Back from Exmoor

Hiya! I'm back again! Went on a little trip to England, Exmoor to be precise, for a week, to celebrate my parents' 30th anniversary. All five of us, and my other half, and my brother's other half, and my sister's friend and neighbour, hopped into two cars and drove all the way out to France, took a boat, drove on into England, and headed to the far, far West where the hills are steep and the grass is greener than you can ever imagine. I miss it. I want to go back. Can I go back? Pleaaaase?

We stayed in a small inn, run by two amazing people and their crazy little dog, named Huckleberry Finn. Or Huck. Or 'oy, crazy dog'. Oh, and their house ghost named Hazel, who moved stuff around and locked and unlocked doors.
It is stood in a small town right in the middle of Exmoor National Park, called Brompton Regis, where you stumble across gorgeous views or landmarks with every step you take.

Also, there were sheep everywhere. That is, everywhere but in this picture, although I could have sworn there were sheep there when I took it...

"I don't think we're in the Shire anymore, mister Frodo!"

Sorry. I've been channelling my inner hobbit all week, hard to knock it off...



We saw castles. Lots of castles. Well-kept ones, broken down ones, castle ruins so far gone you needed a lot of imagination to see how grand they must have been, castles that hadn't even been standing there for a century, castles that were still inhabited and I don't mean by ghosts or bats...

We brought the moustaches with us and made new ones during long car-rides. They were a big hit. We had a laugh with them everywhere we went. So did the people we 'stached while stuck in traffic. (We even caused a bit of an accident, a driver wasn't paying attention because he was laughing too hard... luckily nobody got hurt)

We marvelled at the craftsmanship of the people living hundreds of years ago. These are the Tarr Steps, a man-made bridge put there in, presumably, the early Middle Ages. It may not look like a lot of work, but those top stones must weigh a ton! Imagine building it! Really impressive to stand on.

We found the most gorgeous little flowers perched in between gigantic rocks, on the side of the road, between weeds and underneath bushes. I had a blast fidgeting with my camera to get unusual shots like this one.


We tried being the Terrible Tourist but failed miserably. "Let's all get in this phone cell!" "Yaaay!" "Now take a goofy picture!" "Yaaaay!" "This place smells really bad!" "Ewwwww!" *everyone piles out*

But mostly, we just enjoyed the gorgeous views everywhere.

Like here, at the top of the cliffs at Tintagel Castle.

Or here, at the Valley of Rocks, where we climbed up on the hills and took some of my favourite pictures of this holiday.


Aaahhh....

And now we're back home again. And all we have left to remind us of this trip is the 800+ pictures I took, the GINORMOUS pile of laundry we brought back, the memories, the stories...


And a big, huge, enormous pile of Cadbury chocolate and home-made fudge.

Ready for takeoff

My project is ready for takeoff! I ordered 14 different colours of yarn on Friday, and lo and behold, the package was already here on Saturday! So quick! And I knew when I ordered them that the colours would be even brighter and more sunny than in the eyedropper-tool-crappy-photoshop-pic I posted before. See?

I think I am going to keep the colours in this order. Nothing like a bright, sunny rainbowbag to cheer up one's day, right? I'll go and scout the market on a Saturday soon to find the perfect fabric to line it with, but for now, let the hooking begin!

In order to show the boyfriend that I am not only about buying yarn but also about actually using some of it up, I made this:

That is indeed what you think it is. Unless you thought it was a turd on my finger, then I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. But if you thought it was a fingerstache, then yes! You're right! I've gone and made 2 as little gifts for my sister and her friend, inspired by a moment of perfect ridiculosity where the two were walking around a crowded shopping mall pulling faces and holding up their fingers as mustaches. Like this.


Monkeys. I love 'em, really. But they're a bunch of monkeys. In desparate need of furry finger-to-face adornment.

Inspired by Attic24

Anyone aquainted with the crochet-blogosphere must already know about Attic24's Lucy and her amazingly cheerful use of colours and love of anything adorable. Also, she's amazingly friendly and sweet herself, so much that her cheerfulness rubs off on you just by reading her blog!
Anywho. I joined the Ravelry-group We Love Lucy, where I not only found tons of friendly people and inspirational photographs but also several Dutch bloggers and Ravelers who pointed me to an online shop with cheap, nice, colourful yarn that would not cost me TONS to order because it's coming from the other side of the world. I've been having a bit of difficulty finding yarn I liked to use for a project in the shops I usually go to, and this shop really has a good collection. And makes me want to go to the actual shop in Apeldoorn.
I ordered a heaping helping of yarn to make a special, Lucy-inspired project for a special person who I shall not name because that person might read my blog. Of course, I can't show you the project itself, but I will show you my colourboard! (and as you can see, I put a lot of time and effort in this, obviously)


IRL, the colours will be brighter, and probably not put in this order, because it's a bit dark this way. Oh, and just in case you're wondering: no, it won't be a blanket. Too much work, not enough time. Now all I have to do is get my yarn, get cracking, and maybe hurry over to the market one Saturday in the near future to see if the fabrics guy has a nice fabric I can use for lining. I'm excited!

Done redecorating

Aaaahh....

What? I think I have earned a little sigh of relief. We're done. The bathroom is DONE. And looking spiffy! Want to see? A little before-after action for you? Well, I'm happy to oblige. Of course, The 'before' pic was shot when we were already working on the bathroom... But just imagine I was totally prepared for a blogpost about my bathroom-remodeling and made this well in advance.

See? Here's old. Ugly tiles on the walls, I have no idea what the previous owners were thinking with that green tiled thing there but we're guessing they tried to hide the pipes that run behind it. And speaking of pipes. How's that for vomit-inducing green? It's heinous! Awful! Terrible! The work of a colourblind person, obviously! And see those walls? Chipped-off paint, all types of mold and moisture-spots.. Ewewewew.

Muuuuch better. Be gone, terrible green paint! Be gone, awfully disgusting walls! Be gone, tiles that made the bathroom look filthy and dark! And Hellooooo, pretty new cabinet and mirror and showercurtain and pretty black pipes. (and purely decorative candles, welcome to you too.) But wait! There's more!

Another cabinet! Yay! Storage space! And (although you can't really see it from this angle and I can't be bothered to take another pic now) yay! Black radiator! Pretty! And see the shadows in both shots? We got a new lamp too, and when I took a shower before I noticed it threw the most amazing shadows on the walls. Made everything pretty.

So yeah, I'm thrilled that we're finally done with the whole thing. And let's just not talk about the mess in the rest of the house right now, shall we?


Oh, and just to show that I've not completely been neglecting my crocheting:


I started out with the pattern for the Magnificent Mantle like I said before, but when I got to the point where I was supposed to start adding the interesting elements to the shawl, it made no sense to me anymore. I decided to just wing it from that point and made the mesh-section, followed by rows of dc and skips to make a different type of mesh. It's still not big enough though, and this is with two balls of yarn in already. I'm going to do another (smaller) mesh section, and then see how big it is and decide how I am going to finish it off. But so far, I'm enjoying myself immensely with it!

M.I.A.? Who, me?

I have a perfectly good reason, I promise! See?

All that...


Because of...

This. That's our bathroom. I promise you, once we're done with it, it'll look smashing. Now, though.. I have to live in the mess. Only one more day...