All Smiles!

Three months old today and I can't quite get my head round where the time has gone. I don't know quite how it's happened, but a quarter of a year has passed in the blink of an eye. And as fast as it's been, it has been wonderful. Catriona is simply the best thing in our lives and as tough as it sometimes gets, I just can't imagine how our lives would be if she wasn't here.

I had thought that I would manage to post at least once a month, but I guess that was a bit optimistic. We haven't been shirking and every day we get up to something or other. Since I last wrote, Catriona has taken on the following:

• a bedtime routine (complete with two hours each evening for the grown-ups to eat a hot meal together at the same time - gasp!)
• smiles (this makes all of tough times instantly forgettable)
• immunisations (she screamed so hard that we had to remind her to breathe) 
• swimming lessons, baby sensory and sing and sign classes (swimming can be very tiring, but they're all really good fun, especially the ball-pit at baby sensory)
• a trip into London Town to introduce the little one and to visit Daddy in his office
• two trips to the beach to enjoy the spring sunshine
• lots of walking and playtime, but hardly any naps

Since I last wrote, I have managed the following:

• finished her cardigan - just in time for her to grow out of it!
• made (and eaten) countless batches of malteser tiffin
• read nearly half a book
• knitted one pair of socks
• been out for a 5k run
• made a picture out of Catriona's welcome home banner
• had one night out (though I did spend most of the time thinking about the little lady)

It doesn't sound like much and I've had lots of ideas of things I'd like to do but you know, there's no rush. Everything doesn't have to be done right now. Those ideas can stay ideas for a bit longer and the world will not stop spinning on its axis. I don't have to beat myself up about not getting anything done. What's important right now is the smiles - oh, those wonderful smiles - and getting to know the little girl that our baby is turning into. 

 

Flapjacks and Fruitfulness

 

Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year and as the weeks fly by, there is a hint of fog in the mornings and there is definitely a wee nip in the air. Yesterday morning, D and I donned our coats and went for a lovely long walk in the New Forest starting out from the fabulously named Nomansland. We're lucky to live near such a beautiful place and when the sun is shining and the leaves are starting to change colour, it's hard to find anywhere lovelier on the planet. We admired the entries in the Landford Scarecrow Festival, heard woodpeckers, saw horses, ponies and even a great big pig! And after our walk we visited the village shop to buy the wherewithal to rustle up a tray of flapjacks to replace all the energy that we'd spent tramping about in the woods! Here's a link to my favourite flapjack recipe.

As the nights draw in, it's a good time for lots of my favourite things, eating, knitting, reading and all-round snuggling in. It's a time for making enormous saucepans full of soup, baking toad-in-the-hole with gravy and mash, and delicious crumbles too. I've just been given an enormous bag of cooking apples and am very much looking forward to trying my friends Robin's oaty-packed crumble topping. Mmm. Yummy!

On the needles, I'm still really enjoying knitting things for the little one. I finished her hat and liked it so very much, that I had to make one for myself. I'm quite sure we will look ridiculous and I never imagined that I'd turn into a match-matchy kind of person, but what can I say? I just couldn't resist!

I've also started a pair of baby jeans for her and a really pretty little vest from Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard's Lullaby Knits. It's a beautiful book and there are some wonderful patterns in it. I'd actually intended to make an adorable cable sweater, but I managed to buy the wrong wool. (Cashmerino Aran rather when it should have been Baby Cahsmerino) But hey, I never mind buying more wool - especially from my local yarn store Born to Knit at Fisherton Mill and I can always pop back in a couple of weeks and get the right wool. The pompom mobile is still a work in progress, but I like the way it's progressing so far! Progress is also quite slow on the quilt - lucky that time is on my side, and I'm pretty confident that I'll get it done in time for her arrival.

Books-wise, I'd been stuck in a bit of a rut. I'd not really enjoyed my most recent bookgroup book and had started a couple books that I hadn't really loved. I even found myself on a train without a book to read, which is as dreadful as it it inexcusable. Luckily, the very lovely Jo (who really does have the best taste in books) was on hand to rescue me from my fiction disaster and saved the day with Alys, Always by Harriet Lane and The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon. Thanks, Lovely Jo, now I can snuggle up safely on the sofa with a blanket,  cuppa, a slice of flapjack and a really good book!

Thanks for the Memories

I was incredibly lucky to be given an amazing new Mac for Christmas, and I am very, very happy with it. Unfortunately as I transferred the contents of my old, very much on its last legs, Mac onto the new beautiful shiny one, I transferred a bit of a glitch that had been in my existing photo library. I'd known  that there had been a problem for a while, but didn't quite understand what it was - much less be able to fix it. so, not wanting there to be anything at all wrong with my lovely new toy, I duly took it along to the local Genius bar, where a very kind and patient genius put my photos (and me) on the road to recovery.

He basically created a brand new library then took every recoverable photo that I had ever stored on the old mac (and the one before that, and the one before that, and the one before that) and put them in a folder on the new one. I would then have to sort through over 6,000 photos and put them all in new folders so that I could find particular happenings whenever I want to. Now, I thought that this was going to be a tedious and time-consuming job and I decided that I was going to try and do a couple of months' worth of photos every night until I'd got it done. But no. It turned out to be a real joy! It was such a pleasure looking at my old pictures and reminiscing.

As I've been going along I've been reliving so many happy memories: wonderful holidays, happy family times, fun with friends, weddings, new babies, beauty that I've seen everywhere and lots and lots and lots of craft! What a treat!

On the needles this week, I've finished just about the sweetest project I've ever put together. Blu from Knitty Winter 2005 is an adorable pair of baby jeans made out of Rowan Denim. You can embroider them with fake fly, pocket stitching and even add on a patch for an extra degree of cuteness! 

I've made them for my new godson, Toby and I can't wait to give them to his mum and dad. I've been showing them off to just about everyone I know and they've all been completely charmed by them! Thanks, Cristina Bernardi Shiffman and Kay Gardiner for such a brilliant pattern.

To go with them, I'm going to make a stripy navy and cream jumper - he's going to look every bit the dapper young man! It is the perfect weather for staying in and knitting. As I write this, I am warming up from some hilarious sledging on my trusty Very Hungry Caterpillar tea-tray, while admiring the four inches of snow that are currently hiding the ever-so-slightly unloved state of my back garden! And I've just made some yummy, buttery flapjacks - think I'll put the kettle on and have a cup of tea.

Currently reading: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger and nearing the end of (the very long and complicated, but fabulous, and wintry) Doctor Zhivago.