Shameful!!!

So shameful. I haven't been here since April!!!!!!! Life is so busy, yet I don't have anything to really show for it lol.

I've been busy knitting. Knitting against the clock now. I've been busy knitting for my darlings in America, and only a few weeks to go now until hubbie and I go over. I'm part way through a sweater for my eldest grandgirl, having finished off one for my youngest, and second eldest. I've also knitted a hedgehog for my youngest grandgirl, a penguin for the second eldest and an owl for my eldest, and a tea cosy for my daughters MIL The afghan I've got on the go is at a halt, and proclamations of finishing it before the 4yrs it took to finish the other one is now looking a bit premature lol.

Just to add to more of my knitting backlog, I've got hooked on needle felting, thanks to a 'hands on' stall at Art in Action in Oxford. I went home thinking what a brilliant idea, having 'hands on' stalls at craft shows. I'm sure a lot do, but I don't personally come across many at the craft fairs I've been to. That's twice now I've been hooked on something by having a go. The other time was drop spindling.

We have of course been doing a lot of walking and picture taking, mostly the same places which are well documented on this blog, but one or two new places, and some different things at places we've already been to, so photos to follow :-)
We had a wonderful day at Hidcote in Gloucestershire last week. A very beautiful place. I will have to re visit, thinking mainly in the Autumn to enjoy the wonderful Autumnal colours, which are always a delight to my eyes :-) Also there is definitely a re visit on the cards, because they didn't have any thimbles. Myself, and another visitor were both very upset lol, and both saying another visit will have to be :-) Why am I 'upset' about there not being a thimble??  I've decided to start collecting them. I have quite a few now, and my youngest girl bought me one back from Cyprus :-) I've now made holiday gift buying for me, should they want to buy something, very easy for my family lol.
We also had a good part of a day at Dyrham Park. I need no excuse to spend time there. They are renovating the roof on the house, and you can go up 75' to take a look at what they are doing, which was brilliant. Very weird to be looking down on the chimney's :-)

Now, I am very ashamed to report that my 'kitchen front waste not want not' declaration, and my 'earning from home' dedication has fallen well by the wayside over the last few months. Food has sadly found the bin, and the cooker hasn't been used as much as it should have been. Shameful!!!! :-( So today I am again making an effort to return to these declarations of trying to live as simple life as possible, saving where I can. Ha!!!!! I can only take solace in thinking that maybe I'm not the only one who starts off with high aspirations of ones ability to shine, only to find them self fallen well short of achieving anything near where they to be or do lol. Oh well. Upwards and onwards is what i say :-)
So with that in mind, I have made flapjacks this morning. Dinner tonight will a tuna pasta bake, using what I have in the cupboard. It was going to be a bacon and onion based bake, but I am short on bacon, so instead of buying more, I am doing tuna,which I have in the cupboard, along with a couple of tins of sweetcorn. I shall pop some broccoli in it as well. I'm also playing with the idea of making a courgette/tomato type side dish, as my eldest daughter passed a house that had a box of them outside, asking people to help themselves. An offer she couldn't refuse, so she picked a large one and shared it with me :-) I've also got some mushrooms needing to be eaten up, so I shall add them into the mix as well :-)
Friday, one of my girls bought back some milk from the nursery she's doing holiday work at. I already had a fair amount in the fridge, so it was a rice pudding last night, and will be again tonight, alongside a jelly if wanted :-)
Last week I was given a bread machine to keep my existing one company. This one is one of the earlier models, and has been in storage for a couple of years, and then it hadn't been used much, so it threw a couple of hissy fits. Yes, I do believe bread machines have an attitude. The erlier loaves I made in it were ok, but not brilliant, so bread and butter puddings are going to be made from them. These under par loaves, are in the freezer ready to become one :-)