Flare Ahoy

I woke this morning feeling very stiff, sore and tired, really not much different than yesterday.  I have fibromyalgia (among other things) and I think I have a flare building.  I hope not as I go away next week.


I have just had 5 glorious days in Scotland with my friend Dreamer, going for lovely walks with Jake around his favourite walk, the pond, where he gets to play in the water.  I am sure he has webbed feet as he loves all water, some of it a bit more stinky than others.  


I walk very slowly and need to stop quite regularly to rest as I tire very easily, but it didn't take away the pleasure.  I love the woods, seeing all the wildlife especially the range of birds that you don't see in an urban garden.  Besides our birds are shooed away by grey squirrels which are rampant in our area.


I digress....The problem with fibromyalgia is that you pay for it when you overdo things, and I guess that may be happening to me at the moment.  Don't get me wrong, it is a small price to pay to visit my friends in Scotland.  I will get over it with some rest.


I own a house on a council estate although deep down inside I am a country girl.  My dad was a farm hand at one point, and I would love to be able to move to the country, in a cottage, with no stairs, and a garden where I can have raised beds to grow all my fruit and veg.  I would have a couple of dogs which I can take for slow walks, and a few chickens...oh what a dream.  My only obstacle is the OH.  Poor man is a towny at heart and needs to have easy access to his local, the library and family, where I would be happy for family to visit, I don't drink and use Kindle on my tablet LOL.  We could always move to the edge of a village where OH can have access to all he requires.  Oh well perhaps one day....we can all dream.

Thanks for looking in and feel free to leave a comment x x

One Door Closes Another Opens....Some Day

Well the day has finally arrived, the day I have been dreading for a long time.  I have been finished from work on incapacity....

I thought I would be sad, you know, similar to the empty nest syndrome....what is your role in life...do you have a role anymore...what's the purpose of me being on this earth as I am no longer needed...tears fall and then: Enlightenment.  I am free to do what I want, when I want without having to take work into consideration.

I aim to spend my time creating my jewellery, quilting and visiting my friend Dreamer for lovely long weekends.  I may even take up my painting once again, something I have not done for a long while.....the worlds my oyster.

Lovely Weekend with Dreamer

I've had a lovely long weekend with Dreamer in Dreamville, doing some new crafts and some old ones. I bought a new sewing machine, which is small and lightweight but does the job just the same. It has 7 different stitch settings, straight line and zigzags. My old machine is far too heavy and it never came out to play, so my new toy will be well used.

As Dreamer loves quilting as a craft I thought I'd have a go
to see what I could make. Amongst Dreamers treasure chest
I came across 2 material panels of girl figures playing and decided
to make a pillow case each for my two youngest grand daughters.

I edged each panel with pink striped material on the top, bottom and sides to make it large enough to take a full size pillow.

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I then used pink material to make the back with an envelop opening in the centre. I had taken the measurements from a pillow case. My new little toy was working great, with lovely stitches and so easy to use.










Here is the finished article for one little girl, who I know will love her new pillow case.














And this is the second finished article. The panels are different so the girls shouldn't have difficulty identifying their own pillow case.

I am really pleased with my first attempt at producing these on my new toy. I am in the middle of sewing two shrugs for my holidays, a quilted cushion cover for my eldest grand daughter and a football one for my grandson. Both of theirs will be padded and quilted and I will include them on my blog.




We also made a couple of GF cakes, which introduced Dreamer to GF baking.

I wish the sun would come out to play

Another cold, showery day.  The sun shines but there is no heat in it and I feel the cold so badly.  Don't be surprised, I have so many things wrong with me, take so many tablets that I expect the chemicals must be doing something to my body.  Never mind, I look forward to my few days in Scotland with my dearest friend Dreamer. 

I really love these visits with her.  The air is cleaner and crisper, although a little cold, although I have thermals which I will be taking with me.  I love the visits to the town with her and meeting the lovely people who live in and around the area.  It is so different from where I live, in Merseyside, where some people can't be bothered to speak to you.

I dug out my old sewing machine and it is well passed it's sell by date, also, it is so heavy.  I have decided to retire it, again, it first retired 16 years ago.  I have bought myself a small, lightweight machine which has 7 different stitches, 2 speeds and can be used on mains or with batteries.  One would think it was a child's toy, but it isn't and should be useful for what I want.

I aim to have a go at quilting and, as I do a lot of beading, I would like to have a go at making a beaded bag.  I have a couple of patterns which I can trace and use to cut out the bag and it also has beaded patterns to follow.

Fruit, Fruit and Even More Fruit

 I am having a day of firsts today, the first time I have attempted to grow strawberries and the first time using a hanging basket to grow anything in.  On the advice of my gardener, who cares for my borders and lawn, I am growing the strawberries off the floor and away from the wall to stop the delightful slugs and snails having an all you can eat buffet. 

This is a cape gooseberry, another first.  I have never grown fruit before and I have always loved gooseberries.  What better way to have them, grown in your own garden and picked whenever you want them.  I have sent for some rice crumble from Approved Foods which I should be able to use to top my gooseberries as they are gluten free.

I have added crushed eggshells around the tenderest part of the plants as they are a good slug and snail deterrent.  I have slugs and snails in my compost bin, but I believe that they live and die in there and the eggs they lay die with them.  However, I am sure that they are coming over from next door because I have a constant battle with them.  

I have also sown some more tomato, gherkins and spring onions, the last two being firsts again.