we are knitters

I'm feeling really inspired to get knitting after discovering this cool shop.  The cold weather is also making me want to wrap up warm in lots of layers, and these look just perfect.

Life Lately

1. Hello.
2. Condensation.
3. Trying to work through my Birthday list.
4. Experimenting with my light-box and a scarf (makeshift bedside lamp).
5. My ceropegia woodii - great name right?

Handy tip: Limes

After our cocktail party we had a lot of lemon and limes left over.  With all the lemons we made a cake - yum.  But with the limes we just chopped them up into wedges and popped them in a freezer bag - that way they don't get wasted and we always have a nice cold lime to put in our drink.  They act as an ice-cube and a flavour enhancer in one.  Brilliant!

A Sunday Walk

Just a few snaps from our walk around Sheffield Botanical Gardens the other Sunday.  It was a beautiful Autumn day.  I feel so lucky to have this amazing landscape right on my doorstep.

I hope your Monday has been fine.

She Lets her Hair Down

she lets her hair down from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

I've been thinking a lot about my hair this weekend. For the record, I hate my hair! I'm not very good at styling my hair, and most of the time I put it back in a simple bun because I can't seem to get it looking nice. This is when I start to dream about chopping it all off... however I can't seem to pick up the courage to go for it.
Anyway, whilst I mull it over you can enjoy this beautiful video from Tiger in a Jar called "she lets her hair down".

Buttons

Yesterday I learned to make a blog button... ta-da!!  I'm so pleased with myself I just had to show of my new skills - sorry for the wee boast.  I'm slowly making some changes around here, so I apologise if things look a little weird from time to time.  I'll try my best to keep things running smoothly whilst I'm tinkering away in the background.  In the meantime feel free to 'grab a button' below - I made two!

Washi Hanger

I just love alternative storage solutions.  Maartje from 'Silly Old Suitcase' has come up with a brilliant idea for storing your collection of washi tapes.

I'm in desperate need of organisation at the moment - I'm feeling a little chaotic!

Photo an Hour: Sunday 11/11/12

It is on my list of things to do before my next Birthday to take one photo an hour for a day.  I'll tell you now folks, it's harder than you think.

 10:00am - I get up.  It's Sunday so I lay in as long as I can, but I do enjoy Sundays so I don't want to lay in too long.  For the next hour I'll potter around in my dressing gown, eat breakfast and shower.

 11:00am - I start to get ready for the day ahead.  I do this peacefully as it is Remembrance Sunday and you're meant to be silent for two minutes at the turn of the hour.  The sun is shining through my bedroom window - it's a beautiful day.

 12:00pm - Me, Floyd and Betty have gone for a walk around the Botanical Gardens.  We spend quite a while in here taking photos (I'll share more soon).  Here is Betty when I have managed to get her to look at me rather than running around like a loon!

 1:00pm - We've come back home to start preparing dinner for our friends who will be over soon with their adorable baby Isaac.  We're having roast chicken and vegetables, lemon potatoes, Brussel sprouts, homemade stuffing and apple-crumble for dessert.

2:00pm - They're here!  Look at baby Isaac - he's so cute just chillin' with the cushions.  He really is the most contented baby I've ever met.

3:00pm - A sprinkling of flour, sugar and cinnamon before the crumble topping goes on and in the oven.

4:00pm onwards - Okay so this is where I lost focus.  I got way too distracted with baby Isaac, my friends and all the awesome food and drink that made up the rest of my Sunday that this was the only picture I took for the rest of the day.  Oops.

Needless to say, it was a pretty perfect Sunday.

Tuesday's Tune: Grizzly Bear

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Very French Gangsters

I don't have kids or wear glasses, or have kids that wear glasses, but if I did I would definitely buy them a pair from this shop.  And how cute are the models!?  Talking of cute kids, our friends Will and Hannah came over today with their baby Isaac - he is the most adorable little boy!!  I've been feeling broody all weekend and seeing him just topped it off.

I hope you've all been having a lovely weekend.  I've had a very happy and relaxed one - I've potted about the flat, made some simple and delicious meals, gone for a walk in the November sunshine, finished and started a couple of crochet projects and swapped stories with good friends.  I love weekends at home.

Wearing #2

A more relaxed outfit for my second 'wearing' post.  This time I wasn't so brave to step outside, so I kept it indoors within the comfort of my living room (hence no shoes).  This is a typical everyday outfit for me - I chose to document this because I wanted to show of the cardigan... I bought it in Japan about 7 years ago and love it because of the buttons up the back. I still love it although it looks quite worn now.

Next time I'll try to make it outside again.

Falling Leaves

Remember that gorgeous yellow tree I showed you a few weeks ago... well look at it now!!  A short spell of extremely windy days has rid loads of the trees in my neighbourhood of their leaves, which makes me a little sad because it feels like Autumn is nearly over.  Watching Betty play in the piles of leaves on the floor makes up for it though (I don't have a picture of this unfortunately).

One thing I love about living in England is watching the changing seasons.  I find it interesting reading blogs from around the world documenting the changes in their area and how it differs from my part of the planet.  There is so much beauty in the everyday, and I love to see how other people document it.  If you know of any good links, please leave them in the comments for me.

Thanks, Lois x

DIY: Washi Tape Tea Lights

Since the dark nights have been drawing in I've been burning a lot more candles around my flat.  I love candles and always have a supply of various kinds knocking about the place - church candles, scented candles, bog standard house candles and of course tea-lights.  Tea lights are great because you can put them almost anywhere... they look great in jars and other glassware, on pretty plates, they're okay on their own too - but recently I've been decorating them with washi tape just to make them that bit prettier.
It's so easy, and here's how I did it...

Supplies needed:
1. Tea-lights
2. Washi Tape

That's it!  Simple.  I chose to stick to a polka-dot theme, just because I love polka-dots.

Wrap the washi tape around your tea-light.  Depending on the size of your tea-light, you may need to fold the tape underneath the candle (I did).

Tear off the strip and voila!  A lovely set of patterned tea-lights.  I will be doing this all the time now, and it also gives me an excuse to extend my washi tape collection ;)
If you're interested, I sell a set of yellow and polka-dot washi tapes in my shop - you can buy them here.

Ahh, these dark nights are not so bad after all.

Fireworks

(image source)

Happy Bonfire Night!!  Sorry I've been a bit quiet over the past few days, I've been pretty busy and away from home.  It was one of my best friend's birthday yesterday, so we celebrated with her in the way we usually do but with the addition of fireworks this year (yay!) - we missed them last year because we were too busy having a good time, but we managed to get our act together this year and make it there even though it was chucking it down with rain... good times.

This is me and Jo on her birthday last year.  I would've shown you a picture from this year's exploits, but as per usual I was too busy drinking, dancing and ooh-ahh-ing at the fireworks that I didn't take a single photo (and I thought I was getting better at that... oh dear).

I'll be back soon with another 'wearing' post and a DIY.  Until then I hope you have a great night and don't fill up on too many toffee apples.