Books and Tennis.

There are so many great books out there to read, and here is another on, one main plot and two sub plots, I guessed the main plot at two thirds through, it's the downside of reading so many books by one author, you get to understand their thinking. Book 40 read this year. 

This book for me was a bit tough to get into, I almost gave up at the beginning, the print is much smaller than normal, I could read it, but my eyes got very tired. I had seen this cover in a few places, so I picked it up from our local library, I did enjoy the story, very different from my usual thrillers, the ending was a bit open, I'm not sure I would read another book by this author. Book41 read this year.

I don't need fabrics, but I wanted this one, I have a sleeveless tunic top blouse pattern, this will work well, just too pretty to pass by.

I got a meter and half for it, which will be too much, but I want the fronts to match in a mirror fashion, so I rather have spare fabric to be able to cut it out as I want. 

I checked on my flower again, it's deconstructed itself, all the petals have fallen off, strange, hubby's flower is perfect, mine has gone in the bin. Both flowers have stayed in their box, both in the same spot in our office. I do have a pack of air drying clay, I have had it for ages, maybe it's time to use it and make another flower, where I will really press the petals on.

Friday morning we managed to do our big shop at Asda, we pop into a huge mainstream supermarket every 6 to 8 weeks, stocking up on items we can't get at our local Lidl, it's a huge store over two levels, we had a good wander around, our total spend was again higher than expected. Afternoon was tennis, gentlemen's semi finals. Could they live up to the drama for the ladies semi's played on Thursday, yes in both cases, Musetti put on a great show against Djokovic, again Djokovic played to the crowd because they cheered against him, the Wimbledon crowd will often back the underdog in a big match. 

Saturday I was in the garden in the morning, I was given a huge clump of daisies, so they were popped into the ground, I potted on some flower cuttings, and had a tidy around, sadly no harvest. We both planned to sit and watch the ladies final, which for me, whilst exciting, was hugely disappointing as Paolini lost, after her semi final match, I hoped she would win. We had a huge unexpected rain storm early evening, probably because I watered the garden, everywhere looks good.

Today is a repeat of yesterday, another dry day, morning in garden, afternoon in front of TV for gentleman's final, I will be shouting for Alcaraz again this year.

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

I have cut out the 24 front and back squares, I will cut the same amount in the red fabric, my aim is to make two pockets, sew them together and make little bags. 

It took a bit more time, but I now have advent bags, I've not finished them all yet, but it won't take long. I swapped the plain red fabric for the colourful striped fabric, it makes them slightly more festive. These can be popped on our dining room table in a bowl, before I used white paper bags, these should last for years. I have to make the closing ties, I'm thinking a gold thin ribbon, the striped fabric I had in my stash.

I saw this yarn and loved the colours, so I am making myself another pair of socks, I thought they were going to be thin stripes, but the pattern has changed, I won't know what these will look like until the sock is made. I have used this brand before, it's very good for socks. The heel is in a contrasting colour, which I think goes well, not sure if I will use the same yarn on the toes as well. 

I started the other side of my work, ensuring I am on the same level as the right side, I am starting another loved design, stitched here, I have added this design to 3 other projects. I am truly mixing everything up. I love these colours together, they sing, I will have 3 of these squares in this corner. I have done 5 pink/red squares, I have 10 different designs, but for now I am leaving the right side, to fill the left side and middle. 

I still have all this fabric to use, the denim is the most important, I will work on that first. But I am not feeling in the correct frame of mind to tackle the bigger task yet. I will need to sort things as the weather is changing and George is in need of longer trousers, he is tall but very slim, his waist requires clothes for a 2 year old, but his height is for a 3 year, so if it fits around the waist it's always too short. I have taken in legging for him at the waist, but it would be nice for him to have trousers which fit. 

We had a couple of dry days at the weekend and Monday, but the rain is back again, so I have not done much more in the garden, hubby has his new shelves in the garage, so I now have the 2 shelves above my unit, so most of my bits are sorted. I do need to tidy my greenhouse, remove the tomato and cucumber plants, I have a few things to place in there, then my shed will be empty. 

Tuesday I went to sign group, I've not been for a couple of weeks, it was great to catch-up with everyone, I did not stay for lunch, we drove to daughter house, she was celebrating her 40th birthday, her MIL and FIL popped over, with their youngest son, visiting from Australia, where he now lives, so once Will came home from school, we had the whole family together, first time in ages. Both George and Molly kept giving Jonathan strange looks when he arrived, he is very much like his brother (their dad) and neither of them had met him before. Will was ecstatic to have Jonathan visit, he spent time playing with him and Lego, they often face time, so Will knew him well. I was pleased our daughter has such a lovely day, she is having a huge party on Saturday, when more family will arrive. 

Wednesday I got the sewing machine out and started my advent bags, I am doing cross stitch in the daylight and knitting my socks at night. It's too wet to be in the garden, but it is tidy, I just have a few smaller jobs to do, nothing urgent. Today hubby wants to go looking for new chairs, our leather ones are looking scruffy, neither of us like using throws as they slip on the leather and never stay in place, so a walk around a couple retail stores, it's a couple of junctions down the M27, expensive, but they do last for years. 

Crafting.

I needed something to do, make plans and keep my mind busy, so I've started to think about Christmas, I know it's only September, but it does have a habit of creeping up on us. I have 3 stockings to make and this red fabric will be a great base, I would like some soft furry white fabric for the top. Whilst I was looking at my fabric, I pulled out fabrics with yellow on, it's not a colour I use much, but I had an idea forming for a gift. 

Not finding the fabric I wanted, we popped to a local charity craft shop, it's in a nearby village, the star fabric I got, just because. The brightly coloured piece, whilst not yellow is perfect for my project, the letter S, will also help with project, every thing here came to £2.50, 

I was doing some pages on my 2019 blog book, when I purchased these yarns for a jumper for Will, I never used them, so I have pulled them out, these are double knitting, I normally use 4ply. Daughter loves this pattern and has asked me to make it for George, so I am thinking, should I do stripes or each panel in a different colour, 4 shades of 1 x 50grm ball and 2 balls of red, or just purchase more. 

I have been playing with my sisters sewing machine, it's a simple set up, I did some straight sewing for hubby, stitches neat and perfect tension, so leaving in the black cotton I played, was happy doing designs and finally Wills name, sadly I can't get it anywhere big enough, so I will have to go to plan B. It was fun playing, but it has confirmed I don't want an embroidery machine of this style.  

I have been knitting Molly dress, I've done the top front and back, both were easy using a normal straight set of needles, I did some unpicking on the bodice pattern, something looked wrong, but when I got back to the spot everything was knitted correctly, it was only a few short rows, but annoying. Only the short sleeves to do, I can now see the finish line here, it's not a special gift, just ready for the cooler weather, I will get a pair of white tights to go with it. The middle eyelets will have some lovely pink elastic, don't think daughter would want ribbons. 

I would have liked to do more craft, but these sunny warm days sees me outside, making the most of every decent day. Most of my tender plants are back in the greenhouse, my begonias are placed so we can see the blooms from the house, I only put the 2 smaller pots in here, the corns in chimneys stay in the soil all through the winter. I have not started packing away all my shelf decorations and the glazed bigger ornaments, they all spend the winter months in my shed. 

Tuesday our sign ladies met at a garden center for lunch, it's one attached to a local country house, it's a very expensive place, I had nothing to get, which normally does not stop me seeing something, hubby got more heather's, they had different colours all natural, he came home really happy.

Today I am meeting daughter, not sure what we are doing, I think she is looking for lavender plants for her new raised bed. I'm tired after a poor nights sleep, so hopefully a calm child cuddly day. 

Doing more

My 15th read this year, and another lovely story, I found this one really sad, but in a content way, a life story of love lost, it is the sequel to The Unlikely  Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and to enjoy the book to it's best I feel you need to read Harold Fry's story first.

We popped to our local huge Tesco for the first time in a year, we could not get a delivery slot and we needed coffee, they had a special offer on, I picked up these 2 tea towels, not normally a design I would choose, but the shade of green is beautiful, these are in my stash box.

I have been given this Peony for our garden, it was given to a friend as a birthday gift, she does not have space in her garden and doesn't like growing in pots. I have already 2 different shades, so this should go well. 

I am having a really good week, we have been out twice, to Tesco for shopping and back to B&Q for a couple of pots for my garden, hubby also required some stuff. So we have both had more to do outside in the sunshine. We have no plans to go out again, we ensured we got everything we needed in each shop. 

Tuesday I popped to daughters house to play with Will and George, she had a midwife appointment and no way could take both boys, it was fun, hubby stayed home as he had a parcel coming. 

Wednesday daughter came with Will and George, Will now has some lovely army toys here, which he loves, we did get outside but not for long, it is getting cooler again. 

Thursday was another lazy day at home, time in the garden, sewing reading, I do love this slower pace of life, having time to sit together. Today is a repeat day, nothing planed, staying at home, maybe a walk later, the house is clean, not much laundry so no 'work' as such to do. 

I am now doing more things, I have been creating my blog book, as yet I have not finished 2019, normally it would be ready for the huge discounts each November, but last year with the worry of everything and the books systems being upgraded, I could not face doing anything. Now I am getting to grips with the new system and hope to have both 2019 and 2020 ready in November. I did say I was going to stop publishing but daughter wants my books and I felt I should include the baby years for George and bump due this year. 

After the past year, I am trying now to be more upbeat, I am used to wearing my mask, keeping distance from everybody, washing hands when we get home, leaving things coming into the house a few days before using them. I need to find head space to allow myself to enjoy life away from our home, I am finding it far to easy to find reasons to stay put. I don't intend to break rules, but I do hope to see friends and family often, I've have said many times, to thrive we need interaction with other people. 

 

This wet weekend

Hubby downloaded these books onto my Kindle, I have read all three, they are from a set of 17 books all with DCI Ryan based in Newcastle area. They are billed as stand alone books, but follows a much longer plot, in each book they refer back to previous cases (books). This make 44 books read this year.

I found the fabric to match this yarn, it's a light weight cotton, they go together perfectly, I am now looking for a pattern for the yarn, the company were not able to send me the missing ball from my order. They offered me a full refund, but I have chosen to keep the 300grms I have and find a simple pattern, I just love the colours. 

I have finished these socks, they are another Christmas gift, I purchased loads of colours in this yarn back in January and will start another colourful pair. 

We have another grandson born on Friday, mummy (husbands daughter) and baby are both doing well after a shaky start, he was a big baby which caused a few problems. They live near Derby, so it will be ages before we see them, but we can keep in touch by video call. Our newest little man, Dominic, our 8th grandson, no grand daughters and now no chance of any.

Both daughters met up for a walk with 4 grandsons, looks as if they had loads of fun, without getting wet from rain, shame the rules didn't allow me to walk with them, still this photo, one of many sent to me, shows just how much fun they had. Another local beach, with Isle of Wight in background. 

Today George is 7 months old.

The weekend started dark, windy and wet, by Saturday tea time the sunshine was back, and it was hot, I spent an hour in the garden, I picked strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and some blackcurrants, sounds wonderful, but in truth only a small bowl enough for hubby and I to share.

It was too wet to visit daughter on Friday, so another day at home, I am feeling very hemmed in at the moment, but I really don't want to be going out anywhere, hubby went out on his motorbike and enjoyed an hour, he took his own coffee for when he stopped, there are some great viewing points locally, I had a lazy afternoon reading.

Sunday was Fathers day, youngest daughter popped in for a garden visit with Will, then home with daddy (SIL) having his special day with Will and George, we did not have plans, but managed a lovely walk along the water front. Later more reading and relaxing, but no garden fresh fruit, Will ate all our berries, he does love fruit. 

 I am also making plans to change the herb bed, I do love the herbs, but the design waste alot of space, I am hoping a friend can make me a metal ring for my tender herbs, if not I will be on the hunt for a structure to grow some herbs closer together. Hubby agreed the space could be used better whilst laughing at me, no more jobs in the garden !

Finishes and busy bee

I pulled out the 2 baskets of fabrics from the back of our wardrobe, 

gave them a good sort, moved a few things.

 Small purple basket has all my tea towels in, I do have a few, I love the challenge of making things from them. Middle basket has all the smaller bits of fabric, which might come in handy, and loads of fat quarters, all neat in one place. The final basket has all heavier weigh household fabrics, old cotton quilt cover, 1 old linen plain curtain, I purchased second hand, I love these, it's a cheap way of keeping heavier fabrics in. On top is a pair of curtains daughter gave to me, I love the fabric, would make good cushion covers. Plus I have my pile of fabrics shown in this post. 

 I left out some fabrics, 2 shopping bags cut out, 

and 2 small amounts of fabric which is very pretty.

 This fabric is a pair of curtains, project for a neighbour, she wants her daughter to pop all her soft toys inside a bean bag..

Finished items, I always love sitting at my sewing machine, these curtains are now a beanbag, I did not have a pattern for this, I did have instructions, but the material was not enough, and I really did not want to have to purchase a 20" heavy duty zip. So the bottom has two pieces which overlap, you can stuff from the bottom, the top circle is the size of our dinner plate. I had to make so many changes to the design I had planned, it's finished now. 

 I did one of my shopping bags, I've packed away the other and the fabric, the beanbag took far to long, I do love this bag with it's huge front pocket. The pattern material was off cuts I purchased from a charity shop, the purple material, I have had for years, they go well together. I used the same design as I used in this post for smaller children's bags.

Some baking was done, fruit scones, I made them a bit thin, and totally enjoyed on Saturday and Sunday, sat outside in the sunshine, we have a few left for this afternoon. I have made a couple of cheesy scones, only for me , not had them in years.

Totally predictable end, but it was worth the read, how she told the story of 2 woman's background, whilst having a sensitive story line, I loved this book, could not put it down.  This being my 25th book read this year. I'm now looking for my next book. 

I am crocheting my Tunisian blanket, it's an easy thing to make, but my mind is thinking about knitting, probably another pair of socks, I still have a few pair to make for Christmas gifts.
The garden calls every morning, I have cut back most of the daffodils along the side bed, I can now see what is already growing in there, it's still too early to pop in any bedding plants, anyway mine are still not big enough, hopefully in 3 weeks there will be loads to go in the gardens.

Stash check-in

These are 2 shelves at the back of my wardrobe, I don't have so many clothes, so I have sorted space for my fabric stash, it's great because I can see what I have, top shelf is Christmas fabric, felt squares and tea towels,  plus a beautiful white baby blanket, knitted for me by an elderly neighbour, I cherish it as she passed away as few years ago, bottom shelf has loads of cotton fabrics and my finished Christmas socks.

 Bottom shelf has 2 baskets with bits in, plus 2 plastic baskets with material in, in these I have loads of fabric for recycling. My bag next to the baskets have a store of fine yarn for weaving, my loom is behind. 

 In the spare bedroom, I had these shoe storage boxes, it's a handy hideaway between the wardrobe and the window wall, the curtains fall here and hides everything. I have now turned this into a yarn store, Lots of different types of yarns all together. Here bottom section.

 Top section, my yarn stash is not as big as my fabric stash. 

 Inside wardrobe I have 3 hanging bags, 2 for sock projects, which are ongoing this year, and the 3rd is a jumper I knitted, I have unpicked the sleeves to re-knit, they were to baggy. Under neath is the poppy yarn and my camera bag. 

 Top shelf in wardrobe is my hexagons, all tidy in 3 boxes, the bottom 2 boxes are handmade hexagons, I have used fat quarters, you can get a good number of hexagons from each fat quarter. Top box is my working box with templates and uncut fabrics in. 

 In my office on top of my sewing work box, (a man's big plastic tool box) I keep my knitting bag, bottom right, the yellow and black bag has all my sign class paperwork. Back left with the bag covering all my cross stitch projects, I have a few here to finish. 

 Lots of squares for my knitted blanket,
stored perfectly in this old candle box. 

 Yarn ready to start my Tunisian crochet blanket, 

I hope to start this next week. 

My last space is by my chair, this lovely basket (charity shop find) holds all the projects I am working on, so at the moment there are socks and my cardigan 'in' there. The basket is far too small, but I love it so it stays. 

I do have 2 under the bed plastic storage boxes in the attic, these have some larger amounts of fabrics, I have fabrics for 2 big projects, which who knows one day might be made. I also have old pairs of jeans.
I think I have too much time on my hands, we have been taking stock of things in the house. My stash is now around the house, rather than stuffed in bed drawers, I can see most of what I have, and hopefully use some of it.
I have glass fusion and card making, but these are all in drawers in our office space, we have a tall file storage unit, which we have had for years, the deep drawers are perfect for card craft.
I do love crafting, and it's good to have so much choice, but  I do need to use more of my stash.

Dare to show your stash.....

Going dotty

It's great to be using silks (floss) again, I have a huge stash of colours so I should not need to purchase many for this project. The fabric was in my stash and left over from this project. I have used french knots before to colour a project bag I made. I do love the shades in this fabric, hence I purchased more than I required at the time. 

 The circle is the size of a small diner plate, the template on is the back, I will stitch each coloured dot inside the template, plus any part areas. The back ground will be left flat. I aim to use the large circle in the design of my finished bag. 

The stitching is so simple, I start in the middle of the dot and work outwards, just taking care along the edges, I don't want to lose the shape. I was going to stitch each colour in turn, but decided it was better to work from the top down, that way I should not flatten any of the stitches. 

 I have one spot so far I am not happy with, marked in photo below, when I matched the silk, it looked the correct colour, but once I stitched the whole area, I was unhappy it's the wrong shade, so I will remove the stitches and find the correct shade. I am going to use the unstitched fabric next to this panel I am making, so the colour matches have to be good. 

I have a large area to cover, but it is an easy project to pick up.

I have done a tiny bit more to my crochet dog, and some more weaving, not enough to show progress photo's, but it's good to be able to mix my crafting.
I am going to Hobbycraft on Sunday morning, so I will be able to get any silks for the above project I require, I normally get them off line, but this time I will pay the higher price and match the colours. 
We had heavy rain all last night, the water butts are full again, and everywhere is looking much better, give it a couple of days and the garden will be full of colour. We have friends visiting from Spain next week, and they love the garden, so I have been working to ensure it's full of colour.
We have a musical background today, our local park is hosting a Party in the Park, we will pop along this afternoon, but the music fills our garden, we can hear it in the house, it's just one day each year, so it does not bother us. We do have to pop out this morning, so we won't be listening to it all day.