Hearts at Home Edit

:: GROW ::

Another Monday in lockdown. Thankfully our good weather run continues and can you believe that we are one week out from the start of summer (meteorologically speaking)? 

In my garden, the foxgloves are in flower and they are a sure sign that early summer has arrived!

My Clematis have really come into their own and are very obviously happy in their new garden home. Both are flowering and climbing ever higher.

:: NOURISH ::

Home blessings last week...baking and lots of it. I do love baking but don't often do it these days as it then requires eating and eating delicious baked fare is bound to put on the pounds. It sucks to have to be careful the older we get don't you think?

:: CREATE ::

I've made a start on my Woodland Walk socks. They have not been without misadventure, however, I was almost at the point of turning the heel and I realized that I had made a mistake in the pattern and had to frog right back to the ribbed cuff. I had repeated the design all the way around the sock and of course you can do that with this pattern as the pattern repeat works out perfectly across 64 stitches. But turning back to the picture on the pattern I really preferred the simple look of the leaf pattern running down the side of the leg. It seemed less 'cluttered to me. I am using Under An English Sky Yarn in the "Mrs Tiggywinkle" colourway for these socks and I'm hoping to finish them in a week as I have a list of patterns and yarns that I wish I could knit all at once!

I have picked up my embroidery needle again. I think the last time I stitched was around this time last year. I worked on a little robin whilst waiting for my youngest as she was writing her American SAT exam. Gosh, that is a while and I still have not finished that robin! I really do need to get a better work/life balance when I go back to work. I really cannot go back to the way things have been for the past year!

Anyhoo, this pattern is by Country Cottage Needleworks and the pattern is called 'Forest Snowfall'. I bought my copy from The Patchwork Rabbit here in the UK. Although I have a substantial collection of DMC threads I decided to invest in the recommended Classic Colorworks threads for this pattern as I really wanted the exact look. My stitching hangs on my walls and will become, I hope, heirlooms so it's worth the investment in my view.

:: WATCHING ::

I'm not a huge TV fan. I mean I'll watch a few things that I really like with my family and I'm a sucker for Midsommer Murders, Poirot and Miss Marple but even then I usually only keep those for Sunday afternoon viewing on wet, rainy or icy days. I record them on SKY and so they are always available when I get the urge.

Last week I say a promotional ad on Instagram advertising a 30 free trial for Acorn TV, a streaming service. Now I would have scrolled right on by but it appears the algorithms have me sussed! They were advertising a lighthearted mystery series along the lines of 'Agatha Raisen' and 'Miss Read'. How could I resist?

Well I thoroughly enjoyed 'Queens of Mystery' and then went on to watch Agatha Christie's 'Partners in Crime' which I just adored and then 'Glorious 39' which was slightly disturbing. Perhaps this explains why I continued knitting my Woodland Walk sock in the incorrect pattern right up to the heel turn!

:: READING ::

With all this delightful time on my hands, I have enjoyed delving into some old favorites. Karen Andreola's 'Lessons from Blackberry Inn' and Richard Du Cann's 'The Art of the Advocate'.

'Lessons from Blackberry Inn' is a real feel-good light read which is just too lovely. It's all about family, homeschooling, and the art of homemaking. I've read this book at least 4 times and I'm sure that I will continue to read it and 'Pocketful of Pinecones' in the years to come.

'The Art of the Advocate' is one of three law-related books on my summer reading list. So far it's a fascinating read.

That wraps up my little hearts and home edit for last week. Tell me what you've been up to over the past week?