shouldering the burden

For over a week I have been feeling very sorry for myself. An old shoulder injury came back to haunt me and I have been fairly immobile and full of painkillers, wincing and moaning and feeling generally crappy.

It is easing away now, and just in time as over the next few weeks I have to work long hours doing 'piece' work for a rush order of plastic flags for a company in the village. It pays well but is rather sporadic. It's not what I want to be doing, but at the moment is a necessary evil. Today is my last day off for a while!

I was so glad the sun shone this morning. 

 

I have had to lay off the knitting for a while as it aggravates my shoulder, but managed to finish off the squares for a cushion cover - all laid out ready for assembly.

The Country File photographic competition is upon the nation once again. So I set out with my camera for a short stroll round the field a couple of streets away - just me, the dog and the cat. Always a strange sight!

I don't think I managed to get any winning shots - and the animals are as far from wild as you can get - but they are so cute I can't help myself. 

I suppose I am going to have to get all extreme with the weather of the time or the situation to get the shots I really want! 

Poor old Jemmy having yet another rest. 

I didn't know you Felt that way!

I have been living a deluded existence. 

Yesterday - for the first time ever, on two separate occasions in two separate towns by two separate people it was assumed I was a GRANDMOTHER!

So obvious was the shock and look of worry on my face I do believe I have actually aged about 10 years.

The first lady to make this terrible error was attending the same class as me in Nelson. I had taken in a small bag made from a piece of felt I had made the week before. 

"what are you going to do with it?" she asked - "I bet your grandCHILDREN would love it"

The second lady was in ASDA in Colne - She was promoting mayonnaise, and my Daughter and I stopped to dip one of her tempting potato wedges into a pot of mayo with a hint of wasabi.

After chatting with the lady and agreeing to buy a jar of this tasty sauce she handed us a promotional pack with a competition in it along with some cardboard crowns and a party game which would be perfect for my to give "to your grandCHILDREN" 

I couldn't believe it - as we say around here "I was gob-smacked" 

not only did I look old enough to be a grandmother but I looked old enough to have several of them. 

As my family have pointed out to me I am technically old enough to have one or two - me being the ripe old age of 41 and my daughter is 20 - and maybe in Nelson and Colne most people of my advanced years do have grandchildren, I don't know - or maybe I delude myself that I look younger than I really am and all those years of going to illegal raves, dancing all night and sleeping for about 10 hours per week back in my late teens has finally taken it's toll and to the great unwashed I just look knackered.

Anyway I phoned my mum straight away for sympathy - and when she finally stopped laughing I told her it just meant that she probably looked like a Great Grandmother. Harrumph!

Here are a couple of photo's of the felt I have been making that my Grandchildren will no doubt love so much! 

195 Thrifty Days till Christmas

I have been a thrifty girl of late, although not everything goes to plan. The socks I knit for Dad for Christmas will actually be given to him for fathers day (I forgot about that one!) and the socks I was knitting for hubby - well, he saw them and really liked them so I just gave them to him - he then quizzed me incessantly about the next pair I was making and well, he's now wearing them as well - Still I am determined the Aran sweater I am knitting him will be for Christmas, I just need to make him something in secret for his birthday on new years eve rather than frantically search the sales for anything he may like.

Last weekend we were invited to my sister in laws wedding. I had been very apprehensive before hand - for many reasons that all seam very trivial - the main reason was that the whole of my husbands family are incredibly thin - I on the other hand have never even been remotely thin! they always look glamorous and gorgeous, I always feel fat and frumpy. 

I spent weeks deciding what to wear, I don't own a skirt or a dress and wouldn't wear one if I did, and we are so skint at the moment that a new outfit was out of the question. 

My dad took me to Burnley to the littlewoods catalogue shop and I found some white linen pants for £4 and a top I kind of felt comfortable in reduced from £70 to £5 - which he kindly paid for - but I still um'd and ah'd over it all. I even cried more than once - I couldn't believe it because for the rest of the time I am perfectly comfortable in what I wear, how I present myself etc.

On Thursday evening after looking through my Molly Makes vintage wedding supplement for the umpteenth time I decided to get a lovely white top my mum had given me last year that I had worn once and managed to get a coffee stain on - out of the cupboard. I rubbed vanish into the stain and found my stash of fabric dyes bought from a closing down sale a couple of years ago. Among them was 'French Pink' - 20 minutes later I had a new pink top. A frantic search through my mountain of vintage lace then ensued to no avail, so on Friday morning I popped into Clitheroe and came back with 2 meters of white cotton lace for £1.80 

A couple of hours in the sewing room and I had pinned, pleated and sewn my new creation. Something was missing though - A coat or cardigan. Off down to mums who said "I don't think I have anything like that but have a look"

In her wardrobe was a pink dressing gown she had worn once on a hospital stay, she had forgotten it was their! She can't stop laughing at some of my ideas and this was yet another.

Off came the bottom 2 foot of the dressing gown, 2 darts sewn into the back, the buttons removed and replaced with some vintage style ones given as a free gift on MM's then disaster! I tried to iron the darts on the back and the second the iron touched the fabric it melted! 

So a patch went over it with 2 more buttons and voila! one hand made vintage style wedding outfit! 

I am not a 'pink' person - but I felt really comfortable in the outfit, and a lovely day was had by all!

Bunting n stuff

It is Jubilee weekend - 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II reign. The second longest reigning monarch (after Queen Victoria) and only one of a hand full of Queens our little island has had.

We have strung up some bunting outside the house, and will be eating a scone and sipping tea while raising a toast to her majesty at some point this weekend - although in the village there doesn't seam to be much going on. A far cry from her silver jubilee in 1977. 

I was 6 years old and remember school parties, free mugs and tea towels for all the children and a best decorated bike competition - Mum and Dad covered my bike with red white and blue crape paper flowers and flags - and I won! 

There I am in front of their house proudly posing for the camera.

I remember my mum and one of the neighbors sewing miles of bunting and my dad taking me with him into the front bedrooms of each house on the street to help him tie it all up so it zig zagged above our heads. Trestle tables were borrowed from the conservative club at the top of the street and everyone contributed food to the feast.

Most of the street had lived there for ever - people didn't move much in those days - My parents had bought their house from my dads grandad in 1970. They still live their today! Most of the old characters have long since died or moved and the street has lost it's community feel. It is more of a spare car park for the village now when once my dad had the only car on the street! 

The village organised a big sports day at the cricket club with all kings of races for the kids, 3 legged, egg and spoon, sack rage, relay's - a cricket match for the adults, tug of war, and plenty of Shandy's being drunk.

This time around my mum is the only one to have put up a little bit of bunting - there is no street party organised, no neighbors getting together to sew bunting and flags, no children having egg and spoon or sack races. There are no village events where all the children get to run around wildly - but the pubs have organised a 'Whalley live' event. In the pubs, at night. 

Whatever you get up to this weekend, if you are here or abroad, part of the commonwealth or not, Have a lovely time. Spare a thought for what community means to you and what your place is in it.

And Your Majesty - if you happen to be reading this (that would be too weird!) 

Have a good one love - you've been a good Queen - you're ok by me!

Shed-ing some junk!

For the past few years our shed has turned into a bit of a dumping ground for anything we couldn't bare to throw out but had no room for in the house, plus Mr Fig has been steadily collecting sticks and bits of wood for his new woodcraft obsession. 

It had eventually filled to the door, and the freezer was inaccessible and Mr Fig has been woodworking next to the sink by the kitchen door on a piece of bench about 20" x 8" 

His excuse for not sorting out the shed and making it into a proper work area has been;

his back

too big a project

not enough day light

it might rain

needing help

too many other things to do

well, you get the idea.

So, with his back ok, no rain in sight for the next few days, the yard being clean and tidy and full of space and the promise of help from me (well, in a supervisory capacity - involving the words "throw it away") he has finally made a start this morning! 

I cannot believe what junk we have kept hold of for so long! bike racks, sledges, old tool handles, empty paint tins, enough jam jars to restock chivers, chili sauce bottles, empty wine bottles, broken buckets, broom heads - but it has to be the kitchen machines, designed to make life simple quick and efficient that really makes me laugh, usually resigned to the shed once it becomes apparent just how much of a time consuming bore they are to clean, or store, or assemble etc.

a juice extractor, a veg steamer, a seed sprouter, coffee makers, blenders, mixers, some strange German biscuit extruder and a microwave that broke about 6 years ago.

I am determined never to buy a so called labor saving device for the kitchen again - they are just far too much trouble, and take up too much room. I have free-cycled my bread machine because making it by hand is just a simple, my doughnut maker used once and my toasty maker.

So what have I kept? 

The toaster - used almost every day and missed when it broke.

the blender - I could live without it, but it does get used a lot.

The kettle - in almost constant use.

 

Here is Mr fig (in a fine pair of socks knit by me!) in our tiny back yard - working very hard!

 

Enjoy the sunshine - this may be Summer!

the big and the small of it...

Inspired by a tiny vintage brooch at a recent fair I have been busy sewing this tiny little lady. 

She has turned out a 'little' larger than anticipated but I am quite pleased with her. I shall however be trying to make a smaller version. I have no idea why I suddenly become engrossed in these miniature adventures, possibly my life long wish to own my own dolls house I can fill with tiny treasures. I seams to be some kind of oxymoron that I need a bigger home to house a miniature house. 

Spring 'Time'

Due to lack of funds we have not been out anywhere very much lately.

The only social event has been a friends wedding, but to be honest, after rather a wild youth I am more than happy to sit in front of the telly with a pile of knitting or crocheting to keep me busy.

Baby fig and I have managed to get to the odd jumble sale and at craft and vintage fairs we are usually on our stall avoiding spending money and trying to sell our wares.

Today all three of us went to Clitheroe to a vintage fair. I had not taken a stall as it was almost double the cost of other fairs we had done, but now I wish we had! It was packed with people, and the stalls were just gorgeous! We also found out why for the past few weeks there has been a distinct lack of vintage loveliness in a couple of the charity shops in the town. Both Age UK and Cancer Research had stalls with all the goodies I would normally look for but twice the already expensive price. I know, it is for charity - but I thrive on bargains and have no money! 

There was all sorts I could have bought, mainly useless things like glove finger stretchers (I don't ware gloves) or a shoe last, wooden skittles, more sparkly jewelry, or a grammar phone that only played wax records. but in the end I paid my £1 to get in, and came out without buying a single item.

I did come out with some inspiration however. So straight up to the sewing room and 2 hours later I had listed this on etsy. 

Now I am going to hunt for some extra thick socks and snuggle up on the sofa with my latest crochet project and the 6 balls of wool purchased in another of Clitheroe's vast abundance of charity shops for the princely sum of £2. Bargain.

Reality check

This week is the week my two subscriptions arrive. Country Living that I have been an avid reader of for about 20 years and Molly Makes, a relatively new mag my mum subscribed to for my birthday last year. 

I sit ALONE with a coffee, wearing my jimmyjammers and slippers, curled up on the sofa, and look wistfully at the artistic shots of gorgeous homes, spotless sofa's with perfectly placed blankets and patchwork quilts, a farmhouse table with vintage bake ware ready to be used for high tea, mixtures of old and new furniture artfully arranged, a bowl of dust free pebbles collected on the beach, at the end of the cottage garden. 

I dream of how I can transform my little terraced ex-mill workers house into a haven of eclectic ephemera, how magazines will clamour to photograph it, how I will swoosh around my home in long silk kaftan's and hand knit cashmere socks (that never get grubby underneath), slump onto my reupholstered patchwork chesterfield sofa and admire the glorious garden through french doors softly draped with shear linen that billows in the warm air. 

This whole scene is so far removed from reality! I wonder how close to reality the magazine images really are? Has the owner of the house spent days scrubbing, polishing, dusting and tidying up? has an artist been around thoughtfully rearranging items into a perfect tableaux? Is there a huge box of plastic toys just 1 foot to the right of the shot? are the kitchen cupboards crammed full of the Ikea crockery they actually use? is the 10 foot trampoline packed away in the shed? and where do they hide the washing machine?

A jealous part of me hopes it is all an illusion - but the romantic in me hopes they really do live in these serene surroundings.

Here are 2 photo's taken in my tiny sewing room today. The first is the arty shot. The second is the reality check!

Selling a little bit of me...

I have been making patchwork quilts since my legs were long enough to reach the treadle on my Grandma's old sewing machine. I LOVE patchwork quilts, I love old ones, new ones, plain simple ones, fancy intricate ones, bright ones, subtle ones, I love looking at them, touching them, and most of all sleeping underneath them which is why it always makes me sad when I put them up for sale. It is such a long and intimate relationship you often have with them from conception to completion it really is like selling a little bit of yourself.

I have just put 4 onto ETSY in the hope I can make a little money and that someone will really appreciate them for a very long time. Sometimes I secretly hope they won't sell so I can be excused for keeping them. 

- and sad though it sounds, my favourite one was wrapped around my shoulders as I listed it. It has been stored with some Vintage Rose scented hearts and smells delicious. 

Oh well. Sighhhhhhhhh

Baby Fig bought me these to cheer me up - and they have! 

The Weather.

What is going on with the weather?

I have been so cold for the past 2 days, and we have a gale blowing at the moment, rattling the tiles on the back of the house, and whipping ivy against my sewing room window in a hammer horror style! I read on the BBC news web site some months back about a woman who had been knitting, crocheting and sewing nose warmers and selling loads of them, I wish I had bought one now - my nose always seams to suffer from the cold more than any other part of me - even my newly crocheted slippers needed the help of a blanket last night, and I am determined not to put the heating back on as much as it was in the winter - it's supposed to be spring goddammit! 

Here is picture taken a couple of 'spring's ago that at least looks warmer! 

For the past 12 months I have had a 'spare' computer sat doing very little in my sewing room. My Dad gave it to me when he was upgrading his own. While trying to sort out cheaper Internet we ended going wireless and one dongle later I am all connected in the privacy of my own room - although I am a little worried I may get distracted reading blogs all day and not sewing! I have been very good so far and used the time to upload new items to my ETSY shop, and of course do a little bit of blogging....

I did think it would be easier to blog, more creative, quieter, less distractions - I somehow don't think it is going to work out quite like that though! 

I am off to our local knit n natter soon. I hope they have the heating on in the cafe rather than the air conditioning. I think a warm pair of woolly socks and a big jumper may be in order. Last week I was sampling there delicious Frape's this week might just be the hot chocolate.