What is wrong with ...?

 ...the post

Whatever  is wrong with the postal service?   It is worse than ever. 

I sent Christmas cards to my family in Australia the first week of December and they still haven't received them! I sent my nephew in Australia a parcel on 22nd November and he still hasn't received it!   My sister sent me a parcel from the UK to Spain on 8th December and I still haven't received it either. I know there have been delays due to COVID throughout the whole of the Pandemic and post has taken longer than usual but never this long!

I went into the Post Office yesterday and had a chat with a very nice lady there. She said they were very short of staff all over the country,all due to Omicron/Covid and she said it has hit other countries too so that seems to confirm what I thought and is the main reason for the delay. I really don't understand why the Post Office doesn't employ temporary staff to cover the ones off sick. There are plenty of people unemployed and looking for work! I imagine that would be extra expense but at least you keep the postal service going properly. They don't seem to want to do that instead their staff is doing overtime and any minute now will go down sick too due to being overworked! 

I shall definitely be sending my baby blanket for my niece by registered post as I don't want it lost not after all the expense,time and effort of making it.

I am super pleased how this blanket turned out! 

The colours I used coincide with the colour scheme my niece has used in her nursery. I always ask the mother to choose the colours she wants and sometimes suggest others. I also like to mention to her what those colours symbolise and the following details is what I shall be sending to my niece.

GREEN : a new beginning, connecting to nature 

ORANGE: Joy and good health

CREAM: Comfort

BROWN : Security and safety

PALE GREY : Wisdom

The blanket pattern is from Repeat Crafter Me . I used a Hook 6.00 and Aran yarn throughout. I did tweek it a little! I gave it a sc border and didn't add tassels. I don't put tassels on baby blankets. I have this image in my mind of baby's little fingers getting entangled in the tassels. so that puts me off using them on baby blankets or shawls. 

The little grey bow was an extra 😊

Usual Sunday walk

We didn't go too far afield last Sunday just on top of the cliffs near the Lighthouse and Skywalk that I mentioned in my last post .

We continue to think we are eventually going to sell our four bedroom apartment in Alicante City and downsize to a two bedroom apartment or bungalow near the beach. At one time we had thought to do so in this area as we like it very much. However, one has to be sensible and we aren't getting any younger! Although it is a lovely area and the beach is just at the bottom of the hill, it is a steep climb back up and we have decided it just wouldn't be practical to live up here on top of the cliffs. 

Bit bigger than the one I have in my balcony garden🌵

Replies to comments in last post completed 🌴

Happy blogging

Amanda :-)

Silence is golden

Hello and welcome to my new follower Kathy at Kathyinozarks,Thank you so much for visiting and following my blog.

Silence is golden .....right....so they say.......
thats all very well but in my case it has been forced on me and I'd rather have a good chinwag here on my blog then spend a week of lurking and not being able to get a post together....ok enough whining!

Yippee! yippee! I have finally finished my zillion threads make and here it is :

This was a request from one of my sisters for her first future grandchild.A very near future babe as he/she is due late February and baby isn't obliging at all by showing his/her gender. Hence the cot cover had to be made in mint green.

Now I have to say I did not like this project at all.....the pattern was purchased by my sister and not really what I would have chosen.

I'm a bit finicky where having to crochet something I don't like is concerned. I will usually give up on a project if I don't like what I am doing,but well I had to make the exception this time. It has weighed heavy with me because of this. 
I had troubles from the start with it as the pattern called for Tunisian Hooks which I didn't have and couldn't find in my local yarn store so I ordered them online. There was a mix up with the order and I received something else so I had to send the parcel back and reorder tch!

As all this was time consuming I decided to tweak the pattern and use another stitch and I chose Alison's blanket stitch which you can find on her blog Modern Grace.  I really do like that stitch as it just flows and gives a very nice finish to the whole blanket .

Alison's baby blanket

It adapted quite well to the pattern until I got to the lamb...oh that lamb.......for a while now I am going to detest lambs....at least the crochet type!  I also had to embroidery the eyes and nose on the lamb. The eyes because the pattern indicated buttons for the eyes....BUTTONS...on a baby's blanket....no way was I going to put buttons on a baby's blanket far too risky. I was quite surprised that was included in the pattern. I embroidered the nose because it just didn't look like a nose.

That lamb was hard work and the stitch needed a lot of tweaking to get it right. I got there though! As for the zillion threads I have that sorted as I shall line the back of the cot cover with fine white polarfleece.

I just have to work out how to mitre corners on the sewing machine this evening and I'll get a seam done in a jiffy ,then hand sew the lining to the cover and bobs your uncle I'll get it off to my sister in Westbury UK this coming week. There is a also a matching cushion cover but that is easy peasy compared to that b****** lamb but the main thing is to get the cot cover to my sister before baby makes an appearance so I'll do that a bit more in my own time.
I used a Nº 5 Hook for the cover and a No 3,50 hook for the flowers. The yarn used was SMC Bravo from Coats in Mint Green ,Blue,White and Pink, Blue DMC Nº 798 embroidery floss and some white ribbon.

 I haven't washed the cover as yet but I will have to and the lining too before I sew it to the cover in case of shrinkage.  I'm crossing fingers there is no shrinkage as I have just the one piece of polarfleece.

Have a great Sunday!

Amanda :-)