Jeeandme

Thanks

2012-02-11T12:16:00.000Z

Thanks to this...

Which has now turned into this - a truly fabulous day. I was totally stocked up and have no need to go out until about Tuesday (thanks to my veg box delivery as well), so I was able to get on and finish this....

I'm quite pleased with it, especially as the wool cost me nothing having come in my sister's stash from Australia (thank you brother-in-law), and the button came free with a knitting magazine. And it can now go off to E for her birthday next week and I can root around in the wool and fabric cupboards and patterns and start something else!

And thank goodness we aren't even snowed in.

Waiting

2012-02-09T15:07:00.000Z

I shopped in packed shops this morning, everyone stocking up against the snow. I only wanted milk and bread and I tried hard not to get caught up in the panic, but I did buy a few cupboard and freezer items. I got stuck in a traffic jam both going and coming back - some problem with a water main, so it took me most of the morning just to buy a few items and make an all important trip to the pharmacy at the Dr's surgery. The thing that always worries me most about possible snow is whether we're up to date with M's prescriptions - and there are so many of them, none of which seem to coincide. Her surgery won't issue repeat prescriptions until you have only a weeks supply left of any tablet and her eye drops have to be discarded every 28 days, so it's quite a full-time job keeping track of everything.
It's raining as I write, so I suppose that will turn to snow later. It can do what it likes now, I'm going to put my feet up and finish E's hoodie - wonder if H can be persuaded to go and do organ practice so I can watch an old film!
Keep warm and safe everyone.

2012-02-05T15:43:00.000Z

Snow came, but it isn't going to stay I hope. Still it was a good excuse to sit down and sew up some knitting. Two of the expected babies have been arrived, more or less on time and safe and sound, both boys, so I'm hoping one of the two still expected will be a girl!

Little E will be two next week so I'm frantically trying to finish a hoodie for her too. Must try and get back to the sewing machine - the stash is making me feel guilty and I've hardly used the new machine. I bought a couple of new sewing books recently but so far I've only skimmed them.

Like many bloggers, I get a weekly order from the excellent Abel&Cole and this weather seems to require stews and soups so I've been spending more time in the kitchen. We've recently resorted to 'hiding' green veggies in M's food as she'd taken them against them - no-one except us ever sees her in these unreasonable childish moods so the health visitor, OT and physiotherapist treat our tales with polite incredulity.

Hope you're all keeping warm.

If wishes were horses........

2012-01-21T13:14:00.000Z

Ever since I was big enough to hold a crayon and make intelligible marks on paper, I've drawn horses. Over the years they've galloped, ambled and grazed through school 'rough books' and homework diaries, college notes, work notepads and shopping lists - they're what my hand draws or doodles while my brain is otherwise occupied! Occasionally, they're accompanied by other animals - here are a couple of pages from the note book I use on a daily basis for household matters (don't try to make sense of any of the writtten stuff!)

Sometimes - though rarely these days, they mange to make it into a sketch book in their own right (not always totally well proportioned as I tend to draw horses with too small heads having kept breeds with neat dished faces and small ears when we had horses in the 1980's).

And sometimes they even get to be in colour - even if they haven't any legs!

So when I saw this chap in an online sale at Great Art, I couldn't resist him. For years I coveted a beautiful mahogany one in the window of a artist's materials shop in Croydon but he was way too pricey for my pocket. (they had an elephant too, but that's a whole other story!).

Now loping elegantly across my work table - though I see someone has knocked into him since he was last posed - he's a lot nicer in reality than he looks in the photo!

2012-01-12T15:42:00.002Z

When you give in to the inevitable post-holidays trip to the bottle bank, it helps if your local one is surrounded by stunning views on a bright January morning!

Do click on the photos, especially the first one, to see the distant view

Year's End

2011-12-31T12:05:00.001Z

On the last day of 2011: a few of the good things in a year that has often tried us to the limit. Happy New Year to you all, and all good wishes for 2012.

Seasonal Conversation

2011-12-28T11:36:00.000Z

In the Morning shower:

M: You know that lovely chocolate cheesecake with the brownies on top?

J: Yes?

M: Did you make it?

J: No, I bought it from Able & Cole because R hates Christmas Pudding and I wanted him to have something nicer than chocolate pudding.

M: Hmm, thought you didn't. It was the best thing I ate all Christmas.

On the telephone:

M: No, I didn't go downstairs and have Christmas lunch with them - I wanted to watch a Poirot.

To D and R saying good bye on Boxing Day:

R: Thank you for our present, we'll see you next year (they're busy until next Monday).

M: I hope not, I want to be dead by then.

To H:

H: Here's the cough mixture, then.

M: Good. That cough mixture is good. Those daft pastilles aren't any good, they aren't even for coughs.

H: Oh, that's probably why it says for coughs and catarrh on the packet then.

M: Well I can't see that with my eyes.

As my brother was wont to say when my sister had a tantrum - 'Good here int it!'

I'm now officially a bad daughter-in-law - I didn't go up to help M dress in time as I thought, having for once slept till 8.45 she might not be ready at the usual time. I reckoned without the non-flexible schedule ....... My Christmas present may be taken back :)

Still can't find a source for this terrific photo, so if you know tell me and I'll acknowledge.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T12:58:00.000Z

A quick trip to Staples for toner, and I couldn't resist buying this cheery chap and his green friend for a tenner. He's on wheels so very useful to shove behind the sofa or under a chair or table and he makes me smile. I'm going to put these into him and take him down to the sittingroom to wait for Sunday.

A report on the radio at this moment says that 12.44 today is the busiest time of the busiest day for Christmas food shopping. I'm waiting for Abel& Cole to deliver mine for the princely sum of 99p, thus saving my sanity and blood pressure, and I shall do a lot of advanced cooking tomorrow - it's only taken me 36 married Christmases to get to this point. Everyone except M hates turkey so we have duck, M won't eat duck so I shall cook a turkey breast for her, otherwise sprouts and parsnips and roast potatoes are to the fore. Daughter's partner hates all Christmas spices and dried fruit so chocolate pudding and sponge cake needs to make an appearance and this is the only time of year when H eats cheese since his heart problems so as long I remember to take it out the fridge and he can be persuaded to find some wine from his store before we're all sitting at table, all we have to worry about are M's derogatory comments!

Hope you all have a very good Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. And thank you for continuing to read even though I've been rather less of a good blogger of late.

Happy Feet

2011-12-09T14:56:00.000Z

I don't know where the time goes, but I've not found much time for blogging - or had anything much to blog about really. So here a few photos of my latest makes:

The good news is that I've been discharged from the trauma clinic so arm is officially mended. I suppose I shall have to acknowledge the fact that Christmas is nearly upon us now and start doing something about .......

There's always knitting....

2011-11-17T12:37:00.001Z

At last, a bright enough day to try photographing the knitting as I promised - though my camera and the computer are still conspiring to make all my photos rather too dark. I fear the computer is failing - one of the reasons I'm not blogging much .

This was the little mitred blanket I was halfway through when I broke my arm. Each square is knitted separately from 23 stitches down to one, then picking up the next 23. I used ends from the stash and I think it's rather nice - the pattern makes it quite warm but light.

This little hat and poncho is for baby E - now a toddler of 21 months, who is coming to see us next week. I remember having a little poncho for my daughter at that age, it was very useful as you could pop it quickly over a sweater or a coat for an extra layer without struggling with sleeves. I particularly like the hat which should have tassels but I think they'd be too tickly on the cheeks! The yarn is Sirdar Crofter and the 2-3yrs size took about 3 balls.

Various babies are expected over the next few months so I've started doing the odd pair of bootees etc. as I don't know yet whether they will be boys or girls - hopefully, these pieces will finish up looking like those in the pattern photo!

Blogger absolutely refuses to turn this the right way round although it was taken at the same time as the other photos.

I've got this mitred blanket on the go in between other things - it's slightly larger than the first one and the yarn is from my sister's stash, so I hope I have enough to make a square 12 x12. I can always use something else for the border. It looks very blue in the photos but is actually a lavender grey colour.

Finally, I knitted daughter one of these (- no she's not the model!). Although it's only knitted on 7 stitches it nearly drove me mad unravelling the gauze. Anyway, she's pleased with it and it didn't take long, but I'm not taking orders! The yarn is Katia Ondas and there's a free pattern and instructions with the yarn if you fancy one - it's fairly widely available and one ball costs £6.75 on average and makes one scarf.

You'll realise from the amount of knitting that I haven't been out much - though the weather today cries out for a walk on the hills. It's been very busy here with endless adjustments to M's routine and I'm now more or less on duty from early morning until she's showered and dressed - this involves actually being in the shower so I then have to go and shower or bath again afterwards, making the whole process rather lengthy. It's put paid to various plans daughter and I had for a few nights away, though I still hope to get away with my friend (postponed from September) when things settle a bit, as daughter will do the early morning for me. H does quite a lot of the day unless he has an organ lesson or some other committment, and we did actually go to Birmingham together this week leaving daughter to hold the fort. M is revelling in her new-found power and each new concession to her needs opens up a new line of complaint. We'd all be happier if she'd just stay in bed for half an hour longer but that's a vain hope!

I'm half way through making the squares for a quilt - some sewn together, about 2/3rds of the cutting done. I'm using a pattern from Fat Quarterley No 6 called Summer Garden, as I had a layer cake of fabric ready to use. I don't think mine will be quite as large. It shouldn't really take very long but interruptions every hour or so to follow M's inflexible schedule ruins my concentration, so I waste time. Photos to come......

Coming out of the gloom - we hope...

2011-11-01T11:21:00.000Z

Views towards the Cotswolds imitating Japanese art

The view towards Worcester (completely vanished) makes us feel as if we're on the coast

Well, thank goodness October is over. I may be tempting fate, but I'm sure November can't be as bad. In fact I shall be pleased when this whole year is over as we've lurched from one crisis to another. I already felt that the broken arm had lost me most of August and the whole of September, but October has been full of difficulties and sadness - it can surely only get better.

Thank you to all the bloggy friends who missed me and emailed to find out if I was OK. The arm is now back to working order in most ways - still have a numb thumb which is improving and it aches if I do certain things, but being able to drive again is wonderful. I have to go back for a check up in December.

I'm back to knitting but I'm being careful to choose only things that use small numbers of stitches - photos will follow in another post. I'm well stocked with fabric after the latest local quilting show, so hopefully the new sewing machine will come into its own in a few days, once we've finished sorting a few things out in the house.

We've had some fabulous mornings here lately - the landscape looks like a Japanese paintings with the mist in the valleys between us and the Cotswolds or Worcester depending on which way you look. I'm off later to a much-postponed lunch with a friend in Ledbury and the sun is struggling through the mist so we might get a few nice hours during the middle of the day.

Mid-morning escape

2011-09-30T12:05:00.001+01:00

Even H couldn't find an excuse to stay indoors in this glorious weather, and there was a list of things to be purchased or collected, so we hastily made M's mid -morning drink, and having called at the Dr's for her prescription, went into Great Malvern. To my surprise, after I'd visited the bank H's feet veered left into the Bluebird Tearooms - a real old-fashioned Malvern gem which is up above a shop in the High Street. It was very quiet and I do worry that the more trendy spots opening up in the town are diminishing its custom - especially as one could easily walk past and not notice it.

Upstairs it still retains many original chairs and tables which go back to Elgar's time though the decor is more modern. There's a limited menu but it's all very good and caters for vegan and vegetarian too. The prices are reasonable and the cakes are exceptional - I had a wonderful chunk of bread pudding made as my mother used to with piles of fruit and crunchy on top but soft inside. H had a huge orange and chocolate slice which he said was fantastic.

The best thing for us about going out even for a short while together is it's the only time we can have a conversation without fear of M overhearing - her deafness is of the convenient variety so we often have to go right down to the study in the basement to be sure of not being overheard (not very helpful is you want to have an argument or arrange something private that doesn't involve M!).

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary so daughter and partner are coming to lunch (I've shopped for it by Ocado so I hope it turns up in time!). H is out in the evening but we felt we had to do something - 36 years isn't bad going especially when you think what the last three have been like! Unfortunately, they cut my wedding ring off when I broke my arm so I need to see if it can be repaired when this wretched splint comes off. Weather was as good as this when we got married though it didn't last into our honeymoon - the current forecast seems good for a few days though. Hope you're enjoying it too!

2011-09-25T15:26:00.001+01:00

It's been a dull week here in every sense. The weather's been grey and rainy - until twenty minutes ago when the sun suddenly came out. Still unable to drive, so apart from a quick trip with H to collect M's prescriptions - which is easier with two, one to run into the pharmacy and one to turn the car around - I've hardly been outside even into the garden (daughter's been away on holiday). If this arm is not deemed to have healed when I go back in 10 days time, I shall have to start investigating the local bus routes, it's bit too far to walk into town and means walking along the bit of pavement where I fell over. H considers going out as unecessary unless there's a cast iron reason, preferring to spend his time in front of a computer or a musical keyboard of some sort.

I've done the food shopping, bought a few new 't'shirts, and some totally unecessary fabric (well it was in a sale) online, and had a small splurge on ebay on a couple more Britain's wild horses (see this post if this doesn't make sense), so the herd is expanding nicely. Being stuck at home is not good for the finances.

Next week doesn't hold out much hope of further entertainment - H has lessons of various sorts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening, and daughter is busy. Saturday is our wedding anniversary but it clashes with an organ recital which H especially wants to go to (well, the player, Dr Francis Jackson, is about to celebrate his 94th birthday so I can see that it's a case of catch him while you can!) It's very frustrating - I'm still doing all the boring things which I can manage easily and can't do the more amusing things. Roll on 4th October!

Three or ninety-three

2011-09-18T11:30:00.000+01:00

Today is M's 93rd birthday. So far she's - opened all her cards yesterday and thrown most of them away, tried the chocolates Grandson 1 sent and decided she won't eat them and they're now waiting to be given away, received two enormous bouquets of beautiful flowers which she says she can't see and has had them repositioned every half-hour because there isn't enough room in this silly room (- the room that's the same size as our sittingroom with an ensuite the size of our bathroom in which she insists on staying all day every day despite constant request to come down stairs to sit in the conservatory or eat in the kitchen), said she won't eat the steak bought specially at the best local butchers because she said it was what she fancied. Phoned most of her friends and told them that we aren't doing anything for her birthday. (We offered to take her out for lunch or tea but that's been totally vetoed.)

Resolution did waiver when we gave her some truffles from a specialist shop (more fitting to her status than the mass produced ones sent by post, apparently). If she won't eat the birthday cake, still to come, made by daughter, she may well find herself wearing it - daughter being of a less forgiving nature and less concerned with a quiet life!

She's told everyone that this will be her last birthday - as she's been saying that for at least 15 years and comes from a family where many have lived to be well over a hundred, we aren't making any plans! If the person who found previous posts about M inappropriate would like to object to this one, they're very welcome...

Not being in Devon

2011-09-08T13:05:00.000+01:00

We decided to postpone our Devon trip, so I'm sitting here listening to 'The Men from the Ministry' on Radio 4 Extra (memories of cooking supper in our little flat when we were first married when there was a comedy programme every weekday evening at 6.30 when I got in from work) and feeling fairly pleased that the weather is dull so we're not missing out on sunshine and a sparkling sea view.

The view above is Bredon Hill taken with zoom from our bedroom window a few days ago - I was listening to Radio 4 that morning - a programme about A E Houseman which included a reading by Henry Sandon of Houseman's poem Bredon Hill. I'd only known it as a song so to hear it read in Bredon Church was a delight:

In summertime on Bredon
The bells they sound so clear;
Round both the shires they ring them
In steeples far and near,
A happy noise to hear.

Here of a Sunday morning
My love and I would lie,
And see the coloured counties,
And hear the larks so high
About us in the sky.

The bells would ring to call her
In valleys miles away:
'Come to church, good people;
Good people, come and pray.'
But here my love would stay.

And I would turn and answer
Among the springing thyme,
'Oh, peal upon our wedding,
And we will hear the chime,
And come to church in time.'

But when the snows at Christmas
On Bredon top were strown,
My love rose up so early
And stole out unbeknown
And went to church alone.

They tolled the one bell only,
Groom there was none to see,
The mourners followed after,
And so to church went she,
And would not wait for me.

The bells they sound on Bredon,
And still the steeples hum.
'Come all to church, good people,' ---
Oh, noisy bells, be dumb;
I hear you, I will come.

H hates spoken radio - almost as much as he hates TV - especially daytime TV, and if he had his way we'd live with constant organ and harpsichord music (which sometimes sets my teeth on edge) so I listen in my office, in the sewing room or when I'm alone in the car. I've loved Radio 4 (the Home Service then, I think) since I discovered its comedy programmes in my teens. We'd always listened to The Archers, Woman's Hour, Children's Hour and, of course, Listen with Mother, but my mother's favourite channel was the Light programme - later Radio2 where she was devoted to Mrs Dale's Diary and various light music programmes. Like all '60's teenagers I listened to Radio 1 and pirate stations like Radio Caroline on a tiny transistor, but struggling through the endless homework dished out by Grammar Schools in those days was more bearable accompanied by The Navy Lark, I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again or Round The Horn - or one of the many amusing quiz programmes usually featuring Frank Muir and Dennis Norden. I love the way radio allows you to do other things whilst TV anchors you to the sofa, and a long drive alone is wonderful as you're obliged to listen to whatever comes on and that's often a revelation. I attributed quite a lot of my miscellaneous collection of general knowledge and odd information to constant Radio 4 listening and I continue to learn. Only yesterday I took delivery of some moth traps that I'd heard about on a radio programme - and jolly effective they're proving to be!

The arm's now in a splint for 4 weeks, so still no driving, but it is getting better, and my delightful daughter is around at the moment to act as chauffeuse, so it definitely could be worse!

2011-09-03T11:56:00.001+01:00

Things you can and can't do with one working hand :

You Can
Shower - with one hand in a plastic bag tied up with sellotape
Dress - though bras are tricky
Cook - most things and even wash up pans and frying pans but not cut bread - self defence as H's idea of a proper meal is not mine and tends to be short on quantity and variety
Iron
Clear up the kitchen and sweep up with a dustpan and brush
Put the washing in and out the machine/dryer - but not fold it up neatly or carry it back to the bedrooms/wardrobes
Use the computer and therefore blog, pay the bills, make purchases
Clean the bathrooms and M's horrible double shower
Water the garden
Use the exercise bike
Go for a walk if you avoid where you fell over in the first place and don't carry a bag and ignore the worry that you might fall over again.

You can't

Knit
Sew - either by hand or with the new macine which is sitting temptingly in full view
Cut out a pattern or fabric for a quilt
Draw or paint without fear of getting paint etc all over the plaster cast on your left hand - why? I don't get both hands dirty normally
Make anything requiring glue, water, stickers or intricate cutting
Read comfortably, especially in bed. A surprise this as you don't realise how you need the second hand especially with a paperback.
Drive the car
Food shop - unless taken by someone else who then dictates what can be bought, which means we have a strange selection of food which seems unlikely to make a satisfactory meal (why did H go to the local shop and buy onions, celery, bananas and mushrooms, all of which we have plenty of anyway, but nothing to put in a sandwich and no fruit?)

I'd be very happy if someone else did all the things in the 'can' list - except the computer bit - but it's very dull not being able to do things on the can't list. Onion sandwiches anyone?

2011-09-01T12:23:00.002+01:00

I don't know if you watched the play and subsequent documentary about Hans Litten - the young German lawyer who tried to stop Hitler's rise to power by calling him as a witness during a trial in 1931 and discrediting him during a cross-examination. The documentary would still be on i-player and is well worth watching.

Having succeeded to some extent in his efforts he became, of course, a target for Hitler's vengeance, and was arrested and imprisioned as soon as Hitler became Chancellor. He spent the rest of his life in various prisons and concentration camps eventually committing suicide in 1938 in Dachau. Quite apart from his heroic efforts against the Nazi regime, his personal bravery was immense. For Hitler's 45th birthday all prisoners were required to create a beautiful gift. The poem Hans Litten produced is surely a thing of beauty - a gift to us all, I think, wherever people are oppressed and wrongly imprisoned or accused.

Thoughts are free, who can guess them?
They flee by like nocturnal shadows.
No man can know them, no hunter can shoot them
with powder and lead:

Thoughts are free!

I think what I want, and what delights me,
still always reticent, and as it is suitable.
My wish and desire, no one can deny me
and so it will always be:

Thoughts are free!

And if I am thrown into the darkest dungeon,
all this would be futile work,
because my thoughts tear all gates
and walls apart:

Thoughts are free!

So I will renounce my sorrows forever,
and never again will torture myself with some fancy ideas.
In one's heart, one can always laugh and joke
and think at the same time:

Thoughts are free!

I love wine, and my girl even more,
Only I like her best of all.
I'm not alone with my glass of wine,
my girl is with me:

Thoughts are free!

It's obviously best read and heard in the original German.

2011-08-27T17:29:00.000+01:00

Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who's left comments, e-mailed or sent me a card. I really appreciate all your kindness and good wishes.

Thursday started well - the hospital rang at 10 saying where was I - having told me to get there for 11! Anyway, we threw ourselves into the car and got there at 10.30. Then I waited in the ward - fortunately with two other delightful ladies who chatted and joked and filled me in with all the systems - until 3.30 (starving and thirsty as the others ate their rather good smelling lunch) when various people came and drew arrows on my plastered arm, asked me questions I'd already answered several times, and eventually about 4.15 took me off to theatre, where they had the usual problems putting in a drip, gave me a dose of some very strong pain killer (which I later found out was morphine) and sent me asleep.
Something in all that was not my body's liking and I eventually woke up feeling as if I was in a furnace and shivering so they kept wrapping me up in blankets. They had hoped to send me home that evening but I'm glad they didn't as poor H would have had too much to deal with wth me and M.
The good news is that the arm is fine and doesn't hurt at all, but it's taken me two days to get over the anaesthetic - I came home yesterday and slept most of the rest of the day, and today started off still wobbly. I've still got a sore throat from the breathing tube and terrific bruises on both arms. Anyway, if all goes to plan, the upside of having a plate inserted is that the plaster will probably come off in 10 days as the plate does the job instead. I've still got a slightly numb thumb but I'm sure that will go in time.
I must say, though, despite the administrative muddles, the care and kindness shown was terrific. Everything was clean and in good order, all the staff from ward sister to cleaner were chatty without time-wasting and the doctors were efficient without making you feel that they were in a rush. I've never had a problem with anaesthetic before so there was no reason to think I would this time - it was very strange, I had a bright red face all day yesterday. Anyway, thank you staff at the Worcester Royal Hospital, you were great. Fingers-crossed now that everything goes smoothly.

Quick ? update

2011-08-24T11:30:00.000+01:00

Monday - 10.35 appt, arrive hospital having starved since midnight. Wait 2 hours in totally packed trauma clinic where appts have been now replaced by number system. 12.45 see Dr. Arm must have plate inserted to stop the break compressing, no beds today - 6 people before me needed to be admitted. Go for blood tests and routine ECG. Allowed a cup of coffee at last. Return to clinic to see SHO to sign consent. Told to ring to confirm bed at 7.00 on Tues - starve from midnight. Eventually leave and get longed for sandwich at 2.00. Daughter, also weak with hunger, drives me home - having spent a lot of time on Friday with me at Community Hospital, she's now lost the bulk of two days leave, but offers to be onstandby for admission on Tues.

Tuesday - ring at 7.00 am no beds but they will ring at 9.00 - don't eat or drink. 9.30 confirm no beds, ring again tomorrow. Starve from midnight. Alert Daughter who goes to work, spend day trying to sort out cover for M so H can take me in on Weds.

Wednesday - ring at 7.30. Admission unlikely, but don't eat or drink anything until confirmed. Wait with splitting head, dying for a drink until confirmed at 11.00.

Progress! Go in tomorrow at 11.00 to be operated on in the afternoon, may or may not be in overnight. (caveat - may get there and be sent home if too many emergencies come in overnight - don't eat or drink after 6.00 a.m.)

I know it's just a set of unfortunate circumstances, but I wish they'd make up their minds about when you have to stop eating - H had three different instructions when he went in twice last year, and it seems very unfair to give an appointment time then change it to first come first served when you get there. I sympathise with the sheer numbers they were trying to deal with - I was number 40, the numbers went up to 50 then started again at 1. They were back up to 18 when I left with only two Drs.on duty. They'd obviously decided on Friday when they got my Xrays from Malvern that it needed a plate or I wouldn't have been told not to eat, so I could have just done pre-admission tests locally.

Anyway, fingers crossed for tomorrow - temporary cast is no longer very secure as the swelling has gone down so I shall be glad to get rid of that. I've already had to master taking a shower with it wrapped in a polythene bag!

August 2 - Oops

2011-08-20T12:30:00.001+01:00

August had been going rather well. A school friend I hadn't see for 27yrs came to stay, and we had a lovely girly night out with daughter in a good local restaurant.

I went to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC (plenty of photos on other blogs, mine are stuck on my camera at present) and bought a new sewing machine which is a delight to use and I anticipate it giving me lots of fun and inspiration.

H and I went to an organ recital - not usually my thing, but he had a spare ticket and, as it was part of Three Choirs Festival, they were too dear to waste. The player was a young Italian called Paulo Oreno and it was a most mind boggling performance - even if, like me, organ music is not your thing, you must admire his technical skill, and sheer exhuberance especially when improvising. Here's an example

His impro on 'God Save The Queen' at our concert brought the audience to its feet in a long standing ovation, and we all left the Cathedral slightly dazed and completely in awe.

We finished the Postman's Knock project this week - see the blog for our last efforts. It's been great fun, sometimes taking each and every one of us out of our comfort zone, and producing an incredible varied response to each theme. It's been great pleasure to meet such a talented group of fellow bloggers (some in person) and it's certainly made me dust off my rusty skills (and my rusty brain).

But... it's just as well that I made and posted my last card (on the subject 'Taking Fight' for Lesley), because on Thurs I fell over on a badly patched area of pavement and broke my arm (ouch). It's temporarily in a backcast, but on Monday I have to go and have it pulled into place and a proper cast put on :-(. I'd already arranged to go away for a couple of days in three week's time with a friend, so we're hoping we can arrange alternative transport as I was the driver! I'm typing this onehanded - using the shift key is very irritating.

Poor H is going to have a lot more to do, but fortunately, we're going to have a lot more help from Daughter - but that's for another post.

August

2011-08-06T17:58:00.000+01:00

Having spent much of my adult life working (and sometimes living) in academic institutions I've always loved August as a time when the normal routine lets up and one can do a few different things. Sadly, these days M's routine is relentless so some of my August treats can't happen, but I still get that feeling of lazy days to be followed by the new year excitement of September.

We've more or less put the house back in order now, and H is heavily involved in going to summer organ recitals and the Three Choirs Festival which starts in Worcester today, so there's a sort of holiday feel. There was something to do every day last week so I used the time when it was my turn to be the stay at home person to catch up with some making and finishing off UFOs.

I got the needle felting stuff out to make a Scottie for Judith at Relatively Retiring (you can see him on her blog as I forgot to take a photo and I can't find the photo of the one I made before, either), and having made one dog, I made another - a St Bernard inspired by the lovely ones we had many years ago.

I've kept the needle felting tools out in case I feel inspired to do some more! Taking the scottie round to Judith was a good excuse to spend time sitting in her garden in the sun drinking coffee, too!

Knowing I'm going to see an old school friend soon, I knitted a little sweater for her new grandson - hope it fits! And having got the knitting basket back out, I finished off the cardigan I'd knitted for little E. Hope this will now fit as I've been ages getting it sewn up - it hasn't got funny buttons all over it, those are the pins I've used to block it!

And now, as promised, Here's the lovely Little Cotton Rabbit I bought from Julie - you can find out more over on her site here. These are so delightful - look at his little trainers and cute face. They are so much in demand and Julie is not overwhelmed with spare time (to put it mildly) so she runs a sort of lottery each time she has a batch available and this time my name came up against Harper. I was thrilled, and daughter is jealous. They are beautifully knitted and have such character.

Several nice things are happening next week (dv), and I'll tell you about them in due course. But I must just mention that I am going to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC on Thursday (11th), by myself this time as I want to look at buying a new sewing machine. Anyone else going that day?

2011-07-31T15:41:00.003+01:00

During my day at Art in Action I spent some time wondering whether or not to buy a print from the illustrator, Paul Kidby. ( I also looked longingly at Jackie Morris's prints but I've contented myself with ordering a calendar) In the end, despite daughter's encouragement, I came away without on the basis that they were quite large and I felt I needed to ask H his opinion- after all he'd have to live with it too and it would be too large to hang in my study or to ignore if hung somewhere prominent in the house. With everything else going on, I didn't actually forget but I didn't get round to it - daughter did not forget and went into secret consultation with H, so that on Friday I thrilled to be presented with this lovely griffin 'Nemesis'

Mine has gone for framing so I've borrowed this from Paul Kidby's online site. Click to see some of the beautiful detail - it's wonderful. The body of the print is 55x45 cm - about 22 inches by 18 and the mount adds about 4 inches all round, so it's quite impressive. H likes it as much as I do, which is nice, so we're looking forward to hanging it on our nice pale blue wall in the hall. There are several others in the series - the dragon and the winged lion are especially nice, and they all come as greetings' cards too.

As always, there was some wonderful work on show and being created at Art in Action. We especially liked the textile work of Soon Yul Kang (above) - such wonderful tranquil tapestries, and Graham Muir's breathtaking wave form glass (photos are from artist's websites, as I forgot my camera).

Despite the rain, I had a peaceful, relaxing birthday with lots of good things to eat - very satisfactory. M is buying me some sewing things I've been fancying - when I get round to finding them on the net and ordering them. Australian Brother-in-law sent great flowers - he's so good at remembering.

Weather Warning

2011-07-28T14:59:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow is my birthday - one more year to go until I would have got my pension if they hadn't changed the rules. I'm issuing the usual warning - it always rains on my birthday. This as been a family joke for as long as I can remember - especially as my mother's birthday was also in July and it was usually hot and sunny. Apparently, I was born during a spectacular thunderstorm after several days of brilliant hot weather.

I got a letter asking me to go for breast screening - on my birthday, I ask you, so I altered it and went yesterday instead, but I still have to go with daughter for her hospital appointment so we've decided my birthday will not officially start until lunchtime!

Back by popular request.....

2011-07-25T17:04:00.001+01:00

Well, not exactly, but thank you to those lovely people who emailed to ask if I was OK. I have been having blogger/computer problems, but the biggest reasons for my absence have been the decorators, and family visitors.

We've lived here for about two and a half years now, and for that time the ground floor rooms and the hall stairs and landing have looke like this:

Wall-to-wall off-white and a fetching 1980's border inherited from the last owners. Following on from the success of the red study, we really felt it was time to brighten ourselves up - life here can be tedious enough without off-white walls (especially grubby off-white walls). So having already got the house in a complete muddle thanks to the water leak, we got the decorators in - lovely Adrian and Sharon whom I'd be glad to recommend to anyone locally - and armed with the Little Green Paint chart we did this:

Changed the whole of the centre of the house to a lovely summer sky blue, (Gentle Sky)

Went bravely sugar almond pink in the kitchen, (Secret Shell)

and yellow/cream (Stargazer) in the sittingroom - where the light doesn't give a good photograph, unfortunately. (All the colours are brighter than the camera shows). Apart from the fact that I now, desparately, need to do the main bedroom, the house feels transformed. Into the middle of this came H's nephew, his wife and new baby (well 4 months,s o new enough). It was great to see them - they are only in England briefly once a year at the moment -and the baby, a boy, was a joy, but it was a bit hectic to say the least. Just to add to the chaos, we also had a wasps' nest up under the roof above the front door so had to get 'a man' out to deal with it.

My latest card for Postman's Knock was a bit done by the skin of my teeth as Daughter and I were going to Art in Action for the day, and I forgot to photograph it (or take the camera to Art in Action). You can see it (Coast /Seaside theme), and the one on Water which I received from Chrissie, over on the Postman's Knock site with all the others. We had a great day out but I've spent the weekend putting the house back together and catching up on washing, cleaning etc, so it already seems a long time ago!

I haven't time to catch you up with everything that's gone on over the last fortnight or so, so you'll have to wait in anticipation to hear about the Little Cotton Rabbit that I was able to purchase from Julie at this site - I've wanted one since I first found her blog!,

Postman's knocking again...

2011-07-09T11:57:00.001+01:00

The card I had to make this time was for Jo on the theme of 'Yee ha! Ride 'em Cowboy'. I know several people have found this a difficult theme - though you wouldn't think so from the resulting cards, but as well as the Britain's farm animals and horses I have, which I recently blogged about for the Collections theme, I also had some lovely little swoppit cowboys (so called because their bodies came apart and you could swap heads, legs , bodies and accessories to make different combination - though they're a bit ancient for such games now!). After a bit of fiddling around with photo backgrounds and various ideas, I came up with this:

The caption reads: The gang were amazed when Billy the Kid showed up - they were expecting someone taller'. It seemed to fit the bill, especially as I was able to turn their heads around to look at the newcomer with something like astonishment!

On my theme of Water, I received a really lovely hand drawn and coloured card from Jo

I just love the little pairs of of feet peeking out of the water. Thanks, Jo, I love it.

2011-07-05T17:26:00.000+01:00

I have been berated (humourously) by one of my bloggy friends for saying I would show photos of the redecorated rooms at least a week ago and not doing it! I have mitigating circumstances, the computer isn't talking to the camera for some reason - I think the lead has a loose connection, so I have to get a card for the camera whilst I sort it out. Meanwhile, I have a few pictures taken whilst the book reshelving and instrument returning was in progress. The colour is actually much redder than it appears on screen and I must admit it improves the room, which is long and narrow and rather dark. Now it looks quite cosy .

We've kept the music room white as most colours fight with the brick walls. It's nice to have it fresh and clean again, but the CDs are still taking up room in the utility room where my sewing machine usually lives and the music hasn't flown home yet either...

It's been a busy week, finding, trying and eventually buying a car seemed to take ages - I had to see what would take the wheelchair and which M could get in and out of. I was quite happy with our existing car, but as it was higher than average off the ground, M has made more and more of a fuss about getting in to it, so sadly, it had to go. It coincided with daughter and partner needing a new car so it made sense to sell them ours. The new one seems quite satisfactory - full of buttons and features and with petrol saving systems, so hopefully it will suit Madam too. It's quite a nice shade of dark red - I always set out thinking I'd like a blue one but as I won't buy a brand new one I never get much choice. H refuses to deal with car purchase at all!

Postman's Knock is upon us again on Friday, then we're in to more decorators, hospital appts etc. Fortunately, I've got Art in Action and a birthday to look forward to later in the month.

Rock on..

2011-06-28T11:14:00.000+01:00

I've always wanted a rocking horse. Throughout my childhood I pleaded, cajoled and cried every birthday and Christmas but the sad truth was that my parents just couldn't aford to buy one - not even the metal spring stand Mobo ones that were popular at the time. This was made ten times worse for them and me by the fact that when my brother and sister were small my father had been given an antique horse similar to this one -

and because neither child was all that interested in it, they had given it away! When I arrived, a few years later, a horse mad child, I felt sorely deprived.

So, somewhere at the back of my mind still lurks the idea that one day, when I'm rich enough and we have space, I shall buy a rocking horse of my own. The internet of course gives plenty of scope for dreaming and I have found this firm, Legends, who sale horses that are as much a work of art as a toy.

I used this for my latest Postman's Knock card for Jo, whose theme was Collections and Collectables. I was getting worried that the post had lost it, but her postman had hidden it and she didn't find it until yesterday!

The front is 3D and the horse rocks slightly on little springs, and there are more horse on the back and behind the main one on the front, to form a collection.

In the meantime, I can dream. All this round's postcards are now on Postman's Knock.

2011-06-27T12:29:00.000+01:00

The latest in the Postman's Knock postcards came from Penny. It was beautifully wrapped and tied with wire and pearly beads. Inside was this lovely card made of hand painted silk, beads and a little fish charm.

With a quote from the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner on the back - think it's actually 'nor any drop to drink' but it's one of those quotes that has become changed by general usage like 'all that glitters is not gold' where in Shakespeare the word used is glisters, which I rather like. Penny says her husband says it and he's a Mariner, but not ancient!
I can't show the card I sent to Jo on the theme of collections and collectables, because it hasn't appeared on the blog yet - I hope it's not got lost, I posted it on Thursday and it only had to go 13 miles!

H and I have been struggling to put the musical instruments and books back downstairs today - very hot and sticky weather here so we've been huffing and puffing rather. Watch this space for photos of the finished rooms later in the week. Waiting for a garage to call about test drive for a new (used) car - hope they call soon as time is short this week and daughter and partner are desperate to have our current one. Wish now I'd just driven over and stood about on the garage forecourt but I needed to do rather a lot here......

A grand day out...

2011-06-20T12:16:00.000+01:00

Fortunately, we'd decided to go to the Three Counties Show on Sunday, so we got the best of the weekend weather - although we went well equipped with waterproofs and wellies, we didn't have to dodge the rain at all. The selection of beautiful animals on show was as good as always. Lots of sheep looking as if they might have been specially needle felted for the occasion - we were amused by the ones wearing coats.

Some very laid back snoozers, totally oblivious to the crowds and the admiration they were receiving!

Definitely would like to have taken some of these home, difficult resist this offer -

Especially after talking to this lovely chap -

As usual there was a Hound Parade in the main ring, and after showing themselves off by doing a couple of speedy circuits,

They did what hounds like best,

Played with the children who were invited into the ring to meet them.

Cattle came in all sizes and colours -

Large, Extra large

Small and black, medium and white

Smooth and shiny (these are Gloucester cows, a breed saved by enthusiasts from near extinction. Their milk is used in Single and Double Gloucester Cheese, and the famous Stinking Bishop made locally by Charles Martell)

And very hairy...

But some of us were much too busy going to parade ring to bother about being photographed!

Hope you all had an equally nice Sunday.

Quarts into pint pots - or the gentle art of storage

2011-06-12T15:09:00.002+01:00

The workmen are coming tomorrow to start work on the basement. Which is great news, but means that the content of H's study has to be moved over this weekend. Daughter came over to help and we moved the contents of all the bookcases to the utility/ sewing room, also in the basement, as we couldn't face carrying any of it upstairs. Fortunately, there was enough space on the work surface which runs around most of the room to stack the books and CDs (in piles three deep and about 2 foot + high all round), and we then added the 4 smaller bookcases and the base and keyboard sections of the small pipe organ. We can't put the 6 larger bookcases and the CD racks in there as they won't go through the doorway, so we hope the that the decorator will be able to cope with them and the desk and chairs still left in the room. The large electric organ will have to stay in place in the alcove and be shrouded in dust sheets.

The books at the sink end have been wrapped n polythene in case the plasterer splashes them.

Don't think I'm going to be sewing for a few weeks - the washing will be on hold too, until the organ can be moved back out, as it will be too damp. I'll have to go over and use daughter's machine if we're desperate!

The main problem, apart from the lack of space for them to work, is that H hasn't yet decided what colour he wants the study painted! The music room will stay white as it is now but H keeps muttering about red for the study (currently yellow) but hasn't found one that he likes and time is running out.

A quick trip to Ikea last Wednesday means I now have a table and some more storage in my office. The table's on castors so I can move it easily around the room depending on what I'm working on, and a folding table will give me a place to put the computer. No excuse now but to get on with the work!

Above is the card I made for Jill on the theme of Windows. She sent me this lovely stitched card on the theme of water

based on this photography that she had taken last summer on a trip to the Isle of Wight.

The colours are super and the stitched picture really picks these up - it's a lovely piece of work. Thank you, Jill. I managed to post this on Postman's Knock site earlier, but I can't leave any comments on the other posts at present - another of Bloggers little tricks?

The rest of this week's cards are over on the Postman's Knock site. Go and have a look, they're fabulous.

2011-06-07T16:04:00.001+01:00

I've always loved peonies. They were one of the few things that grew in our rather grimy inner-city garden in Bristol when I was a small child, but they don't grow in my current garden (even though they flourish on a piece of common land at the end of the road). So when I saw this bunch looking very folorn, blooms tightly closed to about the size of a golf ball and brown around the edges, in the reduced bucket, I chanced that they might blossom if I took them home. They've repaid my faith tenfold turning into huge scented flowers which are about 6 inches across and still unfurling.

However, delicious as they smell, they are poisonous - as Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits tells in her latest post. Fortunately, no serious harm was done, but worth remembering if you have little people around. We're just enjoying the sight and smell of them so much, especially over the two or three rainy days we've had lately.

Inspite of the rain, we've had some wonderful evening skies:

And this is what happened when I tried to take a zoomed shot of the lights of Worcester late one evening and was dive bombed by a bat as I leant out of the window!

I love the effect which somehow makes me think of sails at sea - or is that too fanciful?

We've just had a very busy week of hospital appts, cat sitting and H's birthday, with some more to come as the insurers have agreed the repairs to the basement (after 3 weeks of dehumidifiers humming away night and day) and that will start next Monday. We've also coincidentally decided to have some work done on the rest of the house so it will be busy, busy here until mid-July - with a trip to the Three Counties show planned and Art in Action to look forward to. It's also coming up to the time I must tackle the tax returns and some accounts so must get my head in gear for that (and buy a table). Still sewing is out at present as the room is full of music and knitting seems to be on a go slow, so I've really no excuse.

Just finishing off my latest postcard for Postman's Knock - the fortnight seems to fly by. Hope to post it off on Thursday to ensure it gets to Jill on time. The optician has just been, again, and M is arguing with H over their advice - no change there then :-)

Here at last

2011-05-31T15:20:00.001+01:00

I really was beginning to feel a bit miffed - everyone's postcard had arrived but mine and it was well past lunchtime. Just as I decided to give up and go to the shop, the postman arrived and there it was, a lovely embroidered card from Joanna, swirly waves on a pale blue ground and a quote from John Dowland:

I desired to get beyond the sea

This is the first stitched card I've received and it really is super. Thank you, Jo.

I wish I knew why our post is so bad at the moment. My last card took several days to get to its recipient so I posted this one, on the theme of Angels, a day early to Penny from the local Post Office, and it did arrive on time. I'd had quite a struggle to get it to stick together, so I was relieved it got there intact.

The Angel is from a Fra Angelico Annunciation - though not the most famous one, and thebackground is a photo of sunset printed on paper and a transparency. I used this poem by Emily Dickinson on the reverse:

God permit industrious angels
Afternoons to play.
I met one, -- forgot my school-mates,
All, for him, straightaway.

God calls home the angels promptly
At the setting sun;
I missed mine. How dreary marbles,
After playing the Crown!

Like much of her poetry, it's quirky and difficult to decide if you've transcribed it right, but this does seem to be a correct version.

Little Collections 3

2011-05-28T16:19:00.001+01:00

I promise this is the last lot for now - you can have too much of a good thing! Cats who think they own the place despite being smaller than my little finger nail....

The original farmer (stamped 1955 underneath) with a snazzy customised waistcoat courtesy of my older brother.

Ned, the lonely donkey - can't find his friend.*

Arthur and Boxer, chunky lead carthorses with lovely expressions

A small percentage of the total lead cob collection - very elegant chaps these.

Two examples of a Farmer's gig - the green one I've had for years but the very old one is a more recent purchase. In perfect condition these are very expensive.

A small collection of hounds (apologies to the anti- hunt lobby and I've never owned the fox).

My original stable - marked underneath 9/11d - a great deal of pocket money circa 1958 when I bought it!
And just a couple of the collection of plastic horses who are beautifully detailed and also have lovely expressions - unlike the ones produced after 1970 which are much more obviously toys.

Having been a horse mad child I always had more horses than anything else! If any of you car booters come across any of these in good condition, there's quite a market for them now, especially in good condition and or with a box. The plastic ones pre- 1970 are better and many are date marked underneath . Herald one's are older than Britains if they are plastic. I just love them for their charm - that someone bothered to model a small animal to scale and make it look real just for a child to buy at pocket money prices and play with, is amazing.

Edit* found two other donkeys - knew I had more than one! There's loads more of this stuff but I thought I would bore everyone to tears with any more. I'll save it up for another occasion - unless I buy soemthing new at the Toy Collectors' fair. Jx

Little Collections 2 -

2011-05-27T15:31:00.000+01:00

Well people asked for goats so:

There are kids

and nanny goats

and billy goats.

And they come in tan as well as black.

And there are quite a lot of them.....

And although they all come from the same few moulds, they all seem to have their own character as they were hand painted. Amazingly, the kids have survived considering that they are so small - dozens must have been hoovered up and lost during the years.

These little chaps are even smaller

but they've survived the years better than some of the larger animals. These were all made as children's toys - I don't remember hearing that anyone choked on them or got them stuck in their ears or nose, but these days they would be sold as collectors items for over 14years old I expect.

Anyway, they give me pleasure and have done for many years. There's lots more both lead and plastic lurking in drawers here - some even get to have a turn on the shelf occasionally, so I may post another couple of collections. Just heard there's a toy collectors fair on Monday at the Three Counties as well as the Flea fair - that could be dangerous....

Little collections 1 - Little wild horses

2011-05-25T16:01:00.000+01:00

I've loved the toys made by Britains since I was very small and my father bought me a handful of the 'new' plastic farm figures made by Herald for Britains in the 1950s. I still have one or two of those originals - they have 1954 and 55 stamped on them. During my childhood I amassed a huge collection culminating in my early teens with a whole collection of lead toys sold by a local toy shop that was closing down.
When I left home and got married they remained at my parents' house and were rifled and decimated by various younger cousins and children of friends At some point the entire lead collection was given away to someone who promptly sold them at auction for quite a sum - blame my father's soft heart. After that I reclaimed what was left and my daughter and her friends lost quite a few pieces. Eventually, the remnants were confined to the loft and when we came to move I couldn't find them. Some months later, a box arrived from the new owner who had found what was left when doing a loft conversion - some of which were damaged, mainly by heat. I was glad to have back what was left - and amazed that some of the tiny items had survived. They are all made to 1:32* scale and include cats and rabbits which are incredibly detailed.
A few years ago I realised that such toys were being sold on ebay and couldn't resist buying the odd item. The wild horses are some of the rarer lead ones - introduced quite late at about the time the plastic ones were coming out. I love them for their depiction of speed and movement, though they don't have the fine detail which was possible in the early plastic figures. They aren't easy to find but I've managed to aquire a herd of nine led by a Champion the Wonderhorse lookalike!

Mainly, they live in a drawer, but I though Lesley's suggestion of showing a few collections, taken up here by Jane, was a good excuse to let them out for a gallop. Only trouble is that now the whole lot will be wanting their turn in the limelight - want to see a collection of rabbits or goats anyone?

* each of these is about an inch and three quarters to the withers.

Conversation - last Saturday

2011-05-20T11:36:00.000+01:00

J: There's a Joan Hickson Miss Marple on Yesterday.

M: I wish you'd told me, I would have liked to watch it.

J: It's on now, on Yesterday.

M: Well, if it was on yesterday, I've missed it, Why didn't you tell me?

J: No, it's on now on Yesterday, the TV channel .

M: You said it was on yesterday, so I've missed it.

J; (taking the TV remote and changing channels). Look, it's on now!

M: Oh, so it is. Well, if you'd told me sooner I wouldn't have missed the beginning.

We didn't have this trouble when it was called the History channnel! (For anyone else who is addicted to the Joan Hickson Miss Marple, there's one on Saturday 1.00pm repeated Sunday at 10.00am - on Yesterday). We have them all on Video and DVD but M refuses to watch them on those machines?! Video is no good because it hasn't got subtitles, and 'I' never had a DVD player so I don't want one now - need I say more?

Overhead has landed!

2011-05-18T21:39:00.000+01:00

The errant Overhead postcard has turned up at last with Jane, so now I can reveal it. Thank goodness I remembered to photograph this one, and I was in the process of reconstructing it, thinking it totally lost. I used transparency film for the background and mounted it on blue card so it has an almost eerie feel. The quote inspired the card and I was just hoping that no -one would have chosen the night sky prior to it being my turn for that theme.
Definitely a case of all's well that ends well, but I shall be quite nervous about sending the next one - on the theme of Angels.

It's in the post, honest!

2011-05-17T22:42:00.000+01:00

Just my luck! The postcard I made for the last swap, 'Overhead', has not yet arrived despite being posted last Friday morning. Anyone seen a bright blue envelope lying neglected? I've sent Jane the photos I took (fortunately I'd remembered to take some) and I'm now hoping to redo it, though it won't be the same as I'd used up some of the materials and will have to hunt down replacements. Can't help thinking we're being sorely tried at present - even the postal system seems to have taken against us!

In the meantime, here's the one I received from Jo on my water theme. Thomas Cranmer looking venerable and distinguished in spite of his reputation. I think it's my favourite to date, though they've all been lovely. Thanks, Jo.

Art in Action

2011-05-14T17:16:00.000+01:00

Totally gratuitous picture of a tea flower.

If any one is contemplating a visit to this year's Art in Action (21-24 July this year), there is a code which gives you a two adult tickets for the price of one in June's Artists and Illustrators which is also a special 300th issue. The magazine costs £3.95 but as a second adult ticket would cost £14 you're still saving and have the magazine full of interesting articles as well. The tickets can be used (once) on any day of the four. I'm hoping daughter and I will go on either Thursday or Friday but we'll go at the weekend if all else fails - she's now a 'cricket widow' for the summer so I shall see more of her at weekends.
Art in Action is held at Waterperry House and Garden which is just south of Oxford and easy to get to from the M40 or A40. There's such a lot going on that it's a really good day out. You can sign up for a class, go to a lecture or attend a free concert or some other form of performing art event, as well as stocking up on supplies and watching demonstrations. There's lots of good food and drink on offer but a bit pricey so take a picnic if you don't want to spend on that. Waterperry Gardens are also open and there's a plant and garden centre. Go and have a look at the Art in Action website.

I've been taken to task for not posting on this blog the cards I've made so far - I won't say by whom but you know who you are. They're all over on the Postman's Knock blog, but having put the Tiger I made for Concealment and Revelation on the last post, here's my effort on the theme of Tea (a tea tray) - the lady below is under the lift up flap. I can't find this picture again to acknowledge the copyright if any. If anyone reading this would like to claim ownership, let me know and I'll gladly give you the credit - it's a wonderful photo.

There's a garden show on at the Three Counties show ground starting today, and a quilting show next week from Thurs-Sun. Being so close it's very tempting to go and potter around. Not long now until the Three Counties Show itself - hope the weather is as good as last year. And a reminder to Judith - there's a Giant Flea on Bank Holiday Monday 30th May!

Hole gone...

2011-05-10T17:34:00.000+01:00

The hole and the emergency plumber have gone. He's made a beautiful job of replacing the block paving so we hope his plumbing skills are as good. Having had to pay for all this up front, we are now worrying about whether the insurers will pay up and resigned to the fact that at any rate it has cost twice the limit for a claim on that part of the policy - that side of the drive wanted relaying anyway didn't it? I refuse to cry over spilt milk, and if they won't pay up then at least we had enough to cover it even if the money was earmarked for some other work on the house and changing the car.
On a brighter note, a nice chap came with huge dehumidifiers and a fan to dry out the walls and we now know the full extent of the problem and how wet/ dry things are. It will be at least 3 weeks before the walls dry out but it isn't as extensive as we feared and our own little dehumidifier has done some sterling work already. It looks as if a claim to repair and redecorate after that will be approved so that at least is something to look forward to. It's just a bit muddly with everything spread around the house - hope no-one wants to come and stay!

On my fourth attempt I've finished my next postcard for Postman's Knock at the end of this week. Once again I was fine once I gave up the fixed idea I started with! Can't show you, but all will be revealed on Saturday.

Weather's a bit strange, isn't it? We had thunder, hail and torrential rain yesterday and today's like a sauna. I got soaked yesterday as I came out of the dentist's and Waitrose's carpark was awash when I stopped to buy milk - proved our new bit of drive was draining away properly though! The garden is looking happier but slugs and snails are out in force (see Judith's blog 'Relatively Retiring' on the subject. What are slugs for?).

This is a totally unnecessary photo of my 'tiger' postcard to cheer us all up! Hope you're having a more exciting time - I was going to say more interesting time but then I remembered 'that'* saying......

* May you live in interesting times

Don't fall down the hole

2011-05-04T14:46:00.000+01:00

Nearly a week since we first found the leak, we still have holes in the drive and damp patches slowly blooming in the music room and study.

This morning we emptied and moved bookcases so we could at last rip up wet carpet in the study but it's just not possible to empty the room by ourselves and carry all the books upstairs. The assessor appointed by the insurer has been, announced that he'll have to send a drying firm in, and gone away again. Meanwhile, the outside work is on hold as they couldn't get here this morning due to a lorry fire on the motorway, and we've already well exceeded that part of the possible claim on the insurance. As they never actually found the leak - they dug down at least 5ft and reckon it was several feet lower - it's possible that the insurers won't pay anyway. We now have water thanks to a brand new pipe from the meter to the house and in through the garage with a much more accessible stopcock, though I'm now worried that if we have a hard winter it will be much more vulnerable to frost damage.
We also now have a virginals in the spare bedroom, a clavichord in the sittingroom, and organ pipes in the hall, but it could be worse if we have to accommodate the contents of nine bookcases, a large partners' desk and three large chairs, especially as the garage is currently full of 'exploratory' holes. We're both, unsurprisingly, very tired, very fed up and inclined to argue - especially about whether to put books straight into boxes (me) against piling them up on the desk and thereby moving them at least twice (him).

Think I'll phone the person I was supposed to have lunch with last week and set another date - don't think I'll start painting the bedroom just yet. :-)

On a lighter note, the current crop of postcards are appearing slowly on Postman's Knock - I think each crop gets more amazing. We all feel that we have to up our game - the fortnights whizz by and some themes are much easier than others depending one's interests. My next one is to be 'overhead' so I'd better find some inspiration - next Friday will come all too soon and I had real trouble getting my card assembled last time.

Water

2011-04-30T12:25:00.000+01:00

Here's the latest card in the Postman's Knock swap on my theme of water. It's lovely - beautiful cool blue photos and a very apt quote. Thank you, Jane at Marigold Jam. The photo isn't as good as it might be, I'll try and take a better one later to do it justice. It has an overall calming effect which is much needed here today!

Regular readers to this blog will remember that we had a water problem with an overflowing sink a couple of weeks ago. Since Thursday we have been in further chaos with a massive leak from the water main into the house from the meter, which has caused damage in H's study and music room. This is the third day of emergency plumbers onsite - currently digging up the drive though they've also knocked holes in walls and floor and the garage - unable to find the cause. Our water's turned off and we have a temporary feed from nextdoor. I'll resist writing further on the subject until it's (hopefully) all over, but suffice it to say, the cost is mounting up rather at the speed the water meter was running before it was turned off!

Perhaps I shouldn't have chosen water as my theme!

Still looking on the bright side..

2011-04-25T16:37:00.000+01:00

Well, two posts in three days - must be a record for me! The lovely little chap above is my Easter present from my daughter, who thought, quite rightly, he would make me laugh.

A lovely parcel came from Elaine at Ted and Bunny after I won a giveaway to send the prize to a friend. Here's the lovely little Easter duck with an egg cosy and little doilies for egg cups - I asked for my prize to be sent to my daughter and she received two little ducks and a chicken which she likes very much.

Spent the morning at the local Flea Fair which was huge - took me over three hours to wander all the way round. Bought a couple of things to help with the postcard swap, so can't show them here. Didn't buy quite a lot of things that I fancied but didn't actually need, but enjoyed looking. Weather is absolutely lovely here so it was great to be out in the fresh air.

Agreement has been reached at last over paint for the bedroom - after considering practically every shade of green we're going for a sort of lavender colour instead (not the first time we've been through the Green debate in 35 years of marriage, and we rarely find one we like that suits the room, it seems more affected by light then any other colour). I've ordered the paint but I should think it will be a week or so before I can start putting it on the wall. Must major this week on my next postcard - theme New York, New York. That wedding means it has to be posted off on Thursday, a day early. Mind currently very hazy on what it might look like (postcard I mean not the wedding)!

Think I must do something about potting up my tomato seedlings before I make some tea, as once I sit down and put my feet up I shan't want to go out again. Though there are hopeful sounds coming up the stairs so perhaps H has put the kettle on?

Looking on the bright side

2011-04-23T16:02:00.000+01:00

Some pictures from the week just gone - to major on all the good things:

Evesham asparagus and locally grown tomatoes - I haven't polished them they came like that and taste as good as they look.

Cress grown on the kitchen window sill (a reminder of primary school), just crying out for an egg sandwich.

A surprise lot of tulips as I was sure I'd planted pink ones - anyone know the name of this purply black one? It's gorgeous.

Proof that I do actually plant things in our very small garden and they even sometimes grow and flower......

An elderly visitor from next door seeking a shady spot. (She has half an ear and no tail so I'm not sure how many of her nine lives she has left, but she is very friendly)

A finished project waiting for buttons,

a half finished WIP waiting for some more yarn (and possibly cooler weather),

and a new project - a cardigan for baby E, which needs to be finished before 6th May when we shall have the pleasure of her company. All uploaded in record time thanks to a friendly BT man who has at last solved the mystery of our constantly disappearing broadband.

I also received a parcel from lovely Elaine at Ted and Bunny and a cute Easter present from Daughter, but they will have to wait to my next post. I'm off now to eat Fat Rascals from Betty's By Post - not quite as good as being in Harrogate, but a nice substitute - we also have some Bury Simmnels and a Simmnel cake, thanks to an Easter parcel from a friend who thought we needed a treat. Hope you're all having a lovely Easter break, the sunshine is such a bonus.

Jx

EDIT: The lovely satiny purple tulips are 'Queen of the night' variety. The Eden Project have them for sale here (delivery Sept /Oct). I shall certainly have soem for next year they are spectacular.

Water, water everywhere

2011-04-16T13:49:00.000+01:00

The latest card in our postcard swap arrived today from Sue. I love the Owl and the Pussycat drifting around in their Peagreen boat - the Owl has a bewildered innocent expression whilst the lovely marmalade cat is rather defiant. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of my card on the theme of Tea which went to Cathy , but you will be able to see it, and my last one on the Concealment and Revelation theme, if you go to the Postman's Knock site in the next day or so.

Water is a bit of a sore subject here at present. Late on Thursday night, just as we were going to bed, I realised that water was dripping through the landing ceiling and rushed upstairs to discover that something had fallen in to the bedroom basin, knocking the hot tap on and blocking the plughole. The carpet was sodden and it had formed a lake inside the cupboard under the sink, so I had to empty that and take up part of the carpet to let the floor dry. H was totally unavailable throughout and I was conscious that M was already asleep in the room below. I landed up very wet and there's a nasty mark on the landing ceiling and a shape just the image of a map of Africa on the wall above the door into M's room. The floor has now dried out and The piece of carpet is useable having dried out on the boiler, so it could have been worse. Can't imagine why I've never noticed that the basin doesn't have an overflow - another item to put on the house makeover list along with repainting the stairs and landing. Fortunately, I hadn't already painted the bedroom!

It's been that sort of week - the internet has been awfully unreliable, my computer has played up, all the local chemists have run out of the cream M uses for her skin condition etc. etc. etc. Lets hope the weekend marks the end of it and next week will be better (though it's a Chiropodist day on Monday and regular readers will know how we love those. I'm off to see if any more postcards have been posted on the blog - have a great weekend.

2011-04-09T11:24:00.000+01:00

Early morning looking from the Malvern Hills to Bredon Hill.

Life's little mysteries

2011-04-06T15:45:00.000+01:00

1. Why does my Hp inkjet use more yellow ink than any other - including black? I don't print lots of colour photos - nearly all my printing is text only, and I certainly don't prints endless photos of yellow things, so why?
(And why does the local shop never have the yellow cartridges?)

2. Why don't most stationery shops no longer sell packets of plain postcards ('people don't use them anymore') or OHP transparencies ('people have computerised projectors now'). Well, I'm a people and I want both those items. Thank goodness for the internet and Amazon where both are available but it would be hard luck if I couldn't wait to have them delivered. I was surprised that even the Malvern stationers couldn't oblige, one of the best things about living here is that many of the shops are still delightfully old-fashioned (Brays still have wooden till boxes where you write the invoice on the top, and at Francis they write your order out in an ledger book)

Pondering the above, I made a trip to Staples for the printer cartridge (another mystery, why are these so expensive) without hope that they would have either of the other items. They didn't, of course, but I thought my nice, newly-painted office deserved some new bright stationery and succumbed to these magazine racks and a storage box ready for the new tax year, as well as some other little items like double sided tape and some bits and pieces for the postcard swap.

I couldn't resist these little bulldog clips - perfect for my system of clipping my weekly paperwork together to stop things going astray. The little clock and rack of hooks I found in a local garden centre.

The weather is beautiful today so I did make a start on the garden - sorting out the compost bin ,so you wouldn't want pictures of that. Next door are having a new ensuite fitted and their driveway and our little cul-de-sac is crowded with vans, so getting out is almost impossible without asking for them all to move. Fortunately, I shopped yesterday and M can wait until next week for her prescription. Hope you all have this wonderful weather - time to get our new parking permit for the Hills carparks and get up there walking. If only H's dizziness would go away!

2011-04-03T15:30:00.000+01:00

Lots of excitement yesterday as the first of the postcards from the postcard swap started dropping through letterboxes. Have a look here to see what we've all been up to.

Here's the one I received from Lesley at Printed Material. My theme is water and she's picked on the famous Malvern Water - the plant where the most famous brand was bottled has recently closed down though there are rumors that it will be taken on by a local firm. Water is still being bottled at Holywell. If you're local you can collect your own from one of the wells or standpipes - and we get to walk on the beautiful Malvern Hills too!

Today being Mothering Sunday, I did my motherly duty and drove over to daughter's house to check on cat as daughter is away. Cat was very pleased to see me and daughter had left flowers and card for me. Came back to find H moving M's furniture around (again) to try and counter complaints about the light getting into her eyes. Having moved chair, television, footstool and side table into at least 10 different configurations, we landed up as usual back where we started with further complaint about the lateness of lunch (haven't yet found a way to cook lunch and move furniture at the same time but I'm working on it!). Needless to say it didn't do much for H's dizziness which is no better for taking the tablets the Dr prescribed. We're now hoping a trip to the cardiac clinic will come up with some answer as it's becoming very debilitating and stops him driving.

I've ordered some sample pots from Little Greene in the hope that we can agree on a colour to paint our bedroom which is the other room on the top floor of the house. It's currently the pale green we inherited when we bought the house which is OK but a bit grubby. Like my office it has a lot of cupboards (but no shelves, mercifully) which could either match the walls or the woodwork. I quite like decorating, as long as I haven't got a deadline, my father was a painter and decorator (and a plumber, small builder and Jack of all trades) and I earnt pocket money during my teenage years doing undercoats and base coats and scraping wallpaper off walls. Now when I paint I hear his voice in my ear constantly - don't stretch the paint, careful how you cut round that window, don't drip on the floors! I've got a bit out of practice recently, but I still make very little mess on the floor or myself - H on the other hand cannot be let near a paint brush unless everything is covered in dust sheets and he's covered in old clothes.

Must get my next couple of postcards done before I start any decorating - the fortnightly posting deadlines will creep up on me otherwise!

2011-03-29T16:06:00.000+01:00

It's pouring with rain here today, so I thought you might prefer some photos of my activities last week instead. On a trip up to my friend's farm with my camera, I caught lots of curious faces:

What do you suppose she's looking at? Must be us we're so photogenic...

Just look at our beautiful eyelashes.

No, she's looking at me

'Cos I've got a secret

But she might be looking at my lamb.....

Or me!

Other members of the farm were also eager to be photographed - can you see the other pair of eyes in the second version of this photo?

But some were much too superior to bother moving from their preferred spot.

My friend, Marion, and I had a great lunch in a Tenbury pub and visited Burford House

We didn't buy anything in the house, though we saw plenty we would have liked to buy. It's worth a trip if you're in the area - there's a good cafe and a garden centre too. I drove home via Worcester and had a cup of tea with daughter - H is more or less housebound at present as he has the awful dizziness back again, so I didn't have to worry about M for once.

On Friday, daughter and I went to the show at the NEC and spent a happy few hours pottering around - with frequent stops for food and coffee. We particularly liked the knitted display rising funds for the RNLI. It represents a coastal cliff and beach and you can walk through under the sea. Apparently 2000 knitters have taken part knitting anything from squares for the sea and the cliff to fish, seagulls, jelly fish and even a sea monster. I'm afraid the photo isn't brilliant as I was using my phone, but there are some better ones here

We managed to find Joanna (http://www.thingshandmade.blogspot.com/) who is taking part in the postcard swap. She was helping on a friend's stall. Friday is the day for posting our first efforts and I have now got mine finished- some people have done lots in advance, but I'm relieved to have the first one ready. We'll be posting what we receive on this blog, so can't wait to see what everyone's been up to.

This week is not to be filled with outings and jollities - I've been cleaning carpets yesterday and this morning, H has a Dr's appointment later in the week to try again to get something done about the dizziness, and M's new glasses are coming on Thursday. Still I should get some knitting done, and then there's the next postcard to think about - they're fortnightly now so must get into the swing. (And there's the small problem of the neglected garden to consider too.)

You know it's spring when....

2011-03-24T15:23:00.000Z

When you look ou the velux window and you see......

I counted seventeen altogether - did they all take a day off work, I wonder. Can't imagine they're all retired

So what do you think?

2011-03-19T16:11:00.000Z

I've painted and sanded and painted and touched up the edges and now my room is open for business again at last.

The original woodwork wasn't brilliantly finished so the paint took better in some places than others - hence the sanding etc. I tried using soft clear wax on the surfaces which get more use and then sanded and painted again as Annie Sloan recommends - it did improve the surfaces which were very rough in places.

The blue is James 108 from the Little Greene Paint Company - it's slightly darker than it looks on the picture, more the colour of Wedgwood pottery. The room looks much larger than it did - it's actually about 7 ft by 14ft but the shelving narrows it. I had a real sort out - the shelves were packed before, but it won't stay this tidy! My stash of wool lives in the cupboards under the window, but my sewing materials are in the utility room downstairs - this room really needs a larger work table to take advantage of the light under the velux window. A trip to Ikea is indicated I think.

I've put a tutorial for the log cabin throw on a separate page - it isn't finished yet but I'll post the rest as soon as I can. For the people who asked about the Squggle Throw, it's very simple. You'll need about 9 balls of each colour of a super chunky which knits to a 9.5 stitches and 12 rows tension on size 10 needles. (Sirdar Squiggle, Big Softie, Denim Ultra, and King Cole and Twilleys do similar so there's a big choice in all sorts of yarn). Cast on 30 stitches and, in moss stitch, knit 42 rows to make a square, change colour and repeat. Knit four square to make a strip and cast off. Knit three strips - or more if you want a larger throw, and sew together. It's very warm and cuddly.

Weather's wonderful here - hope you're having a great weekend.

This and that

2011-03-10T12:42:00.000Z

As promised, photos of the rest of my stash busting activities - my total output for the year so far! First a really snuggly lap blanket knitted in Sirdar Squiggle super chunky - a very fast knit on size 10 needles.

A new great-nephew arrived a week ago - he was born in the Middle East where his parents are teachers (fortunately, not in area of unrest). I shall keep this in hand until they visit in the summer when he'll probably need a few woollies! I've now got some thin cotton yarn to knit a little slipover more suitable for their weather.

And last but by no means least, baby E for whom I made a lot of clothes last year, has just celebrated her first birthday and this doggy person is waiting to be packed and sent.

He's knitted in Sirdar Snowflake and is very soft and cuddly - I wonder what she'll call him, we've named him Woof!

It's been a busy week - another trip to Opthamology but now M doesn't have to go back until November, a trip to Cardiff with daughter (no photos, but we had a great day catching up with a city where we lived for 15 years in the eighties and nineties), and at last I've started transforming my little office shelving and cupboards from this:

To this:

Something I've been wanting to do for about two years. I'm using Annie Sloan paint on the woodwork and it's realy nice to use. I like the green wall but I can't match it so I'm probably going to paint the walls blue - I'll keep you up to date, it's going to take me a few days and two coats on everything.

Three people have asked me about the pattern for the logcabin throw. There are several patterns online, but I'll do a tutorial and post it as soon as I can. I'm also hoping to knit a few throws for sale as I've also had enquiries about that and some baby items both knitted and sewn. I'm still working on some sewn quilts and throws - I find it more difficult to get a good session on those but I keep trying!

Had the details today for the postcard swap I've joined - sounds really exciting. Must get the room sorted so I've got somewhere to work on it. Must stop now as I'm late with the lunch - big problem......

All square

2011-03-02T18:04:00.000Z

one

two

four

many*

Here's the first of my stash busting knitting projects completed in the internetless weeks of February. (or the broadbean wilderness as we are now calling it, thanks to Jayne's comment on my last post!)

You may remember if you've been visiting here for a while that I knitted a lot of baby clothes last year, and I also inherited all my late sister's stash. This left me with lots of single balls and part balls and insufficient quantity to make any garment - lots of different creams for a start and a lot of mauve which my sister loved. When I saw this log cabin pattern it was immediately familiar - my mother used to knit similar squares when I was a child, and it seemed ideal as the centre square is only 15 stitches and 30 rows, so you can use up quite small quantities of yarn It's very easy to knit (all in garter stitch) so a good thing to take to hospital appointments as you can't lose track of the pattern and even on the last rectangle you only have 90 stitches to deal with.

The photos don't really do it justice as the light wasn't brilliant. The turquoise - a bamboo wool mix with a lovely sheen, lifts it. There are sixteen squares and each took a couple of evenings knitting - the whole thing took two evenings to sew in the ends and another to piece together. It's double knit on size 4 needles but would work just as well in thinner or thicker yarn. It's very heavy and as nearly all the yarns are part wool with cashmere, microfibre or bamboo, it's very warm. The finished size is roughly 5ft square.

I've got three other things to sew up, so more to come. Hope it's warmer where you are, it's bitterly cold here. Another hospital trip tomorrow ......

*in deference to Terry Pratchett - the way trolls count, apparently.

Back from broadband wilderness

2011-02-22T15:43:00.000Z

Where have you been, I hear you ask. Nowhere, unfortunately - unless you count trips to the eye department. Our broadband has been unreliable to non-existant for about three weeks and we had no phone either for part of that, so communication has been limited to mobiles and the odd trip to daughter's to use online banking (and post a few comments on other people's blogs). But mostly we've all been stuck at home.

I've been knitting madly - especially when stuck in the carpark or waitingroom, though it can be a bit too hot to knit in the hospital, so stand by for some knitting posts when I can get things committed to digital. I've got lots of sewing planned but not started and I've read quite a lot too (and the house has received a bit more attention than usual), so there have been certain advantages.

Thank you for the lovely comments on the previous post about my Mother. She would have been amazed at your interest and your kindness. I'm glad that I managed to convey how lovely she was.

Fingers crossed I'm now back online but I've a backlog of emails to deal with, so I'm sorry if you're waiting for a reply.

Telephone Conversation circa 1985

2011-01-29T12:31:00.000Z

My Mother: You'd better go, Jane, I can hear your phone ringing..

J: (pausing to work this out):   Mum, I'm speaking to you on my phone, it can't be ringing.

MM: Oh, it must be mine then, bye.

I stand bemused holding the phone which clicks then makes the noise which says the line has disconnected. I put the phone down and start to go off to tell H, grinning to myself. The phone rings. Gales of laughter ring down the line as my mother tries to excuse her own daftness echoed by throaty guffaws in the background from my father which translates as she's done it again.

I was reminded of this conversation whilst watching Lost for Words, a play by Deric Longdon about his mother's last months when she struggles through a succession of increasingly debilitating strokes affecting her mental health and speech. It is a warm, tender portrait full of humour as well as sadness - a loving portrait of a kind, loving strong woman who had already battled through a difficult marriage and caring in her home for four older sisters in succession. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it - it is very funny and uplifting, too.

My Mother, mercifully, did not have to suffer any of the indignity of stroke and confusion. She did however face old age with the same good humour that she had shown throughout her life.   Despite a childhood spent in real poverty (youngest but one of a family of twelve, with a father who took increasingly to drink, living in a tiny house in what could only be described as a slum), my Mother took life with both hands and found amusement in every situation. She loved children of all ages, but especially babies, and was tolerant of teenagers; proposing herself as nanny and housekeeper without pay to the local butcher whose wife had died suddenly, when no-one else seemed to know what to do was typical of her acts of kindness. She worked hard and had a horror of being seen to be getting above herself, but never felt herself inferior. In unfamiliar settings she was diffident, not one to speak out of turn, but amongst family and friends it was different - she loved to laugh and didn't mind if she was the butt of the joke, but she rarely said anything that could be taken as unkind, even in jest. Life with my Mother was full of fun, we never knew what (or who) she might bring home from her weekly trips to the neighbouring town. Who else would have gone out to buy new sheets and come home with a live rabbit because no-one else wanted him? She seemed a magnet for funny situations and she often did silly things. Many family meals ended in uproar, as trying to describe her latest exploit she would laugh until tears ran down her face and we all laughed until our sides ached as we tried to work out what she was talking about. Many of her adventures have become the stuff of family legend, their catchwords - the toasted doughnut and the pan scourer, the woman in Woolworths, the trip to the Turkish Baths, immediately raise a grin between me and my brother, and have been passed on to the younger generation..

Her old age was not a bed of roses, she lost a toe (and nearly a leg) after a fall and she nursed my father through various illnesses only to have him die after a routine and allegedly risk free minor operation. Never at any time did she fail to be thankful to the people who helped her and to find joy in the silly everyday routines.
Her greatest admonishment through our childhoods was always 'You'll miss me when I'm gone', and we do, even after 22 years.

The following is just a little taster of the amusement she gave us: it was frequently like living in an Alan Bennet play.

Having had a few problems with her leg, she had asked for a Dr's visit and the surgery had said they would send a locum. Standing up to go to the kitchen, she looked out of the sittingroom window and saw a vehicle draw up and a man get out carrying a largish bag. 'Quick,' she said to my father, who, by that time, had lost a lot of his sight to glaucoma, ' you answer the door, while I take my tights off.'   Dad shuffled off to the door and let the man in. He flashed an identity card, which Dad couldn't read, and preceeded Dad into the sittingroom to find Mum arrayed on the sofa, bad leg and foot at the ready. 'Thank you for coming,' she said graciously, 'I'm afraid my leg's been a bit of a problem.'
'Oh, dear,' the man said, glancing at her foot, 'I'm sure it has - but I'm afraid I'm the chap your son asked to come and look at the TV connection!'   As she said, 'After I'd taken my tights off, too'

I haven't bothered to edit this photo, she would have preferred to be out of focus

Here is the news

2011-01-22T11:52:00.000Z

First the bad news. M has now been back again to the hospital, and it has been confirmed that she will never regain sight in her right eye, and the race is on to preserve her left. We have registered a complaint that we were told we were being a nuisance when we phoned the day after her cataract op to say that she couldn't see, and that wasted a fortnight when she could have been receiving treatment for the raised pressure. We shan't take it any further - it wouldn't have helped with the right eye anyway, but it caused a lot of upset. She now has eye drops several times a day for life, another item to add to the schedule that keeps us firmly chained to the house.

The upside to this is that they will now remove the cataract in the left eye which may make a slight improvement and will allow them to see the true state of the nerve. Whether they are feeling under pressure I'm not sure, but she will be kept at the eye hospital until the strapping can be removed, so we will know the worse before we take her home (and incidently get three or four hours of freedom). We hope she will find she has rather more than the dot of light which is all that is left in the right eye.

And the good news? Well not much really, the weather's improved and the blue sky lifts our spirits, though it's very cold. An elderly friend has come out of hospital when it was feared he never would. I have fabric cut waiting to make a quilt, and I've just finished knitting a lap rug (but I'm not happy with it, so it may well be unpicked at least in part). An old school friend has written to say she's to be a granny so the knitting needles will be in play for that event and probably the sewing machine as well. H's dizziness had resurfaced but seems to be in retreat again now. All small things but we take what we can get these days. Definitely a time to live one day at a time and keep hoping.

Conversation

2011-01-14T12:10:00.000Z

M: Can you do my mid-morning drink early, I want to sit in the bathroom between 11.00 and 11.30 this morning.

H: I can, but why do you want to sit in the bathroom?

M: I want to listen to a radio programme on Radio4, about the Rotary Club.

H: But why can't you listen to it on the radio by your chair?

M: Oh, that's no good, I shan't be able to hear the President of Rotary on a DAB radio - I shall use that good old-fashioned one in the bathroom.

H (baffled): Okay..

Nothing new under the sun.

2011-01-10T15:45:00.000Z

æt ic bi me sylfumsecgan wille,
þæt ic hwile wæsHeodeninga scop,
dryhtne dyre.Me wæs Deor noma.
Ahte ic fela wintrafolgað tilne,
holdne hlaford,oþþæt Heorrenda nu,
leoðcræftig monnlondryht geþah,
þæt me eorla hleoær gesealde.
Þæs ofereode,þisses swa mæg!

This of myself I wish to say
that for a time I was the bard of the Heodenings,
dear to my lord. Deor was my name;
I had for many winters a good employment, a gracious lord:
until now Heorrenda, a song-skilled man,
received the landrights that to me the protector earls had given before.
That passed - so may this.

Though most people are more or less aware of Beowulf, especially since Seamus Heaney's recent translation and an animated film, it is not all that remains of Anglo-Saxon (or Old English if you prefer) poetry. Amongst the rest are riddles, and some longer poems, often with a religious theme, including The Dream of the Rood where the cross of the crucifixtion tells its story. The extract above comes from a poem called Deor. Proof if we ever needed it that people then were much as we are now. This is the last stanza - the previous ones detail earlier historic episodes and makes the point, in the repeated last line, that everything passes with time.
I find our early language beautiful to look at as well as to read (in translation, though I do have a resident expert who can do it in the original - when it sounds strangly familiar, like something you might have known in early childhood and forgotten). I love the characters we no longer use and the transposition of wh to hw.

The readings on BBC Radio4 in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible has given the opportunity to listen to words long familiar - especially to those who went through school before the arrival of the Good News Bible and its sometimes puzzling modernisations, who heard readings from the KJB every school assembly and carol service of our childhood even if we weren't from church going families, and so many well worn phrases are still in everyday use though possibly their origins are not always known.

Our language and the way we speak it is in constant flux. M was brought up by a mother with a broad Gloucestershire accent in a small Hampshire village. On arrival at grammar school she happily embraced a 1930's middle class accent. She decries loudly anyone now whom in her opinion speaks 'badly'. I had a Bristolian accent as a child which I lost after moving to Essex, not at the behest of my grammar school teachers but to avoid the derision of my Essex school mates, who were, of course, oblivious to their own regional accents! Estuary English seems to be taking over everywhere now (and bears no relation to the old Essex accent even if it purports to be the language of Essex Girl). Even the Queen now sounds roughly like someone who lives round the corner instead of on a another planet where they lived in hices and spoke as if they breathed hydrogen.

We are now many centuries away from the language of Deor, Chaucer, Shakespeare and the KJB. Even Trollope and Dickens are foreign to our younger generation. What will our language look and sound like in another 13-15 centuries I wonder, or even in 20 years? W8 & C.

(the slightly odd P (Thorn) and d (eth) shaped letters are pronounced as 'th'. There are others (not in the passage shown) which are described here.

EDIT
Here's the link to the Youtube reading of the Lord's Prayer in Anglo-Saxon which I mentioned in the comment below, as that link didn't work:

Another year

2011-01-01T16:10:00.000Z

Browsing through a box I find a set of slides, taken by me around the time I left home to go to my first job - residential, working for a charity for my keep and a small amount of pocket money. There are photos of my niece and nephew as small children, before they went to Australia later that year, and some views of Keffolds where I worked - a large house with Arts and Crafts features, long since converted into flats or houses. I met my husband there. And this one photo of some of the children in my charge.
I wonder where the children in the photo are now. I was eighteen and they were between 4 and 9years old - the youngest at the house. The eldest there were only a year younger than I was - a baptism of fire to deal with: teenagers with fiery Polish tempers and difficult backgrounds. The housemother, a devout Christian lady, could neverless be scathing and demanding, and I still fold all my towels according to her strict requirements 40 years later - she was right, they do fit into piles better as all sizes of towel finish up the same dimension!
I've also been doing my end of year sift through the correspondence and filing to start the New Year - amazing what turns up.

So here we go into another year - I'm not making resolutions but I'm hoping I can make some changes and achieve a few secret ambitions. I'll let you know.
Meanwhile - a very Happy New Year to all of you. (And to Anwar, Akrim, Freda and Augustine, wherever you might be, too).

Better late than never....

2010-12-29T11:20:00.000Z

Despite a last minute panic that the duck I'd ordered from here, might be stuck for Christmas in the City Limits depot in Kidderminster (thank you to the manager who delivered them to daughter in Worcester although he was actually going to Wolverhampton, and to daughter who brought the parcel over even though they were also going out for the day in the opposite direction!), everything did arrive for Christmas and was very much enjoyed. The lovely flowers came from my delightful Brother-in-Law. The lily has since come out and is the same colour as the roses.

If this quilt had a name it would be 'slapdash' which would adequately descride the way in which it's been put together over the last two weeks to give to daughter for Christmas. As it was, having decided to hand quilt, 'in the ditch', I had to finish the last few rows on Boxing day and give it back to her when they came yesterday for tea and to collect cat who'd stayed on when they went to friends. (Just as well, as when they got home on BD evening, they found they had no water - fortunately, everything thawed without any obvious leak).

Anyway, she's delighted with it - excuse photos which don't do it justice, couldn't find anywhere, that wasn't too dark, to show it completely, hence rather awkward photo taken on stairs where it slipped off the stairlift rail at the last moment! I couldn't get out to buy fabric for binding, so I folded borders over all the way round to finish it off. The pink really lifts it, and I'm really happy with it.

Rain has abolished the snow and everything now looks muddy and grubby. I must go out later for essentials, and H has invited someone for Friday lunch so must put my brain back into cooking gear when I'd been happily coasting along in 'left-over' mode. Hopefully, it won't now snow between now and next Thursday and Friday when first M and then I have to go to the eye hospital - perhaps we could get a season ticket for the carpark!

Haven't attempted the Sales (- half tempted to ignore them but I do need bedding and towels amongst other things - we never seem to have enough since M came). I'd like to just flop around reading my Christmas books and watching dvds and stuff recorded, but the snow and grit walked into the hall and kitchen needs attention and the duck carcass has to be made into soup, and what am I going to serve this man on Friday?

It's daughter's birthday next week so I'll need to go out to find her something - mind currently a blank on that subject, too!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are now happily recovering!

2010-12-24T10:44:00.000Z

Thank you to all the people that have consoled. commiserated, encouraged and made me laugh over the last year - I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and great New Year.

Jane xx

If you need to, you can get out ....

2010-12-23T19:25:00.000Z

Having no alternative, I went out with the shovel before breakfast this morning and with help from daughter who arrived at 10.00, we managed to get the car up the cul-de-sac - H driving and daughter and I resorting to pushing on the worst bits as H isn't allowed to do such physical things. Before we left for the hospital M asked where I'd been all moring and when I said I'd been digging the car out to take her to the hospital, she laughed and said she expected I was glad of the exersize!
We were hours at the hospital, but they've now decided that her sight is fast diminshing due to pressure on the optic nerve - so the cateract operation was pointless. So it looks as if she will soon be completely unable to see. She's being quite philosophical about it but we've yet to consider the practicalities,
Tomorrow, I hope to finish my Christams preparations - if I can move by then, I'm already stiffening up so I'm off to soak in the bath. Hope you're having a rather more pleasant run up to Christmas!

Update

2010-12-22T11:26:00.000Z

Had to cancel the hospital trip - main road is flowing merrily, but we can't get to it and we can't get M by wheelchair to daughter's car either (well we could if we dug out either the entire cul-de-sac and 200yds of lane, or all the pavements up to the main road). H went to look at the grit bin that the Council has unhelpfully put half way down the steep lane, but we can't shift enough by bucket - and the road would need clearing first as there's about 6 inches of snow and still falling- and manged to fall over and cut his hand and thumb! The hospital has said we can go tomorrow at the same time - optomists!

Foiled again ......

2010-12-20T16:26:00.000Z

So. I stocked the cupboards and the freezer and the fridge, I posted all the Christmas cards and the CT return, I checked that all the prescriptions were up-to-date, and then I thought, that's it, I can survive here without going out until the New Year if necessary, and I planned some more sewing and kniting. I was even inspired to make a Clementine cake and a huge batch of soup - I was feeling quite pleased and inclined to let Christmas be acknowleged. I didn't mind too much when it began to snow, and it wasn't very heavy anyway.
This morning M having refused to do anything about her eye all last week when travel was easy, decided that she must ring the hospital about it. 'Oh', said the woman on the phone,'you must come in at once - I'll phone you back.'
I went outside and swept clear the drive and sorted out the car and brought in the wheelchair and I said to H it wasn't really too bad to get the car out as the lane had been partly cleared. And we waited, and waited until noon when they rang and said she must come on Wednesday. As if summoned by some malignant force, it then started to snow and snow and snow, covering up all the bits I'd swept and covering the car and the lane, and bringing traffic on the main road to a standstill.
So now we wait to see if, by Wednesday, this lot will clear or get worse, and I'm very cross with the receptionist at the hospital that we phoned 10 days ago who more or less told us not to be so daft when we asked if we should bring M back.
Fortunately, daughter at home now until New Year so we could get her to mount a mercy mission if we can't get out - as long as the main road is clear.
Hope you're all safe and warm and don't have to venture out.

.

Stuck at (gn)'ome

2010-12-16T15:50:00.000Z

I always forget how much I like knitting gloves, and the last week or so I've had plenty of opportunity for knitting. M's cataract operation does not yet seem to have been successful - she maintains that she still can't see out of her right eye at all, despite the surgeon assuring us that it was very successful. We wait to see whether it improves, but it means that her ability to do things for herself has been even less than usual. Unfortunately, H did something rather silly which has aggravated his heart problem - temporarily I hope - but means that both of them have to be attended on at regular intervals and I've only managed to get out for the essentials.
The upside to this is that I been forced to re-think Christmas shopping and to do food and present shopping online, I've also had to use the internet to stock the freezer and make sure we have plenty in the cupboards against another lot of snow. And I've set to and made rather more presents than I thought I'd have time for - most of which have been posted now thanks to a kind neighbour.
It hasn't been entirely plain-sailing as the internet connections have been terribly unreliable so I've been reading and commenting on blogs rather less often - often at speed so forgive me if a comment you received was full of errors or didn't make sense!
In case I hadn't got enough things to keep me occupied, a friend asked me to knit some decorations for the hospice where she works as a volunteer so several of these little chaps have gone off to a new home:

This one has stayed behind and I've promised to knit him a friend when I've done the Christmas cards and done some more to a quilt in progress. It's a great pattern for using up small amounts of yarn as long as your stash has some yarn suitable for the beard. The stash has done me proud when it comes to presents, too, and having finished a hoodie for baby E, I was pleased to find enough chenille type wool to make her a snowme:

So we may be getting some more snow, but we're well stocked, and Christmas can be managed even if snow stops the later deliveries (like Julie over at Little Cotton Rabbits, I was mindful of my Christmas not arriving in a van, hence the freezer stocking exercise), and most people will get their present and many of those will be handmade. So, fingers crossed that H gets better not worse, we could now hibernate till after Christmas and I might even get more than one quilt made!
Welcome to Busybusybeejay and Minnie, so glad you've found me, I shall be popping over to your blogs soon.

Stop press: It's gone very very dark and started to blow a gale. Lots of wet snow rushing past the window now - hope you're all safe and warm at home .

Gnome and Snowmee are Alan Dart patterns. You can find them on his website here http://www.alandart.co.uk/pages/products

A winter's tale

2010-12-07T11:22:00.000Z

The snow went away, but during the night the Frost giants came and separated us from the world........

Until the sun came out.

Fragments

2010-12-03T15:54:00.000Z

Some weeks ago, Elaine, at Ted and Bunny, posted this and kindly said I could use the photo in my art project which is using architectural fragments as a basis for a collection of drawings. I've really enjoyed my first attempt - done in pastel, and hope to try again with soft pencil. Blogger refuses to post the second photo the right way round so please imagine it turned through 90 degees. The current light has turned the colour rather more blue than the original.
This last few days have been very fragmented - we can just about get the car out if necessary, though the top of our cul-de-sac is very icy and no grit between us and the main road. I've been doing small amounts of crafting, cooking, drawing and sewing - and the inevitable end of year accounting has started to impinge again. It also occured to me that I hadn't properly acknowledged the lovely give-away I won from Chrissie at Niminy Fingers:

This lovely little bird and its garland of bobbles are trying valiantly to brighten up my study - and making it even more obvious that I really must smarten up of all the pine shelving and cupboards with a good coat of white paint - now would be a good time except that I can't have the windows open - perhaps better wait for better weather.
I'm still slogging on with the slides that need converting - currently I'm in Spain in 1963! The various and miscellaneous were great fun as one minute we were in a 1950's summer garden and next on a 1970 cruise. More of that another time. If you're wondering why a lot of posts have disappeared, I had to remove them at the request of one of M's friends. I think it's unreasonable but I decided it was anything for a quiet life.

Still hoping that we shall be able to get M to hospital on Tuesday to have her cataract removed - fingers crossed that we shan't get too much more snow.

2010-11-26T18:04:00.000Z

                                                         Who Knows If The Moon's

                                                      who knows if the moon's
                                                      a balloon, coming out of a keen city
                                                      in the sky--filled with pretty people?
                                                     (and if you and i should

                                                     get into it, if they
                                                     should take me and take you into their balloon,
                                                     why then
                                                     we'd go up higher with all the pretty people

                                                     than houses and steeples and clouds:
                                                     go sailing
                                                     away and away sailing into a keen
                                                   city which nobody's every visited, where

                                                     always
                                                     its
                                                     spring) and everyone's
                                                     in love and flowers pick themselves

                                                           - e.e. cummings

Two very different views from our house at 9.00 a.m. this morning reminded me of this poem. I was heartily relieved not to see a snow scene, but I don't suppose we'll escape. I'm praying that it comes and goes before the hospital trip on December 7th - if we get snowed in it will be very difficult to get there. (Unless we go by balloon?)

One hundred, one year

2010-11-14T13:58:00.000Z

This may be the closest I get to packing a suitcase in the forseeable future - bought these in the local Post Office because I couldn't resist them. The large is about 8 inches wide and the smaller about 6 inches.

Items I'm packing to send to China Kidz Christmas appeal (see my previous post). Probably the closest I shall ever get to going to China.

Lion's head finished at last - just to prove that I do sometimes finish what I set out to do!

Haven't time today to say all that I would like to about my experience of my first year of blogging. Thank you to everyone who has commented, and all those who just read, for your support and kindness, I really feel that I am among friends. It's been lovely to meet a few of you in person and to correspond with others by email, and I look forward to continuing to do so during the next year, whatever that may bring.

The view from space?

2010-11-06T17:40:00.000Z

Fireworks from the display at the Three Counties Showground - taken from our top floor window about a mile away, through the torrential rain using the camera's own firework setting. I think another time I would experiment for myself and use a tripod but these were very spur of the moment.

Just a quick note

2010-11-04T15:36:00.000Z

To say ....

Please look over on Kate's blog and see if you would like to help with this appeal for China Kidz - they're wanting sweaters, legging (and toys) against the coming winter months

2010-11-04T12:27:00.000Z

The misty grey weather hasn't allowed me to take any really good photos of the wonderful autumn colours on the hills. The leaves are falling now after a few days of rain and wind, but I hope we might get another good day before all the colour goes.

A trip to Dunelm Mill with daughter at the weekend found this rather nice printed fleece throw, which matches very well with the quilt I finished last week. Our bedroom gets a bit chilly in the worst of winter weather so we shall be glad of extra layers - though at the moment it's quite mild here and warm during the night.

The week's been very busy so far. Monday we took M to get her knee brace. Inevitably after only three days wear it's been decreed that it 'isn't any good for ME' (always the stress on my superior requirements) and has gone the way of the walking frame and the perching stool. It has been an excuse to ring all her friends to report its inadequacies and smugly reiterate her total superiority over all help, aids or any attempts to make her or our lives easier.

On Monday I went to M&S and bought M new pyjamas as requested (size 14).. When I got them home I was told she'd meant 12. This is new game, last week a box of choclates to send to friend was the basis of a similar strop and sulk as I hadn't asked for precised directions before I went out, but phoned from the shop when I remembered that she had asked for some to be purchased.

Yesterday, sadly, I had to go to a funeral in Bristol where my family has come from for as far back as I have been able to research (at least 200 years). My cousin's husband died suddenly aged only in his mid fifties. It was a major logistical operation here to borrow a second car - as H also had an unmissable appointment and work out ways for us to cater to M's requirements around these committments. Daughter, fortunately, didn't need her car, which saved me from an awkward train journey ( though she was very cross to be in London yesterday with no tube available), but it meant careful planning to fetch car, not to forget to collect M's prescription, change the pyjamas, and make sure H and M had lunch ingredients, so I could go off on Wednesday. By great time management, I got home in time for her tea at 3.30 (having not been able to go back to the house with my cousin after the funeral ) only to be told that she'd made her own tea at 3.15. For weeks now she has refused to use her kettle because her eyes are too bad, but I have seen her using things very easily so I think the deterioration in eyesight may be a convenient way to stop H and I going out together. I'm dreading the actual operation on her catatract as she's already decided it will be awful and won't work (it's different for ME I have degeneration) although the consultant was totally confident it will.

Finished the hoodie I was knitting in time to take it with me yesterday. Hope it fits. It was lovely to see all my cousins - despite the sad circumstances.

UFOs

2010-10-27T12:07:00.000+01:00

A long time ago, about six years I suspect, I bought a lot of fabric from a sale at Ikea. I started to make a quilt, then several things happened... First of all, my lovely old sewing machine broke halfway along the first line of quilting, and was taken off by a kind repair man for an unspecified length of time - turned out to be about six months. Whilst I waited, I tried my new sewing machine but it kept breaking the needle and I got fed up. Then a set of play costumes intervened. Then H was taken ill and left permanent teaching but needed space to work from home, so my sewing space disappeared,and both machines and a lot of other things including the quilt disappeared into storage. Since we moved here I've had lots of space but have only recently had time to start sorting out.

Over the last few days I've been sorting out boxes and found the quilt (amongst other things) but not the binding, so after a quick trip to the local shop, I eventually finished it and it's now sitting on our bed.

Feeling a bit more inspired, I set to and finished the little rug I'd been knitting in pom-pon wool I bought at the last craft show at the Three Counties showground. It's lovely and soft and I like the colours very much. It just needs a fringe to set it off, so I need to buy some cream chunky wool.

I've started some artwork using the photos I've been collecting for some while now. This is a central door pull from Redworth Hall in Co Durham - a friend found the photo for me.

He's coming on quite nicely - I'm using water soluble wax crayons (Neocolour II by Caran D'Ache). Daughter very kindly bought me some new art materials as in my sorting out efforts I discovered that some paints and inks had dried out whilst also in store. I've also found that I have about twice as many brushes as I thought and several forgotten blocks of water colour paper.

Amongst other things, I've also sewn half the new curtains for my sewing room and knitted two thirds of a hoodie for my cousin's two year old grandson - photo to follow when it's finished.

A friend recommended, then gave me three novels by Laurie R. King. I was sceptical at first at the idea of Sherlock Holmes with a young female partner (and wife), but the books are very entertaining, and I shall certainly track down some more when I've finished these.

Realised today that I have only four more posts until I reach my first hundred, and only just over a fortnight until the blog celebrates its first birthday so I must contrive to combine the two I think.

Still here

2010-10-16T17:29:00.000+01:00

Thank you to the people who emailed to ask if I was OK! I was/am fine but our broadband connection has been sick. In fact we've been suffering a technology blight - we had two evenings with no TV signal last weekend, both computers have been struggling for unknown reasons and the broadband signal has been totally unreliable.

Not a lot has happened over the last fortnight really. I collected my new specs but the pressure in my right eye hasn't dropped so I expect I'll need to go back to the hospital - waiting for optician to write to GP at present. The flowers above, and a lot more, came from my brother-in-law for our anniversary but the deliverers got the date wrong - no matter, they are really beautiful and are lasting well. I also had two huge parcels from Australia containing some of my late sister's things - to our horror the customs charges were about 10 times the value so I shall query them next week. BIL sent payment via Western Union but I'm still appalled by the duty and VAT on items which have purely sentimental value.

I was thinking yesterday that although I haven't seen my brother-in-law for 14 years now, he's been part of my life for 54! My sister was 13 years older than me and I was 4 when she first met him, and 8 when I was a bridesmaid at her wedding. They went to Australia when I was 18. I worry now that he's very isolated as their children live in other far-flung parts of Australia - Skype is a blessing though as we can all communicate without bankrupting ourselves.

Weather has been variable but we've had a few good days, haven't we? Having less problem with the photo uploads now but I don't like the new system at all.

Hope you're having a good weekend. I might get to the Malvern Flea Fair tomorrow - fingers crossed.

The world at your feet

2010-10-04T18:18:00.000+01:00

It's a bit steep on the way up, but once you reach the top, the views from British Camp on the Malvern Hills is breath-taking. If you've got the puff, you can get a 360 degree view of the countryside - right over to the Welsh hills, to Hereford, Bredon Hill and Tewkesbury, and even glimpse the Forest of Dean.

We had the place more or less to ourselves - and the rabbits and crows - and the views were wondeful in today's great weather.

Blogger is still taking forever to upload my photos - anyone else have this problem?, or I would have shared a lot more. Hope these brighten up your day and your weather has been as good today.

2010-10-02T17:36:00.001+01:00

This is a brief post just to say thank you to everyone who commented or emailed to wish us Happy Anniversary - your good wishes were very much appreciated. We had a great dinner at home last night, which everyone enjoyed, so now were off on another year - which we hope will be better.

I've now posted the items that people 'claimed' from my giveaway (yarn, buttons, handles, lace etc). So if you haven't had yours please let me know as I've kept all the proofs of posting. Judith, sorry I haven't been round with the yarn, yet.

The silver lining...?

2010-10-01T15:35:00.000+01:00

Today is our wedding anniversary. We've certainly had the sickness and health, and the richer and poorer, and plenty of better and certainly some worse (especially the last two years of looking after M which would test the bonds of any marriage, however strong). During 35 years of marriage we've both changed - not always for the better, developed in different ways (I'd never get into my wedding dress now) , but kept the committment the same and faced problems with a united front. Luckily, such problems as we've had have been for both of us, not caused by each other.
A quick trawl through Facebook and Friends Reunited shows me that of the people I shared my sixth form school years, the 15 or so 'girls' I knew, are all married and only one has been divorced and re-married. We are fortunate that none of us has so far been widowed. The 'boys' have less fortunate, the majority have been divorced or separated - the exception being the two who married classmates.

Apparently, 35 years is jade or coral - don't see us getting any of either. We're having a family dinner tonight - fortunately we hadn't decided to go out today as it's absolutely throwing down rain and quite cold.

I took several photos of a beautiful morning yesterday - including silver mist and clouds across the horizon.

Blogger's new photo upload system has taken forever to upload these two but you get the idea. Pity today wasn't so lovely but we'll enjoy the day anyway.

Hope you all have a good weekend, whatever the weather.

Life's full of surprises...

2010-09-23T17:01:00.000+01:00

I went to have my eyes tested today - nothing surprising in that I hear you say. This time last year, before I started this blog, I had a strange thing happen to my right eye which no-one ever really explained so I now have to go annually.
My left eye seemed to be getting worse and I was getting quite cross - glasses are so expensive as I have quite a complicated and expensive lens prescription - a new pair makes quite a dent in our monthly finances, and I felt having to cope with M's cataracts was quite enough at present.
Anyway, off I went this morning thinking to myself that it was a good excuse to leave M to H's ministrations and spend time in Worcester. The eye test was incredibly thorough and to my surprise my eyes have improved not deteriorated and my prescription has decreased. I did know that the change caused by age making most people long-sighted could have a beneficial effect if one's short-sighted, but apparently there's been a big change in my eyes - especially the left so I've actually been struggling with specs which are too strong!
So, inevitably, new specs were needed - though I did get quite a nice second pair free. They did find that the pressure in my right eye is a little too high, and I have to have that checked again in a fortnight, which may result in another hospital visit, but may right itself in the meantime.
Now all I have to do is convince H that his complaints about his specs may have the same cause and get him to have an eyetest - especially as he's now over 60 and can get a discount, and find an optician that can provide him with a pair suitable for playing the organ in! (Hopeless in Varifocals as you have to look down to the pedal board to check your feet and up quite high to the musicdesk to read the music, so you're always looking through the wrong bit of the lens, apparently.)

House of Fraser in Worcester is being revamped and its wool and fabric section, now on the top floor, will be much better than before - Rowan wools and Kaffe Fasset and Amy Butler Fabric amongs others, and right next to the new cafe. They're also selling Biba fashion which took me right back to the late 60's early 70's and the old Biba store where I spent many a happy hour!

Thanks to everyone who claimed items I had on offer, some have been posted and I'll get the rest off in a day or so. Lace, guinea pig yarn and book still on offer - I'll take them to charity shop with the rest if I don't get any takers by Monday.

2010-09-20T15:16:00.000+01:00

Some more bit and pieces from the clear out. The larger pink lace is slightly stretchy, there's only a small amount of the fringing. I can measure if anyone's interested. Let me know by Friday if you want any of these or the two items in the previous post. There are also two pairs of bamboo bag handles, one pair is circular about 12 cm in diameter, the other D shaped, about 14.5 cm across the straight end. I hate the feel of them but they may be just what someone else is looking for.

Would anyone like...?

2010-09-11T15:59:00.000+01:00

I've been having a sort out ... well it comes to us all in time, the moment when you can't find something because you've put it somewhere safe and you realise that everything has got into such a muddle you can't see the wood for the trees. As I've been waiting in for some things to be delivered and some to be collected, it seemed like a good idea - not much point trying to sew when you can't hear the doorbell, or work upstairs when you can't get down to the door quickly enough, so I've been systematically going through 'stuff'.
Quite a few things I shall take to the local charity shops, but I thought I'd put one or two things on here. If you see something you like, it's first come first served, no charge. I've got three things to offer today, but keep checking as I expect there to be some more over the next few days.

Firstly, this is a 50g ball of Patons Spirit (75% Acrylic 25% Mohair). Although it's only one ball, it's enough (and plenty) to make this

A dear little guinea pig from a pattern by Debbie Birkin which can be purchased and downloaded here http://www.debibirkin.com/inc/sdetail/136, for £2. (I'd happily throw in a copy but it's copyrighted). It's very realistic when finished - I've given away the two I knitted but they were lovely.

Secondly, still from the knitting stash, three balls of Debbie Bliss cotton dk in fuschia pink. Might make a scarf or table mats - I haven't any pattern. I think this was part of my sister's stash as I have no memory of buying it! Anyone want it?

It's dark and stronger in colour than it looks on screen. I don't know if it's a current colour.

Finally, we've managed somehow to aquire two copies of this book which is the story of Madresfield, a country house which is where Evelyn Waugh wrote Brideshead Revisited and is therefore the inspiration for Brideshead itself and the Marchmain family who lived there. It also has many other claims to fame - connections to Dicken's Bleak House and Elgar's Enigma Variations and many historical events and it has been lived in by the same family for 28 generations. The house had never been left unattended and has no handles to its outer doors! If you've never read Brideshead Revisited I'll find a copy of that too.

That's all now, hope someone will want these - they'll go to the charity shop otherwise. I'll probably have some more to offer next week.

2010-08-25T16:00:00.000+01:00

Worcester taken from here at 11.00p.m

H has gone to see friends in London.
So far today I've hoovered two thirds of the house - including M's room. I've managed to get out on to M's balcony and checked that as I feared, the hand rail is rotting in the far corner (it's not unsafe and she never goes out on it). I've phoned the collecting people to get rid of the walking frame etc. I've cleaned M's shower - the job I hate most. I've phoned round to get someone to quote for a new front door as ours has split. I've made a little something to post to Niki as a pay it forward, which I hope will cheer her up (I'll photo it before it goes and show you later when she's received it). I haven't been to the bank or the Post Office as it's raining cats and dogs.
Now, I'm going to make a cup of coffee and eat a slice of cheese cake, watch some daytime TV or possibly one of a pile of DVDs and finish the button band on a cardigan.
H doesn't get back until 10.00p.m., so I'll have to keep awake to go and pick him up - possibly by boat if this rain doesn't give up soon!

2010-08-14T12:34:00.000+01:00

M has a phobia about birds and especially feathers - she can just about tolerate a bird at a distance through the window but always turns the channel over if birds appear on wildlife programmes. Feathers are even worse. It's fairly easy these days with foam mattresses and polyester filled pillows and duvets, but her hard pressed parents had to change her feather mattress for a flock one when she was a child, and when someone gave her a doll with a feather in its hat, she screamed the place down! The visiting cat found a feather today and helpfully took it to her, so I can well imagine the chaos that ensued that Christmas morning eighty-odd years ago!

When I was a child, all our mattresses were feather - like enormous, fat, oversized pillows, plumped up everyday and bliss to sink down into on a cold night. With these came the ritual of restuffing and changing the ticking which took place at my grandmother's. I've no idea how our mattreses got to Granny's, I suppose my father and older brother took them on their way to work that morning, but as soon as everyone else had left the house, I would be hustled into my coat, clutching a suitable toy, and we'd make the short walk over the railway bridge to Gran's.

On arrival my mother and grandmother would down a sustaining cup of tea and debate which to do first - ours or hers. Then they would begin the preparations. Gran had a completely empty back bedroom - its only contents a large zinc bath. The floor was covered in old sheets. Mum and Gran then donned plastic macs, which reached to the floor, and headscarves, and tied old rags over their shoes- and so did I if they were feeling indulgent, otherwise I was sent off to play. The stitching at the end of the mattress was unpicked and its contents very carefully emptied into the bath - half only for a double mattress. A new or clean ticking mattress case was fetched and the feathers tipped and stuffed into it, the process repeated until all the old feathers had been rehoused. A sack of new feathers was produced and the mattress topped up as felt necessary. One started on sewing up the new mattress while the other unpicked the next. Sneezing was frequent and wiping feathers off one's face, as they floated up at the slightest provocation. By mid-morning, when they stopped for tea, they were both red in the face and dripping sweat because of their clammy plastic coveralls. The floor was covered with a light layer of feathers which had escaped the process. We were all revived by tea and fresh bread and butter, and off they went again, stopping for lunch and mid afternoon tea. By the end of the day the household mattresses were all redone and stacked in the corner - even the floor covering had been shaken off the sheets into the last ticking and the bath was empty. Thanks to the plastic macs, we were all fairly feather free and we went home to get tea for the rest of the family. me clutching a sixpenny piece and a piece of cake, usually. The mattresses had mysteriously reappeared by bed time - plumped up by air and new feathers!

I have never known where the sacks of new feathers came from, or the new ticking cases, but as so many people had feather mattresses there must have been easy sources of supply. To a three or four yearold as I must have been, it was terrific fun but I'm sure my mother found it exhausting - Gran used to say it was like a turkish bath treatment, whatever that might be!

All our feather mattresses disappeared, one by one, during the 1960's - and with them the lovely brass and wooden beadsteads. I'm sure it was a great relief to my mother when Gran, too, got a new flat and swopped to a stylish sprung divan!