Photo Scavenger Hunt: May

I know I'm not alone in saying this month's hunt was hard. Or rather, awkward. How exactly does one take a picture of an emergency vehicle without looking dodgy? I did what I could, here are my efforts this month:

1. A bicycle:
I loved the wicker baskets on this modern bike, snapped outside a car boot sale.

2. A butterfly:

Lots to choose from here as I visited Butterfly World last weekend, but even amongst all the big, bright, blousy specimens these small TRANSPARENT ones caught my imagination the most - I've never seen them before! Aren't they brilliant?

3. A Cartoon Character:
From a 1966 edition of an Asterix and Obelix annual.

4. A Portrait in Black & White:
Taken at Butterfly World, Grandma really really enjoyed it.

5. A Red Door:
Well, there were lots of nicer doors I could have got than this old shed door, but I just felt a bit ... dodgy ... taking pictures of strangers' front doors! (It was so sunny I couldn't see properly and didn't realise I'd caught my wild-haired shadow at the bottom).

6. A Sign of the Zodiac:
Pisces (koi carp).

7. A Street Light:

Would have preferred to get one lit up but this was the prettiest one I saw all month and it was in the middle of the day unfortunately.

8. An Emergency Vehicle:

Really didn't think I was going to be able to get one for this as I just couldn't envisage a situation where I might be able to do it without arousing suspicion, but then one evening came the (all too familiar round these parts) buzz of the police helicopter overhead and I seized my opportunity. On this occasion they were looking for a missing little boy rather than a criminal, and I'm pleased to report they found him (it was all over Facebook, people posting and reposting to look out for a little boy - technology is brilliant sometimes). I hope that if you click on this you might be able to see it's not just a speck!

9. An Interesting Local Building:

This is the old mortuary at Saltburn-by-the-Sea; it was built in 1881 to 'see to' the bodies of sailors which were frequently washed up there. Shockingly to me, it was still in use into the 1960s! The slab and everything is still inside (I've seen pictures from a Heritage Open Day a few years ago) and it's always given me the creeps since I was a little girl. Using a slow shutter speed I caught the ghostly image of a passing car to make it a bit more atmospheric.

10. Something Blue:
(Most of) the sky through a pretty window at Kirkleatham Hall.

11. Texture:
Several different knitting stitches on my favourite cardie.

12. Think Vintage!:

This was my loot from the car boot sale on Sunday, an enormous table-cloth type thing (bottom) and several vintage pillowcases, £2 the lot. The top two were still in their original packaging. Almost makes up for the dress I bought for £2 only to get home and discover the zip is broken but I couldn't tell as it was flapping about so much in the wind.

May has been a busy old month for me and I think a few of these pics could be a bit more inspired - roll on June!

THANK YOU to the lovely Kathy for organising the fun, and to tell you that you can view everyone else's efforts in the Flickr group :)

We Do Run-Run-Run, We Do Run-Run

I've never been the sporty type. Well, not since PE lessons became a popularity contest in secondary school at any rate - I even took an extra GCSE in Latin because it got me out of one PE lesson per week (Deogratias!)

That said, I've always thought I would do the Great North Run. I haven't always wanted to do it, I just always thought I would do it, every year watching it on telly, in a matter of fact way. I've entered the ballot for the last few years but places are extremely sought-after so I was pretty shocked in February when I received an email to say that this year would be THE year. I was going to have to learn how to run, and sharpish.

Luckily a work colleague is the sort of maniac who runs marathons in his lunch hour, and he relished the challenge I presented to him. He gave me a fantastic beginners' running regime and I booked myself onto a couple of smaller races in the months leading up to the GNR so that I had milestones to aim for along the way.

I started off running for a minute at a time, gradually building up to 20 minutes' solid running on the treadmill and I was so pleased with my progress and fitness levels ... then, a month before my first 'milestone', the 5k Race for Life, disaster struck. My knees hurt. I tried powering through, but that must have altered my gait or something because then my ankles started to hurt. So I rested for a week, only to come down with an awful chesty cold the following week. This coupled with a midweek overnight trip with work and I was out of action for about three weeks in total, and suddenly the race was just days away.

Thankfully, my fitness levels didn't seem to wane too much in the time I wasn't running, but by the time of the race I hadn't run farther than 4k (and it took me 32 minutes) and had barely any outdoor running experience at all. I was worried, but I knew I could walk if I had to and thought I'd be over the moon to finish in under 50 minutes.

So I'm very pleased to report that I completed the Race for Life yesterday in 39 minutes 15 seconds! I did walk some bits (it's actually hard not to as it's such a popular event and so many of the women walk it), but I'd say I ran at least 4k, and did the final kilometre without stopping at all. AND I'm not stiff today! I feel fantastic now, really raring to get back into my running ahead of the 10k in July.

I'd highly recommend the Race for Life for the novice runner - it's such a fun, feelgood event, not an intimidating race race at all. But beware, it will be emotional. I've never been closely affected by cancer thankfully but reading everyone's back signs had me in tears - especially the woman who had lost her mum only last week, I wanted to go up and give her a hug.

But sad though it is, it only spurs everyone on - it's why we're there after all. There are dozens of Race for Life 5k and 10k events still to take place across the country - you can walk, jog or run it, do it alone, in a group, with your pushchair, with your dog, tied to your best friend, dressed in pink feathers ... the choice is yours. Why not find an event in your area and get involved?

Now, what's next? Ah yes, climbing the tallest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales all in one day ... and it's (gulp) 25 days away!

Day Zero Watch:
#3 - Complete the Race for Life - DONE

Long Weekend

My workplace has a "use 'em or lose 'em" policy when it comes to holidays, so despite being really hectic at work and not having anything special to do with my spare time, I've just enjoyed a four-day weekend.

Friday: trip to Butterfly World with my Grandma:

One landed on me! He was tasting me; Butterfly tongues never fail to make me happy.

They have Meerkats too! The enclosure was open and I so wanted to stroke one but the sign scared me!

Saturday: a walk in the Lakes:

It was very windy - here I am trying to stay upright. A couple of times I had to hurl myself to the ground to avoid being blown over the edge of the fells - was a good day though... until I came to brushing my hair later that night!

We did four Wainwrights, this is the view back over them taken from Barrow. The knobbly one on the left is Causey Pike, looks like knuckles on a fist (better from other angles), the peak behind it is Scar Crags, the dark mound on the right is Outerside and finally we climbed Barrow.

Sunday: a spot of baking and some visiting:

I wanted to experiment with food colouring in cakes after seeing cakes like these, but not sure it works on fairy-sized cakes, and my colours were perhaps a bit dark! Tasted good though.

I went to see my little 'niece' (as an only child I have to claim friends' babies as my nieces and nephews) - she's almost four months now and smiley and wriggly and gorgeous!

Monday: sewing and sewing and sewing:

Sneak peek at the fabric I'm using to make my friend's birthday present

And this is the vintage sheet I bought a while back on eBay, freshly laundered and ready to become a dress!

Day Zero Watch:
#11 - Climb at least half of the Wainwright fells and take a picture at the top of each one - 8/107 - still in progress.
#48 - Visit Butterfly World - DONE!

Crafting with a Conscience -The Finished Article

I've been beavering away for the last couple of weeks and am proud to present my three finished 'pillowcase dresses'!!

In case you've missed me bleating on about this cause previously, these are for the Dress a Girl Around the World charity, which believes that every little girl no matter what her circumstances should have one pretty frock to dress up in, and they appeal for seamstresses around the world to turn old pillowcases into a dress using this simple pattern.

Louise at Sew Scrumptious is currently gathering dresses to send over as a UK 'team effort' and currently has about 30 - if you fancy having a go yourself she's collecting the til 1st June.

They're a brilliant little project for people just finding their way with their sewing machine, and a fab opportunity to try out new techniques. I didn't have any redundant pillowcases but I did have some spare fabric and I loved planning how to embellish each one.

Dress One I made with a navy and white ditsy floral fabric, with gathered pockets, broderie anglaise lace and a navy ribbon trim.

It was my first go at working with elastic and I was so impressed with how easy it was and the effect - will definitely be using it again!

I made Dress Two with some spare yellow fabric which has a faint tree/leaf pattern. I decided to use red embellishments on this one - oversized buttons, ric rac and bias binding, and I found a small square of co-ordinating vintage fabric for the pocket.

This was the first time I've worked with ric rac and I wasn't sure what to do with it really, so I just sewed straight down the middle and hoped for the best. I think it turned out ok!

Dress Three was made with some fabric I received in a fabric sap a little while ago which was just the right size to turn into a little dress.

It's very pretty as it is so I just used plain white on the edging and buttons so as not to overload it.

The dresses are now winging their way to Louise and will soon be off to the organisers in America before being allocated to their owners - hope the girls like them!

Now to start on a little dress for me I think...

Is it a bit cheeky to make this my Project ReStyle for May? Not sure I'll have chance to do anything else and although I didn't technically use pillowcases, they could have been couldn't they?

Day Zero Watch:
#77 - Make a pillowcase dress for a little girl in the third world - DONE!

Cup Cake

I've wanted to make a Cake in a Cup ever since I saw this post a couple of years ago, and I finally got around to having a go!

The recipe (such as it is) is as follows:

4 tbsp self raising flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
Pinch salt
Cooking spray
1 Mug

Spray the oil in the cup, or just use normal oil and spread it about like I did. Then add the dry ingredients and mix. Beat in the egg and add the milk, oil and salt, then pop in the microwave on full power for 2 minutes, or until it's no longer wet to the touch.

Make sure you use a big mug though as it does rise quite a lot!

The verdict? Pretty impressive for the effort put in but I'd still rather take the time if I had it and make a proper cake. Would be ace with custard though as a last minute treat!

Now, I know you're dying to see the progress of the Elephant Poo Sunflowers...

Eeep, aren't they growing big and strong?

Day Zero Watch:
#15 Grow a sunflower - very much In Progress
#59 Make a Cake in a Cup - DONE!

Rags and Riches

A few months ago when I was teaching myself to granny, I bought a few different types of wool in varying thicknesses, colours and textures to experiment with. I've been trying to de-stash these odds and ends by making granny squares for charity, but then there was this.

I'd bought this stringy stuff thinking it might be easy to work with given that it has no real colour or texture to it, but now that I know what I'm doing (to an extent) - what to do with it? Well the label says it's 100% cotton and 'ideal for dishcloths', so on the morning of 29th April that's what I set about making - a giant granny square dishcloth.

Yum

It kept my fingers busy whilst keeping my mind unoccupied throughout the Royal Wedding TV lineup, and, feeling poorly this week, I picked it up again and finished it off. And ... ta-dah!!!

One very wobbly 14" granny square, made with my own fair hand!

I bet Princess Kate never crocheted her own dishcloth.


PS. Why do cats have to install themselves immediately on anything you put down for a second?

Happiness is....

Really getting your teeth into a project...


And that squealy delight at seeing all the separate parts come together and start to take shape...

This is the first of my pillowcase dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World. If you're handy with a sewing machine don't forget that Louise is collecting UK donations until 1st June.