Side View

This is the view from our side gate immediately to the left our new house.


If you walk along the pathway and turn right up the adjoining field this is the view that you get! This hilly structure is North Berwick Law ~ which is a volcanic plug rising 615 feet above sea level.


Just after we moved to this beautiful town, we decided to make a day of it and climb all the way up to the top ~ we rounded up the kids and a couple extra ~ and headed off.


The climb starts of at a reasonable pace but it does become very steep indeed and as we got closer to the top I was practically crawling on my hands and knees and could have done with some extra oxygen too. I am soooooooooooo unfit! It really doesn't help when you have a small boy racing all the way up and the fact that you are trying to keep up with him in the fear that he might slip and fall all the way down! Boys!!


Here is the boy in question actually sitting still long enough to have his picture taken!


The effort of all that climbing is definitely rewarded when you get to the top as the panoramic views across East Lothian and the Firth of Forth are absolutely amazing ~ you can see for miles and miles in all directions. We are really lucky in this little part of the world as we are surrounded by countryside,the sea and some very beautiful beaches that stretch for miles along the East Lothian coast.


After a much needed rest at the top ~ for us oldies to catch our breath ~ we had a much more leisurely walk back down and then it was back home for a hard earned cup of tea and big slice of cake :O)xx

Wash Day Blues

And greens ~ and pinks ~ and reds ~ and yellows and others too!

A few weeks back ~ whilst I was working my way through the usual daily mountain of washing ~ I felt that I needed something to take the dreariness out of doing the laundry.

Something to make the whole chore a little bit more pleasurable ~ so what better way to cheer myself up than a lovely new colourful crocheted peg bag.


I took some of my inspiration from Ravelry, but basically my colourful new peg bag is just a stripey rectangle shaped piece of crochet made from Rico Creative Cotton.


I have to say that I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the Rico Cotton, it can sometimes be a bit splitty to work with, and it does sort of look a little like beautifully coloured string. However ~ even after saying that ~ I do kind of quite like the overall finished effect that it gives to the crochet fabric.

Anyway ~ let's get back to the peg bag.

First of all I started by crocheting a rectangle with a hand sized slot about three quarters of the way down. I then folded the finished rectangle over and threaded a wooden hanger through one of the middle stitches at the top. All that was left for me to do after that was to crochet the sides and the bottom closed. I also decided to pretty it up a little bit by adding a bobbly edging and.........Ta Dah!


There we have it!


A colourful little crochet peg bag all ready to brighten up my Wash Day Blues and because I now have a lovely new brightly coloured peg bag I may just need to go out and buy myself to some new brightly coloured pegs to go with it! :O) xx

edited to add :: I have been asked to do a tutorial for my peg bag and I will try to do this asap for those of you that would like to give it a go :O)xx

Bloggy Break

Goodness me!

That was a much longer bloggy break than even I anticipated having ~ but I'm really happy to be back in the land of Blog again. I'm hoping that I'll still have some of my lovely readers left! And although I haven't actually been blogging myself I have still been checking in regularly with everyone's blogs and have enjoyed reading about all your Summer Holiday exploits.


During the long bloggy break the BIG MOVE has finally taken place and after a very long eighteen months our little house was sold in June. We have now taken up residence in this modest three bed roomed semi detached house in my childhood hometown ~ which is by the seaside ~ and I am absolutely thrilled to be back home. Back near the beach and more importantly just a short two minute walk from my Mum's house ~ what could be better?


We have already spent a fair bit of time walking on the beach looking for treasures, paddling in the sea and taking in all the wonderful seasidey views ~ It makes me feel so lucky to be able to have my children spend some of their childhood by the seaside and experience the same pleasures that I had growing up in such a wonderful place.


As I've been so busy with the new house there hasn't been much time to spend on any hooky stuff ~ although I have been tying up some loose ends on my Rico Creative Cotton project ~ which I hope to be able to share with you sometime soon.


It really is good to be back! I'm off now to do a very quick food shop before heading off on the school run to collect a small boy. I hope that you all have a fabby weekend and I'll see you all sometime next week :O)x

France ~ Day trip to Paris

Whilst we were at Disneyland, we decided that as we were so close to the centre of Paris it seemed a bit silly not to venture into the capital and see some of the sights that make this city so famous. We were not disappointed either ~ I don't think that I've ever been in such a beautiful city! It was absolutely breathtaking! You could spend a lifetime there and still not manage to see everything it has to offer!

As we had such a short time in the city we decided to go on an organised tour so that we could cram in as much sightseeing as possible. We boarded a very comfortable tour bus in the morning and were shown around the city in comfort with a very informative commentary. We drove past all the important sights ~

Up the Champs-Elysees to see the Arc de Triomphe ::


and past the Louvre where the painting of the Mona Lisa is kept ::


stopped to have our photo taken in front of the giant pyramid ::

We then changed our mode of transport for a Bateaux Parisiene for a leisurely sail up the river Seine, this time getting a different view of the landmarks as we passed by them on the water.


Notre Dame Cathedral ::


Pont Neuf ~ which is the oldest bridge in Paris ::


and of course the very famous Eiffel Tower ::

After our river trip, we disembarked and crossed over the road on foot to the Eiffel Tower. This was what we had all been waiting for! We were fast-tracked through so there was no long queue to stand in either. It was all very exciting!


This was the view we had whilst waiting for the lift ~ which was a double decker glass fronted contraption. It sort of went diagonally up the first bit and then straightened itself up to get to the first and second floors.



The views of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower were stunning::

Once we had taken in all the views from the top of the Eiffel Tower we came down and sat in a little park at the bottom of it and had cafe au lait and ice cream which was a lovely way to finish off our day trip.

Paris truly is very beautiful and is a place which we will very definitely be revisiting again ~ hopefully sometime soon! :O)xx

France ~ Disneyland Paris

We have just returned from spending a fabulous week in Disneyland Paris. The weather was absolutely glorious and we were able to wander around in shorts, t shirts and flip flops ~ a bit of a far cry from the weather that we have been experiencing here in Scotland of late!


It was lovely just to be able to relax in some sunshine and take things at our own pace. We have visited Disneyland in Paris a couple of times before so we know where everything is ~ well, when I say that what I actually mean is that my lovely husband knows where everything is because my sense of direction leaves a lot to be desired!

We went on all our favourite rides ::


Visited Phantom Manor ::


Lost our way a little bit in Alice in Wonderland's colourful maze ::


Saw a Pirate ship ~ but unfortunately there was no sign of Captain Jack ::


Took a trip on a runaway train on Big Thunder Mountain ::


And scared ourselves silly on the Tower of Terror!


After all that excitement we needed to be brought down to earth a bit ~ so we parachuted our way down into Toy Story Playland.


Do you see those brightly coloured plastic monkeys? I may be showing my age a bit now, but I remember playing with those when I was a child and it took me right back and believe me, it is quite a long way back too!

As you can probably tell we had the best time ever and we can't wait to go back again ~ hopefully sometime very soon:O)xx

Birthday Boy

My little boy celebrated his ninth birthday a few days ago. I can't quite believe where those nine years have actually gone as they have whizzed by so quickly. I'm one of those mother's who loves all the cute little baby stages and I have to admit that I do sometimes struggle with the fact my babies are growing up so fast! But grow up they must do! Although, on the other hand, it is equally as exciting watching them take the next step in their little lives and develop into such lovely children.

He had a lovely day ~ there was a small pile of presents waiting for him at the end of his bed when he woke up ~ all guarded by his faithful little dog Winston ~ who is his most treasured soft toy.

Fortunately, he loved all his presents.

We spent the day down in North Berwick and had a leisurely stroll along the seafront ~ and my goodness, there was quite a sea breeze ~ I almost need my hat, scarf and gloves! The cold breeze did not put anyone of their ice creams though and we all enjoyed a delicious strawberry cone, complete with a chocolate flake.

One of the presents in his birthday pile were a couple of golf clubs so we headed off for a little practise and had a game of putting which was a lot of fun. There was also a fair amount of cheating going on too. In the end we all decided that the fairest score was a draw.


And, of course at the end of the day there was plenty of yummy chocolate cake and the obligatory blowing out of the birthday candles :O)x

Under the weather

I've been feeling a little bit under the weather this week. Nothing too drastic you understand ~ just some nasty little bugs visiting with some coughs and sneezes and a helping of sore throats and thumping heads hidden in their horrid little suitcases. They have very definitely outstayed their welcome now and I am of the opinion that they should now pack up their little germ ridden suitcases and head on out my door.

You know that can't be bothered feeling? Well that's been following me around all week too. You know how it is ~

I can't be bothered getting out of bed
or getting washed and dressed
or cooking
or cleaning
or doing laundry
or walking to school
or dealing with squabbling kids
or anything else for that matter!

But as we all know life doesn't just stop when us girls are feeling under the weather ~ Does it? Oh No!! Things have still got to be done, families have still got to be fed and watered, household chores have unfortunately still got to be completed, albeit slightly less thoroughly than normal it has to be said.


On the plus side though, I have felt well enough to do a little crochet and to sit with my feet up and drink large volumes of tea. I always feel that's a very good remedy for almost anything!

Hope you are all feeling fine and that you all have a good weekend :O)xx