Saturday, Sun and Saving.

It has been a glorious day, some gardening, some laundry, some letter reading and a walk with Ben. Then the skies clouded up, turned black and down came the rain, just as I finished the ironing, excellent timing.

An old friend wrote to me to let me know that she is back home from a few years working her way round Spain. She went out there on a working holiday 4 years ago after a painful divorce and stayed, she was working at a pet rescue center and loved it.
We are meeting next weekend, I am really excited. My letter was 9 pages! and she filled in lots of details including a raid on a puppy farm when they stole  all the breeding bitches and the puppies. Every single dog was rehomed within a year, wonderful. The police and welfare organisation were then involved and the place was closed down.

One thing that struck me as a very good idea was one of the ways she restored herself after the divorce, every day she wrote in a diary a list of 5 things to be grateful for. At first it would take ages to find 5 but as time went on, and with lots of thanks to her work, she would get her list done in minutes.

I have decided to borrow this and start it today, so my 5 for today are as follows,

1. My good health.
2. Michael, Francesca and James.
3. Junior and Kaitlyn.
4. My Grandmothers teaching.
5. The Internet.


I tried to compile a list of things that I am  ungrateful for, I got stuck after My Big Feet.
I can lose weight, My hair can be any colour I like. I can dress in whatever clothes that I want to. I can read any book see any film and listen to any music.
Unlike a large proportion of the worlds population.

This is the baby quilt that I made last week, and I have just noticed that it is upside down. the pattern is called Tumbling Charms.

I backed it with this lovely print and used a striped fabric for the binding.

The fabrics are from Bonnie & Camille for Moda and the Quilt tutorial can be found on the Missouri Star Quilt Co. web site.

I am off to make a start on dinner, we are having "iffits" tonight, If it is in the fridge I will cook it.

BTW, when I shopped I wanted to buy dessicated coconut, I went to 3 shops who had empty space where it should have been, Francesca went to Lynn today and got me some from Sainsburys, I wonder if everyone is eating coconut cake this week!

I am adding it to a bread and butter  pudding with diced apricots and flaked almonds just to make a change, I will put a little cinnamon and ginger in as well.

There is a Vintage Fun Day in Sutton Bridge tomorrow and we will go and have a look at that,
I have no idea what it will be like but it is good to support local events.

That is all from me today, so it is       TTFN   Pam

Relaxing now, ha, shopping and ironing.

Well now that the dreaded injections have happened I am hoping that normality will resume. I have done a shop, not very big, just fresh stuff and toiletries really the freezer is still going strong.

A basket of ironing has been done and put away, Oh how I hate it.

Ben is enjoying his familiar walks and has met several ,new to him, dogs as we have moved our walk times. We now go on a longer walk twice daily as we have both got a bit of weight to move.

The garden is filling my hours, everything grew double fast while we were away and I am changing a few things here and there.

The sewing machines are under dust covers for a while but I have bought some new fabric from a friend who was having a clear out, in truth I did not part with a penny, a few jars of preserves, 2 fruit cakes and 2 cushion covers from my sewing cupboard sealed the deal.
Bartering is fun and we both felt that it was a win win.

I am toying with having a stall at a craft fair, I have shelves of made up items and space is at a premium. I spend all winter sewing and there are only so many cushions, bags, aprons and so on that you can give as presents.

I was asked for a baby quilt in a hurry early last week and using blocks that I was trying out made one in two hours, it was only crib sized but I impressed myself and the customer was delighted. I could not price the fabric as it was out of my stash so I used Moda prices and blanched at the result, I always use a natural batting and good quality backing fabric and she thought that it was a fair price. I took a photo but it is still on my camera, I will post it later.

If I could sell enough to keep me occupied, at least in the winter, that would persuade me to retire completely, I have a horror of having nothing to get out of bed for. I am fine all summer and early autumn.

Dinner is in the oven, the famous Bacon Chops in a cider bath. A macaroni cheese is ready to join them and carrots and cauli. I have made a batch of leeks and chicken pasta in a smoked cheese sauce for Francesca's lunches, that is enough meals now for six weeks.

By then we will be near our next trip to Wales and hopefully the freezer will be at least half way to empty. I feel a cup of tea coming on so it is TTFN    Pam

A worrying kind of day

Today has been quite stressful even though I finally got my way over a problem.

Michael has asthma, not serious or life threatening , just the common or garden variety controlled with inhalers.
On our return journey from sending my brother off he complained that his chest felt tight and proceeded to have an asthma attack. My bother has asthma but this was the worst attack that I have seen and it was scary, the inhalers did not touch it.
His face was dark and his breathing dreadful, I had to pull off the road and in the end get him into the recovery position and talk him into a relaxed state before the medication took effect. By the time we got home he was back to normal but admitted that he had been scared.

He also suffers from tennis elbow that flares up when he over does it at work and this has been giving him considerable pain for a few weeks now, it has got so bad that the pain has gone up into the shoulder. I strongly believe that this chronic pain was a big part of the asthma attack, his body was so stressed that it made it much worse than normal.

 Ages ago the GP said that a cortisone injection was required, he was horrified and ignored it. I have nagged away and yesterday I laid down the law and it was get to the doctors and get sorted or think about finding somewhere else to live. This may seem harsh but shock tactics were needed, he has spent weeks in pain and then getting so tired that he sleeps for the best part of 2 days at a time, and it is having a detrimental effect on all our lives. Thankfully he took notice and today had the jabs, one in each side of the tendon, he picked up new painkillers as well. We had dinner and he is now in bed snoring his head off.

Michael is 14 years younger than me but if you had seen him over the weekend you would have thought it was reversed.

I was widowed when quite young and for a while thought that I was losing Michael, I have never been more glad of my first aid training. I am not scared of much but that episode has left me quite disconcerted and ill at ease. Michael has to go to the asthma clinic next and then have a general check up to see how he has been affected by the trauma. I can only hope that all is as it should be.

TTFN    Pam

Reflections on a hectic week

My baby brother has left the UK and has arrived safely in Sweden. He is on a works related trip to meet with suppliers but will fit in some fun time as well. He ans my lovely SIL are going to have a tour of the Volvo factory ( bet SIL loves that) and a visit to the Abba museum ( baby bro will be beside himself)

It was fantastic to have them here and to catch up with old friends was great also. We all talked about how sad it is that we do not stay in close contact and how the months slide into years imperceptibly.

In my Grandparents time you did not stray far from home, there was usually  ample employment within a few miles, and families and friends stayed close all their lives.
 My Granny never left Norfolk, one of her brothers was in the Merchant Navy and was a wanderer for most of his life and only settled down when age tightened it's grip on him, the rest stayed close and I grew up within a wide family circle.

My mum had three siblings, both brothers were in the air force and went where they were posted, the sister stayed within 100 yards of home until she died. Mum lived in Norwich for a while but moved back to the village after a few years.

Now villages are becoming dormitories and as house prices rise young locals can not afford to stay and move out. In most households both partners work and free time is concentrated on the nucleus family group, with the occasional visit to both sets of parents.

Siblings grow apart, cousins are long forgotten and the years roll by, Christmas and birthday cards slowly dwindle away. Then there will be a wedding, a christening or a funeral and the clan gathers.

We attended Michael's Grandmothers funeral last week, it was a lovely day and during the late afternoon family were moving around and chatting, two cousins discovered that although they had not met for a few years they lived two streets apart and made plans for the weekend.

This is modern life, my family stayed in close touch for years then work scattered us, job commitments, children and the school calendar stepped in and it was all over. Granny died so there were no unplanned meetings at her home to keep us together. It is sad but inevitable, I spend my holidays in Wales with the grandchildren not in Norfolk with my siblings, they will be out and about across Briton visiting theirs.

I am tired and happy, my life is slowly getting back to normal, today I moved a small mountain of laundry and filled the freezer with "takeaway meals" for Francesca to have at work. I did a big blitz on upstairs and filled a box for the Charity Shop. I am off to bed, so it is

                                                     TTFN    Pam

Catching my Breath

We are having a wonderful time with my baby brother, it is 3 years since I was in Australia to see him, and my lovely SIL. We have talked almost non stop and caught up on all the family gossip. Lots of old friends have come together and yesterday afternoon it caught up with us and we had lunch late and slipped into a doze! that turned into a 3 hour nap,Oops.

In the middle of all this Michael and I have had to plan a trip to Stockport tomorrow, sadly while we were in Wales his Grandmother died and the funeral is tomorrow. It is not too bad a journey so we will  be back in the early evening.

Then on Friday we are having an open house at a friends with a nibbles buffet during the day and , weather permitting, a barbecue in the evening. On Saturday we will take brother and wife to Heathrow as they fly out early Sunday morning.

We are making firm plans to go to Oz to see them next year, my eldest nephew has a long standing girlfriend and it is highly likely that they will marry next year. The younger nephew says he will wait a few years before even considering a serious girlfriend, he is in the first year of an apprenticeship so can not afford to "go steady". We have had long excited chats via Skype at lots of funny times of the day!

The garden is fending for itself and the sewing machines are gathering dust, I can not remember the last time I opened a book. Next week my life will return to normal and I will play catch up, I can not tell you how good I feel and how happy I am, and as to how I will feel waving goodbye on Saturday well I am sure to have a soggy tissue or three. But hey, at least my tear ducts will be clean!

Right, it seems that it is my turn to make tea and someone asked for scones so I better get busy, I picked up some cream from the local dairy this morning thank goodness and I have some English strawberries, hot house grown but divine.    TTFN  Pam

Slow, Sunny Sunday

What a glorious day we are having, I woke early to sunlight pouring through my bedroom window and to find that Ben had got not just onto the bed but had wrapped himself round my head like a turban. On second thoughts it could have been the heat and the snoring that woke me.

I managed to find a small load of washing, so as to not waste the weather and while that was churning round did most of the ironing. Francesca the wonderful finished it off for me.

We did a quick trip to Lynn to pick up 3 pieces of wood, Michael is building a curved bench for the garden and had run out.

We spent a couple of hours or so in the garden, I weeded round the apples and between the patio slabs while Michael demolished an old bench and cleared space in his "man cave"

The weather has convinced me that Piri Piri Chicken, jacket potato, coleslaw and salad will be the perfect dinner.

I have tempted fate by putting all the sweaters away, well it is June when all is said and done. The wardrobes are fairly full and I am going to cast my eagle eyes over the contents in the next few days, with a view to creating some space.

I did have a nosey round some of the shops in Wales and was amazed at the poor display and mediocre quality in many of them. I used to shop at H & M and Zara but they were terrible. Limp, badly creased garments of indeterminate shape in sludgy colours, I see better displays in most charity shops. Even Dorothy Perkins was drab and dreary. The one shining light was East, the colours were bright and sparkling, everything was pressed and hung neatly and the prices were acceptable. I did not buy as there is nothing that I need, but a few years ago I would have staggered out laden with bags of goodies.

One thing that shocked me was the proliferation of Japanese Knotweed growing on the roadside, I thought that it was mandatory to remove it. I did find lots of wild herbs and made use of many of them.

My tea is drunk, I wonder who that was, and I am off to shower before starting dinner. TTFN    Pam

Back from the Wild West

We arrived home at 7pm yesterday after a very easy journey, Tom tom showed us the way and apart from the usual heavy traffic creeping through Newtown  it was go go go.

Francesca managed to join us after a marathon work session and her brother picked her up from the station, it was so easy for her to call in at work and finish off all her assignments and hop on a train.

Unfortunately she was brewing a dreadful cold and on Thursday snuffled and sneezed her way round Folly Farm. It is a fantastic place for a visit if you are in Wales, we have been many times and highly recommend it. We take lunch with us, there are heaps of tables and chairs, it makes for a cheap day out as once you are in there is no need to spend money on the rides. There is enough free stuff to do, the only ride that we paid for was the go carts for Junior and that was £2 a car not a person.

Junior's birthday was enjoyed by all, James had a barbecue on Sunday and the birthday proper was on Wednesday, complete with cake and jelly mmmmm.

I was out of internet connection at the cottage and we spent so much time out and about that I just gave up trying to keep up with posting and reading. I waded through over 200 emails this morning and will begin reading blogs after dinner. We had our usual family meal out in the local fish restaurant, they are very good, well priced and have all the facilities that are needed for small children. Apart from that we ate in, I took enough homemade ready meals for 3 days and cooked the rest from scratch. Even  with buying the gas barbecue for James and Cerys we brought money home from our budget. That will go towards the next trip in August.

I looked round several Charity Shops but did not buy much, I found some fabric which I snapped up and some thin card for my EPP hexies.

I think that we will now start working towards moving to Wales, we all love it there. I sleep so much better there and the water is so good, at home I go through an electric kettle a year and am constantly cleaning tea stains off the mugs, our water is not nice at all.

We have toyed with the idea for some time now and as I plan on retiring completely next year it makes sense to plan the move as well.

I have caught up on the laundry, the house is just about back to normal and the ironing will happen as and when it takes my fancy ( or someone else will do it ). We are having curry tonight and roast chicken tomorrow both simple meals. I am aiming to live out of the freezers until the chest freezer is empty, it needs a defrost, then if we have decided to move we will probably sell it, one less item to worry about.

I hear the kettle calling, it must be time for tea.   TTFN   Pam