Little things add up

There are some days when I feel I haven't achieved very much at all.  It's unusual (and unlikely) that I don't do anything during the day, but sometimes even lots of little things don't seem to add up to very much.  I thought today I would think about what I have done, and feel good about those things.

I started off this morning by making tea for N and I (we share this little task) and as usual we sat in bed and chatted.  I started a bit of hand-sewing on one of N's jackets - he'd asked me if the pocket flaps could be sewn down as he never used them - and the job was finished before breakfast.

We sorted out some clothes we need for the party tomorrow and N ironed the shirts he's taking.  Meanwhile I altered a pair of my trousers that gape a bit at the back.  I've been meaning to do this for ages but never quite got round to it.  I had to undo part of the waistband, take in the back seam, then take in the waistband to fit.  It wasn't difficult, didn't take long and now the trousers fit much better.

I did some washing.  I vacuumed and tidied.  I folded and put away lots of pieces of fabric that had 'moved' from the spare bedroom/sewing room into the lounge, so both those rooms now have some order back in them.

I've also finally added the finishing touches to the cutlery dividers I've been working on for a while.  I used a laundry marker to make some fabric labels, then I hand-sewed them on the appropriate bags.   These, and the beautiful veneered box N made are my son's belated birthday present and we will take them with us tomorrow.

N has got a wonderful shine on the box lid

We had a lovely tasty Fisherman's Pie for dinner, made from scratch, and then the grandkids and their mum and dad came round for a hour or so, and we did colouring, and sums and had hugs and cuddles.  Brilliant!  And we got Easter eggs :)

So nothing monumental, but lots of little things.  I could do the clothing alterations because I know how to sew.  I didn't have to pay someone else to do those things for me so I saved money.  And I enjoyed doing them.  N and I have had great pleasure from hand-making a birthday present, again we haven't been tempted to buy something mass-produced.  We hope it will be appreciated and cherished as a very personal gift.  The time with the children was great fun, and we all enjoyed being together.  

All in all, a pretty good day.

Patchwork koala bag

I've finished the sewing project that's been taking up quite a bit of my time over the last few days.  It's a shopping tote, but with a patchwork block.

My daughter has a thing about koalas.  I've been meaning to make something koala-related for her for a while and I'm really pleased how this little bag has turned out.  The pattern is based on the front cover of a patchwork book entitled "Quilt a Koala" by Margaret Rolfe, which I saw on the internet.  I have another of her books (Patchwork Quilts to make for Children) but that doesn't have any koala patterns in it.  I had to enlarge the pattern, but as it's based on straight lines, that was fairly straightforward.  I had fun picking fabric from my stash - I knew there was a reason I had collected all those fat quarters ;-) - and I think it's come together well.  I hope my daughter likes it - she's having to find a new flat at the moment, and I know it's quite a stressful time for her.  

I did , however, have a momentary disaster first thing this morning, when I tried to iron out some creases in the fabric I intended to use as the lining.  This happened:

More haste, less speed.  Note to self, check the temperature of the iron first!

I had coffee with my friend this morning - she also gave my hair a trim (it had got so long at the back that I had ringlets LOL) and I will be making some new chair covers for her later in the year.  We had a good natter and caught up on each other's news.

It was brighter today, still cold but the sun did put an appearance.  N is finding it really difficult at the moment with the weather.  However, a bit of really positive news is that I have an interview for a job!  We got the phone call this afternoon.  It's a part-time position, just a few hours a week, but I think I could be of use and that the job could be useful to me.  The money would be nice, but I think it's more than that.  We talked about it after the phone call and we both feel it would help to give some structure to our days, and give us a little time apart from each other to do our own things.  I'm really pleased to have been called for an interview as that suggests that I might be the sort of person they are looking for.  When we come back after the weekend, I will spend some time researching so I have a better understanding and knowledge of the project the position will be supporting.

Bean seedlings reaching skywards

   

This is my 50th post - ta da!!  The blog seems to be evolving a little life of it's own.  I look forward to sitting down and documenting what's happened here.  Nothing earth-shattering, just a few thoughts, what we've been doing and making, things that have caught my attention.  Taking the time to write it down helps me see that we are settling into our 'new' lives at home.  There was always going to be a period of adjustment between leaving full-time work and feeling at ease with a life at home.  Last year we did some travelling (other people buy new cars or have a conservatory built) and that certainly helped us wind down.  Now we look back and we can't believe how much we've changed since we were at work.  Yes, we have uncertainty at present with selling (or not!!) the flat, and the possibility of moving, and will I get another job or not, but we have definitely got a different outlook on life now than when we worked.  We've slowed down, we appreciate the little things, we are happy to step away from the consumeristic bandwagon that seems to dominate many peoples' lives.  We spend very little yet eat very well, cooking from scratch and enjoying it.  We had no idea our lives would change so much, and I think we still have a lot more to discover.

Indoor gardening

The continuing harsh weather has put any thoughts of gardening outside on hold.  The ground is just too cold to even consider putting seeds in.  N has put some mulch on the raised beds but that's all.  However, we're having great success germinating bean seeds indoors.

This was how our beans looks exactly a week ago - little rootlets  and tiny green shoots.  Well, just look at them now!

We have proper runner bean plants :-)   We've started a new batch of seeds off in the boiler cupboard and hopefully they'll flourish as well.  Now we're at home, we can harvest the beans when they are young and tender.  We found in the past that we left them on the plants too long and some were tough and stringy.  No excuse for that to happen this year.

This time last year the temperature was nearly 20 degrees C.  Now it's barely above freezing.  It snowed here this afternoon, a ten minute flurry so nothing like the awful conditions that have hit the country further north, but snow nevertheless.  Add in the wind-chill factor and it's bitter.  What with the weather, nil interest in the flat, and one or two 'family' concerns, we feel a little down at the moment.  The weather and selling the flat are out of our hands, we have no control over those things.  The family concerns - well, to be honest, we can't make people behave in a way that we might feel they ought to.  The only things we have any control over is how we react to their words and actions, and hopefully let them know that we are thinking of them, and care about them.  If our help is asked for, we will give it readily, but if not, then we also need to acknowledge that's their right, and accept their decisions.  We are here if needed.  Sometimes stepping back is quite hard.

I've been sewing away today, trying to finish a patchwork project in time for the weekend.  It's looking great, and hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow and get some photos taken.

New bread recipe

A little blue-tit in the garden this morning

The kitchen has been put back together after the leaking pipe episode.   We had to replace some boarding that the fridge had been standing on, but luckily N was able to  find another piece in the shed that just needed trimming down to fit the job perfectly.

Bread proved and about to go into the oven

I tried a new bread recipe yesterday which has produced an excellent loaf of white bread.  I think I'll stick with this recipe for a while and see what kind of loaf other types of flour produce.  Here' s the recipe I used:

500g strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated sugar
15ml vegetabel oil
7g fast action dried yeast
300ml luke warm water

Mix flour and salt in a bowl, stir in sugar and yeast.  Add oil to water and add to dry ingredients to form soft dough (I found I needed a bit more water).  Knead for approx 10 minutes to form smooth, elastic dough.  Shape dough and place in oiled 2lb loaf tin.  Leave to prove in warm place - I always place a damp cloth over the dough - until doubled in size.  Place in pre-heated over 230C / gas mark 8.  Bake for 15 mins then reduce oven temp to 200c / gas mark 6 and bake for further 15-20 mins.  Bread should be risen, golden and sound hollow when tapped on base.  Turn out to cool on wire rack.

Perfect slices!

Poor N continued to have real problems following his dental work last week.  Now he has an tooth/sinus infection to contend with ;(, but fortunately we had some antibiotics so he was able to start on those over the weekend.  We're hoping it will have cleared up by next weekend as we have an engagement party to attend :)

I was pretty pleased I managed to link to some other blogs yesterday.  And I even posted a comment on Down to Earth.  BTW, it makes me smile to myself that being in the UK, I read the post for the 25 March on the 24th!  When I checked to see if my comment was there, Rhonda had put a little reply to it.  Big grin :))

Housework, emails and things ticked off list yesterday and today.  

Latest sewing project under way

The weather around the UK has been terrible this weekend - freezing cold, drifting snow, ice bringing power lines down.  I really feel for all those people affected by the bad weather - it can't be much fun to be without power in these temperatures.  This winter seems to be never-ending.  We rarely get much snow this far south, but we've had far more this year than I can remember for a long time.   Spring still seems a long way off.

Learning to link to other blogs

Although setting up my own blog was a bit step into the unknown for me, I came across the blogging world in earnest a couple of years ago.  I was aware of their existence before, but I hadn't really ventured into blogland properly.  

Now there are a few blogs that I follow with interest, and many others I 'find'  or see being recommended.  I've found there's a bit of a danger in following up on too many blogs; I could easily spend hours on the laptop engrossed in fascinating stories of interesting lives lived in far-flung places around the world.  I can't justify that amount of time, so I have a handful of blogs I follow regularly, and a few more I dip into from time to time.  

As I'm trying to learn how to create links in my posts, I though I'd share some of the blogs I enjoy reading.

The first is  Down to Earth written by the lovely Rhonda Hetzel in Queensland, Australia.  Rhonda inspires us to slow down and change to a more simple but sustainable lifestyle.  I absolutely love her blog - it's full of straight forward, practical ideas and it make so much sense to me.  It was her blog that made me realise that I was attracted to a simpler life (although I didn't know it actually had a name) - but it seemed to be the direction we were drifting towards.  BTW, I actually plucked up the nerve to leave a comment on this blog today, so 2 bloggie things learned :-).

Another blog I love following is Life on a Small Island, describing life on a very small island in the Orkneys, off the northern coast of Scotland.  N and I visited the Orkneys twice last year, and have another trip planned later in the Spring, and we have fallen under its spell.  Such a wild, beautiful place, with 'big' skies (and a lot of wind and rain!).  Graemsay, the 'small island' in question, has just 27 inhabitants, but there is such a sense of community that comes out of this blog.  The photos are great, too.

Plain and Joyful Living documents the life of a family in northern Vermont, USA, who embrace simplicity, working with nature through the seasons, and share their faith.  I find this blog quietly inspirational, and it's also interesting for me to read about a family who homeschool their seven children.  

So , those are the blogs I keep up to date with.  There are lots of craft blogs I find while searching for something specific - maybe a quilt block, a pattern for a garment or information on yarn weight.  I am always curious to find a little about the person/people behind the blog, so I inevitably read through a few posts, and then another link catches my eye, so 'click' to investigate .....  no wonder I seem to have fewer hours in my day than I should.  LOL.  So I try to not get too carried away with adding loads of blogs to my reading list.  I have too many other things to do.  There are a couple of craft blogs that I do drop in on from time to time, and I'll post about those another time.  

Adding a link seemed a big deal to me, but as is so often the case, it was actually quite simple.  Who knows, I may manage to put a photo or two on the banner soon ; ).

A plumber in the house

I'm quietly making progress with a number of projects and things on my 'to do' list.  I'm a great believer in lists; I always have several on the go, and there is a sense of achievement when I can cross something off.  My new list for the weekend had several things crossed off by this evening so that's a definite feeling of accomplishment.

These are my Mothers Day flowers, still going strong after two weeks

However, not all went according to plan today.  Half way through this morning there was a shout of concern from the kitchen, where N was putting something away in the boiler cupboard.  Something was leaking - never, ever good news.  In my experience, a little water can manage to go an incredibly long way.  Well, N rolled up his sleeves and investigated.  Water turned off, doors were removed, cupboards cleared out, plinths taken out, fridge unplugged, emptied and moved into the middle of the kitchen (not a very big room to begin with), lino rolled back and, sure enough, there was evidence of a leaky pipe.  N took some time to have a good look at the pipework, that way he could understand what the problem might be.  A quick phone call to his dad, who's very knowledgeable about household repairs, and he set about disconnecting the water conditioner (I didn't even know we had one!).  I helped out cleaning the parts, one by one, holding torches to provide better light, mopping and sweeping up when I could.  Then we put the bits back together again, and N made sure the joints were sealed as tightly as possible.  The water was gingerly turned back on, and thankfully, no drips were evident.  Phew!  It made me very thankful that N is not fazed by this sort of calamity, and approaches problems with a very methodical attitude.  He has probably saved us a good few pounds today, and I appreciate that :)
We'll keep an eye on the area for the rest of the weekend, just to make sure all is well.

The pigeons on the shed - they're comical birds and often make us smile with their antics

Yesterday I made another date and walnut loaf (I keep saying I'll try something different, but this always bakes up so well), and N took it to a friend of ours that he had arranged to meet.  We had a phone call in the evening to say the cake was very tasty!  I had a feeling it would be well received.  I also made scones, but they were a bit of a disaster, so much so I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo of them.  I could blame the oven (and I think it may have something to do with the problem), but I will have another go and take a bit more care over the recipe.

Whilst N was out I finished off the sewing project I had underway.  Even though I had measured so carefully before I cut all the pieces out, I found that one piece was too small for what I needed.  A bit of creativity was required, and I managed to use it for something else.  I just need to make some labels, and then I shall be able to share the completely finished article.

I love picking our fabrics from my stash to begin a new project

Today I have sorted out the  fabrics I shall be using for my next sewing project - a patchwork bag.  I'm looking forward to this, although I think it may be a bit fiddly.  I also need to check out half-square triangles to make a Flying Geese border.

I can't believe it's Sunday again tomorrow.  I shall see what we have planned but I may allow myself an hour on the laptop to learn how to make links (I know it's such a simple thing, but I don't know how to do it and I would like to find out how to).  I shall promise myself not to read any blogs in the process ;-)

Crocus in bloom, and false economies

Yesterday was a lovely day,  a bit chilly but glorious sunshine most of the day.  I finally remembered to get some photos of the crocuses we planted late last year, and which have flowered in the last few days.

Despite the fact that we bought a bag of mixed crocuses, they all seem to have come up purple!  Oh well, they do look so pretty.

Poor N has been suffering since he had 2 teeth out on Monday, and had to return to the dentist yesterday for advice.   It seems that one of the roots may have punctured his sinus (ouch!) and he was in quite a bit of pain and discomfort  :( .  He's now got some stronger painkillers, and hopefully it should heal in time.

We had a bit of a disaster with some soup the other day, but learned a valuable lesson from it.  A few weeks ago at the supermarket we bought 3 bags of root vegetables that were at their sell-by date and greatly reduced in price.  It seemed like a good buy, and we made soup from one pack that day.  No problems.  The other 2 packs we froze.  We made another batch of soup using one of those frozen bags, but when we came to taste it .... ugh! the vegies had gone 'sour'.  So we had to throw both remaining bags away (via the kitchen scraps bin, so all not completely wasted).  However, it did demonstrate that we're better off buying fresh produce where possible, or at least using sell-by-date bargains there and then.  

This got me thinking about other false economies I've fallen for.  I knitted up a quick hat for N earlier this year, and grabbed a ball of yarn more for it's colour and weight (and, if I'm honest, the price)  than for the type of yarn.  It was 100% acrylic, and although it knitted up well, and N says it's warm to wear (which was the main idea), the yarn has stretched but won't return to it's original size and shape.  That wouldn't have happened if I'd spent a little more on a wool, or wool-mix, yarn.  So that's another lesson learned - cheapest is not always the best.   There are bargains to be had, but it pays to check for false economies before parting with your money.

I've been working on a sewing project on and off most of the day - a lot of measuring and cutting, pinning and machining.   Another hour or so tomorrow and I should finish it.  I've also spent quite a long time filling in forms, and following up on some emails - I'm hopeful of a positive outcome to this time spent, and I've been thinking about an alternative direction if not.  That's a bit cryptic, I know, but I need to see how things turn out before committing them to a post.

It's obvious I'm new to this blogging lark.  I was interested to see if I could set up a blog (albeit ever so basic at the moment), and I'm enjoying writing a little about our ordinary lives through the year, more as a record for ourselves.  I find it really strange when I see that other people have 'visited', and from different countries around the world, even though I suppose that's the idea of blogging. 

It intrigues me how you found this little insignificant blog, but however you stumbled across it - 'hello'.