Bank Holiday Weather Rain Oh Yes

We woke up to rain and it has not stopped all day. It has been a good day, we went to Carmarthen and bought James and Cerys a gas barbecue, it went well yesterday but James struggled to get the charcoal one lit as always. Michael has just built it for them, Kaitlyn is sitting in the box making happy noises and Junior wants to know is he having burgers for tea.

I had a phone call from my baby brother, who lives in OZ, he is in England, on his way to Sweden for work. It was a rushed trip and he is staying for a week so I will see him and my SIL Sue when I return from Wales. I am so excited, I thought I would not see them until  next year.

Tomorrow we are going to Swansea, it is Juniors birthday on Wednesday, James and Cerys have bought him a scooter and we are kitting him out with all the pads and helmet and so on. I hope to find a fabric shop to have a look round. I have been sewing hexies in the evenings and should have brought more with me, so I may just have to indulge in some retail therapy.

Dinner tonight is venison in red wine with jacket potato and veg, with fresh fruit salad for pudding with some cream..

The barbecue is assembled and working so we will be moving soon, there is no Internet at the cottage, it is very rural, this is my view

Our closest neighbour

Last but never least

Eye Candy!

Junior

I am off to cook dinner now and will "see" you tomorrow.   TTFN    Pam

The Sun Shines in Tenby

Saturday was spent partly with the family, I had lots of birthday presents to open, and partly in Tenby. I have never been before and it is a bit like a time capsule, no body has come up with the bright idea of ripping the heart out of it and building it up with slabs of concrete and acres of grey tinted glass.

The remains of the tower,a back drop to the statue of Prince Albert.

The ancient canons, a reminder of our history and the need to be alert to danger from the sea.

The remains of a once proud fort.

The wind was off the sea but a few hardy souls were on the beach.

Sugar Almond coloured houses in front of the Parish Church.

A quick lunch break for the driver and "conductor" of the Tourist Transport.

All in all a lovely afternoon out, we had a leisurely drive back, after enjoying an ice cream , Black Cherry for Michael and Coffee for me, very nice and only £2,50 for the two, and they were not small.

We went into the local Deli shop where there was a tasting of Balsamic Vinegars, Flavoured oils, Olives and bread. That was lunch taken care of, what we saved we spent on vinegar and dried chipotle chillies..

It is time to go for a walk round the lanes now, Ben is pacing and I have breakfast to walk off. Local cured bacon, free range eggs, local butter and toast.    TTFN    Pam

Guess Where I Am

This is the only clue.

West Wales WOO HOO

We had a leisurely drive across yesterday via Cardiff just so that we could drive over the suspension bridge, not really,we just fancied a change.

This will be my domain for a week.

very old fashioned but spotlessly clean.

Just in case it rains, well it is wales.

Canoodle Corner.

My corner all pleasure.

Really comfy, I slept for NINE HOURS

Almost 3 nights sleep for me.

But I did not sleep Thursday night, I was too full of fizz.

Today we went to Tenby, I will post photos tomorrow.

We are at a barbeque in Cardigan  tomorrow at James's home and I will have a walk round and take a few photos.

I am making piri piri chicken, sweet chili pork and Eton Mess.

Cerys's Mum will make her wonderful rainbow coleslaw (I hope )

Her dad will supervise the cooking and I will play with Junior and Kaitlyn.

We have left Fran at home, she was hoping to join us but work is manic at her firm although she will be working from home. SAhe has several conference calls to New York and with the time difference travel to and from London would be difficult

Right it is almost 7, the sun is still shining and Junior wants me to play on the trampoline 

so it is     TTFN     Pam

Hyperactive. Me. No just having a yellow day

What a day, sun, rain, hail,sun, cold, rain,wind,rain, more rain, a little sun with rain and wind. Internet coming and going. more going than anything.

On  positive note, I have emptied the laundry basket, I know it has rained but I put it on airers in the corner with the dehumidifier going and the heating is on and it dried.
I then emptied the ironing basket, no I did not hide it I ironed it!

I emptied one of the four cupboards either side of the fireplace, threw some away, sent some to the CS and put the pitiful remains into a box for consideration.

That cupboard now holds:-
1, A container with my latest project.
2. A container full of strips these are destined to be string blocks.
3. My collection of pure cotton threads.
4. A box of small patchwork templates, thimble, stitch ripper, block of beeswax and snips.
5. A bag of scissors and rotary cutters.
6. 2 cutting mats and 3 rulers.

There is still a little room but I have allowed for a larger project than my current one.
I would take a photo but my camera and my phone are in the car and Michael has taken it to work.

Dinner was a casserole from the freezer with dumplings and fresh veg. I was given an armful of rhubarb so that has been diced and open frozen and is now bagged up and in the freezer.

I made a banana loaf cake and a coconut one and 5 pasties, these are for Neville and Marina my neighbours either side.

I have had a productive day and feel good, I hate grey days and usually get the blues but today has been a yellow day. Time for tea and telly I think.     TTFN      Pam

Where Did Today Go?

I can scarcely believe how late it is, we have all been at home today, so although I have done a great deal I have also drunk a lot of tea, chatted a lot and played with my sewing.

I need some simple cotton skirts, no frills, no flounces, no pleats to iron and definitely no peplums.

I had a look at Seasalt , I have some clothes from them that are going strong at 10 years old. ooh err, £49.99, I don't think so.
I had a look at M & S, Next, Matalan, George at Asda and so on, zilch, nada, zero.

I had a cup of tea and looked at the Toyota all freshly cleaned with a shiny new (American}needle,then I looked in the storage box that holds my big cuts of fabric mmmm  promising

I pulled an old skirt out of the rag bag and out with the stitch ripper, and Bingo  3 panels and a waistband. I found scissors and pins and 2 hours later I had these.

You may remember this from a while ago, from Michael Miller, patchwork cotton so a little thicker than dressmaking material, no need for a petticoat.

This has not seen the light of day for 3 years. I bought it in a closing down sale  if I remember right it cost me £2.

Before I cut the fabric I realized that all my zips were too short or too long and all the wrong colours.

I discarded the back panels and cut 2 fronts from each colour and sewed straight up the side seams. I cut a 2 1/2 inch waistband and made it so there were 2 seams at the front,  1 each side of the center. with a gap in each to take a drawstring.

I sewed this to the wrong side of the skirt,making sure to have the drawstring gaps in the right place. I then folded the band to the front, pressed a turning and top stitched it down, I pressed a narrow double folded hem and stitched down. The drawstrings were made from the selvedges, just folded and sewn. It took me almost as long to make and thread the drawstrings as to cut out and sew the skirts.

I am going to run at least 2 more up but will put side seam pockets in those, or maybe patch pockets, just something big enough to hold the car keys and a little purse.

These will be just the job for the summer, I have stacks of little tops in white and cream .It is a long time since I made clothes, but I found it a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. There is still quite a bit of both fabrics left, more for my shoe thingys.

I manages to get 2 loads of  washing done,dried and ironed, I just wish I knew where it all came from, and socks, I have said it before, there are only 3 pairs of sock wearing feet in the cottage so whose socks am I washing!   On that thought I wish you a good evening....TTFN    Pam

Tidy up Tuesday, Episode 1

I have made a good start on tidying  up my fabric, I now have two shoe "thingys" hanging in the wardrobe and both are full, well each compartment is occupied.

As you can see there is plenty of room in some sections, that is such a shame. he he


This shows the top sections with pre cuts on the left.

This is the section that hurts, in the middle section on the right there are two lonely pieces of  Aqua. That along with turquoise and teal feature high on my list of go to colours. I feel that until I stock up I can not start a large project. I have spent a few hours searching the net and have not found what I want at a price I will pay. I will keep looking until I strike gold.

This is where I contradict myself. I found these layer cakes tucked away. I have a jelly roll to match the cabbages & Roses and two charm packs to match the Joy Christmas one. There are two quilts without Aqua, teal or turquoise, well maybe, there is some clear blue in the joy range so I would put a solid Aqua to stretch the pattern out and I would use some Teal in with the pinks and reds to give it a boost.

Finally tucked in a corner I found this pack of 3 inch squares, I have no idea how many are in there but they look to be several different patterns. This came free with a big order of fabric and much as I think they are pretty the size  means that I will not use them, I work in multiples of 2 1/2 inches.

So if anyone would like them shout now.

I am off to finish dinner prep, cottage pie, carrots and cauli.   TTFN    Pam

Is Anybody Awake

I am busy sorting out my material, I saw a marvelous thing on a blog awhile ago. I bought one of those canvas she storers that hang in the wardrobe and have filled each section with a different colour, well filled is the wrong word.
I have enough Pink, Yellow and Red to fill 2 sections each, I only have 2 pieces of Aqua left. I have BROWN in large quantities, where did that come from ?
I have a good selection of blues, I found a bundle that I bought very very cheap 2 years ago. But most amazing is that I have stacks of Purple and quite a bit of Orange.
I have taken on board three things,
 1, I need another shoe thingy
 2, I need more Aqua.
 3, I am not so colour restricted as  thought I was.

I just had an email from a work colleague copying me in on a message she received today, One of our boilers is being shut down for necessary work at 2.00 tomorrow morning. This has been planned for some time and an email was sent out 2 weeks ago. In their wisdom the powers that be sent it to all the leaf department, for both shifts, all the logistics department for both shifts and to deli assembly and mixing.
The only people that will be affected are those cooking at 2.30 in the morning, oh that will be me then!

I sometimes wonder about management.

I once told a factory production manager that If every woman ran their homes as he ran his factory there would be nobody at work from Wednesday. When he asked me why I told him that they would have no clean clothes to wear.

It does not get any better, we ran out of tomatoes a few days ago. They go into 60% of our products!

I am off back to my sorting.      TTFN    Pam