What I've been crocheting (when I can get away from all the renovating!)

I've been clearing photos in my camera. They're mainly of the renovating variety, along with some family ones from a week or so back when my youngest son and his family came to stay, but today I'm concentrating on the woolly ones.

These are 8" squares I've made so far for blankets that are being sewn together by Chalky (see Chalky's World in my side bar) for charity. I have a couple more to add but they still need the dratted ends sewing in - not my favourite job!   You'll see from her photos that she makes a brilliant job of sewing them together. 

This is another square; this time a 6" one for Mrs Twins (see her blog in my side bar, too).  She also does a fantastic job of putting all the squares together for charity.

I find the squares are the ideal way to use of scraps of wool and, as they don't need too much concentration, they are easy to do when you have a spare few minutes.  I shall keep going with them because I have loads of wool to use up!

Again, on the square theme, these 4" squares are for a personal project.  I have a very old chair that is just sitting in storage in one of the barns here; whilst rummaging around for something else in there (a tin of masonry paint that the Husband was convinced he had somewhere - yes, we did find it in the end. It was a 20 litre tin so a bit hard to 'lose'!) I came across the chair and decided that it could be brightened up with some spray paint and a bit of the crochet stuff, so I made a start on that last night.  It will be an ongoing project and it may be some time until it's finished but at least the chair will get a new lease of life.

Now, I'd better post a photo of that little window now that it has been re-glazed with clear glass.

This is the view from it on a very dull day yesterday.  Of course, before it could be glazed the Husband had to paint the exterior reveals.  As the window is above a conservatory with a sloping roof, he decided to do it from the inside - with the window's cross-members restricting him -  and me standing on the outside telling him which bits he had missed!   This was why we needed to look in the barn for the masonry paint; it's just the way of things, isn't it? You start one job then find you need to do a bit more prepping before you can get on with it!

This photo shows the lovely lintel, which we think is made of ash. It has just been treated for woodworm and will be finished off with Briwax furniture wax which will really bring out the colour and grain.  We need to wait for the putty to set, then we can wax the window frame and plaster and paint the interior reveals.  It will be a lovely feature just below a vaulted ceiling - I just have to decide whether to put something on the sill or to leave it as it is.  I'll take another photo when it's finished and, also, when the sun is shining through it!

Where on Earth does the time go?

OK, so it's been a while!  Apart from adding the charity-knitting update last week, I've not posted  for some time.  It's been so very busy at Chez Yarns for the last few weeks - not all of it of the laborious renovating variety, for a change. Last week, after some doubts about whether they would make it due to the Great Icelandic Ash Crisis, my youngest son, his lovely wife and gorgeous eight-month old daughter came to stay for a whole week.  The seven days stretched ahead of us at the beginning then simply whizzed by at a rate of knots and, suddenly, they were on their way back home.

We couldn't believe how lucky we were with the weather. The week before their visit was cool and dull and, since they left on Saturday, it's been even cooler and duller, but the week they were here was bright, warm and sunny and we were able to go out every day and make the most of it.

Here we are at the old defence wall with a view of the town as a backdrop. Centre stage is my truly beautiful granddaughter with the magical smile that carried us through the week! We visited lots of different places and had a wonderful time enjoying each other's company. The week passed by too quickly but it was lovely having them here.

The renovations took a back seat for the week apart from insulating the vaulted ceiling in the dining room part of the kitchen - something that my son helped his Dad with, because it was too high for me! It was great taking time out from all the work - we hadn't realised just how intense the last few weeks had been, and we needed the break.  Subsequently, it's taking a long time to get up and running again!  Yesterday, the Husband filled in the holes that were left behind when the timbers holding up the original ceiling  were removed, then he had to run electrical cables through the timbers in the kitchen - they will eventually be hidden when the ceiling is plasterboarded.  We have to choose the lighting next - at the moment, with the ceiling back to the bare bones and the existing lighting still in place, it looks gloomy, so the choice of lighting will be really important.   We  have this little window that we uncovered when we vaulted the ceiling - the glass has been painted (on the outside) in this  fetching shade of green and, rather than take the paint off, we will replace it with new.  It will let in even more light and I'm thinking of a way of dressing it up.   I think today the Husband is going to get both the ceilings prepared for plasterboarding - I can't wait but I'm dreading the usual disruption - why can't he do it quietly, cleanly and quickly?!

The weather, having been brilliant last week, has been really cold, something I wasn't expecting for the first week of May in south west France!  I thought we'd be well on the way to summer by now but we'll just have to be patient, I suppose - it's nothing compared to what's been going on in the rest of the world, so I really can't complain, can I?

Have a great day, everyone, and thanks for reading.