Definitions

slobabout clothes - loose fitting clothes that allow one to bend, stretch, lie down

dinkadink - remote control

OK-OK - cat. Also referred to as Stop Wowing, Chuck-a-chuck-a, Inyacome, Goodgirl, Pusscat, Uppyup, Ticka Ticka

gubbins - mess, things

doo-daa-whatsit - definition to be entered at a later date when I've remembered it

treateeeee - a way of bringing a cat in from the garden

playing - doing what one wants, when one wants for no particular end

jolly - going where one wants, when one wants, with whom one wants with the sole purpose of enjoyment

here-oy-eatit - word uttered when food is put in front of a cat

•••••••• cat! - words uttered when cat refuses to eat food offered

Edit : Mac n' Janet have added another word in the comments - great word. Thank you. Please read their definition and add more of your own if you wish.

xx

Sorted

Let's have everything to hand when present wrapping. The ribbons for tying went into a storage basket but where to put the shorter ribbons and even thinner ribbons which could be used for gift tags?

Sorted! I used an empty Ferrero Rocher box. The longer ribbons were held together with paper-clips and the shorter with an elastic band and all fit together well in the see-through box.

Now how do I store all the embellishments?

Or those fiddly little ribbons and pom-poms?

Or those pretty little bits and pieces that may come in handy sometime?

And who ate all the chocolates?

xx

About time

This book was being read at the same time as another from the same author and the 12 Days of Christmas book and at last I've finished reading them.

I've now finished these last 2 (only one pic as I can't find the other book at the moment). It's another detective novel and I'm becoming less of a fan the more I read, not because of the content but I suppose  the way these books are written is becoming rather same-ish and they are not as gripping as they used to be!

xx

Hello and welcome to my new follower. I hope you enjoy your visits.  My followers number keeps going up and down like a yo-yo.

Ho, ho, hee

Lucky me.

It turned out that I won a crochet pattern from Astri at Apple Blossom Dreams, a blog I love to visit. The pattern is for the Nola Afghan and I propose to work this as another stained glass pattern using up the brighter colours in my stash.

There are some colours in there on cones that were used in one of my first blankets. I really like black as a frame to highlight the different colours. The stained glass version of the Puffy Nola Sunset Afghan really caught my eye the other day, hence my take on it with my stained glass scarf and I'm so pleased that I was visiting Astri's blog at just the right time.

I have won on Astri's blog before with her Rose en Vie pattern. I have started some of the squares but I've not got enough of all those colours so that blanket is on the back burner at the moment until the majority of the stash has been used.

I've also made loads of her granny rose squares. They are quite addictive.

My stash is gradually reducing - it's always exciting rifling through the drawers trying to find just the right colours or even just looking at the wool and thinking - "What shall I make with this?" 

Here's another question. 

Who has a stash and how do you reduce yours? (:))

Right, now to start my foundation chain.

xx

Sleep through the night?

My answer to this first question is -

NO :{

What do you do when you can't sleep?

My answer to this second question is - 

do a few 'wave about with the legs' exercises

listen to my iPod (headphones in)

read a book

gaze at the ceiling (walls, windows, wardrobes ……)

toss and turn until there are no other variations of lying in bed

listen to the radio (Classic FM or Radio 4)

listen to the CD player (relaxing classical music)

make lists in my head and think of ways of remembering them

I think I must only have 5 hours of deep sleep and the rest is just lightly dozing and doing some or all of the above - oh - and loo trotting of course.

I'd love to get one full night's sleep sometime.

Around and around and around again

Pessimism

Couldn't remember who'd shot whom on the detective DVD we watched last week.

Racked our brains but nothing came.

Had to fast forward the episode again in order to find out.

Oh dear!

Optimism

Had a brain wave.

Eventually we could de-clutter the DVD collection and only watch one series.

By the end of the series we wouldn't remember what we'd seen so we could start all over again to find out!

The same could apply to all the books too! Can you remember who 'dun it' in any Agatha Christie novels?

Sorted!

xx

Be prepared

I think this is going to be a Scarf year on the present collection front. I was given this yarn by a friend and I already had some in my stash. It's Stylecraft Ragtime and feels really soft and has neon bright bobbles every so often along its length. It knitted up in garter stitch on size 6mm needles and I used 3 x 50g balls. I have plenty left so I may make a matching hat which could be Christmas tree shaped with a glittery pom pom on top! Hmm!

I saw a version of this effect on a blog I read and decided to have a stained glass pattern on this scarf which was crocheted from side to side rather than bottom up. The colours were from my stash so are different kinds of yarn but all are DK crocheted with a 4mm hook. It's a really easy pattern and could lend itself to blanket making in jewel colours of course.

This yarn was from Liddle-iddle this year and was I think £3.99 for 4 x 50g balls. It was knitted on size 9mm needles and didn't take very long at all. It's an unusual way of knitting - not using it as yarn at all but putting just loops on the needles.

Totally different yet totally absorbing in the knitting and crocheting process.

There may be more to come. I feel a collection coming on!

xx

PS A warm welcome to my new follower and commenters.

Little bits, tiny steps, slow but sure

Everything cannot be done at once so today in the de-cluttering department - 

shoes, clothes and books went into the CS bag,

cleaning department - 

hoovered downstairs and upstairs, cleaned the loo (the loo seat came down on my thumb - ow, ow, ow!),

kitchen department - 

made a stew from last of the onions, veg and an end from DH's steak
and made bread in a terracotta bread dish which was a gift for my birthday,

give-away department - 

visited some friends and gave some daffodil bulbs to them (we'd ordered too many),

make department - 

added some more rows to a scarf,

tidy cupboard department - 

sorted another wardrobe,

relax department - 

read the newspaper and some chapters of 2 books I have on the go,

maintenance - 

re-charged the Kindle

care department - 

stroked the pusscat and made sure she took her medication (she had 3 teeth out yesterday - worrying times!)

drinks department -

Enough done - where's the sherry?

xx

Don't throw it away

… yet. I cut up DH's old T-shirts into - 

… rags for cleaning.

The floppy disc boxes are now being used as cotton reel holders. I can see the contents at a glance.

I'm quite enjoying my de-cluttering, cleaning and tidying jobs. I've sorted the bedroom wardrobes and pulled them out and cleaned behind. Old clothes have been sorted into CS, keep and rag and paintwork wiped down. Spring has come early.

Oh my goodness - now I tackle 

THE SHELVES!

This may take me a while.

xx

Autumnal Waves

I started this blanket way back in October and have now finished it. It covers a single bed and was made out of odds and ends of autumn coloured wool from the stash. Click on the Autumn Blanket label for more information.

Pusscat, you're getting in the way.

It grew very quickly when I turned my hand to it.

The border is half trebles, doubles and reverse doubles which makes for a strong edge. I did not fill in the ripple dimples but kept them going at either end for a wavy look.

It's now residing in my guest chill out work room on the bed where I sit to crochet and read.

xx

Manchester Mess

The pastry base for my Manchester Tart broke up so instead of making a pie then cutting it into pieces I just threw a bit of pastry into a bowl with some chopped banana, a sprinkling of coconut and a dollop of jam and covered the whole lot with custard. It tasted just like Manchester Tart, which of course it was except in a different guise.

Let's just call it Manchester Mess.

Thank you Anglesey Allsorts for the schoolday dinner memories.

xx

PS Greetings, O New Follower (formal greeting).

Hi to my new follower (informal greeting).

Lovely to have you on board.

Diary Entry - 4

Good day

Yep, it was - with cards, flowers, homes mags and other little pressies.

DD made a mud cake a la Nigella which we waded through.

I made a sherry trifle and we waded our way through that as well.

I like wading!

Way hey, what a day!

xx

Diary entry - 3

Tidied drawers in kitchen

Into my simplifying for January theme I tackled the drawers, sorting out the towel drawer and throwing anything that looked decidedly unhealthy! New tea towels were unearthed at the bottom of the drawer and new dishcloths found. (I had crocheted more than I've been using.)

The utensils drawer was tackled - it still looks like a junk drawer but now I know what's in there and the plastic bags have been tamed.

The cutlery drawer was washed out and the cutlery put back neatly - it won't last!

The tops were cleared of Christmas decorations, cake and bottles.

All is bare as is the garden in January but I'm sure I'll be seeing activity here soon.

xx

PS Thank you so much for your kind comments on the last post. There is an emptiness around here but pusscat 1 is still around and receiving plenty of hugs and kisses. She's been following us around and sitting near.

xx

It was time

Bye, bye, beautiful boy.

xx

Diary entry - 2

Took down the decs

I took the decorations down in stages. First was the cards then anything related to Christmas, apart from the tree. So - 

baubles, garlands, stars, bells, holly, snowmen, Christmas arches and angels were all bagged up ready for next year. Christmas runners, tablecloths, plates and jugs were put back in cupboards.

The tree was left until 12th night, strings of lights and anything that signified Winter in any way. My theme for January is white and simple.

(Thinks - perhaps I should crochet a shades of white blanket for this time of year!)

My Autumn blanket is finished - must take a pic and there's a scarf in progress for next year made with bobbly wool from Liddle-iddle. (I couldn't walk by it and leave it now could I?)

xx

Diary entry

Sorted cards

Just 2 words but putting them into action took up a great portion of the day. The cards were taken down (before the New Year) from various places on picture rails, fireplaces and windows,

then sorted into piles.

Friends

Relations

Colleagues

Dancers

Musicians

Saved

The cards were then ticked off in on my Christmas card list as being received and then the everlasting ones put into bags for next year. The 'normal' cards were cut into small rectangles for use as shopping lists or telephone jottings and the used portions put in the recycling bag. Any cards that were useful for recycling into new cards were kept. I shall make some more homemade cards later this month ready for next year.

The everlasting cards (type the word 'everlasting' in the search box over on the right) were matched up with envelopes and address cards ready for next Christmas. All I have to do then is to sign and address the envelopes which speeds up the process enormously.

The 'saved' pile has everlasting cards that have stopped being sent for one reason or another and are put up each year in memory of that person. Other saved cards are ones which I like the look of and don't really want to throw away.

xx

On the twelfth day of Christmas ...

… my true love sent to me - 

12 festive mince pies

11 winter pine-cones

10 stars a shining

9 baubles hanging

8 pens for greetings

7 candles lighting

6 toys a-gazing

5 gold rings

4 poin-setts

3 Santa stamps

2 turtle doves

and an angel a-top a Christmas tree.

xx

All the mince pies are eaten along with the majority of the first Christmas cake. The other cake will continue to mature until our weights come down a little. The rest of the chocolates are hidden and I am restricting myself to one 'sweetie' a day. Oh my!

Highly readable

On the eleventh day of Christmas ...

… my true love sent to me - 

11 winter pine-cones

10 stars a shining

9 baubles hanging

8 pens for greetings

7 candles lighting

6 toys a-gazing

5 gold rings

4 poin-setts

3 Santa stamps

2 turtle doves

and an angel a-top a Christmas tree.

xx

PS - I shall keep the pine cones out as a decoration for white and wintry January.

xx

PPS - A very warm welcome to 2 new followers.

xx

PPS - Thank you for yesterday's help. I've found the list from the Dashboard and will reinstate all my Simply Delightful blogs on the blog this evening.

xx

PPS - You've had enough kisses for now!