A great day was had by all :)

Yesterday was the knitting and stitching show at Alexandra palace in London which I went to with my mum. We have been before and this is by far one of my favourite exhibitions. It has such a beautiful setting and the exhibitors are so friendly and helpful.

Needless to say we both came home with bags of new projects (and I did break my rule about buying fabric) but it was so lovely to get caught up in the day.
I'm not a knitter but I was so tempted by all of the beautiful yarns and the fabrics and projects could have kept me going for many many years.
And then afterwards we sat down as a family to lasagne (my favourite) and then mahjong which I learnt to play when we were in China. Now the whole family is hooked and I hope that it can become something we can do more often. We don't often sit around the table as a family and it was so enjoyable. Hopefully soon my brother will return from his travelling in Australia and we can be a proper (complete) family as we definitely all missed him being there.
Such a lovely day and I was quite sad to go to bed last night knowing it was over.

Summer is fighting off the autumn

This week we had a wonderful addition to our house-something we have being looking forward to getting since we bought our house last year:

And of course now that we have our working wood burner the temperature has shot up. We have a predicted temperature of 27 degrees this weekend. Now the decision is what to do before the autumn arrives soon. I think maybe a trip to London or a wander around Cambridge would be nice. Decisions, decisions...

China!!!

We have just got home from the most amazing trip ever!!
Hubby and I ventured to China for a 2 week sightseeing tour which was absolutely fantastic (although shattering)
We had a few days in Beijing, Shanghai and then onto Wuhan for a 3 day cruise down the Yangtze River. Then onto Xi'an to see the Terracota Warriors and then back to Beijing to see the Great Wall.
It was the most fantastic experience ever and I loved every minute of it.
Not much sewing was done (despite my cute little bag I made) but I think that was a sign of a good trip.
So much to talk about and show, but I will just give you a hint of a few of the photos.

This trip was so overwhelming in the sights, sounds and smells. Everything was so foreign, but not in an unpleasant way. I would recommend everyone to visit China as it is such a beautiful country with lovely people and we could not have had a warmer reception everywhere we visited.
And of course, we couldn't miss seeing the pandas while we were away. We had a couple of hours at Chongqing zoo which is the homeland for pandas. Zoo is really the wrong word as it is more like a garden with a few animals tucked around, and despite not normally enjoying zoos very much, I really felt sad to leave Chongqing with its peaceful surroundings.
Now we have to pick where to visit next year... any suggestions?

Apologies

Battling with a cold, a broken car and over flowing paper work but I promise I'll be back soon! :)

A perfect afternoon

This morning I ventured to my parents house to see my dad and catch up with him while my mum is away on cub scout camp.
Dad had to help my grandad with some errands so I took the opportunity to take our family dog Megan out for a walk. Megan is one of my major life's loves and no what happens she is the only one that can always make me smile. She is the world's naughtiest springer spaniel (which in itself is a huge statement) but is so cute that you'd can never really be mad at her. She is the dog which has eaten a whole roast chicken out of the oven when no one was looking (she pulled the door open by pulling on a tea towel hanging on the oven door) and a whole Tunis cake from the kitchen counter.

We had a lovely walk and the weather was gorgeous and Megan got to run and run.

Five minute from the end of our circular walk, I noticed that I couldn't see Megan any more. She is a very good dog and doesn't walk this particular walk on a lead. I called and called and searched and no sign of Megan. I started to become a big frantic that I would have to tell my dad that I had lost the dog when I noticed this...

Megan had decided that she didn't want to go home and that if she hid she could play a little longer.
I love this dog but boy can she test us. She turned on her cuteness and all was forgiven! :)

Sadness

I am so sad at the news from Norway and hate to see this beautiful country with such troubles.
Hubby and I lived in Oslo for two and a half years until last summer so both of us have been contacting all our friends there. Luckily no one was hurt but many were close.
All I could do yesterday was watch and cry for all of those innocent people caught up.
Tonight we will be lighting a candle and hoping that the things which made Norway the most beautiful country in the world have not been lost because of one awful man.

Counting down the weeks

Hubby and I are planning a big holiday to china this year which is starting to get very exciting. Today we sent off our visa applications and we had our jabs a few weeks ago. I decided that as we have so much time on airplanes and coaches and boats that I will make the most of it and take lots of sewing with me, and normally I would take it all in a small zip loc bag, but this year I thought I needed to do something to show off my work as I go around. I found a gorgeous stitchery pattern on Pat Sloan's website ( I think it was there) and I have been working slowly on the stitchery until I finished it last night.

Tonight I piece together the bag and was so happy with the results. It is just big enough to fit in my small sewing hoop and lots of fabric. I was really happy that I had this gorgeous Chinese fabric in my stash and have also lined it with another Chinese print. Now I can't wait to be sat on that plane and have to start planning what films and music to put on my iPad ready for the journey!!!