Early Morning Ramblings

First of all I would like to welcome some new peeps , Frugal Mum, Marjorie, Shaz Evans, L-A,and Lee Dezern. Some of you have been here for a little while and some of you have just boarded. When I start to write a blog post I always intend to mention new followers first, but I tend to be a bit of a "bull at a gate" and have so much to say that I dive right in. I usually have to go back later and add labels, once the writing is done I am off at the double to the next thing.

Like most of us I am far from perfect, my BIG thing is patience, I have very little and what I do have is for children and animals. None for "adults" including myself. If at first you can't succeed, get a grip and do it second time. forget try and try again, no time for all that.

I do however spend time on preparation, when I want to do something new I research. Take my sewing machines, Toya is getting on a bit, not in years but in the amount of solid hard work she has done, and my little "Gem" a computerised machine that Michael bought for me, for piecing, has also slogged her little heart out. 

The other day I stripped them both down, cleaned, oiled and reset a few bits and bobs, all the time I had the laptop in view with a tutorial that I was following. I did not just save money on servicing, I saved time I am itching to make Jelly Roll Jam, a pattern just released for FREE, my favourite price.

The downside of this is, no floors were swept and washed, no dusting and polishing took place. The dirty laundry was left to well fester and I did not worry one iota. It all happened the next day and more.

I read Sew Sweetness this morning and she was talking about the impressions that we pick up from blog posts, often we take what we see and read as the entire life of the blogger. Of course a craft blogger is not  going to whitter on about the kids drawing on the walls, the cat being sick in the kitchen or the row with the hubster over the remote control. That is not the purpose of her blog.

I write about alsorts of things and jump merrily from one thing to another on a post as that is how my mind works, if i do not keep busy I vegetate. 

Yesterday I had a slobby sort of day, I managed to do 2 loads of laundry! big deal, throw it in the machine and take it out later and peg it on the line, 5 minutes a load.

I made bread, again I let a machine do the work as I wanted some white bread for a recipe. I did make pizza from scratch for dinner, Kenwood mixed and kneaded the dough and it took all of 3 minutes to get a pizza topping sauce from the freezer and slice up the peppers and onions. Grated cheese, some garlic sausage and some extra thin sandwich steak pulled from the freezer, I cut the steak into slivers and put it in some AF hickory smoke marinade, and dinner just needed to be assembled, no hard graft there.

This morning I woke early and had this on the go by 7.00

A batch of Delia's mincemeat, the only things that I do differently is I use bags of mixed dried fruit from Mr T and I put the alcohol in before I put it in the slow cooker to melt the suet.

This is the first batch and I will make 2 more. 

I still have to tidy the kitchen and prepare dinner an easy one again, the Pork Shoulder is in it,s marinade and has been turned twice. Cauliflower cheese takes no effort and jacket potatoes cook themselves.

I will walk Ben at least twice today, that never gets skimped or missed and the rest of my energy will be devoted to pressing and cutting the strips for Jelly Roll Jam, I do not buy Jelly Rolls, far too tight for that, I have a marvelous Ruler that makes cutting them a doddle.

Last night,s offerings on the telly were dismal so I put a music channel on and boogied away to 100 top anthems while I rocked my way through the ironing, I had to endure the theme from Titanic, but made a cup of tea while that was playing. I normally chose Videos from The Vault but did not like their program last night.

I have read about Trolls leaving snide, rude and downright nasty comments on blogs, I was brought up not to mock the afflicted, nor to pity them. I have not been trolled.......yet...... but quite honestly I couldn't give a monkeys. I can understand that it would have a devastating effect on some but I have a thick skin and broad shoulders, and no one could be as critical of me as I am myself.

If you are a Troll please tell me what kick you get from being one. I studied Behavioral Science for a while and find it fascinating.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. A few hours pottering aimlessly on my own.

2. The smell of Christmas from the kitchen.

3. Empty laundry and ironing baskets.

4. A smug feeling at my lovely life.

5. A world full of new things to discover, at my fingertips.

I will qualify number 4, my journey here has been bumpy, widowed twice. Losing my only child and both my parents in the space of 4 months. My favourite brother and his family emigrating to Oz a year later. Dealing with chronic pain from sciatica and early rheumatism and arthritis. 

I am not alone in this, the details differ but many many people go through trauma of some sort in their lives. You do not have to shout it from the rooftops and you should not let it rule your lives.

 I have much to be grateful for, top of my list has to be my good health, yes I have a few issues but in general I am as fit as most people 20 years younger.

 In equal first place is Michael, no man (or woman) is an island and it is good to have a loving partner. Close second have to be Francesca, James and Ben.

 I will not carry on, I have waffled enough already.

See what happens when I have a lazy day and wake up early.

                          TTFN                         Pam.