I really seem to have my Knickers in a twist today. It all stems from Sunday night, one of the cooks had a half day holiday and just vanished at 2.00 am, as nobody had the sense or decency to tell me never mind ask If I could cope, I thought he had gone for break. I was very busy doing fast cooks and sorting out the storage area to get my stuff to cook so I took no notice whatsoever of the other line. I did eventually click that it was not running but as there were two senior ops working decided that if they couldn't be bothered then neither could I. It was hot and sticky, the fans were not even stirring the air and I was feeling the effects.
When someone finally asked me why I wasn't running both lines I popped, gave my best shot of vitriol and carried on doing my line. I left at 5.30 as I had not stopped for a break still in a major snot and with a raging headache to boot.
When I got home I had a cup of tea and went straight to bed and woke early with headache firmly in place, 2 lots of "parrotseatemall" and I just began to feel almost human.
I slummocked round the cottage under a black cloud and achieved very little. I got a tub of meatballs in my dark barbecue sauce from the freezer and did jacket potato with them. I managed to finally select and cut the fabric for the last 2 sides of the Hug Quilt blocks and will sew them later.
I got to work last night to find Michael in the middle of an asthma attack so came straight home with him, it took a while for him to stabilise but we were in bed before midnight.
I slept and woke and dozed and woke on and off and got up quite early feeling unrefreshed. I scooted round the cottage, took Ben out, sorted a pile of ironing ready to do and remembered that I have a parcel to post so off I went. somewhere along the way I lost track of time and was convinced that it was over 2 hours later.
So I made coffee, sat down and had a blog reading session and caught my breath.
Now I feel fit to tackle the ironing and will watch something recorded on the sky box, once finished I am going to have a baking session before I sew my strips on The Hug.
I am still feeling decidedly miffed at TPTB at work and goodness help them if I have any C##p tonight,
as the (sort of) saying goes C##p on me once, shame on you. C##p on me twice shame on me. There will be no shame on me!
On better note, and I should have started with this, I have some new followers and I have found a new blog to follow, I will share with you another day as If I do not start the ironing it will not be started. I know that Francesca does it at the weekend but there is a pile and she is still not herself.
Reasons to be grateful
1. A lovely bright day but a bit cooler.
2. A lovely new blog to read.
3. Michael feeling better.
4. Ben being all cuddly.
5. A plan for the future finalised and ready to be put into action.( more at a later date)
Enjoy what is left of your day. TTFN Pam
Followers
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Sunday, 28 July 2013
The Hug Quilt Grows.
Happy Sunny Sunday
A beautiful morning after last nights rain, all clean and shiny!
I did a little more sewing on the Hug Quilt yesterday and am very pleased with it so far. I have planned (sort of) the next fabric to use but of course once I get it under the needle anything might happen. Now I will never admit to saying this but ..........................sometimes just sometimes I think that I have too much fabric to choose from. GULP.
Anyhow have a look. This is the block so far with the next possible row.
A beautiful morning after last nights rain, all clean and shiny!
I did a little more sewing on the Hug Quilt yesterday and am very pleased with it so far. I have planned (sort of) the next fabric to use but of course once I get it under the needle anything might happen. Now I will never admit to saying this but ..........................sometimes just sometimes I think that I have too much fabric to choose from. GULP.
Anyhow have a look. This is the block so far with the next possible row.
Step one you add a little gray.
Step two you try a little blue.
Step three you add a little brightness
Well that sure seems like heaven to me
Or Does It?
How about
The jury is out and I am going to have another rootle through the Stash
As I sew the rows on I use leaders and enders, these are blocks of fabric that sit under the needle at the end of each row meaning that I save on thread. I could use a couple of scraps until there is more thread than fabric then chuck them and pick 2 more bits. But waste not want not and being a scrapaholic I do this.
All the little squares and strips from my cutting get slowly stitched together and they grow, boy do they grow.
You will see that here and there I have put a pop of colour that does not appear in the quilt, this is just to add a little interest and because it was there when my hand dipped into the scrap bin. When the block are done, there is a way to go yet as I want them quite big, I will sew all these scrappy blocks together and make cushion covers. When I sit up in bed with a mug of tea and the lap top I find that a cushion in the small of my back makes it more comfortable so when I sew a quilt I try to make at least two cushions.
Food Update
I have been pretty good about sticking to my plan, however on Friday I started sewing at around 12.30 and it was gone 6.00 before I realised that I had eaten and drunk nothing all afternoon, I was so focused on my sewing. Michael had gone to Nathans ( my work partner) to build a picnic bench and I lost track of the time. It was only Francesca ringing me that brought me back to reality.
I had some chicken and salad with a freshly made bread roll. Oh yes while sewing I made a batch of bread. 1 Kg white flour, 200g Rye flour, 1tsp sugar 2tsp salt.10g easy cook yeast and I used some flat cider diluted with water as the liquid, yummy!
Any how Saturday I did exactly the same, I had a banana for breakfast with half a mango and much later realised that it was nearly dinner time.
Jacket spuds in the ding oven to part cook while the oven went on, Francesca had made a batch if choc chunk cookies so it was not completely cold, What's that? why choc chunk? easy we had no chocolate chips, waste of money, she chopped a bar of basic chocolate into chunks, much better.
We had jacked potato with cold roast pork and a pile of salad, I had the smallest potato 1 small slice of meat and a heap of salad (free from work!). all good so far . then disaster struck
In the freezer I have some ice cream, not just any ice cream, Ben and Jerry's Phish Food oooooh
I have to tell we had Ice cream sandwiches made with the cookies.
WICKED and probably two days worth of calories and a months worth of sugar but sooooo goooood.
and after all "we're worth it"
That is it for today I am into the garden for a while then a bit more , sew, press,cut , rinse and repeat.
Dinner today is IFFITS and I will not be held responsible.
Reasons to be grateful.
1. Francesca's cookies, so naughty so nice.
2. Michael out of my hair allowing me to sew with no distractions.
3. A good night at work, early finish and in bed by 4.00am.
4. A cool morning to get out in the garden.
5. A trip to Button Up and Stitch tomorrow to get batting for The Hug.( there is every chance that some pretties may fall in my bag)
TTFN Pam
Saturday, 27 July 2013
A Quilt Is On The Way,and other delights.
A wonderful start to the day.
The postie was early today and brought me some pretties.
The postie was early today and brought me some pretties.
The vintage sheet fat quarters that I won from Sharon. Beautifully soft and perfect for a Baby Quilt so if anyone is expecting a new addition and would like a bespoke quilt you know where to come.
I asked for scraps of fabric a while ago as mine were getting "samey" and Frugally Challenged answered my plea.
Some new colours and prints for me to have fun with, and check out the pile on the right.
A tidy stack of fussy cut Christmas fabric, I will be turning these into a present for me, a Tablecloth with these on a red background I think. I would love to use white but could not boil wash and so will go for red.
I have been thinking about someone for a little while who is going through a period of worry, there is nothing that anyone can do to help really, it is just a matter of waiting for the situation to be dealt with accordingly.
Now all that can be given is hugs and good wishes, you may have gathered that my version of a hug is quilt shaped. I had a look through my stash and started like this.
20 blocks will make a nice sized quilt and I decided on a log cabin type block, for a few reasons, I like order and so does the recipient, also the fabric is the feature not a fancy pants design that is convoluted and "showy". This does have it's place but this quilt is about comfort and safety and that calls for simple and ordered, in my mind anyway.
I chain piece these to cut down on fabric and thread waste then cut and trim to size.
This is how it looks now, I have to "hands up" to more haste less speed and if you look at the front block you will see that I have to do a little unpicking! It will not take long and I will have another sewing session later. I want this quilt finished by Friday so that I can deliver it.
My only problem is that the recipient does not know about this and I am not sure what their reaction may be.
How would you feel if it were you, would you think it an imposition or be embarrassed, would you accept that from me it is a normal gesture as a bunch of flowers would be from a keen gardener. I would appreciate some feedback on this, the last thing I want to do is make somebody uncomfortable.
Reasons to be grateful
1. My new fabrics to drool over.
2. Early morning tea in bed.
3. The smell of bacon ( Michael s breakfast)
4. Another mug of tea mmmmmm
5. Slobbing on the sofa with Francesca watching the Big Bang valentines episode.' drinking............TEA.
That's it for now, please give me some feedback on my quilt conundrum. TTFN Pam
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Frugal Food and Scrappy Sewing
Here we are again, I have spent 2 evenings playing with scraps, sheets of copier paper and the Toyota.
This is one batch all trimmed and ready to go.
It is 1 leek, 1 red chilli, 1 small orange pepper, 1 small onion and some celery, I stripped the leaves to mix into some salad.
I sweated it off in some of the jeliied chicken stock from Sunday and added 3 cloves of garlic that I grated.
This is one batch all trimmed and ready to go.
The second batch complete with trimmings.
Looking at them fanned out convinced me to turn the next batch into a Dresden Fan, but I will be cutting the papers into fan blades. Even though it is scrap fabric I am not about to waste any.
I just have to decide on the layout and get these stripped of the papers and sewn together.
I decided to have a fast frugal dinner last night , I did not feel up to too much faffing and none of us really could be bothered about food.
This meant that dinner had to be light, tasty and quick. I foraged through the fridge and assembled this.
It is 1 leek, 1 red chilli, 1 small orange pepper, 1 small onion and some celery, I stripped the leaves to mix into some salad.
I had the garlic from last weeks shopping 3 heads reduced to 15p and the Philly was on offer for £1 in the Co op and I had a 50p off voucher cool!
Once the veg was soft I threw in some shredded chicken, from Sunday and stirred in the Philly. a dollop more stock until it was like this.
In the meantime I cooked some of this
Whole wheat Fusilli from Mr T's emporium, less than £1 a pack and I used 1/4 of a pack.
I have not bothered to work out the veg as it was all yellow stickered but it must be around 25p
The Philly was 50p and the pasta at most 30p. I used 1 chicken leg, the chickens were RTC at £1.50 so that makes it 40p at most giving me a total of £1.45
The bag of salad was 25p and we used 2/3rd so I will call it 20p bringing my total cost to £1.65 for 3 adult meals and enough for a packed lunch for Francesca. If you count that as a half portion each serving cost the sum of 47.14p.
It was very tasty, took 10 minutes to cook, used a knife, a chopping board, a microplane 1 saute pan 1 saucepan and the spoon and spatula. So minimal "leccy" and not much washing up, 3 full tums and a future lunch.
If I had paid £1 for the philly it would have been 61.42p per portion and still good value. I would normally use Mr T's own brand, bought the plain, it is the cheapest and used my own herbs but either way it is a cheap meal.
On the subject of frugal food, have you checked out A girl called Jack ?, a compelling blog full of the most frugal food I have come across.
reasons to be grateful
1. Bertie still in our minds eye and in our hearts.
2. Ben carrying on as normal.
3. Another gentle rain overnight.
4. A trip to Mr S's emporium to find lots of bargains.
5, 12p a litre off petrol because I spent £40. damn right I did to the penny!
That will help Francesca out next time she fills up.
Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts yesterday, they helped enormously.
Time to take Ben out before I brew up. TTFn Pam
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
The Sad Day Is Today
Bertie left us at 11.45 this morning,he had been deteriorating steadily for some time and gave up the fight today.
He was a tiny little dog but has torn a huge chunk from my heart, Ben is hiding under the coffee table and refuses to come out, I wish I could join him.
I know that it seems insensitive and that I swore no more dogs, but Ben has never been an only dog, at one point he was one of 4. We will have to monitor him and discuss it.
I will be back tomorrow to share my frugal foodie post.
TTFN Pam
He was a tiny little dog but has torn a huge chunk from my heart, Ben is hiding under the coffee table and refuses to come out, I wish I could join him.
I know that it seems insensitive and that I swore no more dogs, but Ben has never been an only dog, at one point he was one of 4. We will have to monitor him and discuss it.
I will be back tomorrow to share my frugal foodie post.
TTFN Pam
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Tasty Tuesday Treats
It is official, I have got to get this weight off! I do not intend to starve! I do not intend to spend pounds to lose pounds! I am not going to live on juice for yonks! no matter how tasty it is, I need my fibre ( no explanations needed!)
I have been reading about the Channel 5 program on the Australian Man who drove a juicer around America. Not literally but you know what I mean. We have a juicer and use it at times and will continue to do so.
I am cutting meat and solid dairy products out totally, that will hurt I love cheese. We use either skimmed or 1% milk so that will stay. I eat a wide range of fruit and veg and will increase that, oh and before I forget I am going to reduce the amount of bread that I eat as well. The carbs in my meals will be wholewheat pasta, brown rice and pulses, these will also give me protein.
Francesca will continue to eat as normal, Michael will eat much the same as me with the addition of meat and cheese, at 5. 10" and a 32" waist ( nearer 30" really) he has no worries. Considering that he is sitting beside me munching through a large bag of m&m,s and started his day with a KitKat Chunky he should be a roly poly!
Dinner today is this.
Kidney beans, chick peas,garden peas just blanched. Carrots, celery, and onion cooked under yesterday's bacon chops in value cider and some "warm" spices.
I have made a simple salad dressing to pour over. Michael will have this with his.
That is not skin on the top slice but the residue from the garlic and lemon butter that I pushed under the
breast skin before cooking on Sunday.
I picked up 2 of these at the Co op and we will have 1 today with some of these.
Combined with this.
I got this for my store cupboard .
I use breadcrumbs in a few recipes but would not dream of buying them.
Reasons to be grateful
1. My garden brightened up by last nights rain.
2. The sounds of the birds chirruping to each other.
3. Having Francesca at home for the day.
4. A pile of books from the Library to keep me entertained.
5. An unexpected night off work tonight.
I have a frugal foodie post for tomorrow and now I am going to press a heap of fabric scraps and play with my Toyota.
If any of you are following the "juice" diet let me know what you are juicing, what it tastes like and how you are getting on with it. I am verynosey interested.
here we go again,
And now the time has come TTFN Pam.
PS I did like Sinatra and still listen to him but not " that song" .
I have been reading about the Channel 5 program on the Australian Man who drove a juicer around America. Not literally but you know what I mean. We have a juicer and use it at times and will continue to do so.
I am cutting meat and solid dairy products out totally, that will hurt I love cheese. We use either skimmed or 1% milk so that will stay. I eat a wide range of fruit and veg and will increase that, oh and before I forget I am going to reduce the amount of bread that I eat as well. The carbs in my meals will be wholewheat pasta, brown rice and pulses, these will also give me protein.
Francesca will continue to eat as normal, Michael will eat much the same as me with the addition of meat and cheese, at 5. 10" and a 32" waist ( nearer 30" really) he has no worries. Considering that he is sitting beside me munching through a large bag of m&m,s and started his day with a KitKat Chunky he should be a roly poly!
Dinner today is this.
Kidney beans, chick peas,garden peas just blanched. Carrots, celery, and onion cooked under yesterday's bacon chops in value cider and some "warm" spices.
I have made a simple salad dressing to pour over. Michael will have this with his.
That is not skin on the top slice but the residue from the garlic and lemon butter that I pushed under the
breast skin before cooking on Sunday.
I picked up 2 of these at the Co op and we will have 1 today with some of these.
They were in a value bag and cost 20p each.
When the chickens came out of the oven on Sunday, I popped a tray of broken up bread crusts in to dry in the residual heat.
I use breadcrumbs in a few recipes but would not dream of buying them.
Reasons to be grateful
1. My garden brightened up by last nights rain.
2. The sounds of the birds chirruping to each other.
3. Having Francesca at home for the day.
4. A pile of books from the Library to keep me entertained.
5. An unexpected night off work tonight.
I have a frugal foodie post for tomorrow and now I am going to press a heap of fabric scraps and play with my Toyota.
If any of you are following the "juice" diet let me know what you are juicing, what it tastes like and how you are getting on with it. I am very
here we go again,
And now the time has come TTFN Pam.
PS I did like Sinatra and still listen to him but not " that song" .
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Slothlike on Sunday
I was just flicking through my latest copy of SEW trying to come up with a cast iron excuse reason to make a Tilda Dolly while enjoying a cup of tea, kindly made by Michael, when i glanced at the clock. OMG would you just look at the time half past FOUR!
Mind you dinner is on the go, there are two chickens, both with oodles of home made garlic and lemon butter stuffed under their skins, cooking away under a foil tent. I will remove this for the last 15 minutes or so to let the garlicky skin crisp up, cooks perks don't you know. There are 3 potatoes in their skins in there also and a big tub of coleslaw in the fridge together with a romaine lettuce from the garden.
We are not greedy enough to eat 2 chickens but I plan a chicken and leek pie for Tuesday and some chicken and pasta meals for Francesca's packed lunches.
I was thinking that I have had a lazy, indulgent day . then I made a mental list of just what I had achieved.
1. a shopping trip to get a bulb for my cooker hood, it blew yesterday.
2. emptied the large coffee table ( you couldn't see any wood) and disposed of all the clutter.
3. tidied the material storage in the bedroom, hoovered and got 2 boxes out to sort through after dinner.
4. hoovered through downstairs and dusted and polished.
5. sorted through 2 boxes of junk and um junked it.
6. emptied the dust containers on both hoovers and cleaned the filters.
7. Wrapped the giveaway fabric ready to get in the post to Anne.
8. wrapped a gift to send to Poland tomorrow.
9. emptied a sewing box of years worth of detritus ready for the CS. the box silly not the rubbish
10. gathered a car boot full of unwanted items to go to said CS.
WOW not such a SLOTH after all.
I watched a new tutorial on the Missouri Star Quilt Co site this morning and fell in love with the pattern, so I will probably be off to my LQS in Wisbech some time this week for some white yardage and hopefully some turquoise.
I want to do some more scrappy paper pieced blocks and I will need to stand at the ironing board for a while, I do try to keep them flat but do not succeed very often. I may have to pull some oddments from my stash to infuse some new colours, it is all looking a bit samey. I bought a scrap bag off eBay but the pieces were all childrens novelty prints and big pieces, so they are now earmarked for an I spy floor quilt.
Two weeks more of 5 day weeks at work and then back to 3 days and lots of sewing for me. Yabba Dabba Doo!!!
I have withdrawal symptoms, I dream in fabric and woke up yesterday convinced that I had been to Wisbech and filled the car to the roof. It was quite a let down to realise that it was a dream.
I would have been sewing all day but I took advantage of the cooler weather to get these jobs off the "to do" list. When I earn my sewing time I enjoy it so much more, that is my Grannies influence again.
I have to trawl the net to find some iron in fleece, it keeps popping up in projects that I fancy and I keep procrastinating, Button up and Stitch do not stock it so I have to let my fingers do the walking and clickety click my way to finding some elsewhere.
I see that i have some new followers, welcome aboard, I hope to keep you amused and maybe interested.
My life veers from the chaotic to the downright mad from time to time. I hop about from garden to kitchen to sewing in my writing and in my life. I find it difficult to sit still unless my hands are busy, even a good book can only keep me rooted for an hour at a time.
I am always on the lookout for a bargain and try not to let any opportunity slip by. I like to wake up and hit the floor running and then run till it is time to sleep again and then find that 4-5 hours is plenty.
Apart from sciatica and sinus issues I am in rude health.
Right enough about me, I wish you could smell the wonderful aroma wafting through from the kitchen, I am salivating. And now the time has come TTFN Pam
Mind you dinner is on the go, there are two chickens, both with oodles of home made garlic and lemon butter stuffed under their skins, cooking away under a foil tent. I will remove this for the last 15 minutes or so to let the garlicky skin crisp up, cooks perks don't you know. There are 3 potatoes in their skins in there also and a big tub of coleslaw in the fridge together with a romaine lettuce from the garden.
We are not greedy enough to eat 2 chickens but I plan a chicken and leek pie for Tuesday and some chicken and pasta meals for Francesca's packed lunches.
I was thinking that I have had a lazy, indulgent day . then I made a mental list of just what I had achieved.
1. a shopping trip to get a bulb for my cooker hood, it blew yesterday.
2. emptied the large coffee table ( you couldn't see any wood) and disposed of all the clutter.
3. tidied the material storage in the bedroom, hoovered and got 2 boxes out to sort through after dinner.
4. hoovered through downstairs and dusted and polished.
5. sorted through 2 boxes of junk and um junked it.
6. emptied the dust containers on both hoovers and cleaned the filters.
7. Wrapped the giveaway fabric ready to get in the post to Anne.
8. wrapped a gift to send to Poland tomorrow.
9. emptied a sewing box of years worth of detritus ready for the CS. the box silly not the rubbish
10. gathered a car boot full of unwanted items to go to said CS.
WOW not such a SLOTH after all.
I watched a new tutorial on the Missouri Star Quilt Co site this morning and fell in love with the pattern, so I will probably be off to my LQS in Wisbech some time this week for some white yardage and hopefully some turquoise.
I want to do some more scrappy paper pieced blocks and I will need to stand at the ironing board for a while, I do try to keep them flat but do not succeed very often. I may have to pull some oddments from my stash to infuse some new colours, it is all looking a bit samey. I bought a scrap bag off eBay but the pieces were all childrens novelty prints and big pieces, so they are now earmarked for an I spy floor quilt.
Two weeks more of 5 day weeks at work and then back to 3 days and lots of sewing for me. Yabba Dabba Doo!!!
I have withdrawal symptoms, I dream in fabric and woke up yesterday convinced that I had been to Wisbech and filled the car to the roof. It was quite a let down to realise that it was a dream.
I would have been sewing all day but I took advantage of the cooler weather to get these jobs off the "to do" list. When I earn my sewing time I enjoy it so much more, that is my Grannies influence again.
I have to trawl the net to find some iron in fleece, it keeps popping up in projects that I fancy and I keep procrastinating, Button up and Stitch do not stock it so I have to let my fingers do the walking and clickety click my way to finding some elsewhere.
I see that i have some new followers, welcome aboard, I hope to keep you amused and maybe interested.
My life veers from the chaotic to the downright mad from time to time. I hop about from garden to kitchen to sewing in my writing and in my life. I find it difficult to sit still unless my hands are busy, even a good book can only keep me rooted for an hour at a time.
I am always on the lookout for a bargain and try not to let any opportunity slip by. I like to wake up and hit the floor running and then run till it is time to sleep again and then find that 4-5 hours is plenty.
Apart from sciatica and sinus issues I am in rude health.
Right enough about me, I wish you could smell the wonderful aroma wafting through from the kitchen, I am salivating. And now the time has come TTFN Pam
Friday, 19 July 2013
We have a WINNER
Congratulations Anne, I have left a message on your blog, send me your snail mail address and I will get it in the post ASAP.
I duly put all your names in the hattish thingy and got Michael to do the honours.
It has been just as sunny here today but with a cool breeze, very moreish, long may it last.
Work was a total unorganized muddle last night and I sometimes wonder that The PTB ever get to work, they must rely on wives and mothers to get them showered, shaved and into decent clothes on a daily basis.
I had to ask 3 times for a work to list and none was forthcoming so lots of time was wasted.
I have emptied the laundry basket of whites and lights and it is still full. There are only 3 of us, we are either the cleanest or the grubbiest group! I have not decided which yet.
Reasons to be grateful
1. The cooling breeze.
2. The scent of fresh herbs around my kitchen door.
3. Bertie and Ben stretched out on the cool tiles.
4. The walnut tree full of promise for a good harvest.
5. Crisp cotton sheets on my bed.
A short post today, I am determined to break the back of the ironing before settling down with some hand sewing while I listen to the young Sinatra and Dino. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Francesca is meeting an old Uni friend so I can spoil myself rotten. TTFN Pam
I duly put all your names in the hattish thingy and got Michael to do the honours.
It has been just as sunny here today but with a cool breeze, very moreish, long may it last.
Work was a total unorganized muddle last night and I sometimes wonder that The PTB ever get to work, they must rely on wives and mothers to get them showered, shaved and into decent clothes on a daily basis.
I had to ask 3 times for a work to list and none was forthcoming so lots of time was wasted.
I have emptied the laundry basket of whites and lights and it is still full. There are only 3 of us, we are either the cleanest or the grubbiest group! I have not decided which yet.
Reasons to be grateful
1. The cooling breeze.
2. The scent of fresh herbs around my kitchen door.
3. Bertie and Ben stretched out on the cool tiles.
4. The walnut tree full of promise for a good harvest.
5. Crisp cotton sheets on my bed.
A short post today, I am determined to break the back of the ironing before settling down with some hand sewing while I listen to the young Sinatra and Dino. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Francesca is meeting an old Uni friend so I can spoil myself rotten. TTFN Pam
Thursday, 18 July 2013
Bargains and Beauty
Another glorious day, not so good for those who are working the land sweltering as I do in an Industrial Kitchen with 2 large boiling pots and 2 massive ovens, but I still love it.
We have had the road that runs through the center of our village resurfaced, very nice but very messy. Strangely it was a very quiet operation and very quick, the road sweeper came through on Tuesday evening and at 7.00 am Wednesday one lorry made a pass through spraying the hot tar, closely followed by another swooshing out the chippings, first one side then the other. It was all over in less than an hour. Tday the sweeper has been through slurping up all the loose chippings, well most of them.
This was just before the chippings were slurped up. You can see the sun has drawn tar up to the surface.
I read through a few blogs while I was enjoying my first cups of tea and congatulated a few peeps on all their RDC bargains. After my shower I needed to get petrol and popped into the Co op and boy am I glad.
We have had the road that runs through the center of our village resurfaced, very nice but very messy. Strangely it was a very quiet operation and very quick, the road sweeper came through on Tuesday evening and at 7.00 am Wednesday one lorry made a pass through spraying the hot tar, closely followed by another swooshing out the chippings, first one side then the other. It was all over in less than an hour. Tday the sweeper has been through slurping up all the loose chippings, well most of them.
This was just before the chippings were slurped up. You can see the sun has drawn tar up to the surface.
I read through a few blogs while I was enjoying my first cups of tea and congatulated a few peeps on all their RDC bargains. After my shower I needed to get petrol and popped into the Co op and boy am I glad.
Part of my haul.
Over 3/4 lb of meat for 79p
All together I bought,
5 packs of the best sausages at £1 per pack
4 packs of 4 beef burgers at £1 per pack
4 packs of Pork Spare Rib chops between 79p and 83p per pack
4 packs of 2 Chicken breasts topped with cheese and wrapped in bacon
2 packs of flour tortillas at 30p per pack
2 sachets of fajita seasoning at 10 per pack
2 packs of root ginger at 10p each
4 red peppers 10p each
A lonely head of broccoli for 15p
all of the meat is now in the freezer, the tortillas have been wrapped in packs of 3 and frozen.
The ginger is destined to become ginger beer at the weekend and the veg will be used in the next 2 days.
I do love a bargain.
Now to the beauty.
This spray of roses is all the prettier for being backed by the dead flower heads of my Firethorn.
This Lily glows in the sun shine.
This little pretty was "free to a good home".
Another Rose, I wish that you could smell it.
And the fairest by far.
My friend from Poland had her baby, this is her first day home from hospital.
Reasons to be grateful
1. A freezer full of bargain buys.
2. A new baby, healthy and loved.
3. My first cup of tea in the morning, pure nectar.
4. The hum of bees in my garden.
5. The cool tiled floor to soothe my hot feet.
A good day all round, I feel fighting fit after an easy night at work and am looking forward to Friday and Sunday off, it should be Saturday as well but I agreed to work so that a colleague could get a break.
Only 2 and a bit weeks and all this madness stops for me, I will go back to my 3 day week and will probably spend the first few days giving the cottage a good fettling.
Then we have our trip to Wales and granddaughters first birthday. We are already planning for next year and hope to rent a big cottage for 2 weeks and have James, Cerys and the children with us.
Francesca had an interview last week and is on tenterhooks waiting to hear back, as they approached her we are all hoping for a positive result.
I think that is me up to date and I have caught up with replying to all your comments, last 24 hours before I dip my hand, or someone elses into the Hattish Thingy so if you want to enter the giveaway do it NOW.
And now the time has come, TTFN Pam
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Chill Out and enjoy the Heat
It won't last long, the heat that is. All too soon it will be Autumn and the chill will creep in and we will be moaning the fact that summer has gone.
But is that not The British Way, or anywhere else's way come to that. We all seem to want other than what we have.
As a young girl I had long blonde hair with just the hint of a wave, oh how I longed to have brown curls. I was just over average height and I so wanted to be tiny or very tall depending upon the day.
My younger sister was very petite, also with fair hair, she longed to be tall and hearty and play hockey for Norfolk!
My best friend wanted to be a boy so she could be in a football team.
Today I have a friend who has 3 children and a lovely country home and longs to live in a big city apartment. Her husband works in "the city" and would be a farmer in a minute if he was not hopeless at anything practical, he is useless in the garden and having pulled up a whole bed of Anemones thinking that they were dandelions is now barred.
It is good that we strive to be what we can, but to drive yourself to attain something that is completely not achievable must do harm.
These thoughts just popped up from nowhere, I seem to be in an introspective mood, perhaps due to the fact that I have been doubled up in pain for the past 18 hours or so. We had our omelette and salad yesterday, and very nice it was, and I pottered around as I usually do while Michael washed up. I curled up in the corner of the sofa and it hit me .
I crawled up stairs and stretched out on the bed and Michael made some mint tea for me, I drunk this and waited for it to help and waited and waited nothing. I tried Gaviscon, Alkaseltzer and some pink gloop that Francesca uses, in the end I rang in sick filled a hot water bottle and curled up in bed.
I finally fell into a deep sleep and woke at 6 ish this morning. The pain is all but gone but I feel tender so am being wary of what I eat and drink, no dairy for sure.
I do not feel nauseous or unwell in any way so I am putting it down as being "one of those things" that are sent to try us.The jury is out as to whether I go into work tonight, I will decide after we have eaten. I am not sure what I will eat yet but it will be simple.
I have been skimming through the blogs that I follow and wandering off to peak at others from comments left. There are so many fascinating people out there that sometimes I set my phone alarm so I do not lose all track of time.
I do not follow all the blogs that I find interesting but I do bookmark some, then I can pop in and out a few times to get the feel of them. I am looking for tips and hints all the time and quite often find them in the most unlikely places. A bit like searching for concentrated lemon juice at the supermarket and finding Vanilla paste instead wonderful stuff I am on my 5th jar, I never did find the lemon concentrate.
My copy of the Lakeland brochure came in the post this morning, full of fantastic things that i would like but neither want nor need, just because I like them does not mean that I want them.
The more that I write my blog posts and the more posts that I read the less I want things, I am moving towards a much more frugal way of life, I admit that I am buying fabric, both new and in clothing form from the CS. This is my investment for my retirement, I will never make any large amount of profit from my sewing, but I will have a good supply of materials to use, both fabrics, thread, buttons, zips and so on. this will enable me to keep on sewing without any major outlay for ages.
I am stockpiling in just the same way that i stock up on our favourite coffee when it is half price and buy RTC meat and stash in the freezer.It reduces future spending without any impression on our living standards. Surely that is the ultimate aim of frugality.
Reasons to be grateful
1. Sunshine and lots of it.
2. Michael and his care and consideration.
3. New potatoes from the garden, flavoured with mint from the same garden.
4. Frugal bloggers who share their money saving ways.
5. Michael and Francesca for gamely eating all the recipes that I find from the aforementioned bloggers.
BTW the plates get emptied PDQ and there are no complaints so far. TTFN Pam
But is that not The British Way, or anywhere else's way come to that. We all seem to want other than what we have.
As a young girl I had long blonde hair with just the hint of a wave, oh how I longed to have brown curls. I was just over average height and I so wanted to be tiny or very tall depending upon the day.
My younger sister was very petite, also with fair hair, she longed to be tall and hearty and play hockey for Norfolk!
My best friend wanted to be a boy so she could be in a football team.
Today I have a friend who has 3 children and a lovely country home and longs to live in a big city apartment. Her husband works in "the city" and would be a farmer in a minute if he was not hopeless at anything practical, he is useless in the garden and having pulled up a whole bed of Anemones thinking that they were dandelions is now barred.
It is good that we strive to be what we can, but to drive yourself to attain something that is completely not achievable must do harm.
These thoughts just popped up from nowhere, I seem to be in an introspective mood, perhaps due to the fact that I have been doubled up in pain for the past 18 hours or so. We had our omelette and salad yesterday, and very nice it was, and I pottered around as I usually do while Michael washed up. I curled up in the corner of the sofa and it hit me .
I crawled up stairs and stretched out on the bed and Michael made some mint tea for me, I drunk this and waited for it to help and waited and waited nothing. I tried Gaviscon, Alkaseltzer and some pink gloop that Francesca uses, in the end I rang in sick filled a hot water bottle and curled up in bed.
I finally fell into a deep sleep and woke at 6 ish this morning. The pain is all but gone but I feel tender so am being wary of what I eat and drink, no dairy for sure.
I do not feel nauseous or unwell in any way so I am putting it down as being "one of those things" that are sent to try us.The jury is out as to whether I go into work tonight, I will decide after we have eaten. I am not sure what I will eat yet but it will be simple.
I have been skimming through the blogs that I follow and wandering off to peak at others from comments left. There are so many fascinating people out there that sometimes I set my phone alarm so I do not lose all track of time.
I do not follow all the blogs that I find interesting but I do bookmark some, then I can pop in and out a few times to get the feel of them. I am looking for tips and hints all the time and quite often find them in the most unlikely places. A bit like searching for concentrated lemon juice at the supermarket and finding Vanilla paste instead wonderful stuff I am on my 5th jar, I never did find the lemon concentrate.
My copy of the Lakeland brochure came in the post this morning, full of fantastic things that i would like but neither want nor need, just because I like them does not mean that I want them.
The more that I write my blog posts and the more posts that I read the less I want things, I am moving towards a much more frugal way of life, I admit that I am buying fabric, both new and in clothing form from the CS. This is my investment for my retirement, I will never make any large amount of profit from my sewing, but I will have a good supply of materials to use, both fabrics, thread, buttons, zips and so on. this will enable me to keep on sewing without any major outlay for ages.
I am stockpiling in just the same way that i stock up on our favourite coffee when it is half price and buy RTC meat and stash in the freezer.It reduces future spending without any impression on our living standards. Surely that is the ultimate aim of frugality.
Reasons to be grateful
1. Sunshine and lots of it.
2. Michael and his care and consideration.
3. New potatoes from the garden, flavoured with mint from the same garden.
4. Frugal bloggers who share their money saving ways.
5. Michael and Francesca for gamely eating all the recipes that I find from the aforementioned bloggers.
BTW the plates get emptied PDQ and there are no complaints so far. TTFN Pam
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
More Quilts and A Reminder
First of all .let me direct you to a new button on my blog, Charm about You, written by Lucy. She is currently working her way through Patchwork Please, a new book from Ayumi Takahashi, It is full of easy peasy but very pretty projects which would work wonderfully with my giveaway, remember it ends next Friday.
Second on my list, thank you all so much for entering, all your names are in the "Hattish Thingy" and I am hoping to add a few more before the deadline, so if you are reading this and have not entered you are only a few clicks away from all that pretty fabric.
Thirdly, isn't this weather glorious, I can not help crossing my fingers at that because it is Britain and School Holidays are on the horizon. That fact is almost as bad as washing the car and cleaning the windows, you just know that somewhere an Entity is rubbing his hands ( well of course it's a man, DUH! ) and chortling as he instigates an immediate down pour.
I want to share some more Quilts with you from the Samphire Quilters exhibition in Kings Lynn, no particular order just as I spotted them.
I have plans to make two Christmas quilts with some jelly rolls of Flurry by Kate Spain. This is my favourite Christmas collection , so far, and I scored some from the lovely Shan of Shan's Fabrics,Hunstanton, at the exhibition ( I was so chuffed I could have kissed her).
I first saw this block on a Missouri Star Quilt Co. tutorial with the brilliant Jenny Doan, and have made it a few times.
I can not for the life of me remember what this layout is called but I love "strippy blocks"
A very busy pattern but lots of negative space for the eyes to rest upon.
I am a big fan of busy and bright and apart from intensely scrappy projects I like to have place for the eye to rest, otherwise it makes my vision "flicker". I reminds me of ironing black and white fine stripes
Second on my list, thank you all so much for entering, all your names are in the "Hattish Thingy" and I am hoping to add a few more before the deadline, so if you are reading this and have not entered you are only a few clicks away from all that pretty fabric.
Thirdly, isn't this weather glorious, I can not help crossing my fingers at that because it is Britain and School Holidays are on the horizon. That fact is almost as bad as washing the car and cleaning the windows, you just know that somewhere an Entity is rubbing his hands ( well of course it's a man, DUH! ) and chortling as he instigates an immediate down pour.
I want to share some more Quilts with you from the Samphire Quilters exhibition in Kings Lynn, no particular order just as I spotted them.
I have plans to make two Christmas quilts with some jelly rolls of Flurry by Kate Spain. This is my favourite Christmas collection , so far, and I scored some from the lovely Shan of Shan's Fabrics,Hunstanton, at the exhibition ( I was so chuffed I could have kissed her).
I first saw this block on a Missouri Star Quilt Co. tutorial with the brilliant Jenny Doan, and have made it a few times.
This pretty one was laid out over two pews
A very busy pattern but lots of negative space for the eyes to rest upon.
I am a big fan of busy and bright and apart from intensely scrappy projects I like to have place for the eye to rest, otherwise it makes my vision "flicker". I reminds me of ironing black and white fine stripes
This is a happy little quilt and is on my "to do" list. I need to have two extra days a week for this list, and this is my want to do NOT my have to do list.
My final photo for today is the view of the Customs House from the river. It is not leaning and I was not "under the influence" just standing on a very uneven surface on a pair of tired feet.
The bag full of fabric dangling from my arm had absolutely nothing to do with my undeniable list to starboard.
I make no excuses to say yet again, do not forget the GIVEAWAY, you have to be in it to win it.
I would love all my followers to enter regardless as to whether they have won in the past.
On a more mundane note work is still manic and shows no signs of slowing down, I am so thankful that I am only committed to extra shifts for July, I am getting too old to play these games. One of my colleagues said that he was working the same number of days as me but doing 10 to 12 hours. I pointed out to him that at 24 he was less than half my age. I also added that at his age I was doing much the same and running a house at the same time. He left with his tail between his legs.
Dinner tonight is a simple omelette with salad.
I did some baking yesterday, Banana and Walnut Bread, Marmalade and ginger cake and a new batch of bread to use up the last of my Spelt flour. I will be buying this again, it is pricey but I mix it with 2 parts white flour and it gives a nutty taste that is not overpowering.
Reasons to be grateful
1. A new stash of Flurry
2. A stack of homemade goodies in the freezer.
3. Glorious weather.
4. The smell of fresh coffee and hot buttered toast.
5. Bertie snoring gently beside me.
That is all for now, the coffee and toast awaits. TTFN Pam
Sunday, 14 July 2013
A Bad Start to My Day,
What a day I had yesterday. There was a "drive sale" in aid of the Lincs Air Ambulance in the next village and my work partner Nathan was selling stuff, so I tootled off to do my bit. I parked on the side of the road and was on my mobile to Francesca when BANG a woman reversing out if her own drive slammed into the rear offside wing. She did a fine job.
There was no unpleasantness, they know a "man who can", he has a workshop in the village, he came out and a date is set for him to do the necessary.
I returned home and had a restorative cup of tea. Then Francesca and I set off to Lynn to visit the quilt show. We knew the traffic would be bad so took the old road but ran into a tailback, we had KLFM the local radio station on and soon found the reason. There had been a bad accident on the main road and the road was set to be blocked for a considerable time.
I kid you not I offered up a little prayer of thanks that my accident was so minor.
We had a brainwave and drove into West Lynn and took the ferry.
It is the first time that I have used it but will not be the last, no slogging through the town traffic, no queing up to park and no cost to park. In a few minutes we were getting off the other side of the river and making our way to see all the goodies.
I thought that this was lovely, and close up it is even better.
I am not a lover or purple but I do like this.
I thought that this Suffolk Puff Christmas Tree was cute, I did drop a very large hint to Francesca that she might like to try making one.
We saw lods and i will post more photos during the week. When we left we were gasping so popped in here for a brew and a very testy scone with jam and cream. mmmm
All very tasty looking and the service was very good and so was the price.........Francesca paid!
Thew flower displays were impressive and used a tight colour palette .
We arrived home at about 3.30 and while tea was being made I downloaded all my photos onto the laptop only to find that there was no internet connection, and it was not back when I left for work.
Today I am home from work three hours early, internet is back so this day starts well.
Reasons to be grateful.
1. My scrape was just that.
2. My day out was lovely.
3. Bertie is still doing well.
4. I have 6 kilo of prepared mango chunks in the freezer. yum
5. Nathan raised £75 for the Air Ambulance.
I have lots more photos and will post them during the week, I am going to finish my tea and get off to bed.
So it is TTFN Pam
Don't forget the Giveaway.
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