Snapshots

Hello again. Just a very quick post this week as not much has happened. Most of it has been spent taxiing E to and from her exams and trying to keep her calm in between. The lurgy has also struck, so there has been a fair amount of this:

Lemon and Ginger tea ....

.... and this:

Still, it did give me an opportunity to enjoy my stripy tights which E forbids me from wearing if we are likely to leave the house and see actual people!

Being confined to the sofa did give me the opportunity to do a little crafting. The first of which I've been meaning to make for a while now. 

When R asked me what I wanted for Christmas and my birthday a few years ago (the 2 being practically on top of each other) I decided a bike would be nice. R cycles to the station every morning, pops his bike on the train to London and then cycles to work at the other end. He's usually complaining about the state of his bike, so when I caught him looking at black, manly bikes for my supposed birthday/Christmas present, I smelled a rat! I predicted that within a few months, something would have 'gone wrong' with his bike, necessitating him borrowing mine and then I still wouldn't have had a bike to call my own. So, I asked for a pink one with a wicker basket! He tried to dissuade me but I held firm and Bernard (!) was purchased and so far, unsurprisingly, R has refrained from acquiring it! Since seeing Bunny Mummy's transformation of her glorious bike, Bernard's basket has been feeling a little lacking in the crochet department. So, with much sniffing and drinking of hot tea, a little bicycle bunting was born.

What do you think? Sufficiently girly and husband proof?

I can't decide whether a few crochet flowers would look good or do you think they might be a little OTT?

Other happies this week include:

My lovely irises (is that the plural or is it 1 iris, 2 iris?):

I bought a bag of bulbs a few years ago from the Pound Shop and they have brightened my May every since. Yesterday I popped back and bought a few Dahlia tubers, so I'll keep you posted as to whether they grow or not - they didn't look too promising to be honest!

Another crochet pot cover to hide the 'urine yellow' pot - the only one I could find in the cupboard to house my geranium. That makes 2 covers in as many weeks but The Management has made its views clear and, sadly, no more will be forthcoming!

A couple of shots of the canal when I went to replace my library books:

I love the sleeping swans in this one:

Playing with my food!:

Lots of rain, although it is nice weather for ducks. Here's Jemima who, after pecking at the glass doors to remind me that it was supper time, fell asleep on the patio after eating.

Normally, I only tend to show you my successful attempts at baking but this week's chocolate fudge cake was such a disaster and provided so much mirth that I felt I had to record the moment. Admittedly, I should have taken its photo before decorating it to show it in its true glory, but I think you can still just about see the crater-like dip in the middle that I've attempted to hide with the fudge topping and flake (the flake was the nicest bit!).

Trying to distract the eye with a jug of flowers!

E saying that she could make it look nice  ........

My loaf of the week - much better than my cake, even if it is just a bog-standard white:

 I actually put it into one of my Mum's old loaf tins for once; it felt rather lovely to be using something of hers and made a change from the usual mound.

Finally, a little collage of a few more gardeny bits:

... and that's it for this week - actually a longer post than I envisaged, so thank you if you made it to the end! I'd better get back to calming duty. Have a wonderful weekend.

Toodle Pip for now. x