Ten years and a giveaway

September 3, 2016 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)2,069 Comments

Ten years ago today, on September 3rd 2006 my four year old son Toby was about to start school. It was a big deal for me because not only is he severely autistic but I was ending a six year period of being a constant stay-at-home mum and I wasn't entirely sure what to do with my days.

To counter my anxiety at whether he'd cope with the dramatic change and to keep my mind occupied I wrote my very first blog post and so embarked on a journey which has meandered and rambled over the last decade to arrive at this very point here.

When I began I had no plan or any real aims. I was simply looking for a little online companionship and something to keep me from feeling isolated and anxious about Toby and all of the challenges he continues to face. Well, I found that and so very much more. I've made friends both near and far, both online and in person. I've been on the receiving end of the most wonderful encouragement and compliments for my knitted makes and over the years have been lucky to have sold and sent off many of my knitted animals to all corners of the world. And more recently I've had a fabulous reception for my range of knitting patterns. In short I feel so incredibly blessed and lucky to have stumbled in here and found such a wonderfully supportive community.

Bodies

To celebrate my anniversary I am having a giveaway of two animals. The 2 winners can choose an animal each from the batch I have almost finished which will also come with a change of clothes and a little suitcase to keep them in. To be in with a chance of winning one of the two animals in the giveaway please just leave me a comment on this post. The giveaway will close on September 12th and I'll use a random number generator to pick the two winners on September 13th.

Heads

New dresses

As a thank you to all the knitters who visit with me I also have a special discount code which for the next 3 days (ending on September 5th) will get you 25% off any of my patterns:

TEN25

So if you've been meaning to try one of my patterns or if there's one you'd like to add to your collection then please just enter the above code at the checkout either on Ravelry or on Etsy (please note that you will have to enter the code in order for the discount to be applied). If you want to use the coupon code here on my shop please note that you will have to use the 'add to cart' function and not the 'buy now' in order to enter the coupon code. Sorry, the offer has now expired

I've covered a lot of blogging ground over the last 10 years and had planned to show you some of my favourite moments and pictures but there are too many to know where to start. So instead here are some of the changes of look my blog has had and a few stats…

2006

First banner

2010

Banner2

2012

Banner 3

10 years of blog stats: 7,832,269 total page hits, 703 posts and 36,917 comments

When I think about ten years passing it seems to have gone so very quickly. But when I look back at the photo taken on the morning of Toby's first school day (September 4th 2006) and how tiny Amy and Toby were, it feels like such a long time ago and really shows how much has changed.

Us2006

So, as I start my second decade of blogging I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who visits me here, especially those of you who take the time to leave a comment and those of you who buy my patterns and finished work. It means so very much to have your kind support, thank you xxx

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Please leave a comment below to be entered into the giveaway draw. Comments will be closed on the morning of September 13th and two winners will be drawn by random number selection.

Thanks so much for all the comments! The competition draw is now closed and the winning numbers are 107 which is Justpootling and 2018 which is Maggie Richardson.

Winner 1 Winner2

Because there were so many comments I decided to give an extra animal away and the random number generator picked 1703 which is modestine.

Winner3

food and Drink · garden stuff · general stuff · wildlife

summer productivity

August 7, 2016 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)27 Comments

Berry pick

Punnet

Berry picking

Picking

These long summer days are perfect for ripening fruit and we've indulged in a favourite summer holiday activity of strawberry picking at the local pick-your-own farm. I love that they grow the strawberries in raised troughs, there's no bending down to hunt for the best berries or finding them covered in dusty soil, instead the berries hang plump and delicious from the plants and are easily picked and popped in a punnet. It's made me very happy to be carrying on this tradition with Amy. We had a lovely morning spent together and topped it off with lunch in the farm cafe – I had a twice baked goat cheese souffle on a bed of rocket, pear and pomegranate salad and she enjoyed a mexican pulled pork parcel, delicious!

Broc

Beans

Back at home summer has brought bounty to my garden and we are enjoying fresh feasts of french beans, broccoli and peas. I like to pick them just before we are ready to eat so they are as fresh as possible. Here's how we like to eat them…

Ingredients:

French beans / peas / broccoli
A clove of garlic (or more if you like)
A couple of handfuls of chopped cherry tomatoes
A handful of chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme and marjoram are good but I tend to pick whatever looks best at the time)
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Fresh ground black pepper

Rinse and lightly steam the beans and peas (or broccoli), then let them cool a little while you saute a clove of garlic in butter over a medium heat until soft. Once the garlic is soft but not browned throw in a couple of handfuls of chopped cherry tomatoes and let them soften while you chop some fresh herbs. Add the herbs to the pan and give everything a good stir, you can add a little more butter at this stage depending on whether you like a thick or a runny sauce. Pop the beans and peas (or broccoli) into a dish and scoop the garlicky, herby tomatoes over the top. Slosh over the olive oil, a twist or two of black pepper and a few more herbs and eat with some crusty bread to mop up the juices with. It makes a delicious summer lunch or a good accompaniment to grilled steak or fish.

Beanstoms

The garden is also being productive in other ways. We currently have a family of newly-fledged robins chirping noisily in the hedge and I'm over the moon that we have blackbirds nesting in the clematis. I've watched them build the nest over a couple of weeks, then the male popping in with tasty treats for the female while she sat incubating the eggs. Last weekend she was out of the nest and we heard the first tiny cheeping noises from inside the deep cover and since then both parents have been busily dashing in and out with beak-fulls of worms. I am a bit worried though that food is a bit scarce as it's been very dry recently, so yesterday I went to the fishing tackle shop and bought a couple of beakers of worms and I'm leaving a few in a little dish in the hope that it helps keep those hungry mouths fed. I'd be so thrilled if these little birds make it to fledging day – the odds are rather stacked against them, especially around here where nests are often decimated by magpies, so it will be wonderful if they do.

Bird

Blackbird2

There is even a little productive knitting going on here too, though not as much as I'd like a Toby is a demanding chap during the school hols. Still, I'll pop back soon and show you what has been on my needles, 'til then keep well and thanks so much for stopping by x

crafts & knitting · garden stuff

High summer

July 21, 2016 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)50 Comments

The last few days have been bathed in the kinds of temperatures that we don't often see here, 32c by day and hot sweaty nights of 24c. I know that's nothing to many of you living in warmer climes but it's a notably rare occurrence for those of us living in a land of cool mists and plentiful rain 🙂

It's been a bit too hot for my liking if I'm honest. I like it in the low to mid 20's when I still feel like I can comfortably knit – working with wool when you're all hot and sweaty and swollen fingered from the heat is not a relaxing activity. I have however managed to take pictures of the shawl I finished a week or so ago.

Shawl

Shawl points

Blocking

It definitely benefited from blocking and is the perfect summer shawl in that wonderful yarn 'rose garden' luxury sock yarn by Maya at The Wool Barn. I had the perfect amount for Helen Stewart's Spindrift shawl, working the picot cast off row in Oakworth 4ply 'Geum' a beautiful pale peony pink by Victoria at Eden Cottage Yarns and now the temperatures are set to return to a summer norm I expect I'll be throwing it around my shoulders come evening time.

The weather has been great for the garden and the herbs have really taken over everything. I've had to give up on home grown beetroot this year as the poor plants have been crowded out but the beans, peas, raspberries, broccoli and kale are all now harvesting well. I've been building muscles by ferrying the watering can to and from the water butt to keep everything from wilting in the heat. I love growing herbs as they're such a magnet to bees and butterflies and they're good for cooking too.

Herbs

Bee

Another bee

To stop myself from wilting on the hottest day I spent time under the tree in our garden with plenty of cool water and a good book. Meadowland by John Lewis-Stempel is a lovely gentle read, a homage to the small and intimate delights of an English country field and well worth a read if you like that kind of thing, which I do.

Afternoon

Well, summer is racing by and the start of the long school break is here. We'll be spending it close to home having decided once again that a holiday away is just too complicated for Toby, but hopefully we'll have lots of days out and I hope to share some of our small adventures here. 'Til then keep well and happy x

PS: Thanks so very much for all of the kind comments on the previous post. I am planning to sit down tomorrow and reply to each of them properly but wanted to say a general thank you now. x