Drum roll please....

Now I'm not one to boast, but I'm so pleased with this...

I made this on the knitting machine we were given by a lovely lady that Rob works with. It is a very old machine...the magazines that came with it were from the 60's and hasn't been used for a VERY long time. It has laid redundant in her attic since her children are now grown up with children of their own!! I have never used one before, and I didn't get a demonstration from her, just the original instruction booklet. I had a few practice sessions getting to grips with it. I followed the book for a while, as it does a real step by step approach which just doesn't go fast enough for an impatient person like me!!! I wanted to knit a jumper, and I wanted to do it now!!!

So I made a pair of bed socks using the same pattern I used for Will's socks before and an elf hat. Both in DK which the machine didn't seem to really like..not sure if it was the thickness of the wool or the quality??? So off I went to the wool shop and bought some beautiful baby soft 4 ply. (I still have the lady's voice ringing in my ear's about her friend who had had her carpel tunnel syndrome operation and was back to normal, knitting, crocheting and everything. Well, good for her. I am pleased. So has my brother by the way, but I am still suffering from the last two NHS blunders to trust them again, so soon. I think it will be a while before I let them loose on my right wrist!!!)

Lovely lady though, and she said she would be happy to go through her catalogues with me to order in whatever I wanted.

And so I created this jumper for William. Mainly while they were in Cornwall at granny's but I finished it off yesterday. Although I followed the pattern in one of the old sixties magazines, I had to change the neck slightly and it fits!!!!! Just a button to add and a couple of loose ends to sew in.

AND HE LIKES IT!!!!!!! Yay!!

And this is one of our new arrivals.....

Four out of the 6 eggs hatched, so we now have 4 little Khaki Campbell ducklings in the kitchen. They are just sooooo cute!!! I love ducks. I just hope that at least one of them is a girl...fingers crossed.

We also have our little Pekin sitting on some quail eggs...that will be interesting if they hatch! And Jonathan is trying to hatch some pheasant eggs under the Silkie but I'm not sure that she is totally committed!

Louis is settling in well as Survival Family canine companion.I have been for lots of canal walks with him and am now brave enough to let him off the lead as long as there are no other dogs. Too dangerous. Not sure he can swim yet!! We went to our favourite local woodland yesterday afternoon, and had a good mooch about. He was great, off the lead and just being doggy! The boys found some clay pigeons that were intact and used them as targets for the catapult. Will wanted a bow and arrow like Jon so daddy made him one but without the string! Louis was so muddy at the end that we gave him a little bath when we got back...he seems to enjoy them.

Tom has been doing a bit more CB stuff...I can't say much about it as my knowledge is very limited!! But he is trying to persuade us to let him put up a huge aerial for a home base, and looking in to Ham radio rigs......!!!! He also read a whole book today while waiting to see if he could get anyone to talk to!!!

I have been reading Hiding Out to David and Jonathan recently. I can't even remember how I found it but it is just the sort of adventure book that boys love!! We are nearing the end and I am thinking of reading Swallows and Amazons next, or maybe The Little Grey Men...or even Robinson Crusoe or Swiss Family Robinson...oh, how do I choose?

David and I have been doing a Bald Eagle lapbook and although again it is a pre printed affair from Homeschool Share , an American website that has lots of free printable lapbooks, it has been enjoyable and we both like making the little mini books. David is growing in confidence with cutting out and his writing is getting more regular. He can easily write down what I say now when I spell each word, or he can copy more quickly than before. He is also less hesitant when trying to fit it in smaller spaces. Progress my friends, progress.

And my veg patch fence is completed....the patch is huge! In fact it is no longer a patch and is more like a veg garden. My broad beans that I planted last autumn are just starting to flower, so I assume that it means we will soon have broad beans for dinner, and the shallots that I gap filled with between the onions are already starting to sprout. The potatoes are all up and will need earthing up soon, and even the Potatoes for schools bags are doing well, despite being planted out before their shoots were 2 cms long. No signs of carrot seedlings yet, but then they were scarified by Louis on a number of occasions before the new fence went up!! The runner beans are all doing well in the 'greenhouse' and I think I saw Courgette seedlings trying to push up through the soil in their pots earlier today. A bit behind on my tomato plants though I think. Didn't plant those seeds until last week. I'll have to buy some plants from the village plant sale if they are a no show.

Off to bed now. Too many late nights and early mornings recently. Shattered.