Gifts on their way...

Thanks for comments on my last post.  I look forward to trying out those recipes, and I always like new knitting patterns too!  The give away winner (chosen at random) is...

*Please can you email me with your address and I will post these little gifts off to you! (caroline (at) almcnicoll (dot) co (dot) uk).  I hope you like them.

I also tried out a new recipe from Country Living magazine's July issue- it was rather amazing- Chocolate Ginger cake.  A very delicious combination.

Happy Wednesday, friends.

C x

*Vintage Appeal is a very lovely blog you can find here

A different pace.

Life is going along at rather a different pace at the moment.  In some ways it is incredibly busy- family life with two little ones is rather more hectic than with one! and in addition, we had E's second birthday to celebrate last week (I know that a 2 year old wouldn't have noticed if we'd let his birthday slip by without noticing it much, but I think I needed to make a big deal of it for my own sanity!).  So, on Saturday whilst E was having a morning with Grandparents, Al and I made a train cake...!

Admittedly the colours are a little unconventional and it lacks a certain finesse, but we were quite pleased with our efforts 1 week post-natal, and E loved it!

Thinking back to how I felt a week post-natal last time, it is a totally different ball game the second time round (helped immeasurably by a speedy birth!) as it was a rather tiring feat to host a little tea party, but fun was had by everyone, and E's 2nd birthday did not slip by unnoticed!

As well as going by in a bustle, life is also passing at rather a relaxed pace at the moment- I rather love having my Husband off work- E loves the constant opportunity to play and draw with him, and I enjoy the company and the help around the house.  A lot of my days are currently spent feeding P at the moment- something which I am having to learn how to do on-the-move whilst helping to supervise E!  I might not get started today on the wonders of breastfeeding, as I'm sure I'll not be able to stop, but, suffice to say I am a true devotee.  E fed happily until he was about 20 months or so, and the benefits are so many fold.  The thing I notice most though, is that there is really inadequate support for women who desperately want to feed, and the fact that life is so much less community-centred means that people who'd previously be learning from older and wiser women who went through it all before are now trying to navigate it on their own!

Luckily in Oxford we are immensely rich in breastfeeding support and help with the Baby Cafe in locations all over the city Monday-Friday, and a clinic in the hospital for 2 days a week too.  If you (or someone you know is in the situation of wanting to feed, but struggling to, then I urge you to check out their website as they are in locations all over the country!).  Two other amazing resources are the fabulous book "The food of love" by Kate Evans, and the website Kellymom!  Right.  Enough said for now!

So, yesterday I mastered the art of knitting whilst feeding!  Admittedly it was a little slow, but still, it felt nice to be doing something crafty at the same time! (Obviously she's not actually feeding in the picture below!)

Other lovely slow paced things I've been enjoying are Tea and Crosswords with Al...

... And being very blessed by several weeks of wonderful meals-on-wheels provided on the post-natal meal rota that people do at my church!

Our wonderful dinner tonight, cooked by Vicki!

I hope you are having a lovely week.

C x

Crumpets and Cake

It's Al's birthday today- Happy Birthday to a lovely husband!  And E has an ear infection.  He didn't play ball when I took him in to sing happy birthday to Daddy, in fact every time I paused after "Happy Birthday..." for him to fill in the lyrics, he whined "noooo".  Not the chirpy start to the day I'd envisaged, but never mind.

We had a lovely birthday breakfast, complete with Eggy crumpets and ham (masquerading as bacon for the purpose of the breakfast!)... (for Al)

And croissants (for E and I!).

We joined Al at work for lunch in the office (very exciting to a toddler), and enjoyed the first (of more than one during the course of the day...) piece of the carrot cake...

It did not disappoint!

Our gift to Al was a canvas of a beautiful photo taken by a very talented friend at a photoshoot last year, which sat on our piano whilst we decided on a suitable location, but is now hanging above our lounge sofa.

Our day was finished off with a delicious dinner, full of giggles, with family.

Craft-wise,  I finished weaving in loose ends on my tank top, and finished off the ruffled scarf I've been making on commission. Other than that, much time was taken up sitting waiting to see the doctor (for the boy), cuddling said boy, and generally looking after a grumblier-than-usual son.

I'm now looking forward to cracking on with the pink cable knit top for the impending arrival so that it's ready in time, whilst doing a little more crocheted granny squares when I fancy a change.

I hope you are well.

A Grey Day

Today the weather has been grey and rainy.  And I have had a more fragile little boy to entertain who is pushing through about 7 teeth in one go!  I can't really complain, given that he has a generally joyful disposition, but somehow that makes it even more of a challenge when he's grumpy!

In keeping with the colour of the day, I was wearing my lovely grey aran, made for me a few years ago by my Mum.

I unpacked three boxes in our conservatory today, leaving two left, but it's freed up quite a lot of space, and there you can see how a nice "new" (to us!) chair fits in the newly vacated corner. Lovely.

I've now finished my grey tank top, and am just weaving in the last few ends (a job that always takes far longer than you estimate).

The centre of the "V" neck was a real pain to knit, as, no matter how carefully I tried to carry out the instructions given, it never seemed to look quite right... Oh well- I think I got there (or thereabouts) in the end.

I also lengthened it.  Having knitted it all up, I measured it up against myself, and I thought it was too short.  I really dislike tops that are too short, so I undid the tops of the shoulders, and elongated the top section (rather than undo to below the "V"- I wasn't sure if I could face that!)

I will now have to wait a few weeks to try it on, as I'm not going to risk stretching it this side of the baby arriving!

This afternoon saw baking time, with a carrot cake on the menu for my lovely husband's birthday tomorrow.  It is his favourite cake, and apart from this one, he's not really a cake eater.  In fact, I don't know why I don't bake it more often- it's not difficult! Perhaps having it once a year keeps it special.  I used this recipe from BBC Good Food.  We've not tasted it yet, but it smells fabulous, and, of course is completed with the delicious cream-cheese icing!

This evening I've been making a birthday present for my Nanna.  I bought a beautiful cross-stitched sampler at Oxfam when I was Christmas shopping, and earmarked it for this project...

I chose a cornflower blue fabric for the backing- another freecycle bargain- a pair of childrens' curtains that I picked up a while back, that wouldn't fit any of our windows, but which are in very good condition, with lovely colourful material! 

I didn’t have any cushion pads of the correct dimensions, so I used a spare pillowcase, and filled it with some soft-toy stuffing I had handy (having once ordered far too much for a small project!), then sewed it up, and- voila! A cushion of precisely the right size!

I’ve enjoyed using some of the 'fancier’ features of my sewing machine- such as blanket stitch and the button hole setting on this project.

All in all, a productive evening- even more satisfying that I was able to make a lovely personal Birthday present without having to spend lots of money.  Right.  Need to get it wrapped up and ready to send first thing tomorrow with a home-made card.

I hope you have had a lovely start to the week.  

This weekend I have been...

- Finishing off the Bird Mobile.  I've finished one of them, and am finishing the wings for the birds on the second one.  It's pretty though, and worth all the fiddly effort.

It's hard to photograph well, but you get the general idea...!

- Making meringues, because I had some left over egg whites (which I usually forget about).  Although they weren't quite as perky as I'd hoped, they are very tasty, and weren't as disastrous as I'd feared they could be.

- Spending time in the garden (yesterday) relishing the lovely weather, taking photos, and joining in fun with A and E.

- Helping to man a (rather full-on) creche session, and catching up with good friends and family at church, and over coffee.

- Spending a lot of time sitting at the table whilst E ate several bowls of rice pops.  Very slowly.

- Enjoying the luxury of a bath for the less fun reason of trying to alleviate the pelvis pain that can often accompany late pregnancy.

I am now looking forward to doing a spot of knitting and catching up with some friends over tea and cake.
What have you been up to?!