For Ida.

Ida is an amazing woman who more or less adopted me when I arrived on these foreign shores.
After finding out that she was quite poorly, she underwent a big and serious operation on Monday.
All went well and she is well on her way to recovery - Hoorah!
Before she went under, I promised to crochet her a pair of slippers to wear in the hospital, (although she prefers to go barefoot!):



These were a fairly easy project for a crochet novice like myself.
Pattern is from Erika Knight's Simple Crochet - I love the photography in this book and her use of "pop" colours amidst the neutrals.
Yarn without name, (it must be cotton), from a swap a couple of years ago - hands up if it was originally yours!

Ida, I wish you a very speedy recovery and look forward to seeing you - maybe next month?

While crocheting these babies I thought my real mother might like a pair too. - Want some Mummy?

I may play around with the pattern, (or change it completely) to try and crochet a pair of booties for me - watch this space for updates.

When not organizing an ever-diminishing camping trip, we have been doing a fair amount of hiking up in the Gunks and Catskills.

Photo evidence as follows:




























With a happy dog in tow, we don't get to see an awful lot of wildlife but did see evidence of it's existence - the snake that shed this skin was probably busy watching us as we examined the outfit it had out grown!















Around a couple of bends, Lucky stopped to sniff what looked to me like a twisted mass of an old bicycle tyre but this time is was a rattlesnake basking on a rock - we didn't get too close for fear of one of us being bitten.
Every time I stepped on a network of intertwined tree roots, I hoped they weren't more sleeping snakes ready to take a bite out of my exposed limbs!

















Don't you love it when nature imitates art? These leaves were perfectly positioned within the clearing to pose as a heart in shadow - love it!








All that fresh air makes a girl and her dog very tired.
Lucky is the sweetest, most good natured and loving Teddy Bear I have ever had the pleasure of cuddling.
Don't tell anyone that she's a Pitbull - after all - she has a reputation to keep up!!