Five On Friday.

 It's many years since I did a Five On Friday Post but I'm linking up with  My creative Life. this week, it's a good way to catch up on what's been going on of late.

Before I start I would just like to thank everyone for the comments you left on my last post.  I'm pleased to report that both groups were well attended with 16 attending the Hobby Hub and then 26! attended Udance. It was so nice to see everyone dancing and having fun. 

This leads me on to number one in my five..

1 Health Matters

Regular readers of my blog will know that I slipped a disc back in October 24. You would think that it would be healed by now but unfortunately it's not. I'm still in a lot of discomfort especially after doing any sort of exercise like dancing. 

I did eventually see a GP and he prescribed anti-inflammatory medication and told me to take it three times a day. I wasn't very happy to take it as it irritates the stomach and you have to take it with food six hourly. So if I have breakfast at 8am lunch at 2pm that means dinner won't be until 8pm which is far too late for me. I am managing 2 doses a day only. He says the left side of my back is in spasm. I got to see a physio a week after and she gave me some back strengthening exercises to do, which I'm doing twice a day, that was two weeks ago and nothing has helped so far. I have an appointment for a bone density scan on the 17th but then will have to wait 4 weeks for the result. So watch this space.

2. Garage Door

My very temperamental up and over garage door broke at the beginning of January. I use the garage for storage only as it's far too small to house a car. I have struggled with this door since I moved into this house and decided I needed an electric operated door, but finding someone to install one was proving very difficult, what is it with tradesmen these days. Anyway when the door broke I persisted and eventually found a local company to install the door for me. Two very friendly young lads who talked a lot, promised that they would take the old door away for me and install a new door. To cut a long story short it took three phone calls to actually set a date for them to come. When they did come and it only took them an hour to install da daa...

They assured me that they would be back that afternoon to collect the old door and seal the edges.

It remained there for four days and after three phone calls, one man came to collect it, the struggle he had to get it on the truck was painful to see, I told him that there should have been two of them to lift it and he would hurt his back (see number 2!) but I can't see anything changing anytime soon.

 What about sealing the edges of the garage door I can hear you say, well I'm still waiting, I phoned again this morning and he said today, haha what do you think will they come? again watch this space.

3. Grandchildren

Enough of the moaning something far more pleasant a quick snap of my 3 youngest grandchildren 

Big brother mikey will be turning 7 on the 8th of March too.😀

Louis and Daddy

Little Louis is as cute as can be, he took his first steps last week, he's wearing that little jacket I made back here, 11 years ago! still big for him but he will grow into it.

Julian took his first steps just two weeks ago, another little cutie.

Fridge magnet shots of little Sophie wearing a hat and jacket made by grandma 

It's lovely to see your crochet being put to good use, at least the blanket made by grandma is giving her a hug even if I can't just yet. Do you recognise it? you can find it and how to make it here.

4. Crochet

I have quite a few things on the go at the moment but this is what I have made today

Easter baby hats for babies born on and around Easter, very cute I think, I'm going to make some with bunny ears next.

5, New Yarn

Just feast your eyes on that, bought yesterday, buying yarn is still one of my favourite occupations but after my huge stash busting enterprise back here lessons have been learnt. I still have far too much yarn but I don't buy as much as I once did. This little lot is for my crochet group, the u3a treasurer had gifted the Knitting and crochet groups £50 each to buy yarn for charity projects as our efforts raise the profile of our u3a so it's a win win situation.

If you have managed to get through that lot well done, because I'm not blogging as much there is so much to catch up on, I used to blog three times a week at one stage, I don't know where I found the time.

Have a great weekend. 

The First Week

 The first week of the year has been a week of putting away the Christmas decorations and tidying up.  Everything looks quite empty when the decorations have been put away don't you think? I'm always in the mood for buying something new at the beginning of the year and I'm afraid I've gone a bit over the top this year..

A new runner for the hall, please excuse the dark photos we are living in a grey world right now.

a new rug for the kitchen, something nice and bright to cheer me up.

I bought this photo from a very talented photographer in my u3a photography group a couple of years ago meaning to frame it but not ever getting around to it until now. I love this photo and I think it looks lovely on my wall now that it's framed. 

There have been other bits and pieces like storage containers and this wall hanging

A planter to cheer up my Rubber plant

All quite small and inexpensive items but it does lift the spirits a little to buy something new in this gloomy cold month of January but enough of the cheering up I think I must reign myself in.😉

I have made a start on the baby onesie, requested by my daughter-in-law 

  It's a lovely pattern to follow and very well explained by Simona Crochet on YouTube

This came in the post 

and I have made a start

The yarn for the red and green man socks requested by my friend has arrived and I'm itching to make a start this afternoon, it's so long since I made socks I'm getting quite excited at the thought haha

The flexi hoop arrived for my The Year of Doodles stitchery and it's now hanging in my conservatory..

I found it really hard to place this in the flexi hoop, trying to get it centred while at the same time trying to push the hoop in place it took me several attempts and I have to say I was quite worn out at the end of it, but I do love how this type of hoop keeps the fabric lovely and taught not a wrinkle or crease in sight, it may not be perfectly centred but please don't ask me to take it out and do it again I will live with the slight imperfection haha, if someone has the knack of using these hoops without all the drama I would love to know.😄

What else has happened this week? ah yes a routine trip to the dentist where I was told I need two crowns replacing they have worn through to the metal! so I have a 90 minute!! appointment scheduled for February, 90 minutes in a dental chair, how will I stand it. I'm putting it right out of my mind for now.

Wow so looking back this first week of the year has been quite eventful, next week all u3a activities recommence and I have things on everyday so I'm going to enjoy a peaceful relaxing Sunday afternoon working on my man socks, I hope your first week of the year has been a good one and you have a relaxing Sunday. 😘😘

Linking with Kathy's slow stitching Sunday

A Quick Hello and a CAL

 Hello all you lovely people, I'm just dropping by to say hello and to let you know that I'm fine and still around and to tell you about a new CAL that is coming soon.

 I have lots of issues that I'm trying to deal with at the moment and they are eating up my time.  Some are health related and others are home improvements.

 I am hoping to replace my bathroom and kitchen but it's proving to be more stressful than I ever thought possible. I could write a book about the ups and downs and they haven't even started the work yet, my builder keeps moving the date back so I organise everything for that date then it's pushed back again, now the date is set for around the last week of September.

I'm looking for kitchen reviews, so far I have had a quote from Wren and Howdens so if any of you have had any dealings with them I would like to know or perhaps you could recommend another company, I'm looking for budget range I can't afford high end although it would be lovely if I could.

HoHoHo CAL

It's another one from Rosina Plane the same designer who ran the Flora's Fauna CAL which I took part in and I did finish the blanket which I will show you once I have some decent photos.  

The HoHoHo CAL is starting on the 16th September and runs for 6 weeks.and the price of the pattern is discounted until the end of the CAL with a further reduction from Rosina's Facebook page, you can read all about it here

Wouldn't that make a lovely Christmas gift and if you follow the CAL it will be ready in plenty of time for Christmas. 

In case you are wondering yes I have purchased the pattern you know me I can never resist haha, if you haven't tried Mosaic crochet yet I urge you to give it a go it's so much easier than it looks.

Right I'm off to wash the car, it hasn't been washed for months and it's white so I'm sure that you can imagine the state it's in.

Have a great weekend and I will try to get round to say hi to you all and post more regularly! 😘😘

The Waiting Game

 It feels like I'm in a bit of a limbo at the moment just drifting from day to day but not doing that much.  Gone are the days of decisiveness of writing a list the day before so when I woke up I knew exactly what I was doing and what I needed to do. I think it's because I'm waiting for things to happen...

I'm waiting for the bathroom and kitchen fitter to phone and let me know when he will be starting work on my bathroom/kitchen.

I'm waiting to order the things I need for the bathroom/kitchen but I can't do that until I have a starting date and I know exactly what I need to order and I can't do that until kitchen/bathroom fitter tells me.

I'm waiting for a friend to call as she has asked me to go with her to help her choose tiles for her bathroom floor but she is waiting for the decorator to come to finish painting her walls and for a delivery of furniture.

I'm waiting since March for someone to come and fit my garage door, phone calls have gone back and forth for months and I'm still waiting, time to draw a line under this particular waiting game and find another company I think.

I'm waiting for someone to do something about my faded composite door, again phone calls have gone back and forth, photos have been taken and sent to manufacturer and then nothing, we await a response, perhaps until the guarantee runs out and that will put them in the clear, hmm.

I'm waiting to hear if family are coming this weekend so that I can plan and buy the food that would be needed or indeed plan something else if she they aren't coming.

I'm waiting for the u3a Garden Group Leader to approve an information leaflet I have written so that I can send it to those who are going to the next garden outing. 

I'm waiting for the rain to stop so that I can get out into the garden and do some work in there.

You know I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the gist, what are you waiting for? I would love to see your list, I'm sure that I'm not alone.

Have a great sunshiny weekend. 😘😘

A Baby Blanket a Garland and Other News

 Things seem to be quietening down in blogland at the moment which is to be expected when many of us are enjoying Spring and the better weather, who wants to sit indoors writing a blogpost when the outside beckons.  With this in mind you will have to excuse me if I seem to disappear for long stretches of time I want to make the most of the Spring/Summer for as long as it lasts.

Even my crocheting has slowed down, there's just not enough hours in the day, the last thing I made was this corner2corner rainbow blanket.

A rainbow blanket is given to parents who have had a live healthy baby(rainbow baby) following a previous pregnancy loss.

I totally forgot to show you my Spring garland so here it is..

It looks so pretty hanging up in my hallway, I intend to make a similar one for Summer.  I found the pattern for this in a magazine but Lucy from Attic24 has one that is nearly the same and you can find that pattern here.

I have nothing on my hook at the moment can you believe it! I have lots of idea's spinning in my mind but haven't quite settled on any one particular thing.  I have lots of patterns that are mere scribbles in a notebook waiting to be written up too but that will need lots of time and concentration both of which are in very short supply at the moment.

Other news

The embroidery continues and should be finished soon.

My fence is finished at last, he appeared yesterday evening and put the screws in from the neighbours side and neatened the tops of the posts, now I can paint the fence and tidy the poor neglected border.

I loved my red composite front door when it was installed but now its fading after just four years, luckily its still under guarantee, I have informed the company who installed it and am waiting to see what happens next, has anyone else had this problem? 

I'm still waiting for my new garage door to be installed, they now say it will be next week, we shall see. 

My daughter-in-law has just informed me that little Mikey my grandson has Scarlett fever and so has she which means of course my son will probably get it too. They are taking antibiotics so hopefully it will clear up without any complications.

You will be pleased to know that's the end of my ramblings for now but I will be back when I can, even if the posts are short or just to say a quick hi.😊

Take care until next time.😘😘

A Bit Of Garden Chat and Other News

 I'm quite restricted about what I can grow in my garden because the soil quality is so poor.  I have heavy clay soil and very little of it, when I dig down I'm lucky if I find a spades depth of top soil before I hit hard clay, bricks and rocks underneath. I have also got trees on the rear outside boundary of my property and the roots have spread a good distance into my garden so they make digging any sort of substantial  flower bed impossible.

I had great plans for this corner, I intended to dig a corner bed, I had it measured out and had even bought the edging for it.  When I tried to dig however I was met with hard thick roots far too difficult for me to deal with and so I had to compromise.  I have found that unless you have unlimited cash or a strong man at your disposal compromise is key.

All of these plants are in containers, the conifer at the back is in a planter and I'm hoping that the roots will be able to penetrate down through the mangle of tree roots underneath. The fatsia is planted in a trug, after reading Linda's post about open bottomed pots it gave me the idea of cutting out the base of the trug which was cracked anyway and planting the fatsia in that and hopefully the roots will find a way. One advantage of having pots is that they can be changed around to give each plant a spot in the limelight.

As you can see I am letting my lawn grow and I love the clover, I used to cut the grass every week to ten days or so and now I'm leaving it for three weeks, it's lovely to see the bees flitting from flower to flower. Can you see the flower spikes on the cordyline? They are very pretty when they first open and the scent fills the garden it's quite powerful and the bees love it. I remove the spike as soon as it has stopped flowering as the plant looks very tired and looses lots of it's leaves, unfortunately I can't reach those at the back so I have only managed to remove one this year.

It's amazing how quickly the garden changes even from day to day at this time of year. This is my garden today, the pictures above were taken a week ago. Can you see the purple clover next to the little apple tree? I left it to grow and cut around it when I did cut the grass, I'm going to see if I can add clusters of wild flowers into the lawn for next year.  The apple tree has only a few apples this year it's usually laden but it means that the apples will be bigger and they usually taste lovely.

The three stone tortoises have had a make over this year as they were looking very tired, I painted them with acrylic paint and then varnished them to protect them from the elements, and waiting in the wings....

The rabbit family, I'm trying to decide which colours to paint them, all suggestions welcomed. 

This is the third year that little pot of yellow pansies has flowered, I think they look lovely with the hosta as a backdrop.

This morning finds the sweet peas crying out to be picked, the orange lilies shining in the background  and my tumberlina tomatoes ripening quite nicely I should have a harvest very soon.

A little posy of flowers from my garden

In other news

• I lost a hearing aid! it's so easy to loose them when wearing a mask, every time you take your mask off the hearing aid comes out too so you have to be so careful, obviously I wasn't careful enough this time, but luckily I didn't have long to wait for a replacement and it was free but next time I'll have to pay £75 I hope that there won't be a next time!
• I still haven't got my refund for the treadmill! it wasn't on my credit card statement again this month, I have been in touch with them and they have asked for statement evidence which I have given them. I await a reply.
• I have been to Manchester with my daughter to visit my nephew and his family, it was lovely to see them and we stayed in a nice hotel overnight it had an amazing view if the city, it looks quite drab in the photo as it was a dull cloudy day. It's amazing how going away even for a short break does you the world of good especially if you can connect with loved ones.

• For yesterdays walk, Baz and I took the train to Seaton Carew which is about a 25 minute ride away and walked along the promenade back to Hartlepool, we stopped half way for coffee in a lovely café right on the sea front and then continued on to Hartlepool where we had lunch of fish n chips, not exactly healthy when the whole purpose of the walk was supposed to help us keep fit! we had a walk around Hartlepool Marina and then took the train back home clocking 18,450 steps not bad at all I think. 

The weather has been lovely of late cloudy but nice and warm long may it continue! I hope that you all have a lovely weekend. 

Inspiration.

Thank you for all of your lovely comments it really is great to connect with you all again.  

January can be a bit of a depressing month I think, it's cold and dull I'm really fed up of the dreary dark days we are experiencing I feel as if I'm living my life in the twilight zone but to keep afloat we always have to think of the positives so here are some of mine..

The nights are getting lighter we may not feel it yet but every day makes a little difference.

Although Spring seems a long way away I can see life stirring in my garden with the first spring bulbs sending up their shoots.

There are some really great new KALs, SALs and CALs  to inspire us, as I have journeyed around blogland this past week I have noticed that some of you are wondering what to make for your next project. I always feel happy when I have some great project on the go there's nothing better than a 'make along' for putting  a spring in my step and crochet hook 😄 these are what I've found and have started already..

Lucy From Attic 24 has started her Sweet Pea CAL you can find part one here

Maria from Underground Crafter has started a SAL part one can be found here and her Finishing Touches KAL information here

Are you following any of these ? if so I would love to see your work and if you have news of any other follow along's I would love to hear about them too.

Unfortunately because of my tennis elbow or  lateral epicondylitis (which sounds much more serious and more worthy of sympathy😂)  I'm still finding it hard to do much, I am doing stretches (thank you for your kind and expert advice Meredith) but I fear it's going to take some time. 

I am plodding on with the sweater the front is done and I've started to work on the second sleeve as I told you in my last post I have started making a crochet one too. This is a very simple design which I'm just really making up as I go, I took the size from a sweater which I have already and I'm hoping it will be wearable once I'm finished.

I went to my favourite yarn store to spend some birthday money which my brother had given me.  There was so much sale yarn I nearly swooned! but I was so good I only bought enough to make the sweater this is what's left out of 10 balls so I'm making good progress.

 It crochets up beautifully and has a lovely soft texture, I'm hoping that the lovely variegated colours of the yarn will make up for the simplicity of the design.

I have also some great news for those who used to follow Love Made My Home Amy is back! it was so lovely to see her blog post earlier this week. I'm looking forward to reading more of her posts in the future. 

Something for me.

Hello all you lovely people I can't tell you just how much I have missed my blog but finding the time to actually write a blog post totally eluded me for the best part of last year there seemed to be so much going on.  
I have noticed with sadness that many of our blogging friends have stopped blogging altogether but that is a sign of the times I fear as our lives get busier with the ever increasing demands on our time. 
I am going to try to write more on here this year I have so much to share with you but please forgive me if the posts come in fits and starts.  I would like to thank those of you who have asked after me and have said that you have missed my posts it means a lot. xx

So lets start with what I'm making right now, as you know most of the things I make are made for charity but recently I have been making some things for myself too.  I started knitting a sweater a few months ago but discovered that knitting was hurting my elbow😒 I have had problems in the past with aching joints all related to overindulging in my passion for crafting.  Can you imagine a life without knitting or crochet I'm afraid I can't and will battle on until I can't manage to crochet or knit another stitch. Anyway back to the sweater I decided that moderation is key and so restrict myself to short knitting sessions I'm sure that it will get finished one day.

November 2015 issue 139

I don't know if you guys are like me but I love a craft book or magazine and have collected quite a number of them over the years and I can't bring myself to throw them away, every now and then I look through them and promise myself that I will make something out of them and that's how the making of the jumper came about...

I have been wanting to make this for quite a while as you can tell by the issue date but have always managed to talk myself out of it like, I'll never get it finished or I'll probably hate it when it's finished or I should really be making things for charity, but this time I just jumped in and ordered the yarn motivated by the fact that I can never find anything I like in the shops, either I hate the colours or the style, nothing seems to look right of course that could be because I have an ever expanding stomach and I swear I'm not eating anymore than I used to do, I'm putting it down to age and a slower metabolism. 😂

I love the colour of this soft squishy yarn and now I have it I can't let it go to waste and must finish the sweater, luckily this is a basic style that never goes out of date. I have managed to finish a sleeve, the back and am halfway up the front, it's such an easy pattern that I can knit quite easily while watching TV in the evenings I allow myself an hour a day.

Luckily crochet doesn't seem to affect my joints as much as knitting does and I have made all sorts over the past year which I hope to show you, but would you believe I'm now making a crochet sweater for myself talk about overindulgence two sweaters for me! I'll tell you all about that one later.

What are you starting or carrying over into 2019?

I'm Still Here!

Just popping in to say a quick hello, last Thursday was moving day for me and as I'm sure you all probably know watching them load your worldly possessions into a van is quite stressful. I looked on the long term weather forecast before booking and chose a dry day, all I can say is don't trust the long term weather forecast this is what I woke up to..

Added to which they arrived half an hour late by which time I had convinced myself I'd booked the wrong day, fortunately they eventually arrived and three and a half hours later most of my possessions were safely installed in my new home.

I asked the guys to put all the boxes and bags in the garage and place the furniture in it's appropriate room. I'm now trying to fit my possessions into a much smaller space, the bedroom furniture had all been dismantled and had to be put back together again,  it's going to take a while to sort it all out. thank goodness I have a garage now but I think it's going to be a while before my poor car gets to see inside.

I have left a small amount of furniture in my old place and am having to spend odd days there too, there's still a lot of stuff to clear out in fact twenty years of accumulated rubbish, this is certainly a big lesson for me, I have taken car loads to recycling and I'm sure I must have given the charity shops enough stock to last them for years and there is still a way to go!

On top of all that it was my Birthday last Monday and in between everything else a gal has to celebrate reaching the grand age of 65! where has all the time gone? it doesn't seem five minutes since I was celebrating my sixtieth.   Another lesson, enjoy life to the full because the time just goes in the blink of an eye.

The WiFi in my new place won't be up and running until mid December so I'm having to rely on a WiFi hotspot which is very hit and miss but I will be around to visit  you guys whenever I'm able.

Have a great weekend. 😊

The New Year, Resolutions Anyone?

So what are everyone's plans for 2017 have you made any resolutions? There's something about the beginning of a new year that make folk determine that this year is going to be better. It's good to have these positive thoughts because after all the planning and preparation of Christmas and New Year suddenly there's nothing just a dreary dark January to look forward to.

I don't usually make resolutions because I know for a fact that they will fall by the wayside and then I'll feel bad for not keeping them. This year is a strange one for me because things have changed, I no longer have to go to work.  I can't tell you just how odd that feels, although those of you who have retired will know exactly what I mean.  Although I only worked part time my life sort of revolved round those working days, I got things done today because I knew that I had work tomorrow. 

I now have to prepare my home for the onslaught of various workmen who are going to repair the flood damage after my burst pipe in December, I think that they are going to start the work next week I may have to move out until it's done, place yet to be determined.  

So things are rather up in the air right now, I will resolve to declutter once the house is back to normal that's one resolution I always make and never keep, along with the I will not buy any yarn until I've bust my stash, I always mean it at the time.😊

I have started and completed a sweater for myself over the holidays this was the start of it....

More details as soon as I take some photo's.

Hope you all have a great week!

Christmas gifts and a bit of a catch up.

I can't believe it's a week since I posted the time has just flown by, the workers have been in today planning the work that needs to be done at the beginning of the New Year.  Apparently I have asbestos in my living room and hall floor tiles. They don't seem that concerned and are talking about checking the condition of the floors when the carpets are up and sealing them rather than pulling them all up. It would have probably been a different story if it had been found in the ceilings. 
A huge dehumidifier is humming away in my living room I can't help but think it should really have been there two weeks ago but apparently they wouldn't have put it there until the asbestos tests came through anyway. 

So I'm going to try and make my home as nice as I possibly can do for over the Christmas period for my lovely son who will be home from Cambridge next Wednesday I may even get the small tree down from the loft.  

I have even managed to finish some gifts for my friends....

I always like to give them a small crochet gift it's usually a christmas tree decoration but this year I made something a little bit different..

 Lacy bookmarks

 You can find the pattern for these pretty bookmarks on Olga's blog here, it's ages since I tried to crochet with fine thread and it was a bit of a challenge, they aren't as neat as they should be but my friends won't mind.

Well tomorrow is my very last day at work it's going to be very hard to say goodbye, it feels so strange to think that I need never go to work again and that the Day Unit will cease to exist. 

A farewell meal of fish and chips with my lovely friends and colleagues yesterday, followed by a huge slice of coffee and walnut cake we are going out in style.😊