Slow But Sure / Kiddies Cross Stitch

Progress is slow around here but at least some is being made. One fingerless glove is complete, apart from darning in ends, and another is on the needles. Apparently, having the right side of the knitting on the inside is not the correct method as I found out after consultation with an experienced knitter! I tried doing the thumb the 'correct' way and got in such a tangle with the needles, so I think I'll stick to my left-handed, 'wrong' way.

I came across these little (about 2" across) cross-stitch motifs in my son's bedroom the other day. He and my DD were into cross-stitch for a little while when they were younger (pre-teen I think), especially my DS, but from the look of these the interest wore off quite suddenly. The letter N and the dog's face look finished but the bottom one, which is I think a turtle on a rock in a pool with a lily pad, is unfinished.

These 2 little framed cross-stitcheries were the first ones they did. The flower by my DD and the K by my DS (the K being his name initial, don't know what the N is for above though).

This is the progress of the table runner (I didn't tell you it was a table runner before did I?). The squares have been turned into triangles but they are still spread over the kitchen table. I would hope to get them together in one piece this weekend although (as usual) it's a very busy weekend which involves, amongst other things, a Sing Hallelujah practice and a Witness performance.
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Bye for now

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Teresa x

Quilt Raffle and Lovely Cadw Jewellery

Jess, the daughter of Welsh Quilter, aka Elizabeth, is going on a trip to Africa through her college and one of the rules states she has to raise the money herself. She cleverly came up with the idea (amongst others) of raffling one of Elizabeth's quilts. It's a gorgeous quilt, which I hope I win, so pop over and have a look because it could be you. The trip to Africa is partly to help out in deprived areas so you would be supporting that as well as getting a chance to win a beautiful handmade quilt.
The main subject of this months quilting day on Saturday was to make a hanging of a Christmas/winter scene. Whilst I was interested in it I don't really have the time to take on something like that at the moment so I took notes instead (in case I decide to make one at a later date) while finishing sewing the lining into my crocheted bag. The only problem is, I don't know what to do with it now. I don't need another bag myself and can't think of anyone to give it to. Why, then, you may ask did you make it. Well, I liked the pattern and wanted to see how it turned out. I was also itching to make something with yarn and found a pattern to use up some I already had.

I also had time to cut out a pile of squares (above) which are going to be turned into a Christmas present, when I've decided how to arrange them. They are sewn and pressed and scattered all over the kitchen table as I type.
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The jewellery set and pen are from the Cadw shop at the local castle. My mother and father had some Cadw vouchers and very generously decided to take my sisters and I to the shop to spend them between us. I chose the earring/necklace matching set and pen (above), we also chose something for our brother (who lives in Belgium) and mother was able to get a necklace for herself.
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Our brother and his family are hoping to visit us over Christmas and the New Year so we are all looking forward to that, especially as it's been 11 years since we last saw them!

More progress on the Christmas present WIPs to come soon I hope. I'm going to try and make as many as I can this year, including some munchy treats nearer the day. None of the prospective recipients read this blog as yet so it's safe to show them as I go, which is good because there would be nothing else to show here otherwise :-)

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Giveaway (not mine), K-I-T-R & Custard Slice

There's a great giveaway going on at Block Party this week. On offer to those who blog, Twitter, Facebook etc and then leave a comment, is one of these fabulous piles of fabric. Getting people to spread the news like this is a great idea but, although I'm having a go, I hope I'm not disqualified for not having enough of an audience on this little blog.
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These are the 2 piles on offer if you win.

I think I got the hang of this knitting-in-the-round business. I completed quite a bit more than this yesterday but I'm going to have to start again because it's too big. That's what comes of using British materials with an American pattern. However, I'm more confident about the actual method now and look forward to finishing at least one pair of these fingerless mitts by Christmas.
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My auntie does wonderful baking and quite often leaves some custard slice or warm pie for us by our front door. I decided to show her latest offering on one of a pair of plates that I bought at a charity shop on the weekend for £1.

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I'm off now to leave a comment on the Block Party Giveaway (which closes on 9 Nov).

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Bye for now

Teresa x

How Can Two Days be So Different

(The berries on our Holly Tree)

(A flower in the warm morning sunshine covered in the night's rain)

(A Grasshopper that jumped off my washing as I gathered it in )

(The top of my auntie's Holly Tree with all it's red berries)

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My goodness!..........There couldn't have been more of a difference between 2 consecutive days than there was on the weekend. Saturday was warm and sunny right from the start with no hint of autumn apart from the colours of the trees. I had a lovely day out shopping and lunching with a friend and spent most of it in a t-shirt. We also popped into a new cafe in town mid-afternoon for hot chocolate and.....ahem, cakes. I don't normally have hot chocolate (or cake) but it sounded like such a treat I thought I'd indulge, but it was much too sweet when drunk with a big, choc and nut filled pastry. I really should have declined the cake altogether seeing as I had a Ball to go to that evening with a four course dinner!! It was just unfortunate they had both fallen on the same day. I coped manfully with the dinner in the evening but had to pass on the cheese and biscuits and couldn't face the after-dinner mints at all. Then to cap it all, I couldn't even burn the calories off as the music wasn't suitable for dancing.

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Sunday was (as they say in the merry old land of Oz) a horse of a different colour. The wind was as strong as I've seen it in a long time and made all the more dramatic by the leaves being blown horizontally past the windows. Combined with the rain it was very much staying-in-weather. I first noticed it before I got up, by a strange noise that I can only describe as.........ANNOYING!! I thought my OH was thumping away at some DIY project but, on getting up ready to 'have words', discovered it was the cowl on the chimney being spun round at such a speed we thought it was going to take off.
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I took advantage of the sun to take a few photos on Saturday (see top). If you click on them they should enlarge and they look quite nice, if I do say so myself. On Sunday I didn't bother getting the camera out!!

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Shopping - Crochet Project Update

It's been a while since I showed the beginnings of my crochet project so I thought I'd better show the progress, because there has been some progress, honestly! The only change I made to the pattern was to make the handles a bit wider because I didn't want them to stretch. That's also part of the reason for lining it, to make it more stable, and so I don't have to sew in all the ends (they'll be hidden in the middle!). The lining's cut out and partly pinned but I'm sort of winging it so who know what the result will be.

My second attempt at knitting-in-the-round went a bit better yesterday. I decided to simplify the pattern and leave out the cables (mustn't try to run before I can walk!). I may still be doing it wrong though because it seems to me that, when I get to the stocking stitch part after the ribbing, the knitting will be inside-out!! As least, that's how it looks to me at the moment. Maybe my left-handed brain is getting the better of my right-handed knitting. If it all goes wrong I'll take it along to my next quilting day and ask one of the members who's been knitting socks since she was a child for help.-
Bye for now

Teresa x

Fabric and Yarn Stashes

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A few years ago I was working away from home during the week and trying to catch up on housework etc during the weekends. It was the same work I do now and luckily I was asked to join this project within travelling distance of home after only 14 months away. I enjoyed the experience at the time, but I wouldn't do it again. I have a friend, who at the same time, was an area manager and had to visit the area where I worked once a month so we took the opportunity to meet for a meal and a chat. It seems strange that now I am back home and she isn't working we find it more difficult to meet more than once every couple of months.

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Anyway, when we do meet, we go shopping and have lunch in a different town each time. These jaunts are the only times I go shopping just for shopping's sake and, although I enjoy looking, I find very little to buy. We've actually arranged to meet this Saturday, so I'm looking forward to that. The last time we met I bought some knitting needles and fabric from a charity shop and some paper napkins. On one of our other trips I bought this little basket to start storing the yarn I was accumulating but I think I'll have to find another use for it soon.

As I've just shown a picture of part of my yarn stash, I thought I may as well show the fabric too. I'm afraid it's not a very pretty sight or a very good photo as the light was bad that day. There are actually 2 piles here, one in front of the other, and it doesn't look very inspiring jumbled up as it is. It was once sorted in to colours and types of fabric but you know how that can change as it gets pulled about to use. It will be sorted again when I move it in to The Shed.
There's more fabric scattered around the house including this drawer (first picture). Whoops, more yarn to go in the (full) basket. There's also a bag full under the stairs that I forgot about for a long time.

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The solution to the overflowing yarn basket (second picture). A lovely fabric-covered basket from Matalan that was only £5. It'll be good to get all the yarn gathered together in one place and see exactly what I've got. I'm planning to start on the Knitting-in the-Round Christmas Project soon. Since the first (failed) attempt I've bought some proper row markers and carried out more research into the method, so fingers crossed................
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Bye for now

Teresa x
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P.S. Sorry the photos are out of order. I used to be able to move them but can't seem to do it now. And I put the little dashes between paragraphs because the spacing doesn't work in the published post as it is in the edit view.

Practice Makes Perfect - Bread!

Here are a few items I thrifted recently from Oxfam. The fabric pieces were in a bag which said they were silk and some of them definitely are but they are all different weights and weaves so it's difficult to tell. The little doilies are quite small and dainty and will be used to embellish projects in the future. I also bagged 2 'new' zips and a large embroidery hoop. The blanket they are laying on is one I crocheted many years ago and sits on the end of the bed as an extra cover-up.

I'm determined to try and make at least one loaf a week in my bread-maker now I've got back into the swing of it. After the success of the wholemeal loaf a couple of weeks ago I decided to try a white one last week. I really should have read all the machine's instructions and not just the recipe. It doesn't always work out when you muddle through and make substitutions even if you think they'll do the same job!! I don't know exactly what the problem was but the loaf (if you could call it that) which came out of the machine was a disgusting mixture of oily crust, uncooked dough and unmixed flour. The whole thing had to go straight in the compost bin.

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This week, I bought new yeast (to replace the out-of-date one), used table salt instead of low-sodium and gave the dough a helping hand at the mixing stage. The result was a perfect, white, tasty loaf. It rose so well that the top stuck to the lid even though I didn't use bread improver (whatever that is!).

While I had the oven on later to make dinner I made a batch of choc-chip cookies from a recipe over at Attic24. They were just my kind of recipe - easy to mix up, no rolling or messing and the choc chips can be substituted to ring the changes.

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This weekend also saw me get a tiny-weeny bit of sewing done. It was mainly mending and household stuff but I think having it hanging around was subconciously preventing me from getting on with the exciting stuff. More on that next time.

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Something's Gotta Give and Someone's Got a Great Giveaway!

Whilst having a blog-read earlier I read via sew create it about a fantastic Giveaway being run by Pumpkin Patch Primitive. The prize is very generous and the fabrics are lovely. I've entered a few giveaways in the past but not been lucky so far - fingers crossed for this one as I love the fabric colours (bright and bold are not usually my thing).

I would also like to have a giveaway myself sometime. It should be for a special occasion as others do, like a blogging anniversary or 100th post or something like that ( I think the anniverasary is likely to come before the 100th post at the rate I'm going! )

It seems to be the photo taking and uploading that delays my blogging so that's what I need to get more organised at. I'm hoping to get a little sewing and baking done this weekend so will show the results when I can. Will also be meeting up with a friend Saturday evening.

Over the last couple of days I made a big decision (for me). If our singing lessons continue, after the concert we will put on at Christmas, I am not going to continue with them (they were going to finish then anyway at one time but I'm not so sure now). I'm also going to give up being the leader of the local ladies group. In fact, I'm going to leave the committee altogether (after 20 years) and just be a regular member. I don't know when that will happen because we've just moved our AGM to the darker month of October (to keep the lighter months for more outdoor activities) but I don't intend to stay until then. I've only told my OH at the moment but I already feel quite relieved at the thought. I'd like to continue with the Community Choir if that takes off and I'm attending a meeting in a couple of weeks to discuss a Community Helpline that has floundered a little lately so something's gotta give!!

Books, Bread & Biscuits

These are the books I listed on Green Metropolis the other day. I couldn't show the photo in my last post because I hadn't transferred it from my camera at the time. They're quite common titles so I'm not expecting the get rid of them all.

A little bit of baking was done last weekend (amongst the singing). I've had a bread machine for a while (a few years actually) but don't use it very often and haven't yet found a standard recipe that has been very successful. I needed to use up some flour so threw it in following the quantities in the manual for the machine and it was the best so far. I'm going to try to get into the habit of making a loaf a week to start with then, as I get used to the recipe I will get quicker at it and can time it around my activities. I once made a ginger cake in the bread maker and it was delicious.

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These lemon and walnut biscuits were quick to make and turned out well.

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This weekend I'm looking forward to the second Sing Hallelujah rehearsal which should be attended by more people than last week. It's also our last-but-two performance of The Witness on Sunday. I also hope to get a bit more time with my new sewing machine - this time to actually do some sewing!!

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Simply Books

I received delivery of a couple of books this week after my attention was drawn to Your Money or Your Life by Move to Portugal. I'm looking forward to reading it along with Voluntary Simplicity as I think they will compliment each other. I'm hoping they'll give me ideas and inspiration to ease my way out of the rat race.






















I must also get around to reading How to be Free, a book I bought a while ago. Just having the books in my possession won't make my life simpler. I need to READ them!! It's a bit of a Catch 22 situation. No time to read them (or take photos - hence the absence in this post) so can't put them into practice in order to make the time.............













I'm almost at the end of Cold Mountain which I read during my lunch breaks at work. Although I saw the film and prefer to read the book first I've really enjoyed the book. A film can't portray the intricacies of the language in a book or the thoughts of the characters in detail. Descriptions of landscape and surroundings can sometimes make me feel bogged down in a narrative but the ones in Cold Mountain were so clear and clever that I had to re-read some simple sentences over again and again to enjoy them a few more times until I moved on. I'm always amazed at the talent of authors who can put into words what for most people is just a vague feeling.

I'll quote a few sentences that leapt out at me as I read for my own remembrance if nothing else...

"Their breaths hovered about them as if in concern, and then the vague shapes lost interest and vanished".

"Marrying a woman for her beauty makes no more sense than eating a bird for its singing".

"She wondered if literature might lose some of its interest when she reached an age or state of mind where her life was set on such a sure course that the things she read might stop seeming so powerfully like alternate directions for her being".

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Another week has passed by in a flash and Autumn has arrived with a vengeance. Extra layers are being worn and the wood-burner is kept lit full-time. I'm terrible for feeling the cold. My hands never seem to warm up and if my hands are cold I feel as though the rest of me is too.

Our local baptist minister has arranged a meeting for this Saturday to see what interest there is locally in Sing Hallelujah. I will be popping along with my dad to find out more and afterwards am taking my dad out for lunch for his birthday. On Sunday evening we are giving another performance of The Witness in a church in Abergavenny. There'll be 3 more to go after that and then we'll be giving it a rest.

Bye for now

Teresa x

September Update & More Thrifty Luck

On, Saturday, one of the quilting club members brought in a bag of items from a friend of hers to sell for charity. I put in a donation and took 3 furnishing fabric samples, a ball of cotton yarn and a length of braid at least a metre long. The braid will become a handle or decoration for a bag and I'll make at least 2 dishcloths from the cotton yarn. My mother also recently gave me some old curtains which I've taken apart, washed and ironed to add to my stash.


I've just looked back at my August update post to remind myself of what I aimed to do. I've still not visited a library but the books I already have are more than enough to keep me occupied so until it becomes a reason to keep me from buying new books I don't think it's urgent.

As mentioned in my last post, I've sorted the ebay problem, so I can continue decluttering. The recent discovery of Music Magpie will also help with this.



Since our house is so small and the upstairs rooms take up alot of the roof space we have very little attic room. Therefore, the sort of things that people normally keep in their attic, we have to find room for in the house. At present, all that we keep in the attic are suitcases (with skiing gear inside) and boxes of Christmas decorations. Apparently there is a small amount of room at the back that could take a couple of boxes. Consequently, I plan to empty a couple of drawers/shelves, store the contents up there and find a better use for the space. Once I've done this and moved all my craft clutter out to the shed there will be a big improvement.


Grocery shopping costs are not decreasing, partly because my son is eating at home more regularly since he left his chefs job and went back to college, but they're not increasing either so in real terms I could say they've gone down!!



The garden produce is coming to an end so I may go back to ordering organic box deliveries soon. I picked the last of the tomatoes yesterday and the carrots/beetroot should all be raised and cooked or stored soon. My OH foraged some damsons with which I made 12 (very thick) jars of jam and froze a bag of whole fruit. Breakfast Bars and Apple Crumble were also made in September. My home baking efforts are still very sparse. That's not much to show for a month although I don't buy much convenience food and a lot of our meals are made from scratch.

All in all I don't feel as though I'm making much progress, mainly through lack of time. I've just convinced myself to miss my after-work activities this week (choir practice/singing lesson) to try and get on top of things in the house. Next weekend is already filling up so something's got to give or I'll never catch up.

I went into town this lunch time and bought a set of double-pointed knitting needles to try knitting in the round. I plan to make a couple of presents for Christmas and thought it would be easier to start something chunkier than to try socks first. I've also chosen the lining for the mystery crochet project too, so will hopefully have some progress to show on that soon.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Bernina's arrived, Paypal's sorted, Crochet's in progress.

My new (ex-demonstration) Bernina arrived last Friday after a weeks delay because the supplier forgot to send it the previous Friday when my son stayed in all day to wait for it for me. Thankfully, it's here now and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it. So far, all I've done is take it out of the box. I may get chance to take all the bits out of the various bags and assemble it this weekend but I doubt I'll get around to using it.

Tomorow is my monthly quilting club day and for the first time I haven't managed to complete the monthly block, let alone 2 of them like I normally do. I've got as far as cutting them out and started to pin together but free time seems to be in shorter supply than ever these days.

As promised, here's a glimpse of a crochet work-in-progress. Since taking the photo I've finished assembling the main part but now need to search my fabric for a suitable lining. The pattern I have doesn't call for lining but I think it will be sturdier if I add one. Hopefully this has satisfied my recent yearning, to work with yarn instead of fabric, for a while.

I dipped my toe into the world of ebay selling in August and had success, selling 3 out of the 4 items I listed. Although I had emails telling me the payments had been made I could find no record of it on paypal. I checked my profile and details, looked at my account information and checked bank/credit card statements but there was no sign of it. Having not sold anything before, I wondered if I'd overlooked something so asked a few friends with ebay selling experience for advice but they had nothing new to add to what I'd already done. I emailed paypal and they replied asking me to phone instead so I eventually got around to it this week. The lady I spoke to was very helpful. She located the problem (I'd somehow managed to set up a duplicate account) and guided me through sorting it out so, when we'd finished, there was my money, in the paypal account. I'm now happy to list items for auction again and hopefully can get rid of some more 'clutter'.

This weekend, as well as the quilting club day, I've got church and lunch out for my aunt's birthday on Sunday and OH and I will probably go out with friends one evening. I want to try and make some biscuits too if time allows.

I must remember to do a September simple living/aims update post soon too.

Have a good weekend
Bye for now
Teresa x

Sunny Saturday

As Saturday was such a lovely sunny day I had my camera close at hand for any opportunities that might arise.

It's surprising how long a spider's web will last if left undisturbed. They look so flimsy. This impressive specimen has been filling our window for a couple of weeks and I wondered how well it would photograph. Unfortuately Mr Spider was not in residence at the time.

I thought this random collection of items on a window-sill might make an unusual photo. It's just made up of odd items gathered on days out with the family. We've had some of them quite a while and while most of them are perfectly worthless I'm reluctant to throw them away. There are fossils and stones, coins and a Z shaped scrap of wood.

While I was outside later showing my father holiday photos on my camera we saw this hot air balloon fly over at quite a great height.............

..............followed not long after by this one.

The area where we live is quite popular for these flights to take off and land so we see them quite a lot. There have been more recently as the good weather conditions have been more suitable and I expect they have a back-log of bookings from the 'summer that never was'!

Back soon

Bye for now

Teresa x

A Rest in Rhodes

Rhodes. Above is the entrance to the hotel which is just along the coast from Faliraki. It was lovely and clean with wonderful, tasty food and excellent, friendly staff. Although quite a large hotel with lots of guests there was no shortage of sunbeds or space to lounge.


The second evening saw the hot, sunny weather turn to drizzle and then later to a torrential thunder storm. It was quite spectacular sitting in the huge lounge area listening to a Beatles tribute band with the lightening flashing starkly behind them. Above is the sea the morning after the storm. It was very different from the tranquil blue of the rest of the week but the weather was still warm and we were able to get out for another beach walk.



We walked north along the beach path and coastal road ending up at a lovely little harbour for lunch. (Top picture)

When we got back to our room one afternoon, there was waiting for us this card and gateaux from the hotel which was a lovley surprise. The tour operator we booked with must have passed on that it was our 25th Anniversary. With all the scrumptious food in the hotel restaurant it took us 4 goes to finish this but it was delicious!!

One day we took a boat trip to Lindos and were whipped up terrifically by the wind on the 2 hour journey. I made a mental note to travel inside the boat on the way back! Lindos itself was well worth the trip and the sort of old, traditional place we like to visit with a maze of narrow, white streets where it's easy to get lost. We were well rewarded for the walk up the hill with the view of the harbour where our boat waited to take us back.

The Acropolis was busy but covered a much larger area than I realised. I was amazed at the some of the unsuitable outfits the tourists were wearing to climb around such a precarious ruin. Suffering from a slight case of vertigo (which I often get from flying), I was a bundle of nerves, especially on the steps and steep paths, but enjoyed the visit just the same.

Back in Lindos we enjoyed another lovely lunch at a roof-top restaurant from where we could see this lovely church roof and the view beyond.

We decided to visit Rhodes Old Town in the evening when it was cool enough to walk around comfortably. Beyond this entrance was a hive of activity. Many shops and restaurants all vying for our custom.

All in all we had a peaceful, relaxing time and I managed to read 2 books and 2 magazines. The vertigo from the return flight wore off in a few days and my black eye from the fall has almost gone!!

I haven't caught up on housework yet because I was back at work the day after we got back and then straight into singing at harvest festival services. We did 2 last weekend but I have my own Church's Harvest this Sunday and will stay for the lunch after.

On the stitching front, I started a little crochet project before I went away and hope to have something to show soon.

Bye for now

Teresa x

The Finish Line Was Within Sight but.........

The weekend was going so well. Saturday morning was spent at my quilting club AGM where we were also given our next monthly quilt block pattern (called Drunkard's Path). After lunch I took the Cinder Toffee I made and went to the Church Fete to man the cake stall. Despite the dull weather there was a reasonable turnout and the cake table was empty by the end. I then went home to cook a nice steak dinner for my OH as a treat for his birthday. I finished off by making another batch of damson jam which turned out more successful than the first due to the fact that my OH bought a thermometer for me.



Sunday was the day of the Cardiff 10k so we got up early to get there and park before the car parks were full and the roads closed. We mingled with the crowds and tried to keep warm in the chilly wind knowing we would soon warm up once we got going.
Rhodri Morgan started the race and my OH spotted Kathryn Jenkins at about 8km. I struggled a little from the 4.6km water stop as my weaker left leg started to show signs of tiredness so made an effort to lift it more to avoid scraping my toe as I ran. Things were going well until I saw the finish line about 30m ahead and was motivated to put on a spurt for the end. The rest is a bit of a blur as I found myself sprawled on the road looking up at the sky and gasping for breath as I had been winded in the fall. What I did remember was the crowd giving a collective gasp of horror as I hit the ground. My OH, who was just behind me, threw his water bottle down and tried to catch me - he told me after that I said something like 'I'm falling' as I went down but I don't remember that.
I am very grateful to the doctor and nurse from the crowd who came immediately to help and stayed until the St John's Ambulance people arrived, and grateful to them for their thorough check of my injuries and for escorting me over the line so I could collect my medal. Altogether, I am left with scraped hands, a bruised knee, shoulder hip and cheekbone and a black eye. Add all that to the large bruise on my thigh I got last week climbing over a stile after a run and I think I may get some sideways glances while sunbathing on holiday next week (or maybe my poor innocent OH will get the glances as people can jump to the wrong conclusion!!)

My daughter came to see us in the afternoon and to give my OH a cake she made for his birthday. It's the first large cake she's made in her present oven and only the second one she's ever made so the effort was truly appreciated. It honestly wasn't as wonky in real life as it looks in the picture and it was a lovely, delicious treat after a trying day.

Later in the afternoon I went to a singing rehearsal and luckily, the performance of The Witness has been postponed from next week so no one had to learn my songs to take my place while I'm away.

So, an eventful weekend has ended and I'm ready for a holiday to recover. We're going out for a family meal tonight for my OHs birthday and then away soon after to Rhodes as a celebration of our 25th Anniversary.

My picture taking isn't improving much but I'll try and get a few to show on my return.

Bye for now

Teresa x

The Thread Shed & August Update

My OH hasn't really taken me seriously when I've mentioned that I plan to eventually start selling my homemade stitched products. He's rolled his eyes as I continue to accummulate piles of vintage, second-hand, thrifted and donated fabric and notions. However, when he saw the most recent zipped pouch I made he was quite impressed and suggested, with no prompting from me, that I get labels to identify my work. As it was something I'd been considering anyway, I ordered a small amount from Woven Labels UK to try.

I'm pleased with how they look; not too new and shiny, and a bit vintage to suit the sort of materials I want to use. The Thread Shed is what I've decided to call my garden shed where I'll do the sewing, when it's ready.

To change the subject somewhat - I recently took the plunge and listed some items on eBay to sell. I've bought/won many items over the last couple of years but been a bit apprehensive about selling. First, I had to get a new camera to take reasonable photos because I know it makes a big difference to selling success. The setting up of an account and getting used to what to do the first time also takes time and put me off getting started. But it's done now and I was quite satisfied with the outcome.

I listed 2 pairs of shoes, a set of tablemats and a book (see photos). People started 'watching' the shoes almost immediately and both pairs sold. Whoever bought them got bargains but I was pleased to get rid of them and to get a little profit in return. The tablemats also sold and winged their way to Austria. I wasn't happy with my description of the book , but couldn't think of how else to promote it. Consequently, it didn't even get any watchers. I'll probably list it again, once I've organised a few more things to join it.

August Simple Living Update

Getting rid of clutter was one of my downshifting aims listed on this post. I've made progress on the rest of the list too. The only item I've not managed to do anything about is visit the library. The spend recording list is progressing; food shopping costs are down 20 - 25% each week; garden produce has been used, preserved or given away (with a pot of jam and tray of homemade custard slices given in return - yummy!!); the £2 savings jar is filling up and I'm getting through my pile of unread books (just finished Tess of the D'Urbervilles and started Cold Mountain - going to take I Capture the Castle on holiday soon).

The few days away in Tavistock and buying a sewing machine bumped up the spending somewhat but a small amount of passive/non spending earnings was made including from ebay, various cashback cards and vouchers totalling £30. I haven't yet made anything to sell but have saved by giving homemade presents.

The weekends are normally quite busy for me but this one's going to be manic. It'll involve a church fete cake stall, singing practice, quilting club meeting, 10k run in Cardiff and a birthday.

Will need a holiday after that - Rhodes here we come!!

Bye for now

Teresa x