Last week

Last week was a week full of sorting, again.  

I do declutter regularly but always manage to fill a bag for the charity shop each time.  I didn't pick up my knitting or stitching much during the week so no progress worth showing but I did manage to pickle the beetroot I'd harvested from the allotment.  Only enough for one jar this time but we do have more in the ground which aren't ready to pull just yet.  I've not tested it yet, the recipe I found online was a simple one, just vinegar and brown sugar and it said to leave in a dark place for about two weeks.

If it's not good at least there is only one jar and I can try out another recipe for the rest.

Since the oven had been on to sterilise the pickle jar I made us a cake for the weekend as well.  

The recipe for this Anglesey cake came from this little book, 

I have several of these Favourite Recipe books picked up from various trips, I added The Grow Your Own Recipes to my collection from our recent visit to The Black Country Museum, there are definitely some things in there I will be trying out at some point and If they are as good as the cakes I have made from the baking ones we won't be disappointed.

I also had a lovely surprise parcel arrive last week.  

My lovely friend Jo, who I'm sure you know blogs at Through the Keyhole sent me the most thoughtful gift.  She has been reading the Seven Sisters series by Lucida Riley and thought I might enjoy them too so she sent me the first book to get me started, but not only that, look at all the other Autumnal goodies she included along with the book.

I admit I got quite emotional when I opened it.  I shall enjoy using them all, in fact the Caramac chocolates have already been enjoyed and I made a hot chocolate using one of the chocolate sticks last night 😋 Thank you again Jo for being such a kind and thoughtful friend.

Speaking of reading and books, I noticed that for Prime Members Amazon has a three month free trial offer on Kindle Unlimited.  I haven't read anything on my kindle for at least four years but when I looked into it I quite liked the look of some of the books on offer, so I signed up and right away downloaded a couple and chose to start The Lost Bookshop.  Evie Woods is a new author to me but one that I will look out for again as this is so far a very enjoyable read.

I made the most of the sunshine yesterday and spent a couple of hours in the morning at the allotment, I have onions to go in so prepared where they will be planted and gave all over a general tidy up.  In the afternoon took everything out of the bathroom and sanded the woodwork down, horrible job but has to be done.  Today I've painted the woodwork and the ceiling and tomorrow will give it another coat and put everything back again.  Sometime in the next couple of weeks I will do the same to the shower/laundry room, although giving the shower a good descaling on Saturday Mark discovered that the inside had corroded so badly that we now need a new shower 🙄 

At least we found out before any damage was done.

-X-

First finish of 2023

 I want to try and use up some odd balls of acrylic yarn that I have, In most cases I have just one or two balls of a colour, not enough to make a garment, even a small one so I will make a few small blankets to use them up.  This one is a small pram/pushchair size, I had one ball of the blue so worked until that had gone.  It's for no one in particular, I might donate it or ask one of the girls if they know anyone who could use it.

I have more grey and white so I will see what else I can team that with to make another one soon.

I've enjoyed working on this simple granny square and remembered that I have another crochet blanket that I started a few years ago and didn't finish. 

This is the Crofter Blanket and it's been a good few years since it's seen the light of day, but now it's out I'm going to try and do a bit each week until it's finished.

All the squares are made, some are even joined into rows so it's just a matter of joining the rest of the squares then joining them all together.

I think I put it away because I wasn't too keen on the colour, and it's still not my favourite colourway but It's better finished than sitting in a box, and if i don't like it once it's finished I can always give it away.

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One of my doctors appointments last week got cancelled, twice, my smear test is now Feb 7th, unless it gets cancelled again.  Physio wants me to go to do rehabilitation, that will entail a weekly session at one of the local hospitals,  but first she wanted to do some blood tests and will make me an appointment a once those have come back.  I've had achilles tendinitis for years on and off, it was particularly bad all summer last year, I've been doing the recommended exercises for over twelve months and it's never gone away completely, I just have days when it's not as bad as others.  The rehabilitation work will, so I'm told, work on strengthening the leg muscles so that there is less strain on the tendon.   I'd just like to walk a decent distance without limping and being in pain, sometimes for days afterwards.

Saturday was such a horrible day, it barely got light all day, the weather grey and foggy, not a day for going out but I wanted to do something, so we opted for an afternoon trip to the cinema.   We went to see A Man Called Otto, based on the book A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.  I had read the book in 2018 and loved it, we have also watched the Swedish film.  This new version, which is set in America rather than Sweden and has Tom Hanks as the cantankerous Otto is good, we both really enjoyed it, It is somewhat different to the Swedish film, but I think that's probably to make it appeal to a wider audience, but well worth it.  If you haven't read A Man Called Ove I can highly recommend it, I'd put it in my top 10 books.

Have a lovely week

-X-

Wednesday walk and book talk

 It was far too cold to take Bonnie out for a walk on Monday, It kept trying to snow all day but never settled, the wind made it feel even colder.  We had planned on going to a local National Trust property, most have lovely grounds to walk in, although at the moment none of the houses or cafe's are open.   There was a smattering of snow yesterday morning and still very cold but the wind had dropped and the sun came out for a while.  I only went on a local walk, to the church at the bottom of road, back up and around the outskirts of the estate.  I like walking when the weather is like this, cold and crisp with a bit of Winter sunshine, in fact, I prefer walking in this kind of weather than in the Summer.  I always think when it's cold, you can wrap up against it and get warm and cosy, whereas when it's hot there is no way to get away from it.  That's my logic anyway :-)

I finished my latest audio book while walking, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

I almost changed my mind about choosing this one but I'm so glad I didn't, it was an excellent listen, the narration was by Julia Whelon and she did a brilliant job of bringing the story to life, I could picture everything so well.  

Here's the blurb, (copied from Amazon)

Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she’d yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa’s world is shattered to the winds.

Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey? Or will their experience challenge every ounce of strength they possess?

From the overriding love of a mother for her child, the value of female friendship and the ability to love again – against all odds, Elsa’s incredible journey is a story of survival, hope and what we do for the ones we love.

My knowledge of American history is near to none existent and I had certainly never heard of The Dust Bowl, I had to go in search of more information.  

The sign of a good book for me is when it makes you want to find out more, and this did, I love that. 

I gave this book 5 stars, and I don't do that very often.

My bedtime reading was another one from Matt Haig, The Humans.

If you have read anything from Matt Haig you will know that his books are all different, he must have the most vivid imagination and insight to come up with his subjects.

(The blurb from Amazon)

After an 'incident' one wet Friday night where he is found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst an alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, and he's a dog.

Who is he really? And what could make someone change their mind about the human race . . . ?

This one might not be everyone's' cup of tea but I really enjoyed it, there was a lot of truth about humans in those pages.

I keep a list of everything I'm reading and listening to on Goodreads, there is a link in the sidebar.

See you soon, stay safe and warm

-X-

January, it was good

I always seem to start the year off well with making things, there is something about January that makes me feel positive, something to do with new year goals I suppose.  Lets hope I can make the it last for more than just a month :-)

After my tidy up / sort out in my crafty space I realised I have quite a lot of acrylic yarn, not really enough of any one colour to make anything but paired together I will be able to make up some little blankets.  This one has already gone to it's new home

I have not idea why I have so much Stylecraft in yellow, on it's own it's a bit bright, but put with white I think it looks really fresh and clean.  

 I bought this little octopus kit from the Cotton Pod when we went to Yarndale last September.

It only took a night to make but, those sleepy eyes! oh my goodness, I think I stitched them on at least six times!  Finally I got them so I was happy :-)

He has gone to live with Oliver, who, I'm happy to say still loves his stuffed animals and teddy's

I finished my first ornament of the year.  You might remember I'm stitching monthly ornaments along with some friends on a small FB group we have going.  I'm going to wait and do the actual finishing  when I have a few to do.

My second stitched finish was only finished tonight and I couldn't wait to show it to you even though it's still on the Q snap!

Good Tidings by The Drawn Thread
Started December 26th 2019 - Finished 31st January 2019

I had wanted to get it all done by the end of January, and I have, by the kin of my teeth, lol. 

I'm still not overly keen on stitching on linen, I don't like the unevenness when stitching so I'm glad it's done if i'm honest.  It has a few 'personal design features', but on the whole I'm happy.

January has also been a good month for reading.  

Towards the latter part of last year I didn't read as much as I would have liked and I missed having my nose in a good book.
This month I read 3 books on my Kindle and listened to 3 audio books

My favourite for the month was The Friend.

My least favourite was The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

So that's it for January, not a bad month at all, what about you?  How have you filled your first month of the year?

-X-

A Late Yarn Along Pillow Post

I'm a little late to the Yarn Along party this week, I did finish off the knitted pillow that I was working on a few weeks ago, all those crochet buttons were very tedious!

I'm not entirely happy with the pattern on this, it was from Ravelry and looking at it now I think the pattern is wrong, I checked, and checked again what It said and I did it according to the instructions but I still think it's wrong.

I might as well share the book that I'm reading this week too, this is my Reading Group book for last month, (I'm behind on that as well!).

I only started reading it last night but it seems like it will be quite interesting.

It's the story of a little boy, August, who was born with a cleft palate, not something that I would usually choose to read, but that's what a reading group is all about. 

If anyone has read it let me know what you thought.

The little circles I shared last time have been made up into a pillow too, just got to get my head around the boarder, hopefully I can share that next time.

I had my second physio appointment this morning and was given some more exercises to follow, at least i'm able to walk without the crutches now.  One of the stitches didn't dissolve and was giving me some problems (and pain) so I had a trip to the doctors on Monday to get it removed, and since that has been removed things have improved so much more :-)

I'm getting used to being at home, loving the peace and quiet, not missing work or the people one bit, lol

-X-

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

It's almost time to say goodbye to 2010 and welcome in 2011, we will take the decorations down on Sunday, they will have been up since 1st December. In years past i have been one of the last to put my Christmas tree up and the first to take it down, the years must have mellowed me, i have enjoyed my decorations and appreciated the time I've spent at home this holiday. I have a friend who itches to go out at any opportunity and just hates to hang around her house, not so me, i love pottering around home, and I'm comfortable with my own company, i suppose it wouldn't do for us all to be the same.

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So by tomorrow i hope these have all been eaten so as not to tempt me

Because it's back to sensible eating for me, although i have tried to moderate myself i will still need to do a few hours step up's on the Wii to compensate for my indulgence ;)

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I've enjoyed seeing everyone's round up of the years stitching, there are some lovely slide shows out there of the most beautiful finishes, you are all such a talented bunch! I had 15 finishes this year a couple were carried over (the larger ones), if you scroll back to the top of my blog there is a slide show at the top right so i won't put up another one. I really enjoyed the LHN ornament SAL this past year, and it gave me the chance to have a go at finishing, I'm still not perfect but at least now i have some idea and not so afraid of having a go :-)

For 2011 i have a few charts i would like to stitch like these...

And these
But that could be subject to change if something else takes my fancy, lol. I've also got a stack of 'freebies' that i want to stitch too.

One i do want to finish is Beatrix Potter

This is the first time I've shown BP, when i started it i was reluctant to share it because i wasn't sure i would carry on with it, being such a big project i thought i might loose interest, anyway i picked it up again this week and I've decided that it's a keeper, so watch this space!

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As i don't make resolutions the only other thing apart from stitching goals is to carry on with my reading. I fell behind in my list keeping last year but i read 25 books, not bad going for me :-) I've had quite a few books for Christmas so I've got plenty to keep me going for now.

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We are having a quiet New Years Eve. We will be going for a curry early this evening then coming home to see the New Year in. I hope you all have fun however you are celebrating :)

Thank you for your visits in 2010, they have been very much appreciated :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Zippity do da

It's getting late so i will keep it short and sweet tonight, Friday is my 'downstairs' cleaning day (Thursday is 'upstairs', yes i have set cleaning days!!) and yes, people think i am quite strange because i quite like housework! I even, (dare i say this) like ironing (shock horror!!) i can hear a chorus of "OMG the woman is MAD" echoing around the world, lol. Anyway the point is I'm shattered and will be off to the land of nod soon, but before i go here is my progress on

La~ D~Da Zippity do da

Remember the excellent The Time Travelers Wife? This is Audrey Niffenegger's new novel, Her Fearful Symmetry. It's been my bedtime reading this last week. It's set around Highgate Cemetery in London and without giving anything of the story away it's essentially a ghost story and although i enjoyed it it's nothing like TTTW, but that is a hard act to follow!

Right, i promised it would be short so I'm gone...till next time, have a great weekend! x