100 Granny squares blanket

Hi again,

On Sunday night I finished joining my 10 square by 10 square bright granny square blanket.








I love it already. 100 beautiful, bright and cheerful little squares... Omg that's 100 times 2 ends to sew in... 200 ends... Arrrhhh!!!!!!

Until next time
Gillian

Cold, cold, cold Eden

Hi again,

During half term, on Thursday we went to the Eden Project. They do a scheme whereby local people can get annual or two year passes at a discounted rate if they buy during a particular month, so each winter we make a visit to take advantage of the offer. To be fair we wouldn't be able to afford to go each year otherwise... don't get me wrong- it's brilliant, but we would spend our money on new places to visit rather than go to the same place all the time if we had to pay full price. As it is we will now be able to go anytime we like in the next two years for no additional cost... perfect for a place to walk all through the changing seasons.




The sun makes it look a lot warmer than it was...








We happily went into the biomes to warm up!




In the Mediterranean biome a splash of brightness caught my eye... Beautiful spring daffodils...




I also found this lovely flower- I think it might be an orchid but I'm not sure.




Once again we are so grateful we live so near the Eden project.

Until next time
Gillian

Cold, cold, cold Stonehenge

Hi again,
On the way back from Surrey, a week last Wednesday, we went to Stonehenge on our way back to Cornwall. As National Trust members we get free admission, so we decided on a visit. As soon as we got out of the car we felt the bitter cold wind, the sort that seeps through even the tiniest gaps in your clothes to chill you to the bone. We quickly decided it would be a quick visit!!! In fact most people were doing a fast walk around, we think the wind chill was taking the temperature well below zero and as Stonehenge is very exposed there was no way to shelter from it.




We even look cold in the photos...








I think we got to the point where we just kind of huddled together to conserve some body heat!!!




What a spectacular place... Even if it took a couple of hours to warm up after our visit.




Until next time
Gillian

Dad's Dollshouse

Hi again,

My dad was a builder and carpenter all his working life and, though he is now retired, he still likes to make things. He has made three dollshouses from scratch to a standard that would pass a building inspectors scrutiny. Each is handcrafted from larger planks of wood to his own design. He estimates that each took ten working days to build. The houses are basically a timber frame which will be the base from which the house will rise. The roof and upper floor will lift off separately to allow access to the ground floor.












At the moment I don't have room to build one, but one is carefully wrapped up with my name firmly on it! It will be my ultimate project for some point in the future, building a house from the walls up. A true one of a kind project! I am so excited that I already have started planning the rooms... in the meantime I will hone my building skills practicing on smaller projects.

Until next time
Gillian

Witley Common

Hi again,
Last Tuesday we went for a walk on Witley Common. It is just a few minutes walk from my parents house and we often walk there when we visit.




As usual Kieran and Sean had to find staffs (big sticks to the rest of us!) and pretend to be in Lord of the Rings...




It was quite nippy in the air and the sun was low in the sky, giving long shadows and a real light and dark contrast.




It's a lovely place to walk, though I have to say I am a little sad at the way the National Trust is developing the common. They apparently wish to return it to heathland- a point that irritates us is that my Dad is in his 70's and says that it was never heathland in his whole life. Anyway this involves removing most of the existing woodland, and presumably managing the regrowth to prevent the re-establishment of trees, in the past this would have been done by grazing livestock, but will now have to be managed by man. So at the moment the trees are being chopped down and heather is running rampant. Ultinately this will make the soil poorer and increase the acidifcation of the soil. What a shame as it was a beautiful stretch of woods, and there is plenty of heathland in the nearby areas of Frensham. Whilst heathland might be rarer than it used to be, there is also value to woodland.


I have grown up enjoying the woods, walking and playing on the Common. I love to come back here...



It's a place we always go as a family when we visit.




Witley Common, 2013.




Until next time
Gillian

Portsmouth

Hi again,
We finally made it to Portsmouth the third Monday of Februrary. I won't go through all that has happened but will summarise and say that several times we planned to go but life got in the way and the shopping trip kept getting cancelled. So 18 months after Thomas moved to Portsmouth we finally went shopping at the fabulous Gunwharf Quay, walked past the HMS Warrior and saw the quirky Spinnaker Tower.




Portsmouth is a really nice place, it fells safe walking around and everyone we met was friendly and chatty.




Finally a photo of all my boys (including John!).
I am already planning our next trip to Portsmouth... I definitely can see getting most of our Christmas present shopping there...
Until next time
Gillian