mixed fortunes

July 17, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)29 Comments

Toby had a couple of hours of respite on Saturday which went quite well. He's visiting for a few hours at a time and building up to a full day at the end of August. It was lovely to have a little weekend time to myself (Amy was busy writing a story) and I made the most of it by dodging the rain showers and tidying up the fruit and veg beds.

Some things have done really well this year – french beans among them. These are a delicious yellow variety called Rocquencourt and we've had loads.

Other things have not grown so well, including my potatoes. I dug up a whole potato sack that I'd planted with 5 tubers back in March and this was all I got for my weeks of careful tending!

Pretty pathetic really, my harvest doesn't even fill a small paper bag!

Don't think I'll be bothering with tatties next year, unless anyone has any good growing tips?

crafts & knitting

23!

July 9, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)61 Comments

At last I'm finishing off that big old batch of knitted animals that I've been working on for the last 2 months.

There's a lot of hours in each one (between 10 – 12 depending on what they're wearing) and I do prefer listing a bunch together rather than listing each when they're finished, so it does take me a while to get them ready. This is the biggest group that I've ever done and includes bunnies, foxes, elephants, monkeys, pigs, a panda and a mouse so hopefully there's a little character in there to appeal to all.

I'm not going to show all of them here but there are photos of all 23 over on Flickr including this one of poor little Pabla who ended up looking a bit yoda-esque!

I couldn't bring myself to change her ears because once each animal is finished they adopt a little bit of personality and I get a little bit sentimental about them, so hopefully someone out there will find her appealing!

Thanks again to everyone who's shown an interest in my work. I'll email the mailing list early next week with details of where and when these will be listed for sale and I'll pop updates on my facebook page too.

Happy weekend all, I'm off to watch Amy on stage in her drama group show this afternoon. She's not at all nervous but my heart will be pounding and I'll have my tissues ready too!

cushions

July 6, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)37 Comments

Summer colds, sports days, parent's evenings and school concerts have filled most of our time here over the last week. But in between I've squeezed in a little yarnie time and as well as putting the final touches to a batch of knitted animals, I've finished cushion n^o four.

Though when I looked at all four of them together, it dawned on me that I really wasn't keen on the third one and so it's been relegated to the bottom of a bag while I decide whether to unravel it.

I'm pleased though with the remaining three and like the way that they sit together, all different but tied together by the same colours.

There will be news on the batch of knitted animals shortly – I hope to get photos of them done before the end of the week.

We've also had some news on Toby's respite. It's been confirmed that we've been granted 1 day a month of respite (10am -4pm) which is pretty paltry really and left me feeling a bit despondent considering all of the meetings, paperwork and angst we've been through to get it. It also doesn't do a great deal to relieve the continuing lack of sleep, but they won't even consider taking Toby over night until he's 10. Still, looking on the positive side it's better than nothing at all.

Toby has had his first short visit which didn't go particularly well, but as everything there is new and unfamiliar to him, I'd not really expected it to. It's a wonderful purpose built place – a bit like a big family home with bedrooms, dining room, sensory room, toy room, quiet room and a wonderful garden with trampoline, climbing frame and sandpit. Hopefully once he gets used to it, he'll enjoy going there for the day and hopefully somewhere down the line we'll be able to get a little more help than just 6 hours a month!