Volcano!!!

When Middle and his class learned about volcano's earlier this school year (read a long, long time ago) the class made a big one and then all the kids made one of their own to bring home.

Middle's has sat on the drawers at home for months cos we're bad parents are we've just never gotten round to exploding his volcano.  So at half term when we were all together at home Mr Miffy decided that this was the time to go for it.

 Middle chose green food colouring for his volcano rather than the traditional red or orange lava and the we had great fun with vinegar and baking soda making the volcano explode over and again.

Seven Good Things

Last week was been another busy one in the Miffy household in a couple of weeks everything will calm down as the end of term approaches but just now the kids are over tired and Mr Miffy has loads and LOADS of school stuff to get done so it's nice to take the time today to chill and focus on the positive things in life in my Seven On Sunday.

1) Coffee with friends.  Twice this week with two different friends.  Really lovely and relaxing both times.

2) New shoes.  After my coffee with L on Monday we went for a quick mooch round the shops and made the mistake of going into the shoe shop.  Now given that I only brought sandals the week before I should not have been looking for me but hey I was naughty and fell in love with a pair.  I um'd and ah'd about them for a couple of days but then went back for them.  Since I got them it has rained everyday and I've not been able to wear them yet but I'm sure they will get plenty of use.

3) It was Mr Miffy's school fair on Saturday so we went over with him while he ran the lucky dip stall.  We had a nice chilled time the boys spent lots of money on the various stalls and we had a burger each for lunch after Mr Miffy had done his time in the stocks having wet sponges thrown at him by the school pupils.

4) Both the boys got woopie cushions from the school fair so there has been lots of hilarity and slightly off colour humour in the Miffy household.  You can't begrudge them though when they are having such brilliant typically boy fun.

5) With this being report writing week for Mr Miffy there's been plenty of time for watching films in the evening while he's been working.  Though I could have done with more than 3 hours sleep I did enjoy my Alien movie fest.  I watched the first one on Wednesday evening and followed that up by watching two, three and four on Thursday evening.  It's been a while since I put them on and I'd forgotten just how much I love them.

6) Hitchhiker progress.  It's almost finished.  Pic will have to follow when it's all done though.

7) Eldest and guide camp.  Eldest went to her first Guide camp over the weekend, her first time under canvas too.  She had a fantastic time even though it rained all night Friday night.  She was sooooo tired though when we got her home.

No pictures today as Blogger simply refuses to load them, much to my annoyance.

That Wednesday Feeling

Here we are with a Wednesday Work In Progress update.

I've not managed to find as much quiet time as I had hoped for the Roses Are Red shawl.  My deadline is starting to loom (in my mind at least) but I've been pretty busy in the day these last couple of weeks and have not had an afternoon to myself.  I think I may have to hide upstairs on my tod for half an hour this weekend and get the last row of this pattern repeat done and then I'll be able to do the easy stuff in the evenings.   In theory there's only one more pattern repeat to do one the current one is finished so it shouldn't take too long now.


On the other hand there's been plenty of TV knitting time most evenings this week in between helping Mr Miffy with his work so the Hitchhiker is going really well.  Just ignore the purple thread.  I dropped a stitch and didn't realise for a few rows so I'm just going to weave it in once I've finished.







The latest addition to the Miffy household is turning out to be quite a lap cat which I am loving.  He's fairly keen on helping out with the knitting though when he's awake.  My stash/project corner has never been so tidy.  I had to fetch a bamboo chest down from the loft and do some sorting out that that all the works in progress can be put away out of sight of yarn loving kitten eyes.  Mr Miffy is loving it.


As ever to see other folks contributions to WIP Wednesday go to Tami's Blog and follow the links.

Seven On Sunday. On Monday Again!

Well that pesky real life has been keeping me busy just lately and I missed last weeks Seven On Sunday completely and this weeks is another of the On Monday types but hey I'm sure no one really cares.

Seven for this week

1) Last Wednesday was Beans last Playgroup trip.  The staff at our fantastic playgroup organise a day trip for the kids and mums/dads each year and we have always had a fantastic time.  Despite the drizzle we had a lovely day out.  Bean thoroughly enjoyed the fair rides and I enjoyed watching him play with all his friends.

2) Rain is good for the garden.  This is me trying to think positively, it has rained rather a lot in the last few days.  However this morning is bright and sunny and it was lovely to walk into town and back in the sunshine.  I suspect if I were to sit out in the garden this morning I could about watch the plants grow.
3)  Friday was day one of the Rally of the East Midlands.  The boys and I dropped Eldest off at Guides and then stayed in town to watch the cars starting off on the first stage.  When Mr Miffy got home he walked into town to join us and we went over to watch the special stage which is run in the council offices.  It rained on us the whole time but Middle didn't care at all and we had a good time.  Sadly it rained (and occasionally hailed) a bit too much for me to take Middle to see the other stages and the finish on the Saturday.

4) Just how hard can it be to photograph a kitten?  The answer to that is "very"  I have a great many photos of a black furry blur and lots more of bits of kitten where he ran away at the vital moment. Meet Castiel.

We gained a rescue kitten about ten days ago.  It was either us or Animal Aid and while Animal Aid do all they can to provide good lodgings for their guests it not the same as a permanent loving home so I could hardly say no.  It seems Mr Miffy couldn't either and so when he was asked he said yes too.  He's now about 13 weeks old and very, very mischievous which of course makes him lots and lots of fun

5) The joy of knitting.  Whilst I always enjoy my knitting there are times when it becomes all consuming and I want to fill every spare moment with it.  I've been extra busy these last few weeks and so knitting time has been extra precious as a result.  If I get organised I'll post a Work In Progress report on Wednesday.




6) New toys for Spike.  Castiel isn't the only creature getting lots of attention this week.  We gave Spikes tank a bit of a make-over this weekend.  He's got a new side piece (fake rock) and a desert background.  It's amazing just how much of a different it has made to our view of his tank.  It's alot easier to look at now there's not a huge glaring expanse of white burning your eye sockets when you try to look in at him.

7) My families health.  Whilst I always know how lucky I am to have my health and for my family to have their health there are times when it comes home to you just how lucky you are.  There is a blog that I have been following for a few years now and the writer had some very sad news to share last week.  I've met Amber a couple of times at Woolfest and I have one of her wonderful Femmes on my shelf.  Her writing has been an inspiration to me in all sorts of ways.  She and Mr Mog are both wonderful, kind, generous people and I wish them both well.  I have them in my thoughts a great deal at the moment.

Conversations with Bean

I had a very interesting conversation with Bean this morning.  He is four and half now and getting more and more aware of and fascinated by the world around him.  He starts school in September and though, like I did with Middle and Eldest before him, I am going to miss him terribly he is well ready to go.

This morning I had parcels to post and so walked into town first thing.  In Bean's world a trip to town also means a trip to a coffee shop and who I am to argue. 

So there we are sat enjoying our morning drinks and snacks when the Bean began to tell me all about how you have a home and before you have a home you live in a tummy.  I agreed with him and then he sat for a moment to consider things a bit more.  Now it wasn't too busy in the coffee shop but obviously being four Bean's voice is a bit loud and can carry somewhat.  Next question "how do we get out of tummies?"

I have to admit I bottled it completely.  Normally I'm a great believer in the idea that if they are old enough to ask then they are old enough to know the answer.  Questions are always answered simply but honestly.  Today though I chickened out and just said "I'll tell you later"

Work In Progress

I've only a quick up date this week as I've mainly been working on the Roses Are Red and the Hitchhiker.  The Hitchhiker kinda looks the same only longer and the Roses Are Red looks like this

I'm just about to start the next lace bit so it's waiting for a nice peaceful afternoon so I can concentrate on it.  Though it's not particularly complicated to knit I do need to keep track of where I am on the row so the less interruptions the better.

I'm sure other folk have more to show than I do this week so head on over to Tami's Blog and follow the links.

Seven On Sunday On Monday

Well I ran out of day and energy yesterday so my Seven On Sunday didn't happen instead her are my Seven On Sunday On Monday.

My goodness it's June already, I can't believe we are nearly half-way through the year.  Seven good things in my life for this week are

1) Half term and all of us together for lots of family time.

2) Half term meaning that Mr Miffy did the vacuuming for me.  You cannot believe just how much I hate vacuuming so having Mr Miffy do it is a real treat.  To be fair he does more than his share in the holidays and in term time he works so many hours that's it's simply not on to expect him to do housework when I am not going out to work at all.

3) Coffee out with a very good friend. And lunch too!  Our regular Knit and Knatter home is closed at the moment so there's been no evening meetings and as Mr Miffy was home to have the kids I took the opportunity to meet a friend for lunch, coffee and knitting.  A very relaxing and peaceful afternoon was had.  Roll on the summer holidays so we can do it again.

4) Going to the park with the kids, their friends and my friend.  My friend and I try to get together at half terms and holidays so the kids can spend some time with each other.  L and I manage coffee on a fairly regular basis but as the kids go to different schools they don't get to see each other as often as they'd like.  We had a lovely morning with the kids playing in the park and L and I sitting chatting.

5) Fun with Lego.  This amazing tower was started by the kids whilst I was out for my afternoon knitting and very soon Mr Miffy was helping out.  When I got home it was taller than Middle and the builders had quit for the day.  The next day Middle, Mr Miffy and I went back to work hunting down suitable pieces and putting the final part of the tower on top which was pretty tricky itself.  Still we were all very impressed with our tower and ourselves.  It was a very wobbly creation but despite this it stayed upright for the afternoon and overnight before Mr Miffy knocked it down.

6) Sitting in the garden with friends.  Some friends had a bit of a get together this week which involved letting the kids run wild in a huge garden while we drank tea and ate cake whilst occasionally intervening to maintain some vague kind of order.  The boys and I had a lovely afternoon and I even caught the sun a little :)  Then last night we were invited out to other friends for a BBQ which again involved food and sitting in the garden.  Very relaxing indeed.

7)Yarn shopping.  Well what can I say, you can't beat a bit of yarn shopping and I've been after some of this yarn for a good while now so while I had some spare pennies I thought I would treat myself.  I've got a couple of ideas as to what it will turn into.  Definitely something for me possibly a Centrique.  I think whatever it becomes it will be knit as part of my Year of Projects so watch this space.  I'll show you pics and let you know what it is when it arrives.

Work In Progress Wednesday.

I am pleased to be able to bring you a new project today.  And about time too as this is a project with a deadline.  I'm pretty happy with it so far.  The pattern is Roses Are Red and it's a nice simple lace pattern.

Please excuse the orange life lines, just because the pattern is a simple one does not mean that I cannot muck it up.

And just to keep you up to date here is my Hitchhiker.  Still a lovely TV knit.

To see other work in progress head over to Tami's blog and follow the links you find there.