Little Cotton Rabbits

snappy happy

Our new camera has made me very happy today. I've never had one with a proper zoom lens before and I've had lots of fun snapping away at things in the garden and learning how to use it while the children play.

I'm also very happy that I let this one onion plant flower instead of chopping off the stem in order to grow a fat onion - the flower is rather beautiful and is getting lots of attention from the hoverflies.

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Thanks for the kind comments. The new camera is a Panasonic lumix DMC FZ38.

week 1

Our summer hols have got off to a good start here, with the highlight of the first week being the discovery of a new playground. Although it's a half hour drive each way it's been worth the trip as it's a playground with a difference - an aqua one. All the equipment sprays, mists or sheets water - the perfect sensory playground for Toby and it was free!

 

I expect that it gets really busy in hot, sunny weather but we went while it was cloudy and found it quiet. It's the perfect place for both the children to play together in safety and a good place to try out our new camera!

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PS: a big Thank you to Sue at Hello Gorgeous for featuring me on her Twenty Question Tuesday x

Summer holiday prep

Well, here we are again, on the cusp of the long, long, long summer break. Surely it wasn't a year since the last one - it certainly doesn't seem like it!

We're staying at home again for the duration, as a holiday away with Toby is just out of the question. So poor old Amy is feeling a bit hard done by, as all of her friends are chatting about holidays abroad. I've been making plans to keep the children occupied, Toby will be content with a new box of lego (he chews it and then gets cross that it doesn't fit together properly so some new bits will make him a happy boy) and some dry weather so he can play in the garden. It's a little harder trying to keep Amy busy but, like last year I've put together a summer holiday kit with colouring books, a dvd and a new game for the Wii and some summer holiday vouchers for activities that we can do together.

 

I've filled out my vouchers with a cinema trip, shopping trip with some spending money, a day at Legoland, strawberry picking & jam making, a camp-out in the garden, lunch at a restaurant, a trip to a London Museum (probably the Science Museum), a picnic at the park, a sweetie making session and a fish & chip supper.

Hopefully the holiday kit will make up a little for not going away and we can have some fun days and make her some happy memories. If you wanted to print out some summer holiday vouchers for your children I've uploaded a pdf file. This year I've designed a blank version so that you can write in your own ideas for treats. Download Vouchers

I'm feeling rather unprepared for the school break - not helped by the fact the camera broke this morning (which is why I have no pictures to share today). Anyway, I'll pop in here from time to time when I have the chance but it may not be very frequently so for now, here's wishing you and yours a good summer!

paper for knitting projects

Thanks for all the get well wishes - they worked and I'm feeling a lot better. The only downside of feeling more chipper is the backlog of housework waiting for me and not much of an excuse to ignore it any longer!

When I was scribbling out notes for the bunny trainers recently, it occurred to me that I should have a better system for keeping my notes (I usually jot stuff down in a variety of notebooks and I've lost stuff before). So I had a play and designed some note paper which I've printed out and will keep in a box file ready to do my jottings on.

It occurred to me that this might be useful for others so if you'd like some you can download a pdf of 4 pages here. Download All knitting notes

If anyone thinks of any extra pages that might come in useful please let me know and I'll see if I can help.

Here's wishing you a good weekend (it's going to be a hot one here - too hot for housework obviously!)

sick day

Why is it that mummies aren't entitled to sick leave? Luckily for me I don't get ill too often but when I do all I want is to take to my bed which (as I'm sure everyone else knows from personal experience) just isn't possible when you're a mum. Still, I'm rebelling and after getting the children off to school yesterday I put my jammies back on, made a cup of tea and spent the rest of the day in bed watching dvd's of Northern Exposure and fiddling about with yarn.

I did have quite a productive day in bed - the headless bunny is headless no more, I've finished the first crochet cushion (cheating by just using it as a panel to reface an old, plain cream cushion) and I do feel a bit better. I reckon I need a few more lazy days with no housework in order to build up my strength ready for the school summer break - you'll back me up won't you?

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by the way - it's only a summer cold - nothing serious! thanks x

friday afternoon knitting

Thanks for the kind comments recently about poor Toffee and Amy's ballet performance and the garden. I don't get as much time as I'd like to reply to everyone but I wanted to say here how much I appreciate you taking the time to leave me a message.

A couple of people asked about bunny knitting - there's certainly a lot of it still going on here (although I'm still quite enamoured with crochet too!) and I should have some animals ready in the next week to list over on Etsy (will email the advance mailing list with details as soon as they're ready). I've been playing with ideas for boy's shoes and have just about worked out a new design for trainers, so hope to have a couple of those ready soon.

I'm off to make the most of the last quiet hour before the weekend and start on a head for that poor head-less bunny. Have a happy weekend where you are.