Mother's Day... and more Puppy Pictures

Sunday was Mothering Sunday here in the UK. I had an absolutely wonderful day with my family, they are always the happiest days. We did it a bit different this year for us, I'm always asked what I'd like for lunch and we have a roast dinner as we do most Sundays. This year Imogen cooked brunch of sausages, hash browns, egg and bacon. She did it with Andy's supervision, but it was cooked by her and an excellent job she made of it to!

Adam came round at lunchtime and we had a fabulous afternoon playing games and laughing so much, then Andrew and Adam went into the kitchen to prepare an amazing buffet tea as I wanted it to be for his lovely g/friend too as she is mum to sweet little Izzy.

I had so many lovely gifts.  This is from lovely husband Andrew (Andy) for when I'm feeling Mary Poppins... ish.

Imogen gave me this book, I think it's amazing, such a good idea

Each double page has a question for me to answer about all sorts of things from my childhood to hers. When it's finished I'll give it back to imogen to keep. Here's an example, not too clear I'm afraid.

 I was thoroughly spoilt...

 I taught myself to crochet last year. I saw a pattern for a Granny Square cushion in a magazine and took the plunge. I remember how the first square took a couple of hours to make, but I gradually got quicker as the hook and stitches felt more familiar. I do remember thinking there were a lot of ends though...

It looks much nicer this way up!

I was so excited that I had mastered the squares, that instead of sewing in all the ends and finishing it off, I was too impatient to move on and crochet something else. So I'm doing it now, it would be a shame not to finish my first crochet project.

The puppies have their eyes open. They have grown so much, prepare for more puppy photos...

Gary... bored of all the puppy fuss

Take care
xxx

Spring, soup and puppies

It's hard to think about much else rather than our sweet little puppies at the moment. I find myself passing through the dining room and pausing to give mum a stroke then before I know it, time has passed by while I've been sat just gazing at those small dark bundles, watching them crawl all over each other looking for a warm place to cuddle in, sleeping or crawling into their mother's furry tummy to sniff out her milk.

It looked like 4 black pups when they arrived, but now it appears to be 2 black and 2 brown and black ones.

Mollie is able to leave them for a little longer now as they sleep for longer between feeding. She's a very good mother though, never too far away and not letting poor dad get a look in.

They've grown so much already, it's amazing.

Look at that teeny mouth... OK... is this too many puppy photos! You can just see the paler markings above one of the puppy's eyes - just like his dad!

Meanwhile, more life is happening outside. Imogen planted lots of bulbs in the Autumn, and we are now seeing them strong and true, reaching up to the sun.

I can see these shoots from my kitchen window, and can't wait to see them all grown and in flower. Imogen planted so many, I can't remember what's there!

What else have I been up to? Soup... I love making my own soup. I've never tried French Onion soup, so thought I'd try making some.

It was the easiest soup I've made. Chopping lots of onion, and caramelising them with some butter, olive oil and a pinch of brown sugar.

I also added some garlic, well it is so good for you - yum! All that was left was to stir in my vegetable stock and a couple of table spoons of flour to thicken.

Best served with homemade bread, toasted with cheese.

Take care
xxx

Puppies are here.

What an exciting day we had yesterday, everything happened in the evening. We suspected that Mollie, our dear Miniature Dachshund, was going into labour. Her due date was Thursday, but we were expecting them between Tuesday (yesterday) and Saturday. The first hint was a complete lack of interest in her food and water and then it was obvious that she was very restless and just couldn't get comfortable (poor thing).

Adam had planned to come round after work (it's his last week living on his own before his lovely g/friend moves in with him, but that's another story) so I was cooking a lovely big roast joint for us all. Andy left to pick Adam up from work and I was just sorting out the last few things for the dinner so I could have it ready for them on their return, when Imogen came to tell me about Mollie having 'stuff' falling out... hmmm!

Four tiny bits of 'stuff' fell out! They are all appear strong and healthy, moving around with gusto and crying when their mother plonks herself on them!

Stolen my heart already!

Mollie looks like she's going to eat one here!

Are they not the cutest things ever! All 4 appear to have a shiny black coat like daddy (our tiny Chihuahua) and are bigger than I expected, though still tiny little Chiweenies. Thank goodness all went smoothly and mum and puppies are doing well.

The evening was spent relaxing with each other and some homemade banana and walnut cake.

Take care

xxx

A New Friend...

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post. I do try and reply to each comment and appreciate every one of them :)

I forgot to show a photo of the lovely flowers that Andrew bought me for Valentines. We don't really celebrate Valentines, but it's always nice to get flowers and they do look so pretty in the fauna posy vase.

How mantic is my man, buying me roses!

While I'm mentioning his romantic side... Andy was popping a pizza in the oven and came running through to show me this

Huh? I hear you say. It's a small piece of tomato from the pizza. Isn't he sweet!

I was flicking through the last issue of Simply Crochet when I came upon the cutest little bunny. I'm still very new to crochet and haven't made anything like this before so as well as learning something new, it meant we have a new friend come to stay with us.

She was nice and easy to make and I enjoyed crocheting her. Imogen suggests we call her Beatrix, Trixie for short.

Cute little bunny tail...

She's posing with my crochet hooks so I can show off my new GreenGate tumbler. I think it's so pretty, Andrew bought it for my birthday and I think it's going to be the closest I get to any GreenGate for now... love it :)

Take care
xxx

I had a Birthday!

It was over a week ago now... where do the weeks fly to... what am I saying... where do the years go?

I had a lovely birthday with my family. Adam  came round after work, then Andy and Adam made a lovely Mexican meal to celebrate the day. Unfortunately no photos were taken, but I can still show you some of my lovely presents.

This is so sweet, and plays Over the Rainbow, from my thoughtful husband.

Beautiful flowers as a lovely surprise from my beautiful sister and her family (not the best photo, the colours are gorgeous and vibrant). Just right to go in my new jug :)

I was so excited by this, a Sharp Crochet Hook. Andy bought it from America especially, my wonderful husband! It comes with a handy little book with ideas and patterns and means I can crochet borders onto everything without having the fuss of having to pierce holes first.

 They have a website and facebook page full of ideas too.

Also, here are some of the lovely books...

Hmmm... not sure if Andy's trying to tell me something here...

I do love the Amazon wishlist...

It's so nice having a grown up son too, Adam bought me some lovely jewellery

and thoroughly spoilt me with lots of bits and pieces, including some cds of The Drifters and this one here

Imogen knows the way to her mum's heart and treated me to a big box of milk chocolates... yum! Just right for munching through while watching a good film.

Take Care
xxx