The Latest From Chilly Worcester...

Hullo... It's another post from Ella

Female servant says that she's got 'blogger's block' at the moment so it's left to me to reassure the world that things are fine in Worcester.  Can you see the cobwebs on my face in this photo?  I got a bit carried away on a 'cupboard safari' last week.  I ended up squeezed behind a drawer, under the work-surface in the darkest corner of the deepest kitchen cupboard.  I can report that female servant has never dusted here.  It made me sneeze!!

 

 

Life has got a bit complicated since my last post.  Some of the local young male cats think that they can just peer at me through the hall window.  I think that's SO RUDE so I've started to glare at them from the lounge window.  This is my irritated face....

 

And here's the 'swishy' tail that goes with it!

At the moment I'm just protecting my indoor territory.  If the servants open the front door when I'm anywhere near, I run away.  Then I prepare to jump on any invaders from a position of strength - such the kitchen doorway.  Female servant has told the neighbours that she thinks I might be a 'swipe first, ask questions later' sort of cat.  She knows me so well!!!

 

The servants had a few days off last week. 

It was nice to have both of them around for fussing AND it was good to see male servant look at bit less tired and stressed.  They went for a few walks and enjoyed the sun.

 

Since January, female servant has been going to the local quilters club meetings.  She started working on a cushion for the 'Chairman's Challenge' while they were on holiday.  She finished it this afternoon.  I think it will look fine once it's got a few cat hairs attached but she's hidden away until the meeting in April....

 

She's used the 'quilt as you go', strip quilting technique.  There's a lot more top stitching than she'd normally do and it seems - from the pleased human squeaks - that she's pleased with herself.

 

I still think it needs 'furring in'!!!

Sending hugs and purrs to everyone.

Stay warm during this cold spell.

 

Ella (and Jx)

Everything's fine, I think......

What a week....

 

In the diary for Monday - walk on Malvern Hills with friend K.

At 8.15, just as I was about to leave for my friends house, Mum rang in a total panic.  Dad had collapsed and she couldn't get him up again.  We called for an ambulance and they checked him out.  His heart is fine.... it was just a combination of fatigue, a virus and dehydration.  A lot of water, sleep and some antibiotics have worked their magic over the rest of the week.

Unfortunately he knocked Mum quite badly on the way down so she was bruised (not great for an elderly HD sufferer).

I spent the day round at their house, generally looking after things and getting Dad to his own Docs later in the afternoon.

 

In the diary for Tuesday - coffee and catch up with fellow 'escapee Music Teacher' S.

Fortunately she texted to say that she had one of the bugs that's going round.  I used the day to sort out a few more things for Mum and Dad.  I also did my own food shop for the week while I was in Droitwich.  I found that I was a bit 'wiped out and emotional' after the unexpected stress of the previous day.

In the evening we went to the Marcos Motoring Club monthly meal at a pub near Pershore.  I wasn't really in the mood to be sociable... and a couple of people in the club really pushed my buttons during the meal.  I know I was just over-tired so I'm not going to hold it against them!

 

In the diary for Wednesday Evening - Saltway Quilters Meeting with friend and next door neighbour J.

My first ever visit to a Quilters Meeting.  The group are really friendly and welcoming.  We'll  definitely go again.

 

In the diary for Thursday - coffee and catch up lovely ex-colleague C.

C. texted me while I was at the Quilters meeting to say that she was swamped by work/planning and marking and would prefer to re-schedule our catch up to next week.  I made the most of the unexpected free time to do several loads of washing .... and several happy hours of quilting!!!

 

In the diary for Saturday Evening - '90 Years of Romance' meal out with Mum and Dad

This weekend is the 67th anniversary of Mum and Dad's first date AND the 33rd anniversary of mine and Mark's first date, making 90 years of romance in total!  Sadly we took the decision on Friday to postpone this meal because Mum and Dad aren't really well enough at the moment for a big meal in the evening.  We hope that we'll have a meal out together in a couple of weeks time.

In the meanwhile I made a curry from scratch for the two of us and we enjoyed a nice bottle of wine.

 

I hope that this week is going to be a little bit more like the schedule I can see in the diary......

No surprises please!!!!!

Jx



A Bit of Christmas Fun....

Every year Mark's Boss stands everyone a 'full English' breakfast in the week before Christmas.  The dress code is Christmas jumpers, silly hats and any other festive accessories.  There's a competition for the best outfit, which is voted on by the engineers at the breakfast, and the prize is a nice bottle of fizzy wine. 

 

In the past Mark hasn't really bothered with the whole thing (he HATES Christmas jumpers and refuses to buy one just for the event).  This year he had a complete change of heart and 'commissioned' me to make him an outfit.  We made the patterns together, mashing up the size and shape of a body-warmer with an old waistcoat, and copying a bow tie into a cardboard pattern.  I started the waistcoat before Thomas died.. then crafting stalled a bit due to circumstances and motivation.  The recent snow days (and the fact that the breakfast is next week) gave me the time and impetus to get the job finished.

 

I'm really quite pleased with the whole effect....

 

 

I used 'Quilters Dream' batting (which I use for all my quilt-as-you-go projects) to shape the waistcoat.  It meant that I could do a nice striped lining and it's given the garment some stability (as well as warmth).  The bow tie and the back of the waistcoat are made out of the star design.  The reverse of the bow tie is a sparkly orange, which looks great when Mark's wearing it.

 

Then I've made him a sack to fill with 'presents' and sling over his shoulder as he walks into the breakfast...  He's also got a red furry 'Santa Hat' to complete the look!

 

Mark's really pleased with it and plans to wear everything again on Christmas Day.  I'm just delighted that it all relatively tidy (because I'm still sewing on my old 1960s Singer).  It will be interesting to see what the other engineers think of our efforts.

 

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post.

(When I've got a little bit more time over Christmas I'll update the HD pages so I can keep you posted on any other developments that come out through the HD community.)

It's starting to feel a bit like Christmas!

Jx

Nice Things and Good Times..

The doorbell rang on the Friday evening of our NEC weekend and our lovely neighbour from across the road handed us a parcel.  "What's this?" said Mark "I don't think I've ordered anything from Australia."  "Ooooh," said I in a very squeaky voice "THAT'S MINE!!"

 

 

...And it was full of fabrics.  A lovely gift from across the blogosphere from Susan at Granny Smith's Quilting (Click on her name to hop across to her blog.  I am in AWE of her quilts.. they are beautiful)

 

Behind the floral fat quarters, Susan tucked these musical designs as a special surprise.

They are fabulous together.  I want to make something for my music teaching spaces, but I can't quite decide what/how yet...

Thank you again Susan - such a lovely and unexpected gift!

 

On the subject of Music - I've just got to the end of my second 'financial year' of private instrumental tuition.  I'm pleased to report that my business is growing more or less as I hoped.

It's all very 'low key' and laid back.. but I'm just about making enough to cover all the household and food bills, plus a very small amount for pocket money for myself.

I think the most important thing is that I'm happy, so my pupils get the best of my enthusiasm too.  I now have four harp pupils, six piano pupils, one violin pupil and some A level coaching.

The best things of all???? No crazy management team and NO OFSTED!

 

And finally... we've found a car to replace the one that was written off in the accident.

(All our cars have names, generally based on their registration plates, so 'Silver Su the Disco 2' is coming to live with us on Friday.  I'm very excited!!)

In addition, we took the Silver Marcos out for a 'post-winter maintenance shake down drive' yesterday afternoon.  She behaved perfectly - which cheered Mark up no end!

Jx

'C' is for.. stuff that makes me smile

'Crafting and Creative Projects'

Here are the placemats and coasters that I made for Mum for Mother's Day.

They're made with poly-cottons and brushed cotton (rather than batting) so they should go through the washing machine without problems. This was my first 'go' at anything like this so I was really pleased with the result.  Mum really liked them too.

 

 

'Composing'

I've also been flexing and stretching my 'musical creativity' recently.  I write material for harp on a regular basis but it's been a very, very long time since I last wrote anything for piano.  This week I finished a piece called 'Prelude' for one of my intermediate piano pupils.  It's been nice to exercise my brain in a different way... and quite challenging to make sure that the music is of the right level to have 'durability' but still accessible to a 11 year old boy.

 

'Cats getting in the way of crafting'

Thomas is really back on form.  I took him to the vets last Wednesday and she said that his heart was good, the thyroid tablets are keeping his weight up, and he's enjoying a pain free life with the pain medication.  He was slightly puzzled to find Mark sewing on badges in the conservatory..

 

 

...so he jumped up and started to play with the thread and needle.

Eventually Mark gave in and 'fussed' him for a while.  The net result is that we now have new black tops for the show that are generously covered in white cat fur!!

 

'Cars'

Mark has worked really hard to get the current project looking good for the 'Restoration Show' at the NEC next weekend.  Obviously she still needs paint, glass and a new interior - but the new wheels and all the mechanical modifications under the bonnet give a pretty good idea of his creativity.  It's also given him the motivation to start scheduling the final stages of the build.  Hopefully I'll be posting pictures of a finished car by the end of the year!!!

 

And the meanwhile there's been no confirmation of the situation with regards to the damaged Series 2 Disco - so we're still waltzing around in this wee beastie..

 

 

 

Actually we've become rather fond of this car and a custody battle is starting to develop.  This week Mark has got her today, I'm driving her tomorrow, Mark has her on Wednesday, we're sharing Thursday and I'm driving Friday! This was a photo of her first 'grass between the wheel treads' moment at Croome Park yesterday afternoon!!  A little bit silly, but also fun...

 

Ofcourse there's always some serious stuff going on in the background... but these are things that have made me smile in the last few days

The New Conservatory ... and other things that shine!

The old conservatory did excellent service for almost 20 years...

But it was poorly insulated, leaked and severely restricted the light in the dining room.

 

 

Now I have a lovely light new room, with carpets that match through the whole of the ground floor.  I'm SO pleased with it. 

 

There are a few patchwork cushions and a small quilt in there at the moment that I might replace.  I've got some lovely pale purple/grey/blue/green fabrics in the stash that will make a new quilt and a few cushions.  I've also decided to move a few bits from my blue and white pottery collection onto the window sills.... I just need to have a sort out in the kitchen and decide what's going where!

 

Yesterday Mum and Dad came round for a little 'celebrating the finished conservatory' lunch.

I got out my two tier cake stand, tea plates etc. so that we could do the whole thing 'in style'.  We sat and chatted in the sun for about 3 hours.... which was so relaxed and lovely.

 

And - yesterday morning - this wee beastie arrived on the drive too!

It's a brand new (26 miles on the clock) Discovery 5.

It's the car provided by the insurance company until our old Discovery is sorted out.

(Basically we've got it because the 'normal' vehicles provided to cover periods of accident repair aren't capable of moving a full size harp or towing a 3 1/2 tonne car trailer!)

It's ENORMOUS and it took me several hours to pluck up the courage to drive it!

Now I've got used to it... I actually quite like it. 

Ofcourse 'Petrol Head Mark' has fallen in serious love!!

 

Sadly my old Discovery was declared a 'write off' this morning - so we're now in the process of negotiating a settlement and finding a replacement.  We won't be buying a Discovery 5 though... Mark told me last night that this car is currently being sold for £65,000!!!!!!!!  (Now I'm even more nervous about driving it......!)  Mark's tasked me to go up a local 4X4 garage this afternoon and see how much a similar condition, 15 year old vehicle will cost.

 

How did I ever find time to teach????

 

Life's been a bit crazy...

 Last week I had to take a little 'bloggy break'.

There just didn't seem to be enough time to read posts or write anything of my own.

However, I used the time productively...

 

Here are the 'pocket warmers' that I made for elder niece L., specially for those cold Leeds mornings when she's catching the bus to her work placement.  I hope that she'll think of Thomas when she looks at the little sleeping cat!

 

 

I cleared the conservatory (with some help from Mark when it came to the larger bits of furniture!)

 

I made endless cups of tea for our workmen

as the old superstructure came down and the new one was erected.

The new carpet is being fitting this afternoon so I'll do a proper 'new conservatory post' later in the week...

 

When I did Mum and Dad's ironing, I noticed that the napkins they use as table mats in the garden were looking very threadbare.  I found some bright poly-cottons in the stash and started to make some replacements for Mother's Day..

 

 

I collected some wheels for Mark's latest car project.

 

And helped him put them on the car on Friday afternoon.

(We're both SO pleased with the way that they've created the 'modern retro' look that we wanted)

 

THEN... on Saturday afternoon... we were involved in a road accident.

Basically we were travelling past a road junction at 30 mph.

A driver just didn't see us and pulled out into the side of the vehicle.

Fortunately everyone was ok..... but her car has been written off and the damage to ours could be worse than it looks.  The front of her chassis hit our rear passenger wheel and we suspect that the rear axle is no longer correctly aligned.  She's accepted full responsibility for the accident, but we're now into the inconvenience and paper-chase of sorting things out....

 

This week I'm hoping for a few days of 'calmer waters'!!!!

Jx

Saturday 'Show and Tell'

We've had this old footstool for years.

We bought it with a suite from the Co-op in Worcester in the mid-90s.

The suite was replaced years ago but this was too useful to be thrown away.

It's mid-90s colours looked ok with the old carpet...

but it's not looking great with the new one!

 

 

So I'm making a little quilt to cover it.

I'd been saving these fabrics for some kind of project for the lounge..

and this seems like the perfect opportunity to use them!

The main section is just 5 X panels of random 'quilt as you' strips.

 

There's going to be a narrow cream border

then the side of the quilt will be five of these floral print squares.

(The floral pattern is actually a beautiful screen print....

which I picked up for £1 a metre in a clearance bin!)

 

In the evenings I'm also working feverishly on this lace scarf.

I hope that I'll be able to give it to my friend for her birthday in 10 days time.

I love the effect, but the yarn is an absolute pest to work with!

 

On Thursday morning, niece L. and I went for a walk and lunch in the Wyre Forest.

She's doing a nursing degree in Leeds so her holidays tend to be at slightly weird times.

 

 

It was such a luxury to be out and about under blue skies!

 

The paths were really water-logged..

 

but we managed to walk a decent length loop around the forest tracks

and along the old railway line.

 

It was lovely to catch up with all her news.

 

This evening Mum and Dad are coming for dinner.

We're having Shepherds Pie (a good one for people with HD)

Tomorrow we're off to Oxford to try and tackle some of the 'in-law issues'...

Between you and me, I'd rather stay at home and craft...

but Mark would like my support (which is fair enough!)

 

I am, however, taking the birthday scarf with me to work on.

I'm hoping that I'll feel less like throttling people if I can keep my fingers occupied!!

Jx

Blown Away on the Welsh Coast.

We spent half term in a gorgeous little holiday cottage in New Quay on the West Coast.

Follow this link to see the details of our accommodation.  It really was really lovely and I'd whole-heartedly recommend it to any couple looking for something a bit special in the area.

 

The weather was extremely variable.  There were lots of grey skies

and all the boats were out of the water to avoid the worst of the winter storms...

 

 

There was a little bit of blue sky at Aberaeron...

 

..and we had lots of fun exploring the quirky shops in Cardigan

 

We had ringside seats for storm Doris. 

This is high tide on the same day, after the worst of the high winds had passed..

 

Then we explored Aberystwyth and enjoyed one day of 'real' winter sun.

 

But the main thing was that Mark had a proper break from the challenges and hassles of his workplace.  The poor weather forced us to slow down properly and we spent ages just reading, crafting, chatting and enjoying the huge view from the upstairs seating area in the cottage.

 

I also went on a bit of a spending spree in the local fabric and yarn shops.

I spent two hours choosing fabric in Calico Kate when it was raining hard on the Wednesday morning (well there are 12 rooms of fabric to work through!!!!); visited Rosemary's Wool Shop in Aberaeron twice AND had to be dragged out of Clare Wools in Aberystwyth after a perfectly reasonable 45 minute brouse!!!  We also found a wool shop in the lower ground floor of Cardigan Market and stopped off at the wool shop in Brecon during the journey home.  All the ingredients for a great holiday really!

 

Sadly, things have been a little bit fraught since we got home.  My folks are fine - but I've had car problems and 'in-law' problems, which are time consuming and have made it hard to blog.

There was also an absolute mountain of washing and housework!

 

Hopefully we're back into normal routine now.

I'll post some 'work in progress' and stash photos later in the week,

Jx

The New Carpet Post...

In my role as 'Domestic Services Manager', I've spent the last few days moving stuff.

The hall, stairs, landing, lounge, dining room, cloakroom and under-stairs cupboard all had to be cleared for the new carpets.

 

The big harp ended up in a corner of the study for safe keeping...

 

 

The baby harp found it's way to the back bedroom (along with the contents of all the cupboards and all the pictures off the walls)..

 

The conservatory was absolutely rammed with furniture...

 

And here's 'one last view' of the old carpet.

In this photo it probably doesn't look too bad but it was badly faded, threadbare and moth eaten in the corners.  It was also a strange 1990s shade of pink/peach...

 

Here's the new carpet - actually small flecks of cream, beige and 'modern grey'.

It's one of those super-hard wearing carpets, which means I don't need to worry about any accidental spills, cats or pupils!!!!

 

Then we had to put everything back...

 

This week we've also had the front and back doors replaced

AND Mum and Dad are having all the building work done for their lift.

AND I decided to start a quilt and some cushions for the lounge....

(photos to follow)

 

I am so pleased with it all... but also a bit knackered!!

Jx