5 Good Things.........

1. A glimpse of Spring - Snowdrops under the plum tree at the top of our garden.

2. We've ordered flooring for The Shed so I'll be able to move my stuff in very soon!!
3. I've got some new shoes!!! Apologies for the off-black socks. I was actually standing by my front door with my trousers rolled up taking this!! They are actually a dark green colour and nicer in 'real-life'.

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4. I'm so excited because I've won my first giveaway, from Online Quilting, who's going to get some lovely goodies especially for me from New Zealand. I'll post all about it when it arrives!!

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5. My lovely OH and son are taking me out for lunch tomorrow to a special St David's Day meal (the patron St of Wales. Actual date is 1st March) at a local hotel. I happened to look at the menu sample on display a couple of weeks ago and commented that it looked nice. I wasn't dropping hints so it was a big surprise when they told me they'd booked it! Can't wait!!!
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Bye for now

Teresa x

How the Librarian Felt!

During our Saturday Singer's session the leader asked for a volunteer to be a 'librarian' for the group because he himself is so disorganised. No-one spoke up so I asked what was involved. Silly mistake!! That was tant amount to voluneering so here is all the music laid out ready to sort. It wasn't too daunting a task though and I had it done within half an hour, all neatly sorted in a folder. I took it with me to the concert in the evening thinking I could hand it back, but no such luck. Looks like I've got to find room for another music folder at home. It made me look ultra organised though when a couple of singers forgot their music and I handed out spare copies - my position as libarian is now well and truly confirmed! By the way - the concert went well and £600 was raised for the Haiti fund which was a marvellous result.
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This Friday is our concert generated from singing lessons. I'm looking forward to it which I think is a bad omen because I've been much too nervous before past concerts and things have gone quite well.

This is the result of the felt project. It's a scarf for my sister's birthday. I cut sections out of 3 different felted jumpers and machine sewed them together with a wide zig-zag. The ribs of the one jumper finish off each end. (sorry for photo above being the wrong way up)
I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and am almost reluctant to give it away.
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Computer time is more limited these days but hopefully I will be back soon.
Bye for now.
Teresa x

Thrifting, Winning and Singing

I had to pop into town from work one lunch time last week and, as usual, couldn't pass a charity shop without going in for a browse in case I missed out on the find of the century! Well I did find a few lovely little items that came home with me. As usual I haven't any firm ideas for them but couldn't leave them there. The truth is I'm reluctant to commit to what I'll do with them in case it doesn't come to fruition. The set of crocheted doilies above are about 6" in diameter and could do with a little blocking. The set of 2 below are much finer and also need blocking. One has slight damage but I'm sure I can still make use of it. I would describe the colour of them all as ecru.

On the same hanger was the little embroidered cloth below. It's about 7" square with very fine cross stitches and stem stitch that is so fine I had to take the close up photo to see it clearly.

I dug out these felted jumpers yesterday with an idea for a present in mind. I'll show the results if it's successful.
Just before Christmas I won a set of toiletries from this site and blogged about it, so I was surprised and excited to get another email from them yesterday telling me I'd won a copy of Live More, Spend Less! It sounds like my sort of book and I'm very much looking forward to reading it.
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I'm going to be doing a lot of singing this weekend. First of all is a rehearsal of The Saturday Singers followed by a concert in the evening in aid of the Haiti earthquake relief effort. Then on Sunday we have the normal morning service followed by a special service for Lent in the evening. Headlining the Haiti concert will be Geoff Downes who happens to live locally.
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If I manage to fit any stitching in between singing I'll post about it next week. These are two of my very favourite things: stitching and singing. Talking of which, it's only 2 weeks until my residential singing weekend away. I'm very much looking forward to it, and hope it lives up to expectations.
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Bye for now
Teresa x

Another Weekend is Over...........

.............but I was quite lucky to have most of Sunday afternoon/evening to make some progress with a few stitchy things. Before I get to that though I must thank all you lovely ladies who left comments on my last post and especially for the suggestions for the offending ingredient in my salad. It looks to me that the most likely culprit was horseradish which I have never tried before (and never want to again!!)
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Now onto stitchy progress: This is the layout I'm trying for my second version of the interfacing method block. I find I can see the design clearer in a photograph so this is quite useful. About half of the fabrics here are reclaimed/thrifted and the rest are new from my stash.

I finished the cushion that I gave a preview of a couple of posts ago. It's made entirely with thirfted/left over curtain or furnishing fabrics and the backing is an envelope style made from the blue fabric. Once again I forgot to photograph the back but, honestly, you're not missing anything!

As you can see from this next pic, I made it for the seat in my porch. I intend to make 3 more in different designs to cover it and make the porch look a little more welcoming. Other things on my mental list to do in the porch are to get some kind of container (pot or basket) to put umbrellas in by the door and make a wall hanging to brighten it up. I'm still undecided about whether to put up curtains or blinds but I suppose we've got used to it without now and it would only be for decorative purposes because I can't see us going in there to draw them every morning/evening!

I resisted the urge again to buy ready-made shop cake for convenience this week and didn't want to spend too much time baking so whipped up this chocolate sponge to cook while the dinner was on. Finishing off was made extra quick because I thawed some leftover buttercream I had frozen before Christmas. I intend to make more use of my freezer in this way - especially where vegetable are concerned. I don't know why I never thought before to cook onions while the oven is on and then freeze or keep in the fridge. It saves time, fuel and wasting food, so I am going to try and use the same mindset when considering all my cooking. The suggestion came from a post on My Zero Waste by the way.

I don't think it's going to last long!

One more little thing - I've recently been using butter instead of margerine, because I think it's more natural and creates less plastic waste, and was fed up of using an unattractive plastic tub for it so I bought this butter dish from ebay (that reminds me - I must leave some feedback). It looks so much better on the table or when left out to soften.

Got to run now. Just noticed the time (any glaring typos, I'll correct tomorrow).

Bye for now

Teresa x

Lunchtime at the Office

This is the view I have for 5-6 hours out of every working day! Not very inspiring is it? I do quite a bit of dreaming at this desk about what I could be doing if were at home - then at 5.30pm I drive home and try to fit it all into a few hours (which is quite impossible!). I don't share the office any more (hence the empty chair opposite) but I don't mind that - people pop in and out during the day and I don't sit here continually. There's a friendly atmosphere here (most of the time) and I'm not under any undue pressure so it could be worse! It will also be sad when the contract finishes as I probably won't see many of my colleagues again (some of whom I've worked with for 10 years).

We have no canteen here, just a small kitchen to prepare drinks, wash-up or heat food so all my lunches are eaten at this desk (I know....I know - the 'experts' say there are more germs on an average office desk than a toilet seat!!). But I'm still here to tell the tale so it can't be that bad...... and they're only my germs (except for the time my boss's nose dripped onto it - Yeurck!). 99 times out of 100 my lunches are brought in from home (probably more like 999 out of 1000 when I think about it) but today I went into town and bought a salad from a lovely little deli as a treat. I was going to get one before Christmas but didn't get around to it. This is how I eat my lunch. In front of a book propped open with my stapler. It's a much-looked-forward-to time of the day and the only regular time I get for reading.

I've had salads from this deli before and they are always delicious with lots of different flavours and ingredients. As I was eating this one, I tasted something a little like mustard in one of the sauces, then suddenly, I knew what people mean when they say 'it blew the top of my head off'. A strong feeling (something similar to PAIN) shot from my mouth behind my nose and eyes and out through the top of my head!!! It only lasted a couple of seconds but I couldn't have endured it for much longer. What on earth was it?!!! I have never eaten anything before that did that to me! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I must remember to ask next time I visit the deli...........but as it may not be for another 6 months, I might forget by then.

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This weekend my OH is off to Cardiff to watch the rugby with some friends (not at the match but in a pub - apparently the atmosphere and excitement are increased with near proximity).

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(This is a temporary break in blog-mission to say I think I must be an idiot. I've just noticed a tab at the top of the screen saying Edit Pages. How come I didn't notice it during previous browsing sessions? Has it been there all the time? Only last week I added a list at the bottom of the blog to list books I read during 2010 when I really wanted to add a new page for it!!)

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Anyway - where was I. Oh yes...........I on the other hand, am going to Saturday Singers and a hair appointment on the weekend (chop it off?...........keep it long?...........chop it off?..........keep it long?..........Oh just a trim please). I also hope to get a bit of stitching done so I have something to show here (well not only to have something to show here - it's because I love, love, love to stitch!!)

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Tea Strainers and Neat Corners.

I saw loose tea being served for the first time in a long while last year when a friend and I met up for afternoon tea at hotel in a nearby town. We were seated at a little table in the dining room at about 4pm on a Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a 3-tier tray piled with many kinds of dainty sandwiches and cakes. If I remember correctly, there were almost 10 different cakes and as we both like our food and couldn't decide which ones to NOT have, we even cut a few in half so we could have a little taste of each one!!
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Anyway, I degress, my point being that you don't see loose tea around much these days. This lovely tea set that I had for Christmas included 4 little tins of tea which on closer inpection contained celophane bags of loose tea. As it's been a little while since we owned a tea strainer I haven't been able to use the tea.............until now! I had a browse on ebay the last week and saved a few tea strainers to 'watch'. The ones I liked the look of most were designed with two little handles to sit on the rim of the cup but my cup is huge so they weren't suitable. I ended up winning this one, which encloses the tea in the spoon part and says 'Southsea' on the handle, for 99p plus postage. I was disapointed in the dirty condition when it arrived but a soak in an aluminium foil 'bowl' with hot water and soda crystals fizzed off most of the dirt and it came up nice and shiny.

The squares I had cut out ready for my quilting day on Saturday have now become the block below.

Not a very interesting design I admit but the method of construction was a revelation to many of the ladies present. Although I've seen the method described I hadn't tried it until now. Do you see how neat the whole thing is and how well the corners meet.............well that is nothing really to do with my skill and everything to do with the method used. I think this post by the lovely Posie gets Cozy is where I saw it first. I'm sure there were more comprehensive instructions somewhere but quite frankly I was lucky to remember seeing it there. I'm not sure how this will affect trying to hand quilt but I'll give it a go.

And here's a picture of the back if you need any more clues as to how it's done.

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Bye for now

Teresa x

A Ripping Good Yarn!

I've had these 2 jumpers lying around for a couple of weeks after a bit of a sort out. Do you have items of clothing that you don't really like but wear now and again out of guilt when you see them lying unused in the drawers? These jumpers are like that. They were still in good condition and on closer inspection I could see that they were knitted in separate pieces, and not cut out of larger knitted pieces, before being sewn together. Consequently, I was able to do this with them!! I now have some yarn to make into something that will get used.

It was a lucky coincidence then when checking my reader that there was this post from My Zero Waste showing a very good use that it could be put towards.

Last month, we missed our Quilting Club day due to the bad weather (snow!) so we didn't get to find out what we were to do with the squares we were asked to prepare for it. The little pile above has been waiting for over a month for our February meeting tomorrow to find out what's to be done with it. I will also be taking some of my daughter's posters, business cards and flyers with me to pass out to members because a lot of them live in the area her business covers. I've added a link to it in the sidebar too.
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Will also be watching a little of this with friends on the weekend. Come on Wales!!!

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Have a great weekend

Bye for now

Teresa x

A New Business, A Giveaway and An Update

As it's the first of a new month and my DD's birthday, it seems a good time to mention the new business she started this year. DD loves working with animals and has worked in a variety of postions for other people but it was always her dream to work for herself so when she was made redundant last year she took the plunge and started researching. I'm very proud of all the hard work she's put in so far and her efforts are now being rewarded as she's beginning to get customers calling. I've done all I can to help and advise and many other relatives and friends are spreading the word for her. She's got a van and all the equipment she needs and has even set herself up a website. I doubt very much if there's anyone visiting this blog from her area (Pontypool/Cwmbran - Wales) but just in case why not click here and take a look.

The lovely Lis over at Online Quilting is hosting a giveaway to celebrate her 100th post, which I know from experience is quite an acheivement, so pop on over and enter if you fancy winning some lovely quilty things from New Zealand.

Well, my DD is following her dream but it looks like it may be a little while before I can slow down and begin living the way I want to. I've just negotiated a new contract at work for 2010 so I need to update my profile to reflect that (it says my contract was supposed to finish Oct 2009). It may also mean travelling a further 20 minutes from home each day in a few months time.

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It's time for an update on my simple living efforts so here's just a quick summary for December/January:

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Spending on groceries seems to have reached a plateau and I don't think it will reduce any futher until I can find time to plan my menus. Overall spending for December was not very different from other months despite the inevitable Christmas expenses and January was very low (about half of normal) which I'm very pleased about.

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A lot of home cooking/baking and sewing was done during December (mostly for presents) and the usual cakes and bread were made during January.

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Passive/low cost earnings was £30.31 for the two months but I'm sorry to say that none of the books I listed on Green Metropolis has been sold. I'm hoping to put some items on ebay soon so that will hopefully increase this fund.

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Oh, and in case you're interested - the first photo is a little something I'm working on and the other one is one of the blocks for my quilt-as-you-go quilt that I finished yesterday.

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Bye for now

Teresa x