Wednesday 30 April 2014

Birthing plan

DD & I went over her birthing plan, it's fairly short and straightforward, I think I've got it memorised.
One thing the midwives are pushing hard is skin to skin contact immediately after birth, she asked if I'd be happy to do this for one twin if she couldn't do it, I agreed. 
Because of this I needed something to wear for her delivery, I can't wear skirts or trousers so I can't wear a top to pop the baby under. I went to the local CS & found the ideal dress. It's the size of a 4 man tent, it buttons down the front and is a delicate shade of baby poo, so once it's served its purpose I can return it to the shop (after washing it) or throw it away.

Sunday 27 April 2014

No cook week

My L&M is on the late shift next week so I won't be cooking meals in the evening. There is a batch of ready meals in the freezer for his lunch, I have stocked up with fruit & veg for me, I shall take a box of salad to work for my lunches & for my evening meal I shall have eggs or sardines on toast with fruit to nibble on if I get hungry. I may be able to get extra sewing done if I'm not cooking.

Saturday 26 April 2014

Nother day doned

DGD Norah stayed the night last night, this morning we made cakes & some clothes for a teddy she made on a previous visit. While we were making the dolls clothes the sewing machine became unthreaded. My L&M was intrigued to see that I was able to rethread the needle despite not being able to see what I was doing. He kept asking me 'How can you do that? you can't see the needle or the hole in it' I don't really know how I do it, but eventually explained that it was a bit like having sex with the lights off, you can't see what you are doing but you still know what bit goes where!
We took Norah home just after lunch & went on to the garden center to buy some more compost. 
We need the compost as we are visiting Helen tomorrow & taking a mini greenhouse & some tomato & pepper plants to her, SIL, Ronnie  is cooking lunch for us all. we have a puzzle book for Neal & Molly, we'll give Josh £5 at 15 he's too old for a puzzle book.
When we returned home with the compost a neighbour was outside rodding the drain, it seems she had a blockage somewhere, my L&M donned his gloves & lent a hand, eventually the blockage was cleared. By this time it was getting near to my L&M's chiropodist appointment. 
He had a shower & we set off, he had his treatment for his onychogryphosis (rams horn toe nail) caused by nail bed damage, the chiropodist was also able to suggest a bottle rolling exercise to help with his plantar fasciitis and also recommend I massage his feet in the morning before he gets up. 
Now it's evening & I'm going to do a little sewing, I have 2 more dresses to cut out & some work to do on a quilt.

Friday 25 April 2014

Finally Friday

It's Friday & I've well and truly hit the wall. I'm too tired to do any sewing tonight, hopefully I'll get some done tomorrow.

Norah has been to gym club, had tea & is asleep in the spare bed & my L&M is in our bed, reading his kindle.

It's been a stressful week, my L&M isn't coping well with the news about his Mum & I'm bearing the brunt, he manages in public, but at home, in private, he's struggling & this makes him very snappy, most days I can't even breath without causing an upset. He is gradually improving.

I went out yesterday after work to hear a speaker, Richard Sandford of Lower Lovett Farm, fascinating talk about organic gardening & food preservation.

I arrived at work today to find that the courtyard outside my room had been trashed yet again, mud & stones everywhere. This is our so called 'Gardening Club' but is, in effect, a group of teenagers playing mud pies. I always end up clearing it up when I can't stand looking at the mess any longer. I've emailed the relevant people & have been ignored as usual.

Just to make my week complete, our we have been told we are having mid year appraisals next week, so more joy on the way!


Tuesday 22 April 2014

Tuesday

Back to work today, could barely get into my room for paper, the deliveries weren't cancelled over the holiday!

Bad news from MIL, she has a tumour in her bladder, it's very aggressive so treatment is starting in the next couple of days. We are furious as her Dr fobbed her off with antibiotics for 9 months. I need to get a wriggle on & make one of the quilts for her.

Dr's appointment for me today, my blood pressure was down to 'respectable' so that's something.

I've cut out 2 dresses for the DGD's, just a simple pillow case style pattern.

Monday 21 April 2014

Work tomorrow

I spent some time today tidying the living room, one corner of it was piled high with yarn & fabric that has built up  from where I've been crafting away. I have sorted the yarn, tidied the quilt fabric & the corner looks better. I've unpicked zips & saved buttons from old items of clothing & saved a bag fabric for the 2 quilts I have planned. I've sorted out the yarn for 3 knitted scarves & 2 crochet blankets, I have 'project bags' ready to grab & go for when I want something to do. I've also unearthed my kindle & put it on charge, I shall be taking it to work daily as I will be lunching alone now people have been asked to change their break times.
I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow as they are struggling to get my blood pressure down, MIL gets her results tomorrow, DD1 is 33 weeks & has her bag packed & is all ready at home, DD2 is 20 weeks & is feeling lots better, it's a miracle she's hung on to the baby as she's been so unwell. Stressed, moi, much! It can only get harder, lol.

Sunday 20 April 2014

Cooking

Today I've made:-
Chocolate brownies for my L&M, this is a nice and expensive recipe from my Nigella's Kitchen book, I usually make the Bero recipe as it's much cheaper.

I did a roast leg of lamb for lunch with stuffing balls, yorkies, this beautiful cauliflower from the garden was served with cheese sauce with the outer leaves used instead of cabbage, I also did carrots & roast potatoes & sweet potatoes.

Two loaves proving.

Two loaves cooked, one white the other half & half wholemeal/white, Lizzie arrived with the car as I was serving up, she stayed for lunch  took half of each loaf home with her, along with some of the brownies.

Pattern

This is the pattern I used to make my dresses with, only 8 pieces to make the dress, so very simple & straight forward, next time I make it I'll put the pockets in. I may also make the dress and jacket if I can find suitable fabric.

Friday 18 April 2014

Getting ready for Tuesday

Back to work on Tuesday & I know it will be manic, my in box and in tray were already full last Wednesday.
To make life easier for myself, I've done a bulk cook today.
From 500 gms of mince I've made cottage pie, spaghetti bolognese sauce & meatloaf. We have cabbage & cauliflower from the garden.





With some coley I've made fish pie, I've also made scones & choc chip muffins.
I've started a page of recipes, this can be found along the top tool bar.

Thursday 17 April 2014

It's only a bargain if you get what you want

My L&M went to the garden center today, we had £9 of vouchers, we needed to spend them before they expired. On the way home we decided to go for a pub lunch, we always like to keep our eyes peeled for a good deal. This time we went to a local Flaming Grill pub, they do a lighter bites menu, £4.99 a head for a main course & dessert. I chose scampi & chips & profiterole, my L&M chose sausage & mash & profiterole. We arrived at the pub at 12.15 & our main course arrived fairly promptly, at 2.30 we were still waiting for our dessert, despite several reminders. Unfortunately we were sat next to a family that would have made great candidates for the Jeremy Kyle show, as all they talked about, loudly, was all the family members they had had punch ups with.We gave up and walked out without dessert, I have emailed a complaint, but I'm not really expecting a reply.
I have finally managed to get some sewing done, hopefully I'll get both dresses finished over the weekend.

As WS would say, epic fail!

I got no sewing done yesterday, but I did have a lovely day and 3 good reasons for not achieving much. Here are the reasons.
Jet washing the decking.

Dancing on the decking

Being a drama queen

Wednesday 16 April 2014


These are the two pieces of fabric I've cut my new dresses from. The top piece is black crinkle cotton with white flowers embroidered on it. The second piece is navy with a small white spot. I bought the top piece from eBay & I was given the second piece. I shall keep an eye out on eBay for something a little more colourful.

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Right day, right time

Up early again today & back to the Doctors about my L&M heels & to get the results of his blood tests.
Blood test results all fine, he's in good condition for his age!
The problem with his heels is caused by spending 8 plus hours a day on his feet for the last umpteen years. It can be solved by buying something called Viscospot, the bad news? These seem to be £40 a pair, a pair consists of 2 heel supports for either the left or right food & not, as you'd expect, one for each foot. My L&M need them for both heels, ouch. The good news? I made enough money via eBay sales today to pay for these. Easy come, easy go.
The parsnip soup & soda bread was enjoyed by our guests, I'm very pleased as it only cost about a quid for the whole meal.
I've managed to get 2 loads of washing dried on the line & bottomed out both bathrooms. 
I just had salad for tea, I did a peppered steak baguette for my L&M.
I am spending the evening cutting out a couple of summer dresses & will start sewing them together tomorrow I hope.

Quick & cheap

Unexpected visitors for lunch today, they are vegetarian.
A quick scrummage in the fridge & cupboards & I was able to produce these.
Soda bread

Warm & hearty curried parsnip soup.

Monday 14 April 2014

Ooops

We got up bright & early this morning as my L&M had a Dr's appointment, we got there extra early, his appointment isn't 'til tomorrow!
We returned home & had another cuppa & at 10ish we caught the bus into town, using our free bus passes. We went to Lakeland so I could spend my £20 gift voucher, I bought a new small frying pan, a brownie tin & a bag of liquorish. We also went to Smiggle as DGS, wanted a pencil case with a calculator attached, but we didn't buy one, I refuse to pay £10 for a piece of plastic tat that will break as soon as someone farts in it's direction so instead we went on to  Primark to get him a Marvel backpack & belt. We went to a few more shops & at 12 we went for a pub lunch, ham, egg & chips for £2.49 each, lots of ham, 2 eggs & plenty of chips. We then came hope & my L&M pottered in the garden & I watched the inside of my eyelids for a while.
Later I did some ironing so my L&M's uniform is all ready for when he returns to work after his holiday.
We shan't have another meal today, I have some hot cross buns that will do for a snack if we need something later.

Sunday 13 April 2014

Why does everything have to be Wow & bigger & more

In the last 6 months, between family, friends & neighbours I've been surrounded by people having building work or home improvements done. Now this is probably very admirable, people can't afford to move so are upgrading their homes, putting an extra bedroom in the loft, adding a conservatory to be used as a playroom.. There is of course nothing wrong with this, we did lots of work on our house when we bought it, we had double glazing fitted & we had a kitchen fitted as the existing kitchen was being used as storage for a DJ & had decks & thousands of CD's but no units. We also turned a rather large downstairs toilet into a study/small bedroom, turned a large cupboard into a downstairs toilet & fitted an en suite shower room to one of ht bedrooms, as there were 8 of us moving into a 3 bed house.
What I find amazing is the work that some people seem to find necessary, huge kitchens for people who never cook, an entrance hall with Wow factor for people who never have visitors & an en suite bathroom for all 4 children as obviously the children cannot be expected to share a bathroom even though they are all under 10. All this costs money & so many people are adding to their mortgages to pay for this work or taking out loans. I worry about how some people are going to manage.

Saturday 12 April 2014

Ebay, exercise & knickers

I've made another sale on eBay & so I decided to combine posting the item off with a little gentle exercise. I would walk to the post office. I set of and very shortly realised I didn't have walking knickers on, well you've heard of walking boots! I have walking & nonwalking knickers. Whats the difference I hear you ask? The knickers I was wearing were a size 18, I'm now a 14, gravity was working as gravity should. I managed to walk far enough to hide behind a large van, once there I removed the knickers & stuffed them in my handbag! I continued on to the post office without incident, but feeling the breeze a little more chilly than I expected. Fortunately I was wearing a straight skirt so no one was getting an unexpected eyeful.
On the walk home I thought I was going to earn some extra pocket money as a car slowed down and started to crawl along beside me. Now the quiet little village street I was walking along doesn't really lend itself to kerb crawlers. I eventually turned towards the car to find that the driver was lost & didn't know how to lower his window. He was trying to get to Sonning Common & according to his map he should be able to from where he was. A brief look at his map showed he was using an Ordnance Survey map & not a road map. The large wide road he was trying to find was in fact the river Thames, it would, no doubt have taken him to Sonning Common, but he would have got rather wet! 

Friday 11 April 2014

Oh dear

I've just go off the phone from MIL, it's not good news, she has spent 9 months being fobbed off by her Doctor, she has bladder problems & was just prescribed one course of antibiotics after another. She put her foot down & demanded a referral. It looks like cancer, bloody Doctors, fobbing her off, we are waiting to find out how serious it is & what the next step is.
DD is feeling slightly better today, the list of things that aren't wrong with her is growing, hopefully we will get answers soon

Thursday 10 April 2014

Thursday

Well the first week of the holiday is almost over & I've achieved very little of the sewing I had planned to do, I'm hoping to get some done tomorrow. I have managed to make some more tagsies & some bandanna bibs, I haven't made my summer dresses & I haven't done any of the quilt, hey ho, family are more important.
DD Lizzie is out of hospital & feeling a bit better, I'm helping her catch up with her washing & other housework. I've dried another load of washing on my line today. Every time she catches up she has to go back in to hospital & everything gets behind again.

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Remoska

I have a few more items to list on eBay, one to take to the PO & I need to take some pics to add to the listings.
I have decided to sell my Remoska, I shall miss it but I really need the room, I've had it a long time but it still works perfectly, it's the large one with the deep pan & it has an inner rack, an inner pan & I have the instruction leaflet & a recipe book.
I just hope it sells, I've offered free local collection as it will be the easiest, but I will post it if I need too.

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Day 2 & still nothing achieved

Day one of the holidays, lazy start as my L&M didn't have to be at work 'til 10, my plan was to get the sewing machine out after I'd dropped him off. It wasn't to be. DD Lizzie rang, she had a Dr's appointment at 10:40, so I drove to hers after leaving my L&M at work, I stayed with her children & she drove to the Dr's. The Dr sent her to the hospital for a blood test so I returned to my house with the DGC's Mark, Norah & Eileen, we did some arts & crafts, made a loaf of bread & some muffins. Lizzie went to the hospital for the test, she then returned to my house to await the test results, there was a problem with the results & she finally left my house about 5ish. By the time I'd cleared up & got a meal ready for my L&M it was too late to get the sewing machine out.

Day two of the holidays, today my L&M is working 1 'til 10, Lizzie had been back in contact with the Dr's & the hospital & so I dropped my L&M at work, picked up Lizzie, Mark, Norah, Eileen plus mad dog, I dropped Norah & Eileen off with their other Grandparents, dropped Lizzie at hospital & brought Mark & mad dog home with me. Mark & I went to buy milk & bread, then we walked mad dog & bought Mark a magazine. We returned home, I did a few chores & Mark helped, the magazine kept Mark engrossed for most of the afternoon. SIL Carl arrived a few moments ago to collect Mark & mad dog, I could now get the sewing machine out but I'm too knackered, maybe tomorrow.

How to embarrass a son in law

I phoned DD Helen last night, she wasn't in & her partner answered the phone, we had a brief chat & it was on the tip of my tongue to ask him how he'd got on at the Dr's. I knew he'd been to see about his testicles. Deciding I would only embarrass him, I said nothing.
Helen phoned me this morning & after a catch up I asked her how the Dr's appointment had gone, explaining that I'd nearly asked the previous evening.
Helen replied 'Well this won't be any less embarrassing as he's sat beside me, but there is nothing seriously wrong with his testicles'.

Sunday 6 April 2014

Christmas

A bit early I know, but my beloved L&M thinks all his Christmas's have come at once. I've given up wearing tights & swapped to hold ups. Because I can't wear anything round my waist I was wearing big tights so they would come up to just under my bosom. Unfortunately the legs were then too long & I ended up with Norah Batty's (wrinkled ankles). So I have bought 10 pairs of hold ups for £5 in the supermarket. My L&M is in 7th heaven & can't keep his hands off me, lol.

Saturday 5 April 2014

Garden 5th April


Raised bed


Grape hyacinth
Love lies bleeding
Catkins
Love lies bleeding number 2
A fruit tree in blossom
Violets
Hanging basket 1
Hanging basket 2
Cauliflower

End of term

What a week! On Tuesday our maths department had a meeting & decided that every student should have a revision booklet to take home for the holidays, upon hearing this some other departments decided to do the same. 
I produced 32000 sheets in 2 days & burnt out the mother board on one of the machines, I nearly burnt myself out too. My feet and ankles were swollen & my BP through the roof. Also, shock horror, I made a mistake on a print run of 25 booklets, black mark against my name. I was robust in my defence (well someone has to be) I said that with such a volume of printing done, one mistake was bloody good going. I will make no difference I know.

Hey ho, on to more interesting things, we went to the local carvery last night with my youngest son John, a belated Mothers day treat, John is a firefighter & the meal had to be fitted in around his & hubby's shift pattern, we had a lovely evening & it was nice to catch up with all his news.

I'm hoping to run round like a loony this weekend doing housework & then have time to do some sewing next week, the week after my L&M should be on holiday with me, but this is a bit up in the air at present as he is part of a team of 3 who work shifts & one member has given his notice in & has 21 days holiday to take before he leaves. My L&M may be asked to give up his holiday so there is cover.

 I was given these beautiful roses by a colleague who left on the last day of term, they were a thank you for the help I've given her over the last few years. Aren't they beautiful.

These are swapsies, my L&M took some tomato plants to work for a colleague & swapped them 2 lavender plants & 3 delphiniums, there is one tomato plant in with the box, it was surplus to requirements.


Wednesday 2 April 2014

Why

Why, in the name of all that's sensible would anyone think that it is acceptable for their child to bring their scooter into a corner shop?
There are only 3 or 4 aisles in this shop, the child riding the scooter was 9 or 10, why couldn't he stay outside the shop or failing that, how about, shock horror, Mother refused to let the child bring the scooter at all. That way we all could have shopped without snagged tights & flat toes!

New neighbours.

A couple of days ago I met the couple who have purchased one of the flats here. The flat is over two floors, has two bedrooms, two bathrooms...