you're fired... gently in the oven

Image pilfered with permission from the biscuit maker's blog.

Nikki McWilliams' Alan Sugar biscuits gave me my first laugh of the day this morning, so I thought it was only fair to share. How good?! Alan Sugar's beard makes me feel a bit squeamish in real life, but the biscuit version looks decidedly delicious.

While you're over at Nikki's blog, be sure to check out her less edible biscuits too. I dream of diving into a sofa covered in Nikki's Tunnock's Teacake and Caramel Wafer cushions. Mmmm!

where are you, my lovelies?

pea-rocrastination, a photo by dropstitch on Flickr.

When are peas in the pod going to start appearing in the supermarkets? They are one of my favourite summer snacks and I've been waiting hungrily for them for months. Apparently I took this photo on July 1st (three years ago) so they must surely be coming soon. Come on, peas, you can do it!

mail makes day (times four)

I was having a bit of a rubbish day yesterday. It all began with a morning phone call to tell me I had to go to work on my day off (well, day on call). Boo! Not only that, but could I work 2pm till midnight. Double boo! So it was perfect timing for the postman to arrive with my first fun parcel in ages. Inside was this beautifully tied up little parcel. I was itching to see what was inside, but managed to restrain myself long enough to get my camera and snap a photo of the ingenious packaging. What a great use of a button, huh?

Look what was inside! A Human Bean made by Stuffed Nonsense! Doesn't it look all snug as a big in a rug in its little box?

I didn't realise how teeny these little guys were. Eep! This one (and many others) were made using the fabric Bex and El (a.k.a. Stuffed Nonsense) won in my Girls' Day giveaway, so they sent me my very own bean as a little thank you. That was really not necessary, but very nice nonetheless! It really did brighten my day. Thank you, ladies :)

But the lovely mail (real and virtual) doesn't stop there. While I was at work last night, I got a lovely long email from an old friend of mine. This morning I got a packet of tasty sweeties in the post from my sister. This afternoon I got another email from another long-lost friend who had stumbled across this blog and contacted me via etsy. All these things have made me very happy indeed. When I next get a day off from the subtitling mine, I will be composing replies, I promise!

a double celebration

I have to admit I was a little sneaky in blogging about the weather yesterday - a very lame topic, I know. But the fates had so nearly collided and just needed a tiny little helping hand/nudge, a harmless enough weather-related post yesterday, in order to make the magic happen today. You see, not only is today my three year blogaversary (whoop!) it is also my 500th post (double whoop!). I wish I could think of something more interesting to say on this momentous occasion, but my most hated shifts at work have pretty much wiped my brain this week. I couldn't even think of an exciting giveaway for the occasion. Good grief, what is happening to me?!

Hmm, we couldn't let it pass unmarked at all though, could we, so how about a little exclusive discount for dropstitch readers in my etsy shop? Just enter the code DROPSTITCH at checkout to get 25% off your total order (and remember I always offer free shipping within the UK). I'll keep that code active until the end of the month, but not a moment longer. Enjoy :)

here comes the sun... hopefully!

here comes the sun..., a photo by pilli pilli on Flickr.

Sheesh! So much for midsummer's day, huh? Is it raining where you are too? Ever hopeful, Pilli Pilli has stitched a little bit of sun just beginning to peek out from behind the clouds in this embroidery. Come on, summer! You can do it!

Actually, the rain has kind of worked in my favour so far today. I had to stop off at the post office on the way to work and everybody was either staying indoors or running from pillar to post and not stopping off anywhere, so there was no queue. Hooray! This meant I got to work early and was able to blog before starting work proper (just a shame the internet ate it and I had to retype it all later in the day!) as well as having time to pick up a tasty pain au chocolat en route. What a terribly French sentence. I think I'd still probably rather see summer kicking in, mind you...

some nice sights to see

A pile of rainbow-coloured granny squares that I've been crocheting this week. I didn't realise how cheery my colour palette was until I piled them up like this last night.

I've now just got three more squares to make before I stitch them together into a sensibly sized baby blanket, about one sixth the size of the ripple blanket. I really just started making these to practise granny squares (I have a plan for another granny square blanket in different colours) but thought I may as well put my practice to good use by making a blanket out of these squares too. I've used some of the same colours as are in the ripple blanket, so I'm going to give this to the same baby as a little accompaniment present. I'm telling you, this baby has lucked out being conceived just as I was learning to crochet! Well, I suppose it's only really lucky if the baby (and its parents) turn out to like crocheted blankets...

Last weekend was my dear old dad's 60th birthday, so Graham and I went through to Perth to meet him and my mum. He knew nothing about it and seemed very pleasantly surprised. We stayed overnight and went out for a very fancy and delicious five-course dinner. Apparently I took no photos of the birthday boy, but I did take a photo of this great sign. I was a bit disappointed to learn that a Friendly Society is really just an insurance/pensions company, but I'll keep imagining the existence of a society especially for friendly Scottish girls. I'd like to say I could join, but I am immensely antisocial these days, so much so that last night Graham heard of a rumour going round that he had murdered me, so long was it since anybody had seen me out and about! Oh dear. I have some other news from Perth too (a lovely shop and an artisitc blast from the past) but I'll try to share that some other day.

I hadn't seen Lola since she ran away from the hoover this afternoon and thought she had gone missing, but I discovered her having made a bed for herself inside a drawer. I should have chased her out (my pyjamas are going to be all hairy now) but I couldn't bring myself to move such a cosy-looking kitty.

And last but not least... It took me nearly five whole years, but I finally managed to get a photo of my favourite part of Poppy. All her paws have black pads, but this one has one little pink pad.

And that was my little whistlestop tour of some pleasant sights of late. Hope you enjoyed!

wuthering heights

wuthering heights, a photo by dropstitch on Flickr.

According to my flickr photograph, I bought this copy of Wuthering Heights over three years ago (after years of searching for my ideal copy) and I can now report that I am finally reading it. Yay! Much to my relief, I am actually really enjoying it. I read some lady fiction from this period when I was at university and did not like it one little bit. Jane Eyre is probably my most hated book of all time, but then I did have to read it in a oner before an impending exam, which was some new kind of extreme torture... Anyway, Wuthering Heights is not at all like Jane Eyre. Phew! I am loving Heathcliff and his non-humanesque wicked darkness. Great stuff.

I realise I have not been around much on the old blogosphere of late (and after such an impressively bloggy April too!) but I will try to rectify that soon. Ish. I've really been living the quiet life (books, naps and crocheting granny squares) but I'm a firm believer that the quiet life can still make for a good blog post or two and I KNOW you'll be wanting to see my new granny square skillz, right? So I'll try to bust out my camera and start sharing again soon.

Now, how to spend the rest of my Saturday night? I could read a couple of chapters of Wuthering Heights, have an early night, watch a cheesy movie, or crochet some more granny squares... What a lovely set of options. I might do a little of all four :)

cute kitten overload!

One of my sister's cats (Meg) had five kittens on Friday morning - three tabby cats, one black and white and one grey. Too cute! Meg actually started giving birth while sitting on my sister's lap, which is kind of adorable and creepy in equal measures.

Look! An actual kitten bundle!

My sister's other cat (Rosie) is also pregnant and should be giving birth in about three weeks. It'll be kitten central at my sister's house this summer. Needless to say, my nephew and nieces are very excited and are about to have the best summer holidays ever. I think I'll send off my passport renewal form today so I can go to France and visit them all before they get rehomed. The kittens will be getting rehomed, I mean, not my nieces and nephew!

Cute kitten overload! Don't say I'm not good to you...

human beans!

Aw! Look what the girls from Stuffed Nonsense have been making with the fabric they won in my Girls' Day giveaway.
Human beans! You can have a closer look over at their blog here. It's so nice to see my old familiar fabrics being used for something completely different from what I might have made :)