December 1st seems to come around faster and faster each year! I usually like give the house a good clean and put my decorations up on the 1st but for the last few weeks I've been so busy trying to get the decorating done on the hall that It didn't happen yesterday, well except for giving the bedroom a deep clean and putting the Christmas bedding on, the rest will have to be done over the coming week.
The papering and painting in the hall has been taking up a lot of time and my hip and butt cheek, (sorry to be frank, lol) are still giving me some gyp, some days I've been in so much pain I've been close to tears. I thought my visits to the chiropractor were doing some good, but now I feel like I'm wasting my money, I've tried heat, cold, various rubbing ointments and pain killers but nothing is getting rid of it. We have a physiotherapist at our doctors and I've got an appointment for this coming Thursday, hopefully they will be able to shed some light on what's causing the pain and suggest some exercises, I've been like this for over two months now so I'll try anything! Sciatica was dismissed but doctor google suggests that it could be just that, apparently the pain/ burning sensation does not necessarily extend down the leg. Fingers crossed I get some relief soon because I'm like a bear with a sore head most of the time and not very good company.
Anyway, enough moaning. There have been a couple of outings recently to cheer me up, It was our monthly Birmingham Stitchers meet up a couple of weeks ago, it was the Saturday that storm Bert hit so the day was very dark, wet and windy.
Outside the Library of Birmingham opposite the cafe where we meet they have a pop up ice rink and a ferris wheel, there were some braving the weather to ride the wheel and the two other rides, I was just happy to watch them while I waited for my bus home.
The cafe was once a bank, built in 1933 it was the headquarters of the Birmingham Municipal Bank, a savings bank which was created by Lorn Neville Chamberlain for the workers of the city. The bank closed in 1998 and the building was vacant until it was purchased by the University of Birmingham in 2017 with the aim of repurposing the space for both the University and community. The Exchange opened in 2021 and in addition to the cafe there is event space, meeting rooms and outdoor courtyard and roof terrace.
It's a lovely open space with plenty of light, perfect for stitching.
I took Margaret Mary along with me again and did get a good bit of stitching done this time.
I did hope that I might be able to get a finish on this by the end of the year, and If I just concentrated on this one thing I could probably do it, but December is a busy month so I'm being realistic and saying that It will most likely be the end of January, and that's ok.
After the disappointment of my Bristol Christmas Market trip a few weeks ago we had an outing to Worcester Christmas Market, It's been about six years since we visited last and remembering how busy it was on the weekend that time we decided to go on Thursday with daughter's no's. 1 and 3. We had a wonderful day out, the things on offer were good quality, there was also a craft market in both the Town Hall and the Cathedral, both with amazing sellers. It was the first day of the market and although there were still a lot of people around we were still able to see what the stalls were offering without all the pushing and shoving, and we enjoyed a lovely pub lunch too.
The stairs and landing carpet was fitted yesterday, thank goodness, I was fed up having to try and avoid treading on the gripper rods! Also the last of the two radiators were replaced. The radiator guy didn't finish until gone five and by the time I'd cleaned up the mess (such a mess!) it was late so I had an early night. I put my Christmas tree up while the carpet fitter was here but no decorations yet, just the lights. I'll get it trimmed in the next couple of days.
I wanted to try and post a bit more leading up to Christmas so I'll hopefully be back in a few days and share some of the things I've been working on.
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