Boxing Day

 After all the madness of the weeks and day's leading up to Christmas I was glad to have a quieter day today.  The sun was shinning lovely so I took off to a local park for a walk and to feed the ducks.  It was nice to get some fresh air and be in the sunshine after weeks of rainy damp weather.

A pair of herons were on the furthest bank of the pond, lovely to see them back again.

And a friendly robin sat long enough for me to get a nice photo, I usually take some bird food with but I'd forgotten, I feel sure he would have come closer if I'd had some.

I had an hour in the garden, just a general tidy up, there are still lots of leaves in the boarders but I'm not too worried about those, they will be harbouring some tasty bugs for the birds. 

Christmas Day is always busy and yesterday was no different We go to see the children and grandchildren and take the presents Santa has left at our house, seeing the kids opening their presents does make it all worth while, I love seeing how excited they get.

We went out for our Christmas dinner this year, Stevie and Darren came with us, the meal was ok, it's never quite the same as your own roast dinner is it? but it saved cooking and I just wasn't up to having all the mess with cooking this year so I enjoyed it.  We had a 1.30 sitting and it was nice to come back and just chill out for the rest of the afternoon.

Tomorrow is my birthday, not sure if we are doing anything yet, if the weather is nice again it would be good to get out for a bit, we'll see.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas day and are now enjoying some relaxation time.

-X-

December book clubs

 My last two book club meetings of the year fell in the same week this month.  Pudding and book club was Wednesday evening and the library book club on Thursday afternoon.

The book with the most votes last time at P&BC was A Bird In Winter by Louise Doughty.  She was also the author of Apple Tree Yard which I read a few years ago and enjoyed, so I had high hopes for this one.

The story is about Heather, (aka bird), who works for the secret service, supposedly MI5.  While in a meeting one day her boss says something that makes her feel as though she is in danger so she gets up and leaves the room and makes her way out of the building and collects the bag she has packed ready to leave should the need arise.  We then follow her journey out of London and up through Scotland where she has maid arrangements to travel farther afield.  The information on why she went on the run is drip fed in stages and I found the time line very hard to pin down because of the chopping and changing between past and present within the chapters.  It's described as a thriller and although It started off well enough it just didn't really develop, if anything there were more questions than answers at the end.

It did however make for a very good discussion, most people chipped in with their interpretation of the ending, but on the whole we agreed that we would have liked more character development and a clearer timeline.

Jen, who took over running our B&P club a few months ago is a great host, at our October meeting she made some Boo baskets as raffle prizes, this time she made Christmas baskets for the raffle.  She also wrapped a book for everyone and handmade crackers.  There are 45 of us now in that group so she put in a lot of hard work for our last meeting of the year.

My wrapped book

Book Club Christmas raffle prizes

  Shall I tell you how just lucky I am?   

Well, there was three of us sat at a table last month, myself and two new ladies, one of them, Elaine,(such a lovely person and so funny), sat opposite me won one of the book prizes.  

On Wednesday I sat with those same two ladies plus another new member.  

Yet again I missed out, the other lady who joined last month won one of the Christmas baskets!

That's just about my luck😒

The next day was the library book club.  There's a very different vibe to this meeting, all the ladies are older and we very often go off on a tangent, which is ok up to a point but sometimes it can get way off track (and one of them gets very uppity when that happens, lol).  There is also one that dominates the discussion, which can be a bit overbearing sometimes but on the whole it's alright.

Our requested book didn't come through last time so we got this one off the main reading list.

Now if they had given this book out this Thursday I might have given it a go but we only had three weeks to read it and it was just over 800 pages long!   Wasn't going to happen, not with everything else to do at this time of year.   

I did say at the time that there was no way I was even going to attempt, but it would make a nice doorstop.  

As it happened there was only myself and Wendy on Thursday, all the others had messaged to say they weren't going to make it for one reason or another, and hadn't read the book anyway.  But fair play to Wendy she had managed to almost get to the end!

Perhaps is was best that there was only two of us this time it would have been upsetting if everyone had turned up because one of our members, Sue, passed away suddenly just a few days after our November meeting.  

It was such a shock to everyone because as far as we know she hadn't been ill.  She had been a member of that reading group since it started, so 15 years or more perhaps?  I've only known her for perhaps four years but she was always friendly, she will be missed by everyone.

The first meeting in January will be strange without her.

-X-

The madness begins

 I popped to Home Bargains yesterday for a few toiletries and cleaning supplies and it was absolutely rammed, not one trolly left.  Luckily I didn't need that much and managed with a basket, I was glad to get out of there and back home, I don't know if it's an age thing but I find all this last minute panic buying and excess food shopping so ridiculous.  I feel overwhelmed just seeing the amount of food in some peoples trollies

I'm still not feeling the Christmas spirit, (did you guess, lol).  

I'm just waiting for a couple of presents to arrive by post and then I can start the wrapping next week, the spare room looks like Santa's grotto and the house feels like its groaning under the weight of all the extra things, does anyone else get that overwhelming feeling that the house is too full this time of year?  or is that just me?

My tree finally got decorations but I haven't unpacked any of my stitched ornaments this year, now I'm thinking It's not worth bothering this late in the month, everything will be taken down on New Years Eve anyway so I will just be making more work for myself.   

 Sorry, I don't know why I'm being such a misery guts about Christmas this year 🙄

Dee noticed my Christmas cactus last time, I actually have two plants.  This is the largest and is about ten years old, not as many flowers as last year but it's still a good show.

This is a baby of the one above, I think I knocked a stem off the big plant one time, they sprout roots so easily if popped into some water.  I think there is a flower on almost every stem this time, so pretty.

We are still enjoying our advent jigsaw, we are all up to date now and half way there already! We are going to take it in turns and do a day each now until Christmas Eve, It's been something different, a bit of calm and quiet in a busy time.  I'll post a photo of it once it's completed.

-X-

Jigging along

Arty stayed over on Friday and stayed until tea time on Saturday, Jenny James and Oliver went to a football match, they do go quite regularly and Arty is not really into football so stays here when they do.

The weather was damp and horrible so we only went into town for a mooch round, he found a meccano set in a charity shop for £2, it was brand new and unopened, bargain, he came home happy with his find and Mark helped him put it together before he went home.  

I'd been looking at Christmas jigsaw puzzles but didn't know if we'd complete it, all those pieces can make me feel a bit overwhelmed, but then I spied an advent calendar jigsaw in the same charity shop for £3, couldn't pass that up could I?

Inside the box was 24 little boxes 😊

I don't think It had ever been completed, or if it had they were very gentle with it.

My brain can cope with the small amount of pieces in these boxes (about 41 -ish) and you feel as though you have accomplished something.

We are playing catch-up but have done three days worth so far and Mark is working locally now until Christmas so I'm sure we will catch up in a couple more days. 

Oh and the football, Villa won so everyone had a good day 😉

-X-

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well sort of.  

The tree is up but not decorated, all the Christmas decoration boxes have been stacked in the conservatory since Saturday waiting for me to find my enthusiasm to start, but I can't shake the 'can't be bothered' attitude.  But I know already that most things will stay in the boxes this year, as I get older as well as getting grumpier (ha ha), I'm also finding I want less 'stuff' around me. 

Anyway, I haven't been around for a few weeks and I've probably put most of you off reading the rest by moaning 🤣 

Yesterday was my middle daughter, Joanne's birthday, she turned 38.   The girls have money for birthday's, they are all grown and can go and treat themselves or put the money towards something.  She has Wednesday's off work so we went into town, lunch and cake was on me and she also picked out a couple things she wanted for Christmas, we also got some bits for the kids stockings.

I also made her a cushion, which wasn't for her birthday really but as It's Christmas/Winter, it was the right time to give it to her.  She bought a cushion front years ago and never got round to making it, when she moved and was having a clear out she gave it to me saying that she would probably never get round to It.  That was two years ago and I've just got round to it 🤭

I had to buy the piping but that's all, the backing fabric was also in with what she gave me, I think it was once a shirt of hers, and the inner pillow I already had.

I made a simple envelope back and I think the fabric is perfect for it.

I've never put piping on a pillow before, it's not perfect but the perfectionist in me thought It was pretty good for a first attempt.  She liked it, and I'm glad a couple bits of fabric are gone out of my stash, so win win.

I leave you with a picture of my un-decorated tree, It looks ok as it is to be fair, but I'll get round to making it all pretty in the next few days, when I can locate my enthusiasm.

-X- 

 I have no idea how November came around so quickly, the days, months and years are going by faster than ever, must be an age thing because time never seemed to go this quickly when I was younger, It's scary when you stop and think about it.  I try to be busy every day and fit in things I love doing too.  

I haven't crossed stitched much at all this year but I did enjoy stitching this little pillow ornament.  It's an older Lizzie Kate design, I stitched it on 28 count blue evenweave with the recommended threads and used chenille for the trim.  I think it came out cute, It won't be staying with me so I hope the recipient likes it.

The crochet granny square blanket Is nearing completion, I finished putting all the squares together last week and it has now been passed on the other woman, (Chelsea), to work the boarder.  You may remember from my last post that we were both making this for someone who's blanket had been destroyed by a neighbours dog.  Hopefully the recipient will have his blanket very soon, I hope he likes it.

Yesterday we made the most of the dry weather to do the leaf collection and tidy the garden.  We filled our green bin, (the council green waste bin), toped up the open compost bin and filled our compost dalek bin AND made a leaf pile in a corner of the garden for any critters that might be around.  It took about three hours with the two of us working on it, you could clear from one section and five minutes later it was covered again, that's how fast they are falling at the moment.  Needless to say the garden today looks like we did nothing yesterday!

This morning's view after yesterday's leaf clearing

It's a thankless task but I'm not as fussy about leaf collecting and a tidy looking garden as I used to be, I've finally realised that It really doesn't matter In the great scheme of things.  I still like them collected up a few times a week, we would be knee deep if we didn't and the grass would be ruined, but It doesn't bother me as much as it used to.  

I took a few photos while we were out there, still some colour to be seen and the Autumn colours look lovely in the sunshine. 

Even the things that are dying back look pretty when the sun shines.

I'm glad we spent time outside yesterday, today has been wet and not very bright at all.

-X-

Not my colours but a joint effort

 A few months ago someone called Lee put an ask on our allotment craft group page, they wanted a granny square blanket made for someone they know who attends a special needs centre where he manages the IT.   

This guys blanket had blown off the washing line into the neighbours garden and their dog had trashed it.  He was gutted because I think he had had it years and was really attached to it.

I suggested we all make a few squares so that we could get it made quicker, despite there being a good few people who could crochet only one other person was onboard with the idea, so we made the squares between us two.  

Lee, (who put in the request), bought the yarn after talking to the gentleman who the blanket is for, and he chose orange and black.

I made the black squares because I've never worked anything in black yarn before, It wasn't too bad but you do need good light so I'm glad they are all finished now the days are darker.

I'm going to crochet them all together and the other woman is going to work the border.  We've used The Women's Institute yarn from Hobbycraft, it was on 3 for 2 at the time so was affordable and it washes well too.

We agreed on rounds and the size of the square, I crochet quite tight so ended up going up a couple of hook sizes to get the size she was getting but now they are all together I thing we did pretty well with the sizing but I'm going to block them before I put them together just so they lie a bit neater.

Lee wanted to pay us for making the blanket and one of the other members of the group suggested timing the making of the square and charging minimum wage.  Neither of us was comfortable with that idea, Lee was buying the yarn out of his own pocket and doing something nice for someone he didn't know that well, so how could we put a price on it?  

In the end we said he could buy us a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine if he wanted to, but no pressure.

The blanket certainly would have been made quicker if others had joined in, but it's surprising how many ignored the request once they knew we weren't charging.

I guess the allotment community spirit was absent that day 😒

-X-

Some finishes and a start, all from stash

 This first pair of socks I cast on for Christmas in July but didn't actually cast them off until sometime in August.  I used a Christmas yarn from Crafthouse Magic that had been in my stash for a couple years at least, it's called fairy lights, so pretty with the different coloured flecks.  For the contrast cuffs heels and toes I used a West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply, again from stash.

The flecks do remind me of the lovely multicoloured vintage fairy lights.

Another pair of socks was completed in September, this time in an Autumn colourway from Biff Sugar Yarns called Maple, (or Maple Leaf?  I've misplaced the ball band but I'm pretty sure it mentioned Maple). Again I used a West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply from stash for the cuffs and toes. 

You might have spotted my third finish in the photos above.  It's a baby blanket.

Knitted because I wanted something easy to pick up and work on that I didn't have to think about.  I haven't washed or blocked it yet but it's already a decent sized crib blanket. 

The pattern is the Western Hills Blanket by Julia Stanfeild, and is a free pattern on Ravelry.  I used a Batik Swirl in the colour forest which was again from my stash and I used up the whole 200g ball.  Great pattern and very easy to memorise.  

I've been pretty good this year about not adding to my yarn stash, it feels good to be using what I already have.

On Sunday It was the Quarry Bank stitchers day retreat.  I haven't been stitching recently so thought a new start might kick start my mojo, but I wanted something small that I could get a relatively quick finish on.

This is what I got done at the retreat, and I have to say I really enjoyed making those little x's again.

Everything, chart, threads and fabric was from stash.

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself that for the last few months I've been making things I love and using what I have. 😇

-X-

Ladybird Ladybird fly away home

I'd seen mentioned on Google news that the UK was experiencing swarms of ladybirds.  It's that time of year when they look for somewhere warmer to hang out for the Winter and it's not the first time we have had them settling down in the window casing.  Strangely It only ever seems to be the windows at the back of the house, typically the back bedroom and bathroom.  

I discovered these in the bedroom window when I opened it to clean it yesterday so I thought I'd better check the bathroom and sure enough they were hanging out there too, but probably twice as many as you can see above, ugh.

They don't venture inside en mass, you might see the odd one trying it's luck but unless you open the window right out you wouldn't see them like this, and I know they are a very beneficial garden insect but I really would prefer them not to hunker down in my window frame thank you very much.  So they have been evicted.  I've seen the odd one or two today so no doubt they will try again so i'll keep checking.

Did you know that a cluster of ladybirds is called a Loveliness, or a bloom?

 I hope the ones I evicted will find somewhere else to bloom- in do their loveliness 😉

-X-

September's book round up

It was a better month for reading, I've managed six and a half books.  Well obviously i'm not counting the half read book in my totals.  It was a Pudding and Book club read, Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune.  It actually sounded ok but was very disappointing, (almost everyone agreed), anyway I chucked the towel in about half way through.  

I enjoyed everything else I read.  The library reading group I go to has got better with the book choices recently, The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde was Septembers book..... The story crosses two time lines, 1959 and present day.  I enjoyed the modern time line more than the earlier one although I did think the author did a good job of distinguishing the two, when you were reading 1959 you felt you were there in that era.  The story is centred around a house, Applecote Manor, empty for a time and recently purchased by a family, who have their own set of problems to overcome.  1959 sees four sisters go to stay at Applecote Manor with their aunt and uncle for a time where they become become intrigued about their cousin, Audrey's disappearance. It's quite a slow read but beautifully written.  It made for a great discussion at the book club.

She Didn't See It Coming -   Bryden is supposed to be working from home, her husband, Sam, gets a call from daycare to say that she has failed to pick there daughter up and on arriving home he finds that his wife has gone, all her personal effect are still there along with her car, phone and laptop but she is nowhere to be seen.

I listened to this on Audible and almost finished it in a day, it kept me guessing almost right to the end, worth a read.

Ask For Andrea - This was an unusual idea, three women all murdered by the same man, an online predator, come together in the afterlife determined to make him pay and to stop him murdering again.  I think the idea of the murdered women as ghost's, for want of a better word, was a good one, but it felt as though it could have been made even better.  I've seen Ask for Andrea on posters in pubs and restaurants, It's a code phrase that women can use to signal that they feel threatened or don't feel safe on a date and need help, I always wonder, would all the staff know what to do If someone approached them and asked for Andrea?  Luckily in this case they did, and it made a good read, I read this on my kindle.

The Liar I Married was another Audible listen  - A dual timeline phycological thriller told from the point of view of Jessie, the wife, after she awakes from the coma she has been in for a year.  Jessie isn't sure who she can trust as her memory starts to come back but as things start to become clearer she knows that her life is still in danger.  - I did enjoy this one, there were a few times when I thought It was contradictory but I can forgive that because it was entertaining.

  

The Lost Apothecary - A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.  

1791, at the back of a dark London alley is a hidden apothecary shop, Nella is waiting for her newest customer, she was once a respected healer but now Nella uses her knowledge to sell poisons to desperate women who can see no other option but to kill the men in their lives to be free.  When twelve year old Elia Fanning comes to collect her mistress order the friendship sets a string of events in motion that puts them both in danger.

In present day London Caroline, an aspiring historian is spending her tenth wedding anniversary alone after discovering her husbands affair.  When she finds an old apothecary vial while mudlarking she cant resist trying to find out more.  

It started off well and I liked the two time-lines, especially 18th century London, but Caroline in the present day was just a little bit too far fetched.  An ok read for me.

I saved the best for last.

Yellow Face - June Hayward and Athena Liu have been friends since meeting at collage, both are aspiring writers but while June's debut novel receives little recognition Athena's brings her fame, money and attention.  So when they meet up and June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident she acts on impulse and steals Athena Liu's recently completed novel.  Realising that this could give her the fame she so baby wants she set to work making edits and passes it off as her own.

I've had this one on my TBR shelf for a while and I had a feeling It was going to be good, and It didn't disappoint, loved it, definitely the best book this month by a country mile.

Have you heard of Book Bub?  I'ts something I recently discovered and if you read on kindle it may be of interest. If you just google book bub it should come up.

Have you read any of these?

 -X-

(edited to add, please excuse all the links! I accidently clicked on add google links and don't know how to disable it, grrr

The Autumn Show, Malvern

 

We've been to the Autumn Show at the Three Counties Show Ground a few times, we gave it a miss last year though as it is much the same each year but as we have our caravan stored on a site not far away from Malvern we decided to make a weekend of it.  

Obviously the weather is cooler now, especially at night, but I'm happy to say that the heating in the caravan works a treat and we were lovely and toasty.  We plan on having another weekend away towards the end of October when we will make sure everything is ok and put it to bed for the Winter months, although the site it's stored on is open all year, so potentially we could still go and stay.

We had a lovely day at the show, all the usual things were there, I love to see the giant pumpkins and the other large vegetables.  Now I'm growing things myself I do wander how on earth do they grow them so big! - 

Here is the pumpkin winner and second place

Some of the other giant vegetables, but I have to say that I think the swede win was a bit wrong, it's obviously several plants that have morphed together, you could quite clearly see that.

I have parsnips growing, don't think I'll be able to compete with these bad boys though, lol

There are various halls with stall holders selling a variety of things from cards to jewellery, cheeses and speciality gin and vodka  as well as things to see and entertain as you walk around, it's a great day out.

I didn't look to see who the speakers were over the weekend, it's not something that really interests me, but in the tent behind this display Monty Don did a talk which we just missed, I would have gone to that if I'd realised

I did make a few purchases, of course.  A collection of seeds for next year including some broad beans to over winter which I will have to get into some cells this week.  I also got a few small metal containers for the two tables in my garden and a cute metal spade with a robin sitting on the handle, (no photo of these, I have already put the ornament in the garden and plants in the containers).

So that was my weekend, I hope you had a good one too.

October is just around the corner so I'll catch up with you then.

-X-

Productive day

Monday is washing day here, and luckily the weather is glorious, blue sky's and not a sign of the torrential rain we had on Saturday, so the clothes have been blowing gently on the line.

While the washing machine was doing it's thing I did the usual Monday morning re-set of the house and whizzed the mower over the grass to pick up all the leaves and acorns that have fallen in the last couple days.  This time of year is the hardest I find, having an oak tree in the garden means that the garden is only ever tidy for half an hour after you've finished making it tidy and this year is a mast year so there will be an abundance of acorns, (the squirrels will be happy).  Last year was a bust year, so no acorns.

Mast and bust years happen every 5-10 years but not necessarily on a regular basis, it's dependant on a number of things that could trigger either mast or bust.  What's fascinating is that if it's going to happen then it will happen right across the UK and nearly every single oak tree will produce a bumper crop in the same year, (or not, if it's a bust year).  Isn't nature wonderful?

I braved the rain on Saturday and harvested a few things, some of the rainbow carrots and our first swede which we ate yesterday.

And I've popped down again for an hour today to have a quick tidy after the weekend rain.

Pumpkins picked, all the greenery had died off so hopefully they will continue to turn more orange in the conservatory.

Cleared out the tomato plants at home, eventually these should turn red and I'll probably make another batch or two of pasta sauce.

So that was my Monday, all the washing is dry, folded and put away and I think my day is finished to today. 

I'll leave with a beautiful rainbow photo I took while down the allotment a couple weeks ago. 

-X-