London Trips And Crochet Letter Boxes

 It was sunny and bright but ever so cold when I went to my Dad's house to get his shopping. Sitting in the shade at the station I was so cross I had forgotten my gloves. It was only 6C with a freezing wind. What a change from last week when it was 23C! Dad's tablets were sorted out and his shopping done. It will be so nice when the other shops in his village open up next week. It will give it much more of a feeling of normality. Although a talented person had made a real effort to brighten it up by the post office with this wonderful knitted decoration.

When I got home at 6.30 Tom had already got in from work. Youngest daughter had gone into central London to meet some freinds in St James's Park. It was her friends birthday and they had planned to get a takeaway and a few drinks and enjoy their meal in the open air. She had wrapped up really warmly but I did think what a shame it was the weather had turned so cold as she had been looking forward to it so much. I was thinking to myself at least it is dry then I got a text message from her saying it was snowing there! 

I often think how strange it is she spends so much time going to St James's Park. She loves it and says it is her favourite park, in normal times she and her friends spend so much of their time there in nice weather. When I was 16 and 17 I worked in London in the 1970s and I would spend most of my lunch breaks there. I worked in a bank in Piccadilly Circus and on nice days we would buy our sandwiches at a little sandwich bar at the corner of Jermyn Street and walk down Lower Regent Street ,cross The Mall and sit eating them overlooking Buckingham Palace. As an extra perk of the job the bank would give us a 15p luncheon voucher a day, which in those days took quite a large proportion off the cost of a sandwich. Shops and restaurants would display a sign in their window if they accepted these vouchers. We would be given them on pay day for the month and sometimes we would treat ourselves, and my friends and I would go to a Steak House for a meal and pay for it all in 15p luncheon vouchers. We must have been really popular! 

After our lunch in the park we would walk down to the palace and wave to the soldiers in their bearskins guarding in their sentry huts. We knew them all by sight and thought they were so good looking! Of course they weren't allowed to move but there was one who would always wave back at us by wriggling his fingers. What a rebel he must have been, I wonder where he is now!

I love talking to youngest daughter about all the things she has seen when she gets back but she was so tired and cold when she got in after not going out at all for months she went straight to bed. She said she had a wonderful time though so I'll be able to hear all about it later on today. It is sunny and bright but ever so cold here today. It was -2C when I got up. I don't intend to walk the dogs until it warms up a bit more and I think I will have a day inside today as there is a lot to catch up with after Easter. I hope everyone has a lovely day and if it is cold were you are you are lucky enough to be able to be just looking out at the brightness. xx

Stitching Through The Generations

 With Scarlett's "help" yesterday I finished the repairing of the large crochet blanket. She loves to help, she has her own ball of wool (purple her favourite colour) and she sits busily working in and out of the ball of wool with a crochet hook looking very serious! "I find crocheting very easy" she says as she just winds the wool around the hook! When she is a little older than three I will definitely sit and teach her how to do it properly. It is really something to look forward to. 

The Crochet Blanket

Now the blanket is repaired I just love it. It's enormous, large enough for a big double bed and I have decided not to take it to the caravan. It's strange but repairing someone else's stitching I think you almost build up a bond with them. Whoever crocheted this blanket worked so hard on it it needs to be displayed all the time so I think I will put it on our bed and it will brighten up our bedroom which is very dark. I have another bedspread I will start work on soon for the caravan. 

While I have been repairing the blanket I have been using bits of the wool that I found in my Mum's knitting bag. Ten years ago, when I was really enjoying knitting all the time, she gave me her knitting bag. I remember the day really well. It was in the summer and my sister who worked in a school was off work and was there too. We went out for an Indian meal and had such a lovely time all chatting and laughing as we always did. When we got back to the house Mum told me she had found her knitting bag in her wardrobe and thought I might like it. I could only really remember her knitting when I was very young in the early 1960s so it hadn't been used for nearly 50 years. Apparently my Dad bought it as a present for her just after they got married in 1955. 

I remember we really laughed at the 1950s patterns. I have still kept the knitting my Mum started years ago. 

While we have been mending the blanket, using my Mum's wools it has made me realise that it is a very precious thing passing on crafts and skills down through the generations. Schools don't teach these skills anymore so if it is not taught in the family I think they will be lost. It's not just the skills though it's a love of recycling and reusing that I don't think happens without being taught it. 

The whole day was so enjoyable yesterday. We went out for a walk in the morning and looked in all the shop windows of the closed shops talking about why they were closed at the moment. It reminded me of the days when we used to go window shopping on Sundays when we were children. 

Working and going out walking. Pandemic or not there is still fun if you can enjoy the little things and yesterday was definitely a day of enjoying them. It's lovely and sunny this morning so I hope I can get a few bits tidied up in the garden before the cold weather comes this weekend. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever they are doing. xx

For Everyone Who Loves Knitting

    I am not a very crafty person really. I would love to be but I'm afraid my knitting skills haven't really progressed since I was 12 years old. All I can run to is a little knitted blanket when we get a new puppy or kitten and I have a few nice colourful scarves I wear when I walk the dogs that I have knitted. My Mum always tells me I should knit scarves for everyone for Christmas they look so nice but I think she is just being kind. I look at lots of the blogs I read and can't believe how talented some people are, I really envy them.
    When I was on my way home from the hospital this evening we stopped at our local shops to buy a much needed bottle of wine. While Tom was in the shop I noticed the sign outside the wool shop. It really made me smile and I wanted to share it with everyone who loves knitting. The shop have made a colourful cover for the roof of the sign outside the shop. How lovely, how clever, it has really made me want to try and improve my knitting skills it looks so nice. I hope this makes other people smile as it did me.