Autumn has...

...officially been with us for a week now.

There doesn't seem to be much evidence of the lovely 'Fall' colours just yet but the leaves are starting to fall...

...these leaves are not from my garden but the Elder is starting to shed. This will be the last year of Autumn colour in my garden as the trees come down at the end of November - if they don't the garage wall will cave in as the trunks are pressing against it.

At primary school, we all entered a competition to write a poem.

We were provided with a start line - "Autumn leaves are falling down" - and we had to continue from there. I was lucky enough to win a prize and have my poem read out on the radio but unfortunately our poems were never returned and the only part that I have ever remembered was:-

Autumn leaves are falling down,
Orange, yellow, green and brown.
They lay in heaps along the street,
And make a carpet for my feet.

I know there were more verses but after all these years (and there are a lot LOL) I'm surprised that I even remember that much.

So Autumn is with us and after a hot & humid Summer it is noticeable that the temperatures have taken a nose-dive. But it is dry and the days have still been warm - it's just the very chilly starts and the now chilly evenings because it is getting dark so much earlier.

Most definitely knitting & crochet weather.....................................................................

The Knitting Loom...

...had a good 'workout' at the weekend.

 In addition to my paper-crafting stuff, I had a 'play' with the knitting loom again...

 ...so quick & easy to 'cast-on' and in no time I was away. The knitting grows very quickly...

 ...and before I knew it, I was finishing off not one...

 ...but two children's "Santa" hats...

 ...all done & dusted, just waiting for the pom-poms.

The photos don't really show how pretty this yarn looks as both the red and the white are sparkly.

A couple more items for the sale table at work......................................................

Plenty of colouring...

...was completed at Saturday's crop.

I wanted to 'play with my newest snowman stamp...

 ...isn't he fabulous. Such a great image and such fun having the penguins too.
The stamp is a good size as you can see from this photo...

 ...I placed one of my Copics over the image so you can see the size.
With the addition of some Stickles to the fur on the hats...

 ...this was another image completed and ready for use on a card.
The next stamp that I had a 'play' with was this one...

 ...I fell in love with this image as soon as I saw it at Pinnacle Crafts but this was the first time that I had actually inked it up. Isn't it just adorable.
I had some more of the snowman stamped so I coloured some more...

 ...two different colourways from what I did to begin with...

...and just awaiting a bit of sparkle (it was too late to use Stickles at this point - it wouldn't have dried by the time I was going home).

Debbie & Suzie were busily working on the albums for part of their Kathy Orta "Trunk" project - they are looking amazing (but soooooooooooo much work).

So there you have the photos I promised of part of my weekend crafting activity. Tomorrow I will share the rest.......................................................

What a busy...

...few days.

Friday was the start of "Members Weekend" at Pinnacle Crafts and as usual, I met up with Hilary for our bit of retail therapy followed by coffee and then lunch. She went off to her parchment class and I went and collected my new car.

Exciting but scary.

Saturday was Carol Whalley's crop at the Toby Carvery so the car got it's first taste of being loaded with crafting stuff and off we went (me & the car that is).

As normal, come lunchtime it was downstairs to the carvery...

 ...a fabulous array of veg - those roasties were scrummy. Debbie & Suzie declined the Yorkshire puds...

 ...but how can you have a roast dinner without the Yorkshires? The only problem being that the Yorkshire takes up a lot of room on the plate...

...and everything else looks much more 'heaped' up because of the lack of space.

The food was lovely and it was great to have a chat & a giggle.

It was quite a productive day as far as the crafting was concerned too. I'll show you what I got up to tomorrow.............................................................

Say 'Hello'...

...to Duckie.

That is what my Sister has named my car because it is a sort of cross between Powder Blue and a pale Duck-egg Blue.

The name I can live with as it is quite cute but I'm not so sure about the Bow-tie that she says the car should have - just like 'Duckie' (Dr Mallard) in the TV series NCIS - I do wonder about her sometimes LOL.

Anyhoo, here is Duckie...

 ...all shiny and new. For a small car...

 ...it isn't so small. This is the 'Play' model rather than the basic 'Expression'...

...and there might not be loads of Bells & Whistles (buttons & gadgets), it has everything that I need to get me from A to B.
I'm not a lover of the big chunky keyrings that the dealerships provide so I got myself this...

 ...I think it says it all.
The interior is quite basic but not sparse...

 ...I mean, it even comes with a 'Smartphone' holder...

 ...(shame I don't have a smartphone) and there is plenty of legroom in the front...

...without stealing it from anyone sitting in the back.

So 'Duckie' now lives with me and has been introduced to some of my friends. I have been out and about a few times - mainly to get the 'feel' of the car because it is a while since I drove anything other than an Estate style vehicle. I'm getting to know where everything is but yet again, I have a car where it needs Einstein to work out how to change the time on the clock. At the moment, it shows 20:00 in the 'am' and 08:00 in the 'pm' - other than that the time is right LOL. Still, I have a month to work things out ready for the clocks going back at the end of October. I have followed the manual, step-by-step, but pressing the buttons stated changes the mileage display - NOT the clock.

There you have it; that's 'Duckie'....................................................................

Knit & Natter...

...the second gathering.

Another good turnout for our Knit & Natter group with two new members putting in an appearance.

Here are some photos of what folk were getting up to...

 ...Debbie & Kristian were hitting the Granny squares again. Pam decided to join us...

 ...as she feels this will be the only way she gets her son's jumper finished. She has been knitting this for quite some time as can be seen from the state of the pattern LOL. Heather finished off her last snowflake...

 ...she now has 21 of these so the next step is to join them all together. I've been playing with knitting looms (the colourful pegged circles)...

...they are a bit like a huge version of the "French Knitting" that I used to do as a child - remember the wooden cotton-reels with four nails in the top that you could use to make knitted cords?
I was finishing off this little hat that I was making for a colleague's grandson... 

...the good bit about these looms is that you can knit stuff fairly quick & easy and there are no seams to sew up.

Sheenaz & Francis also popped in. Sheenaz forgot her crochet but she was up for a natter and was intrigued by the baby jacket that Francis was knitting (I had put my camera away, so no photo) as it was made-up of a pretty 'wave' pattern.

So there are some photos of what everyone is currently up to. You never know, next time I might convince them to have their photos taken too.................................................

It's Monday...

...and it's back to work.

It has been a pretty hectic week dashing about getting the car serviced and sorting out a new one.

This is a pretty awful picture...

...but it was the best I could manage from the cover of the catalogue (the shiny paper made it hard for the camera to focus without getting glare).

On Friday I will be collecting a powder blue Renault Twingo.

For a small car, it isn't that small and will be my new runaround.

With luck I will be able to get some better photos of the actual car so you can take a look at my new toy......................................................

I managed...

...some more colouring.

Armed with some stamped images and my ZIG Clean Color pens, I found a shaded bench over at Barleylands and just enjoyed a couple of hours of colouring.

I do so love this Sweet Dixie stamp...

 ...and I just sat and played around with some different colour combos.

I thought I'd have a go at some more traditional colours...

 ...and was very happy with the outcome. This (and the other completed images) will get a bit of stickles bling when I get a moment.
The very first time I coloured this stamp I went for shades of lavender & aqua so I thought I'd try some stronger mauves...

...this was a mix of violets & purples (blue tones & red tones) and certainly gives a bolder finish.
As the red & green colour combo had worked so well, I did another...

...but this time I made the hat slightly paler.
I love aqua/teal shades so that is what I went for with this one...

...I have a new word die that will go perfectly with this and some pretty ribbons. Let's see if what I have in my head will actually turn out as I want.

I can't believe how quickly this week has flown.

With the rain yesterday & Friday it certainly was a reminder that we are now heading towards Halloween & Christmas at a rate of knots.................................................

What a super week...

...weatherwise.

Well...until yesterday that was.

Yesterday the rain arrived. It has been threatened off & on over the last few weeks but this time it actually turned up and it is still with us today.

However, I can't moan as the rest of my week off work has been hot, sunny & dry. Not the sort of weather you would think of sitting and knitting snuggly fleece scarves...

 ...but that is what I did. It comes in handy having some knitting to do whilst waiting for your car to be serviced or just making the most of the sunshine...

 ...and I have 6 Christmas gifts finished. I have also been making 'phone socks'...

...and have one completed, one waiting to be decorated and one that needs sewing up.

It has been lovely taking advantage of the beautiful weather in between dashing about sorting out a new car.

Back to work on Monday **groan** and a week full of meetings and traveling about. I wonder how many emails I will have to plough through...................................................

Continuing the...

...Wat Tyler tour.

Following on from yesterday's photos, this tiny stable is located between the 'station' and...

...Holly Cottage. It really is only small...

...and doesn't have a traditional stable door.
Holly Cottage is also tiny...

...and the chimney seems so out of proportion to the rest of the building...

...a lot of restoration has been done to the inside...

...especially the staircase...

...this cottage is also open occasionally so visitors can see the full extent of the restoration...

...and at the end of September there will be someone demonstrating country crafts at the cottage.
Back on the 'green' is one of the larger cottages...

...from this view you could almost imagine this to be at the centre of a small village (if you ignored the picnic benches of course LOL)...

...the cottage looks wonderful compared to the state it was in when acquired...

...so much work has been done to make it safe and a lasting bit of history...

...it would have been interesting to see the process of bringing these properties back to life.
Seeing these pictures on the information board...

...you wouldn't have thought there was much left to save...

...but in fact some of the timbers were still in good condition and this is the result...

...a large thatched barn which is often used during various events that are held at the park during the year.

I didn't wander much further as it was still rather hot & sticky (despite the breeze) and my battery on the camera also decided to give up the ghost.

Not sure how I will spend the rest of my break as I really need to sort out about a new car - have you seen the prices these days ***gulp*** even with all the promotional adverts offering super discounts.

Anyhoo, the camera is now charged.....................................................

So much for having...

...a restful week off work.

After dashing around getting the car serviced and then a trip to KwikFit to get a tyre sorted, I decided to take myself off to Wat Tyler park late Monday afternoon to see if it was any cooler (the park is near the river Thames) but if anything, the heat was still building.

There was a bit of a breeze so I went for a walk with my camera...

...beautiful blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Isn't it strange that a 180 turn showed the sky to be a very different shade...

 ...but still lovely to look at.

The Wat Tyler park is on the site of one of the many munition factories that were based along the Thames (easy access for transport by water) but is now a site where a number of historic buildings have been relocated.

The visitor centre has been built in the style of one of the munitions buildings and is located next to what appears to be a large village green...

 ...there are cottages and stables...

 ...surrounding the green and at certain times of the year some are open to the public...

...Blunt's Cottage is often used for story telling during the Halloween ghost walks...

...as you can see, Basildon Council acquired this property for the grand sum of 50p when Stansted airport needed it to be moved so they could expand.
The 'green' was originally the site of a number of munitions sheds...

 ...making things like dynamite.
Just across the road from the 'green' is the mini railway line that runs around the site...

...believe it or not, this is actually called "Holly Cottage station" as it is one of the stops where visitors can get off the train to have a wander.

I have a lot more photos to show you from my wander so do pop back for the rest...............................................................