On being a blogaholic, on a work in progress, something else pink and more garden pics

I heard recently that there are several questions you can ask youself to find out if you are addicted to blogging, amongst which are the rather inevitable ones, do you blog every day, do you read other people's blogs every day? Well, based on those two, and several others I won't bore you with because you maybe all heard the radio programme anyway, I am sad/pleased to say I passed/failed!!! Actually, truth be told, I don't blog every day, and nor do I read blogs every day, but I still think I am addicted, just a little bit! Maybe we ought to have a bloggers anthem... do you think Status Quo would mind if we pinched their 'Rockin' all over the world'? and changed it to 'Bloggin' all over the world'.. I can hear you now singing the chorus, 'and I like it, I like it, I like it........'

Seriously, it does amaze me that people find something new to talk about every day, and to my mind, it takes real skill to make a daily blog fun, interesting, innovative, fresh. One of my favourites and the one I always, without fail, read most days is that of Vanessa, who I am sure many of you will know through her blog - doyoumindifiknit.typepad.com. I love her photographs, and how she can find magic in simple things, like colourful buckets and spades yesterday. Just seeing the photo brought back memories of childhood for me, and a shop across the road from where I lived as a little girl, which was in an Art Deco parade within metres of a sandy beach, and during summer the outside was festooned with buckets, spades, beach balls in nets, plastic windmills and so on.

I don't get out much, as regular readers and friends will know, so I have to rely more on my imagination than real life to stimulate my blogging brain. I thought I would show you my latest craft project, which is fine to do when it has been cooler, but with the temperature creeping up into the seventies today, I doubt it will be picked up as already it is quite heavy.

Remember the stash of pinks and orangey wools I was gathering like a squirrel gathers nuts? Well, I finally got around to winding some small balls and picking up the long circular needles (not knitted in the round but it's the only way to get 160 stitches on needles!) and starting, grabbing a ball of this, with a ball of that, and seeing where it led me. You can just see some of the fringing at the edges on the above photo, which is created by leaving a long tail, of about eight inches, of wool when starting and ending rows.

This picture is especially for Seashell Cosmos, who has bears who make ice cream, whilst I have bears that just like to sit around looking cute! Or trying to climb into the work basket for a snuggle down in the work in progress! I put a comment on your ice-cream making bears posting SC.

I recently had a blog of pinkness, and couldn't resist - well, I could have, had I tried hard enough - showing you the latest addition. Isn't this mouse mat gorgeous? You can just make out my pink laptop underneath it, which some may consider taking pinkness too far, but it is a beautiful colour and cheers me up. The mouse mat came courtesy of the lovely Clare (or CLURR if you're of a scouse persuasion) at http://www.vintage-home.co.uk/ and is so pretty.

Time for garden pics again... two hostas, untouched by slugs and snails and other nasty creatures who seem to find them irresistable as a rule. I took these last week, and only now noticed they have produced lots of flower spikes, and whilst the bottom one still looks pristine and unnibbled, this one below has been got at, with small holes in the foliage. Nowhere near as bad as it has been in the past, though with heavy rain expected again tomorrow, maybe that will encourage the little blighters out again.

This is a little tin birdie house which stands outside one of the conservatory windows, so I can sit inside and watch the little birds come to feed of the dish, which is just below the house itself. We are plagued with horrible wood pigeons, who thankfully find this too awkward to land on, but as much as I might hope someone would actually move into this des res, nobody has... maybe too near the house.

This of course is Buddha, one of my leaving gifts when I gave up my job in a local hospice back in the nineties. A bit pock marked now, but his smiley face brings out a grin on mine.

And there you have it... my last blog of the week, don't all sigh with relief now. I hope if you visit before the weekend, that you have a good one, despite the rather dreary weather forecast. Well, some might find it dreary but I, being a bit strange, am looking forward to it!

Thank you for visiting.. oh, and the latest I have on Kate's husband Brian is that he is stable, but will be in hospital a 'wee whiley' as she put it!