Grumpy Bunny!

I've been AWOL for sometime now due to a disastrous laptop crash which really was an accident waiting to happen - it was slowing down to a ridiculous pace and shutting down on a regular basis.  Well, the inevitable happened and one morning last month it decided it had had enough and refused to come on at all.  A self imposed break from all online pursuits ensued - not a great time of year I admit to cease my crafty trading on Etsy but necessary until I figured out what to do (apart from borrowing my children's computers of course!).

Anyway I'm back with a nifty little budget notebook (popular with impoverished students I believe, haha!) which I finally decided to go for.  Just as well I'm getting spectacles for close up work - I'll need them on this little screen! 

In my imposed break I spent some time leafing through some of my fave craft books and finishing off the crochet cushion covers I'd started earlier. I had a go at making this little fellow from 'Homemade Gifts Vintage Style' . . .

He looks pretty disgruntled - poor thing! (maybe this is what I looked like without my laptop, hehe!)

But the one on the book cover did too . . .

Here he is on the settee surrounded by the finished crochet covers which I really enjoyed completing (at last!) . . .

I actually cheated with attaching the crochet covers - the square one was stitched onto a very old tweed patchwork one which had seen better days but the zip was intact and it was just asking to get reused . . .

The other two were simply stitched on to backing fabric without any opening - when they get grubby they'll just have to be unstitched!

Grumpy Bunny was made from an old fleecy hoodie so is quite soft and cuddly . . .

He was just an experiment - I might give him to a passing toddler!  I really love how this book reuses old and unloved fabrics and objects - very inspiring!

We've had some lovely frosty mornings this week, the chooks have been enjoying pecking about without being battered by rain and gales.  They didn't seem to mind the frost too much . . .

I love seeing them pecking about amongst the trees and shrubs :)

We've enjoyed a bounty of eggs from them since we got them - really lovely to be able to collect the fresh eggs and use them ourselves and pass some on to friends and relatives.  Last weekend I decided to treat myself and made 'Eggs Benedict' which was something I've seen on countless cookery programmes but never tried eating or making it.  It was very yummy :) and so much nicer with our own eggs . . .

You can get some recipes here.  Excuse the rather scruffy plate but it's just the right size for some things!

Hope I'll be back a little more regularly now - my Etsy shop is back open again so I should really get off and make some items for it!

Speak soon,
Alison x

P.S.  'Homemade Gifts Vintage Style' is written by Sarah Moore.  I might be using it this Christmas given my very tight budget LOL!