Blanket update .... and a wee giveaway!

It has been fabulous to be feeling motivated again and I am so excited that progress has really been made on my giant granny blanket. I am just adding the smaller squares around the edge now and will then do a simple border in white, with a wee picot edge I think. I'm absolutely loving it and hope to finish it while we are still having some cooler weather so we can get to use it before Summer! It is 41 rounds from memory and just a great size for snuggling under while watching TV. As much as I have loved making this blanket, I have however made a promise to myself that this will be the last blanket I make where I leave all the tying-in until the end. It is my very least favourite thing about crochet as I always seem to make a bit of a mess with my end tying! So from here on in, all ends will be tied in as I go. Famous last words ...??? Well I will do my best anyway! Hopefully I'll have it finished ready for my post next week. Rugby World Cup fever is still rampant here. We had Mr 6's school production last night which was a show about the World Cup. They did a fabulous job and even had some pictures in the paper this morning so they were all totally chuffed. We made All Blacks gingerbread men at the weekend. Miss 4 and Mr 6 requested that they be decorated as Dan Carter and Richie McCaw - their team favourites. These wee cookies are a family fave and we've been having so much fun decorating them in different ways. Recently we made some with a cast on one leg as a pressie for a little friend who had her leg in plaster. As the recipe makes soooooo many, we bag them up and do the rounds of school friends who love them too. Mr 6 went to a birthday party at the weekend at our local trout fishing centre. It was such a fabulous party idea. He was bursting with pride to have caught the biggest fish of the day - a whopping 1.22kg. Most of the fish in the lake are about 400grams like the other one here, so you can imagine his face when he caught this one! We had the most delicious dinner that night thanks to our wee guy.

And now for my wee giveaway ... I've mentioned before that I originally started this blog as a bit of a diary for myself, not really thinking that it would be of interest to anyone else. So I am so thrilled to bits to have reached 150 followers!! Your comments absolutely make my day and it's been wonderful to visit your blogs and discover like-minded folk all across the world. So as a token of my gratitude, I'd like to giveaway some things that I love and that are very specific to my part of the world.

The pendant features a Pohutukawa tree which is one of my most favourite things about New Zealand. It is often referred to as the NZ Christmas tree as it flowers over our summer. And if it flowers early it is believed we will have a long and beautiful summer. I have also popped in a Peanut Slab - again one of my favourite things!! This is a dangerously delicious chocolate bar and I adore them. My Mum used to post them to me when I lived in the UK because I missed them so much! Here's a closer look at the pendant.I have also got two more little pressies of a Peanut Slab tucked inside a small flax kete (Maori woven flax bag) so will draw additional names for these too!

So if you are a follower, either current or new (welcome!), please leave me a comment on this post by next Friday 30 September and I will draw a lucky winner.

Now before I go, I'd like to say a big thank you to Barbara for passing on a versatile blogger award to me. Thank you so much - it made my day!

I hope you're all having a fabulous week. See you again soon.

Leah
xxxx