Looking Forward

Christmas is a funny time of year.  It's a time when everything seems amplified somehow.  If you are at one with yourself and surrounded by those that you truly love, it's a magical time.  A day of happy togetherness.  If, for whatever reason, all is not well with your world, it's a real toughie.

We had a quiet one, my children and I.  It was a fitting way to see off a rather tumultuous year I think.

On Boxing Day morning I awoke and felt what I can only describe as a surge of relief.  A 'thank chuff that's over' kind of relief.  High on this welcome lightness of spirit, I de-Christmassed and cleaned like a woman possessed!  Oh but it felt good.

I'm not going to do my usual look back over the year, this year.  There has been far too much sadness which I don't want to dwell on.  Instead, I am choosing to look forward and focus only on the good things that I shall be taking into 2017 ...

♥  My little pink yarn shop, of course, is a very good thing.  Going from being a stay-at-home mum and wife to starting a new business was far harder than it ever should have been I suppose because it coincided with devastation in my personal life.  In all honesty, had I known I was going to have to do it entirely alone, I'm not sure that I would even have entertained the idea.  However, I didn't know, I did do it and here I am, a bona fide yarn shop owner!

♥  Friendship has meant far more to me during 2016 than it ever has.  I'm not normally a great one for turning to other people for emotional help but this year I have felt the need to and those friends have showed me nothing but love and support.  I've also made a lot of new friends this year, some of whom are already quite dear to me.

Talking of friendships, I just had to show you the beautiful patchwork hot water bottle that Jooles made for me.  I cried when I opened it.  I also received a pair of gorgeous crocheted wristwarmers from Sandra.  I adore both girls and their gifts mean so much.

♥  Now this last bit is going to sound very self-congratulatory and I do hope you'll agree that I don't make a habit of blowing my own trumpet but, for once, I feel it is justified.  It has been a difficult year but I'm proud of myself for keeping going when I really doubted whether I could any more.  I'm proud of myself for maintaining my dignity at the times when I could quite easily have not.  I'm proud of achieving what I have despite the odds being stacked firmly against me.  Most of all, I'm proud of the fact that my children are both proud of me.  So you could say I'm pretty proud of myself!

I guess it's true, you really don't know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

That said, I shall personally be giving 2016 my middle finger as it departs and turning to welcome 2017 with open arms and hope in my heart.  Better things are coming my friends, I just know they are.

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your encouragement and kindness over the last twelve months.  I wish you all a very happy, creative and sparkly New Year.

xxx

A Very Happy Christmas

Well, I think we're almost there.  The children finish school tomorrow and we're all really looking forward to the break.  We are, of course, going to Cornwall for Christmas so it does make life easier in some ways.  In some ways it doesn't.  Two grown-ups, two teenagers and one daft spaniel don't travel light.  Essentials and pressies aside, we have a very impressive buffet of Apple products between us!

So my dear friends, this will more than likely be my last blog post until after the festive period.

As you know, 2015 has been a pretty emotionally turbulent year for me but, with hindsight, necessarily so.  Now that my children are growing up and my role as a mother isn't quite as all-consuming, I have found myself at a bit of a crossroads.  I've had to do a lot of soul-searching in order to discover who I actually am and what and where I go from here.

Finally, I think I now have a jolly good idea.

One thing I have realised is just how precious the Pink Milk part of my life is.  The creative outlet, the soapbox, the mental stimulation, the community, the witty repartee!  It brings me more pleasure than I can say and I thank my lucky stars for the opportunity.  I also thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your friendship and your support.  I would fight fire for you lovely lot, really I would.

So ... my Pink Milk adventure is about to step up a notch and start getting interesting.  That's all I'm divulging for now but I do hope you'll stick with me for the ride?

I wish each and every one of you a Christmas filled with love, laughter and creativity.

See you on the flip side!

Much love,

Heather

xxx

Christmas, Crochet And Contemplation

After spending an obscene amount of time lounging around in my new snowman pyjamas, having a flagrant disregard for good nutrition, hurling both red wine and chicken liver pate onto a very forgiving person's carpet, dusting off my dancing shoes, winning Trivial Pursuit and losing Articulate (and still wishing it was the other way round), spending more money than I actually have and being gifted so many fragrant candles that I'm starting to wonder if my house stinks, I'm back!  Hello!

It's been a funny old Christmas.  A nice funny old Christmas but I've had enough now.  I'm itching to take the tree and decorations down and set-to with my vacuum cleaner and it's myriad of clever attachments.  I'm craving colourful food and am bordering on desperate for my little family to naff off back to work and school.  There, I've said it.  I haven't been alone once in fifteen days and I'm missing my own personal space.  Time to think, plan and just be without interruption.

I had every intention of leaping back here, gazelle-like, with my very own version of a 'Crochet New Year's Honours List' but some very sad news stopped me in my tracks.  On a pre-Christmas potter around my favourite blogs, I learned of the tragic death of Vanessa Cabban from Lisa at Mrs BoboBun.  Vanessa had a blog, Do You Mind If I Knit.  It was one of the very first blogs I ever came across and both enchanted and inspired me from day one.  Vanessa knitted, crocheted, sculpted and illustrated children's books.  She was the most unassuming girl and to this day I am convinced she had absolutely no idea how many people's lives she touched with her beautiful, colourful creations and warm and generous spirit.  Vanessa's ethos was to make time to knit at least a couple of rows every day.  You may well have come across her or her makes at some point but, if you haven't, do please go and pay a visit to her blog.  You'll see exactly what I mean.

To coincide with her funeral, at 11am exactly today, a large number of us on Instagram (and Facebook) all posted a picture of something we are currently creating or a particular memory of Vanessa, tagging it with her name.  It was a very poignant and emotional moment and wonderful tribute, and made me feel so proud to be part of this community.

So we are rapidly approaching a brand new year and I have a feeling that changes are afoot in 2015.  I'm not exactly sure what and am ever hopeful they are positive.  I have my usual sense of excitement tinged with very slight trepidation.

I hope you all had a super duper Christmas and I'll see you next year. ;-)

xxx

A Brief Respite

At the beginning of every single year, I resolve to be more organised.  At the end of every single year, I kick myself for being so bloody disorganised.  Well, no more.  You, my friends, are my witnesses.  2015 is going to see a new me.  A manic diary-keeping, list-writing me who has all Christmas presents bought/made and wrapped by the end of September.  I shall have meals planned weeks in advance, my social engagements will be cleverly-arranged and equidistant, and my life will run like clockwork.

Did you just see that pig fly past the window? ;-)

How are you?  Are you buzzing with festive excitement or are you slightly frazzled too?

By way of a brief respite, I thought I'd pop by and take the opportunity to share a few 'happies' with you ...

❤  No flashing reindeer badges for me yet - I am completely smitten with my new pretty felt flower corsage and am wearing it nearly all the time, mostly pinned to my Miss Piggy Ponchette.  It is my second purchase from this lovely lady on Etsy.  I'm thinking it would also look rather cute on a crocheted hat?

❤  I have a serious mitt habit, lest you'd not noticed.  Using my own pattern,  I've made myself another pair of Rosie Mitts, this time in spring brussels sprout green.

❤  Candles.  I can't pretend I'm liking these dark evenings one jot but fragrant flickering candles and twinkling fairy lights do help.  My favourite Yankee Candle is currently Snowflake Cookie - it is just how I imagine heaven must smell.

❤  Slowly, slowly I'm introducing little Christmassy touches, each one causing a teeny frisson of excitement.  I know some of you already have your trees up but we have a gazillion birthdays first.  I rather like the gradual build-up, it's like festive foreplay! ;-)

❤  Beautiful sunrises.  No filter.  No words needed.

❤  Crumpets.  What can I say?  Hot and dripping with butter.  It's a comfort (and elasticated waistband) thing.

❤  My new calendar.  I'm sorry Katie Daisy but you have been usurped.  2015 will be Caroline Gardner and her Muchly Lovely Family Organiser's year.

❤  One of the aforementioned December birthdays is today.  My baby boy is 16.  Sixteen!!!  We spent last weekend in Nottingham to celebrate.  We had a fabulous supper at Jamie's Italian and then the boys went to a Kasabian concert (which is a little ironic considering all the band members live within a mile of us here in Leicester, with one of them just around the corner).  I shall be cooking his chosen birthday supper of risotto tonight and I daresay he will pester me for my "when I was in labour for 25 hours …" story.  Not!!!  (A quick reminisce is a mother's prerogative on her child's birthday is it not?!)

Of course, it goes without saying that I was extremely young when I had him. ;-)

Have a super week all and I'll see you soon.

xxx

On Relaxing And Reflecting

I honestly can't remember a more relaxing Christmas-time.

We've spent an obscene amount of time in pyjamas, eating and drinking and being generally totally self-indulgent.  All of which has been played out to a soundtrack of One Direction's new album on repeat and enveloped in a thick fog of One Direction's new perfume.

I've made a few observations over this festive period:-

1.  Nobody likes the gold-wrapped toffee pennies in Quality Street.

2.  Everybody fights over the strawberry and orange cremes in Quality Street.

3.  Wine doesn't always improve with age.  The grand opening, at Christmas lunch, of a 23 year old bottle of Chateau La Jarousse bordeau was a definite anti-climax.  It tasted more like malt vinegar than wine.  My £7 merlot was far more delicious.

4.  I think I've underrated turkey and have resolved to buy it more than once a year.  Not only is it extremely nutritious but it's also incredibly versatile.  We've had it roasted, curried, in sandwiches and, last night, as hot and spicy rissoles.

5.  My husband doesn't look half as attractive with painted toe nails.

6.  I really do cook extremely well when I'm squiffy.

7.  I think I am slightly addicted to the American television programme, Storage Hunters.

8.  My brother-in-law is a bit of a dab hand at digital photography so guess who's been picking his brains?

9.  I'm sick to the back teeth of One Direction music.

This afternoon I've been having a wonderful browse through my 2013 archives.  One of the biggest joys having a blog affords, of course.  Gosh, so many little things I'd forgotten.  I've picked out some of my favourite pictures by way of a little recap.  On reflection, it was a pretty good year I think.  Definitely a colourful one.

I don't know about you, but I tend to get a little bit twitchy about the start of a New Year.  I wonder what the year ahead will hold and find myself dwelling on the negative things that might happen.  Completely silly, I know.  This year I'm going to greet 2014 positively.  It feels good, just saying it, "twenty-fourteen".  Nice and even.  Strong.

So my dear friends, thank you so much for coming to visit me in my little corner of the internet over the past year.  I've enjoyed every single minute.  Let's do it all again next year, shall we?

xxx

To You All

You do, you really do, and for that I thank you.

Have a truly magical Christmas my lovely friends and I'll see you again very soon.

xxx

Nearly There ...

I thought I'd pop in quickly and say "helloooo".

A week to go!

After a very iffy start to the month, I think I might just go so far as to say that I'm feeling surprisingly organised!  Of course, now that I've made such a smug public declaration, something is bound to go wrong!

I just love this bit.  You know, when most of the major preparations are done and the pace starts to slow down a little.  Other than the food, all that really remains is the wrapping (hate that bit) and delivering (love that bit) of presents.

I've even done most of my pre-Christmas clean.  Not just a waft around with a duster while humming to "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" but a PROPER tops-of-cupboards and move-furniture clean.  I've also had a ruthless yarn sort-out.  I took a large carrier bag full to a local charity shop where an elderly lady customer immediately pounced on it's contents as if it were treasure!

We bought our Christmas tree last weekend from a local farm and it's sitting twinkling in the corner of the lounge.  I let my daughter decorate it.  Honestly, I didn't intervene at all.  Well, perhaps once when she put two baubles of the same colour on neighbouring branches (which I'm sure was just to test me!).

I also couldn't resist buying a large bunch of holly which is now looking so pretty in a festive jug.  It's decked in some beautiful handmade decorations which my lovely friend Cuckoo has just sent.

In non-Christmassy news, I've treated myself to a new book.  Do you see it in the second-to-last photo?  It's the third one I have now from the Japanese Pretty Crochet Color Goods series (bought here) and it's completely and utterly gorgeous.  My mind is positively whirring with inspiration and ideas.  I'm hoping for lots of relaxing hooky-time over the next week or two.  More on that next time.

I hope to be back once more before the 'big day' so, until then, a very happy pre-Christmas to you all.

xxx