Friday 26 February 2010

Favourite things #2

I LOVE this Emerson quote and agree with every word.....

"To laugh, often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!"

Saturday 20 February 2010

Slow but steady....

So goes the progress on my crochet. I managed to accidentally decrease, then increase the stitches on my last "square", so inadvertently made a bow tie. Beautiful Girl has asked me to save it for the groom to wear at her wedding. Am thinking of holding her to it.....
I thought I was being charmingly original when I planted up some snowdrops into a pretty teacup. Then I visited Blogland and discovered that, not only has everyone else had the same idea, but they all had it before me. No matter, it still gives me a little twinge of joy whenever I catch sight of it.


Sunday 14 February 2010

Afternoon tea

Although Lovely Husband and I have never made a huge fuss about Valentine's Day, it does feel really nice to have something to celebrate at this miserable time of year. Am I the only one who feels this winter is n-e-v-e-r-e-n-d-i-n-g? This year we go out for the calorific splurge that constitutes afternoon tea. The fact that we are accompanied by Beautiful Girl and the ceaseless chatter that she keeps up for her every waking moment should make it less romantic. But it really doesn't.


Edited to add: It is an exaggeration to say that Beautiful Girl talks endlessly without stopping. She is actually utterly silent for her daily viewing of "Mary Poppins".

Sunday 7 February 2010

Spoiler alert!


It's a friend's birthday. Actually, it was a friend's birthday last month, but, true to form, I am horrendously late with her present. This friend is one who values the homemade, who understands that something created specifically for you is also a gift of time and of love. Unfortunately for me, however, this friend is also a talented knitter and sewer, who made me a fabulous knitting bag, with my name embroidered on it for my last birthday and I am embarrassed to give her one of my shoddily, uneven attempts at a felt decoration. Plus it takes me several months to knit even the most simple scarf, by which point it'll be summer. Eventually, after a bit of thinking, a bit of Googling, a bit of shopping, a bit of mixing, measuring and stirring and a bit of prettifying labels, I come up with this - Organic Facial Oil and Detoxifying Dead Sea Bath Salts. The facial oil, in particular, smells divine and I quite want to keep it for myself. Which is a Good Thing, I feel, in a present. Hope she likes it.
Apologies to any friend, relative or passing acquaintance of mine - you may well have just seen your next birthday gift!

Saturday 6 February 2010

Out to lunch

Lovely Husband has taken a couple of days off work, after his trip away. While Beautiful Girl is at school, we go out for lunch, just the two of us. The pear and Roquefort salad is delicious; the two-hour, uninterrupted, laughter-filled conversation is even more so.

Tuesday 2 February 2010

So excited!

There is much excitement here today. Lovely Husband has been on a work trip to the Middle East and Beautiful Girl and I have missed him terribly. But...he's coming home today! TODAY!! No more sleeps until we see him. We are very giddy.

Monday 1 February 2010

And there's even more snow today!


Yesterday Beautiful Girl and I went to the park. While she whizzed around on her bike (well, as much as you can whizz when you have got stabilisers which you'll NEVER take off, even when you're a grown up) I trailed after her, desperate to spot signs of Spring. I was hopeful for a few early crocus shoots, maybe a couple of buds on the trees - even a snowdrop or two. Nothing doing.... All I could see was frost on the ground and the ducks skittering around on their, mostly frozen, pond. On the way home it even started to snow. I felt cold all evening and went to bed early, with a cup of tea, a hot water bottle and the Sarah Raven seed catalogue, to dream about Spring.