Starting a leap year.

 I saw this idea on another blog, 'my little jar of good things', each time something lovely happens in your life you make a note of it and pop it into the jar, another blog suggested you write a note each week. At the end of the year, you can spend time sharing memories of the good times from the year. I always keep these candle jars, this one will be perfect, added a few stickers I had.

Crafting, I have my knitted blanket to finish, I've done half the squares, a ball of sock yarn is ready for knitting. I have also been looking at my year wheel I started this time last year, I have been sketching, I'm hoping I can be inspired to get it done. My hexagons flowers sit and wait for inspiration, I am trying not to start anything new, it would be lovely to get one thing finished first.

Once the Christmas flowers and greenery are packed away, I have an empty vase on the small table by the patio doors, I could pack it away for a few weeks, but I want colour in our room, so it is tulip time again, far too early, they do brighten this corner. Completely soft plastic, but realistic, I got the red and white in February 2020, the pink/yellow ones I added last year, I do love to see these, they look very real.

We did stay up to watch the London fireworks, but only so I could sit with our cats as the local fireworks start, Grace our old lady slept through them all, she hates fireworks, these days she is going deaf, Purdy sat and watched them, so we were in bed by 12.30, evening just the two of us as we like it. 

Monday, I cleaned top to bottom, washed the wooden floors, packed away our Christmas cards, I have left little sets of lights around to brighten dark corners. I will give our kitchen a full clean, cupboards inside and out, I have an itch to sort, it's that time of year.

A new year, always makes me look at my crafting, and garden planning, I try and ensure I don't have too many unfinished projects, I do have a couple cross stich projects, not touched for years, I really should get rid of them, but they take up little space. I am going to book a couple more needle felting courses, making a rabbit and a bird, both half days and should help me increase my ability to make more animals. Hubby and I would like to find a local basket weaving class, something to do together. 

Both hubby and I decided we did not like our patio looking so bare, so we have moved some things back, not the wooden table and chairs, they can stay in the garage until drier days arrive, we both enjoy our view of the garden from the house. For now it's windy and storms, grey days and much cooler, we do have some colour outside.

We have not been far from our village since before Christmas, we are popping to town today to get my second pair of glasses, I will change the frames for a bigger pair as they are bifocals, I am struggling the the reading bottom half, watching TV is brilliant. If the rain is not to relentless I hope to get back home dry, daughter is coming over in afternoon,  Will starts back at school on Wednesday. 

Day out

This was another book purchased at the Works, on a 3 for £6 deal, I have never heard of the author and was pleasantly surprised by everything. It's about two women, who knew of each other at school, now many years later their paths cross. This was a book I could not put down, very clever, the twist were delicate and added to the story. For a lovely change no dead bodies. Book 19 read this year. 

I'm not doing much at this moment, it's hard to craft when the house is spread all over the place, I have a few things on the go, crochet, needle felting, embroidery and some hand sewing. I have been on my computer loads, as it keeps me out of husbands way, whilst he decorates. I have not thought about my sewing machine, the projects have to wait until I have a tidy house again. 

Tuesday I missed sign class and went with youngest daughter and her 3 to Marwell Zoo, it was a sunny warm day, it's a wonderful zoo, very family friendly, loads of space for little legs to run around and be safe. It was full of families, and sadly loads of stressed mum's, mainly chasing after little feet, who when necessary can run oh so fast. Will was happy to be with us, he just did not want to smile in this photo, which is OK, no one should be made to smile. 

This truck is by water, the cab is open for the kids to have fun in, we have a photo, taken back in 2018, just Will then, the flat bed is a viewing point for the water, all three of them loved playing for a short time, it is a popular feature. Molly and George were more interested in running around than looking at animals, Will enjoyed most of it, we spent about 4 hours at the zoo, having a nice lunch and ice cream. The two little ones were in bed early and both slept well, as did their Nana. 

Sunday afternoon we popped to our neighbours at the bottom of the garden, Darren had a BBQ, we stayed for a couple of hours and then walked home through our local park, it was nice to be out chatting to new people. Monday I emptied the sitting room, it's a much easier task, not so many bits and bobs, everything was again put into the spare bedroom, it's a very simple space to decorate, only the skirting boards needed glossing, the rest is plain walls. 

Tuesday evening I did nothing I was tired, it was a happy tired, Today I've a morning at home, hubby is out, I will walk to the village and later whilst he paints, I will clean our upstairs bathroom and our bedroom, it won't take long, the bedding is already on the line, lovely blue skies here. No plans to do any crafting, I'm still working on my 2021 book, I can feel myself edging towards the completion of it. 

If everything goes to plan, the painting will be finished today and tomorrow we can put the furniture back and pack the decorating tools away. The stairs and upstairs, we have decided to leave until next year, hubby has worked hard enough to get the ground floor all done. 

Different crafts

I did the centre of the flowers on my wet felting picture, using French knots, the daisy type flower I used three different shades and just one shade of blue for the taller flower. I would like a butterfly or dragon fly on the right, I need to up my needle felting skills. 

I had another go at making a felt base at home, the roving I already had, it was from Burrow and Soar, I purchased it a few years ago, all the difference shades come from the same batch. The photo is not great, I'm pleased with it.

I've had a few small needle felting kits for ages, but not really looked at them, I am doing a needle felting day course soon, so I thought it might be nice to have a go, for a 1st attempt I am happy, it's far from perfect, but it does look like a pumpkin. I have another similar kit I will make after class, to see the difference. 

I have started looking at my 2023 embroidery  wheel, I hope this month I can catch up, I look at each segment and feel they are empty, I need to think of other things to add, for now I will draw February onto my canvas and get it sewn.

I am not doing much this week, having to drive to the other side of town to pick Will up from school, cuts the day down, I'm not complaining, daughter is healing, but she is bored, hopefully she will try another short drive at the weekend and will be back on next weeks school runs, it's the last week of term, so I think she wants to see everyone before the break. 

Tennis is brilliant this year, both ladies and gentlemen are all on top form, the players in both section I would love to win are still in the tournament, it's building nicely to the finals on Saturday and Sunday. Tennis is the only sport I like to watch. 

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post, I have been hiding in my sewing again, I can sit and sew all day, it is pure enjoyment for me, your comments did cheer me up. I have been feeling down for a few weeks, hubby thinks it's because I am tired, doing so much for the grandchildren, he could be right. I have no patience at the moment and get very irritated at the smallest thing, I don't want to be around people, I have no reason to feel like this, we have no problems here. 

My family are telling me to slow down say no to daughter, which I won't do, a daughter should rely on her mum in times of need, I will always be there for any of our children and grandchildren. Hopefully this dark cloud will pass and once again I will see the bright side, and no, pills are not for me. 

A warm finish

I have finally finished this blanket, I have worked non stop to get it done before this cold spell, hubby loves it, I'm just glad it's finished and I can do other crafts. It's just simple stripes, which was quicker than squares and less ends to stitch in, I was undecided as to adding a gold boarder top and bottom, but hubby said no. I finished it on Saturday.

The colours are Welsh Guards, with added gold. We sit at night with our lap blankets through this cold spell, looking like a pair of oldies.

I am sketching February's section, we did more last month so filling the space should be easier, I am giving myself another week for the sketching, then I will catch up with the stitching, I am looking forward to seeing this grow.

I have manage to do some cross stitch, and I enjoyed every moment, it was fun to be back on this design, I am beginning to feel I might stitch as much of this circular design as the space allows. I've not done much, but it's now back as my 1st go to project, last seen here. 

I have loads of crafting to catch up with, but firstly I want to get all the badges sewn on our young neighbours scout blanket, I hope I can use my sewing machine, the blanket is a bit thinner than I would have used. Once that is done I have 3 more scrappy patchwork squares to make, these will make a new cushion cover for the sitting room, I also have the small Christmas cushions to take apart and remake into one bigger cushion, so loads of machine work. My hexagons are all made into flowers, all the spare ones have been gifted to sell for charity, I have no plans to stich anymore, and I have no idea what to use my huge pile of flowers. These are much the same things as I listed in January, everything was on hold for hubby's blanket.

I am looking for a book to read, I have a few here, so it's just a case of picking one. I got myself a new crafting lamp, with a better daylight bulb, which means I can craft more in the evenings, the light has three settings, warm, normal and daylight and angles well, so I can keep any bright light towards me and not hubby.

Sunday we had another hour in the garden, everything is now back in it's place, with a couple of pots moved, I can't wait until next month when the warmer weather starts, I love spring as it's a time of watching so many things reappear. Just need to get through the next few days, it's getting cold again. 

This week

 I've started stitching my embroidery wheel for January, as with loads of new projects, I'm not convinced this is right, but I am going to keep going, I want to make it full of colour, so this first section is not really enough to judge it yet. I still have loads to stitch, I am pleased with the weather section at the bottom, January started wet and ended with very cold sunny days. Sorry not the best photo's.

A second crochet pot, this one is much better, just watching a few short video's has helped, it looks much neater and the sides are all the same height. I have loads of crafts ongoing, but I hope to crochet something else and improve my skills. I will look for another simple thing to make, not another pot, as I don't use them, and no more blankets.

Monday was a day of cleaning, having Will over for 2 nights left the house messy, we did crafting on Sunday, and there were bits everywhere, no glitter as bad nanna had given away all hers,  mummy and daddy brought George and Molly with them to pick up Will, they know where all the treats are kept, Molly does not sit still, so crumbs everywhere. It's a good feeling when everywhere is clean and tidy. 

Tuesday sign group was fun, we had a sign quiz, loads of romantic song titles, it was good practice for us, we each brought some food for a special lunch. Later we had friends, 2 couples over for a meal, hubby cooked the main course, another hubby made a trifle for dessert, and the 3rd hubby supplied the wine, as he can't cook, the guys got together and planned it all, 3 surprised wives. We have used the same cards as last year, having thrown so many cards out recently, I just don't see the need to purchase any more for each other. My hubby is a romantic, and for many years I had bunches of red roses, now we don't bother, I don't need retail prompts to know he loves me. 

Wednesday was spent emptying our office space around the window, it's a huge window and space, we did the same in the spare bedroom, there was not so much stuff in that room, I cleaned all the surfaces ready for the new windows on Thursday. I managed to take up SIL's trousers, and took them back to him in the evening, whilst I sat with the children, mummy went to her archery class, she is loving it. 

Thursday was a day of crochet whilst the men replaced our windows, they were clean and shut doors all the time to stop heat escaping, we now have beautiful new windows, in both cases our vertical blinds are now both slightly too long and rest on the sills. The bedroom is worse as before we did not have a sill, so new blinds are needed, and I have chosen wooden shutters, we both chose the design, hubby was not happy at how expensive they were, but he has seen my point in having them, they are much easier to keep clean then our blinds, which attract dust. We will wait a month to order them, so we can replace some of our savings, and then wait a couple more months whilst they are made. 

My cough is now much better, it's not gone, but I am hoping it will be soon, on a cautious note, my back is aching, I have had a busy week, so I am hoping with some rest I can get it back OK. 

Crafting

Pure joy, I am loving stitching this design, I finally got to the outer red section, for the first time you can see the whole of this design, it's very simple and very pretty. I am not working on this project much, my crochet lap blanket for hubby is priority, but as always it waits for me to return to it.

  I am going to keep going, it is big, but does not look out of place here. The green thread is just spare I tacked through the fabric, waiting until I need it again. This left side is fulling up, after this design I don't have anything planed to go here

As promised my Tunisian blanker for hubby, I am not making squares as hubby wanted stripes, the gold stripes are much smaller only 14 stitches, the red and navy are 30 stitches, I will make, gold, navy, red, navy, gold, navy, red, navy, gold. I work on the navy whilst the light is good, and then I manage a bit longer on the red, I can only work on this in natural daylight, the yarn colours are just to dark.

I have drawn the designs on my wheel, my light box did not work very well as the fabric I am using is very dense, I have moved things around and still have space. I want to sew these first so I can see how the spaces looks, to decide what to fill it with. I used a fine liner pen I had, in brown, which I think will be able to stitch over. 

Most of my time was spent working on the above blanket, I've got the gold and navy band to correct length, I'm half way for the red, I am using James Brett Top Value DK, and once again with this brand I have already had one ball (red) with 2 knots in, which always annoys me, as I hate to see a join in my work. I am using just under 100grms for each wider panel, so I have purchased too much yarn. 

I have not picked a book up to read this month yet, I think I have too many crafting projects on the go, plus I have loads of badges from a neighbours son cub's pack to go on his blanket, he is now going to scouts. My SIL has given me 3 pairs of work trousers to take up, he works for F1, and they provide all the work clothes, but the trousers only come in long length.

Having said in my post 1st Feb, I had 67 hexagon flowers, I have stitched more, I wanted to use as many of the sewn hexagons as I could, now all I have left in small amounts of each design and colour, so I will make them into random colour flowers, I already have 6 left over from my sewing machine cover. I have enjoyed the hand stitching of these, just something simple to keep me busy. 

New plans

I have been using my handmade Tunisian crochet lap blanket on cold evenings, I made it the perfect size for me, hubby asked if I could make him a warmer lap blanket, so we popped to our local haberdashery in the village. He chose the colours of red and navy, the colours of the Welsh Guard flag, I suggested to add the gold to help break up the dark colours, I won't be adding the badge. I checked the video to remind myself how to cast on and add colours, I am making a good start, photo's soon, when It gets interesting to look at.

I have had another attempt at a crochet basket, I have managed the flat circular bottom, and I am happy with the height, but the join at each row end is poor, the basket side has been pushed up and with my finishing off, its looking wrong. I have been online (where else) and have found 3 short videos, 1 to help with the shape of the bottom, 1 to sort the end of each row and the 3rd to finish off with less bulk. It's a step forward for me. 

I am struggling with my embroidery calendar wheel for January, we did not do much, so I'm having to think of what to fill the space with, it will be simple things, because other than going to the cinema, we have not been out much. I will add 2 cats and 3 hard prints for our grandchildren's visits, I hope other months will be more interesting. I have rubbed out loads, I am not arty, so the sketching is difficult for me, I need to keep things simple. I will give myself another week to fill this segment, and then 2 weeks to sew it. 

 This design is easier to stitch, so it's quickly growing, I have still not reached the outer edge, which will be stitched in bright red, it reminds me of the doodles I did on my school work books, mine were always done with black biro. I have not decided how much of this design I will stitch, I probably won't do the whole pattern as it's a bit big, but I do want to see the red section.

We had our boiler serviced on Friday morning, so we were up early as the engineer could call between 8ap and 6pm, he arrived just before 10am, we always have to move our fridge freezer, hubby has some wheels we pop under and roll it forward, it also gave me a chance to clean behind, it was not too bad. The boiler passed with out any problems as expected, it's only a couple of years old, but the engineer was wearing shorts, in February, shakes head in disbelief. 

Saturday went by in a flash, I have made a good start on the crochet blanket for hubby, for a while I am going to have less time for cross stitch, I would like to get the blanket done, it's going to take alot of work, mainly in the daylight. On a positive note the Tunisian crochet, is made without turning the work, you pick up stitches along the first row and then decrease on the second row, so as the blanket gets bigger I won't struggle with the weight. 

Later today I will pop and sit with George and Molly, Will has a party and the younger two are not invited, daddy is working, so I'm on happy duty. It's a bright blue sunny day here along the south coast, cold but beautiful. 

Still sorting

After the big tidy up last Sunday, I wanted my fat quarters somewhere easy for me to see and pick fabrics, I have seen you can purchased clear trays for them, there is nothing local so I got 2 fridge tidy containers, all my quarters fitted into just one container. 

 You can always find a use for the second one, how about a lid, perfectly neat and tidy, and only £5 for the two of them. I have sorted them into colours, and at the front all my Peter Rabbit set. These will sit on my shelf in my wardrobe, in front of the fabrics already stored there. I have also sorted my scrap box, ready for a project to use some up. 

My craft trolley is looking much better, before it was piled high with stuff, now I have plenty of space, and the top level has my bigger projects safely stored between use. I have been sketching items to stitch on my embroidery calendar wheel, for now I am using my note book, but I intend to make a paper template for each segment and use a light box to trace them onto the canvas. 

I have put the 2nd Amaryllis bulb in the sitting room, both have white flowers, the bulb at the back is a 2nd growth, the bulb at the front is looking a bit brown at the tip, I have to hope the flower will open, these are in separate pots, there is a second bud forming on the taller bulb. I still have not planted the 3rd bulb, I will wait for another week. Purdy our cat is very noisy and I discarded many photo's where she snuck in, I was sat on the floor so at her level. 

I am truly reading again, the afternoons are too dull to do cross stitch, so I am enjoying books again, another new author for me, I was given this book with the words, you are going to love this. The book is split in 2, set around and just after the 1st world war and the 90's, I'm not a fan of wartime books, but I love this tale, I guessed the outcome of the sisters from the war timeline, and to be honest the modern timeline finished a bit too tidy, but I still enjoyed this book.  Book 3 read this year.

I watched the Virgin plane take off in Cornwall with the rocket attached on Monday night, I did not stay up to see the rocket release, how sad it failed, rocket science is a difficult medium to get right, so much to factor including our weather, so it's really sad when it's a system failure, I'm sure they are already planning their next flight. 

Again not much happening here, Wednesday was dry and sunny to start with, so I went into the greenhouse, I watered a few plants, shock my head at a few more, I have everything crossed for a couple very sad looking pots, I dismantled my Christmas display box, and the white box is in the garage ready to be used again. I have cut back my hellebore old leaves for the blooms to show through in the garden, there are 3 plants all different colours and all with buds, I planted the Lilly of the valley under the raspberries, nothing else I can do outside, the other items purchased are in garage for now, too early to start them,  I watered all the house plants with rainwater.  The fabrics was collected by a very happy young lady, I also found out a book on how to alter dress making paper patterns, I had used it loads, but felt it would help her with her sewing. I also sold my microwave kiln, so another credit on my stash spend. 

Thursday morning I walked around the garden we had a storm through the night with very high winds, nothing was damaged other than another fence panel, there are 2 destroyed and 1 broken, it was a housework day, I must get my head around making and keeping to a schedule for cleaning, things have slipped again, the house is clean, just don't look to close at the corners. It rained all day, the wind did not drop until much later, I did walk to Pilates class, which I enjoyed again. 

This morning is dry and bright, a lull for us as tomorrow another stormy day is predicted. 

Crafting

It's back out, I've only done the smallest amount, the white infill is done on flower square and I finished the square below. I do need to finish the big design next to it, I have to little designs to stitch, as yet I have not decided which colour to use. I can always find time for cross stitching, and now I have more time as the weather keeps me inside. Almost at half way, I still love this project and I've been busy looking for other favourite designs to add. 

I got my hexagon box and workbox out, I want to make these into flowers, but 1st I stitched loads of unstitched ones left in my work box, there are a lovely mixture of colour and designs here, I always stitch them into shape, I find it really restful. This time I am going to make organized matching shapes. Last time is was a pure mix-up of design, seen here, this won't be a quick project as yet I have no idea what the finished item will be.  

And for something completely different, I have not done embroidery for years, it was the first stitching my mum taught me, stitching the letter M on my hankies, and then flowers on table runners. I have seen many different calendar wheel designs, each section is a different month of the year, at the end of January, I will draw everything I want to remember and stitch through February, I would like to record the lowest (in winter) and highest (in summer) temperatures, and other interesting events, it will be our oldest grandsons 18th birthday this year. I saw it here, on this lovely blogsite, Debs has given me so much inspiration, Pinterest is full of them. The wheel is simple back stitch, the date is tiny French Knots and yes it's not straight, it does not bother me. 

With reading I have plenty to do, as I have said before I can't sit and do nothing, and there is never enough on TV to keep me interested. I have loads of yarn so some knitting or crochet will happen, I don't need much, but I do love to knit. I still have loads of things for needle felting, I got loads of colours for a gift earlier in the year, so I have enough to be able to make some birds or a cat, it's a case of sitting down and watching a few video's. Again I still want to learn more crochet, I can't read patterns, but I will find video's of things I want to make and have a go, I have plenty yarn in my stash. 

What are you doing through the long darker days of winter.