Monday and the house seems empty.

Fran has gone back to Beckenham and the house is so quiet without her, even Ben has hidden himself away in disgust. It will n ot be long before she is back though, the last week in August she has a week booked off and wants to fit in a weekend before then.
We had a good time while she was here, we went to Crosshands on Saturday to the fabric and haberdashery shop, Isabeau Inspirations to have a look for fabric. Fran wants me to make her some skirts, she found 2 patterns that she likes.

The "blue" is really Teal and a gorgeous colour, the little owls are as cute as can be.

Hayley, who owns the shop is very nice and lives a few yards away from me on the other side of the road.

On Sunday we went to Swansea and went into Hobbycraft, I have to say that I was not over impressed by the fabric area, very small and over priced. However Fran found some fabric for another skirt.

No pressure but she would like to wear this next Saturday.

I found some mixed buttons for £5, my button tin was getting very low.

We went to Dunelm Mills and I found this basket, I will be replacing the lining, for £6, I love it. I was going to buy one next time I was in Cardigan but they start at £30 there, I like £6 much better.

Here is the fourth 18" cushion for James and Cerys, I think that brings my total of stash makes up to 12 but will check later. I have some 12" to make and 2 bigger ones then I will be full on with skirts I think. Before that I will have to have a mega sort out in the sewing/dining room, there is not a suare inch of surface without fabric, pins, clips, scissors or something on it. Things were so bad at one point that there was no room for my tea. disaster. I had to have a 2 minute blitz.

Now that is out of the way I have new followers to welcome, Mornings Minion, Chickpea, Susan Davies, Oh Pioneer,Donna Perry,Gwen Cauldwell and Lynne Lewis, then there those of you on Bloglovin that I do not know how to find. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be grateful. I rather think that I will be looking at some new blogs a bit later on.

I better cut the grass first or I will not be able to get to the washing whirlygig.

Reasons to be grateful.

1.  More lovely sunshine.

2.  Baby toms on my plants.

3.  Radishes going to seed for the peppery pods.

4.  Lots of pretty fabric for sewing.

5.  I was able to go to Tesco and drop a load of long life milk into the food bank collection point.

The baby toms are really tiny, but they will grow. I love radish seed pods in a salad, they burst in your mouth and explode with flavour. I will not be counting Fran's skirts in my challenge as they have not come from my stash. I will be adding all the scraps to it though.

I was told that there is always a shortage of milk at the food banks and indeed there were several boxes of cereals but only 1 pint of milk on Saturday. I do not shop that often but will try to drop a 6 pack off every time.

It is now well gone 5 and still too hot to cut grass, I may have some dinner first, Ben needs a decent walk and it will have to wait till it cools down.

Tea time now.

     TTFN                                                           Pam

Warm Hearts in Wales

Just a quick visit to say that the Tesco in Ammanford had many good hearted shoppers today. I took my donation to the collection point and the women manning it said that they had received a really large amount of foodstuffs. Add to that the amount that Tesco will contribute and they are looking at around 1 1/2 TONS of food from the area.

It sounds a lot but the need is massive and is growing daily. If every shopper, who could manage it, gave 1 food item it would help to plug the gap. One never knows what the future has in store, there but for the grace of God go I. 
All it takes for a family to go under is an error in the path that trips them up. A small business can be ruined if a customer goes under owing them money, not necessarily a huge amount, enough to stop the cash flow. Before you can turn round they have gone down as well and are maybe penniless. The benefits system is difficult to negotiate and you hear of people waiting weeks for a payment.

Every thing seems to be set up for internet users, what if you can no longer afford the internet and your computer has been repossessed. 

Someone who I know signed off from job seekers allowance and it took 3 phone calls. During the last one he was told to fill in a form and take it to the nearest job center, where he was told, no we do not want that, go online and fill it in.

How can you win.

Enough, whinge and moan over.

Normal service will be resumed Sunday sometime.

TTFN                                Pam

Sewing in The Rain, take 2

I am remiss in not offering a welcome to some new followers. Gill,Elaine, Penny Wise, Tree Lover and Hazzy,  consider yourselves at home, consider yourselves part of the family, I love that song from Oliver so please excuse the frivolity. All those who follow via Bloglovin are welcome equally, I just do not know how to get in and find you. All those who read but do not follow are also most welcome, some of you who leave comments lead me on a journey, if you blog I pop over and have a read, I have found interesting blogs to follow that way. I also do it on blogs that I follow, one click and a couple of hours can evaporate.

It has been another mizzley, drizzley day but it is warm, the garden will be lapping it up and I have been shopping and sewing.

I went to Cross Hands to visit a shop called Isabeau, they sell fabric, wool, embroidery silks and wools and all the notions and haberdashery you could want. 
I found my zips and some waistband elastic and knew there was one more item but it had slipped my mind. Of course the minute that I walked through the door I remembered that I need hooks and eyes, hey ho I will look in Ammanford tomorrow.

If I keep up this dressmaking lark I will need to go hunting for a few things, including an overlocker. My machine does a fair job of finishing edges but an overlocker is both faster and more professional.

I made my garlic mushrooms and had them with corn on the cob and new potatoes, there were so many that I did not need any more veg.

They were very garlicky and the sauce was thick and creamy but low fat.

The second skirt, finished but for the zip and waistband.

A close up of the fabric, these colours are quite subdued on here, they are brighter in the flesh and will be teamed with a bright solid colour top.

I had picked out a darker print and pinned the pattern out, then got cold feet. I do not happily choose darker colours, I bought this to make lounge pants ages ago and it has been sitting there glaring at me. I may make it up for Francesca, she does like darker colours.

I still like the pattern but no longer think that it is for me.

This is a mid lilac and although I like it I think that it is too quiet. It will go into the quilting cupboard.

This Texas State Flower print is more like it but I do not know if I have enough for the pattern. I will press it later and see, it is time that I made something with it.

I can not decide what to have for dinner, I am not really very hungry but do not want to be starving at 8:00 and stuffing myself that late in the evening, perhaps a big veggy stirfry, I do not fancy meat or fish. I do have plenty of cheese and eggs but don't really want them either.

 Considering the fact that so many people are relying on food banks and eat what they can when they can, I feel slightly ashamed. Wales is relying on food banks much more now than they have in the past, Tesco is doing a collection over the weekend so I will be going in tomorrow to do my bit.

 It is  all to easy to whinge over what to eat when the cupboards, fridge and freezer is full and I strongly suspect that I am not alone. I do a rough meal plan but it is not set in stone, Friday just says "fridge bottom" it is my use it up day.

I have known the time when the only meat we had was game or rabbit. We raised chickens but they were for sale we also raised rabbits and sold most of them, just saving enough to eat when game was out of season.

Reasons to be grateful.

1.  Not having to worry about where the next meal is coming from.

2.  Being able to help feed those who can not do it themselves.

3.  My new machine is making light work of my sewing.

4.  I do not have to water my pots today.

5.  I have a new Simon Kernick paperback to read.

I have decided it will be a veg stir fry with some of my plum and chili jelly to pep it up and the ends of salad on the side. A pot of tea to wash it down and a peach if I have room.

On that sweet note I am off to the kitchen to slice and dice.

                  TTFN                                           Pam

Sunshine came blazing through my window today.

A warm welcome to Tracy@Cardmaker's Delights, who has joined us, I hope you enjoy the journey. I do like hand made cards but I tried a few times only to get more glue on me than the cards and Ben had glitter on his tails for days.
I seem to have lost a couple of peeps, I hope they are still enjoying blog land. I find it fascinating just pootling around hopping backwards and forwards, you will see new blogs on my list every now and then, sometimes I just can't help myself, I have to follow in case I miss something.
Oh My Word it is glorious today, the wind has dropped and the sky is blue. The sun is beaming down and everyone that I have met while walking Ben has been cheerful. Lovely.
I was blog hopping earlier and found a quilting pattern that I liked instantly, it is called Candy Bar and is really a cushion cover to use the Moda Candy packs. These are precut 2 1/2" squares from designers collections and are very pretty, they are also a very pretty price. Well it just happens that when I was cutting up the contents of my scrap bin I cut stacks of squares this size. So with a little sewing and pressing I have this for my trouble.

I have enough squares sewn in sets of 3 to make 2 more blocks that are 18" unfinished, 16 blocks would make a 70" square quilt top before borders. I still have a quilt top in blocks to get finished so this may have to be a "suck it and see" project. I would like the cushion covers but equally a quilt is tempting. watch this space.

As soon as I left my machine to press the block, a squatter moved in.

He managed a half glance at me before curling up and snoozing, I feel that it was my cue to get the washing in and ironed as the board was set up. I had turned the power off, I do when ever i leave the machine, so even though he was on the foot pedal nothing untoward could happen.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Marina is having her treatment and is holding her own.

2. Francesca is happily back at work after our protracted stay in Derbyshire.

3. Jeannie is coping and slowly getting into a semblance of normal life.

4. I have packed up 3 bags of goodies for the food bank. leaving my little house much tidier.

5. A day of glorious sunshine has been most refreshing and invigorating

We still have no date for the Cremation but I am sucking it up.  

That is all for now, the great outdoors beckons for a stroll with Ben.

       TTFN                                                        Pam

The Old , The New, The Newest. Power at what price.

This photo was taken yesterday afternoon when Ben had his 3rd walk.

It shows a working farm in the foreground, it has been in one family for generations. That is not a rubbish dump, all the equipment there will be moved and used on the farm during the year, it is an easily accessed central strip of land. 
Behind that is the newest addition, the wind turbines, I think that they are graceful, ballerinas in the sky. Behind the trees the white building is the EDF power plant, built several years ago, the company have applied for Planning consent to built another beside it. 
The juxtaposition of the ancient farm next to modern technology is interesting to me. 
 Of course they are not immediate neighbours, there are about 4 miles between the farm and the power plant with a river between them, the turbines are this side of the river roughly mid point.

 I just wish that the power companies who brag about record profit would lower their prices instead of putting them up as often as they like. to be continued.........

Moving forward to Dinner.
My faggots were delish, 

I used 450gm each of Pork Shoulder £1.10, Cooking Bacon 90p and Lambs liver £ 1.00, all from Mr S. Chopped fine in the processor, I made around 300 gm homemade stuffing dry mix to a firm mix with hot water and mixed it together well with my hands. i then put it in the fridge to firm up while I made the gravy. 

I peeled and sliced 4 onions and put them on a pan with a little oil to soften and brown a little, I added a good dollop of roast garlic paste, homemade, 2 heaped tsp paprika, 1 tsp dried herbs, a grind of black pepper and a heaped tbs plain flour to make a loose roux. I cooked this off for 2-3 minutes and stirred in some red wine, about 6 large ice cube size bits and a good shake of Lea & Perrins and about 3 pints of stock, a good squeeze of tomato paste and 1/2 pint of homemade tomato sauce. Bring up to a simmer and let cook gently for around 30 minutes. 

I used a cookie scoop to measure out the faggot mix and made 22 decent size ones, I put them in a single layer in 2  deep dishes and cooked at 190 c for 25 minutes in my fan oven, I poured enough gravy in to nearly cover the faggots and put back in the oven for 15 minutes. We had 2 each with cabbage and mushy peas and the gravy oh yes the gravy. The rest were divided into serving of 4 and topped up with the rest of the gravy to cover them. Once cool they went into the fridge to chill before going in the freezer, the 2 extra went as a single serving. That gave me 11 servings for around £4.00. not bad at all. I could have used more stuffing mix and cheaper liver but this is how we like them.

I am ploughing my way through a project to make my sewing easier. I am following Bonnie Hunter and Lori Holt by organising my scraps. Taming the Beast is my name for it. I will show and tell when it is done.

Dinner tonight will be Jacket Potatoes filled with Spicy Pork and Peppers. A salad on the side will give us a well balanced meal. Pork two days running but hey, we like it.  

I read in the local paper that the demand on food banks in the area is growing and also that some people are returning food as they have no means to cook it. I make sure that every food item I donate can be eaten without having to be cooked or even heated up. Cold food may not be as appetising but is just as nutritious.

I will be dropping off long life milk and tinned meat dinners tomorrow.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Not ever knowing hunger.

2. Never having to chose between heating or eating.

3. Having the wherewithal to help,no matter in how small a way.

4. No pain today.

5. A home I feel safe and warm in.

I may have to drop this feature of my blog, There are so many who have absolutely nothing to feel grateful for. While I and countless others have an "embarrassment  of riches" I can not remember where that quote is from but it is so true.

Continued........

 I wonder if there is some way to provide "power vouchers" to those in need, it would be a mammoth task to tie in all the greedy money guzzling power providers to enable it to work. Unless that is if they could see extra profit in it, possibly by putting an extra charge on top of the bloodsucking fee they already put on prepayment meters.

I read somewhere that the leaders of these vampires are meeting with the goverment, probably to enjoy a free dinner with wine on the tax payers backs.

sorry I will get off the Soap Box now. 

I am off to walk Ben and calm myself down.

                                 TTFN       Pam

A Day To Count My Blessings and Ben and I Swap Places

Ben has spent many hours draped across various bits of furniture and laps and is now back on form.

He was trying to look hard done by but he had just come in from playing with a ball!

I am down with the dreaded sciatica again, it is my own fault, I have been very busy at work and lifted too much too many times.

I have a list of exercises and a heat pad, and no work for a while. I intended to finish at the end of the year so may just not go back. I will miss the people but as the atmosphere is so poor I will not repine.

I have a new follower, Vickie from More Stars in Comanche, she lives in Texas and has a band of four legged ranch hands. Pop over and have a look, it was winning her giveaway that got me my first Texas wild flower fabric, I have slowly added to it and will be cutting into it soon. Any way, glad to have you aboard Vickie, you are most welcome.

A quiet day, a little of my sewing done, photos tomorrow. No shopping, no cooking, We will have the rest of the Chicken Madras with some naan bread and Brinjal pickle.

I have started to clear another cupboard out and have a box of things for the charity shop. We have a good one in our local market town, it is not too pricey and is mainly used by local people. It supports a small cat rescue operation and I will drop off a box of cat food and some cat litter as well tomorrow.

I need to organise a shop for the food bank soon, rather than just take random stuff each week I have an arrangement that I pop in at the end of one month, see what they are running low on and then stock them up the next time they are open. I will see if they need things like Lem Sip and cough linctus, it is the time of year when most people lay some in, I have myself and the cost is prohibitive for anyone with a limited income.

Last time I lugged big bags of nappies from one of the cheapie shops, they were really cheap, it took 3 trips but was worth it.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. I may be in a bit of pain but I have heat and food.

2. I have dried goods, home preserves and frozen food for at least 3 months.

3. I have veg and fruit in store from the garden.

4. I have never gone without food so my children could eat.

5. I have a network of friends that I could call upon if I needed to.

I am one of the lucky rich!

                                          TTFN                     Pam