NEW SHOES AND A BATTLE!

Well, we got them...no, not the lovely red patent ones that everyone liked because they didn`t have her size but she`ll be able to get them next time (in a few weeks?) hopefully. So we got the lovely little navy blue ones with pink flowers! She was delightful in the shoe shop and when we came out with her wearing the New Shoes, she kept stopping and looking down at her feet! In the Coffee Shop afterwards, she actually pulled up her trouser leg and pointed at the shoes to let everyone see them!Anyhoo, enough with the `Nana Bragging`! - sorry I`m beginning to sound like a real `Nana Bore` - can`t help meself!

Rubbish pic because we couldn`t get her to stand still long enough!

Now on to the Battle! In my hometown (I haven`t lived there for a very long time but it`s still the place where I grew up) there was a Battle fought between the armies of Bonnie Prince Charlie (the Jacobites) and General Sir John Cope (the Redcoats) on 21st September 1745. The Prince won! To commemorate the Battle, a Tapestry has been commissioned and created by a team of volunteers from across the world. The tapestry measures 104 metres in length (longer than the Bayeaux) and each panel depicts the fortunes and the journey from France of Bonnie Prince Charlie as he raised his army and marched on Edinburgh, culminating in the furious Battle of Prestonpans. Today was the unveiling of the completed Tapestry and I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the preview before it goes on tour to all the places the Prince visited before rousing his troops to attend the Battle. What a marvellous sight it is. The needlework is stunning (each volunteer had to commit to at least 100 hours of stitching!) and the enthusiasm each of them has shown for the task in hand is overwhelming. I hope you`ll enjoy it as much as I did, although the pics aren`t great - I really MUST buy a new camera! - and hope you enjoyed your history lesson too!

A Redcoat ....boo!

The Prince raises his Troops.

A Very Fierce Highlander!Yaay!!!

The Lord Provost of Edinburgh boarding Charlie`s ship to tell him to go back to France. boo!

The followers of George II try and tell the Prince to go `home` to France but he tells them he is home ..in Scotland.

The Redcoats march to battle.

A Lady of the times - I like her hat!

Charlie`s followers swear allegiance at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh.

And a very blurry pic of the Prince himself and Flora McDonald! I introduced myself to him and he was very nice, though a bit taller than I remembered him!

And here endeth the History Lesson.

(hope I haven`t bored you too much - please tell me to shut up if I do - welcome constructive criticism!)

FREEDOM ROCKS .....IT`S IN THE BAG!

My holidays are here and it feels great to have two whole weeks ahead of me to do whatever I please! I`ve no definite plans this year - events kind of took care of that - but I`ll be brunching,lunching and munching with the best of them, along with maybe a visit to London to see my eldest son who lives there and also to spend some time with my best friend who also lives there. Add in some much needed DIY, taking Little Voice (she loves singing!) for her first pair of `real` shoes - I hope her Mummy lets me buy her red ones - I love red shoes, and no clock-watching for two weeks and there we have my perfect recipe for a little R&R. My sister has just won two First Class Train Tickets to London to be used by November so we are planning a little Xmas Shopping Trip to use them up, so that`ll take care of my wanderlust for this year at any rate. I`m not very good abroad you see - as I get older I find I can`t take the heat! I suffered from heatstroke two years ago in Portugal and in Paris the year before (mind you the temps were up to 40 degrees in the shade so I`m not a complete wimp, people were dropping like flies) so I`m a little wary about travelling very far from home these days - I thought they were going to have to bring me home in a box from Portugal, I felt SO ill.

~Anyhoo, all that aside I hope that you folks who are holidaying at the moment, whether home or abroad have a fantastic and fabulous time. We all deserve our holidays especially in these formidable times we`re all going through at the moment.

I finally finished my little crochet bag just in time for my hols, courtesy of  Attic 24`s beautiful pattern and amazingly easy to understand tutorial (I couldn`t get the link to work but you can find the pattern for it on her blog) I never thought I`d ever crochet again but she`s such an inspiration and is really enthusiastic about her craft which I find highly infectious. It`s been many,many years since I `hooked` but I found it just came back to me like `Hey Presto I can still Crochet`! I`ve been much more used to knitting recently for Little Voice.

The buttons are vintage and so cute!

I love these pretty pink polka-dot buttons too.

I also finally found a lovely frame for the gorgeous silk print that Mrs Yappy Dog gave me as part of our swap - she actually made it for the baby to wipe her nose on but it`s FAR too good for that so I framed it instead and it looks very pretty up on my wall (Baby will get it back eventually for her bottom drawer!).

I lined the bag with a recycled pair of my niece`s jeans (don`t worry I asked her before I cut them up) and left one of the pockets intact for my mobile phone.

I also hope I find some time to get on with the new swaps I`ve taken on.....so much to do....so little time!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE :)

THE POSTMAN DIDN`T RING AT ALL!......

....that`s because I saw him coming down the path with parcel in hand and knew what he was delivering so I practically flew at the door before he reached the doorbell and gave him the fright of his life as I stood there with `bedhead` hair and a kind of wild look in my eye that said `Step away from the Parcel, it`s mine`!

So I opened it up and inside this is what I found......

..some very pretty wrapping paper, followed by...

the prettiest crochet cushion you could ever hope

to own!....and there`s more....

....on the other side, these beautiful granny squares...so....two looks for one!...

...just look at the detail...and aren`t the colours so pretty and uplifiting?....

She`s a very clever lady, is Helen :)

so there you have it....my first ever Giveaway Prize and what a beauty she is...Thank You So Very Much, Helen...I will treasure it forever.xxx

Helen`s got lots more lovely things over on her blog - have a look - you won`t be disappointed!

http://helenscolourfulcrochetblankets.blogspot.com/2010/06/crochet-cushion-giveaway.html

JEWELS IN THE SUN

So, there was dew on the grass this morning and my thoughts turned to Winter! Only because I`m enjoying Summer so much. Loads of outdoor living suits me well, though I don`t like the intense heat, seeing Baby take her first steps barefoot in the grass and her reaction to the texture underfoot is so endearing! Can`t wait to take her to the beach!

Time for redcurrant jelly-making again and possibly raspberry jam if the birds leave me any fruit to make it!

Thanks for all the lovely comments re the Giveaway. Helen asked me where I will put the cushion and I told her that I`m doing my spare room up at the moment for when Baby comes to stay (she sleeps in the travel cot in my room at the moment so want to give her her own `girlie` room!) and that I`m crocheting a

Giant Granny Square Blanket for her `big` bed so the two will go together really well in the new room. (sorry about rubbish pic!)

My sweet peas have done me proud this year - this is one of my favourite colour combinations and the scent is quite overwhelming!........

Happy Wednesday to You All. x

OH LUCKY ME!

Sheer joy is what I felt when I logged on this afternoon to check who was the lucky duck who won Helen`s Beautiful Crochet Cushion Cover in her recent giveaway. I couldn`t believe it when I saw the name on the piece of paper for it was in fact MINE! Now this may sound extremely cliched but I NEVER win anything.....don`t call me Lucky!....so I`m so thrilled to have been chosen as the recipient of this beautiful piece of work. Can`t wait `til it arrives! Thanks so much Helen.