Wednesday 29 October 2008

Soooo cold

It's been a real cold start to the morning; frost has covered everything in sight and my wallflowers are looking rather wilted sitting out in the garden, hopefully they'll pick up once the sun comes through on that side of the border. It's beautiful and sunny now and if it wasn't for the fire stoked halfway up the chimney you wouldn't think that it was so cold outside.

I've just put Lily down for her morning nap which are getting less and less frequent these days, she just doesn't seem to want to sleep and as she's all over the place I daren't leave her too long out of my sight in case she falls over. My last day for the week though, her mother takes over until next Monday, so four days of catching up on what I've not done.

I did manage to get a hearty stew going in the oven before she got up, one of Tony's favourite meals, only the dumplings and shallots to add later so an easy day cooking wise. I might even make a rice pud to go with it for afters though I probably won't be able to move for hours after I've eaten it.
Rachel's three cats don't like this cold weather and they've started picking on each other and the fur is literally flying everywhere so a good hoovering is on the cards for tomorrow. I'd love to have a move round with the furniture but at the moment I can't see how it would fit in any differently, will have to get the tape measure out and work it out.

I think that it's time for a cuppa then I'd better make a start on the two piles of ironing that are waiting for me. I might manage to get a bit done before Lily wakes up. you never know...........

Monday 27 October 2008

A new beginning




It's been a bit hectic the past week or so, Rachel has had Darren staying over for the week and with my three days looking after Lily time has been a bit lacking.

Lily is now crawling, a bit too fast for these old legs of mine to keep up with her, but we have fun on our days together. Rachel found another tooth had come through tonight so that means she's got four altogether and she certainly knows how to nip with them. Feeding time is fun as she is supposed to be having proper meals but getting anything solid down her is like fighting a losing battle, though she has taken a liking to organic carrot coated crisps!!


I had a lovely weekend in the garden with Tony, I watched while he did all the work. We had a drive down the side of the garden and he's turfed it over to make a bigger lawn for me. It's been a lot of hard work for him but it's looking good at the moment, I've just got to sort the borders out with my bulbs and wallflowers and hopefully come spring I'll have a nice display to look at.

I've managed to finish my cross stitch for the Christmas exchange that I'm in, I never thought that I'd finish it as one thing after another seemed to go wrong. I haven't done a lot of stitching this year but I'm getting back into the swing of things so I hope that I can keep going with it.


I've still got to sew the biscornu together and as I've never done one before, I'm hoping and praying that it will come together ok. I've got to post it out next weekend so if it all goes wrong there's not much time to stitch anything else.

I've also managed to make five of the six cards that I need for the thread exchange next month, I don't have to make hand made cards but I like to make the effort. Now if only I can find the energy to do all the cleaning that's been backing up over the last week, I'd be a happy lady. I'd better go and do a bit of tidying round or it will all be waiting for me tomorrow and I don't think I could face that........




Tuesday 14 October 2008

Twelve months on.




Well, the last post I did was a year ago and I can't believe that it's gone so quick. Such a lot has happened in those twelve months and this blog which was meant as an online diary for me to remember everything is sadly lacking any news at all. Over the next few weeks I'm going to try and fit all that's happened, all the stitching, knitting and gardening, all about what's happened to the family and add some photos of my new granddaughter Lily Mae. She is now eight months old and I did manage to finish my knitting for her before her hasty arrival in February.





This is Lily at just a few hours old; she weighed in at 5lb 10 1/2 ounces and looked so tiny but she's certainly making up for it now.


Thursday 25 October 2007

nearly two months

I can't believe that it's been almost two months since I last posted on this blog page, the time has flown. It's not been a good two months either as already I've had the oncoming signs of the depression that always gets to me at this time of year, but trying to keep myself busy and get on with the various projects that I have on the go can only help. I sometimes feel so overwhelmed with everything going on in my life that I find it hard to cope, but cope I will.

I managed to finish the cardigan for Rachel's baby so I must get a photo done to remind me of what I can achieve. I also bought some more wool, a lovely shade of pink to make another little jacket that is covered in a heart pattern, I can't wait to get started on it. I've also finished the cross stitch exchange and already have ideas for my next one. I do so enjoy my cross stitch at this time of year, it's a good excuse to snuggle down in front of the fire and not feel guilty about not doing work outside.

We did manage to have a good go at the garden last weekend when the weather was so nice; the vegetable plot is now almost dug over ready for next year and the flower garden only needs a bit of sprucing up and that should carry it through until the real work starts again in Spring. I'm still contemplating whether to go ahead and have some chickens for next year, we have the space and I have the time so there's nothing stopping me, but I'm still not certain. I like the thought of having fresh eggs and knowing where they've come from.

That's it for today, not a lot to tell.

Monday 27 August 2007

holiday weekend

Another bank holiday almost over and as usual it's been a working one though I have to say it's not me who's been doing the work. OH is still trying to finish the cat run off so that we can let the little horrors outside without fear of them getting run over. Not a lot more to do but it's hard work.




It was our anniversary last week, 29 years and they said it wouldn't last, how wrong could they be. I had two huge bouquets of flowers from Tony and Rachel and they smell gorgeous. Why do roses always fade first when they are always the most expensive flower in the bunch?






some of the flowers from Tony









some from Rachel





I've not done a lot more on my knitting as there isn't a lot left to do so I really ought to push myself to finish it before this baby makes an appearance. Rachel has started knitting a little hat which is coming along nicely. Here's a quick picture I took last week.


It's not a very good picture but you can see the basic pattern; I knitted this for my girls when they were babies and as the eldest is 28 it's been around for quite a while.

I've been asked to join another cross stitch exchange for Christmas with my friend from France who I met on the dmc forum so I think I'll hunt out some patterns and get stitching this afternoon, another little pleasure in my crafting life.

Friday 17 August 2007

Time Flies

I can't believe that it's over a week since I last posted, I really don't know where the days go. Tony is back at work and I've been catching up on odd jobs that I couldn't do while he's at home.


It's been such a lot cooler this last week, it's hard to imagine that last week we had glorious sunshine and were out in the garden all the time. I took a few photos in the garden just to remind me that we have had a little bit of summer.





This is one of the last of the geraniums they are fading fast now with all the rain, but still a dash of colour to brighten up the darkest day.




Another lovely sight but sadly these too are fading fast.


I've also been busy knitting. My youngest daughter is expecting her first baby in February so I thought I'd get the needles out again and it's been lovely to sit and knit in the evenings especially as it feels as though autumn is already here. I'll add some photos later if I remember.


Apart from that I've got the card making kit out again and tried my hand at a couple of cards that I need for the thread exchange that I'm in. It's been lovely making so many new friends through this birthday exchange and it's great to learn a little of other peoples lives.

Now, do I go and finish my knitting or sort out a pattern for my cross stitch, so many decisions to make. Think I'll go and make a cuppa and decide later.

Thursday 9 August 2007

Working Holiday

well, Tony's on holiday this week so as usual it means a holiday working at home doing all the jobs that he never has time for during the year, thank goodness that he's so good at DIY.


For the last two months we have been building a pond and now it's almost finished apart from getting the water to clear which has been looking like something out of a horror movie.





This morning, I found Chester our cat looking with a glint in his eye at the fish that are almost visible once more. Having checked them out he decided that they were no threat to him, he's a bit of a coward, and promptly settled down to treating the pond as his own personal watering hole.




So far he's not fallen in but I don't believe for one minute that it's not going to happen. There's loads to do in the garden, we're fencing off the top part near to the house so that we can let Rachel's cats outside. She came back to live with us in February with three cats in tow and they have never been outside. As ours is a busy road, we're trying to make sure that when they do go out they are completely safe, just seems a big job at the moment.

Apart from a little knitting and making a card or two, that's all to report for now.

Tuesday 7 August 2007

hello Everyone

this is my first post on my new blog so if anyone ever reads this please excuse any mistakes that I might make. I have no idea what I shall write about; I have many hobbies such as cross stitch, card making and knitting so I didn't really want to put a "label" to my blog because my interests change from day to day.

I hope if someone does have a read they might find something to interest them in amongst the ramblings of a fifty something woman.

Well, here goes, lets see if I can get this to post, bye for now.