I Should Be So Lucky, Wait, I Am Lucky.

Last night at work I was hit by a fork lift truck!!, At least the pallet that he was moving hit me in the back. I was moving forward and have very quick reflexes, a good thing on both counts otherwise I would now be in hospital or worse.
The driver was moving forward with a fully loaded pallet so could see nothing, he should have been reversing until he reached his destination, he was not sounding his hooter, and when I spoke to him he did not understand English. I reported it to his supervisor and then high tailed it up to the office to make an official report.
As I said in the title I am so lucky. But I do not want to be lucky. I WANT TO BE SAFE.

My employers have "A duty of care" for me and all my colleagues, it is a legal responsibility, and I feel strongly that they are not fulfilling that  duty.

We have a high percentage of foreign workers with a very limited understanding of English. On the other hand if the foreign nationals left we would close, unemployment is fairly high in this area but there seems to be a hard core of able bodied people who will not/can not get off their bums and go to work

Rant over, I do apologize but I was rather shaken up by my near miss.

Time for a calming photo or 2.

Early morning in Rhydowen, Wales.

Road side bank in Pontsian, Wales

A splash of colour, Llandysul, Wales

That's much better, calmer by the photo.

I am doing well in my challenge to use it up not buy it up, I spent £2.68 on milk, £1.75 on veg, £1 on eggs and 50p on oranges last Sunday. From the state of my fridge I will not spend another penny until Friday or Saturday when it will be milk, cheese and eggs again plus a little veg and salad. so I should stay comfortably within the £10 projected spend.

I have 2 Quilt tops to layer and baste, I will try to get those done on Friday while I am on my own. If I try this when anyone is in the house you can bank on it that they will NEED to walk just where I amat least 10 times. Then I snarl and spit and they take umbrage. I use my tiled living room floor, not only is the grid pattern perfect, it is the only space large enough to hold an 80" square quilt. I can not sew in metric. 

I also need to have another tidy up with my scraps because I have used so many of them I can cut out 2 of the boxes. Winner Winner? Sob Sob, I love my scraps.

If anyone feels the need to get rid of scraps I will gladly pay postage, from almost anywhere.

Hello, My name is Pam, and I am a scrapaholic.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. The sun has got its  hat on and has come out to play.

2. I escaped unscathed from a potential disaster.

3. This week I will save £40. Woo Hoo

4. Francesca gets her car back on Saturday.

5. Therefore I get my car back also.

Dinner tonight is undecided, I think that it will be a lucky dip from my homemade ready meals. That way I can have an extra hour in the garden.

This is not laziness, this is why I tuck ready meals away on rainy days, so that I can have a bonus hour doing something outside on sunny days.

BTW Elaine Collier of Morgage Free in Three has posted a wonderful recipe for oaty bites, I will be whipping up a batch or 3 of these.                                 TTFN       Pam

How Do You Make a Greek Cross?

Simples, call him a Block!

As I have said a few times I am sewing with Aqua, Grey and Orange as a challenge, I am also working my way through Tula Pink,s book City Sampler and learning a great deal as I go. The first thing that I learnt was that the ruler I was using was the wrong size for my little cutting board, I was doing these in Wales so took my smallest board. The second was that on such small pieces my 1/4" seam left a lot to be desired!! I blame the foot!!

I decided to just Carry On Regardless and not bother to trim any of the blocks after all I was using scraps and off cuts of fabric that I did not much care for. Bad Pam all fabric is good, I have to get it in the right combination.

Here is some of my work along side the images from the book

See how wonky my seams are, mind you they have not been pressed yet, notice also that in my haste I left grey out, no idea how that happened.

I would like this more with a lighter orange I think.

Wonky seam strikes again, that middle square does not fit in.

I quite like this one so when I found that I needed to make a 12 1/2" block in these colours I decided to scale it up

Not impressed but it was a dummy run, That will be me who's the dummy.

I did this because I am in the next round of a 12 1/2" block swap and I have been given the same person to make for as the last round, as she is also the Swap Mama I guess she liked my Dutchman's Puzzle block. 

This is where the Cross Greek comes in.

This is my version of the Greek Cross Block, I have used much softer shades in this and although the orange is still dominant there is not too much of it. I like this but just in case my recipient does not I will make it up in brighter fabrics and send both, from cutting to pressing the finished block took 20 minutes so an extra one is not going to hurt me.

I am going to keep working through my book until I run out of one of the colours, then I will lay the blocks out and sash them, I hope to get a quilt out of it which will be donated to a local charity, provided that it is good enough. I would not give shoddy and sloppy work away.

Here is the bolder version and I quite like it but not as much as the first, I gave them both a good pressing and then checked the size.................... Rats, Rats and double Rats, they are both 1/4" too small. I checked my 1/4" seams, all fine so it must be the initial pattern measurements, they obviously require a scant seam but did not say so. I really could not be bothered to do the math so made a complete new block.

A Pinwheel block  and this I do like and it measures 12 1/2" , as I was cutting I cut most of these fabrics up and have these plus some scraps.

These just need sewing together.

Last but not least there are 4 of these.

I enjoyed my sewing but am still miffed about the small blocks, I am going to put borders on them and turn them into cushions, no idea where they will go but go they will.

I needed to look at something restfull, this is the river that runs through Cardigan.

And this is Kaitlyn having a little rest while we walked round the shops.

That,s better, much more calm and relaxed, I was getting a bit uptight over those blocks.

We had some of the Bacon Chops for dinner yesterday, I soaked 2 in some cold water for an hour then diced them up. I diced 3 sticks of celery, 1 green pepper and 1 brown onion and sweated them in a drizzle of oil, I chopped 4 cloves of garlic and 1 deseeded green chili and added them and cooked for another 3 minutes or so. Then I put in the bacon, 4 skinned and diced tomatoes, 1 1/2 pints of veg stock and a sprinkle of mixed herbs from the garden. In to the slow cooker, on high, for 3 hours, make up herby dumpling mix, AP, and put in the pot for 30 minutes. Shredded some spring greens and steamed them for 15 minutes, job done.

When we finished eating the slow cooker went on again with a massive beef casserole, both meat and veg came out of the freezer, this cooked away while I pottered about. The casserole will do at least 3 meals for us, 1 with potato, 1 in a large Yorkshire Pudding each and 1 in a pie. There may well be a portion for Francesca to have as a packed lunch.

She takes a lunch and a flask of tea every day and for months her 2 colleagues have gently mocked her, this week she returned to work to find that both of them have a lunch and a flask. They did the math and were spending £50 a week on food, tea and coffee each. That is my weekly budget.

Sorry, that was my budget, I am aiming at £10 per week for a while.

Enough already.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. My groaning full larder and freezers.

2. Our plans for the future.

3. Ben, settled down and playing again.

4. Michael, just for being.

5. Waking up to another glorious day.

Now I have to put my laundry out and take Ben for another walk.

         

                                                  TTFN        Pam

It,s Just a Manic Monday

Hello, I am back. It has been non stop motion here today, we traveled back late on Saturday and yesterday was spent on unpacking and putting away. The unused groceries were put back and the laundry put in the basket, cases put away till next time. After dinner we vegged out on the sofa and watched stuff off the sky box.

Today there are 2 loads of washing on the line, a tray of blackberries washed and drained in the freezer, a dozen apples waiting for my attention, a small mountain of tomatoes to be turned into passata, a fresh loaf of bread made and all floors downstairs swept and washed.

Later I have some sewing to do but that is play time and I need to earn it to appreciate it fully.

Francesca is having meatballs for dinner and we are having bacon chop something. We had Pork something with rice yesterday and very tasty it was.

The news on Francesca's car is not pleasant, it will probably mean a new head, ouch, the bummer is that she only needs it till the middle of November when she plans to move to London. Not to worry, there is no point.

Sad news about David Frost, I met him when he got married and held the wedding breakfast in our village, a charming man. I loved the program that made him, That was the Week That Was, ground breaking television.

Kaitlyn,s quilt was duly finished and she is sleeping with it, not under it as it is very thick.

The work on Cardigan Castle is moving along and what is done looks very good.

The perimeter walls have been stripped of years worth of undergrowth and been repaired and restored and work is ongoing on the inside. I expect that it will be some time before it is completed.

There is an indoor market in the town and  I spied this hanging over the stairwell.

The back view.

The Front.

Close Up

The workmanship is amazing.

Our week in Wales was wonderful but as ever it is good to be home and sleeping in my own bed. I have had some amazing holidays over the years but there is no place like home. The water in Wales is soft and makes a wonderful cup of tea but the first one back at home was the best.

I toured the Margaret River in WA and it was spectacular but the view of my cottage when I got home took my breath away.

And now for the News.

The decision has been made, In March next year the cottage will go on the market. We are moving to Wales. We have been researching like mad and have finally decided that this is best for us. Francesca will be settled in London or maybe New York and it will be just us.

We will be looking for a small cottage or even a flat, somewhere big enough for us, Ben and maybe a friend for him, and the sewing machines. 

We are also going to look for 1 or 2 holiday rentals to buy that will be Pet Friendly. We had the devil of a job finding somewhere to stay with Ben and Cardigan was a big No Go Zone. There were properties but the owners idea of dog welcome was not mine and the cost was astronomical.

The cottage we were in was great but it was huge, too much to keep clean while on holiday. There was a garden but the walking was dicey as there were no pavements and narrow roads. If I did not take my Cooking Kit with me I would have been stumped, there was 1 smallish blunt knife, a wobbly serrated knife and a bread knife. I chopping board and 2 flimsy wooden spoons. Possibly most people do not cook but when I have paid over £400 pounds for a cottage I will not be eating out.

I am sure that a well equipped rental at a reasonable price will not be empty much.

 We have looked at this from every angle and this is the way for us. A small income is all we need and lots of time for us and the grands is a given.

I will miss my cottage but am very excited for the future, we aim to have 2 bedrooms but 1 will become my sewing room and there will be no sofa bed. I love the friends and family that we have but will not be giving free holidays to any one. Sounds mean but I have been there in the past and it is a fast way to fall out and lose people.

I am slowly catching up on my blog reading, no internet in Wales, and see that Jo at Through the Keyhole is having a 3rd Birthday Giveaway with some delicious goodies on offer. Of course I entered, apart from all the rest there is some pink polka dot fabric how could I resist. I did win a giveaway and when it arrives from Texas I will do a show and tell.

I had a comment on the blog asking if it was OK to copy my "reasons to be grateful" Carry on, I borrowed the idea from a friend and nobody has a copyright to it, at least as far as I know.

It makes me aware that even on a "bad hair day" in  S***t week I have so much in my life to be grateful over. I was picking blackberries on the edge of my wild garden this morning surrounded by the chirping and rustling and buzzing of all the residents and it was heavenly and free. Life is good.

There are lots of fabric sales on and my fingers have been twitching away but I am not buying. I have stacks of fabric and a few things on the go and I am waiting. waiting very impatiently for Scrumptious to be released in yardage, that is the new collection from Bonnie and Camille for 

Moda. The precuts are available now but I want "the best bang for my buck" and yardage will give me that added value. You see I normally wait until what I want goes on sale and make a saving that way, this time because of our plans I will be buying on release, by the time it goes on sale I will/could be packing to move or already moving. I have earmarked the funds and they are untouchable for any thing else, no matter what. I did not buy any of the last collection, I had the chance to stock up on Marmalade and Vintage Modern and took it with both hands and that used my fabric fund up.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. The sun is shining.

2. Ben is happy.

3. My garden is laden with goodies.

4. Francesca is doing well in her career.

5. I am immersed in plans and lists. I love lists.

I have had 8 good years in my little cottage and it will be hard to leave but I am looking forward to our new life, there will be less stress for Michael and that should help his Asthma. There will be lots of quality time together and the grands will be close. We hope to make lots of new friends and re establish Michael,s old ones. Francesca, James and Cerys are all for it and that is a big boost. We do not expect to idle our time away just to portion it out in a different way.

Now I need a cup of tea and possibly a biscuit.     TTFN       Pam

Tails on Tuesday

Well only one tail really, we have been to talk to the local pet rescue people and they do not have any smaller dogs that can be rehomed with another dog but we are on their waiting list.

Ben is loving his time with Junior and Kaitlyn and we will keep on full alert, we are checking the local paper as well.

We are at James's this afternoon and I have left my camera in the bungalow so no photos today.
I am getting on well with the hand quilting, but it is a hot job with the thick wadding that I am using.  I brought Tula  Pinks latest book, 100 modern quilt blocks with me. I am working my way through the book but using Aqua, Orange and Grey, this is my challenge to myself to get outside my comfort zone. I admit that I am still not enamored with the colours but the small blocks are very appealing. I will probably repeat the exercise with my go to colours.

We are enjoying some lovely weather so far, I am walking Ben in the cool early mornings and then again after dinner, I hope that allows for my extra calorie intake, cooked breakfast every day so far. I did resist all the Wild Boar sausages at St Dogs yesterday, and the burgers, pizza, chips, fudge, ice cream etc etc. I am trying to eat sensibly.
 We had jacket potato topped with a concoction  whipped up with left overs for dinner. I had some diced chicken in a lemon and herb dry rub in the fridge so I cut that down finer, sealed it oil with onion, garlic, red and green  pepper all finely diced, I poured over half a bottle of AF Thai Chilli and Lemongrass dressing and let it bubble for a few minutes till the chicken was cooked through. It was delicious, we had a chopped salad with it and were stuffed to the gills.

Tonight we are having Fish and Chips, we always have them for ONE meal when we are here and tonight's the night. Wednesday is Kaitlyns birthday and I am making Meatballs, we all love them and it is an easy meal.

Michael and I are going to a local "foodie" pub on Thursday for Dinner and then on Friday James, Cerys, Francesca and the children will be with us for a smorgasbord feast. Ribs, chicken and sausages in a sticky barbecue sauce, Thai style fish cakes, pizza, and homemade potato wedges. lots of talking, laughing and no doubt pool playing.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. A relaxing time for us all.

2. Lots of time with Junior and Kaitlyn.

3. Really friendly people in the village that we are staying in.

4. Lots and lots of sewing time.

5. Brilliant weather.

That was quick but we have lots of ground to cover                 TTFN      Pam

Hello From Wales

We are settled in for the week, we had a very good journey down after leaving at 03.30 and driving through a magnificent electrical storm. 2 stops en route mainly to let Ben "do the necessary",although we did stop in Aber for a cup of tea.

I managed to squeeze Toya in so I have had a little sew time and only need 2 more rows on the "Tumbling Charms" quilt top.

A 4" border and is cut and the binding is cut and pressed ready to finish the top and  I also have the batting and backing.

I have been hand quilting the pink cheater fabric quilt for Kaitlyn and hope intend to have it finished before we leave.
I do not plan on buying fabric here but I am going to visit a quilt shop in Lampeter tomorrow he he.
It is a lovely little town and we will spend the morning there, then join the family for the afternoon.
We went to St Dogmaels  today, there was a medieval fair in the Abbey and we spent a couple of hours walking and looking at all the stalls, we tried to persuade James to try out the ducking stool, but he would not play. BOO.

There are large chunks of walls still standing and the footings are quite extensive.

I noticed that there has been more works done on the castle, I will post that later in the week.

The cottage is quite large, it is a residential property really and is well equipped although dated.

My favourite feature, it works!

I took over the table, sewing at one end, tea at the other and a book and some chocolate in the middle, hand sewing  next to the tea.

Kitchen

Comfy lounge, coffee and welsh cakes up and running in 5 minutes.

The double bedroom, there is another larger room with twin beds.

Large bathroom, Junior wanted to wash his hands in the bidet, bless him.

There is a pool table in the garage, Junior shows signs of being a Hustler.

And Kaitlyn was just happy to feed her face.

She was showing off her new shoes at the same time, multi tasking already!

Her cheater quilt is out in the background, I am determined to leave it behind.

Then suddenly it was lights out and nap time.

That will do for today, we have had a hectic 3 days and are ready to go for a little walk with Ben.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Quality family time.

2. Clean fresh air and soft Welsh water.

3. A comfy home for the week.

4. Sewing time every day, win win.

5. Michael is cooking, double win win.

I hope your week is coming good                              TTFN    Pam

Feeling Good on Friday

Good afternoon one and all, the sun is shining, Ben is snuggled at my feet, Fran is working in her room and Michael is snoring on the sofa, all is well in my world. I hope that you all feel the same.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go, apologies to the late, great John Denver, I am tone deaf but I am on a roll.

Hug 2 is ready to baste and quilt, all I need to do is find my basting pins, I just know that if I buy some more I will open a cupboard and they will be right in my face. You can just see the border fabric at the top. Once it is done I will post a decent pic.

The piano keys are mounting up, I have not counted them but I am about halfway through the sets that I had cut up. There are still some strips and small pieces and some 1/2 yard cuts to find a home for.

 I did say my bag was packed.

As we are all in the one car I will not be taking Toya, so I am taking this lot along with some single hexies for joining the flowers together. I will start sewing them together and see how far I get. There are enough to make a double bed quilt or a large sofa throw. I have been making these on and off during this summer and now want to see the finished product.

I know that I am always banging on about laundry, how the three of us make so much washing I do not know, all is done, the last few things are just  on the line and all the rest has been ironed. Warm glow. There is a washing machine and a dryer in the holiday cottage so I am determined to do a wash and dry on the last morning so nothing comes home dirty, best laid plans hmmmmm.

I am off to slice onions and cut potato wedges, I have had a request for my "awesome" onion rings. They are simply sliced quite thickly, separated into rings and soaked in buttermilk for at least an hour, then I shake some of the liquid off and toss them in cornmeal before frying. 

Debs loves them and if David is having "chip" butties she feels that it is only fair to have her favourites as well.

reasons to be grateful.

1. A good days work, all chores done.

2. That feeling of excitement that sort of tickles on the inside.

3. The evening ahead with old friends, who may soon be near neighbours.

4. The new little quilt that I have made ready for the new dog.( I dare not show it, tempting fate and all that)

5. The good weather forecast for next week.

I so hope that we find another dog, if not we will be out and about next week, there are some rescue centers near us but I did not want to put a dog through the trauma of a move here then to Wales and then back. it will be quite different to bring one back with us to its new forever home.

Tea is called for and then I must clean Toya and put a new needle in ready for when I get back. Listen to me, I haven't gone yet and I'm running on about coming back.

So that brings us to                             TTFN    Pam

Confessions Of A Lazy Kind

Good afternoon to one and all and a hello and welcome to another follower, I did not expect to gather followers but it is a little thrill to log on and see the number has gone up. So thank you very much.

My confessions are, first apologies to Donna and Jennie, your thread will be in the post tomorrow, I took some time to empty all the storage boxes in my bedroom to make sure that I did not miss any, there is plenty for both of you. BTW did you realise that you live fairly close to each other? My sister in law lived in Eastleigh and then Havant many years ago and I was down there at least 3 times a year but no where near you two.

I still have not found my Quilting safety pins, I am annoyed to say the least, I have 2 quilts to baste and 500 pins cost me quite a packet and I need them soon,  very soon.

Second confession, we are having "ding curry" tonight, all I will have to cook is some rice, I have naan bread in the freezer RTC 20 p ages ago, the curries cost 25 p each from the staff shop and the rice is a basic range 42 p a kilo, I will cook a small cereal bowl full about 10 p, so dinner will cost the princely sum of £1.05 plus the electricity, not bad. The curries come from one of our group factories and are very good, although I would not pay the retail price, they are a good standby and I can not make them at that price.

Third one, we will have a fridge bottom meal on Friday night and if there is not enough I will put a tray of potato wedges in the oven and serve them with grated cheese sprinkled over and baked beans.
Debs and David are up for it, like us they cook from scratch most of the time and quite enjoy a homemade " junk fest" dinner now and then. to make it worse I have a pack of white bread rolls (RTC 10 p) in the freezer so "chip butties" oozing tomato ketchup could well be on the menu as well.

Fourth one, We had Fish and Chips last Friday from the chippy in Long Sutton, the owner used to work with me and they are second to none. I had had a busy day, Francesca rang to say she would be home early, and I had lost my cooking mojo. It cost £10 which is a huge cost for 1 meal but it was sooooo worth it.

Now comes the crunch, Francesca broke down on her way home last night, well her car did! Cam belt OMG, just hope the valves are OK We have cover and she was sorted and home within 1 1/2 hours, the car is in the garage and I will find out the damage when we are on holiday. we were planning on taking both cars so at least we will make a saving on petrol. Thank goodness for the emergency fund.
 we have just had a quick down pour so the washing will be on the horse later.
Reasons to be grateful.

1. Planning ahead.

2. A shower for my garden.

3. Easy peasy ding dinner.

4. Thoughts of a new dog.

5. One more shift to go. woop woop

That's all for now Toodles         TTFN   Pam