First glimpse

Here's my first glimpse of the Morecambe and Wise statue which is located in the entrance to the Winter Gardens. Actually it's the second glimpse as I had to wait until all the 'hugging' poses by visitors were finished. It's a lovely statue and just captures the two 'boys' perfectly.

I just need someone to hug and someone to take the picture!

xx

Success and Failure

Success: Using up my given stash is going great guns. The cotton is being turned into dishcloths and there's still some more left. These are just rows of UK trebles and I put a loop at the end so the cloth can be hung on the radiator to dry. Simple, quick and easy to do.

Failure: The cat's not too impressed with the prototype cat nest.

It's having a hard job standing up by itself!

Such is life.

xx

I had to rescue this beautiful stitching from the CS today.

It measures 21 inches square and is only partially done. The stitching is extremely neat and a lot of work has gone into it already.

With it came this piece of stitching which measures 32 inches by 24 inches and, again, is partially complete.

There is a variety of stitches - herring bone, chain ...

and a wonderful whip stitch has been started around the edge.

Unfortunately there are no silks with the pieces apart from the ones that were last in use.

Even though I can embroider, I am not as competent at the art as this lady was. I very much doubt that I will finish these - they need someone who is skilled who has a bank of silks that would match the ones already on the cloths. I am willing to post these to anyone who will be kind enough to complete these and give them a new home. (UK only)

If you are the person I'm seeking please leave a comment below. If more than one person wants these I'll put names into a hat. I really hope someone can complete these as so much work has gone into them already.

xx

The cat ...

… muscled in again today while I was making cards.

"What you doing, Mum?"

xx

Colour in the back garden

The flowers in the back garden are only in a couple of strips as the majority of the garden is given over to growing vegetables. Walking along the path to the garage quite a lot is going on in the 'flower department' and this riot of colour greets me every day. A bloomin' good sight to see!

I had a shock to see the strawberry plants flowering in October.

I don't think I'll be getting any strawberries though!

xx

It's a ...

Willy One!

xx

Helping hands

My help with the greenhouse refurb today was to clean the gutter brackets. Not everyone has the opportunity or the honour of this job as it involves quite a lot of skill and dexterity. :)

A vital tool is an old toothbrush which is invaluable in cleaning out crevices and spiders. (No spider perished in this procedure and the two found were rescued and returned to the wild. Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!)

The vital components were then subjected to rigorous cleaning with washing up liquid and hot water using the aforementioned cleaning tool.

Sink was then cleaned - the clothes will be put in the wash later as this process involves quite a lot of spatter!

At least I was in the warm as DH is outside on the roof where the glass roof connects to the garage. It's a long job. He built the greenhouse over 30 years ago with reclaimed materials. The wooden roof struts are teak which was originally shelves. The ends have rotted but the majority is salvageable and in this second reincarnation of the greenhouse as many old pieces are put back into play as possible. New wood is bought only if absolutely necessary. The dentil mouldings have had to be remade with each little piece of wood cut and glued into place. (My job here was the gluing.)

The original gutters have been cleaned ready to be repainted.

We're getting there slowly.

xx

Nine to Five

Today I -

tidied up the kitchen
As always each morning I make sure the dishwasher is loaded or emptied, tidy away the supper things and wipe down all work surfaces.

swept the kitchen floor

I do this each morning too as it is a black, tiled floor and shows every mark. About every other day I mop the floor on my hands and knees. It's a good work out.

helped saw and plane some wood for the greenhouse

It's a big job and some of the timbers are quite long and DH needs help feeding them through the circular saw or planer.

did some mending

The hem on one of my long dresses was down and had to be re-done plus there was a tear to mend. I've been putting it off for ages and have finally got round to doing it.

found the last, very, very large courgette in the garden

It's the very, very last large one but I also found a smaller one. The plants have now gone into the council recycling compost bin.

sorted out some presents for Christmas

I'm getting jittery and want to match presents with people. Some have to be sent abroad so the sooner I decide what everyone is having the better.

made some tomato and courgette soup

I had to, didn't I! The very, very large courgette is now blitzed. I also froze 2 tubs of cubed courgette for future use. The soup should last us for a while and I'm pondering over whether to make it a 'keep on going' soup by mixing in more leftovers and reinventing it a few more times.

watched a history video and one on crocheting a cat bed

Must keep the brain active and the cat bed will use up some of my stash.

crocheted a little

This was the base of the cat bed which is being crocheted with a 9mm hook and 5 lots of yarn.

whizzed up the soup

We at the soup for lunch while listening and watching the Sunday politics until we could stand it no longer and switched it off in disgust at the antics of politicians in general.

tidied up the kitchen
Again!

brewed up
This little phrase could be added in between all the others. Must keep hydrated!

helped saw some wood
I did it wrong this time so was banished to the garden. Actually I wasn't banished - just thought it better I leave the garage.

weeded half of the vegetable plot
The garden only has runner beans, parsnips and leeks left at one end. There may be some more potatoes hidden which I will dig up later this week.

hooked a bit of rug and supervised the cat in the garden
The cat wanted a walk so I watched her from the warmth of the garden room. She came back in to sit with me. I'll re-phrase that -
She came back in to sit on the rug so I could only work at it from one position. I can't disturb puss-cat, can I!

polished the brass on the front door
I hope my bloggy friend is still polishing with me! It shouldn't be such hard work doing it every week. It only takes 5 minutes or so if I keep on top of it.

brewed up
I remembered to put it in here. All is forgiven on the woodworking front.

sat with DH with sherry and beer
I had the sherry, he had the beer as he had need of it by late afternoon after sawing, planing, painting, dunking in preservative and climbing up and down the scaffold.

prepared tea
which was yesterday's spicy, hot chicken casserole and leftover rice for one of us, baked potato for the other.

post 5pm
I'm currently on the computer and nursing the cat after a lovely hot bubble bath.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable and productive day.

xx

Useful gift

A gift of pears was used as an ingredient in the cake I made yesterday. The recipe was also a gift from the same friend which was given to her by her friend. I have adapted it slightly.

Pear, nut and chocolate cake

4 oz whizzed up nuts, fruits and seeds

5 oz SR flour

6 oz butter cubed

5 oz light brown sugar

2 large eggs beaten

5 small rip pears peeled, cored and chopped (or drained tinned pears)

2 pieces of Christmas Toblerone (pinched before Christmas)

*****

Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.

Rub the butter into the flour until it forms fine crumbs.

Mix in eggs and sugar.

Add most of the pears and whizzed up chocolate and mix gently.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and smooth.

Press in the leftover pear pieces.

Bake in a 160 degree oven for 50 - 60 minutes or until cooked through. Leave to set for 10 minutes before turning out.

Mine's not the neatest of looking cakes and the pears I used were very, very small and hard.

It tasted fine though.

My notes on my recipe paper were:-

No way can breadcrumbs be formed by rubbing in, the mixture just sticks together. It is very heavy and sloppy. The cake smells delightful. Made it with Toblerone instead of dark chocolate and substituted nuts, fruits and seeds instead of just hazelnuts.

I had mine piece with custard and DH had his with spray cream. I did catch him pinching another piece in the afternoon!

xx

Who?

Who washes their hair in the bathroom sink and cleans the sink with their sudsy hands?

Who turns jars upside down in order to use every last drop or bit?

Who mops the kitchen floor only to have a human or an animal walk on it as you are mopping?

Who cleans all work surfaces in the kitchen, goes out, and comes back to find biscuit crumbs, a dirty mug or plate just plonked down in the middle?

Who bakes and has to sample the remnants in the bowl or the crumbs left when said item comes out of the oven?

Who sits at the computer and is immediately joined by the cat? (Substitute any pet or child here.)

Who starts to read a book and feels guilty that they are not 'doing' something?

Who has a 'place for everything' yet neglects to return items there?

Who eats the chocolate that is saved for Christmas?

Who starts a new craft project without finishing the last one? (Substitute the word 'others' here.)

Who cultivates a wonderful set of nails which last for less than a day before one nail splits or breaks?

Who hoovers the carpet, puts the vacuum away and immediately finds a 'bit' on the floor?

Who buys a jar or packet of something only to find one or more at the back of the cupboard?

Who spends too much time asking questions?

Me!

xx

PS I'll just remove the cat from my knee and carry on with my jobs.

A trifling post

A visit from far away friends calls for the best china to come out and fresh flowers to be displayed.

I went for an afternoon tea theme with different sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and a trifle instead of cake.

We had enough left over for puds and lunch for the next few days.

I only make trifle for guests. 

Oh, and me!

xx

Rotten luck

Dry rot in the greenhouse means extensive work to replace rotting timbers. DH is tackling all the work and has made steady inroads to bring the greenhouse back to new.

The windows have had replacement timbers and are ready primed as is the door casing, however the roof needs attention now so the scaffold is up. The wall plates have been replaced and ...

the roof timbers are next for the make-over.

Here's the culprit on the roof timbers that cover the garage space. Oh dear!

Acro props hold up the rest of the roof while the affected timbers are being replaced or refurbished. It's a big job.

Our pet seagull keeps DH company while he works.

Hope the weather stays fine while the roof is off!

xx

A very warm welcome to my new follower. Nearly 350 now. I wonder if everybody still pops by.

I've given up hope ...

… of ever getting back my Blog List so I'm making a start on a new one. It will be slow and laborious because my list was quite long so if you don't see your blog yet I will get around to it. I'm working my way down my Reading List and have noticed that some of the bloggers have not posted in a long time. If you've not commented recently but were on my original Blog List please leave a comment and then I can add you to my Simply Delightful Blogs.

Blinkin' Blogger bloomin' well made a bothersome b**'s up there!

xx