It's sorted

 Our work in the garage is finished, it took loads of sorting, four trips to the tip, the bigger back section is tidy, we both have our own sections, now everything has it's place again and we know where to find things and hubby still has loads of wood (just in case).

I am really pleased with my second IKEA storage unit, I got 6 of the shallow trays, giving me 4 shallow and 1 double in each carcass, plus 2 of the deeper ones stacked beside. Plenty of useful storage along with two bigger shelves. The top shelf which I can't reach is all hubby's bits, stuff we want out of the reach of the little ones, my feeds and other bits are on the shelf below, still out of reach. 

 The partition is useful for my hanging hand tools, and a few other bits, this space is so much better for me, I can get to everything much easier, at the top is an old rusty rake which belonged to my mum, I ready did not want to pass it on, so I cut the handle and pinned it up there. The four horse brasses belonged to my older brother something I like to see in here. The bin is now on my side, I don't need to access the bigger storage much, so it's sensible to have it there.

Hubby built the two partitions, just a frame with tongue and grove on the front, I had chose green stain for here, but decided I liked it bare, we decided to paint the brick, we already had white masonry paint. I have loads of daft signs on my side, hubby will add bits to his side. The children's garden toys are here as well. For now we will use our loungers, which can be folded if we need the space. 

It's a very sunny spot and perfect on windy days to sit inside, we had ideas to knock the garage down and remove my greenhouse and build across the back of the garden, the estimates were eye watering. The second bonus, I am beginning to struggle with the up and over door, the smaller door was taken out by previous owners. 

We are both happy with this reconfiguration of the space, its nice to look at, which was important, it catches the sun all day, whilst sheltering from the cold breezes, if we sit further back we can be in the shade. Once the new french doors arrive we needed to decide on flooring, we did think of coir or jute, which is expensive so we have ordered so gym flooring interlocking mats, easier to cut and we can use our rug on top. We both have electrical sockets, Alexa works in here as well, unexpectedly our wi-fi reaches outside. 

We have used this space over the hot weekend,  it's nice to have another space to relax in, I'm behind on my veg beds, it won't take long to catch up, I need to get used to working in this heat, plus I won't plant out anything until the temperature drop to their normal levels.

I have no idea what day it is, the little ones had an inset (no school) day on Friday, so far I think I'm on my third Saturday, not that it matters to us. They will all be here later this morning, lots of laughter in our space.

Fired

 I always have difficulty choosing what to paint and then how to decorate it, I am not a artist in any form, I decided to make this mushroom into a home with flowers growing up, all very simplistic. I streaked the underside of the roof (top), the top should have been red with some glitter, I still like it.

Molly decorated this coaster for me.

Molly wanted to paint a cat this time I love the way she has blended colours, it looked a mess on the day, now it's very pretty.

Daughter painted this jar, its blue with the star openings black and glitter, it looks lovely, she loves simple designs. 

I do like things to be useful, I can't stand clutter any more, this is placed in a dark corner and looks good all lit up, I've used battery operated lights.

 

I do love these painting cafés, its a fun space for everyone, messy play at its best, we have taken all 3 little ones at different times, hubby even came and enjoyed one session.  It's not cheap, and each time you get a nice hand painted item, it's took a bit longer for me to collect these, I did not receive my text stating they were ready for collection. We painted these in early September, most of the choice of items were for Halloween, which I did not want. I probably won't go again, unless it's with the children, my painting is not that great. I have found sets for each of the children for home, I got them for Christmas, but we will gift them in half term, something nice for them to do. 

We have had a quiet few days together, both hubby and I are feeling better, I'm mainly tired all the time, we have only been out once, we popped to Sainsbury's, got a few bits for the weekend. I have found a puzzle game I like, and I've  been reading. 

We had our first homemade tomato soup, using homegrown tomatoes, we are warm and dry, no heating on as yet, watching the garden, little birds on the feeders, the storm centre was in northern UK, but we still had loads of wind and rain, our garden was OK. Daughter wanted to come and check on us, but we wanted her to stay at home with children, we have all we need and plenty of facetime, keeps us chatting with them.

Cushions

 I saw these cushions featured in a garden at Chelsea flower show earlier this year, and thought my hubby would love something similar featuring Welsh Guards, I have searched and could not find anything like this, these are for Chelsea Pensioners. 

I had trouble finding fabrics, saw one lot in a sale, which hubby said was not right, so I left it to him to find some. He finally managed to find authentic tunic fabric for sale, he had to purchase 2 meters running length, which was their minimum sale, I'm not telling what he paid for it, that's his choice, it is lovely material.

He already had buttons, for one style and with so much material, I said I could make at least 2, he ordered a badge and stripes. Here I'm working to ensure the buttons are placed right, the white marks (tailors chalk) will be buttonholes, which I will sew but not cut open, just place the buttons over them.

In a complete unabashed theft of the design into a Welsh Guard style of cushions, here are ours, hubby is very happy, I really enjoyed making them. The effort of making the five button holes is not reflected as they can't really be seen, but I know they are there. These are bigger and will look better on our new sofa, we will chose a bigger style.

And just because I could an extra cushion made for his best army buddy, who with his wife are popping in later this month for lunch and a catch up. This one is slightly smaller, I only had the smaller cuff buttons to use, 6 would have fitted on here better, but 5 is the correct number to have.

It is always great to get out my sewing machine, I get so much joy from sewing, often designing items myself, this time shamelessly stealing the look, with just a few small changes. Cushions are a very simple thing to make, I did pop zips along the bottom, but I could have hand sewn them together. I had red cotton fabric to line the cushions, but it was not necessary, the tunic fabric is very strong. 

I still have alot of the red fabric left, the black material was in my stash, hubby got the zips, black piping and the badges. I have used older cushion inserts in the bigger two, I will get new inserts just to make them look a bit neater. 

I would love to use my machine more often, years ago I made all my own dresses, tops and trousers, I have even made a couple suits, but I rarely wear that type of clothes, mainly I live in jeans and T shirts, much softer for my lifestyle. I also made wedding dresses for my daughters and various SIL's, as well as remodelling wedding dresses for friends and family, I am hoping Molly might take an interest as she gets older, it would be nice to pass on skills. I have made Molly some bits but again she loves leggings and soft T shirt dresses, which are so cheap to buy and the fabrics are so expensive, these days with clothes so cheap, it's never cost effective to make things.

Sewing.....

is my passion, 

I don't get my machine out often enough, I've had this machine for years, it's basic compared to modern machines, all I want is to stitch neat rows, everything else I can do by hand. Here I have cut 32 pairs of triangles all the same size from a meter of fabric.

My first task is to sew both of the sides, I make a long string of them, they are then seperated and I trim the sides using my pinking shears.

Now I turn them the right way and push the point out using a knitting needle, I'm not fussy for the points to be perfect, this does not require that amount of detail. Each one is ironed to ensure it's good shape.

Next it's a simple task to sew the raw edges to the tape leaving a gap between each one, I don't measure, once the triangle gets to the back of my machine I add another, this is done in one long piece. I then fold the triangles over and ensure it's at the edge of the tape and stitch again.

My final row of stitch is along the bottom of the tape, this seals the raw edge inside and gives strength to the bunting. A nice few hours work.

In it's final place, just to add colour to the little ones garden climbing/slide frame. It's 100% cotton so it can stay out all through winter months. We chose not to place it at the bottom as George would play with them, I've used simple drawing pins to hold them in place, so if they start to play with it and get tangled, it will release and not cause harm to the little ones. 

I really enjoyed making this bunting, I have home made bunting along my side fence, it's faded and a couple years old, it does not need replacing. I would like to do more sewing, I live in jeans, shorts and T shirts, all much cheaper to buy than make, I rarely wear a skirt or dress. When Molly was born I hoped to be able to make her dresses, she loves leggings and shorts, I also hoped to make George's trousers, but he loves slim joggers, so sadly my machine stays unused.

If I decide to make anything, I always have to have a use for it, I can't just put things together and then decide what to do with the finished item. I do like patchwork, but my desire for every join and corner to be perfect, means I'm unpicking often, which takes away all the joy. 

I am planning a new cushion for hubby, I saw lovely ones in the Chelsea Pensioners garden at Chelsea, I have buttons and his rank badge from hubbies time in Welsh Guards, I did get a red curtain sample locally, it's not a perfect match, hubby has found a site who will sell him two meters of tunic fabric, it's more than I need and expensive, but it will look good.

Master

We finally carpeted the stairs, waiting until our bedroom was done as the offcuts were enough for this area, when hubby did the stairs last November, we thought they were finished, as there was no lovely wood to leave bare. Then we saw photo's of the risers being painted and just the step being carpeted, which we both loved, so hubby got his paint brushes out again, it does look much brighter here, there is no window on these stairs.

We have a huge bedroom, it's part of the reason we purchased this bungalow, here before we decorated, I say we, hubby does most of the work, mainly painting.

This time the plan was to build a frame behind our bed and panel the whole wall, making it all level, we are both fed up with the recess left from the dorma build. Plus we don't have to paint over the very dark purple. 

We decided on panelling, as it saves us getting plasterboard and painting, so less work, and it's hard wearing, we got rid of our headboard when we moved in as it would not fit, we decided not to get another one. The panels were easy to install once the frame was built, we used 4 panels, hubby had to cut each one as they were too high. Doing this has taken away 5" of floor space, we won't miss it, it feels very luxurious, our quilt cover has not been changed, we have two matching ones, which I love.

Hubby has worked hard to finish these rooms, the 3 doors were rubbed down and repainted white, and the ceiling and walls we redone the same colours, the carpet is new, so it's all finished. We both were worn out most evenings, it's hard work as we age to do the simplest DIY, everywhere inside is now looking good, time to relax. The wait for the carpet was a bit longer than expected, and more expensive as the room is so large, now it's finished and we love it. The carpet is sage green, it does look grey in these photos,  I have ordered green curtains in hope it will bring out the colour in the carpet, if it doesn't I will return them.

Thursday was a busy day, we had the carpet fitted, which took time as our bedroom is not a square shape, lots a banging fixing the grippers, they fitted it as one piece, no joins, Lily was in our office with us, door shut, she was not happy, we were unable to let her outside as we had a man rendering the wall outside the back door, the gates were open, so not safe for her there either. 

Friday we put everything back, we are both pleased with this space, we only have a radio in the room, no TV, no Internet, we prefer our room to be a quiet restful place. We get morning sun through our en suite window and leave the door open, we don't get any direct sunlight through our huge bedroom window, it's a cool room.

Finishes.

I've been busy again, daughter has her Christmas tree up, because George will not leave anything on the tree, she has only white lights on there, so for a bit of colour I made a Santa for each of the children. All three loved them, they now add colour to the tree. 

My brothers blanket is finished, once I got going on the icord edging I started to enjoy it again. I have stitched the long ends inside the corded edge, I'm glad it's finished as my brother arrives this week. 

I managed to remove the huge chocolate coin from this wrapper, I cut a circle of cardboard and added the gold ribbon to create a hanger, now I have another tree decoration, the blue bauble is one purchased from Libertys on our recent trip.

George was in his first nativity last week, he was a sheep, he is sat beside his best friend, whilst his 1-1 support lady just outside this photo, hubby went to watch with daughter, at the start he joined in, but got distracted watching all the other children. We were just amazed he stayed on the stage, he does not like crowds with people he does not know, he is just so comfortable at school. 

We took one of our igloo cats beds to daughters house for the kittens to use, in hope when we bring Lilly home, she can find comfort in it smelling of her siblings, as yet they have not got the hang of it, and so far Lilly is not interested, daughter now has 3 beds as another friend sent her cat bed for the same reasons.

It has been a really busy time, as well as our trip to London, we saw a George Michael tribute show, locally which was good, we also went for a Chinese meal, so we are both feeling a bit frazzled, but lovely quiet few days have helped us recover from all the excitement. 

I've just one gift to get for daughter, I would like something special for her, but have no idea yet what it should be, I have wrapped all the gifts already purchased and wrote our last card, Alexa has played my Christmas song list most days, so I am feeling very festive. We have ordered our fruit and veg, and only need to shop for cream, which we will get local. 

Hubby is out today, so I am going to get my sewing machine out, just one small task to do for daughter, then I will marzipan our cakes, all three of them and make the top decorations.

Crafting week

I have finally finished the crochet on my brothers lap blanket, I have clips along the top and bottom just to flatten the square joins, it took longer than expected. I have a green yarn to knit the icord edging, then I can sort all the loose ends, I'm really pleased with it. 

Hubby has been busy as well, I purchased these beautiful lamps in 2009 from BHS, they had a touch base, where you could have three levels of light, for me the best ever bedside lamps. A couple of years ago they started turning themselves on in the night, so we switched them off, but left them in place as we loved them. We are now ready to start working on our bedroom and the lamps came into our conversation, I really love these, so hubby took them to his garage and rewired them without the touch feature, and they are staying.

Daughter was checking George's school page and sent me this, I've covered the teachers name, so I'm famous, he is doing so well, smashing his start targets, we are all so proud of him. Can you see me in his masterpiece. He had his 5th birthday this week, it was a family affair, he will have a play session with friends this weekend.

Another great book, it's an early title, another enjoyable book, a whole family has gone missing, an old friend of Rakers wants to know what happened to her sister. Set in Devon, with ties to USA, things unravel, people show their true faces, ending in Las Vegas. Book 80 read this year.

We had heavy covering of frost on Wednesday morning, the bird baths were frozen, my wildlife pond had no ice, it became a really sunny day, so everywhere looked good by lunchtime, I picked up loads of leaves, our neighbours oak tree is huge so we are getting leaves in our garden for the first time. 

Thursday morning I walked 5 minutes to our doctors surgery for a blood test, I walked in icy rain and sleet, on the way back, less than 20 minutes later it was snowing and cold, it lasted for an hour, too wet for any to settle, but enough to cheer the grandchildren. I have my long winter coat and duffle coat out, ready for whatever is to come.

This morning we have blue skies after a heavy frost again, we are all sorted before storm Bert arrives, just heavy rain and strong winds for us, I hope you are all OK, warm and snug inside, we have no plans for the weekend.

Finished

My first craft finish in ages, as the weather changes I am inside more, plenty of reading and craft time. This blanket is for a raffle prize, I used the yarn from the Christmas blanket I started last year, I had made some squares, I did not like how the different designs were all slightly different sizes.

This is made with Emu double knit, 100% acrylic, so it will be strong and warm, I used Tunisian crochet stitch, reels with instruction can be found on YouTube, you make each square, joining them as you go, I used 12 stitches and 20 rows, making 10 patterns up and across. I have made this design before using 4ply, for myself. The joy of this stitch is you do not have to turn your work, which is very handy when the blanket gets bigger. 

For the edging I decided to knit an e-cord design, it gives a lovely tidy edge and somewhere to hide the ends of the yarn, I was going to look for a contrast colour, then I had the bright idea of matching each square colour, which was fun, but gave me so many more ends to sew in. 

I think all the work was worth it as I am really pleased with the finished item, hopefully someone will use it and keep warm. I have plans to make another, my brother Martin has said he feels the cold in the evenings, so I suggested I make him one, I half expected him to laugh at me, but he said he would love and use it. 

For now all crafting has been set aside, we are in sunny warm Spain, without a raincloud in sight, it feels so good to wake up knowing there is no chance of rain, wear sandals and no coat. We are staying with Spanish friends, so lots of lovely food and laughter. I hope we can pop to Valencia, it's a beautiful city, so much to see.

Reading

 I loved this book, a very different and clever plot, twist and turns, cleverly leading to the climax, with a final twist, not your run of the mill story, I could not put it down. I have read this author before and will look out for her other books. Book 34 read this year. 

This book was good not great, exploring family secrets, almost everyone is hiding something, life is in a small village, how the wrong words can stir up trouble. It twisted throughout the plot, I changed my mind a few time whilst reading it. Book 35 read this year.

We had little people in our garden again on Saturday, hubby did a BBQ, which they love, lots of fun and laughter, all three play well together. Will had a party so George and Molly stayed longer, it got a bit dull so we played inside for a while, I drove them home happy. We have a good selection of garden toys, so we got different ones out, they all loved the big blow up ball.

Sunday I gave the greenhouse a clean, just using a brush, soapy water and hosed off, it's not perfect but much better than before. I am not able to reach the long side at the back, but it was not too dirty. I moved a few things inside and did in there as well. It's due to rain for the next few days, so hopefully it will wash away any soap residue, it was messy but worth the effort.

I've had my sewing machine out again, I needed to make a net screen for a bedroom window, we leave it in the window to stop any flies getting into the house, sadly it's necessary. I also played with my coffee filters, the one I made shown in my last post, did not work so well, when I put soil in and watered it, the filter went soft and did not keep it's shape, not to be beaten, I decided to stitch the sides and see if they would hold better, these are again being used in the greenhouse to see if they work. 

Hubby has emptied the white goods from our kitchen, we are having new vinyl flooring, which we prefer to tiles, the flooring down lasted almost 14 years, it's much warmer to walk on in winter and so much easier to keep clean, I washed down the outside of the cabinets under the counter.

My cucumber plant is looking very sick, but the seedlings are growing, so later than normal I should have a harvest, it's typical the first year I grow them outside we have the strangest few months of weather. The idea of four seasons is slipping away, here along the south coast we always have a good start to the growing season, our issues were always enough rain in the summer months, hence I have so many water buts in my small garden. May has always been a great month to get small plants into the ground, and in June they should be growing like mad, these cooler days and nights are not our normal weather, the lady on TV last night suggested we won't get warmer temperatures until later in June, often in the past few weeks it's warmer up north than here in the south. The sunshine is really warm, normal for June, the cold winds are the problems, our night temperatures are low, but not enough to cause huge issues, just slowing down the growing season, makes you wonder how farmers are doing with our food supplies.

Crafting

 I am pleased with this knitting, the back is almost finished, it's a jacket for my sister in law, I had to unpick her work as our tension was different. It does knit very quickly, but I find the knitting needles huge, I have one problem looming, I am sure I won't have enough yarn, I'm just finishing my 3rd 100grm ball. I have looked online and it's still sold, I will know soon how much more I will require.

I purchased this fabric a few years ago, I had a plan, which fell through, now I have a way to use it, I had two old pillows which I have pushed down into a square, and then use the fabric as a cover, these cushions are perfect for our garden. We don't leave out any of our cushions, so they should keep looking this good for the summer, they are a huge size and very comfortable.

I got some Easter shaped cookie cutters which are brilliant for needle felting, so I made a few designs, I do love the rabbit head, I am not following any video's, just making by eye, trying a few different roving's and methods. I had hope to have a few more finished, it's a job for today, was called to nana duties unexpected.

I knocked over this sweet pea stained glass flower and the top flower fell off, I have a small craft solder iron, and had a go at fixing it, I'm pleased to say it worked and I think still looks good. If I had messed up, hubby would have sorted it for me, he was busy in garage building my huge bughouse for the garden.

Whilst I had my sewing machine out, I stitched the badges on our neighbours son's cubs blanket, it's a simple job, I keep the colour in the machine bobbin the same colour as the blanket, and match the main reel to the colour of the badge. I really had fun with my sewing machine and should use it more, but I always need to pack it away  I sew on my dining room table, where we sit and eat every day.

I am again looking at my black spotty bag, I'm still not happy, the bag section is perfect, my fix works, but the round hand stitched flap is not right, I am going to look in my scrap box to see if I have anymore spotty material, I have an idea forming.

I'm not making any comments regarding this non stop rain, I hoped our spring was going to be warm, sunny and dry, having said that we have had a few dry hours for a couple of days.

Improving

 I unpicked the outer cover of this bag, I am replacing the front, back and bottom, which I had made in lightweight black leather. I used my new unpicking tool, which hubby gave me for Christmas, the wooden oversized handle made it much easier to use. Here you can see the spotty fabric for the two sides and the strap. 

Back in 2020, I was playing with french knots, and used this lovely material to make a circle of raised dots, I had in mind to use it for the top fold over flap of a bag. 

I did some sewing for a neighbour, cushions for her campervan, I was trying to show her how to make them, but ended up making them myself, she gave me the unused fabrics, which have been very handy in other makes. The black velvet is very sturdy and dense, perfect for this bag.

I am so happy with the finished bag, it now feels a good weight, sturdy enough to keep it's shape when things are inside, and useful size so I can pop things in. I made the sides and bottom in one piece, which gives it strength, it's fully lined so there is nothing weak about this make.

I knew this book would be good, I've read loads of her titles before, a clever plot set in a village/ small town along the south coast, loads of things happening, including gossip, a beautiful twist at the end. Book 20 read this year.

Monday we took the bus to town, had lunch out for a change, hubby was out in the afternoon so I walked to our library and then pottered for an hour outside, later I was tired and read.

Tuesday we had plans all day, but the weather gods changed everything, with rain all day, instead of dry weather. We did walk to our local Co-op for milk, I sat at the sewing machine, I also spent an hour importing post into my 2022 book, I'm over half way now and on plan and then time reading, as normal nothing on TV. 

Wednesday hubby was out in the morning, It was sunny blue skies but cold, I was again out in the garden, I have cut back loads of dead wood from our back fence, most of it Winter Jasmine, it now looks better, just pottering most of the day, we came back in at 4pm. Pure bliss, early shower and catch up on some TV.