Cranberry Cupcakes...

We've just finished this batch and they were rather tasty. I've noticed that like a good wine (she says tongue in cheek) they seem to taste even better a few days after they're out of the oven and have 'matured and settled' !!

Had an unexpected but welcome phone call last night and will now be starting my job as of Monday. This is good news..I'm not feeling as nervous as I thought I might, especially compared to the terror I used to feel at the prospect of an occupational therapy work placement which was part of my course. This used to involve weeks of worry prior to finding out where you were going, then weeks of worry after finding out and then slightly less worry while actually there! Some of this calmness is probably due to helping out at the Oxfam shop and getting back into a work routine and meeting fellow volunteers and customers..it has definately improved my confidence in relation to starting work again and I'd recommend it highly.

Speaking of the volunteers at the shop, one of the ladies, Sue, I have been on the shopfloor with on Tuesday afternoons left this week after over a year at the shop to start work in a store in town. She is really going to be missed I think. I used to really look forward to these afternoons as it was so good chatting to her and we had similar taste in films, televison and books so there was always plenty to talk about and she was just generally a very sweet person. This was also apparent on Tuesday, when a new volunteer started with us and Sue was able to put the new volunteer at ease straight away and she seemed genuinely sad that she wouldn't be working with Sue again. I'll be sad to stop working there also but it has been left open to see if it will work out when my shift pattern starts at the end of the month but somehow I don't think it will..

An afternoon in mid-April....

and some finished projects..

Baby tank-top in Rowan cotton

Beanie hat in Sirdar Blur mohair

Gardening Mitts in Louisa Harding Kimono angora

A knitting needle wrap for mother's day from a pattern by Tania Howell in the 'Crafter's Companion' book

And meet Maeve, our sole remaining hen, thriving since the untimely demise of her soul sister Siobhan (RIP...) she now has designated garden roaming time and doesn't seem to wreck the garden as they tended to do when they were let out as a pair. She is one fine figure of a hen!

Which means this chap, Nas, has to share his garden domain!

Crazy hair!

Hi, just thought I'd share this with you! The weather has been so strange today, beautiful and sunny this morning although a touch windy, and then suddenly overcast ahead and hail and rain, but I must take Nas out in a minute as he hasn't been out today yet and he'll start giving me dirty looks soon!

Went into town for a wander with Mum. We found a newly reopened cafe with an Italian vibe, an Italian radio station was playing. Nearby is a lovely shop that we just can't bring ourselves to go into unless we have serious intent to buy something! It's the Scandinavian shop with Moomin cups, which we just coveted through the window for about 10 minutes!

We popped into the 'will it ...won't it close down...no it'll be open for a while longer, we've just got new stock in!' woolshop for a crochet needle as neighbour Sue kindly taught me to crochet yesterday while she's recovering from back pain and orders from the doctor to take it easy. She was a very good (and patient!) teacher, I've created a small square and hope to be able to remember what to do when I pick it up again. We saw some lovely soya wool made by Sirdar I think, very reasonable price and the Baby Bamboo range also has some lovely mix and match colours.

Nearly finished a baby tank top for a special baby, having a bit of trouble with the neck dividing and understanding the pattern, Mum has been very patient in getting me out of several mistakes.

Also bought some Cranberries on the market to possibly go in some weekend cupcakes!

I'm hoping to hear some good news soon about a starting date for my job, as time goes on I'm starting to get a bit down about it all ...but not to dwell on it..

Dad is going up to London on Sunday night to help his mates Willy and Tony to bring the 'Ardwina' Sailing barge from St. Catherine's Dock back to moor at Malden. Hopefully it'll be a rather more enjoyable trip than last weekend helping bring the 'Victor' back to Mistley from Malden in the horizontal sleet and snow!...he loves it really!

Hope you have a lovely weekend wherever you are and whatever your'e doing.

April Fool's Day..

It was my birthday last Tuesday. April Fool's Day. I've always felt this is pretty appropriate as one way or another I tend to feel foolish most of the time.. As the years go by, birthdays don't seem to take on the same significance as they did when we are children and you tend to want to forget that you are a year older! ...now that's something you didn't regret when you were a kid!!

But birthdays are always a reminder that I have some good friends out there, even if they are across the country or the other side of the world and this I appreciate very much. Thankyou, obrigada, arigato to those above and to others whose photos I don't have readily to post.

cupcakes and sweet things...

Hey there folks! It's been a while....I've been spurred on to write by the news that my friends Ikue and Nei have had a little baby boy called Kaito on March 28th. She sent me some photos yesterday and he is truly a beautiful little boy, you just know that he's going to make them both so happy...so congratulations to you both..Just one more reason to start saving again for a Japanese visit!

The weathers been lovely the last week and I've been forced to make a detour on the usual morning walks with Nas due to the farmer ploughing his fields. This is probably a good thing as it's meant we've seen a different route and daft as it sounds I'm often wondering if Nas is 'bovvered or bored' by the same old walk every day..I'd like to venture further afield on the routes that Dad uses, he seems to know all the public footpaths round here, but when I'm on my own I guess I'm more cautious..

These tulips were my donation to Mother's day although that seems a long time ago now, but they looked bright and cheerful for a while. Tulips may well be my favourite flower.

Since last posting, I've made a few batches of cupcakes from Nigella's recipe. They seem to have turned out quite well and taste quite light. For Easter I'd made some pretty rich chocolate butter cream and put mini eggs on...yum! Yesterday, there was a lime that needed using so the juice of this and some poppyseeds went into the mixture and then royal icing on top, after photographing these I couldn't resist one!

It's been an odd few weeks, lots of things seemed to have happened or not happened. I've still not been able to start the job due to a reference not being received yet...but have been in Oxfam twice a week and enjoying that...mum came down with a nasty D & V bug which laid her up in bed for a while...Dad's been aching all over the place and sold his beloved AJS motorbike as he doesn't have the strength to kick start it anymore. My sister Jo came down for a couple of days last week, and a lovely cardy for my birthday, and I met up with Liv after a long while and we saw a film and caught up with life, the universe, and everything... She's about 6 months pregnant now and finding it tiring to walk , bless her.

On my birthday we saw the film 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' adapted from the book dictated through blinking after the author had a massive stroke and lived with 'locked-in syndrome'. Set in a rehab hospital on the coast of Calais, it really showed his perspective and the frustrations he felt, and the extraordinary task he took on of writing the book through his only form of communication, blinking with one eye. After a while he found some kind of consolation within him that he could now do anything with his imagination and could live through this if not through his body. It was a really inventive and beautifully shot film, and nearly had me on the verge several times. Sadly, the author died several days after the book was published. I'm just reading it now and is very readable.