Inklings

Hello! I've rather cheated on my Friday Happy picture this week, choosing instead to post a little collage. Wednesday saw me beetling off to Oxford to visit my darling L - always a happy moment. I was really lucky with the weather as it had snowed on Tuesday and I was worried about the roads. Fortunately, it mostly thawed overnight and it turned out to be pretty plain sailing. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures I snapped walking to her college:

Mostly they are views taken from Christchurch meadow. There is also a picture of the outside of 'Alice's Shop' and a photo of the lovely chap outside L's window - I think he may be a grotesque, rather than a gargoyle. 

We were very lucky with the weather - sunny but very cold. We spent a while wandering around Gloucester Green market, oohing over the size of the pomegranates for sale (sorry, I should have taken a photo!) and buying a ludicrous quantity of clementines for just a pound. Then we decided a spot of lunch might be in order and came here:

We tried coming here for lunch in the Summer, but couldn't fit through the door because it was so popular. As it turns out, there are considerably fewer tourists on a cold day in February, so we were in luck!

The sign on the wall explains its popularity:

I took a couple more snaps inside:

It was very atmospheric and lunch wasn't bad either; I can understand the usual crowds. We then went for a walk around Jericho, an area of Oxford I'd heard about (probably from Inspector Morse/ Lewis!) but never seen. It turned out to have some really quaint houses and was really rather lovely. Sorry about the lack of photos for this bit - I couldn't feel my fingers at this point! We finished off with a coffee and shared cake in the cafe at the Ashmolean. 

It looks like the hedgehog on L's jumper is eyeing up the stem ginger cake! Then, all too soon, it was time to say goodbye and dash home for the school run.

Other happies this week include:

Doing some of the 'Graduation' Quilt.

 Snapping more shots of Hamish and E having a cuddle:

 Flowering tete-a-tetes.

Waking up to this:

 

So, deciding to light the stove and do a bit of this:

 In an attempt to bust some more of that stash, I've started knitting some blocks from this book:

 Here are some of the ones I've done so far:  

 I started off doing this with a view to making a picnic blanket and then discovered this on Planet Penny's Happy Friday Links. Linda had had the same idea - I love her colours (mine will be a bit more of a mish-mash owing to using up the scraps) and the fact that she cleverly backed hers with fleece. I think I may try doing the same when I eventually finish it. It may take me a while - I'm not a natural knitter and I find I have to concentrate REALLY hard, otherwise I lose where I'm up to. I also can't 'tink' yet, so any mistake and I have to start all over again! Not a project for doing in front of the TV then!

One final happy this week:

 'Loaf of the week': Farl

I haven't tried it yet as it's still cooling but it certainly smells yummy. That's all for this week's happies. I'm just off to see if I can add Planet Penny's linky button to my sidebar - I'm not the most technically minded, so it may take me a while! Wishing you a warm and fun-filled weekend.
Toodle pip for now. x