A bit of a grumble

 Regular readers of my blog may remember that I bought a treadmill back in January with the money my daughter gave me for Christmas.  I have been using it twice a day since then and have really felt the benefits (once I got over the aching knees of course). I usually walk on it early morning and late afternoon, the other day it decided to give me an a mild (thank goodness) electric shock and then stop mid workout.  I'm annoyed because although I've only had it a short time I have managed to up my fitness levels to some small degree and once I stop a routine I find it's hard to get back into it again. 

I phoned the company and they are sending me a returns label and then they say someone will come to collect it, I will get a refund once they receive it, they don't do repairs and they have no more of them in stock.  I was quite impressed with the customer services they dealt with it immediately but I'm sad that my treadmill has died so quickly. 

In the meantime a friend has lent me an exercise bike which I hate but will try to use until I can get a treadmill replacement,  the bike in question is very basic and the seat is so hard! I tried placing a cushion on the seat but but it kept slipping off 😂 anyway it's forcing me to get out and about more which would be ok if the weather was warmer, we had frost as I set out this morning but luckily no rain and the sun was shining, I just love this view, the walk down to the beach with the sea in the distance

I even saw a friend on the way and stopped for a chat but at eight in the morning thankfully, there's not too many people about....

I left a member of the snail trail at the cave entrance for someone to find

When you've walked a while, climbing these stairs can be pretty tough I had to stop a few times on the way up so still some way to go as far as fitness is concerned.

I decided to walk back past St John Church I love going into the graveyard and looking at the ancient headstones, the inscriptions on many are too worn to read now.

The path to the dene is just opposite the church 

It's lovely to see signs of Spring even if the weather is still chilly

Crochet

I have started the Patchwork CAL and in the main I'm enjoying it, but I'm trying to decide which is the best way to deal with all the ends, there are several methods and I'm in the process if trying them all, it's slowed me down quite a bit but I think that I will stick to what I have always done and that is weave them in every couple of rows.  You can crochet on top of them but that tends to distort your work at the sides. 

I have used what is called the endless overlay crochet method with the second square and it's ok but I prefer to see the right side of the stitches on each row and because you work on both sides it's a bit tricky to get your treble placements correct there's a few mistakes there too and I'm going to have to pull it back a few rows.

I always enjoy trying out new methods of doing things but it is time consuming, that second square isn't quite finished yet and there are three patterns released each week  so I'm well behind but in no hurry so it doesn't really matter. I will enjoy starting my third square this weekend, if I manage to complete two a week I think that's ok, there are twenty squares altogether but I haven't even decided what size blanket to make so I may not need them all. 

We are promised a weekend of heavy rain and strong winds so I will be sitting cosy inside with my crochet and sewing, there may be a stone or two painted too. I hope that your weather is better than what we are promised and that you all have a great weekend.