Back to the status quo.

Very nearly, there is the not so small matter of the ironing to deal with, and a door to hang.

We got Francesca off on her journey back to Kent this morning. I had managed to get 2 loads of washing out on the whirlygig before we left. I quickly stripped her bed and threw that lot in to whirl around while we were out. 

Once we got back I walked Rufus while the SO took 2 doors off their hinges. This was because in my wisdom (?) I had the brainwave of moving sofas around. There was a very large leather one in the sewing room and a small blue fabric one in the living room. I really wanted them changed , we had tried before but the turning space was too small. 
The SO said that it could happen if the doors came  off and BOOM it was done. Of course one job done makes at least three more, one door had been hung, the ground floor has been thoroughly fettled. 4 loads of washing have been line dried, Hip Hip Hooray, and half of that has been ironed/folded/ aired and put away. 
I made the executive decision that enough was enough, made a brew and sat down. The other door will be backup in the morning and the rest of the dry laundry will be dealt with.

Then......the car will have a birthday.

you know what I mean, it is absolutely filthy. I am certain that someone close had a good burn up over the last few days as most of the cars nearby are in the same state. The inside could do with a vacuum round as well.

The house windows are in the same state so they will get some love also.

I have my knitting ready for this evening and hope to get a little sewing done later in the week.

Dinner will be a case of Iffits tonight, if it is in the fridge we will have it. We have eaten far too much over the weekend so a small meal is in order. I have a ripe Mango for pudding so perhaps a poached egg on toast will be enough.

On that note I am off to have a look and make the decision.

                    TTFN                                                Pam

PS. Fran brought me some wonderful Assam tea leaves, they make a fantastic brew and will be treats for many days to come.

On dangerous ground

Perhaps just a bit risky, to my purse, if not exactly dangerous.
I was at The Flying Geese in Llandeilo yesterday and just look at these.

Two of the most enticing words there are, Liberty fabrics.

There were more to stroke and ooh over. I was good though, I have too many things on the go right now. Give me a couple of good sewing sessions though........

These  Makower fabrics are not too shabby either.

Then there are the flannels,

The usual mixture of stripes and checks and a bit of plaid to warm the heart.

There's more of those and some lovely deep colours, just love that purple check.

But, even better are these 3, new additions, I am in lust.

I want them all but the bottom one has my name on some. I am going to riffle through my patterns and decide which needs to be made and how much fabric that I will have to buy.

The sun shone most of the day,and it has done the same today, washing on the line and the quilts and cushion covers from the sofas were soon out there as well. All dry and inside now, I have run the quilts through the dryer to make sure they are well aired before putting them away.

The hospital visit was another good one, it is almost certain that W will lose his plaster cast in 2 weeks time. It has been a long haul for him, over 7 months.

The sunshine got to Ben and Rufus, the walks are longer and there is much more snuffling and wuffling through the hedge bottoms.

Rufus is coming to stay for a long weekend from tomorrow, he could have gone with W but I said it would be a bit awkward getting on and off the trains with crutches, bags and a squirming dog. Besides, we like having Rufus as a guest.

I will finish my green shawl this evening and I have yarn, pattern and needles ready for a chunky waistcoat. I will be casting on  Anouk  for Fran but have to have something on the needles in the meantime. She does not arrive till late tomorrow evening and it will be sometime on Friday before she tries the tweedy version on.

Meals have been decided upon and the shopping is done, just need to pick up some eggs. Goodness knows how I managed to forget them.

That is me done for now, enjoy your weekends, I will probably be absent till Monday and all is back to normal.

                      TTFN                                        Pam

Another one from the Make 9.

My Anouk, knitted in a lovely warm tweedy yarn. Just to try the pattern out after reading several reports of fitting problems. I made the medium size and it fits me almost perfectly. I would have liked another inch on the body but was playing yarn chicken, I had 3 yards left after sewing the buttons on. This was mainly because the yarn is slightly thicker than the recommended yarn, I only had 400 grams but have 500 for Fran,s cardigan, so no worries there.

There were a few comments regarding the waist shaping but I have no issues on that front either. The only minus is that the diamond garter stitch pattern does not show, and that is down to my yarn choice. No probs with that, all from deep stash and a cardigan from 400 grams is not to be sneezed at. I was going to knit it again as I have another of those 400 gram skeins in purple, while having a bit of a sort out I found a waistcoat pattern that I will use instead. That will fill a gap in my wardrobe and take another ball from stash.

I washed and ironed some stash fabric this morning, a dress length and enough to make a skirt and a top from 2 smaller pieces. Fingers crossed.

I am woefully behind in the blog reading, comment replying and comment writing stakes. I have a case of the "fidget britches" at the moment and find it difficult to sit down for any length of time.  I think that is an indication that my lurgy is leaving at long last.

On that pleasant and uplifting note I am off to find something nice to have with my cuppa. Then I need to get to the post office.

                     TTFN                                           Pam

An almost perfect Sunday

Yes, it rained. This is Wales after all and it was forecast pretty much country wide.

I did get the dogs walked in the nearly dry, even if it was boggy underfoot. None of the dogs that we met were off their leads, far too much mud and slime for that.

I spent a great part of the day knitting away on my shawl, I have passed the half way mark and am still loving it. I do have the next pattern lined up and Francesca will be here on Thursday. That means her Anouk will be cast on.

I have to chose yarn for the next pair of socks as the current pair will be off the needles this week.

Dinner was a small beef roast, extra veg was cooked and there will be bubble and squeak tomorrow, sometimes the leftovers are equal if not better than the first meal.
I have been watching Nigel Slater in Turkey, he cooked a meal of roasted veg with butter beans and green beans. That is my ideal type of cooking, simple and good ingredients cooked without faff.

I do believe that something very similar will be on the menu later this week. 

Food figures large in many blogs, some frugal, some extravagant, some floating around the middle.

The age old ritual of gathering the ingredients and cooking for your family and friends is not only about fuel for the body. It is about pleasure, conversation, sharing ideas and experiences. Building memories of good times and using the pleasure to heal pain. To come in after a hard days work in the cold and wet and small a pan of soup simmering away with some bread toasting is an uplifting moment, I have been there many a time.

I read a comment on a blog recently from someone who did not understand any of this focus on food. Sad.

Any how, I am  off to make a brew and then do a little search for some more information on traditional Turkish recipes.




                    TTFN                                        Pam

Did the earth move for you?

It certainly did for us, at around 2:30 there was an earthquake in the Swansea area and all the china on my dresser danced around. There have been a few reports appearing on news online but so far no reports of damage.

It has been a mixed bag of weather here, heavy rain overnight and a chilly start to the day. By 10:00 am it was warm and sunny with not a breath of a breeze but by mid day the sky darkened and the rain returned. 
No playing with the new toys today. We are both still trying to rid ourselves of the remnants of colds and getting wet in the garden would not have helped.
And as Scarlett said "tomorrow is another day", stupid girl to turn Rhett down. Any girl with a ha'porth of sense would have jumped on him there and then, mind you Clark gable was as famous for his halitosis as his smouldering good looks.

That is my bit of nonsense for the day. Dinner will be something light and easy as we had a substantial lunch.
I have reached the end of the increase rows on my shawl and will be working on the straight back section this evening. Not that I am in a  hurry but I have another shawl pattern in mind. I don't know where this fascination came from but I will just go with the flow and enjoy the journey.

Toodle Pip for now, it is almost time to get the dogs out for their afternoon ramble, rain permitting.

                         TTFN                                      Pam

My make 9 knitting list seems to have evaporated, although there is time yet.
Pam

Happy day in Llandeilo

A, I was in The Flying Geese and B, the sun was shining. Then of course there were the lovely shoppers who were happy to talk fabric.

A new quilter came in to get a starter kit together and we had a great time talking about balance of colour and print.

I filled in the empty shop bits with some fabric stroking and the mental shopping list was astronomical. I was not sure whether I was happy or sad that the Liberty fabrics were out at a pop up shop.

I have finished Anouk, no photo yet but I was wearing her today.
I am working on a new shawl for a complete change, I have some drops Merino/cotton blend yarn from Wonderwool last year and it was shouting to be used.

This is a new to me construction method, rather than starting at one point and working across the work starts with a squared off bottom. Then increases are on every R/S row until the work reaches from shoulder down to your desired length. You then work straight across the back and begin decreasing down the other side. This shawl is not designed to be wrapped round the neck, just round the shoulders.

The lace border is very pretty and is only a 6 row repeat, it is taken from a Rita Weiss book, 50 fabulous knitted borders.

I have the usual pair of socks on the needles, I have just completed the heel turn, and there will be another cast on as soon as these are done.

Dinner was a very simple meat balls and beans, neither of us were particularly hungry. Ben was very interested though, normally he completely ignores our meal times.

The SO has a new toy, 2 really, he has a new chainsaw and a new incinerator. The forecast is for sun tomorrow. I predict sawdust and smoke.

I may have to be very, very busy indoors. Once I have been suitably impressed and made all the correct noises.

Not really, we have a small area that was a dumping ground when we moved in. All that we did was push it further back and then fence it in. Now the time has come to raze it to the ground, burn everything wooden and remove any man made rubbish to the recycling centre. That will give us a space of around 10' by 18', I can make better use of that than a midden.

I hope to be out there helping. (and making sure that nothing gets put into a "we'll keep this just in case" pile.) It will be burn or remove to the tip only.

Now it is most certainly time for a brew.

                             TTFN                                        Pam

I lost a day.

Not so much lost as passed through carelessly.

I did make it to Knit and Natter, regardless of the weather, and though we were thin on the ground it was still a lively afternoon.

The dogs had their walks, it was a bit wet at one point, and the fresh air was most welcome.

Dinner was a pasta sauce,  in the slow cooker all afternoon, and the evening slipped away in a knitty sort of way. We watched a little telly, Back in time for Tea was very interesting again. Many memories resurfaced, not too much changed in our rural community during the late 40,s and 50,s. There was a difference from North to South East, mostly in the food, but that could be down to the fact that we always grew most of our food. I expect that things were not so different in Norwich.

It was not until this morning that I realised that I had not posted. As today is hospital day it had to wait.

 The latest Miette, I have buttons for her now so once sewn on she will be blocked.

My Christmas Eve cast on, she is also waiting to have buttons attached before blocking. I am not too sure about the finished (almost) garment, care I say that I find it very old fashioned in style. In the magazine it was a bright, light yellow, perhaps I should have stuck with that. BUT this was about knitting the stash.

The stitch definition is good, once the lace is blocked out it will look better. It is the overall shape that is bugging me, I am certain that it will be too baggy for my comfort zone.I will see how I feel once the buttons are on and it is blocked.

I have almost finished the trial version of Anouk, I bought the buttons at Deb's shop yesterday. She has an amazing selection of all shapes and sizes, I was spoilt for choice.

I can not decide whether to cast on another cardigan or plump for a sweater. I hate picking up the button bands, it usually takes me a few attempts before I get the balance and count right. I quite fancy the Chuck sweater, I like a bit of cabling.

I have plenty of time to knit it before Fran comes home and I get her measured up for the Anouk. There is, of course, a good chance that she may leave with the trial version as well. I will get a photo up as soon as the last bit is cast off, I have both sleeves on cables with stoppers as well as the body on needles. It makes it a labour of Hercules to even think about putting it on the model.

I am reading a few blogs about living on rations from WW11, mostly that seems to be how we eat, of course we do have weeks when there seems to be cream coming out of our ears. But it is swings and roundabouts. The main stumbling block for me would be the tea ration, I think a weeks worth would last me a day.

I remember my Mother telling us that she swapped her sugar ration for her friends tea ration. It suited them both, but tea was always in short supply even with the extra.

I have Fran on the phone now,so will say toodle pip.

                       TTFN                                    Pam

A Very Happy Elevenses.

It was in this house, I can tell you.

Brilliant sunshine with a touch of frost to start the day, both dogs were excited to have their walk, it was lovely to feel real warmth on my face.

Back home and got the sheets etc pegged out, finished off a little bit of ironing and it was 11:00. Kettle on.

The tea was up to my lips as somebody rattled on the door, I may have muttered something not nice.

A delivery of a small parcel, mmmm, addressed to both of us, double mmmm.

Inside was this.

A little tin no less, very pretty and most certainly All Mine

I opened it up and almost swooned.

There were 12, no, we were not that greedy, I nibbled  on the corner of one and still swooning took 2 straight to W.

Good things have to be shared. It is the law in this house.

We had one each with our rapidly cooling tea and they were very swoon worthy. Very chocolatey, very rich and we decided that it will be half each next time. If I was hosting afternoon  tea I would cut them into 4 or maybe 6 and pop each piece in a sweetie paper case, they are that rich.

Inside was a little gift card, you may notice the chocolatey finger smudge, it was me. I did lick my fingers but I missed a taste, sulky face.

I have shared the card both to show how thoughtful my lovely girl is and also that the rest of you (in the UK) can also have a taste of this utter bliss.

There are some really scrumptious things in the shop and I have my eye on one or two things for some special peeps.

I have so far resisted the urge to google the location, I am afraid that it may be within a comfortable drive. I don't suppose that they sell at the door and I do not fancy being accused of stalking. But it is tempting.

I have just realised that I forgot to photo the knitting, blame the excitement and a chocolate high. Tomorrow.

Now the new ironing calls and then it may be knitting time.

                   TTFN                                         Pam

Snow. Again.

I wandered along with both the dogs,
through sunbeams, high and low,
When all at once we were in a crowd,
A swarm, of dancing flakes of snow.
Along the path and through the trees
Swirling and dipping in the breeze.

Apologies to Mr Wordsworth. I had to recite that in my third year at school and it has stuck ever since.

I is on the mend. I is feeling a bit twitchy. But, I is being a good couch potato.

The sneezing has more or less abated, but I do have a hacking cough. It caused me intense chest pain yesterday evening, I took my painkillers and was in bed (probably snoring) just after 8:00.

6:30 this morning and my eyes popped open, I was delighted to find myself in the land of the living.

I have not been idle though, I finished off the Christmas Eve cast on Cardigan and the blue Miette. I just need to find buttons for them both.
 I have made a good start on the next Andi Satterlund pattern, Anouk. I have some glorious gold yarn for Francesca but, after reading that several peeps have had issues with the fit I cast it on with some stash yarn. The body is knit down to the bottom band and I am working on the first sleeve.
 Fran will be here in 2 weeks and she can try it on (of course it will be finished) then I can see if I need to amend it for her. 
I was planning on knitting Salal next but have read that some knitters have struggled with that. I will get Anouk done and then see.
The yarn that I am using is a very sturdy Aran weight, fairly heavy, in a glorious deep red with tweed neps and will make a perfect top for Autumn and Winter. Forward planning by chance, Serendipity that,s what it is. Although the yardage is greater than the pattern asks for it is a heavier yarn, soooo I will knit the sleeves to just long enough and then go back to the body and the button band. I have checked on line and the dye lot is still in stock, phew.

I will take some photo,s tomorrow, just need to locate the camera.

I hope that all is well with you, where ever you may be. 

Sheila, I have those Thangles all ready to stick in the post, hopefully I will make it tomorrow.

                      TTFN                                           Pam



HOW RUDE AM I?

I completely forgot to say thank you for all your well wishes, it did cheer me up.

Pam xx

The Lurgy Struck.

2 boxes of "man sized" tissues, vaseline for the nose area ( no red nose here). That's 2 days worth. sigh.
Throat soothing lozenges, parrotseatemal every 4 hours, hot drinks and cold drinks. No Ice cream, boo hoo. 

Sneezing, starting to abate now and a smattering of coughing and spluttering.

That is the reality show here folks. Hopefully normal service will be resumed very very soon.

Thank goodness for a well stocked freezer, although we are not eating much.

                          TTFN                                       Pam

Definitely WANTS.

I WANT the spring to arrive. 

I do not want to see any more of this. I know that lots of you have had real amounts of snow, and thankfully this did not settle. There was a sharp frost last night so the roads would have been treacherous, as it was drivers were being very steady on their way through the village. Quite surprising really.

I WANT to buy the yarn for a new sweater. I watched Arne & Carlos steeking a cardigan this morning and now I am all fired up. I do not want to knit the cardigan, but I do want to knit a sweater in the traditional way. Colour work in the round and then steek to add the sleeves and cut the neck shaping. Exciting and a bit of Exploring.

I WANT  W to get more good news this morning. It is time and past time that the tide turned for him.

I so WANT the SO back on his feet, he hates being ill and he has had a quite bad time of this virus, I have had it also but a very mild dose.

I WANT to get both of my cardigans stitched together before the weekend. That is entirely down to me. I need to focus and not allow myself to get sidetracked, but it is so much fun.

I WANT to get through the rest of this month without buying anything but fruit, veg, milk and eggs. I will need to buy some bread flour at some point. This again is down to me, focus.

I have cut my spending back, the Tesco clubcard points dropped through the letterbox, £6:50. Last year at this time it was more than double that.

I shop much wiser now, thanks to Meanqueen, I had let things slip quite considerably but am right on track now.

I WANT to strip a room out and then rearrange it. That is my Grannies fault, she used to get "twitchy" at this time of the year. Something to do with the early spring sunshine searching out all the forgotten nooks and crannies.

Now I need to get a wiggle on as it will soon be time for the hospital run.

                          TTFN                                 Pam

Need or Want

The North wind did blow,
and we have got snow.
So what will the Pammy do now,
poor thing.
She will sit in the warm,
wrapped in some wool thing.
Tea at the ready,
Knitting and sewing away.
Poor thing? 
I don't think so.

I was walking Ben and really thought that I was seeing things when the odd flake or three floated past. Then I lifted my eyes towards the mountains, they were clothed in a swirl of gossamer.
That stuff was coming towards us, fast. 
Did Ben care? Of course he did not give a fig, he was enjoying the scents and taking his time. Did I care? Not really.There was no wind and the snow was that very fine soft stuff so it floated and danced to the ground. 

I have no plans for today, if I am not sneezing I will go to knit and natter. If I am still explosive it will be as my little attempt of ruining an old rhyme goes. There will be tissues as well as tea.

I am ready to take Rufus out, as long as it doesn't turn into a full on snow storm. Fingers crossed and all that jazz.

Dinner tonight will be something easy cobbled together from the fridge. The SO has not got much of an appetite, and I am not fussy what we have. I do have a meal plan of sorts, it is really a list of possible things that I can make from what we have. Nothing is set in stone and I am easily sidetracked. I saw a recipe for Corned beef Rissoles on The Frugal Factor and instantly thought, Pasties. I happen to have corned beef in the fridge and can soon make some pastry. It takes moments to chop veg and microwave it.

I quite fancy that idea, with some gravy and green veg it will make a decent dinner.

I am off now to see if Rufus is willing to venture out into the snow.


                                  TTFN                             Pam

PS. Mean Queen has a new You Tube offering,do you know the difference between need and want?  Ilona does and so do I. I know that lots of you lovely peeps do also.
But there are many, many more who do not, and live their lives in a spiral of debt and despair. Perhaps our school curriculum should include Home Economics, of the real sort. I remember learning to make Rissoles for a family using the smallest amount of meat.

                                                     Pam

My Monday.

Woke up sneezing, Duh.
Shower with eyes shut, clean teeth, get dressed.
Load the washing machine.
Tea,and repeat. ( go and press start on machine)
Change sofa throws and cushion covers.
Winkle Ben out of bed and take for walk, feed on return.
Empty washing machine and refill.
Make tea for the SO.
Peg out washing Woo Hoo
Collect Rufus and walk him, very chilly but bright and dry. meet and greet regular dogs and their slaves  owners.
Make more tea and it seemed to evaporate.
Empty and refill washing machine and peg out.
Strip bed and scoop clean linen out of cupboard.
Scoot off to Neath, run errands. Find Semolina in Morrisons. Yaye
Fill up with petrol on way home, slither round Teco and find 2 yellow sticker bargains. Excellent. Cold roast pork to make a sandwich for the SO reduced from £5.20 to £1. 15. Treacle tart for 12p !! I think that may have been an error, but it will be good with custard later.

Back home.
Empty and refill washing machine, take things off line, peg more out.
Make and drink 2 cups of tea PDQ. It,s cold out there.
Make bed, clear the little bit of washing up.
Tidy kitchen, sanitise work tops with vinegar spray.
Empty washing machine and refill, PHEW, get things off line and peg more out.
Make and drink a cup of tea.
Make bed, look at polish and duster and walk away. Tomorrow will suffice.
Empty line and start finishing it all off in the dryer, it will not take long.
Now it is time for the dogs to go out again. The I will be sitting on my btm with more tea and knitting.

                         TTFN                                        Pam

2 Hours gone forever.

That was my shopping trip yesterday, I do not enjoy shopping. I do not like pushing a wonky wheeled trolley up and down. I do not like searching for elusive "exotic" ingredients like Semolina! I asked 2 separate employees where I may possibly find some and both looked at me as if I had asked for a class A drug.
To gather all the contents of my quite small list I had to visit 5 shops. Tesco, Lidl, Home Bargains, Poundstretcher and Farm Foods. Thankfully the last 4 are all on the same small complex.

I should rephrase that. To get the most for my money I had to visit 5 shops.
I could have got the lot in Tesco, but at a price that I would not be happy to pay.

I did go on to the shopping comparison site but halfway through compiling my list I almost lost the will to live. The cheapest option was Asda, but only compared to doing the entire shop in Tesco, the petrol used would have wiped out the savings.

The only item that I bought in Home Bargains was a 3 pack of Hartleys jelly for 89p, they are over 50p for one block every where else.Yes I could have bought leaf gelatine ( another exotic item!) at a price.

I only bought a jar of coffee in Farm Foods, I saved a whole 1p, but I do that every week, 52p per year, do that on every item and it is a considerable sum.
look after the pennies......

I did stock up on pulses 79p per 500 gms and tinned chopped tomatoes, 25p per tin in Poundstretcher and very good quality.

The largest part of my Tesco shop was fruit and veg, both fridge drawers were empty as was the fruit bowl. Btw the root veg packs were 49p so I bought 3 and as a bonus they come on a clear plastic tray that will fit over my small seed trays. perfect for window sill sowing. Along with a huge cabbage from Lidl 65p  and the cauliflower that I froze last week I have plenty of veg for the week.

Unless I have a house full of hungry people I will not need to shop any more this week, and only for milk, fruit and veg on the next trip.
  I will be in Neath on Monday and will go into Morrisons in search of semolina, if they have it I will buy 2 packets. I use it in my shortbread, crumbles and Bakewell pudding.

That,s enough of that.

No sewing happened, I concentrated on my knitting. Both sleeves on the Miette are done, I did not bind off but left the ribbing stitches on waste yarn. Once the body is done I will try it on and see if the length is okay. I must look for button for both my cardigans in Deb,s wool shop on Tuesday, and a set for Francesca,s cardigan. I must print the pattern off as I will be casting that on next.

The SO has picked up a nasty strain of the cold come flu bug, he spent most of the day in bed. There has been lots of honey and hot lemon and as much sympathy as I could muster. He sounds dreadful, bunged up nose and raspy throat and he doesn't look that wonderful either.

Today I hope to clear the heart sewing and get the bunting strung together ready to hang.
The weather forecast is pretty dire so it will be an indoor day.
porridge for breakfast sound good, soup for lunch and something comforting for dinner. I will see what the SO fancies.
Ben has had his walk and breakfast. Now I am off to make that porridge.

                     TTFN                                          Pam

Cut, pin, dig,dig,sew.

I did venture out into the garden after my walk with Rufus. My timing was absolutely spot on, just as I walked through the gate it started to rain.
I went back and did a little sewing,  well cutting to be precise, then pinning and finally (a good while later) some sewing.

A little stack of smallish hearts in various shades of pink, destined to become bunting, all with the same backing fabric. A light weight 100% cotton home dec fabric, bought many years ago in Dunelm for £2 a mtr. 

A few medium size and even fewer bigger hearts, more pink prints, same backing. These are as yet in the "I am not sure how to use them yet" category.

This is half made and will be on the bed, possibly with a supporting cast of some of the medium sized ones.

These are all a little "bling" to decorate Fran,s room for her next visit.

This is just a reminder for me, I need to open it and get the pattern pieces out and pressed flat. I like to measure the pieces before deciding what size to trace off. The fabric is ready to go and I am thinking of extending it into a dress as well. I have a double sheet to have practise run and if it works I have the fabric ready to use.

I did get back outside for an hour or so later, it was considerably warmer than Thursday. I did not do very much but you can see were I have been.

The SO has a cold, poor thing, so tonight,s dinner will be a butternut squash and chickpea curry to warm him up. It will be going in the slow cooker and burble away with no attention while I play in the sewing room.

Enjoy your weekend, were ever you are. keep warm if you are in cold snowy climes and stay cool if you are in the sunny side of the world.

                                  TTFN                                           Pam

3rd time lucky.

Three attempts to get my photos loaded, Grrrrrrr.

Yesterday was bright, dry and blooming cold, all day. I went into the garden and lasted all of 15 minutes, I had to come in my teeth were chattering and I am sure that someone else,s nose was on my face.

Never mind, I got warm and headed for the sewing room.

When I came out I brought this with me.

It needs a belt but I was too idle to run up and get one, I will wear it with one of those 3" wide elastic ones. I selected high contrast colours and am pleased with the result although I intend to take the pattern down a size for this construction method. The yellow fabric has a pattern of bees and the teal has tiny gold dots.

I fancy scarlet and aqua but do not think I have enough of either so it will have to wait.

Dinner last night was another mushroom and chestnut tart, I had the rest of the jar of pesto, some mushrooms and peppers that needed using. There was a tub of Quark in the fridge so I finished that off rather than buying creme fraiche, it was not quite the same but still very good. As there was so much veg in it (I added extra) we had it on its own. The puff pastry was a yellow sticker 28p bargain and provided enough carbs to make it very filling. I had enough pastry left to cut into 2 x 5" squares and cook, they will be used as a pudding today filled with apple and raspberry and a little greek yogurt.

W had to take Poppy, one of his cats, to the vet in the afternoon. Our one time neighbour, Dai, was visiting so took them and I dog sat. Dai has a little Jack Russell called Dewie who is a little cutie. Ben was over the moon, they are much of a size and the three played till they collapsed.

He is sprawled out on the SO, who in turn was sprawled out on the sofa. Rufus and Ben were with me on the other sofa.

Poppy had stopped eating and W was concerned that she might have teeth problems, but it was a gland problem and was dealt with there and then. I took the dogs home and she was back to her old self, head in her food dish.

Today is a blank canvas, I would like to get out in the garden but that is weather dependant. I need to clean the sewing machine and overlocker, replace needles and wind some white bobbins. I have a blouse pattern that I want to open and I need to trim a size off my shift dress pattern hack. I do like my clothes loose but have decided that it is a bit too large.

Liver and bacon for dinner, I have some cauliflower and broccoli to use up so will have the cauliflower as mash. 

I want to empty the veg drawer and make a batch of veg hash for the freezer and if I have enough leeks I will make a pot of Leek and potato soup, a dollop of greek yogurt will make it creamy.

I am busy making things to decorate Fran,s room ready for her visit at the end of the month. I know that Valentine,s will be long gone but am planning on a heart and roses theme. I will share the photo,s tomorrow (fingers crossed) I have a little hand stitching on one item and need to rake my fingers through the little grey cells and come up with something else.

I need tea and may get my brain in some sort of working order while I drink it.

                                 TTFN                               Pam

Ice Ice Baby

I must begin by saying Hello and welcome aboard to my new followers, I have been intending to say this for some time. The problem is that I have the idea for a post and just dive straight in. Then about five minutes after pressing publish I remember. So I apologise, profoundly.

Yesterday afternoon the temperature dropped alarmingly and a nasty icy drizzle set in. I expected to get up this morning to frost, luckily my expectations were not fulfilled.

There was that yellow thing in the sky, a sky of clear, cool, baby blue decorated in a conservative manner with wisps of cotton wool and a few larger clumps here and there. Very Pretty. 

BUT as we all know, pretty is as pretty does. Today was not doing pretty, apart from the fact that it is Pretty Blooming Cold out there.
The wind is still on the icy side of cold and there is the odd drop of almost frozen precipitation ready to catch you unawares and trickle down your neck. Brrrrrr. Yup, it got me. It was a shock enough to make you have a little accident, luckily I managed to avoid that particular hazard.

The SO was binge watching QI, from the beginning early evening. Much as I like the show I soon clocked up Overload. Off I went to the sewing room.

The latest pattern hack is finished and I am inordinately pleased with the result. This version of the pattern is my 4th and it still delights me, I did lengthen the bodice by an inch and that worked well.

I hacked the pattern to use the pocket from the Hollyburn skirt, I like this much better than any inseam pocket that I have used.

Sooo I then took my shift dress pattern, New look 6352, traced it off and cut it in half at the waistline. I added a seam allowance to top and bottom pieces as I do  not want it any shorter.

Later today I hope to cut a dress out using 2 coordinating fabrics, or maybe not so coordinating. I will share with you tomorrow.

I am thinking that this is the way forward, it will enable me to have every dress with my favourite pocket. I also intend to try this with the stretchy lilac and white fabric,and may make that the next project.

Now I need to get wrapped up for my walk with Rufus, no more icy trickles down my back.

                        TTFN                                       Pam