Well, here we are on the cusp of another school break. As seems to be the way lately the days have been zipping by in a blur without an awful lot seeming to get done.
There has been a fair bit of baking here and of course knitting. I have also been trying to work on the next pattern but have found it hard to give it the concentration it really needs. It will be top of my list of important things to tackle once the children are back at school. Next week will be all about them, well Toby mostly because tomorrow morning Amy is off to New York on a 5 day school trip. She's spent the week fluctuating between high excitement and extreme nervousness. This will be her first time flying and first time on a different continent, a lot to take in when all of her classmates are old hands at intercontinental traveling. Still I'm sure she'll have a fab time, it's a creative arts trip including a Broadway show, Broadway theatre workshop, gallery visits and lots of sightseeing and culture absorbing. In contrast Toby and I will be having a quiet week and hopefully he'll be up for a few wood walks, though he's still not as keen as he once was.
Well, have a good week yourself, I'll leave you with pictures from the my last weeks worth of knitting, baking and general pottering…
From top to bottom…
- Animal bodies waiting to be finished;
- a new project bag exquisitely embroidered by Olivia at This Handmade Life;
- a day spent starting a new project with some beautiful new yarn – Squoosh Merino Cashmere Lace in 'powder' and baking the first of the new season of beautifully pink rhubarb with honey and orange which is delicious eaten with granola and yoghurt;
- the wild plum tree on the corner of our road in full blossom;
- a happy Sunday morning lie-in with tea toast and yarn;
- baking up a batch of lemony baby bundt cakes – recipe from Nigella Lawson, 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'.
Thanks for stopping by x
little cotton rabbits 
I love your sweet little animals. They are sooo cute!
And those cakes look delicious! I’m going to bake a double chocolate cake this weekend.
Have a lovely weekend!
Greetings from Austria
Emma
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Love your photography. Have a great week.
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For someone who says she is not getting much done . . . there are a lot of lovely things for your family there!
Enjoy the time with Toby. It all goes by very quickly.
Mary Kate
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Is the crochet project an Alpine Frost scarf? Very pretty yarn 🙂
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I love seeing all your beautiful animals being created, they always bring a smile to my face! Those lemon cakes look so delicious too!
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Thank you for the gorgeousness, love the Sunday morning one, well, all of them. Have a good week with Toby and best wishes and safe travel to Amy. Glad it wasn’t two weeks ago!
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Very beautiful post, we really enjoy your photography! Thank you for the baking inspiration, these lemony cakes look simply amazing and very tasty! They are great for serving on parties, for example, because lemon cakes are something that everybody loves, they are simple and classic and also look beautiful in their simplicity!
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I wish when I wasn’t productive I would get as much done as you do! Love the little animal parts and all of your baking. Wishing for a good trip to NYC for your daughter. What fun for her! Just looking at the baking is making me hungry. 🙂
Blessings,
Betsy
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A domestic goddess indeed, your photos are delightful as ever, it always looks so very cosy with you. I hope Amy has wonderful time. My children aren’t intercontinental travellers either, apparently ALL of their friends have been to all sorts of amazing places. I hope you and Toby have a lovely half term together. Ours was this week, so it’s almost over now. Just a tenth birthday left to celebrate. CJ xx
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Wow, lucky Amy….what an amazing trip, she will have a fantastic time, wish I was going too!!!
I’m sure you and Toby will have a great week too, I hope you both get to enjoy some lovely walks.
Beautiful images. 🙂
V x
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Your photographs in this post are absolutely lovely! The colors, the compositions, the beauty!Thank you as always for sharing.
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Absolutely beautiful pictures! I am so enjoying knitting your 2 little rabbits and can’t wait to get onto the next pattern!
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Beautiful photographs, Julie! You have totally outdone yourself. And I admit to being totally jealous of your blossoms because we are hovering at -14C (daytime) and we have a foot of snow (Skiing boys tonight!!) I want to be jealous of Amy going to NYC because I LOVE NYC but I can’t be jealous–she deserves it! Hope she has a wonderful time. Are you sending her into Purl Soho and Lion Brand Studio? 😉
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Lovely photos. Although I’m not in New York, welcome to America, Amy. Thank you for sharing with us once again. May you and Toby have a peaceful, relaxing week. We’re far from blossoms of any kind here in western North Carolina today, with snow blowing around. I am so ready for spring.
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Hi Julie, lovely photos as always. Your cakes look yummy, Nigella’s recipes are so good. Love the colours of all the bunnies too, you have been busy. Hope you have a great half term with Toby and I am sure Amy will love New York, what a fabulous experience for her. Hope its not too early for that blossom and it doesn’t get frosted. Freezing cold here in Cumbria tonight but at least it’s not raining! X
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Looks like you were really busy!!! Tell your daughter not to worry she will have so much on her trip to the US. My daughter went to London when she was a freshman in high school. (about 14 years old). She forgot to be nervous and had a great time. I am sure your daughter will too.
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Thank you so much for sharing your lovely, lovely photos. There is something about the way you arrange them and choose colors that is so soothing. I hope they soothe you too!
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Wonderful photos… your knitting is so perfectly perfect. I so love your blog. Happy trip for your daughter and a good transition back to school for your boy!
How do you make those animal pieces (legs/shoes) so amazingly precise?!
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Hello Julie…just a perfect little visit. Thank you…I needed that.
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As always, your sense of colour is amazing. I would love to see the world as you do!
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I have a feeling Amy is going to have the best half term week of all! What beautiful moments you captured this week, Julie. Hope next week brings plenty too. Perhaps being different is what makes them special.
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Lovely lovely pics!!!!! U have seriously knitted ALL those bodies and made those cakes n one WEEK? Best wishes jacqui
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So gorgeous and inspiring as usual Julie! May I link to this post in my next blog post?
Have a lovely week,
Sarah xx
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Delightful cozy pictures. Wishing you comforts this week.
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Stunning photos, those lemon bundt cakes look delicious! And I love Olivia’s embroidery, it’s so beautiful on the project bag. lucky you!
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Hi there. I have just discovered your lovely blog and beautiful patterns. I look forward to reading your posts and making beautiful rabbits I know my daughter will love x
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Bonjour, comme toujours j’adore votre blog et vos jolies créations ainsi que vos tea-time qui sont très appétissants !!
Bon dimanche
Jauneyris
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Few photographs have the power yours do to make me catch my breath and utter again and again “oh, that’s beautiful”. You really do have a remarkable talent for composition and colour. Have you ever considered holding an exhibition? I bet I’m not the only one who would travel the length of the country if you did, nor the only one who would buy your photos if you sold them. In the meantime, thank you for sharing your talents with us all – your blog and your pictures are so beautiful, inspiring and uplifting. Hope you and Toby get out into the woods this week, and that Amy’s trip is a great success.
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Such gorgeous photos Julie. I could fancy one of those cakes right now. Hope you have a good week with Toby and that Amy enjoys her adventure x
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So exciting to come to NYC. Hopefully, she has packed for all kinds of weather. It was bitterly cold today, 2/14, and it is supposed to be snowy, rainy and much warmer by Tuesday. My daughter is supposed to have a similar Broadway class and show, Wicked, in a few weeks. But for us it is just a bus trip over the river. I’m sure Amy will have an amazing trip. There is so much to see and do in NYC. I’m sure she will be ready for some peace and quiet when she returns home.
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In contrast to you, I have more time on my hands this week due to half term which is the reason why I am so determined to comment on your inspiring blog. I often sit in awe reading your news and all that you achieve and I go to comment and I just can’t put into words just how much I enjoy reading your posts and then I end up running out of time and clicking off feeling mean for not responding. Amy’s trip sounds absolutely fabulous. What a fantastic opportunity for her to see and so do much and with all her friends – she’ll have a whale of a time. I still remember the school trips I did with my friends 45 years down the line – those times stay with you forever. No matter how many times I see your little animals they still give me goosebumps. The colours that you use together and the patterns are just magical. As for the cakes, they look delicious. Nigella is a favourite of mine too. I use her recipe for a madeira cake which is just out of this world. Today, though, I am going to bake a malted chocolate cake in a Mary Berry book – it’s the maltesers on the top that’s swaying me. Never made it before so we’ll see how it goes. Anyway Julie, I wish you an enjoyable week and look forward to hearing how Amy enjoyed her trip.
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I hope Amy is enjoying her trip and you are having a happy time with Toby. Your photos are beautiful, as usual, and everything you do makes life sweet and cosy! Anne
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Amazing, beautiful photos, it has gradually dawned on me that my favourite blogs are those that inspire me to make the most of my home and my time. Your blog is a definite favourite!
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Oh, may I drop by for a lemon bundt cake?? They look scrumptious! But they are probably all gone, and then there is the distance between us. Oh, well, I may break down and make some for my self! PS – Love all the bunny tummies and legs! So cute.
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Hi Julie, I just found your etsy shop and beautiful blog today. I’m amazed that I can partake of all the delights there all the way over here in Hawaii. I love all of the photos. My favorites are the softie bodies, the lovely wooden crochet hook along side the beautiful yarn. Of course, not to be out done by the yummy, mouth watering lemony desserts. You have a gift of making us want to be there. I can see that I’ll find myself binge reading your blog and looking forward to any free time to do so. Thank you for the simple pleasures of your life that you share with us. Thanks, Lydia.
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Dear Julie,
I enjoy your blog a lot 🙂 I have written it in a previous comment somewhere that your sense of color is simply fantastic! Not to mention the personalities of your bunnies and other animals.
I just wanted to ask – which brand of needles and crochet hooks you use? I tried to search but did not find the brand.
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Your photograph is stunning. And your knitting perfection. I always smile and inhale deeper when I have the honour of reading your posts. Thank you
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Beautiful photos! You have a wonderful eye for composition!
Those lemon cakes are stunning.
xox
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Love reading you!
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I’m sure your daughter will love her first international trip. A NY Broadway sounds fun.
Your stitching is lovely as always 🙂
I hope you are able to persuade Toby to take a few walks with you!
Those cakes look delicious!!!
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Hello i have just discovered your beautiful blog by reading the article on the italian weekly ” Oggi”. How was the trip to NYK? It’s possible to have the recipe of lemon cakes they look delicious !!!!XXX
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Oh, I hope Amy enjoyed her trip and that you enjoyed the school break as much as possible. Goodness me… school trips are not what they used to be! Beautiful photos as always.
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Oh my! Your blog is beautiful! So many lovely photos!
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Dear Julie so inspiring as always…thanks so much for sharing! Can I ask where you purchase your wooden knitting needles and crochet hooks? It definitely adds to the pleasures of knitting and crocheting when the needles and hooks are lovely and not silver and clinical xxxx
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I really adore your beautiful pictures and the picturesque scenes of your home. Furthermore I love the way you write your texts und I’ll use them to improve my English a little bit while enjoying your blog. Thank you!
Linnea
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Those little Bears are just too cute…… Thanks for sharing your picnic with us, where we lived in Yorkshire there was a wood just like that one and I can still smell the Bluebells when I see a photo like that 🙂
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