A little knitting, a little stitching and a bit more.

I've been meaning to make a blog post for the past couple of weeks but to be honest there's not been a lot going on around here lately, we've both not been feeling to good, me with a bad back and Tony with a swollen eye and then he lost his hearing in his left ear. He's partially deaf in his right one so conversation has been a little comical at times. He was sent to the hospital within a week of seeing the doctor and he's got to go again to see the consultant in six to eight weeks or whenever he gets an appointment through. He's actually a lot better now but it will put his mind at rest if he can speak to someone again.

I'm still plodding along with this pair of socks that I started before Christmas, just the heel to turn on the second sock and then the foot to do so it shouldn't take me long if I get my finger out. The wool is Christmas wrapping paper by Rosie's moments and it's been lovely to knit with.

I've also put a few more stitches into Sunflower Susan by Lesley Teare, I wanted to get this finished for last Autumn but it wasn't to be, maybe this year I can finish it.

I finally finished my little quilt that I started last year, it only needed quilting and the binding to put on. I tried doing free motion quilting but my machine wasn't up to it, I think I need a bigger one! I've had my machine for years and it's been such a good one, it's served me well over the years and I don't think it would be worth paying out for something bigger as I can't see me making many more quilts even though I loved making it. It's not perfect by any means but I had a go so I'm happy with it.

I don't know why but I can't get going so far this year, maybe it's with us both feeling below par, usually Tony's got some project or another going on in his workshop but he's hardly been doing anything lately. I can't wait for Spring to arrive, I know we shouldn't be wishing our lives away but I think we'll both feel better once we can get out in the garden. The hellebores are about the only thing that are flowering and always make a nice show but there are hardly any daffodils or tulips coming through in the garden though I did find a couple of pots behind the greenhouse with some sign of life so that was a nice surprise.

Granddaughter number one, Lily, had her 16th birthday last week, she's been taking her mock GCSEs which should have been at the beginning of the year but the school was closed down just before Christmas due to it being in need of some serious repairs so in the mean time the pupils have been to different schools until something was sorted. A temporary school is being built until a new one can be sorted but it shouldn't have been left to get so bad in the first place.

Granddaughter number 2, Becky has been in some dance competitions two so far this year. The first one the group came second and then last week they came first. They were doing a dance to Cabaret and if I could find a photo I'd show you but whenever I download photos from my camera or phone although I can see them in my albums I can't get to put them on here. That's a job for another day.

The three grandsons are doing well, two of them are football mad and the eldest just likes his computer although saying that he can do a lot on it that I'd never be able to do, maybe I should ask him to sort my photo problem out. 

Well I've waffled on enough now and I can't think of any more exciting news so I'll press publish and see if that works for me.

Take care all,

Sue xx

September sunshine

Well the sun has certainly been shining for the past week which has been a little too hot for me but we've had a quick shower of rain this morning which has cooled things down and made it a bit more pleasant to get outside. The garden has again been taking up a lot of time mainly freezing the wonderful crop of vegetables that we've had this year. We've had so many that even the girls are getting fed up with them. I've made pickles and jam though one batch of jam refused to set even though I boiled it again and added extra pectin but thankfully we'd got so many blackberries that I made more and still had some for the freezer. At least we won't starve this winter.

As well as the garden Tony decided to decorate the kitchen and then when he'd finished that he moved on to the bathroom which he is still finishing so it's been a busy couple of months but it will be worth the effort when it's finished. I don't think he can settle since he's retired he never seems to stop. Sometimes I miss the days when I'd be on my own and read a book or do a bit of stitching or knitting whenever the mood took me but it is nice to have him around more so I'll just have to find him jobs that will keep him in his shed.

We also celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary in August and the girls bought us flowers, chocolates and garden vouchers which were very much appreciated and a lovely flower ornament with a sapphire coloured stone in the centre. I can't believe how quickly those 45 years have gone but we've had three wonderful daughters and five beautiful grandchildren to keep us busy along the way.

I also had to go for an eye test again, I changed opticians this time as I thought my regular one wasn't as good as usual last time I went, just seeming to have a quick look and not listen to what I wanted to ask. The new optician was really lovely, he took time to listen and explained things clearly. My new glasses should be here for the weekend and after my daughters telling me that I never change the style of my glasses I've gone for something a bit different so I hope I still like them when they arrive.

Not a lot of stitching has been happening here in Derbyshire but I have pulled a few projects out so I'm ready for when I feel the urge.

I managed to finish the socks I started last month but that's about all on the craft front but now things have calmed down a bit outside I shall be able to concentrate more on my stitching, I hope so as I have another exchange coming up.

I'll finish with a few pictures of the garden though everything is going over now but there's still plenty of colour to look at each day and now Autumn is on the way it won't be long before the trees will provide the wonderful jewelled colours to keep the garden going.

I've been having problems with blogger again not letting me comment on some blogs and I've had a couple of comments come through to my email but not on my blog. Perhaps I've pressed a wrong button again, I very often do so I'll have to ask my daughter when she next comes or one of the grandchildren who can magically press a key and everything comes right.

Hopefully I'll have more to show you next time but I'm terrible at remembering to take a photo of what I've been doing, Take care all, love Sue x