catch up!

OK so Ive been a bit MIA on my blog but you know what - thats totally ok! This year I have been promising myself I wont be a slave to expectations, and as a people pleaser that is really hard but I can do hard things and do this sometimes - well hopefully more often than not. And just because I havent done updates on here doesnt mean I havent been busy! On the farm the calves are almost weaned so not as many to feed and given I only do the calf feeding every second weekend its awesome to see their progress - note Buster the supervisor in this pic!

And AI (artificial insemination) time is almost upon us - this season we have a fancy auto draft now that will (apparently) draft out the cows that are on heat and needing to be AI'd Fingers crossed it works as well as its reported to however Im sure they will be teething issues. And yes its now winter so very cold (a couple of mornings have been minus degress so not fun) but we did manage to sneak up to Queensland for a few days to visit Sarah and Ollie (and Jessie the dog too)Thankfully Gary could get away too and we just had fun familiy time and a bit of relaxing and enjoying the warmer weather - Airlie Beach is really my happy place

And now onto the crafting! First socks - yep Ive knitted socks and two pairs This first one is called pressed flower socks and my knitting online group had a challenge to knit a pressed flowers pattern and this is my choice (for the record there is also a cowl and a cardigan in the same pattern and a few other things I think too) Im pretty happy with how they turned out - although I do need to work on my colourwork tension

And the second pair of socks are also colourwork and again Im pleased with my yarn and colour choices - again my colourwork tension could be better but once they are washed and warm they will be great

Ive also used up a lonely skein of aran weight yarn to make a cosy hat - not sure if I will keep this for myself or gift it but it is warm and cosy and does fit me well .... so maybe its for me!

Ive also been chipping away on the field sweater - which is definatley for me but its very slow and hard going - lots of K3 and K5 through the back loop and lots of stitches. Ive only been working on this at night and some nights I only get one row done - however I think Ive got 10 more rows on the yoke to go and then it will be just plain knitting - I cant wait!

Ive also been doing some slow stitching embroidery which I totally love!!!!

And reading - yep Ive finished three more books I wont go into reviews of them as this is getting long but - The Women by Kristin Hannah - love love love about women in vietnam and how they were treated, Id give this 6 stars out of 5 if I could Morning Star (book 3 in the series) by Pierce Brown which continues the outer space and distopian story of Darrow - still really enjoyed this but Ill give this series a pause for a while And finally Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry - Sarah gave me this book to read and said it was a nice easy and comforting read and she was right - although there is a huge twist at the end - and 4 stars for me So........I think Im now back on track (possibly) and thanks for getting to the bottom of my post No I wont promise to be more regular but I will be back! Take care til next time xxx