired soldier-turned-private detective solves difficult cases.

I have read all the books, often in that situation the books are better and

again that is the case.  You imagine the characters in your own mind and 

the casting of this didn't quite work for me but, still watchable and 

crochet-able to!

Bits and Bobs:

And talking of books, Carole Matthews' latest is now available.

Summer Days and Sea Breezes - I adore the cover.
I have every single one of Carole's books, they take up more than half
of my bookcase and look bright and wonderful.

On a ferry bound for the Isle of Wight, Jodie is looking for some peace and quiet on her brother Bill’s houseboat Sunny Days. But from the moment Jodie steps aboard it’s clear she’ll struggle to keep herself to herself. If it isn’t Marilyn, who is under strict instructions to look after Jodie, then it’s Ned, the noisy wood sculptor on the next-door boat. Bustled out of the boat by Marilyn and encouraged to explore with Ned, Jodie soon delights in her newfound freedom.  But out of mind isn’t out of sight, and when her old life comes knocking Jodie is forced to face reality. 

Will she answer the call or choose a life filled with Sunny Days & Sea Breezes?

Carole's books never fail to be uplifting and addictive,
I guarantee if you haven't read one yet go for it and you'll then be reading them all.

Take a look at her website here.

This weekend: some cooking, I'll definitely have a recipe next week.

Hoping the sun comes back out to do some more gardening and,

of course, plenty of crochet to be getting on with.

Take care friends, wishing you all a wonderful weekend.