TAH-DAH!!!! Blanket Love!!!!

A very big Hello to you all!!!

Admittedly, there hasn't been a lot of crafting on this blog but, I'm the kind of girl who likes to finish one project before starting another one!!!  Well, OK!!!  Mostly I do!!!  With this one that was most certainly the case!!!
Now, do you remember this beautiful Mother's Day gift basket??!!

I was so excited, I immediately made a granny square block!!!  I just knew this yarn would feel good on my hook!!!  And it called out to me to be turned into a blanket!!!  A warm and cosy blanket that would feel like a big hug when you cosy up under it!!!  I could see the end result in my minds eye!!!

And the little piles of color just kept on growing and growing.......

I added some more colors to the original basket of loveliness....

And started joining long strips of beautiful color together and watched with giddy excitement at how this little beauty grew!!!

18 blocks of 5 round granny squares grew into long strips of beautiful color!!!  20 Strips in total!!! Aah!!! The loveliness just carried on-and-on and-on, and it was just so easy to make!!! An absolute joy to work on!!!
But then.... Then I started on the border and just nothing worked out!!!!

I tried every pattern I knew!!! Granny stripes in singles, doubles and trebles!!!! Shells, baubles and so much  more!!! Even tassels!!! Just nothing looked right and suited this beautiful blanket of mine!!! I redid the border 7 times!!!  Yes 7 Times!!!  And the last round I redid....ONLY twice!!!!

Then I sat down one afternoon and had a look around the bloggy world to see what's out there!!!  I found this block stitch pattern on Sue Pinner's blog http://8thofthe8thofthe8th.blogspot.com/2012/08/block-stitch-and-interlocking-block.html
and I knew this would work for my blanket!!!  I separated the blanket and the border with a round of white, not a color I used in my blanket, and then followed her pattern for a couple of rounds!!! What a great feeling when it looked right!!!  It worked!!!

Then I ended the border with a double V edging found at Jacquie's blog,  Bunny Mummybunnymummy-jacquie.blogspot.com in the same color as the last round and then.....Tah-Dah!!!!!  It was                       PERFECT!!!! 

Early the very next morning I hung it out to take the final photos!!!! And here it is......

                           Tah - Dah!!!!!!

       It's BIG!!!! And I love it!!!!!

A big warm pile of colorful happiness!!!!

I love the way the early morning shade washed it with shadows and a very gentle breeze made my blanket dance with happiness!!! Happy to be finally done!!!

Notice on the close up photo's a little bit of fuzziness??  I hung my blanket out and got distracted for a while and when I finally returned, it was covered in a layer of dew!!!  It was so beautiful!!!  It took my breath away!!!!

The early morning sun casting shadows.....

and here you can see it covered with a soft fuzzy dew!!!

And the back is just as beautiful as the front!!!

Now.....

Some silly blankie facts:

Yarn: Charity DK from Pullskein

Hook size: 5

360 squares of  5 round granny squares

20  strips of 18 squares

27 balls of 100g Charity DK

Measures: 210cm x 200cm

Bed size: Queen

Weight: 2.5kg

Length of yarn: 6291 meters or 6912 yards when all joined (each ball = 233m or 256 yds)

Time to make: No idea at all but every minute was worth it!!! It really was such happy hooky time spent on this blanket!!!

Cost: Priceless!!! How do you measure love?

Colors: 22 All by Charity: Limedrop, Jeans blue, Tiger lime, Apricot, Mauve, Lemon, Pink, Banana, Tropical, Pepper, Cloud blue, Navy, Camel, Silver grey, Sky, Saxe, Wine, School grey, Maroon, Cream and White!!!

         Aaaahhhh!!!! Such loveliness!!!!!!

And so my friends, what do you think of my blanket??!!! Have you made a blanket like this??!!  I know there are so many of them out there but I do think it's one of those that really should be part of any collection!!!

Thank you for all the kind comments on my last post, I really do appreciate it!!!

Hope you're all keeping well and that the weather is kind to you wherever you are!!! Our days are still hot but the evenings and early mornings are deliciously crisp and cool!!! I love early mornings!!!  The short days have really caught me out a couple of times!!! 

Go well 'till next time!!!!

Love

AMarie

SUNDAY TRADITION....

Hello dear friends

Firstly, thank you all so very much for your wonderfully kind comments and for taking the time to visit my blog!!! I really, really!!!  appreciate it!!!!

Today I would like to share with you my nostalgic childhood memories of Sunday food!!! Our Sunday Lunch tradition!!! This is food that will always remind me of home!!! Food that I grew up with!!! On Sundays!!!  Food that makes you feel fuzzy and warm inside!!!  Sunday Lunch was a tradition!!!  Our family tradition!!!  

I will always remember waking up on Sunday mornings to the wonderful smells from the kitchen, filling the house!!! These were Sunday smells!!! Roast chicken with roasted potatoes, 3 veggies, rice with gravy and a baked pudding with thick yummy custard!!! 

It was always the same and that is how we wanted it!!! We didn't want anything different on Sundays!!! We didn't like a change on Sundays!!!! Sundays was always the same!!! Sunday was a tradition!!! 

It was a Sunday morning ritual, getting ready for church with  the wonderful chaos of who's wearing what, standing in line for mom to do our hair, making sure everybody has their bible, psalm book, Sunday school homework, pennies for the collection box and hankies!!!

It was also my job to make sure my brother and sisters keep clean 'till it's time to go, all the while surrounded by the wonderful Sunday smells!!! Filling the house with Sunday tradition!!! And then all you could think of during the service,(heehee!!!) was that wonderful lunch waiting for you back home!!!  

We use to run home and help mom finish off the gravy or pudding and I remember how incredibly happy we all were!!! It was family time and it was wonderful!!! Margaret use to set the table and then we sat down at our little kitchen table, Dad said a prayer and we ate our wonderful Sunday Lunch!!! 

This is the only day we all sat together for a meal!!!  I don't know why, but we always had supper very early during the week!!! 5pm was supper time and if you weren't there for whatever reason, your supper was put in the oven 'till you were ready!!! Dad might have been on a late shift, or my brother was busy with sport!!!  I often had my supper in my room while I finished off my school work, there was always something going on!!! And no wonder, it was still early!!!  

But Sundays we were all there, a family united around the kitchen table for Sunday Lunch!!!
I have tried the roast chicken myself and it's close - but nobody makes roast chicken like my Mom!!! And everytime I smell this dish I clearly remember those wonderful happy Sunday mornings!!!                      

Now I'm going to share with you the secrets to this wonderful roast chicken!!! 
The 3 things that makes this our Traditional Sunday Lunch Roast Chicken!!!
1) Butter, real butter not margarine.....
2) Maple syrup, not golden syrup, it must be          maple and ...
3) Lemon juice, freshly squeezed!!! 

Firstly, mix the butter with some grated lemon rind and carefully spread as much as possible under the skin, trying to not break the skin!!! (Keep some of the butter for the potatoes the next day)  Then mix the syrup with salt and pepper, a little oil, a spoon of chutney and a small spoon of soya sauce. Rub the outside of the chicken with this mixture, wrap in plastic and leave overnight in the fridge!!! (Mom always flattened the chicken and we use to called it a "flatty") 

On Sunday morning all you have to do is put it in the oven to roast!!! When the chicken is done, sprinkle a little lemon juice over and leave to rest!!!! The skin is deliciously crispy and sticky and the meat is tender and oh so juicy!!!  Just before serving, cut a small slit into each potato and top with a dollop of lemon butter!!! YUM-YUM!!!!!!

The rest of the lunch was just as special!!! Pumpkin with sugar and cinnamon, cauliflower with a cheesy white sauce and minty green peas!!! I loved the way my Mom makes rice!!! It's sticky and yummy and then the gravy was always a golden caramel brown made in the same pan as the chicken and potatoes and it was and still is the most delicious gravy I have ever had!!!!

Then there was the pudding!!! Oh my goodness!!! That pudding was something else!!! Warm, cake-y, caramel-y, sticky with a hint of ginger and topped with sweet thick yellow custard!!! I couldn't wait to pick all the hard baked, sticky pieces from the bowl, it tasted like heavenly toffee!!!
Mom has always made this pudding from memory but I am going to try and get it from her, and then put it on my blog in a future post!!!

Mmm, perhaps a post about traditional South-African food!!!  I wonder how different our cuisine really is???!!!

Do you have foods that reminds you of home or your childhood?! Of wonderful traditional family food?! 

See you soon
Love
AMarie 

PS: When my lovely daughter Molly read this post, she asked what I was going to do about photo's for it?? Of course I don't have any of our Sunday lunches!!!! And she very kindly offered to do these wonderful "Clip Art" little pictures and I love them so much!!!!  Even though  they were done in this "Clip Art" style, I think she captured the essence of this post perfectly!!! Almost like she was there!!!!
Thank you Molly!!! They are truly Perfect and I love you always!!!