The Wanderer Returns

Hi everyone – I’m back! Did you miss me?

Such a lot has happened since I last wrote a post on here. To begin with, OH and I went on holiday. As we do every summer, we took our motor home to Scotland for 6 weeks, for a truly HomeGrown holiday.

We go for the walking and the dancing, mainly, and these days, we also go to meet up with friends we have made over the years. This year, I did a lot of knitting, OH did a lot of walking, and together we did a lot of dancing – Scottish Country, ceilidh, and sequence dancing. Well, I didn’t do the Scottish Country as I am useless at it, but I did the others. We averaged around 7 dances a week, with none on Sundays, which meant sometimes we did two a day!

I have taken to knitting in 4-ply, which means very thin wool on very thin needles. So items take quite some time to complete. I did manage to complete a red cardigan and to start the next item.

We travelled home a couple of times during the holiday too, for family birthdays and to mow the lawns. Even so, the grass was quite high when we finally got back. And the ever present weeds had grown taller too!

One of the things about having All Things HomeGrown is that we also try to be frugal when we buy things. So, when we are on holiday, we often scour the charity shops for bargains. This year, I got a couple of designer handbags for around £10 each, some designer dresses for about £8 each - barely worn, plus a cream jacket and a lovely red coat for the winter. It is still possible to find some true bargains if you look hard.

The following two and a half weeks were spent sewing and knitting, in preparation for a not so HomeGrown holiday I was taking with my daughter in September. It was just the two of us – OH stayed home for this one. In those two and a half weeks, I sewed together the red cardigan, sewed a skirt, a dress and a blazer, all in navy blue. I have been learning about ‘capsule wardrobes’ and how to take all you need for a week or more in a carry-on suitcase. I also managed most of a mustard yellow jumper, but didn’t get it finished – just as well really, as it was not the weather for jumpers, even 4-ply knitted jumpers! Not to mention the size and weight limits were against me for the suitcase.

Anyway, I have been back about a week now. I have finished the yellow jumper and started an aran one for the colder weather (which is already here L ). I am also planning Christmas presents – I have to start early, as I am making quite a few this year, but I’ll not be saying what they are, as some of the recipients are reading my blog too.

Finally, a family member is planning to move closer to us from some distance away, so I am helping with the arrangements for that. The whole house will need to be redecorated and I am hoping to get it all done before the moving date – the only problem is, we don’t have the keys yet!

So that’s a brief update. I will fill you in with some more detail in due time, including our efforts to put the garden ‘to bed’ for the winter and get the house ready for Christmas, when family descends upon us.

Sorry, there are no photographs in this post, but there will be in the following ones.