Motivation days 25, 26+27 Where has the week gone?

Well all good intentions have flown out of the window this week.   It has been a bit of a crazy week here at number 74. 

I thought I'd have lots of time to make a start on a new blanket but have only managed 4 squares so I really don't have anything to show you.  I also decided that I wasn't quite sure about it and had a nosey on the web for alternatives.  Matt over at According to Matt... has started to make an absolutely stunning blanket so if you have time pop over and take a look!  I did try my hand at making some granny squares but to be honest they seemed to come out all shapes and sizes : (   Then I had a peep at what Lucy was up to at Attic 24 and she's sort of going for a very similar look.

So what could I do, keep with the original idea, try harder at the granny squares???????

A-ha on Lucy's blog she'd put a link to Heather at little tin bird.  Heather had made an adorable blanket for her "tiny tin bird" and the easy tutorial (which you can find here) made it possible for me to get cracking with some colourful squares.

We are going to the caravan this afternoon for the weekend and its lovely and sunny so I hope that lasts as I might be able to sneak in a square or two!  Will make sure I take photos and keep you updated x x x

Have a lovely weekend peeps!

Motivation day 24: First Day Back

Its been my first day back at work today and I am officially pooped!

 I have nothing new to report yet but watch this space!

No new crafting but want to finish a couple of my squares for my new blanket so will post these when I get it done : )

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Motivation Day 23 : Scarecrows

This post is slightly later than planned but I had a very busy day yesterday at my local Scarecrow Festival.

Despite the weather people "braved" it to come and have a look at the Olympic Scarecrows that the villagers had taken the time to make.  These were absolutely stunning and people went to great lengths with some of the exhibits, paddling pools, pulleys the lot!

I had a small stall in the village hall and sold a few of my items but it was a little slow.  I am  hoping to do a Christmas Fayre later in the year so hope that people will be buying gifts then.

I did however sell my 3 little scarecrows that I finished making that morning -

and the cake stand that I made a few weeks ago -

 

It's Bank Holiday Monday today so going to spend some time with my Mum and Dad, see you soon!

 

 

Motivation Day 22 - It was all worth it!!!!!

Well here it is my Ta-dah moment -

I finished the crochet this afternoon and then spent the evening putting the fleece on the back.

I am really proud of it and am not sure whether it will make it's way onto my stall tomorrow.  What would you pay for a handmade blanket like this????  I never know what to charge people, what "formula" do you go off, I would love your input!

I have really enjoyed blogging every day for the last 20 days and hope that you have enjoyed the journey too.  I sort of stumbled onto the whole task if I'm honest and didn't really read what it entailed or what the purpose was but I think I have done alright x x x

Motivation Day 20& 21 -Short and sweet

I haven't got the free time today for much of a blog post but after reading Sleepy Joe's most recent post I also couldn't let the side down and "just not post" so here it is short but sweet.

I am very busy at the moment as I have a stall on Sunday at the local Scarecrow Festival and am aiming to finish my bobble baby blanket.  Once I have finished and sewn fleece on the back I will post a lovely picture of it - I promise!

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Motivation days 13-19 Back from Jollies!

Home sweet home - I do love going to our caravan but after a week I do seem to pine for home. We have had a lovely time, the weather was fairly mixed with some days it raining buckets and other days being glorious.

Here are the posts that I did whilst away :-

Day 14 - Off to the Lakes.

We had a lovely day in the Lakes and on the way home whilst driving through Bolton-le-Sands we made an impromptu stop at a lovely little shop called Etty-Lilly.  It was absolutely adorable, full of lovely yarn, material and crafts.  The lady was just in the process of knitting a nativity so I will be popping in when I next visit the caravan to see how she's getting on.

Day 15 - Rain and buttons.

Rain, rain, rain all day but we decided to brave it and went wandering.  I am sooooo glad we did as I found some lovely buttons in a local charity shop and all for 50p.  I love bargains - now what can I make!!!!!

Day 16 - Yummy wool

I got a book from the library before I went on holiday and I have earmarked lots and lots of things that I want to make.  The book is by Nicki Trench and called cute and easy Crocheted Baby Clothes and you can find it on her website here. 
There is a lovely blanket that is made of squares with love hearts in the middle that I really want to be my next project so in preparation I bought some new wool (I never need an excuse!).

Day 17 - A little bit of me time.

I managed to make 2 of the love heart squares ready for my new blanket - although I sort of forgot that I had not finished that last blanket!  I must finish things I start, I must finish things I start, ooooh yummy love hearts.........

Day 18 - Glorious sunshine!

What a lovely day we had - very warm but nice and breezy.  The day was spent having fun with the kids, went to the park, walked on the front, played on the 2p machines in the amusements and ate ice cream what more could you wish for (apart from all the 2p's coming down the slot!).

Day 19 - Time to go home.

Back at home now - feeling reconnected to the world and as you can see on with the blogging.  Before we got home we had another viewing on the house so fingers crossed yet again and hopefully some feedback tomorrow.  I have a craft stall at a local scarecrow festival on Sunday so now off to get some crafting done.

Off on my Jollies!

The posting every day has had to take a slight backseat as we are off to our little caravan today for a well deserved holiday.

We don't have internet at the van and my phone is not that up to date so I will have to catch-up with you in a couple of weeks.

What I will do is write something down or take a picture everyday and post these when I get back.

Good luck with what you are up to and hope your motivation stays strong!

Motivation 11 & 12 - Waiting........

I don't know about you but I am not very good at waiting for anything.

We telephoned the estate agents on Friday to see if we could accept an offer that we had previously declined last week and were told that they would contact us on Monday with an answer.

So I spent all weekend trying not to think about moving house - it didn't work!  I cleaned and tidied, cleaned again, sorted toys and tried to do some crafting.  Anything to keep my mind occupied.

Monday came and went without a phone call!

Today I went to work and spent most of the day checking to see if my phone was working properly.  At 5pm I got a text message from my husband - the estate agents had phoned.

And it wasn't good news the investors had purchased 3 other properties in the past week and could not afford ours as well.  : (  feel a bit sad but hey ho.

On the up side - we have another investor viewing tomorrow and have had our mortgage approved today.  So even though its bad news every cloud has a silver lining or so they say.  My husband would say that everything happens for a reason.  I will let you know tomorrow!

Motivation Day 10: Ta Dah!!!!!

Sunday's generally consist on having a ganders round the local carboot sales and then going out for the rest of the day.

Today we bought a small plastic table and 2 chairs for the kids for £1.50 and the magic wishing chair books by Enid Blyton for £1.  There were lots of other bargains to be had but with having the house up for sale and the prospect of moving soon we did not want to buy lots of stuff that we would need to move.  I have actually got a pile of unwanted stuff myself so fingers crossed I will be doing a car boot myself in the next few weeks.

I have started another knitted scarecrow so hopefully he will be finished tomorrow and ta dah I have finished my dolly pegs. 

Here you are!!!!!!!

 

Motivation Day 9: Exciting times

Well had a lovely time last night at the new house had a cuppa and a chat with the seller.  Then had a very long chat with hubby and decided that we wanted to try and accept the offer that we received a week ago.  I rang the estate agents and the investors are going to get back to us on Monday.

That seems a very long time!  But hurrah it might actually be happening!

Motivation Day 8 - Poop

Well the sun has been out again today and we have been playing outside in the garden. 

My youngest is 21 months old and she doesn't yet get the whole point of potty training.  She can tell me potty and goes to get it but then she likes to stand in it and not actually sit on it!  We also manage poo poo but this usually means she wants a wee!

Its all a bit confusing really! With the weather being warm and because we were playing in the garden we decided it was time for some big girl knickers.  She did really well with no accidents and her first poop in the potty.  I am soooooo proud of her what a clever girl, not sure whether it was a fluke we shall see!

Could not resist taking and posting this photo though (they are a brand new pair!) in the hope it would make you smile as much as I did x



I also managed to sew and stuff my little scarecrow, think I like it but still not sure?



Going to the new house for a cuppa tonight, sooooo excited you would not believe!

Day 7 - Shattered

Today has been my first day back to work after 2 weeks off - how I wished I could crawl back under the covers when my alarm went off at 6.45am!

It's been a funny old day though I was busy this morning, occupied this afternoon but this evening seemed to drag. 

However it was really nice when I text my colleague to congratulate her on the birth of her baby boy and she said thank you for her blanket that I had made.  I am soooooo very glad she and her new baby like it.

Here it is again as a reminder - this was the first time that I had done a ripple and I can't wait to make another one.

Bye for now and will update you on what we do tomorrow - have a funny feeling Jake wants to go bug catching!

Day 6 - Sunshiny Day

Well today was a sunny day and I finally got to put some washing on the line without having to keep running out and rescuing it from the rain!

Today I have been playing, bug catching, schooling, painting, drilling, knitting and shopping (not in that order!).

Here are some snippets -

Some tea sets that I bought from the carboot on Sunday -

What do you think?

Some of the dolly pegs - however these are not the final product - I bought candy pink, organic green and duck egg blue paint as well today so will post properly when done!

Day 5 - bit of a wobble!

Well about 5 minutes ago I had sort of decided that I wouldn't bother posting tonight but then I opened my email and saw that Sleepy Joe had left a comment on my last post, saying "Keep posting, it is great to see where you are up to with things!".

Well that was the little piece of motivation that I needed! 

Today has been mostly wet but I have had the day off work which I spent with my little boy Jake.  I am going to have a craft stall at a local scarecrow festival and thought it might be a good idea to have something scarecrow related.  We popped to the local craft shop and bought some supplies and had a little play this afternoon - however things did not go well so have scrapped that idea for the moment!

 I have however borrowed a book from my mum and am going to have a go at knitting my own scarecrow so another project to keep you updated with!

The sun appeared this afternoon and we had fun with some wooden dolly pegs and acrylic paint, will post a photo when we have finished.

Day 4 - Feeling a bit stretched!

I'm only on day 4 of trying to be motivated but I'm actually feeling a bit stretched if I'm honest.  I'm not 100% sure what I am motivated in doing.

I think it started off, being motivated to actually post once a day as I had lapsed into the once a whenever I can be bothered kinda girl.  But looking at the posts I have made these seem to be focused on what I am currently trying to achieve.

I think I have lots of different goals at the moment which I seem to be dipping in and out of but not really making any progress - if that makes sense?

I have really enjoyed blogging everyday so I will keep this as my motivation for the moment and really hope that I am not boring you to death! 

Day 3 - snuggly cuddly blanket.

I promised yesterday that I would show you my current work in progress (WIP).  So without further a do here it is!



I wrote about this pattern in an earlier blog (original here) and even then I loved the pattern but was not sure about the colours or wool I had chosen.  After a few more rows I decided that I was not 100% happy and so I pulled the original one back.  I found these lovely colours whilst on holiday in morecambe at a little stall in the market and could not resist using them for this blanket.  I will keep you updated on its progress x  If you like the pattern you can find it here mooglyblog.com.

I hope you had a fab weekend too and I will update you on my other antics over the next few days : )

Day 2 - a bit of DIY

Today I am not so chirpy : (   I had a rough night's sleep last night, my hubby started feeling ill just before bed and ended up with an upset tummy (not going to go into too much detail!).  Just as he went to sleep my little girl ended up waking up and she was chattering in her cot for a short while shouting for mummy, daddy and Jake to come and play.  I think I managed to see 2.30am.  Molly then woke up all chirpy and cheerful at 6am ready for the day!

Despite this I have managed to have an easy day and popped out this afternoon to Homebase to help my Mum pick some tiles for her new kitchen which was nice. 

I've just been catching up on sleepyjoes blog about being motivated and noticed that she has also started to forward plan - I have just finished a list of things that I would like to get done and how these can become blog posts!  Great minds think alike!

Before I go I will leave you with a little sneaky peep at my newest creation - it's not finished but I will show you more tomorrow.

Ta-ta for now - hope your weekends are filled with lots of lovely things.  Feel free to share what you have been up to x

Day 1 - feeling chirpy

Well it's day one of being motivated and I've given my head a little wobble!

I feel quite chirpy to be honest - the kids have been hard work but I have managed to get a couple of things done today.

We have decided to change estate agents and the change took effect last Wednesday, in that time we have had 3 viewings and 2 offers.  The offers were too low to accept (investors being cheeky) but it is just nice to have had them after 6 months of hearing "it's a lovely house - just not for us".  If you have been reading my blog for a while you will already know that we have found our new house and the sellers really want us to have it so they have been patiently waiting for us to sell ours.  I speak to them often and we even have a brew and some homemade cake.  They have also agreed to lower their price so that we can accept a lower offer - they are just such lovely people <3.
The estate agents phoned again this evening and we have another viewing booked for Tuesday x x x x yipeeeeeeee.

I'd already decided earlier today that I would start to sort through the "stuff" in out house and box it up in the hope that we would be moving soon - I have managed to throw out some broken bits and bobs and charity shop unwanted clothes.  I feel better already.  On to the loft this weekend! 

I just love cleaning and tidying however the same can not be said for dieting and I need to give myself a big kick up the bum.  My lovely cousin has lost 4.5lbs this week so I think this needs to be my motivation for the week.

Speak to you tomorrow for day 2

Better late than never!

Well again I must apologise it's been ages since my last post and I have no real excuses!
I am really rubbish at doing things on a regular basis and struggle to form habits (the good ones that is), I manage for a few days and sometimes weeks but then start to forget or become distracted.  The only thing I do manage to do obsessively is clean so I'm not sure what that says about me!

Anyway I have just been catching up with some other blogs and have found that others have also been struggling with this and have started to blog every day.  I'm not sure whether I could manage this as my life is not that interesting but I will try to pop in more often!

My life has been a bit more hectic of late and I will try and post about what we have been up to and what I have been spending my time on x

Here's something bright and summery - see you all soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx