Better late than never....

Despite a last minute panic that the duck I'd ordered from here, might be stuck for Christmas in the City Limits depot in Kidderminster (thank you to the manager who delivered them to daughter in Worcester although he was actually going to Wolverhampton, and to daughter who brought the parcel over even though they were also going out for the day in the opposite direction!),  everything did arrive for Christmas and was very much enjoyed.  The lovely flowers came from my delightful Brother-in-Law.  The lily has since come out and is the same colour as the roses.

If this quilt had a name it would be 'slapdash'  which would adequately descride the way in which it's been put together over the last two weeks to give to daughter for Christmas.  As it was, having decided to hand quilt, 'in the ditch', I had to finish the last few rows on Boxing day and give it back to her when they came yesterday for tea and to collect cat who'd stayed on when they went to friends.  (Just as well, as when they got home on BD evening, they found they had no water - fortunately, everything thawed without any obvious leak).

Anyway, she's delighted with it - excuse photos which don't do it justice, couldn't find anywhere, that wasn't too dark, to show it completely, hence rather awkward photo taken on stairs where it slipped off the stairlift rail at the last moment!  I couldn't get out to buy fabric for binding, so I folded borders over all the way round to finish it off.  The pink really lifts it, and I'm really happy with it.

Rain has abolished the snow and everything now looks muddy and grubby.  I must go out later for essentials, and H has invited someone for Friday lunch so must put my brain back into cooking gear when I'd been happily coasting along in 'left-over' mode.  Hopefully, it won't now snow between now and next Thursday and Friday when first M and then I have to go to the eye hospital - perhaps we could get a season ticket for the carpark!

Haven't attempted the Sales (- half tempted to ignore them but I do need bedding and towels amongst other things - we never seem to have enough since M came).  I'd like to just flop around reading my Christmas books and watching dvds and stuff recorded, but the snow and grit walked into the hall and kitchen needs attention and the duck carcass has to be made into soup, and what am I going to serve this man on Friday?  

It's daughter's birthday next week so I'll need to go out to find her something - mind currently a blank on that  subject, too!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are now happily recovering!

Thank you to all the people that have consoled. commiserated, encouraged and made me laugh over the last year - I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and great New Year.

Jane xx

If you need to, you can get out ....

Having no alternative, I went out with the shovel before breakfast this morning and with help from daughter who arrived at 10.00, we managed to get the car up the cul-de-sac - H driving and daughter and I resorting to pushing on the worst bits as H isn't allowed to do such physical things.  Before we left for the hospital M asked where I'd been all moring and when I said I'd been digging the car out to take her to the hospital, she laughed and said she expected I was glad of the exersize!
We were hours at the hospital, but they've now decided that her sight is fast diminshing due to pressure on the optic nerve - so the cateract operation was pointless.  So it looks as if she will soon be completely unable to see.  She's being quite philosophical about it but we've yet to consider the practicalities,
Tomorrow, I hope to finish my Christams preparations - if I can move by then, I'm already stiffening up so I'm off to soak in the bath.  Hope you're having a rather more pleasant run up to Christmas!

Update

Had to cancel the hospital trip - main road is flowing merrily, but we can't get to it and we can't get M by wheelchair to daughter's car either (well we could if we dug out either the entire cul-de-sac and 200yds of lane, or all the pavements up to the main road).   H went to look at the grit bin that the Council has unhelpfully put half way down the steep lane, but we can't shift enough by bucket - and the road would need clearing first as there's about 6 inches of snow and still falling- and manged to fall over and cut his hand and thumb!  The hospital has said we can go tomorrow at the same time - optomists!

Foiled again ......

So.  I stocked the cupboards and the freezer and the fridge, I posted all the Christmas cards and the CT return, I checked that all the prescriptions were up-to-date, and then I thought, that's it, I can survive here without going out until the New Year if necessary, and I planned some more sewing and kniting.  I was even inspired to make a Clementine cake and a huge batch of soup - I was feeling quite pleased and inclined to let Christmas be acknowleged.  I didn't mind too much when it began to snow, and it wasn't very heavy anyway.
This morning M having refused to do anything about her eye all last week when travel was easy, decided that she must ring the hospital about it.   'Oh', said the woman on the phone,'you must come in at once - I'll phone you back.'
I went outside and swept clear the drive and sorted out the car and brought in the wheelchair and I said to H it wasn't really too bad to get the car out as the lane had been partly cleared.  And we waited, and waited until noon when they rang and said she must come on Wednesday.   As if summoned by some malignant force, it then started to snow and snow and snow, covering up all the bits I'd swept and covering the car and the lane, and bringing traffic on the main road to a standstill.
So now we wait to see if, by Wednesday, this lot will clear or get worse, and I'm very cross with the receptionist at the hospital that we phoned 10 days ago who more or less told us not to be so daft when we asked if we should bring M back.
Fortunately, daughter at home now until New Year so we could get her to mount a mercy mission if we can't get out - as long as the main road is clear.
Hope you're all safe and warm and don't have to venture out.

.

Stuck at (gn)'ome

I always forget how much I like knitting gloves, and the last week or so I've had plenty of opportunity for knitting.     M's cataract operation does not yet seem to have been successful - she maintains that she still can't see out of her right eye at all, despite the surgeon assuring us that it was very successful.  We wait to see whether it improves, but it means that her ability to do things for herself has been even less than usual.  Unfortunately, H did something rather silly which has aggravated his heart problem - temporarily I hope - but means that both of them have to be attended on at regular intervals and I've only managed to get out for the essentials.
The upside to this is that I been forced to re-think Christmas shopping and to do food and present shopping online, I've also had to use the internet to stock the freezer and make sure we have plenty in the cupboards against another lot of snow.   And I've set to and made rather more presents than I thought I'd have time for - most of which have been posted now thanks to a kind neighbour.
It hasn't been entirely plain-sailing as the internet connections have been terribly unreliable so I've been reading and commenting on blogs rather less often - often at speed so forgive me if a comment you received was full of errors or didn't make sense!
In case I hadn't got enough things to keep me occupied, a friend asked me to knit some decorations for the hospice where she works as a volunteer so several of these little chaps have gone off to a new home:

This one has stayed behind and I've promised to knit him a friend when I've done the Christmas cards and done some more to a quilt in progress. It's a  great pattern for using up small amounts of yarn as long as your stash has some yarn suitable for the beard.   The stash has done me proud when it comes to presents, too, and having finished a hoodie for baby E, I was pleased to find enough chenille type wool to make her a snowme:

So we may be getting some more snow, but we're well stocked, and Christmas can be managed even if snow stops the later deliveries (like Julie over at Little Cotton Rabbits, I was mindful of my Christmas not arriving in a van, hence the freezer stocking exercise), and most people will get their present and many of those will be handmade.  So, fingers crossed that H gets better not worse, we could now hibernate till after Christmas and I might even get more than one quilt made!
Welcome to Busybusybeejay  and Minnie,  so glad you've found me, I shall be popping over to your blogs soon.

Stop press:  It's gone very very dark and started to blow a gale.  Lots of wet snow rushing past the window now - hope you're all safe and warm at home .

Gnome and Snowmee are Alan Dart patterns. You can find them on his website here http://www.alandart.co.uk/pages/products

A winter's tale

The snow went away, but during the night the Frost giants came and separated us from the world........

Until the sun came out.

Fragments

Some weeks ago, Elaine, at Ted and Bunny, posted this and kindly said I could use the photo in my art project which is using architectural fragments as a basis for a collection of drawings.  I've really enjoyed my first attempt - done in pastel, and hope to try again with soft pencil.  Blogger refuses to post the second photo the right way round so please imagine it turned through 90 degees.  The current light has turned the colour rather more blue than the original.
This last few days have been very fragmented - we can just about get the car out if necessary, though the top of our cul-de-sac is very icy and no grit between us and the main road.  I've been doing small amounts of crafting, cooking, drawing and sewing  - and the inevitable end of year accounting has started to impinge again.  It also occured to me that I hadn't properly acknowledged the lovely give-away I won from Chrissie at Niminy Fingers:

This lovely little bird and its garland of bobbles are trying valiantly to brighten up my study - and making it even more obvious that I really must smarten up of all the pine shelving and cupboards with a good coat of white paint - now would be a good time except that I can't have the windows open - perhaps better wait for better weather.
I'm still slogging on with the slides that need converting - currently I'm in Spain in 1963!  The various and miscellaneous were great fun as one minute we were in a 1950's summer garden and next on a 1970 cruise.  More of that another time.  If you're wondering why a lot of posts have disappeared, I had to remove them at the request of one of M's friends.  I think it's unreasonable but I decided it was anything for a quiet life.

 

Still hoping that we shall be able to get M to hospital on Tuesday to have her cataract removed - fingers crossed that we shan't get too much more snow.

                                                         Who Knows If The Moon's

                                                      who knows if the moon's
                                                      a balloon, coming out of a keen city
                                                      in the sky--filled with pretty people?
                                                     (and if you and i should

                                                     get into it, if they
                                                     should take me and take you into their balloon,
                                                     why then
                                                     we'd go up higher with all the pretty people

                                                     than houses and steeples and clouds:
                                                     go sailing
                                                     away and away sailing into a keen
                                                     city which nobody's every visited, where

                                                     always
                                                     its
                                                     spring) and everyone's
                                                     in love and flowers pick themselves

                                                           - e.e. cummings

Two very different views from our house at 9.00 a.m. this morning reminded me of this poem.  I was heartily relieved not to see a snow scene, but I don't suppose we'll escape.  I'm praying that it comes and goes before the hospital trip on December 7th - if we get snowed in it will be very difficult to get there. (Unless we go by balloon?)

One hundred, one year

 This may be the closest I get to packing a suitcase in the forseeable future - bought these in the local Post Office because I couldn't resist them.  The large is about 8 inches wide and the smaller about 6 inches.

Items I'm packing to send to China Kidz Christmas appeal (see my previous post).   Probably the closest I shall ever get to going to China.

Lion's head finished at last - just to prove that I do sometimes finish what I set out to do!

Haven't time today to say all that I would like to about my experience of my first year of blogging.  Thank you to everyone who has commented, and all those who just read, for your support and kindness, I really feel that I am among friends.  It's been lovely to meet a few of you in person and to correspond with others by email, and I look forward to continuing to do so during the next year, whatever that may bring.

The view from space?

Fireworks from the display at the Three Counties Showground - taken from our top floor window about a mile away, through the torrential rain using the camera's own firework setting.  I think another time I would experiment for myself and use a tripod but these were very spur of the moment. 

Just a quick note

To say ....

Please look over on Kate's blog and see if you would like to help with this appeal for China Kidz - they're wanting sweaters, legging (and toys) against the coming winter months 

The misty grey weather hasn't allowed me to take any really good photos of the wonderful autumn colours on the hills.  The leaves are falling now after a few days of rain and wind, but I hope we might get another good day before all the colour goes.  

A trip to Dunelm Mill with daughter at the weekend found this rather nice printed fleece throw, which matches very well with the quilt I finished last week.  Our bedroom gets a bit chilly in the worst of winter weather so we shall be glad of extra layers - though at the moment it's quite mild here and warm during the night.

 The week's been very busy so far.  Monday we took M to get her knee brace.  Inevitably after only three days wear it's been decreed that it 'isn't any good for ME' (always the stress on my superior requirements) and has gone the way of the walking frame and the perching stool.  It has been an excuse to ring all her friends to report its inadequacies and smugly reiterate her total superiority over all help, aids or any attempts to make her or our lives easier.  

On Monday I went to M&S and bought M new pyjamas as requested (size 14).. When I got them home I was told she'd meant 12.  This is new game, last week a box of choclates to send to friend was the basis of a similar strop and sulk as I hadn't asked for precised directions before I went out, but phoned from the shop when I remembered that she had asked for some to be purchased. 

Yesterday, sadly, I had to go to a funeral in Bristol where my family has come from for as far back as I have been able to research (at least 200 years).  My cousin's husband died suddenly aged only in his mid fifties.  It was a major logistical operation here to borrow a second car - as H also had an unmissable appointment and work out ways for us to cater to M's requirements around these committments.  Daughter, fortunately, didn't need her car, which saved me from an awkward train journey ( though she was very cross to be in London yesterday with no tube available), but it meant careful planning to fetch car, not to forget to collect M's prescription, change the pyjamas, and make sure H and M had lunch ingredients, so I could go off on Wednesday.  By great time management, I got home in time for her tea at 3.30 (having not been able to go back to the house with my cousin after the funeral ) only to be told that she'd made her own tea at 3.15.  For weeks now she has refused to use her kettle because her eyes are too bad, but I have seen her using things very easily so I think the deterioration in eyesight may be a convenient way to stop H and I going out together. I'm dreading the actual operation on her catatract as she's already decided it will be awful and won't work (it's different for ME I have degeneration) although the consultant was totally confident it will.

Finished the hoodie I was knitting in time to take it with me yesterday.  Hope it fits.    It was lovely to see all my cousins - despite the sad circumstances.  

UFOs

 

A long time ago, about six years I suspect, I bought a lot of fabric from a sale at Ikea.  I started to make a quilt, then several things happened...  First of all, my lovely old sewing machine broke halfway along the first line of quilting, and was taken off by a kind repair man for an unspecified length of time - turned out to be about six months.  Whilst I waited, I tried my new sewing machine but it kept breaking the needle and I got fed up.   Then a set of play costumes intervened.  Then H was taken ill and left permanent teaching but needed space to work from home, so my sewing space disappeared,and both machines and a lot of other things including the quilt disappeared into storage.  Since we moved here I've had lots of space but have only recently had time to start sorting out.

 

Over the last few days I've been sorting out boxes and found the quilt (amongst other things) but not the binding, so after a quick trip to the local shop, I eventually finished it and it's now sitting on our bed. 

Feeling a bit more inspired, I set to and finished the little rug I'd been knitting in pom-pon wool I bought at the last craft show at the Three Counties showground.  It's lovely and soft and I like the colours very much.  It just needs a fringe to set it off, so I need to buy some cream chunky wool.

 

 I've started some artwork using the photos I've been collecting for some while now.   This is a central door pull from Redworth Hall in Co Durham - a friend found the photo for me.

He's coming on quite nicely - I'm using water soluble wax crayons  (Neocolour II by Caran D'Ache).  Daughter very kindly bought me some new art materials as in my sorting out efforts I discovered that some paints and inks had dried out whilst also in store.  I've also found that I have about twice as many brushes as I thought and several forgotten blocks of water colour paper.

Amongst other things, I've also sewn half the new curtains for my sewing room and knitted two thirds of a hoodie for my cousin's two year old grandson - photo to follow when it's finished.

A friend recommended, then gave me three novels by Laurie R. King.  I was sceptical at first at the idea of Sherlock Holmes with a young female partner (and wife), but the books are very entertaining, and I shall certainly track down some more when I've finished these. 

Realised today that I have only four more posts until I reach my first hundred, and only just over a fortnight until the blog celebrates its first birthday so I must contrive to combine the two I think.