Autumn Is Definitely Here

It's still warm (ish) but the nights are drawing in now and the leaves are starting to change.

Yesterday we had a trip to the park for some conkers (horse chestnuts to those of you reading in other countries).

It was also an occasion for the wellies to come out of hibernation.

This one is my favourite picture.

Saturday was a trip away for the kids to see Leeds play MK Dons. Injury time goal meant they came home buzzing.

This is a layout I did at the weekend. It's ages since I've done anything so I'm glad to have found a little bit of time for it. Setting up the shop has taken all my time these last few weeks.

Paper Popsicles Blog Stomp

Paper Popsicles are having a Creepy Crawly Blog Stomp on 10th October. Pop across there to find out how to win a yummy scrummy prize.

Craft Flowers Prize Giveaway Time

Would you like to win this?






This week I am sponsoring the Allsorts Challenge. To find out how you can win hop on over there.


I am also offering Allsorts readers 10% off purchases in my shop until the end of October. To take advantage of this just quote allsorts in the discount code box at checkout.


My learning for today is quite a sad one for the craft world - Scenic Route is closing down. I love their paper ranges and I will be sad to see them go.

Scarf

The scarf I mentioned last week hasn't been out of my knitting bag again until today. I think I'm going to plod on with the yarn I am using. It came from India via Ebay and is sari silk and really soft but it doesn't seem to have had enough twist added when it was spun and keeps snapping. My lesson for today is to be gentler with my yarn and it won't snap as much.








Oliver's new home - top of the barbecue. He spends ages just sat there. I think it's because he is actually nosey and can see us through the kitchen window but more importantly can see if the dogs are going out and can give himself enough time to hop it up onto the fence.

I've just discovered a great website - Skywatch Friday This is the first friday sky of autumn. Thick cloud with no breaks or hints of sunshine.

Aaarrgghhh

Daisy has a massive case of PMT. Except it is carrying on right through her season by the looks of it. Poor girl doesn't know what to do with herself. Almost 6 months to the day since her last one too so I suppose she is at least a regular girl.

This elderly gentleman has been getting braver and braver and will now actually come into the house. Only a few steps in but it is progress. He sits on the fence for hours teasing the dogs because he knows they can't reach him. Can't believe I used to struggle to get him out of the house when he was younger.

Jeanne - the sock from yesterday was Cabletini by Wendy Johnson

Well according to my husband yesterday I should have written Mighty Leeds taking on Liverpool not the other way round lol.

Winning Isn't Everything

Lesson learnt last night by my lot was that winning isn't everything and when, as a league one team, you get drawn against the mighty Liverpool in the cup then you savour the atmosphere. As it turned out the result was only 0-1 and Liverpool won but Leeds certainly showed what they can do.

Knitting update because I haven't had any knitting on here for a while. This is a sock I currently have on the go at the moment.

My lesson learnt for today is that Wii Fit Yoga makes my legs go like jelly so I suppose it must work.

Phone Pictures Are Crap

Yep it's true - phone pictures are crap - with my phone that is (LG Cookie) - unless you are in full sunshine or on a very bright slightly cloudy day. Certainly not at night.

Asda car park is a great place to see a sunset and I found that out by accident a few nights ago but my phone would not play along and all I got was this rubbish picture.

Also learnt over the last few days is that autumn is on it's way. Not many changes in the park yet but there are a few leaves on the floor. I can just tell that Daisy is going to have massive fun when they come down properly. I heard a few people complaining about the cold today but for me this is just perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. Early autumn and late spring are my favourite times of year.

Shoes

My lesson for Friday is definitely to remember that pretty shoes are NEVER what they seem and will cripple you with blisters at every given opportunity.

Today is still a work in progress. After such a crazy week getting the shop up and running I decided to sit down today with and do some mindless easy knitting. I had in mind to start a scarf with some recycled sari yarn I bought from an indian Ebay seller a while ago. The yarn doesn't seem to have much spin to it and has snapped a few times. I'm going to try and carry on and see what happens. My lesson will either be to give things a go and see how they pan out or NEVER carry on with a pointless skein of yarn.

No pics today I'm afraid.

Phew

What a week!!!!!

Setting up a new website and moving my shop away from Ebay has been an experience and a half. My learning for the Learn Something New Every Day will have to be that patience is the key when setting something up such as a new online shop. The link to it is The Craft Garden if anybody reading this fancies some paper flowers and there is 10% off all orders until 30th September when you use the code opening during checkout.

A trip to the seaside at the weekend which turned out to be a very warm sunny day.

Double Ender

Today I learnt that taking my two dogs for a walk doesn't have to be so hard.

They are pullers and I have tried just about every product out there to try and stop them. A Halti body harness seemed to work until Daisy started rubbing against every house we went past and it frayed. We are back to Halti head collars which I think are better than anything else.

As a last resort I bought a lead where they can both be attached to. I bought it without much confidence and that I would be pulled even harder. I was wrong. This is fantastic and it is made by the Halti people. Don't get me wrong they still both want to do their own thing but if one goes in one direction then the other has to follow so no red marks on my fingers from their leads.

Hope it carries on working.

Another lesson I relearnt this morning is not to go to the park in flip flops while there is still dew on the grass. I thought I would have learnt that lesson by now but obviously not and I dare say I will do it again.

OK Then

According to the counter at the side I seem to have had over 11,000 readers in the last couple of days. That counter said around the 200 mark on monday. Think something may be amok there as I am just a boring housewife writing a boring blog which my husband thinks is sad so no way would that many people visit. The counters must be playing up.

Learning something every day update:

Monday 7th September was to expect the unexpected and never take things for granted.

Tuesday 8th September was that it is still as emotional when your 3rd child starts high school as when your first two start.

Wednesday 9th September was relearning that the first few days of term are very tiring for the kids and tantrums are inevitable

Today - 10th September is learning that, since my 3 day delivery dryer that was ordered on friday still hasn't arrived, then the glorious sunshine we have been having the last few days should be embraced and put to good use with hanging the washing out.

Get On With It

Carrying on with learning something every day - 5th September was a lesson about take aways. They either turn up or they don't and saturday was a day for our pizza to stay at the shop and a lesson learnt that we won't be using that particular outlet again.

Lesson for 6th September is that plodding on with really boring knitting means satisfaction at the end of it. Having got through the monotony of countless boring rows is an achievement for me because I generally just give up and it goes to the frog pond. This is another term for ripping out all the stitches.

This was my lesson for yesterday. I have been doing a pair of socks which has 2 pattern rows repeated for what seems like forever. The only part that made it slightly interesting was the striping of the yarn. However, I carried on with it and I now have a completed pair of socks.

I have done the first 4 layouts for the Learn Something New Every Day class. No front cover yet. I've used a Love Elsie house shaped album I had.

Things I Can And Can't Repair

I learnt a couple of new things yesterday.

Firstly, according to the veterinary nurse at her jab booster appointment yesterday, Daisy is chunky and we need to keep a very close eye on her weight. Her weight was 28kg which is on the top of average for a 1 year old labrador. Probably due to not as many walks during the school summer holidays, a week at the kennels eating and not running around the house as she normally does. I really need to measure her food and not use a gram more than she should have. I have been doing this though and she isn't fed treats and titbits all day. Must check it again. This is something I can repair though through responsible ownership.

Personally I don't think she looks chunky. This photo shows off her profile a bit clearer and she definitely has a waistline plus her ribs can be felt easily.

One thing I can't repair is my tumble dryer. I bought a new thermostat for my poorly ickle machine but it was having none of it and promptly blew up. A new one is on order and hopefully *fingers crossed* it will be here in 3 working days. I was amazed how technology has changed in the 4 years since I bought my old one. Apparently now they can sense how dry your clothes are and stop as soon as they are either iron dry????, cupboard dry????, hanger dry or bone dry. I have no idea what iron dry means - ready to iron so still a bit damp, cupboard dry I am assuming must mean they are dry and ready to put away in a cupboard ie bed linens, towels etc. This is the one I have gone for.

So my lessons learnt on Friday 4th September are that my dog is chunky and needs to lose a bit of weight and that repairing an appliance is not always the better option. Oh and that technology changes rapidly.

Lessons Learnt

My lesson learnt for 2nd September is that boys are so much easier to shop with for school shoes than girls. I must admit I was very tempted to get my phone out and take a pic of the 'diva' near us in the shop surrounded by piles of boxes of shoes and none were 'right'. My boys didn't care as long as they fit and they were school shoes. Hush Puppies are a fab alternative to Clarks as they fit them and won't sell shoes for kids to you unless they are fitted properly by one of their staff.

Lesson learnt today (3rd September) is that our new hospital is opening at the beginning of the year and walking past it this morning I found out where the new emergency department is going to be situated. Always handy to know especially when you have kids.

I also learnt that an umbrella is useless in the wind and that loose paving stones are mud hazards that spray mud all over your shoes and jeans. Not a good look when you are just about to go see the paediatrician.

Learn Something New Everyday

I have signed up for a scrapbook class in the hope of getting myself a big kick up the backside into actually doing some scrapping for a change instead of just looking at it.

The class is Learn Something New Every Day by Shimelle.

The general idea is to learn something new about yourself/your surroundings every day.

My learning yesterday was something I wasn't really expecting. A broken teenager's brace over the weekend meant a phone call to the dental hospital yesterday morning after the bank holiday. Having no car this week meant having to use public transport and our legs. I absolutely hate buses, they are smelly, stomach churning and for some reason despite the sun blazing through the window they had the heating on yesterday making it even worse. (yes I'm a snob).

What I wasn't expecting though was how often they run and how refreshing it was to walk the distance to the hospital instead of just getting out of the car and walking 5 minutes to the appointment. The walk seemed to take forever in the hot sun but yes I enjoyed it.

Coming back was like a different season - the heavens opened, the winds were bordering on gale force and it was thundering and lightening. Despite not having raincoats for any of us and getting soaked and blown about I actually enjoyed the walk back to the bus station. Even the bus didn't seem that bad.

Pic taken with my phone while I was walking so very blurry.

My lesson for yesterday was not to rely on using the car all the time and the alternatives can be pleasant if you allow them to be.