tiny happy

The title of this post is a bit… obvious. But, here we are. Never has there been such a home-bound time for all of us, I expect. I hope you're safe and well wherever you are.

Here are some things from my past fortnight. 

I finished a pair of socks for Keira. The first of the pair took I think a whole year to knit, but then the second was done in a few days. Why do I drag things out like that? Never mind. The finished socks are quite nice actually – I used this yarn (from Holland Road Yarn Company) in a heathery pink and dark grey for the contrasting heels and toes, and this free pattern – Hermione's Favourite Socks on Ravelry.

In the second photo, you can see some books I've been enjoying over the past month. I've owned all of them (except Making is Connecting – that's on loan from my friend Miriam) for ages, but it's so good to have book-friends around the house to revisit when you need them.

You can also see a plate of pikelets (aka the simplest morning tea ever) just before they were quickly eaten with jam and butter. I've tried a few different recipes for these lately, but the plainest one is probably my favourite:

Whisk together 1 egg and 1/4 cup sugar / Sift in 1 cup flour and 1 tsp baking powder / Tip in 3/4 cup milk and whisk everything till smooth while heating up a frying pan / Drop spoonfuls of mixture into pan and cook on either side for a couple of minutes / Keep warm in a clean tea towel until ready to service with butter or cream and jam.

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I also took a day or so to work on my hexagon quilt top – a (very) long term project that I would love to finish soon! I had an idea to sew myself a small thimble from some soft leather scraps and that's really made the job easier. The piece is nearly as big as a queen-sized bed now, so I need to work out how to add a small border and then quilt it. Not daunting at all! Haha.

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The kids and I spent a lovely morning digging through boxes of my old CDs. Lots were from their early childhood (Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are my Little Bird, Putamayo folk song collections, Bob Marley and the enduring favourite that played in our car for several years, Colors Are Brighter). It made me realise how much music I bought back in the days before streaming services. 

Even though we can stream all the albums we own on CD and vinyl, we agreed that it was fun to have a stack by the stereo to remind us to play them in their entirety.

In that box of music, I found my Fiona Apple albums – such treasures to me in my teenage years. That same day, I saw that she had released a new one – Fetch the Bolt Cutters. It's pretty powerful and addictive to listen to. This is a great track to start with.

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I've been watching a little TV – last week it was Unorthodox – have you seen it? I found it really engaging and haunting and of course it led to lots of background reading immediately afterwards. We've also watched Roma – the story of a family in 1970's Mexico, which I thought was beautiful too.

Take good care, and I'll see you again soon, XX