Penny

Attic 24 Inspired Ripple Blanket for a New Baby

August 16, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

So many things that I love doing have gone on the back burner over the last couple of years. Crochet, and crafting in general, has been one of those things. I’m desperate to be able to go back to spending evenings curled up on the sofa watching a box set with some crochet in my hands. I think it would probably help me sleep better too.

I’ve also got some wonderful Clothkits kits to make up before TSB’s first birthday in November. I really want to make her some things to remember, like I did for Little Miss C when she turned one, and I’m scared that time will be against me on this. I bought the kids three months ago, but they’re yet to come out of the carrier bag since returning home. It’s shameful really.

There is one project though that I have managed to finish in the last couple of years and it was rather an important one.

My sister gave birth to her first baby last month and I was determined that this niece or nephew should have something handmade from his Auntie. A crochet blanket seemed the obvious choice and so that’s what I set out to do. My sister didn’t know if she was having a boy or a girl so I wanted to use bright colours that would work for either gender. I managed to raise my leftovers from the various blankets that I’ve made in previous years and came up with a lovely selection of Stylecraft Special DK that I could use.

I based my pattern on Lucy from Attic 24’s Ripple Blanket and just altered it so that my foundation row was shorter, so that the final blanket would be a similar size to one that we had for Tube Stop Baby. I then just kept crocheting until it was approximately square in size. I’m not going to lie, it took months, especially as the only real time I had to crochet was when a passenger on long car journeys around the country, but I’m delighted to say that I managed to get it finished about two hours before she gave birth!

Now I need to just run my attentions to finishing all the other blankets that still need ends sewing in and borders adding. I’m beginning to think that I might just stop sleeping to gain a few extra hours in each day!

A year in our new home – what do we have to show for it?

August 16, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

This is the blog post that I should have written back in March. That’s when we marked a year of living in our new family home. The home that I had huge plans for. I think the reason I’ve been putting off the blog post though is that we’ve not managed to achieve anywhere near as much as I’d hoped to have done. Or expected to have done.

In fairness to myself, it’s not like I’ve had a year just sat doing nothing. Tube Stop Baby joined the family in November, and it goes without saying that a new baby (as well as juggling two other children) takes up rather a lot of my waking hours. And without many sleeping hours it means that many of those waking hours are spent trying to get as much caffeine into my system as possible!

As I look back though I can’t deny that I’m a bit disappointed that we haven’t done more. We’ve had to have the roof repaired – a hole in the garage roof and then a gutter blowing down revealed rotten felt under the main roof that also needed dealing with. The other big job has been getting new double glazing, which was something that we knew we needed when we first bought the house as many units were blown and you couldn’t even see out of our bedroom window properly. That’s made the house look far better from the kerbside, but there’s still so much more to do and other things that look bad. Especially inside.

We’ve only managed to paint one room so far, and that still hasn’t been finished and was just the porch! A bit pathetic really.

And then there’s the garden. I’m not even sure where to start with that. Possibly with a chainsaw – but that’s another story.

We need to save up to extend the house too, as at the moment TSB doesn’t even have her own bedroom and it looks like sharing with one of the others isn’t going to be an option for a variety of reasons. That’s going to take some time and means I need to concentrate on work a fair bit to do so.

This week efforts to finally change some taps (again something that we had been meaning to do since we moved in!) has resulted in a cracked sink and the need to replace the sink before we end up with a bigger problem that needs solving. Hence spending most of yesterday wandering round B&Q and suddenly having to choose new tiles for the downstairs loo. It’s given me the kick start I need though. I need to put my stamp on this house and make all those changes that I’ve had in my head for ages.

There are many jobs around the house that scare me, but I’ve been and bought myself a new copy of the book that my dad always referred to as the DIY bible (this book if you’re wondering – worth every penny, althoughI actually found a copy for 50p in a charity shop!) and I’m determined to show that this girl can. Let’s get this house sorted!

Any tips to good online DIY resources very gratefully received.

Photo by Taelynn Christopher on Unsplash, quite simply because there is absolutely nothing here worth photographing yet!

And breathe…

August 5, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

I’m alone in the house. Totally alone. There isn’t even someone upstairs having a nap, or playing in a bedroom. The oldest two are on holiday with their dad and the youngest member of the family has just been taken out by her dad so I can have a couple of hours peace and quiet to get some work done. I genuinely don’t remember when I last had a couple of hours completely to myself to concentrate on just one thing.

Our life (which I love immensely) is crazy. Knowing exactly how many children are staying here on any one night requires military level planning. Add into the mix not always knowing where my husband is going to be working from one day to another, an eight month old baby, a house to run and being self employed and you can see why most days of the week I don’t feel like I stop from the moment a child wakes me until the point where I collapse into bed shattered.

I love our crazy busy life, but I cannot deny that I do miss having a bit of downtime. A bit of peace and quiet where I can just sit on the sofa, relax fully and not be constantly thinking about the mess in the kitchen that needs sorting, the pile of laundry that I’ll need to put away (or at least move!) before I can get into bed, and the list of things that I have to remember the following day. There’s that picture doing the rounds on the internet where it says something along the lines of “my brain is like an internet browser, 14 tabs open and no one knows where the music is coming from”. That’s me. Well actually it’s not. There are about 50 tabs open in Safari on my laptop right now and a similar number in my head!

This morning though, to give the husband time to work in peace, I took Tube Stop Baby out and we headed to our nearest National Trust place for a walk and to blow away the cobwebs. It felt so good to be outside and to have time and space to let my mind wander a bit. I possibly let it wander a little too much though as I failed to notice the approaching storm clouds which meant that I actually ended up so soaking wet that by the time I returned to the car I could wring out the skirt part of my dress (much to the amusement of the elderly couple who had just pulled up next to me in the car park) and when I got home I had to have a complete change of clothes.

Despite the rain, it was actually exactly what I needed. The cobwebs weren’t just blown away, but totally washed away! That bit of time space and reconnecting with nature made me realise that I need to organise myself so much better to get the most out of this crazy life. I need to really time box things and try to concentrate on just one thing at once. Walking and having time to think is fine, but I need to not be spreading myself quite so thinly.

Right now I’m sat in the garden with my laptop and a mug of tea. That way I can ignore the mess inside the house and just concentrate on my work to do list and the mountain of emails that need answering. I’ve set the alarm on my phone so that in an hour’s time I will pop in (possibly make another cuppa) and get the washing out of the machine and have a five minute breather from work whilst I hang it on the line. In another hour Bonn and TSB are due home and I hope to then put down my laptop for a bit and spend some quality time with the two of them before then dedicating a bit of time this evening to some of the household jobs that need doing. One thing at a time. That’s what I need to do. Time to shut all those browser tabs and focus just on the job in hand. Although the next door neighbour just starting to cut his grass wasn’t really in the plan!

Cinema with a baby – harder or easier than flying with them?

July 11, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

The last week has seen me achieve parenting level 4. It’s taken me just over nine years, but I’ve finally done it. Within a seven day period I managed to take a seven month old on a flight on my own, and also took the same 7 month old to the cinema with her older brother and sister. If that hasn’t learnt me a large glass of vino then I’m not sure what will! Both experiences are things that I had never previously imagined myself managing, but I’ve done both and lived to tell the tale. The only question that remains is which one was harder?

Before I answer that question thought let me tell you about our cinema trip.

The situation was this. My older two kids (now aged 6 and 9) had an extra couple of INSET days off school. Being the dedicated parent that I am I asked them what they wanted to do. I already had in mind what I was planning for them to do, but I figure you’re supposed to occasionally let them think they’re in charge.

When the answer came back that they both wanted to go to the cinema and see Toy Story 4 my initial thought was that there was absolutely no way I could manage that. Then the sudden realisation that the cinema would have decent air conditioning and the temperature was again expected to exceed 25 degrees hit me. Suddenly the cinema with a baby seemed like quite a nice option as long as they had air con!

Having worked out that the local Cineworld had a 10.40am showing and that it probably wouldn’t be that busy I decided to take the plunge. Worst case I’d just end up standing outside the screen with a crying baby whilst the other two sat inside and enjoyed the film in peace. How hard could it be?

The first challenge though was to work out how the whole process of taking a baby to the cinema actually works. At Cineworld you can take a child up to 18 months old for free as “in lap”. I therefore booked three tickets online and headed off to the cinema. Once there I was informed that I also needed to have a seat reservation for my “in lap” baby. Yep, a seat. Free of charge, but I had to go to the desk and get a paper ticket in addition to the three e-tickets I’d bought in advance. Being a 10.40am screening getting the seat next to the three I’d already booked wasn’t a problem, but it’s something I know to do in advance next time.

It’s also the case that you can’t take a pushchair into the cinema with you, but Cineworld will helpfully keep it for you in one of their store rooms. What I did was take in my car seat on the pram base. This meant that when I got to the cinema I could carry in the car seat and just use leave the pram base with staff. Luckily our car seat would easily sit on one of the cinema’s luxurious seats. It certainly made things easier whilst I was trying to sort the other two out with drinks and popcorn.

Toy Story 4 is about two hours long when you factor in all the time for the trailers. That’s quite a long time to keep a baby entertained, but we just about managed it. The thing I wasn’t expecting was TSB wanting to be quite so vocal whilst we were in there. She obviously though the cinema screen a perfect place to test out the acoustics.

I was armed with a couple of her favourite toys and also a bottle of milk and I needed to deploy all of these at points during the film. I also ended up stood in the aisle bouncing her in my arms for a while before she eventually fell asleep. Returning carefully to my seat I was delighted that she then managed a whole 25 minute nap in my arms despite the Dolby Surround Sound filling the whole cinema with the sounds of a fairground chase! At one quiet point in the film you could even hear her snoring. Why does she never sleep that deeply when at home?

I can’t deny that I felt quite relieved when the film ended. It hadn’t exactly been an easy couple of hours. But at the same time LMC and Master C enjoyed Toy Story 4 and I had managed to see enough of the film to know roughly what happened in it.

So, back to the killer question of which is easier – taking a baby to the cinema or on a flight? I think I’m actually going to say the flight was slightly easier. All the faffing in the airport and getting through security can be tough – especially if travelling alone – but once you’re on the flight you’ve got the noise of the aircraft on your side to create a bit of white noise and help your baby sleep. It also doesn’t matter if your baby decides to test out their vocal cords. It gets lots I the general in flight noise. The bits where you can’t get out of your seat are a bit more of a challenge, but the restricted space in your seat makes it a bit harder for your baby to try and climb all over you. The more spacious cinema seats made TSB think it was more like our sofa at home where climbing all over me is what she does as standard.

I guess this all means that I’d rather jump on another flight solo with her than go and see another film. Or will that be a decision that I end up regretting?

BTW – if you’re after a cheaper way of taking your kids to the cinema. Then definitely take a look at Kids Pass. We save money every time we go and it makes it so much more affordable. For disclosure purposes I should say that this is a refer a friend affiliate link, but I pay for my own Kids Pass membership after a friend told me about them over a year ago.

Vintage Woolworth Knitting Magazines

June 5, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

What I love about going to a car boot sale is that you really have absolutely no idea what you are going to find. Or what you’re going to bring home with you. It’s fair to say that you don’t always want to bring home some of the things you find. But for other items you know that as soon as you clap eyes on them they have to be coming home with you. The latter was certainly the case when I spotted a couple of vintage Woolworth Knitting Magazines in amongst some knitting patterns and books that an old man was selling.

I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that it was a man on his own selling these, as I’m sadly guessing that it means his wife or partner has either died or is no longer able to knit. I’ll certainly forgive him for the badly placed 50p each price stickers that have been slapped right in the middle of the covers of each of the two magazines.

On the outside they both look relatively tame. The 1973 issue 4 certainly shows how much brown and beige were in fashion at the time. Quite a contrast to issue 2 which came out in 1972 and had the boy on the cover wearing a very fetching pair of green trousers with a hand knitted yellow sunshine sleeveless pullover.

Inside Issue 3, 1972

The covers were enough to make me pick up the magazines, but inside was something else entirely. This rainbow crochet maxi-dress is pretty special, but I’m not sure I can quite carry it off on the streets of Dunstable!

Maybe instead I should work on Master C and convince him that together we could rock the sunshine and flowers look?

I’m not sure Little Miss C would forgive me if I presented her with this smock top and trousers combo. I don’t think even doing it in a different colour would help much!

Perhaps I should set my attentions on winter instead and set the whole family up with co-ordinating ski-sweaters and hats? You’d certainly spot us all coming in the snow!

Inside Issue 4, 1973

Despite the more sedate cover, the 1973 issue of the Woolworth Knitting Magazine opens with a bang with this on page 2! Who can possibly not want to make that??? Its title is “Loopy Outfit” and in 2019 I think you’d have to be a tad loopy yourself to go out in it.

There are some fantastic “His ‘n’ Hers” sweaters and some brilliantly comedic posing from some of the male models in the magazine too as they show off their knitwear.

In fairness though this edition also has in it a fair number of tops that actually would look perfectly acceptable in modern times.

These “ribby tops” in particular would look perfectly nice with a pair of jeans for a vintage look.

I’m not so sure I’ll be wearing a crochet bikini on the beaches of Norfolk this summer though.

Woolworth have obviously had some tie in with Disney in 1973, possibly to mark the release of several of their big films at the cinema.

For Robin Hood fans you could ask you mum or grandmother to knock you up your very own waistcoat to keep you warm in the cinema.

To keep the kids warm for their bedtime stories there are some remarkable crochet dressing gowns, although I’m not too sure if these kids are unimpressed by the dressing gowns or frightened by the candle.

This Flower Power Toddler Suit has to be one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen. Probably not helped by the slightly deranged look on the girl’s face. Heaven only knows what would happen to your child if you rocked up to a toddler group with them wearing it. They’d probably be a fire risk for starters!

It’s been a while since I’ve picked up any vintage knitting or sewing patterns and until I sat down and properly went through these Woolworth Knitting Magazines I’d forgotten how much I used to love doing so. They transport you back in time so much. There’s also all the vintage adverts I could tell you about – everything from toilet roll to sewing thread – but they’ll have to wait until another blog post.

I’m back, writing about what I love, and that in itself makes me smile.

Easter Fun at Squires Garden Centres

April 9, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

AD: We were invited to Squires Garden Centre in Stanmore to try out their Easter children’s activities. Full disclosure at end of post.

First morning of the school Easter holidays and I woke to the sound of a baby crying and rain hitting our bedroom window. Looking outside you could only just see the houses opposite thanks to the fog that had been lingering there all night. Normally all this would fill me with horror, but this time around I was the super organised mum who had a wet weather plan up her sleeve ready for such an eventuality. Bundling the kids in the car we headed off down the M1 to Squires Garden Centre in Stanmore.

Until I had a house and children I have to admit that I thought garden centres were places that pensioners went to as a way of filling their days. How wrong I was! Now, they’re exactly the kind of place that I take the kids to for a good morning out. Especially during the school holidays.

We hadn’t been to Squires before, and as I found myself driving up the drive of their Stanmore garden centre I found myself wondering why. It’s really not at all far from where I live, it’s easy to get to from the M1 and A41 and it’s also very close to where my step-daughter goes to a weekend drama class.

As I pulled up I was instantly rather impressed by the place. So many garden centres seem to have a bit of a shabby car park with sun-faded signs and a random assortment of trolleys that all look like they’ve seen better days. Squires couldn’t have been any more different. Everything was smart and tidy and looked very well cared for. We parked up and headed inside and I was delighted to see that my strong first impression of Squires was spot on.

We had been invited to Squires Garden Centre to try out their Easter children’s activities. Each holiday they run something different for children and this year they are invited to plant an Easter container (either a colourful watering can or bucket) with succulents. And if that wasn’t enough they can also go on a spring treasure hunt around the garden centre finding clues which lead them to a magic word which can be exchanged for a gourmet chocolate pizza slice. Little Miss C was thrilled about the idea of a spot of gardening (she gets her green fingers from her Dad, not me!) and Master C was focussed somewhat more on the chocolate!

Planting an Easter Container

Both children were provided with plastic aprons to protect their clothes, and then invited to pick out a container for their Easter planting. There were a selection of metal watering cans and buckets to choose from and both of mine were instantly attracted to the watering cans.

They then also got to choose what plant(s) they wanted to go inside. LMC selected one larger succulent, whilst Master C went for two contrasting ones. If I’d been clever (and not distracted by a hungry Tube Stop Baby) I’d have asked exactly what plants they were, but I’m hoping my green fingered mother can provide that added bit of information in the comments below when she reads this post!

The kids were then shown how to release their chosen plans from the pots without damaging their roots, and told what they needed to do to plant them in their watering cans. There was a low down table set out for them with small trugs of compost in the middle and scoops they could use to get it. Everything just seemed so well thought out with plastic coverings, baby wipes for dirty hands and a member of staff armed with a dustpan and brush for compost spills from overenthusiastic little hands.

They both had a ball planting their containers and it was interesting to see a group of 13 children who were part of a holiday childcare scheme arrive just after us. Chatting to the adults with them it seems they’re a huge fan of all the craft activities there and regularly take the children in their care there most school holidays.

I was really impressed with the finished containers and both now very proudly have them on their bedroom window sills at home. There was the option to add some Easter stickers to the containers at the end, and Master C did so, but LMC claimed she was going for the plain “understated look” instead.

Spring Treasure Hunt

Next up was Master C’s favourite activity – the spring treasure hunt. They had to work their way around the whole garden centre looking for clues which would then give them a final spring word that they could use to claim a gourmet chocolate pizza slice.

Whist they both set of enthusiastically I saw the potential in this as a way for me to be able to have a good mooch around the place. The clues themselves were nicely dotted all around, and at a great height for the kids to find them all. As it happens though they were also so taken by some of the things they came across in the garden centre that they didn’t just rush around as fast as I was expecting them to.

Both lingered for quite a while by the vast array of water features that you can buy – and decided that I simply had to have a £1000 waterfall one for my tiny back garden – and also the animal statues. If they had their way the garden would have a giant panda sat sunning himself next to said thousand pound waterfall!

Squires in Stanmore also has a lovely pets and aquatic section, with would be well worth a visit for small children on its own. As well as a few outdoor ponds of fish for sale, there were also numerous tanks inside, that were all incredibly clean and full of an array of fish. Tube Stop Baby sat in her pushchair staring at them for ages whilst the older two decided which ones they might like to take home.

I managed to linger a while in the gift and home-wares section and it gave me an excellent opportunity to pick up a birthday present for my mother in law.

Clues eventually found and magic word exchanged for chocolate we then headed for a well learnt cup of tea in the Squires cafe bar and once again I was incredibly impressed.

I was greeted with an array of gorgeous looking cake options to go with my cuppa, and had we wanted to stay for lunch there was also a menu full of specials for us to choose from. Both light bites and main meals. In the end I went for a delicious homemade scone (that was still warm when I cut into it!) with jam and cream and I can tell you that I’ll definitely be bringing Bonn back for another cream tea there.

Why we’ll be back

Sharing a picture of Master C’s creation on Instagram whilst we were sat in the cafe a friend instantly commented saying how they love going there for the kids activities with her son. I think that comment sums it all up really. The kids had a fantastic morning today. I also had a lovely morning too. It was nice seeing both of them enjoy themselves so much, but also learning about how to plant up a container and how to care for their containers once they got them back home. I also really enjoyed going round the garden centre and spotted so many things I would have loved to have bought for my home and garden. It was also so nice to go somewhere where you could get a really nice cuppa and have a sit down afterwards too. Add in the fact that there were spacious baby changing facilities as well and it really was a win-win morning out.

Easter Fun at Squires Garden Centres – what you need to know

Children can plant an Easter container to take home with them for £6 each, and the spring treasure hunt is £2 per child, and everyone gets a gourmet chocolate pizza slice if they complete it. Both excellent value for money in my opinion.

These popular “Create & Grow” activities run from Monday 8th April to Thursday 18th April (weekdays only) from 10am-3pm. There’s no need to book, you can just turn up on the day. The activities run at all Squires Garden Centres except Chertsey. A full list of Squires Garden Centres and where to find them is on their website here.

Disclaimer: We were invited as guests to Squires Garden Centre in Stanmore for Little Miss C and Master C to try their Easter holiday Create and Grow activities. We bought our own refreshments in the cafe bar there having liked the look of it and decided to stop off. All opinions remain our own.