Happy New Year

The old year ended on a sad note as I had to let the hens go to a friend, I just couldnt manage them anymore. The weather is looking up a bit and after a pleasant quiet Christmas with my daughter and granddaughters, I am hoping to end my nomadic existance and settle down to kick starting some kind of life on my own. I plan to finish the quilting on the cottage gardens quilt. Happy New Year everyone, may all your dreams come true.

difficult times

A big thank you to all my cyber quilting friends who sent their kind wishes and thoughts following my previous post. The weather has conspired  to mirror my feelings by sending early sustained and heavy snowfall coupled with sub zero temperatures. I am finding it increasingly difficult to stay positive and very hard to dig out the hens and coal bunker daily. I hope the oil and coal deliveries manage to make it through this week and that I can get to the grocery shop!!  At 5 miles away it's too far to walk but the ploughs havent been up so we have white roads! heigh ho!!

sad times

Sadly my beloved husband died on the 15th October,there are no words to describe my feelings. Suffice to say I havent been sewing or posting.

new patio

Cambell arrived bright and early today to finish the two patio extensions!! We have given up trying to grow stuff either side of the patio, if the rabbits don't eat it, it just dies!! And the weeds just colonise the gravel!! It looks so untidy so I decided to get rid of the gravel and have the two areas paved, this way the swing bench can rest on level ground instead of sinking slowly into the grass! With luck it will last a bit longer as it will be protected from some of the winter weather being closer to the house. It's a good plan!!
Well he is here and by tomorrow we should have the swing moved and maybe teh two wooden chairs with the little corner table as well!! If it stays dry long enough to cut the grass we will be very smart before Sam and the girls come on Wednesday! We are really looking forward to their visit, it always gives Paul a lift and I just love having cuddles!!
I have been dutifully working through the fEQ7 lessons, trying to do some every day! I have nearly finished the pieced quilt lessons and I am determined to work through the drawing and applique lessons as well. Usually I give up then as I am not a drawer and applique smacks a little too much of perspective and clever stuff!! But I do like redwork and the look of naive applique, sort of country style so I have set my personal goal in retirement to master all aspects of the program!!
Needless to say while I have visitors and house disruption I wont have time for 'stripping' in the sewing room so the pile of fabric waiting to be turned into useful strips is sitting accusingly on the ironing board! I have remembered that I bought the June Tailor ruler that lets you cut multiple strips across the fabric fthough so maybe once I actually get in their it wont take too long to restore order!!
I was planning how I would spend my time, now I am a lady of leisure, I thought come September when life returns to normal I would spend one day a week in Durham County Records Office, researching the history of my house. Then one day a week on an away day, exploring the area properly, you know the sort of thing, checking out National Trust properties, garden centres, shopping cntres etc and being a lady what lunches. Then at least one day a week in piecing, one day a week handquilting on my cottage gardens and the redworks I have finished, one day a week finishing Daisy cross stitch advent calendar. Of course at least one day a week in the garden to put it to bed properly for the first time ever and start the hard landscaping needed. Then I kind of realised I would need one day a week each for housekeeping, curtain making, and decorating touch ups like re waxing all the internal woodwork and filling cracks!
The only problem I can forsee is there aren't enough days in the week!!!

Dark days

Hello blogland! It's bben a while since I was last here. The good news is I have finally finished with school and am now officially a lady of leisure!! The last couple of weeks were hard going and it felt like I was never going to get there! My last day was Sport's Day and Summer Fair so not too arduous. As it was a slimming world day I went over to Hexham after school to get weighed and  joy of joys had even mamanged to loose another 1 and 1/2lbs!! Nearly a stone gone now and I feel better for it.
We had a lovely week down with Sam and the girls, despite Paul's nocturnal disruptions. Sadly, nothing seems to help the pain in his shoulders, which doesn't bother him during the day but which makes sleeping impossible. He is up two or three times in the night, making hot water bottles and hot drinks, waiting for painkillers to take effect. Needless to say it means I don't get much sleep either and it was difficult to manage away from home. I was terrified he would wake the girls, who aren't good sleepers at the best of times. So even when he came to bed and went to sleep I was awake!!
 He has been back to the Drs and has morphine now but it doesn't seem to make much difference, I don't know if it's a habit he can't break or whether this is the beginning of the end!! He has lost weight and seems very down. We have been in more contact with his sister which is good and she is coming to visit soon, she will be here when he has his next scan and oncologist visit, as she is a senior nurse I am  hoping she will be in on the consultation and give me the benefit of her expertise. He is due counselling with the Macmillan cancer nurses next week and maybe that will help. It's really hard to decide whether the cancer is active again or whether understandably it's worry and fear that's causing the problem.
We are due to go away for a week with Sam and the girls to Devon for a seaside holiday, I was really looking forward to it but now I am dreading it. It's so difficult to manage  his insommnia away from home and I am worried he will disturb the girls and Sam. She finds it really hard to cope with the evidence that her Dad is really ill and she is not good without sleep!!! It could be a nightmare.
Work on the decluttering, gardening and sewing have taken a back seat recently but I am trying hard to complete a cross stitch advent calendar for Daisy for this Christmas, I didnt make last !! The sewing room tidy has halted! I have a pile of fabric which needs cutting into strips and filing!! My boxes are neatly labelled, ready and waiting! I think most things will have to wait until September now. By the time we have been away and had our summer visitors it will be September and hopefully Paul will be back driving the school bus! Maybe he will improve then, I think some of it is boredom and too much time to dwell on every little symptom he feels. He has never really been ill before and finds it all very frightening. What a gloomy post!!  I wll try to be more positive next timex

rats!!!

well it was much cloudier to day so we attacked the shed! Surprisingly it didn't take us long, we took everything outt and then discovered yet another hole the rats had chewed through into the shed! We put some slaymore down and Paul blocked it up before we swept out all the straw and debris from the floor, yet another full car load of junk for the tip!
It was lovely this morning being able to walk into the shed without clambering over rubbish. After the all important England game I started on the fabric drawers in the sewing room, I am sorting out complete fat1/4's and refolding them into the small drawers at the top of the chest, larger pieces are folded into colour coded bigger drawers and any thing else is going into a large basket under the Grace frame to be stripped and filed according to width in my new labelled boxes!!! I think this could be a long job! I have an old feed bag to hand for complete rubbish!! I wonder how many bags I will fill.
every time I think I have finished sorting out rubbish I find another little store! Next job will be the old kitchen dresser ( the man and lady drawers and cupboards)! I suspect it will be like painting the Forth bridge, a never ending task, once you have finished its time to start again!

beautiful day

Sadly the table of the garden furniture I had ordered was damaged so now we are waiting for a call to tell us when it will be collected and replaced! It was too warm to do the shed yesterday afternoon and Paul isn't feeling too good at the moment as he is not sleeping because of the pain in his back which they dont seem to be able to sort out!
Never mind another day today, still sunny but very windy, a dangerous combination as you don't realise how hot the sun is! I hve decided not to go to craft group today in favour of serious shed sorting!!! didnt do any sewing room stuff either! After re spraying my fine crop of nettles, ground elder and buttercup I retired to a garden chair in the sun and a good book!!!!!
Must try harder today!

sunny days and hay meadows

Finaly patience rewarded Summer has arrived, clear blue skies and hay meadows! The fields are full of buttercups and cow parsley waving in the breeze. From high on the lonnen ( lane) there is a patchwork quilt of grey dry stone wall, and yellow fields, once they start cutting up here these golden fields will turn lime green which really stands out against the dark green fir trees!
The hedgerowsnt are fabulous at the moment, bee orchids, cow parsley, wild geraniums, alchemilla mollis ( ladies mantle) and white and red clover, I even saw the purple pea flowers of vetch in the grasses this morning. It was so peaceful, just the lapwings calling and the buzz of happy bees! Definitely a good to be alive day! To add to that I weighed in a pound lighter at Slimming World last night and school is finished for this week! I am trying to be patient as I wait in for the new garden furniture to be delivered, then I plan to tackle the shed!! Its due to be dry for the rest of the week so I thought stuff could get left out safely if we don't manage it in one day!!
I am looking forward to lunches on the patio and some outdoor cutting to reduce some of the scraps into usuable strips!

Another Tip Trip!

Yesterday saw yet another carload of extra to requirements hit the tip!! We sorted out the big unit in the study and got rid of old videos which with the advent of DVD are never going to be watched again! This had the knock on effect of emptying the kitchen dresser of boxed games which can now go in the study and ridding the sewing room fabric cupboard of computer paper and sundries!!
Fired with this success I made Paul pass down the stuff on the top shelves of the sewing room cupboard and bookshelves so I could get rid of old school videos, books and lots of saved but useless  bits of assorted wadding from previous projects! I kept usefull pieces but was ruthless with the rest! I even managed to empty old magazine files with cookery magazines which were just collecting dust, thus freeing them up for essential quilting magazines to be filed in some semblance of order. Now when the rest of the school stuff goes back I will have a shelf for the re-organised quilting magazines!!
Now for labels for the boxes for strips and squares, then I will attack the chest of drawers! I intend to have colour coordinated drawers for fat quarters only, everything else will be stripped or squared and put in the appropriate box, then with luck it will actually be seen and used rather than hidden in a drawer! This is a good plan I am not sure if it will succeed but it's good to have a plan!
This morning I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new computer desk for the study. This has meant I have had to dismantle the computer, printer, keyboard, mouse, extension drive and web cam and disconnect the internet! I have used colour coded stickers but am hoping desperately to remember where everything goes so I can put it back together again without having to wait for my son Ben to come up from Stoke to sort it out!!! Fingers and toes are firmly crossed!!!
With another busy day scheduled for tomorrow with shopping (56mile drive) counselling ( 22mile drive) then choir ( 22mile drive)! I suspect this will be a no sew week but with the world cup footy on for the next month I should be able to catch up!

Low cloud in June

We cant see across the road, wish our heads were above the clouds!!! Still looking forward to thursday when my new computer desk arrives and completes the 'look' in the study!!! Going to renew library books, buy a birthday present for a friend, then start on the sewing room. I managed to get 10clear shoe boxes with lids at Sams only £1each!! so major strip tidying and labelling to happen!!Also sorting out the next load to go back to school next week and hopefully cut some more star blocks!!
Busy day but productive!

Off to school we go!

It felt very strange getting up early and setting off to school after nearly 6months off sick! It was good to take more stuff back and clear even more room on the shelves. I felt a bit apprehensive but everyone was very supportive and the children seemed pleased to see me. The junior class was a breeze as I only had 6 children, 2 were absent and the one difficult child has left!! Needless to say in the best primary tradition of unexpected events, we had a power cut just as I was about to show a video about Sikhism!!! The children took it all in their strides and we coped!! After assemble and playtime we practised the Fench songs for the International Song Conference they are attending next week.
The day flew by and I managed to leave on time!!! One down just six more to do!
Hopefully this week I should be able to do more on my star quilt and complete the last redwork block so I can layer it up and quilt it!
The stricken plants survived our week away and are showing signs of throwing off the weedkiller and growing again, while I am pleased they are not dead, it doesn't fill me with confidence that it will be effective against the weeds!! I had a lovely time at the garden centre and collected more compost and bedding plants for the pots in the big garden. The small triangle bed outside the front door is beginning to look much better now the ' snow on the mountain' has been ruthlessly dug up! It's lovely but so invasive nothing else stands a chance! maybe if the weather is kind tomorrow I will get some photos to show you.

Excited!

well it didn't take long! One brown hen in the garden today, but she was desperate to get back to the run when she realise the others had bread!!!
We have had a lot of rain in the last two days and I think it has diluted the weedkiller as they are still holding their own, maybe by the time we get back they will have recovered.
I braved the 'shop with  no name' to get the bita and pieces Samantha wanted us to take down. It's called IKEA, a Swedish firm which specialises in inexpensive, but good quality flat pack furniture and all things swedish for the home. It's a good idea but on principle you are taken in a circular route through a large aircraft hangar style store to view the products, then are led to a warehouse section where you load your trolley and finally to queue at the checkouts. Paul just can't cope with this especially if he has gone for a specific item and there is no shortcut! He becomes impossible and has refused to go in again!! We are not allowed to say the store name in the house or in polite society! It's become like Macbeth ( the Scottish Play) we have to make the sign of the cross and say ( the Swedish Place) or the ( shope with no name)!!!
 Well I braved it and managed to get all the items she wanted!
so just some redwork to draw and blocks to cut for hand sewing while we are away!! Haircut and counselling today, we plan to leave really early in the morning about 4am so we should get there for about 10am!!
Oh and I joined slimming world last evening, I must get some tonnage off before we go on holiday!!

Two more sleeps!

Every morning this week Samantha has let Daisy ring to talk to us, she will be 3yrs in July and she iscounting down the days until we visit in sleeps!! Yesterday totally unprompted she told Grandad 3 more sleeps!!!
We have had a mixed bag of weather this week, very breezy and cold, some rain but when sheltered and in the sun, gloriously hot!
Pride goes before a fall they say, I was so pleased at planting up my pots, finding a watering can and remembering to water regularly. I was disappointed that the plants looks a bit sick but thought I watered too late and the sun had scorched them. Paul has now fixed the hose and outside tap for me, while making sure it would extend to the back patio he remarked that the plants looked very sick and were they supposed to look like that?
Then announce Oh I think I used that watering can for weedkiller last year!!!!!!!!! I know he wont have rinsed it out so I have been weeding the pots!!!!
Oh well if they survive our week 'down south' with Samantha and the girls, then they were meant to and if they dont I will drag him to his favourite place, the garden centre for more!!
My little redwork from Paula is nearly finished, just one more block to sew, then the fun time of handquilting in the garden ( or on the beach).
My Starry quilt is coming together, I have 3 big blocks of 5 stars put together, when I have 4 I will lay it out and decide if I need more or just sashing and borders!
Samantha has asked for me to take the sewing machine home, I think she has realised how quickly it can put up hems, sew curtains etc!!
The other momentous news is that Poppy is crawling!!!! Daisy said we have to mind her fingers!!

First BBQ of the summer

We had a beautiful day yesterday. Christine's garden is so peaceful and tranquil, with stunning views over the Dale and the weather was perfect. We had John's own beef which was superb and cooked to perfection!!
At the table Christine announced it was a celebration for Paul's good news and her own recovery from a very nasty virus! We are truly blessed with such very good friends! Conversation flowed easily and ranged over all sorts of topics close to our hearts! The men bantered and teased and John ended proceedings in the evening by threatening to squirt us all with the hose! He only managed to 'get' his sister! I suspect she was the only one who he could rely on not to retaliate!!!
Christine has finished the quilting on the playmat and made the binding, just got to put the two together and slipstitch it then it will be finished. Next Saturday is Eastgate Sheep Show, our local one, and she has had strict instructions from Leanne it is to be ready for then!!! I really love the pink polka dot fabric she has chosen for the border and binding!!
I have been good 'resting' my ankle this week and wearing a support and it is much better, so next week I can get back to walking the dog with Paul again, unfortunately the forecast is for it to be cooler and more unsettled! That figures!
While the good weather lasts I am frantically catching up on 2yrs weeding and planting up pots. Today's task is to clear the garden patio of moss!!! and reinstate the patio table and chairs. It does feel strange to think in two weeks I will be back at school, even though it's for a limited time. I think because when I left I was doing three afternoons which effectively meant three whole days it feels more onerous than it will be. When I go back I will be doing just Monday of each week. Talking to the cover teacher at the meal on Friday there is quite a bit organised so it should be quite easy with not too much planning. They are taking part in the International singing Festival mid June, I entered it before I went off sick. So the first couple of weeks will be rehearsing and perfecting their pronounciation as they are singing in French. She has also organised two speakers for RE, a Sikh and our local Vicar to talk about aspects of their respective faiths, once we add in swimming it should fly by !!!

Almost Summer!

It was so hot yesterday while I was planting up the pots I took the momentous decision to remove our winter quilt and wash it! I decided that if I folded it inside out it could dry on the line. No sooner had I pegged it out when we had a thunderstorm, then intermittent showers all afternoon! Who said God doesn't have a sense of humour!!!
I could bear it dripping all over the kitchen floor so I left it on the line, well rainwater is good for rinsing!!
It was strange to be out with the staff from Rookhope School last night, good to break my duck as it were before starting again after half term. I felt like an outsider looking in  and actually it was quite nice! I will be pleased when I am really an outsider!! I have been planning in my head a timetable for all the quilts I want to make from September and they were quite surprised at how much I was intending to sew!
Today it's clear blue and hot again, although next week we are to revert to normal, so we are making the most of it and going to a friends for a barbecue! Paul has volunteered me to make a strawberry meringue roulade so I had better go and get started!!

beautiful day

It's been glorious here today, clear blue skies and hot!!! We spent a profitable morning sorting out the pots on the patio. They have been emptied of old compost and refilled ready to plant up again tomorrow! Paul used the old compost to fill in all the rat and rabbit holes so we feel very 'green' as we recycled it all!
Quick lunch and then the long drive to the hospital, it's 60 miles away, for Paul's endoscopy. We were both a bit apprehensive and had warned the children and everyone else that we were unlikely to have any results today.
So you can imagine our joy when not only were we given results but GOOD ones as well!! Mr Davies, the surgeon who did Paul's oesophagectomy, was there to do the endoscopy and he couldn't find anything nasty at all, nothing to biopsy  and told Paul it was all fine. He thinks the symptoms Paul gets is probably due to scarring after the operation and the radiotherapy. We are hoping that they will subside with time, it's still early days, apparently it can take up to a year to recover from the radiotherapy so he is doing really well.
I may even be inspired to do some sewing at the weekend!!! I want to cut some more fabric to hand piece some more stars. Especially if the weather is fine, perfect to hand piece in the sunshine, I can imagine myself on the beach!!

gardening!

Well it was blue skies all the way and warm so after handing in my notice at school I came home and did an hour weeding in the garden. Sadly my ankle complained despite the support so I have come in for lunch and a sit down! Hopefully I will get another hour in this afternoon, as I haven't done any serious gardening for the last 2 years with Paul's illness it really needs some love. Paul nailed some boarding to the base of the fencing to try to keep the hens out of the garden, so far it's worked. I wonder how long it will take them to figure out a new way in! We are planning to try to cut the lawn and clear up some of the mess they have made!
 I had a play with EQ6 the other evening and I think I have come up with a way to make my log cabin idea work. There was a log cabin like block which had a large centre square with logs coming off in triangles rather than rectangles, when set on point it made a ribbon of movement across the quilt. I have been playing with different colour schemes to try to 'get' my idea on paper and work out how to sew it ! So far so good! I cant work out how to post a picture of it here but it's looking quite promising. I put the block in the border and it drags it out to fit which creates a really nice framing for the centre. I did try to add photos but as I haven't read that chapter yet it didn't go too well!!
I like how you can ask it to work out fabric requirements and templates too!  so with luck I should be able to take a printout to the quilt shop when I need to get fabric!

tip run

I was so lucky a school friend took all my old school books and 'stuff' apparently anything she doesn't want will go to another friend who has links with a 3rd world school who desperately need resources. Now that's what I call recycling!! I have finally cleared the coffe table in the study and moved it away from the windowledge to the front of the sofa! My room is beginning to resemble a room!!! Can't wait for my new desk to complete the 'look'.
Today it's wardrobe and dressing table, I am 'wizzling' out all the faded washed out jumpers and clothes I no longer wear! It's such a good feelling to get rid of clutter, I feel mentally de cluttered and stronger too. The counsellor said it would probably have that effect and she was so right.
Paul  comes home this afternoon, he sounds as though he has had a really good time, probably did him good to have some male company and get away from home for a break.
I walked Barney too far up the 'lonnen' today and have irritated my turned ankle so I will have to sit and sew this afternoon to rest it!! As it's a choice between sitting and sewing and standing and ironing it's really no contest! I have a brilliant idea for a quilt for my neice but can't work out how to draw it in EQ6 or on paper! I want to do an irregular log cabin on point with photos of the family as the log centres. She wants purples and plums with touches of pink and silver. My idea was a diagonal 'line' of pink blocks across the centre of the quilt, each subsequent 'row' graduating out to deep purple at the sides with just one log of silver in each cabin so it looks like a river running through! I can see it in my head but can't work out how to do it!!! Any suggestions greatly appreciated! I don't even know how to make an irregular log cabin!!This is what I mean about improving my design and piecing skills, I have ideas but now clue how to do them.

Plans gang oft awry!

well the good thing about plans is they change!! Counselling went well and confirmed my resignation decision. Unfortunately the Associate Head wasn't able to fit me in so it will be next week now that I hand in my letter. I didn't get to the library but for a very good reason....... I found a new quilt shop!
well new to me! It's a unit on an industrial estate so in British terms it's huge! A big range of all kinds of fabrics, dressmaking, curtains as well as a very good range of quilt fabric. They have a workshop programme but even better they have lots of sessions where you work on your own but have access to a teacher for when you get stuck! That really suits me because I have got passed the complete beginner stage and don't want to make bags, quillows and table runners, I can do that at home! I want to develop my designing and piecing skills and I like to think big!! All my beds need king size quilts! I tend to use queen size as sofa throws!! Maybe I am compensating because I am only 5ft tall!!! Well off to walk the dog and make a start on my big clear out!!

Brave girl!

well today I am being very brave! Paul has gone away for the weekend with old colleagues! It's the first weekend we have been apart since the cancer came back! I know he  will have a brilliant time and all his friends are aware of his illness and will take care of him but it feels strange to be here on my own.
The second brave thing is I have written my resignation letter and made the phone call to set it all in motion! No turning back now!! It feels strange too! But I know its the right time and I really am looking forward to not going to school in september, it will make the last 7 weeks of the summer term all the sweeter when I go back, knowing they are the last!!!
Needless to say its freezing cold and grey today!!! The hens dont mind they are still scrating up the garden, little do they know Paul has plans to end that next week. He has found some old planks he intends nailing to the bottom of the fencing, just burying the last inch and putting heavy stones against them! Hopefully that will fool them for a while!
I plan to spend the afternoon quilting tomorrow, today I have counselling and the library and hopefully a meeting at school with the associate head to formally hand over my letter!!!
As Paul is away I am going to do some serious wardrobe and old school plan 'weeding'! How nice it will be to get rid of clutter!!!

family reunion

We had a lovely two days with Paul's sister Denise and her family! What lovely children, although as teenagers they aren't really children any more. It was as though the last 15yrs had never happened and  there was no break!
They loved the house and location and can't wait to come back for a 'proper' visit when we can show them around more. Denise was very pleased with Paul's progress and as a current nurse was able to reassure him more than I can that he is actually making very good progress. He still feels its slow!!
We laughed over all the old photos and remembered different days, it was so good and I felt so pleased that Katie her daughter had pestered until contact was re made.
My quilts were admired in a local exhibition, apparently some people actually wanted to buy them! They weren't for sale as I use them but it was gratifying to think someone would want them!
I am still slowly making stars for the 'study' sofa! I am making them by hand so I am reallly enjoying the relaxing rythmn in the evenings!! Its sunny here today so a major hen hut clean out is on the cards! We had the septic tank emptied last night  as well, we will be so squeaky clean we wont know ourselves!!

exciting day

I spoke to Paul's sister Denise yesterday and she sounds so excited about coming to visit! she said," I'll probably cry!!!" Today we are tidying up and doing some baking and meal prep so I don't have to waste too much time in the kitchen while they are here. I am planning Christmas dinner as we didn't get to eat our turkey at xmas as Paul was too ill!! The sun is shining so let's hope Denise gets to see the dale in all it's glory!

Choir

Choir was brilliant! I got such a lovely reaction when I walked in big hugs and kisses and everyone wanted to say hello and welcome! Isabel the choir mistress is not a particularly demonstrative lady but she had a big grin and was obviously so pleased to see me. Rushed to get music out of the cupboard so I would be up to speed!
It was really good to sing again and I was pleased how well I could sight read!! Miriam and I fell into our old joking ways easily and I felt really at home, she had done a good job letting everyone know about Paul so I didn't have lots of explaining to do but everyone sent him their love so I knew they were thinking about us! Another hurdle crossed!!

tidy washhouse!

I must be such a sad person! I am gettnig a real thrill out of going into the washhouse now it is clean and tidy! I find myself running a loving finger over the washing machine now I have washed all Barney's mud off it!!! Its so nice not to have to negotiate all sorts of chaos when I go in to feed him at night. If I can get the lighting and door to the house sorted out I will be ecstatic!! Once we get a shelf above the washing machine for the tumble dryer I will be able to have a broom cupboard to hide the mop, bucket, broom and ironing board!!!
The sewing room is beginning to shout at me! I really need some plastic shoeboxes with lids to accommodate the different sizes of strips I have managed to cut from all the scraps. Maybe when I can see the wood from the trees I will be able to work more easily in there. Somehow I know deep down the room isn't really big enough for 2 full size quilt frames, and the 6ftx 4ft cutting table no matter what I do! Well just going through everything will make a bit more sense!!
We have abandoned out plans for an outing this week, the weather is not co operating and we have a busy weekend ahead as Paul's sister is visiting after an absence of about 15 yrs!! It's so good they are in contact again. So I want the visit to be a success!
Tonight I go back to choir for the first time since before xmas! I am looking forward to it but aprehensive at the same time. I went to the WI birthday dinner last week and it was less traumatic than I thought it would be, I think Sue had warned everyone that I am still fragile when talking about Paul's illness and results. I susupect she had already passed on news so other than a general hope all is ok I didn't need to go into great depth!
People are so kind here, they really expect to be told exactly how you are when they ask and expect to be asked themselves in return. Details of previous conversations are remembered and specific questions asked, not pruriently but part of the community caring which was why we moved here. The only problem is that it means the same stuff has to be constantly rehashed and sometimes it isn't easy, I decided for self protection to absent myself from various groups to cut that down, but of course now I am picking up the threads again it has to be gone through but hopefully only once!!! and I will enjoy the singing!!!

something's growing!

It's pouring today and low cloud so we have postponed our outing to Leyburn for  a more practical outing to go shopping for our visitor's food!! If it cheers up we will go tomorrow, the idea we can be flexible is wonderful!
I looked out of  the study window while I was waiting for the computer to boot up and as well as the hens I could see signs of garden life!! Despite the hard winter, rabbit predations and naughty hens scratching up everything there are signs that the perennial plants are finally fighting back! We have some daffodills, spirea and dogwoods are in bud, clumps of geranium greening up and the currant bush is in flower! Hostas are poking through and the sidalcea is starting to show! Maybe it wont be quite such a desert out there as I thought. The yellow loosestrife under the tree is also trying hard!!! Nature is so resiliant!

Spring hasSprung!

It must be Spring! I have the nesting syndrome, I am decluttering and deep cleaning the house room by room and adding in general maintenance and light decorating! It hasnt been done since Paul was taken ill two years ago so its really ready for it!! We have redecorated the study, and moved furniture, cleared cupboards and ordered a new desk!! Gradually the school stuff is being whittled down and disposed of in preparation for retirement in the summer!!!
 I moved on to the kitchen, its also my dining room so its huge! The dresser has been decluttered and cleaned, and the sideboard drawers, today its windowledges and touching up water damage on the ceiling!
 Next week the washhouse beckons! I have decided on a new layout which will be neater and easier to clean, as well as new storage to get rid of the disgusting mess under the sink and on the windowledge.
 This is all leading up to the BIG ONE! Yes the sewing room! I think that may well take me the rest of the year! I have UFO block of the month, loads of scraps to strip and file in the new storage I have yet to buy! As well as surplace 'stuff' which has been dumped for want of a better place! I think it will be my Autumn project once I have left school!!
More urgently we have to repair the shed door, some pesky rats have chewed through the door to get to the chicken feed, mostly its stored in plastic bins with lids but of course because of the Bank Holiday we had a spare sack of layers which they have chewed into! I have put it in the bin now, horses and stable doors spring to mind. but we still have the problem of making it secure again. I think we will have to be very careful to shut the chickens away at night and put out lots of slaymore till the rats have moved on somewhere else!

a good day

We set off for  a ride out to Bedale, a market town in Yorkshire. We thought it would have little craft and browsing shops but sadly it didn't! So we carried on to Leyburn, another small market town. They are all in the dale of Wensleydale, famous for it's cheese. It was a prettier place but we didn't have time to explore properly, lunch was good though!
On the way home Paul humoured me with a visit to a garden. It was a very pleasant collection of daffodils, all different varieties naturalised under trees and a collection of magnolia trees, some were in bloom but most had yet to flower. It was the kind of place you could visit any time of the year and find something of  interest. A gentle but good day, good for the soul.
The hospital test yesterday showed I don't have carpal tunnel syndrome, which is good, but didn't tell us what is causing my hands to be painful. I suspect it's sewing related so I am trying to be good and not do the same action for too long! Tricky as I am obsessive and get engrossed in what I'm doing and loose track of time.
The new car has been very comfortable and I am really trying hard to like green cars!!!

lovely surprise!

Maybe our luck is changing at last!! We found a car today,  a v reg fiesta, very tidy, MOT and tax sorted!!! The only snag is it's green and I have a definite allergy to green cars!! When I first started to learn to drive it was in a green car and it was not a good experience, it has put me off green cars for life! Well beggars and choosers and all that, it's a good price, good condition and right time so the colour will have to grow on me.
We got back from looking at the car and found a message on the answerphone to say my sister and nephew were on their way to visit us! Moya lives 350 miles away but had to come to Lancaster ( only 1and 1/2 hrs drive away) to take my neice back to university. She decided to make a day and visit us, she went back to Lancaster to stay with Sarah overnight and will drive home tomorrow.
We don't get to see each other very often, I saw her last in February so it was a lovely surprise and we had a really good chat! She was pleased to see Paul looking so well and he was pleased to be told it!! Mike was delighted as he got to watch the footy with Paul so a good time was had by all. Even the weather was good!
In the post today we got a DVD from Samantha with videos of the girls called happy memories, we all enjoyed watching them. Maybe tomorrow will be a garden day!!

Changing luck?!

Paul has researched another fiesta to replace the one we killed last saturday!! So with luck we will have another car tomorrow!  The Insurance people finally contacted us today to confirm the old car is officially extinct! Both Paul and I were feeling very tired today and a bit under the weather so we had a quiet day, but we did manage to buy the paint for the study! I think tomorrow, while Paul is watching the sport I will paint one of the walls in the study.
I went online last night and tried to find a cranberry wishes layer cake, to compliment my jelly roll. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful! I think it must be an old range, so tonight I will try to find something that will tone with it. Any suggestions welcomed!! We have had two lovely afternoons, sunny with clear blue skies and no wind. It even felt warm in the sun so maybe Spring is finally on the way. I am even beginning to get the urge to plant some flowers and clear some weeds!

no passport needed!

We had a lovely day, the drive was beautiful, the scenery was amazing! Of course I forgot the camera but there is always next time!! It only took about 2hrs to get there and was very easy to find.They have a coffee shop in the quilt shop and a sign saying Husbands waiting area!!! For us it's a good size shop, with a decent classroom space and the most amazing array of marking tools I've come across! Things like that tend to be an afterthought here, I also found packs of safety pins both straight and curved for basting and they're not easy to find either! A really well laid out, well stocked fabric selection, 100% cotton gingham, again not easy to find, some gorgeous batiks and a good selection of moda jellyrolls. No layer cakes or charm packs though and no fat quarter bundles. Apparently in the UK the retailers have to place their Moda orders  and only exactly what they order is imported, this means if something is popular and sells well they can't re-order more! That seems daft to me! And explains why finding some lines is so hard. Paul had a cup of tea and then went to read his book in the car as the seat was more comfortable! Across the road was a woollen mill outlet so we had a look around and had lunch there. He did really well and had scampi and chips, I had soup and sandwich but unfortunately had picked up a tummy bug before we set off so I wasn't too comfortable!
I don't know how we managed it but we somehow missed a turn on the way home and ended up doing a good 20 mile detour! Still we saw parts we haven't seen before!! A really good  day and I will be going back!
I got a Cranberry wishes jelly roll, and assorted marking tools!!

exciting day

 Just a quickie! we are off to the Borders today to research a new quilt shop!! I am very excited it looks good online!! Must remember camera and quilt patterns!!

death of a nice car!!

Saturday saw an extension of the run of bad luck we seem to be experiencing! Friday we had Paul's scan results, these were non-results really as the Oncologist didn't seem to be able to answer any of our questions or give us any idea of how successful the treatment had been! The only ray of light was he told us Paul's tumour markers had gone from 3000 before treatment to 500 in February after the treatment. He kept telling us he was pleased with the results and thought we should be pleased as well! We took some comfort from that and on Saturday decided to go shopping in preparation for Ben's visit and buy the paint to decorate the study, this has needed doing for 2 yrs!!
On our way through one of the local villages, while we were driving on the main road a young lad pulled out of a side turning without looking and totalled our car! The police and ambulance were called and I ended up going to hospital on a spinal board as I had central neck pain! The police had to arrange for our car to be recovered as it was undrivable. Fortunately both Paul and I were ok, just sore backs and necks! Needless to say we were unable to report the accident to the insurance company on saturday, they only keep office hours! So first thing monday Paul phoned, got transferred to India who didnt understand that the accident had happened on Saturday !! They have been completely unhelpful and told us we cant have a courtesy car for at least 48hrs as their investgation team have to authorise it! She told me I could get a hire car and reclaim the money from them later. I tried to explain I couldn't walk 31 miles to my nearest town to hire a car and that I needed a car to hire a car!!!! That didn't go down well!!
Then the GI specialist nurse phoned Paul to tell him she was organising the endoscopy the Oncologist had wanted and it would be within the next 2 weeks. Paul asked for his blood results from Friday to be told the tumour markers were now 40000!!!!!!!! He spoke to the Oncologist last night who couldnt explain why they had risen so much but although it was a concern ( only slightly!) didnt feel any other investigations would be necessary! He will bring Paul's follow up appointment forward by a month and order another scan but more or less said if Paul was feeling ok that was all that mattered. We just don't know what to think now, have the sorted the cancer out completely, was the treatment successful? what should we expect etc.
we both felt very flat and worried. This morning we decided to paint the study anyway!!
After all our visitors it feels quite empty in our house!! Ben helped me sort out the 'glory hole' in the loft and the passage into the washhouse! I have the bug now, the next dry day it will be the washhouse then the shed!!!! Joy has chosen their new quilt pattern and on thursday Paul and I will have a day out to Jedburgh near Edinburgh to find a new quilt shop, I may even get some fabric!!! We have decided life has to go on regardless!!

sick quilt!

Samantha and the girls have flown home now, we had a lovely visit and were initiated into the delights of 'soft play'! I climbed nets and went down slides like a 2yr old!!!! Certainly managed things I didn't think I could with Daisy's encouragement, you just can't say no thank you when she says," come on Nanny!"
The weather was cold and windy, it even snowed on Easter Saturday but this weekend is completely different, Spring has definitely arrived and it's warm and sunny.
Ben and Joy are visiting this week, he is very sad as his 'freedom' quilt is sick!! It is very old and loved now and has torn on the border. He is hoping the quilt doctor will mend it and stop any further wear and tear! Fortunately we managed to find a patch of the original fabric and I have patched it in! I have told him it's the last of the fabric so if it needs mending again we will have to think about making a new one! This was not well received!!
 We had fun as Joy and Ben helped me to move the handquilting frame from the library into the kitchen as we want to decorate in the library and I have a quilt on the frame. It involved carrying the frame outside the house and round and back in the front door, we had some strange looks from passing motorists! Despite living in a remote rural area with a very quiet road it's amazing how many people want to travel past if you are doing something mildly odd like moving a quilt frame!!

Whiteout again!

I have piccys!!! I managed to make a mattress, pillow and 2 dolly quilts for Daisy's new dolly's bed! I am slowly using up the D9P patches, only about 6 left now!! I put handles on the secret cushion ( quillow) to turn it into a bag and found a small hard bodied baby doll at the local paper shop which fits inside nicely!!
The 2 little dolly quilts are bound but need some little quilted motifs in the big squares to really turn them into quilts, if I have time I am going to put little labels on the back! Daisy won't appreciate them but her mummy will!!
I love these fushia pink buttons!

This is mummy's big girl secret cushion, I have really big fushia buttons to put the handles on this one! The last photo is to show Winter has come back!! I took this at 10am this morning! I just hope it behaves like a good Lambing Storm and melts quickly because Samantha and Phil are driving up from 'down South' on Friday night ( 350miles) and I really don't want them to have to drive through bad weather with the children! Off to sew buttons and quilt motifs now.

Spring Glorius Spring

It's so good, the clocks have gone back, it's officially Spring! Lighter evenings, the chickens going to bed later, 3 eggs!!! ......so naturally today it's SNOWING!
I looked back to last March and we had snow then, they call it Lambing Storms up here. Hopefully it will e short lived as the daffodils are at last trying to poke their way through! The new 'girls' are very much part of the flock now, they sleep up on the roost and fight over the bread treats in the morning like old hands. They have also learnt how to get into the garden and the field and how to get back home again. Its amazing to think we have had them nearly 2 weeks already. Their combs and wattles are pinking up nicely so hopefully they will be laying soon.
I have finished both the secret cushions,just need to 'button' on the handles, today I found a sweet little hardbodied baby doll to put in Daisy's! Tomorrow I will make her mattress and pillow for her dolly's bed and some dollies quilts to play with! They should be with us on Friday night, weather permitting. Samantha abandoned the BA flight and decided to get Phil to drive her and the girls to us at the weekend, he will drive home on Sunday night to avoid travelling on the bank holiday. She will fly home from Newcastle with the girls on wednesday lunchtime. I wonder if the strikers realise just how much damage they are doing, as one chap on the news said if people have to make alternative arrangements they will continue with them. Samantha has found out it is half price to drive up and fly back rather than fly up and drive back. As she said I will do that next time, if they hadn't gone on strike she wouldn't have found this out!

At least she will still be able to come! We have at last got a scan date for Paul, it will be April 6th with hopefully the results still being at the Oncologist on the 9th. Just praying for good news.

murky day!

I am not sure if it's hill fog or just murk but it's very grey and drizzly today, perfect sewing weather! We are still waiting for Paul's scan appt, I have phoned the Oncologist's secretary and the Upper GI Specialist Nurse several times but with not much joy. We are both finding it a bit stressful now, I have cancelled a hosp appt for me and we have rearranged Sam's visit, there just doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency or empathy! My next phonecall will probably be to the Patient Liason complaints folk!
When I went to shut the hens in yesterday they were in the garden, as I did my shepherd bit I could smell a foul rotting smell. I thought maybe the septic tank had decided to join all the other household necessities and spring a leak. Paul investigated today and thinks it was probably the two decomposing rabbits he had to pick up and get rid of!! I do hope it's nothing more sinister, they don't tell you these joys of country living!
Tom the Boiler man came today to do the annual service so maybe the boiler will be less smelly when I turn it up to go sewing! It might also burn more efficiently and save some oil money. I put this on to cheer everyone up, it makes me think of summer skies! I am off to do some more work on Samantha and Daisy's secret cushions.

Identity of mystery Lurcher revealed!

We discovered by chance that our neighbour in the renovated barn above us has been trying to rehome a Lurcher dog. She was absolutely mortified when she realised the devastation he had caused when he had escaped from her propery. She very kindly bought down a box of chocolates and some money towards the replacement hens, which we thought was very neighbourly of her.
The new hens are settling in well, they are quick learners, either that or our existing hens are good teachers, because now they escape from the run into the garden with the rest!!! They haven't quite learnt how to get back into the run quickly and look innocent when the back door is opened yet!

I have been busy creating Spring in the sewing room as the weather outside is still not co operating fully! I have been using the scrap D9P to make secret cushion (quillow) picnic blankets for my daughter and granddaughter. Daisy's one is tiny as it's for her dolly!!
I really like this blue I found for the backing, it makes me think of summer skies, hot lazy days and picnics.

jackpot day!

Hooray!!!!! The dishwasher arrived bright and early this morning!! By 9am it was installed and working!! Then to add to our delight the new vacuum cleaner arrived at lunch time!!!! Paul managed to replace the seal in the bottle trap under the sink and I pressed all the blocks I made at busy fingers yesterday!!! So a very productive day.
The new hens have worked out how to get up and come out of the pophole in the morning to get the corn and bread treats the other hens enjoy and even more impressively have worked out how to get back into the house at bed time! The first night I had to catch each one and post it through the pophole, the next night most of them had gone in by themselves but three needed shepherding towards the door. But tonight when we went down to the hen run all was quiet and they had all gone in by themselves. Now we just have to wait until they work out how to get on the roost by themselves!!
They are beginning to mix with our existing hens and work as a flock, I will know they are truly settled in when our existing girls teach them how to get into the field and then back into the garden where they know they should not be!
So far I have made about 52 9and 1/2 " D9P blocks , Samantha has asked for a picnic blanket size made into a secret cushion with handles!! I managed to sort out a bit more of the sewing room today and found more squares and half square triangles from previous projects. I have been looking at Bonnie Hunter's site showing how she uses leaders and enders to create units for her scrap quilts, I am sure I can use up some of these ideas with my odds and ends to make some 'dolly' blankets for Daisy. It feels good to use up the scraps I carefully saved, like having a 'free' quilt!!
The snow has nearly all gone now, it's been very windy and tonight a bit wet. The burn is really high and rushing with all the snow melt from the fells. We discovered the identity of the rogue dog who ate our hens, sadly it belongs to our neighbour who was distraught when she realised what had happened. She has very kindly made a donation towards the cost of the hens we bought in to replace them, and gave us a box of chocolates to say sorry. Although it was very distressing at the time, we know it happens, when you have animals  there will be times when they manage to get out and he was just being a dog.
Tomorrow we are hoping to go and see the new baby, little Lucy arrived last week! This week has flown by, I just dont know where the time went, but I have managed to sew most days.

Welcome Home

Yesterday was Mother's Day so we went to Hayden Bridge to buy some more hens to replace those the stray dog ate! I got 9 Lowman's Brown, just basic farmyard hens but good layers apparently. They are 18 weeks old so it will be a couple of weeks at least before they start laying. We shut them in the hen hut while the other hens were in the field scratching about. Needless to say they were so nosey they had to come into the run to see what was going on. We left the new ones for about an hour to settle in, then opened the pophole so they could explore the run at their leisure.
It was so funny, just like a Mexican Standoff, the new hens stayed in the house, the existing hens stayed outside! When dusk came I went out to see what was happening, well the existing hens were all in the house on the roost and the new ones were all outside, hiding in the base of the chick hut! I had fun catching them one by one and posting them through the pophole, shut them in and left them for the night. Shame I can't count! This morning I went down to let them all out and feed them and 2 of the new hens were wandering around the run looking very confused! Fortunately, because we live surrounded by managed Grouse moors the gamekeepers are very vigilant about foxes so we aren't troubled by them. I will have to count better tonight, or maybe by then they will all have worked out were the feed is and go home by themselves.
I did a little more handquilting on Cottage Gardens in the afternoon and watched some tv. Today I will try to do some more D9P and handquilting!
Paul has taken the car to have it's 'coil' mended then both vehicles will be roadworthy again! We should hear which BA flights will be affected by the strike I do hope Samantha's flight will be ok, she said yesterday that trying to explain to Daisy age 2 that they were not going to Nanny's house on the aeroplane was exhausting!
They had a good time at the zoo, saw elephants, bears, giraffes, etc then asked Daisy what her favourite animal was. True to form she replied Betty my chicken at home!!!!! You can always rely on children!

All's Well

Thankfully the biopsy result was as expected!! Sadly the car failed the MOT, apparently a 'coil' has a crack in it, so it's booked in for first thing Monday morning, the good news is that it shouldn't be too expensive and the garage man thought it was a 'ver tidy car!' So hopefully it will last a while!
Paul has managed a 'normal' week, apart from not working, with no ill effects so that is good news. I chased his scan date and it looks like the end of the month, just when our daughter and granddaughters visit! Well when they are planned to visit, Samantha had decided to fly up from 'down south' with the 2 girls by herself as Phil has no more holiday time he can take. She felt a 350 mile car journey by herself with an 8month old and a 2 1/2 yr old would be just a bit too much like hard work!! When they are that age you really need a co driver. However British Airways staff have decided to strike! So her flight may be cancelled, it's a bit like watch this space.

As requested here are some of theD9P blocks, some are waiting to be pressed, others are waiting to be squared up. See if you can spot my deliberate mistake ( not )! I was trying to be so careful but being a spatially challenged quilter is difficult! This was how I wanted the blocks to look, but somehow I managed to twist some and this is what I got.

Can you spot the difference? Well as it's a scrap quilt I don't think it will make too much difference so I am not going to resew them!! I don't know how I did it, it's just a special skill I have.!
Busy fingers got their bindings on apart from one friend who didn't believe me when I said 1/4" seam and managed to miss the front edge and sew to the wadding!!! She is going to reverse sew this little error in time for next week, when we will  have another try!!  The others are hopefully doing their homework and slip stitching the binding to the back, If I can remember my camera I will take piccys, last week I remembered everything except the extension lead, but fortunately there was one at the village hall. As they all kindly said, at least I remembered the cakes! The joke is I don't bake because Paul doesn't like cake, but because we have been having company on Sunday afternoons I have been making cup cakes. I take the 'spares' to Busy Fingers, now they all think I am an expert. Last week one of my friends asked me what I thought about the new silicone baking tins and would I recommend her to get one!!!!! I had to confess I was just practising and they were my guinea pigs!!!!!! They have been very complimentary, I expect because they want to encourage me and hope for more cake.! This week I am going to attempt Cheese scones, they are a delicacy in the North  of England and everyone has their own recipe! I am going to use the basic scone recipe that Samantha got in school and just add cheese!

Rainy days!

I know I should be grateful for all the sunny days we have enjoyed this week but today its grey and rainy! Paul has taken the car to be MOT tested in Stanhope, so another busy day for him! This week has seen a great improvement in energy levels, long may it last. I pestered the Oncologist's secretary again this morning, I phoned her last week to say his scan date hadn't come through. Now another week without a date! If he doesn't get a date soon he wont get the results on April 9th as they wont be back in time.
She has promised to phone the hospital doing the scan and get back to me.
I finished 27 9patch blocks yesterday and cut them ready to sew into D9P today!! Then I will lay them all out on a bed and see if I have enough for a quilt yet!! Once I had cut the blocks apart I put all the 'quarters' into a carrier bag and shook them up, then put my hand it for each section of the new block. This way I hope it will be really random and scrappy, but with enough similar colours to 'hold' the quilt together. I need to lay them out to make sure the darker patches are spread evenly through the quilt to balance it!! I havent decided if I want to make a scrappy pieced border with half square triangles or whether it would be too busy and a simple floral border would be better!!
This afternoon I go to the hospital to get the results of the biopsy they did on a mole on my face 2 weeks ago. hopefully there is nothing suspicious, they seemed to think it was a tick in the box thing but you never know!! Two of the chickens wounded in the dog attack on monday are looking a bit sad and sorry for themselves, I have a horrible feeling we will have to bite the bullet and put them out of their misery. I hate doing it but can't watch them suffer. I rang up about some replacement hens and it will cost me about £70 so it was an expensive meal for the lurcher!

Sparkly Day! Sparkly Week! or Hope Springs Eternal!

I can't believe the weather we're having! Nearly a whole week of sparkly days, the snow on the high tops is melting fast, we can just see the tops of the sparty grass showing through. Lambing is well under way lower down the dale, they say here that while there is lying snow on the tops we still have the possibility of more snow or Lambing storms. Fortunately at this time of year even if we have snow it tends to be short lived!
I felt like a real quilt teacher yesterday as I made a sample block to show my friends how to add the binding!
Paul had a really good day yesterday, he made it right up to the fell gate with me and the dog, its about 1 1/2 miles up a really steep incline, we don't do flat here! Then when we got home he helped me with cleaning the hen house, 3 weeks ago he could just managed strawing up the nest boxes. Yesterday he shovelled the droppings and helped lift the wheelbarrow to empty it in the compost bin! A huge improvement, especially as he then dug a trench around the septic tank as the field drain is leaking and he was panicked it was the tank!
He has been helping with the washing up too which may not sound much but 2-3 weeks ago he couldn't even load the dishwasher! I am feeling better, probably because I am sleeping more and beginning to allow myself to hope! When the cancer came back we were told this aggressive treatment had a 1in 5 chance of eradicating it completely. Someone has to be the 1 maybe it's him, we just keep praying.
Enough misery, it's a good day, I am going to walk Barney and then carry on with some more D9P blocks, I think I may even have enough 'scrap' to make a queen size quilt! I am beginning to get my creativity back. The chest of drawers which holds scrap from previous quilts and stray fat quarters is slowly starting to empty a bit, now I think I will take a draw at a time, sort out the FQ's and fold into see through plastic boxes sorted by colour. Then left over stuff can be ironed & cut into usable strips or 4" squares! A drawer at a time should make it manageable and can be done it the front room watching TV with Paul in the evenings!
I already have some shoe boxes with 1,2,3" strips I might even get a scrap log cabin!!!!

Delinquent Lurcher strikes!

First the good news! The baby the farm mat is for arrived 2 weeks early at 6am on Monday morning, she is called Lucy Ellen. Today I saw pictures and she is gorgeous with lots of black hair. Well on hearing the momentous news, naturally I had to plan a shopping day to buy gifts to welcome the new arrival. So I set off for a trip to Hexham, a local ton about 30 miles away. I had a successful shop, bought some lovely pink newborn clothes and then set off home. When I got in Paul greeted me with the news that a rogue lurcher had jumped the gate and got into the garden. He killed 2chickens in the garden, went into the field next door and killled another one, then came back into the garden and ran off with one in his mouth. Paul couldn't manage to chase him off, despite trying ,which of course made him breathless and sick. You should know that Paul is recovering from a combined course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for cancer of the oesophagus. He has only just started walking the dog again so running is definitely not good news, when he gets breathless he gets sick because after the Op 2 yrs ago his stomach in relocated in his chest.
when I went to feed the girls this morning they were very subdued.
We are still hanging on to bits of snow along the wall backs and on the high tops, but we have had such sunny sparkly days it looks really beautiful and I have discovered snowdrops flowering in both the gardens!
Today I aim to sew a friendship star block, layer it and cut binding strips. This is so I can show the Busy Fingers how to join binding strips with a diagonal seam so it disappears and how to put binding on their placemats. I realised that explaining would be confusing but showing would be easier!  This week I have to take the Janome 6600p as Christine has borrowed my Bernina 430QE. She preferred the Bernina blanket stitch for her farm mat so we have swapped machines until she has done all the applique. I originally bought the Janome to go on a Grace machine quilting frame as it has a bigger throat than a normal machine. I see now that Bernina have brought out an 800 series machine with a bigger throat and stitch regulator but I am not convinced I can justify the outlay!!

Kitchen Goddess or how to burn a banana loaf while you're watching it!

We are having some friends call by tomorrow afternoon so I decided I would be the perfect hostess and bake! Since Paul and I have been home during his convalesence I have been making cupcakes, scones and other goodies for when people call. I didnt want to disappoint my public!!! So I decided on cupcakes and a banana loaf as we had some 'iffy' bananas left from last week. I carefully made the cupcakes, mixed up the banana loaf and realised I couldn't bake it in my normal oven 'cos the cupcakes were in there. Never mind, no problem I'll put it in the fan oven but just not for as long! I stayed in the kitchen, had my lunch, washed up, looked at the clock and thought Oh I'll check the loaf now then I can go quilting!! When I looked the top had burnt! Still edible but not for public consumption!! I felt really peeved I had even stayed in the kitchen to make sure it would be ok. I really don't like fan ovens for baking!!!
To cheer myself up I am going to watch an episode of an old 'soap' that Paul got me on DVD for Christmas and do some more handquilting on my Cottage Gardens quilt.

Its a queen size, churn dash block set on point with low contrast, I think it will look good here as I have an old stone house.

It's on a Grace EZ3 handquilting frame in the study, which I dearly want to decorate but can't until the quilt is finished! It's been on the frame for about 3yrs because of one thing and another so decorating is a good incentive to get my finger out and finish it!.

Where did this week go?

What a week! I seem to have been rushing like one of my headless chickens and gettin nowhere fast! It's offficial, the dishwasher is no more! We have had to bite the bullet and buy a new one, it should be with us about the 18th, so until then we are washing up after each meal. No violins though, there are only the two of us and it doesn't take forever!  I became a quilt teacher twice this week! Wednesday at Busy Fingers, I took all my stuff again and they squared and layered their block and SID with invisible thread to disguise any mistakes! Everyone seemed really pleased with what they had done so I was glad. Then Thursday morning Christine called by on her way back home after the school run to find out the mysteries of fusable web applique! I knew when I had tried to explain it to her that she thought it would be really difficult. Of course when she came and saw how easy it was, the possibilities started fizzing in her brain, by the time I had got down to her house to put the embroidery foot on my Janome, which she has on a long term let, she had revised some of her designs!!

I managed to sneak a photo of her work in progress to show what it will be like

I think it will be fabulous, I have seen the fabrics she intends to use for the animals and tractor. They have a red tractor at their farm so she is going to use bright red fabric to make it on the mat! The sun's rays are to be cut smaller, but left loose as 'taggies' and she is planning to put some padding, beads and squeakers in different animals to increase the texture, in between the 'fields' she has sewn a grey flap to resemble the stone walls we have here. It also adds some texture. She is going to blanket stitch around each applique to add even more texture, its going to be great.

10 weeks and counting

I was going to call this 'the sad demise of a loved family member' but thought perhaps a bit too strong to describe the dishwasher going on strike! As Paul said, it's 20 yrs old it doesn't owe us anything! Still hopefully the nice dishwasher mender man will cheer it up and make it work again. I just love the company name they are called Domestic Rescue! Isn't that appropriate? Although our area is spectacularly beautiful and is officially described as An Area of Outstanding Beauty, the downside is it's remote and getting specialist supplies, eg quilting stuff, and repair men is not always easy. Hopefully, weather permitting he will come tuesday afternoon and we wont have to wash up any more!

This  is the view over the garden gate! Today! Snow again, it's now 10 weeks we have had lying snow and I must admit the novelty is wearing thin. These are for you Pat as I know you like our scenery.

A view from the back door, the hilltop at the back is the highest point in County Durham, England. The snow is slowly going but each time we have a melt and the field at the front reappears, we have more snow and it goes again. The shetland ponies who live there are really fed up, the other day they even resorted to eating my currant hedge!

Now to more momentous things! I managed to photograph my D9P blocks!! I hope they come out ok. I have one leaf of my cutting table up and have laid them out on that and they nearly cover it. I think I have nearly enough for a lap quilt once I add borders!!!. I have got the bug though, so yesterday spent some time cutting more squares. It might even end up big enough for a bed!! Which when you consider they are all scraps from other quilts and elderly FQ's from my stash with no new bought fabric is really 'green'. Confession is good for the soul, so I will admit I did buy some fabric at the quilt shop. I needed some sashing and borders for my Christmas Rework, and some for the Four Seasons Sew Along from Paula Stoddard's blog.

Although in my defence I will add that I have found some red toile I bought in 2004 which will do nicely for the current  Love Is redwork she is posting.

Christmas Redwork

fabric for seasons redwork quilt

Toile from my stash for Love Is redwork. 

Now I have worked out the photos thing I will show you what I am handquilting but another day!!! Off to wade through snow  and look for rabbits with my mad springer Barney!!

Here goes, hold on to your hat!

Well I have found some photos on my computer so I will attempt to put them up here, so you  can see where I live and the sort of things I do.! I have already confessed to my computer status so I don't hold out a lot of hope that it will work!!
This is the view from my front door. When we said we were moving here, 350 miles from family and friends 'down south' everyone thought we were mad. My mum really feared for my sanity when I told her I was moving to the main Trans Penine A road, A roads down south are very busy. When she came to visit she stood in the middle of the road to take a photo of the house and I said," Mum, your standing in the middle of the main road!" She just laughed and said," But it's not a real one" It does mean that even in bad weather it's always ploughed and gritted and we can always get the car out!

This was taken in early May from the house looking down the garden, behind the fence on the side is the chicken run and what will eventually be the veg patch. Spring comes late and Winter comes early here, the growing season is very short and because we are 1400ft above sea level there is nearly always a breeze and the air feels fresh. However we are plagued by midges from June to September, they come out about 6pm and make barbecues and evening gardening impossible. One of my neighbours wears full bee keeping gear to garden when they're here!! On a hot or windy day it's ok but otherwise it can be torture.

Here is 'Shrimpy's Mat' at the design stage! Shrimpy is the nickname my daughter gave her bump while she was pregnant but when the baby arrived she called her Daisy. Both my daughter and partner are beach lovers and keen surfers, so a sea theme for the nursery was always on the cards. They took the motifs from the bedding and frieze around the room and we cut them out and juggled on the background until they found an arrangement they liked. They have such touching faith in my sewing ability! I had never done any thing like this before so it was a very steep learning curve indeed.
Here is the finished mat, before it was backed and quilted. I fusable web appliqued most of the motifs, some like the cloud had added wadding to make them puffy, I put squeakers in the sandcastles and added taggies around the sun. My daughter researched online and found a round mirror shape with bevelled edges which we velcro-ed onto the sun background so we could take it off easily if it wasn't safe. I backed it with 4oz poly wadding as she has laminate floors and we didn't want bumped heads. I used table protector for the backing as it has a rubberised side which we thought would be good on damp grass to keep the baby dry and could be wiped clean easily if it got muddy. This one was called Beside the Seaside. I made a sister one with the same background fabrics but with an underwater theme called Under the Sea for Poppy, granddaughter number 2. I hope you like them and now I know how to  put pictures on I will show you my current projects another day.

Tired but successful

    my girls in better days

 It snowed most of the morning but didn't really add a great deal more to the overnight accumulation thank goodness. I was a good girl and cut some more strips and squares for the D9P blocks, last night was the first for ages that I had to finish off something before I went to bed! I had some blocks partly completed in the morning and had to get them sewn before I could sleep.
My poor hens look so fed up! The garden is covered in snow again and there is no grass for them, the wildlife is suffering I am even beginning to feel sorry for the rabbits! Although when the snow finally goes and I discover how much of my garden they have eaten I will probably not feel so philanthropic!
The 'girls' are so disenchanted with the snow they refused to come out of the house this morning and I had to throw their bread inside! Yesterday I had 4 eggs but today there were only 2; now either they are on strike or they are hiding them again!! I wandered round the garden looking in all their favourite hiding places from last year but all I found was snow! I wonder if they will appear when the snow melts.
Our quilt shop visit was most successful, Christine found just what she needed for the borders and for the red tractor and I managed to get some brilliant fabric for my 2 redwork projects. Thoroughly pleased with ourselves we set off for home. Only to remember when it was too late to turn back, as the shop was closed, that we should have got some heat'nbond!!!!!! This wouldn't be so frustrating if it wasn't for the fact that we don't live near fabric shops, this quilt shop is our nearest and its 45 miles away and closed on mondays! Fortunately I have known the owner since I moved here 9 years ago and she is very kind, if I phone on tuesday I know she will put some in the post  for me, although she doesn't really do mail order. So with luck we should have it by the end of the week, in the meantime Christine is going to make her animal patterns to trace onto the fusable web when we get it. Despite confusing ourselves over how to piece the curved sky I did remember to tell Christine to reverse her drawings for the fusable web or everything will be looking the wrong way!!
As I write this the cat Oscar has ousted our springer Barney from his place in front of the log burner! They made us laugh yesterday as they were lying side by side like bookends, the cat was even lying like a dog with his head on his paws!

quilt shop

This is a stolen quickie!! I am supposed to be relaying the fire in our log burner! I can understand why the Inuit have more than 50 words for snow! Last night's dump is very wet and looks like candyfloss on the trees and bushes, very pretty! Hopefully as it is very wet it will melt quickly. This afternoon I am off to the quilt shop about 45 miles away with my friend to choose fabric for her Farm playmat, and sashing and borders for my redwork! Last night I finished 8 more d9p blocks ( thanks for that Pat) I have laid them out on the cutting table and they are beginning to look like a very pretty scrap lap quilt!!More later if I can work out how to put more pictures on here.

the lull before the storm or my sewing room is tidy so now I need to sew!

I found a really easy and clever way to make vanishing 9 patch blocks on one of the blogs I have been reading! It just sew happens I have a number of scrap 5" squares from various other quilts already on the sewing table. I have been wondering what to do with them ! So later today I plan to play and see if I can follow the tutorial and make some blocks, if it works then I will cut some on puppose and make a watch me grow quilt!!! That is an unplanned serendipity quilt that just sort of happens. With luck I will use up quite a lot of my scrap pile!! then the draws might actually close but dont hold your breath! It means I have to find the blog and the tutorial because I am not clevr at bookmarking things! I just hope I can get back so that I can thank the kind lady who posted the tutorial!!
The lull is that we are waiting for the next 'dump' of snow!! We are due more winter over the next 3 days and today has that 'it's coming' feeling although at the moment its quite bright. I am off to walk the poor dog so he can have his breakfast, before the weather closes down>>

long time no speak!!

It feels a while since I last chatted and so much has happened! We managed to get down to Surrey to visit Samantha and the children despite Paul being quite poorly the weekend before we were to travel. Fortunately we think it was just a 24hr job and he managed to drive all the way. We had a really lovely week, many hugs and cuddles and bonus was Paul's eating and energy levels seemed to go up a gear!
I took some redwork but didnt actually get to do any as I was too busy playing and cuddling small people.
We had a brilliant visit to my baby sister Nicola, she put on a splendid spread and the whole family was there, Gary came home from work for lunch so he didnt miss out and Barry also managed to be there. Its so unusual for us all to be in the same place at the same time, only Ben was missing sadly but it would have been impossible for him to got there as well!
Now we are back home and its snowing again, just by way of a change!! Hopefully I will get some serious sewing done this week, I have some redwork to finish and some scrap blocks to zip together, I must start to dip into to the stash. Having read some very inspirational blogs I realise |I am being very lazy and un creative at the moment. I think if I can get my creative juices flowing again I will start to feel less miserable!! February is a little late for New Year's Resolutions but hey better late than never! I have so much fabric I should be able to make at least one scrap quilt!!

A Week already!

I was so pleased with this quilt but now I have seen how I could have made it even more interesting and used even more scraps from my stash. I saw a fabulous pattern where the pinwheels were the centre and were bordered by flying geese and squares to make a star block! Now that really calls me! I have a thing about quick pieced half square triangles and stars!! As I have just indulged in a new angler it cuts piecing time down!! I think that might just be my next large project.
This week's quilt in day programme finished the tennessee waltz pattern, as it was only a cot quilt Just 9 blocks and 2 borders that will have to go on my to do list as well! Just have to get on with the library star throw, wish I had remembered about the 4patch in the corner, bu tnow have made 4 blocks not going to go back!! Reading other quilting blogs has regenerated my creative juices and I am buzzing again!

Quilting

This was supposed to be a way to capture my quilting thoughts and progress, instead it's turned into a weather report! We live in such an exposed area I suppose it's natural to be completely preoccupied with the weather.
New Year, New Resolution! After watching Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day TV programme on English television I have become re- energised. I was so excited to find a new channel on Sky which carries a quilt programme!! I have got the triangle in a square ruler and have started a new quilt! Only 4 blocks done and I have no clue how many I will need but every journey starts with the first step! My study has a green sofa with a very old, too small and very boring plaid throw, so I have decided to learn how to use my new toy by making green star blocks and putting them in a throw to cover the sofa. It has to look better than now, will use up some of my stash in an organised fashion and teach me new techniques at the same time. With luck it will take my mind away from Paul's illness and give me something postitive to focus on. I think I will machine quilt it as that will also be a step along the learning curve. I have got quite good a getting stitches on both sides of the quilt now! Even without the BSR foot!! I might even be brave enough to attempt a more definite pattern with stippling to create more texture.
My daughter Samantha has requested a sample quilt which includes zippers, buttons and laces to teach Daisy how to cope with fastenings! She is such a poppet and very clever! When I previewed this I realise no one else will want to look at it as there are no photos! Well maybe that's tomorrows problem!!