How close do you live to your grandchildren?

I live 280 miles away from my only grandchild.

I have friends whose grandchildren live in Australia, so I think I'm lucky compared to them, but compared to my friends whose grandchildren live close by, I'm not so lucky. That;s how I feel anyway.

I see my family at intervals of between one and two months. When we visit each other we usually stay for at least 3 days. We also meet up on holidays, so I guess that I do get to see a lot of the little one. Maybe, as we spend whole days together and we stay overnight together I might see more of my grandson than someone living close by who just pops round at frequent intervals for a short time?

I guess for most grandparents the proximity of the grandchildren is out of their hands.

We work with what we have.

We just love being grandparents. Is the much overused phrase about how it's "lovely to have them but lovely to give them back"  true? Probably, as the idea of revisiting full time child care all over again (at my mature age) is not appealing.

Any comments?

Favourite knitting patterns for babies and toddlers

I picked up the knitting needles as soon as I knew that I was going to be a grandmother. 15 months from the big day, what have I knitted?

Quite a lot!

From Debbie Bliss' great book of baby and toddler knits I made a first size wrap jacket, a "baby's first coat" and the biggest hit of all, a cable tank top.

I also made booties from another pattern in the same book. Here's the book. Superb value. I used the recommended wool, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  It knits a little bigger than 4 ply. The quality is excellent. The yarn shows every stitch and pattern and rewards the knitter with a brilliant quality finished piece of work.

Here's the "baby's first coat" in Debbie Bliss Baby cashmerino Duck Egg Blue and Ecru.

If you love to knit, and want only the very best , I 100% recommend this Debbie Bliss knitting pattern book and her lovely yarn.

I've knitted lots of other items too- hats, mitts, other jumpers and cargigans- of which more another day.