Birthday

 Hubby gave me this lovely book for my birthday yesterday, he had purchased it as a Christmas gift, but had no idea what to give me for my birthday and ran out of time. I understand his pain as I would not be able to say what I wanted, I do love Adam Frost and prefer him over Monty.

Hubby took me out for a meal at lunchtime, we went to the same venue as daughter took us recently, this time it was raining the whole time, we sat in a window seat, warm and dry, I do like to watch the sea on a rough day.

I've had a brilliant birthday, daughter got me Alan Rickman's book, taken from his diaries after he died, she popped in on Sunday with Will, now he is at school we don't see him so much, so it was fun to spend time with just him and mummy, he is growing up far to quickly. I also was given a nice bottle of wine, a poppy bird feeder, flowers and some money. Later today I'm out with sign group to a lovely garden centre, we will stop for coffee and cake. On Thursday I am having lunch with a couple of ex workmates, we try and get together a few times each year.

On Friday I will be getting treatment for my back, it can't come soon enough,  I can then rest over the weekend., I have a special project to work on Sunday, hubby is out all day.

So tell me how quickly has it taken me to reach 67 years old, my goodness what a number, only seams like yesterday we were raising our family now we watch our children raising their own children. The years rush by, soon it will be 2023, I'm not wishing time away, time just flies. The number of my age does not reflect who I am, it just seams so weird when I think of my age. Looking back we are much younger in our outlook than our parents, my mum did loads more in her later life, my dad loved to stay at home and mum was happy to be with him, after he passed away, she did so much more, going abroad and travelling when she could.

Houseplants

This plant Albuca Spiralis Frizzle Sizzle is doing really well, its on my desk infront of a huge sunny window and by our radiator, it does love the sunlight. I love the tiny curls on the tips of each stem, it from the onion family, This plant does not last too long, but I love it when it's looking this good.

Betty had a trim a few weeks ago, her hair is growing well, she lives further from the window in my office, not in direct sunlight. These string of pearls are so easy to grow. I also have a string of hearts, which has grown very long. 

I got this plant in September when my sister was visiting, the cup and saucer was a birthday gift last year, it is part of a set of 3, it's a perfect combination, it sits on my monitor shelf. I don't know the name of this plant it was in the succulent display, I just love the colours of the leaves. 

This Chinese money plant is getting huge and has loads of babies, I really need to repot the mother plant and leave one baby in this head pot. I will pop the others into old small pots and take them to the charity shop. Again this is a very easy plant to grow. 

Last plant shown here in my office is my pineapple plant, it was a baby in a plant purchased a few years ago, its now at the back of the office on a warm internal wall, not in direct sunlight but still bright. It has put on loads of growth since I moved it here. I do have more plants in my office, too many to show here. 

In my sitting room, which is a cooler darker room I have these two tiny pots, Will got me the spaceman, deciding that's a nana pot when he saw it, and we got the man for my air plant together. Both do well in this location, I have very few other real plants in this room. 

My spider plant was getting too big for the kitchen window sill, so I have moved it into the downstairs bathroom, this is a cool room but it does get all the afternoon sun through the big window. Since I moved this plant it has produce a long stem, which will grow babies, I love to see a spider plant with their babies. It has plenty of space here to grow, I will have to remember to turn the plant as it grows to the light and would get lopsided.

My cactus is flowering, it loves this spot on the bathroom window, it's always the first to flower and although the flowers don't last long, there are so many buds, the whole plant will flower for weeks. I have other plants around, but this one is the best. This is one of the few flowering plants I have. 

As you can see inside I mostly like to grow plants which don't flower, I love the leaves shape, texture and different shades of green. I have loads of lovely pots, collected over the years, just recently I have been collecting head pots and other human shapes. I really love my little man pot with the cacti shaped like a brain, shown with the Chinese money plant, he should be used as an egg cup. The need to nurture plants is with me all year, if I lived on my own I would have loads more plants inside, but hubby is not a fan of houseplants, he does have one by his desk, which he loves, but he's happy with just one.

Thank goodness for crafting and reading, I have enough to keep me busy inside when the weather is wet, and it has rained alot in the past few weeks. My back is playing up again and was bad on Friday and Saturday, so I am going for help today, hopefully a local well recomended lady will be able to help me, at not too higher a cost. 

Nothing much is happening here, we spent the weekend at home, inside, it's dark most of the day, the heavy rain does not stop, typical November, it still feels warm inside, the radiators have come on a few early mornings, but never in the day or evening, 19° is working for us, Grace warms my lap every evening. 

We did watch the carnival from Bridgwater, my childhood local town, it's huge happens the 1st Saturday in November, click on the link and be amazed. Grace hates all the fireworks, they have been very noisy this year, one lot started after midnight on Saturday,  idiots and even more on Sunday evening. 

Getting on

My sewing is getting too big for just one photo, having completed the top line, I can now get a scale of the design, I have moved my work up in the frame, so I have more space below. The pink squares are just a bit higher than half way, this won't be a square cushion, the height is a bit longer than the width. I've had comments on how quickly this is growing, all of the designs I have stitched before and they are very symmetrical,  so I don't need to keep checking the pattern, which saves time, I love balanced designs.

I am pleased with the purple design, I stopped with three, if I had gone along to the other side, I would have had the last design crashing into the purple flowers, I think the two purple colours would go, but I want things to stand out not blend. I have been searching more of these lace designs for this space. 

My sock for SIL is coming along well, the orange mixed colour segments are much bigger than the plain dark grey, so I feel I should have enough yarn for both socks in this design. I do love how these are knitting up, and as SIL loves colour I'm sure he will love them as well. The best news with these socks are, SIL is only a size 9 and is there will be only a few ends to sew in.

A new author for me, interesting plot, what would you say to protect your child, to the police, 5 teenagers go to the woods, 4 come out, I loved this book told by a father, what he believes and what he's told. I would read another book he has written 5 others. Book 78 read this year.

Wednesday was a day at home, hubby was out in the morning, so I finished cleaning the kitchen cabinet tops, it's a horrible job, I'm happy now they are all done, I wiped all the cabinet fronts and the wall tiles, so I'm feeling good. I want to do sitting and dining room next, before any decorations (not to December) go up. I feel the house needs a good clean and dust, I regularly clean, but not often the corners, so I plan to do a deep clean of a room each week. The open plan downstairs mean the kitchen, dining and sitting rooms get that awful sticky dust, I now need to resort my cleaning rota, as in the past few months I have ignored it.  

I also got my full refund from Wowcher, to be fair, once they had done their procedures (contact the supplier), with no replies, they were happy to refund the full amount, including the delivery charge paid to the supplier. I chose to speak to them on WhatsApp, they chatted to me within the 24 hours promised, did not need to see proof of payment on delivery, for customer service I give them 100%. It has not turned me against purchasing anything from them in future. As for the storage unit, I can manage without until next summer.

Thursday we went to IKEA in Southampton, we did not want anything big, mainly some dolls furniture for Molly, she already has their house, sadly the furniture was plastic not at all what we wanted. It was fun to wonder around, we don't go there that often, it was another wet day, so being inside was good, we chose not to go into city centre, nothing much we wanted.

Today is a home day, we have laundry to do, I don't have much to do, hope to be able to craft or read later, I'm babysitting at tea time, so mum and dad can have an early meal out with friends.

New start

I wanted to knit on Sunday evening, so I have started these socks for SIL, he loves bright colours, I am hoping I have enough of the orange mixture yarn, I am not using the big grey blocks , so each time I get to the grey, I am winding it on a small ball and re-joining when the orange is back. I will keep the grey and once I have finished the first sock, I will weigh the waste grey and deduct it from the weight of the remaining yarn, which will tell me if I have enough to knit the second sock. If not I will have to rethink the design. 

I have finished the three designs, so nothing is outstanding, I do love the blue and white design, I made a small rug for a friends dolls house years ago, I am glad to have included it on this piece. I am filling in a gap, I have not decided if I will take it right over to the purple flowers. 

I should have been sewing in all the ends for both my recent finished pairs of socks, I do hate sewing in the ends, but I also love colourful warm socks in the winter. Once I get started it's an easy task to do. I have started reading a book, a new to me author.

I am chasing Wowcher for a full refund on my garden storage, delivery date has long passed, so they have broken their contract, the vendor is not answering emails, I have asked for a refund including the postage fee I paid. I have also sold some of my glass bits, I popped some for sale, got into a conversation with a lady and she purchased everything  I had, so I will put a credit on my stash list.

I still have to sort my greenhouse, move a few things around, it's getting full in there with all my tender plants sheltering for the cooler months. I have packed all my garden decorations away, Most were my birds on the shelf along our nice neighbours fence. I always pop them away, it helps them last longer. 

Nothing much is happening here, we had a very quiet Sunday, watched TV in the evening, this time of year there are more programmes we both want to watch. I am still not reading much, but that will change as we get less daylight for my crafting. I am planning to get my sewing machine out, I have loads to make, my back has not given me any issues for almost two weeks. My hand is much better, my bruising has gone down, I have just one spot near a bone which aches. 

Monday was a day at home, we had heavy rain in the afternoon, we shut both doors on the rooms in the front of the house, and did not get anyone trick or treating. I can hear them in my head, not that house an old couple lives there, ha ha. We watched a Netflix movie The Good Nurse with Eddie Redmayne, brilliant film. The night brought wind and rain, much stronger than expected, but no damage to the garden.

 

We went out for lunch on Tuesday, to celebrate a friends birthday, just in a local pub, we then got hubbies new glasses, he has gone from needing reading glasses to having to wear them all the time, he got two pairs on a deal. We did pop into other shops, just a quick look around whilst in town, I picked up a couple things to add to Christmas gifts. We again used our bus passes, and are lucky we are between two large cities, so buses are regularly coming past.