I had to use this gorgeous picture of the daisies in my garden as My Sunday Photo taken from the walk I did earlier in the week in my Garden.
I hope you are having a great Sunday!
My Sunday Photo – 24/04/2016
World Book Night 23/04/2016
Happy Saturday! Today is World Book Night which is a night where lots of volunteers give out books from a choice of 15 to people in their communities who don’t normally read. I think this is a fantastic idea! As an avid book reader I know I will be making sure I have a book in my hand in support.
You can find lots of information on World Book Night on their website World Book Night
“World Book Night is an annual celebration of reading and books that takes place on 23 April. It sees passionate volunteers give out hundreds of thousands of books in their communities to share their love of reading with people who don’t read regularly or own books. World Book Night is run by The Reading Agency, a national charity that inspires people to become confident and enthusiastic readers to help give them an equal chance in life.”
I have started introducing books to my 11 week old. I don’t think you can be too early with teaching them about books. We have started with this beautiful Nursery Rhyme book. It is full of colourful pictures and I love to read it to her in the afternoons.
Will you be reading a book tonight in support of World Book Night?
Word of the Week 22/04/2016 – Routine
Another Friday is here, where are the weeks going? Baby girl will be 11 weeks old on Monday – It’s crazy! We are finally getting into our little Routine, with each other. When my husband goes of to work in the mornings at 5:30 am baby girl has a little feed then a sleep till about 8 am. Between 7 and 8 am I get myself ready and can finally squeeze in a shower! and I also check my emails and write a few tweets. 8 am – 9am is baby girl’s feeding and changing time. Then by 9 o’clock we are ready to go out if we need to, or I will get her settled on her play mat while I draft up some blog posts.
My baby girl might only have about 2 naps during the day, she is a very active baby and quite nosey, so I’m sure she thinks she missing out if she falls asleep! I don’t mind though as she sleeps lovely by night.
Her bedtime Routine consists of a bath if its bath night. I don’t believe in bathing babies each night as their skin is very delicate and sensitive. Then I massage her with Johnson’s Bedtime baby lotion, it’s amazing stuff! The smell is gorgeous and makes her very relaxed with the calming aroma. I even use some on myself!
Next she has her bedtime feed. I do this with the lights dimmed and it calms her right down. She almost always falls asleep on her last feed, so I gently burp her after, and keep her upright on my lap for about half an hour before I put her down. I find if I don’t keep her upright she gets agitated. I believe this is from when she used to suffer from reflux, which thankfully seems to have disappeared now!.
So the one Word that sums up my Week is Routine.
I hope you have all had a lovely week.
Disclosure: I am a part of the Amazon Affiliate scheme so if you click on a link to Amazon and buy, I will recieve a little bit back, so thanks if you do.
7 Hints and Tips for getting the most out of a Slow Cooker
Well it’s Thursday again and I thought I would do another 7 Hints and Tips, as it’s been a while. This time it’s for using a slow cooker and some easy recipe ideas to go with it.
Earlier in the year we bought a slow cooker, and it has been a life saver with a new baby. I am sure we wouldn’t have been eating as healthy if we did not have it.
We have found we can eat so much more cheaply while using a slow cooker, great if you are on a strict food budget.
Taking a walk around the gardens
At the weekend I had a little walk around my garden and the parents garden. It is beautiful to just take in all the new growth and flowers that are starting to come out. I love this time of year, when the sun is getting warmer and everything just grows!
Last year my friend moved house and gave me some cuttings of her plants. These gorgeous large daisies plants have really taken hold and now producing these stunning flowers.
This enormous broom like bush is a couple of years old now and is full of flowers. The smell is amazing when you get closer to it.
A close up of the flower petals – not bad for my iphone camera!
This is a white version of the pink bush. I think its much more elegant. It’s a year younger than the pink bush.
These lovely yellow flowers are in my parents garden and I am not sure what type of flower they are. If anyone knows please enlighten me!
In amongst the weeds is this perfect pink little flower, I thought it deserved a photo!
I hope you enjoyed my mini tour of the gardens.
Are you out enjoying the Spring growth in your garden?
What types of flowers and plants do you plan to grow?
Book Review: Mandalas to Crochet by Haafner Linssen
A few weeks back I won this gorgeous crochet book from Search Press on Twitter on how to make Mandalas by Haafner Linssen I wasn’t sure at first what a mandala was, I actually had to google it!
Well a mandala is a circular figure, pattern or geometric design representing the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism.
The book is very detailed. It contains 30 great mandala patterns for you to crochet. There are three chapters in the book, beginning with the essential information you may need. Including a crochet refresher course with the stitches and techniques needed and a beautiful section on all the different yarns you can use. The book then moves onto different colour combinations and how you can create a colour plan.
There are many mandala patterns to choose from so there is a section on called the mandala selector.
The book then moves into the patterns. This is where the author has chosen her 30 favourite patterns for the readers to try. There are patterns ranging from simple to advanced using very technical stitches.
The final chapter is mandala projects you can get stuck into. This is the most exciting part of the book in my opinion! There are all sorts of things you can make with the mandala patterns, from a boho bag to table mats, scarves and blankets.
The author of this book, Haafner Linssen is a Dutch blogger and crochet designer.
Disclosure
rachelbustin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to rachelbustin.com
