Things that made me smile last month, and this last week! …...

……. just a round up of little things that have happened that I didn't get around to talking about at the time.
Firstly - hurray - I have finished my sweater!!!. It has been a long time coming as I had to pull it all back because I ran out of wool and needed to make a smaller size. The smaller size also worked well for me as I lost a few pounds weight when I was ill with pneumonia recently. I love the detail on the front with the pleats. The pattern is called 'Folded' by Veera Valimaki, I'm not sure where I first found it, but the pattern is on Ravelry.

 Here it is modelled by my dress making mannequin. (I must find a name for my mannequin!) The sweater has 3/4 sleeves and is knit in one piece from the bottom up, I changed the neck line slightly by finishing with a few rows of rib, and in the end wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

 Secondly, I went back to the 'knit and natter' group in Skipton held in Coopers Coffee Bar each Friday morning. This is my first visit since being ill, so it was lovely to go back meet everyone again.

Then, both girls have been back for weekend visits - but at different times. When Clara came we went for a walk in the Lake District up Place Fell near Patterdale. Here J and I are plodding up the hill with a view back to Ullswater. There was quite deep snow on the top which the dog loved!

We had lots of lovely food, with another recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi. This time from his Jerusalem book - Chicken with caramelised onion and cardamon rice.

We also visited the house renovation project with both girls, so they could see how it is progressing. It looks more like a house now, with the extension on the side. Still a way to go, but the builders are doing really well with the weather!

This is to be my studio/workshop in the garden!!! so exciting.

This weekend we went to see the house with Molly, then went for a walk around Talkin Tarn. It was really misty and we couldn't see from one end of the tarn to the other. The tarn was also frozen around the edges so the ducks were having fun.

 There is still quite a lot of snow still lying around, which always makes a walk more interesting!

Back home, we have been growing oyster mushrooms. A friend gave us this pack as a xmas gift and this is our first crop. You just have to mist them with water twice a day, and they take a couple of weeks to grow. Success!

With being ill, I didn't do any tidying up in the garden in the autumn, so its lovely to see the snowdrops pushing up through the soil and making the garden more interesting again.

We have also had a few really cold days with temperatures of -5, but this has given us the most beautiful sunsets.

Well thats me caught up, a record for me to keep and to share with you. Hope you have had a good weekend.