Question

Why do cats always like to help when I change the bed sheets and duvet?

This picture was taken at the end of play when everything was not tucked in properly and the duvet cover was a crumpled mess. She'd chased, rolled over, lay down and played hide and seek. 

That's it now, bed made!!!

xx

Change of month, change of decor

My January lights will switch off tomorrow until next Winter ...

... and I shall look forward to lighter evenings as Spring draws nearer.

I've had a change round on the bathroom shelf too from this ...

to this.

A change is as good as a rest.

xx

Tops and Bottoms

I noticed dusty skirting boards in the bedroom so, being clean a bedroom day, these were cleaned but one thing generally leads to another and the picture rails were cleaned as was ...

the tops of the wardrobes,

all round the edges of the carpet,

behind the bed,

the light shades and 

the dressing table top.

While I was at it, DH's tops and bottoms were sorted (clothes!!!!) with quite a few put in the CS pile, my jeans were culled too. Who needs 10 pairs, quite a few of which didn't fit.

Job done and ticked off the list. Time to play.

xx

Well hello there

Our first daffodil has arrived and is turning her face towards the sun.

Also in the front garden I spied our Christmas roses. This one has a beautiful pink design and is also turning upwards. Very unusual for this plant.

Other buds on this bush are opening out in the sunshine.

It's a lovely sunny day but oh so windy and cold.

xx

3 times lucky

Found a penny in the garage.

Found a penny in the street.

Found a penny in the house.

3 times lucky - what a treat.

Oh my goodness,

What to do?

I'll go and spend them - 

Too da loo!

xx

Ah ha!

Easy basket, this one. It's my big crochet the little bits blanket where I crochet multiple small balls of yarn with a very large hook. Just needs untangling that's all. 

Some extra items have weedled their way in though - a sticky stick, 2 rectangular crochet pieces, a ball of scarf yarn and a tin of paper clips. I shall put those in their correct places.

Only one basket to go now.

xx

Bright ideas

... is overflowing just like basket number 1. In an effort to get rid of the very, very large balls of yarn I decided to crochet a granny zigzag blanket with random sized stripes. 

I didn't get very far, did I?

This fluffy baby cot blanket has been around for 36 years! It was for my first born but I ran out of the white, fluffy wool. Maybe it's time I finished it.

I made scrubbies out of these netting strips and I still use them. More of these are now on my list of things to finish off.

These Tunisian crochet strips are for another cot blanket. It should be a riot of colour because I'm (I was) using up all the yarn oddments.

A colleague of mine said she wanted to pass the time knitting so I suggested knitting squares that could be sewn together and I duly did a few for her. She never did put wool to needles, having bright ideas but not carrying them through so these squares will be unravelled and the yarn used for the Tunisian blanket.

Well that's that blanket sorted. I'm going to be kept very busy this year. There's still another basket to go. Oh my! I remind myself of a colleague of mine.

xx

'The best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.' Robert Burns

Basket Number 1 was full, choc-a-bloce, brimming over, bursting at the seams, over-flowing, packed and stuffed with work started, abandoned or dismissed until another time. The 'time has come' (the Walrus said) to sort it out.

Knitted blanket started but abandoned probably because I could see that it would become unwieldy. I probably thought I'd make blocks instead of going round and round but boredom must have set in. I will unravel and the yarn will see another project instead of this one.

These were a disaster from the start. I only wanted to get rid of the very thick yarn. I'll think about incorporating these into another blanket (maybe).

Little bits of Christmas left over plus Father Christmas with one eye. What on earth shall I do with these?

Little bits of Valentine's Day left over. Must do something with them this year.

Experiments or leftovers of granny squares. I'll make this a start of an odd bod collection.

More squares started. These are Granny Rose squares.

This block was left over from one of my blankets.

I haven't the faintest idea about these 2. I shall unravel them and put the yarn back into stash.

Leftovers from making phone and iPod cases.

This is the start of a bobble hat which was crocheted sideways. It obviously was not working and so got abandoned. Unravel.

More leftovers from crocheting up thin cone yarn. Unfortuneately I only have bright orange left. I'll keep a look out at carboot sales for thinner yarn cones. 

So- the basket is empty and projects unravelled or left out while I tackle the other baskets. The best-laid plans of mum often go awry.

xx

PS Happy Burns Night for tomorrow.

Get it done

Find sewing box.

I needed it to put back some thread. Just a small job.

Open it and sigh.

This is going to be a 'do it now' jobby. It may take some time.

Tackle the mess.

Now how many needles do I really need? I'm sure I can whittle this down and throw away the ones I can't see to thread. (Could be all of them then.) The pins are in my mum's tin so I won't be throwing those away.

How many pairs of scissors do I need? Well they've all come in handy some time so I'll keep them all plus the gadgets. Do you know what they all do? I've never darned a sock in mumble, mumble years but I'm going to keep the mushroom darner.

I took out the coloured threads and just kept in the black, white neutral and grey as they are the ones I use the most. The coloured ones can go in the coloured threads boxes. (Oh my there's another sort project - put it on the list.)

Do I really need this many thimble? No, I don't use them but I'm not throwing such interesting items away.

Here's the rubbish pile. I thought those fancy headed pins looked wonderful but they bend at the first opportunity and are useless.

These bits and pieces need a different home. buttons in the button box, ribbons with the ribbons etc.. The Coleman's Mustard tin can stay.

Here's what's in the Coleman's tin - fastenings, beads and buckles for my dance shoes. I'll probably never use them but they are things that 'may come in handy sometime'. I've got a lot of 'things that may come in handy sometime'. Perhaps that's a de-cluttering project in the future!

Order restored.

First layer

Second layer

Third layer

Job done.

Next ...

xx

Big to small

Two bunches of flowers were looking past their best so I 'saved' the better looking blooms and composted the rest. Now I have two more arrangements to brighten my day.

3 weeks and still going strong

2 and a half weeks and still going strong

January is now officially bright and light in the kitchen thanks to fairy lights and flowers.

xx

Simple solutions for reducing plastic waste

 Perhaps I should go plastic free.

Thinking it through though ...

Solution 1

If I get rid of all my plastic I'm adding to plastic waste.

If I don't get rid of all my plastic I am not adding to plastic waste.

Avoid buying anything made with plastic or sold in plastic (difficult one this).

No brainer then.


Solution 2

Manufacturers should start to make items with different materials other than plastic and food produces should not sell their produce wrapped in plastic.

Another no brainer.

xx

Cleaning routine - kitchen

Yesterday was hob, microwave and fridge day. I don't do a deep clean every time but I did with the fridge today.

With the hob out of the way ...

and the microwave too,

 

I took everything out of the fridge and washed all the shelves and the inside with hot soapy water. The inside door holds the milk, cold tap water bottles, fresh orange juice, eggs and the spray cream as it wouldn't stand up in the main fridge.

Plenty of left overs to eat up in the fridge. The lard and butter are at the top back with tartare and horseradish sauce jars. Chicken casserole awaits us tonight and pork chops tomorrow. The cheeses are in the white container with the salady stuff at the bottom. I try to keep things in containers or wrapped up for easy access.

I got carried away and did a quick tidy of the coffee and tea cupboard,

cleaning of the cupboard fronts,  (Flat fronts are much easier to clean than contoured ones) ...

and finished off making some chocolate cornflake bites.

xx