A day's work ....

How satisfying to actually finish a project, even more so when done in a day and not a week/month/year/or more* (* delete as appropriate)! Here's the crocheted heart embellished with a rose:

and the finished article:

I like it so much on the mantelpiece that I'm going to have to make another one for us! (Although Maia's shown a keen interest in it so it may well get wrapped up for her birthday!)

Further to the previous post today - yes we did go to a car boot sale this morning. Note the use of the word 'we'. In a fit of misguided wisdom I invited the whole family along. Why? a) it wasn't raining so thought we should all get some fresh air before the heavens opened again b) to introduce Craig to the delights of a car boot (that way he may show some understanding when I return from them laden down) c) Maia has been talking non-stop about the one last weekend so I knew that she would like it d) I thought Cassia would be OK and may even enjoy it. How wrong can a girl be? Cassia was grizzling the second we got out of the car, wanted to be held whilst there (and not by her Dad - only her mama would do), would not be placated by offers (bribes?) of food or even the failsafe offer of mummy milk, and in reality wasn't happy until we got back home. This is very unlike her but I had to go with it, so had a real quick whip round some of the stalls and got myself a few goodies which made the very short trip worthwhile!

The best find was The Golden Hands Toy Box on Soft Toys - have been looking for some toy patterns for a little while and this is packed full to the brim! My mum still has her Golden Hands from the 70s and I remember doing the child's activty at the time and never fail to get inspired when I look them now (last time I did this was this week when we stayed!). Another suitcase! And the Ikebana text cards - these are really interesting and I think I will post again on them - needless to say some little treasure from the 60s!

And finally for today, some beans! This was our second picking from our beans and they were delicious. When I sowed the seeds indoors in March I was thinking about the long hot days of summer, picking my beans and maybe sitting outside to eat them with a glass of chilled white wine. The reality was to run out in the rain to pick them. By the time we had picked them the rain had stopped so we decided to cut them up outside in the cold with our coats on! However, boiled for 15 minutes and served with a knob of butter, some garlic and lemon juice they were worth all the effort. I've said it before but what a great thing to be able to do - sow a seed, see it germinate, plant outside into the big bad world, watch and wait for it to grow and then finally be able to pick produce from it that you can then eat ..................... I know I'm not the first or last to do it but it certainly feels like that!

Unfortunately we had to resort to bought carrots because our current harvest wouldn't have really stretched to our family of four - although we did all have a nibble on this one!