Curtains, food shopping and staying grey

Peppers ready for the freezer - a bargain at the greengrocers

A Red Admiral found in the greenhouse

'Small' carrots pulled from the garden for Sunday dinner - the taste was just so good.

The curtain alteration is finished - hooray!  I will confess they very, very nearly got the better of me and I did a lot more than just mutter about the quality.  I have worked on those curtains for almost three days solid; everything else went by the way, and it required more patience and perseverance than I thought I possessed, so to say I am relieved they are done is a bit of an understatement LOL.  And so we move on.

We don't 'do' the commercialism of Valentine's Day - no cards, chocolates or flowers here - but N likes an excuse to mess around in the kitchen and we had a lovely meal of Indian-style tapas which he had made from scratch, including some delicious pitta bread.  I doubt we'd have got a starter in a restaurant for the price he spent on the whole meal - just another reason I love him so much ;-)))

We caught up with the final programme in the Eat Well For Less series and whilst I have been just slightly stunned by the way some people shop for food, there have been one or two interesting snippets we've picked up on.  Fruit juice from concentrate, for example, has exactly the same ingredients as 'pure' fruit juice.  Meat from a butcher is better quality than from a supermarket, and often cheaper.  Fresh produce, cut up and washed then packed in bags, has a very short shelf life.  Cooking from scratch is cheaper and of course you know what goes into it.  Use a meal plan and shop with a list.  Only buy what you know you are going to use, and don't get side-tracked  by so-called bargains.  The amount of money that some people spend on food for one week is double what we spend for a month.  And we eat very well indeed.  It was staggering.

I'm still pondering the wardrobe/clothing situation.  The randomness of my clothes has been a bit of a shock; absolutely no plan at all.  I think some of that may have been due to wearing a uniform for much of my working life, so I only needed to throw casuals on when I got home.  Also I know I used to buy sale goods (in fact I don't think anything in my wardrobe was full price) because they were a 'good buy', not because they went with anything else.  And such a lot of colour, which I love, but not much to tone any of it down a little.  Many, many years ago (probably over 25, thinking about it) I had my colours done ('Colour Me Beautiful' I believe) and I took my little colour charts very much to heart.  So all the colours are the right colours, just way too many of them!  And it was a long time ago.  And now I have grey hair . . .  Just before Christmas I had a wobble about being grey, and convinced myself I needed to dye my hair again, but with a bit of time, and some perspective, I realise that it's what I wear that's the problem, not the colour of my hair.  I just cannot face, or justify, the time and money to have my hair coloured, not to mention the chemicals involved, and I'm relieved that, as so often happens, I have worked my way through the problem.  So grey hair is what I have and grey hair is what I will stick with.  Authenticity rules!!  The clothing declutter has brought into the open one or two other issues which have been 'cluttering up' my life for a while, and I suspect there is a connection at some deeper level.  I'm not saying a radical revamp of my wardrobe is going to sort everything out, but I am quietly confident that it is a place to start.  

More curtains (and clothes)

Another day . . . and another pair of curtains to alter =:o.  Do our children think I have nothing better to do with my time?  Or that I have so much time on my hands they keep finding me more things to do?  Only joking, I'm always very happy to be asked to help with sewing related projects.  However, yet again I find myself having to deal with badly made 'sale' curtains; it's on these occasions, when I have to deconstruct something to alter it, that I realise just how poorly some items have been made.  These particular curtains are attractive and 'in trend', but they are so thin even with a lining that they must still let light through and certainly not keep heat in.  Basically they are for decoration only rather than being functional.  Anyway, I am currently unpicking said curtains and I'll try to do the necessary alteration over the next week - it's the next job on the list so I shall give it my full attention - and no doubt mutter a bit more about shoddy workmanship in the process.  I have told the youngsters that next time curtains are required, it's either a charity shop buy or I make them from scratch!

I'm still pondering over the state of my wardrobe, after the grand clothing sort out I had earlier in the week.  Having gone through every item of clothing I possess I gradually came to the conclusion that whilst I am fortunate to have enough clothes to wear, not much actually goes together.  I have T-shirts and tops that go with jeans (then again, I guess most tops go with jeans), but I have a skirt that goes with nothing at all, trousers that I can't match to anything, lots of colours but very little neutral, and so on.  There is, I have come to the conclusion, no plan or order to my clothing, and I will readily admit how much I need order in my life.  I buy clothes rarely (I think I bought just one pair of jeans and one long-sleeved T-shirt last year, both from a charity shop, and swimwear for Spain), I tend to shop for clothes spontaneously rather than with any kind of plan in mind, and I can see now that I don't really give much thought as to how any new item will fit in with the rest of my clothes.  There's a lot of colour going on, too.  I love bright colours but perhaps I don't need quite so many of them ;-)  It has become clear to me now just why I used to stand in front of a wardrobe of clothes and simply not know what to wear if I had to go out somewhere particular.

I've had a look through some capsule wardrobe blogs and I think this is the way to go for me.  And then yesterday evening I watched the second episode of The Great British Sewing Bee and had a light-bulb moment.  I can't afford to buy a new wardrobe of clothes - and I couldn't justify that sort of spending anyway - but I can make clothes myself, to fit me.  Also, I can't rush something like this, I need to take my time.  So, one step at a time.  I think I may start with colour - base colours, neutrals and reduce the number of brights/accents.  Sounds easy when I write it down.  I have a feeling it may not be quite that simple!  

Replacement bag handles and the start of a wardrobe declutter

Well into February, and I'm doing my best to stay focussed on my New Year 'intentions'.  It's all slowed down a little since the initial, and somewhat frenetic 'I've got to get everything done' attitude I had at the beginning of January, but I'm feeling quite positive about the steady progress I am making.  I think I realised quite early on that I need to be adaptable and not get stressed out when things take a deviation from the path I think they should be on; generally speaking, it all pans out in the end.  Life, as they say, is for living, not for worrying unnecessarily.  'Go with the flow' is becoming one of my mantras.

One more project has been ticked of the list.  A very useful bag began to show signs of wear and tear last year - the covering on the handles began to peel off - and it looked quite unsightly.  The bag is really handy for overnight travelling, or for day trips as it easily accommodates flask and sarnies, knitting or a book, so I was keen to mend it if I could.  

Various stages of handle making

I originally thought I could just recover the handles but on closer inspection I decided it would be just as easy to make new handles from scratch.  Everything I used came from my stash - thick cord, fabric to cover, threads - and I'm pleased with the result.  The bag is now good for a while longer.

This week I have finally begun the grand wardrobe declutter; I just had to take a deep breath and go for it.  Armed with paper and pen, I listed all my clothes, drawer by drawer, box by box and rail by rail.  When you actually start to write every item down individually, the list becomes frighteningly long but I think it was a worthwhile place to start.  I've now re-ordered everything into categories (ie trousers, jumpers T-shirts etc) which sounds a little pedantic but I have a need for order ;-)

So, I discovered that I have no less than 96 items of clothing, not including underwear, sleepwear, swimwear and accessories (scarves and belts).  Included in those 96 items are three items of clothing I wear solely for my volly work, and 11 items of clothing for walking (base layers, trousers).  

Almost immediately I could see things which needed to go, and in the first cull I am parting company with 3 pairs of white sports socks (there was a time, several years ago, when I was at the gym almost everyday), one pair of jogging bottoms which I wore for the renovations and are covered in paint, 3 pairs of shorts which will be used for gardening this summer, and 15 items of perfectly good clothing which I simply no longer wear.  These will go to a charity shop.  I'll check all these items and wash them before passing them on.

So that's the first stage completed.  Inventory and initial cull.  There were no items I had forgotten I owned and actually none that had me horrified to look at.  What I do have, however, is a number of clothes that don't fit properly.  I have lost quite a bit of weight over the past couple of years - not intentionally, I may add, but due probably to a change in lifestyle, being much more active, several months of house renovation, and some major stress issues - and consequently there are clothes which I still like but which are now too big.  Whilst it may be tempting to just go out and buy a whole wardrobe of new clothes that do fit, my frugal nature will look for an alternative.  I'm sure some of these clothes can be altered so I think that may be my next step.

This whole process is going to take some time.  I don't want to rush and make mistakes.  I've been looking online at the idea of capsule wardrobes and I can definitely see the benefits of clothes that work together; it makes a lot of sense.  At the moment I have a random selection of clothes bought/acquired without any overall plan as to how they might fit together.  That's the problem, and I think it will be fun sorting it out.

Sunday in the sun

It was a beautiful day yesterday; crisp, dry, clear and sunny so N and I took ourselves off for a walk.  Through the town, along the esplanade, back through the outskirts and home via the scenic route.  About 5 miles in total, and it was lovely.

Model yacht racing on the boating lake

The view across the Solent to Portsmouth - the Spinaker Tower on the left

A few boats in the marina

Glossy ivy leaves and clusters of black berries

Shadows on the footpath

More shadows - me and my DB - the water in the creek was still and crystal clear

A sure sign of Spring - snowdrops

Five miles is a pleasant stroll for us these days, it doesn't leave us puffed out needing to put our feet up for the rest of the day ;-) .  We're both a lot fitter than we used to be - I think living out of town and having a 3-mile round trip there and back is pretty beneficial for our health.  And walking allows you to see the small things that flash past when you are in a car.  I'm going to start photographing some of these 'small things' on future walks, if nothing else, it makes me pay attention to what is around me.  

Oh, and the birdsong yesterday was wonderful.

Not on the list

Brrr, still cold here with temperatures hovering a couple of degrees above freezing during the day; no snow here, although when I drove to my voluntary job Friday morning I was really surprised to find a dusting of snow just a few miles away.  We're trying to get out if we can, even if it's just a walk into town and back.

I'm making great efforts to tackle this pile of projects in the sewing room but I seem to be adding more than making any inroads.  So yesterday I made a cover for my newly-acquired hot water bottle (since the electric blanket gave up on us we have been sharing a bottle - very cosy but not so practical!).  Road-tested last night and deemed a resounding success.  But not on the list.

Also not on the list was N's thermal gloves.  He's had them a few years and they are just so warm (having borrowed them, I can testify to this).  However, the glove cuffs are worse for wear and tear - the velcro fastening has caught and pulled the fabric badly and they really did look a mess.  I had a look at them and decided that if the damaged cuffs were removed, I could make some replacement cuffs in ribbed knitting.  So N sat and unpicked the old cuffs and I sat beside him knitting some new ones - how's that for teamwork?!  I sewed them on this morning and we're both very pleased with the finished result.  If I hadn't been able to do that, those gloves would have been thrown away; as it is, there is plenty of wear left in them so a few pounds saved with little effort.  

More meals from the freezer today - a portion of veg stew, one pot of beef rogan josh (both home-made) and some spare rice; at least it hasn't gone to waste.  To eke out the remaining frozen vegetables, N decided to investigate the carrots that he sowed back in the autumn. We didn't bother thinning them out and to be honest we had almost forgotten them. However, all is not lost - N came back with more than enough carrots for dinner tomorrow. A little pale but the taste is fantastic.  Nothing to beat home-grown veg.

I managed to catch up with the Sewing Bee this evening, and as usual I'm itching to do some dressmaking.  And I will do, just not quite yet.  The 'project pile' is still too big, but I am working on it ;))

Planning, sorting, and resting

Yesterday morning N took an inventory of what was left in the freezer.  Then we sat down and worked out what meals could be rustled up from the list and after a bit of pondering, we managed another ten meals and we haven't even started on tins in the store cupboard.  We are wondering if we could actually get through to the end of February without a major food shop - I think N is looking at it as a bit of a challenge!  This evening's meal wasn't on the list at all because we had forgotten about the turkey I picked off the bones a couple of days ago and which was still in the fridge.  That became a fricasee of sorts, served with the last of the linguine, and very tasty it was.  

One of the projects I have on the go this year is creating a new quilt from an old pieced top, and it involves unpicked hundreds of hand-stitched hexagons.  I've been trying to do a little every day, but I have been aware just recently that my shoulder is beginning to ache.  After a very restless night when turning over was incredibly painful, I've come to the conclusion that RSI has set in again so the unpicking is now on hold until I have rested my shoulder properly.  Instead, I sorted all the hexagons into the various patterns.

Another session of clearing out, especially paperwork, in my sewing den today; I'm trying to be quite ruthless and quite a bit is heading off to the recycling bin or charity shops.  Order is gradually being achieved.  It would be easy just to put some more cupboards or shelves in the room but I need to keep things down to a minimum.  The pile of things to do (aka projects) is steadily growing; I added two more to the list just this afternoon =:o .  It's as well I like to be busy.

It snowed!

Not quite the blizzards and snow drifts of the US, or even north England and Scotland, but it snowed here overnight:

A few more flurries before breakfast but by 10am it had all but disappeared.  Never mind, it has snowed.

So what's been happening here, snow aside?  Yesterday we had a radiator installed in the bedroom/conversion and all connected up to the existing heating system.  It makes sense, short-term and long-term - it really has been like a fridge in that room since Christmas.  All the radiators are fitted with thermostatic valves so we can turn the temperatures down in individual rooms and only heat the rooms we use.  This morning, however, we did have the luxury of the heating on most of the morning (well, it was snowing ;)  ) and it was lovely to have the warmth.  N made an interesting observation a couple of days ago; he commented on the fact that in the winter, many people go on holiday to sunny destinations to get away from the cold, but instead of spending maybe £1/2000 going abroad, for perhaps £100 on the fuel bill they could simply have the heating on more at home.  It's certainly a thought.

The work in the spare bedroom was an opportunity for us to have another sort-out of odds and ends in the garage store, and we have recycled a load of bottles, and found new homes for electric cables.  Another two storage boxes have been emptied and I may be able to use them to tidy up the chaos in the sewing room.  We had a box of spare light bulbs and in the process of sorting through them we discovered that three of them didn't even work so they have now been disposed of.  It may be slow progress, and only a little at a time, but it all helps.

In between all of this, I did manage to do the Monday cleaning chores.  

This was the state of the vacuum head - threads all twisted round the roller, dust in every nook and cranny, and on the black cogs (top centre in the picture above) you can just about make out a tack that had managed to embed itself in the plastic.   It must have been hoovered up during all the renovations last year - I had wondered what the odd noise was!  Now it's all been thoroughly cleaned out, it all works a treat.

We've been feeling the benefits of the new quilt on our bed; goodness, it makes such a difference on these cold nights.  I had planned to start machine quilting it this week but I think that's unlikely now, plans seem to be 'fluid' just at the moment and I am adopting a flexible approach to each day.  Yes, I like to have some organisation to my days, but nothing so rigid that it can't adapt and change as needed.  Things still get done, just not necessarily when I thought they would.  

We're still working our way through the freezer, although there isn't too much left now, and N came up with a 'leftovers' meal this evening, using up some bits in the fridge.  Very tasty it was, too.  Nothing goes to waste here and N's talents in the kitchen save us pounds.  A lot of it is having the confidence of knowing what ingredients go together and of creating something out of whatever is available in the cupboard, fridge and freezer and not relying on convenience foods.  Our meals may not have gourmet names created by celebrity chefs, but they are tasty, nutritious, filling and made from scratch using fresh food wherever possible.  I am thankful every day that my lovely other half not only enjoys cooking, but keeps us so well fed.