Out and About!

Do you ever get times when you arrange things weeks in advance then find when the time arrives you've booked yourself up completely for a whole week!! The summer holidays are over and clubs and associations are meeting again after the break.  This week is going as follows: Monday - Choir practice, Tuesday - launch evening of friend's business, Wednesday - Singing lesson, Thursday - Ladies Group evening out, Friday - one of 3 Harvest services, Saturday - meal out for friend's birthday.  I should learn to turn things down now and then (but I enjoy them all!).  Reluctantly, however, I've decided not to go to the service on Friday.  I was going to miss the singing lesson but after I managed a top 'D' during the warm up last week the teacher persuaded me to go again, especially as it's his last lesson with us until November.

 Last Saturday (while the Relish was in the slow cooker!) OH and I popped along to Usk Show for a few hours in the afternoon for a relaxing stroll around the stalls and exhibits.  We were just in time to see the parade of vintage tractors.  I told OH he should get his tractors ready and enter them next year (he's got 2!!) so he could drive one around the show and me the other (I was only joking about me!!).

 The sun was shining down on all the animals in their pens who were enjoying some feed after a hard day parading.

 At various times we bumped into DD, DS, an uncle & aunt and various friends and being only 5 miles from our village this was inevitable.  It's such a social occasion and a friendly show with great atmosphere.

 As rabbits are DD's speciality I went into the Rabbit tent with her to explain all the different breeds to me.  Actually, I dragged her in for the second time because she'd already seen it once! I think this one is a Dutch but that's about all I can remember.  I would have liked to get some pictures of the entries in the craft competitions but they were all covered in polythene so it was difficult to see them, let alone photograph them.  I can understand the food being covered but not the craftwork.  I was surprised at the low number of entries in the patchwork and knitting sections but then again, I don't think to enter anything myself so I've no-one to blame.

 These 2 photos are from my friends business launch.  She put in a huge amount of preparation and was really exited to get going.  Unfortunately, the local papers (for what ever reason) didn't publish her advert and article about the event.  In the end there were just 14 friends and relatives in attendance in a beautiful room in a lovely hotel all set up and waiting for the chance to impress.  Well, we made the best use of an unfortunate situation as my friend used us as guinea pigs for her presentation with some useful feedback offered.  We're all set to do it again at a different venue in October.

Oh and I suppose I ought to mention that Wednesday was my 26th wedding anniversary.   OH and I are going away for a weekend soon so that will be time to slow down and celebrate.

Bye for now.
Teresa x

Making the Best of What We Have!

In a continuing effort to leave as small a 'footprint' as possible on the planet as I can, whenever we need or want something we look amongst the things we already own for a solution.  Therefore, needing more storage for the 'shed' we unearthed these 2 grotty-looking specimens (as shown in an earlier post).   

 

Here they are almost finished and ready for use.  There's not much of a difference, I grant you. We stripped off the old fabric from the tops and gave them a coat of paint (with the remains of a half-used tin in OH's shed).  Then I chose some fabric from my stash that I'd previously thrifted (yes it is different although it may not seem so at first glance) and covered the tops using upholstery tacks also from OH's shed (I'm amazed at what he's got stashed away in there!).  They're usable now although I intend to replace the handle and line them with paper at some point.

I'm ashamed to say that it's taken me 10 months to get around to making up this handy shopping bag from the fabric I was sent after winning one of 100 'green' bags from Green Bag Lady during Sew Mama Sew's giveaway day last year.  Now I have to find someone who will appreciate and use it, to give to.  It's just a simple tote bag but is a good size and will fold up quite small to tuck into a handbag.

I'm trying to think of more ways to reduce my waste of paper and water. With that in mind I bought these napkins a few weeks ago to take to work (or anywhere else I take food) to use instead of paper serviettes.  It'll only make a miniscule difference but it all helps.  On the subject of water, I need to cut the length of my morning showers and stop running the tap to rinse dishes while washing up.

Here are some napkins I bought from a charity shop a few weeks ago. I'm beginning to remember to take them every day with my lunch, altough it took a while.

Talking of using what we've got, my mother gave me some apples from her tree a week or so ago and as most of them had little holes (the evidence of unwanted occupation), I didn't put them in the fruit bowl but chopped them up with other fruits to make this Autumn Relish from a recipe in my slow cooker book.  We haven't tried it yet so the jury's still out on the result but I hope the fact that my OH had all the windows in the house open the next morning to get rid of the lingering smell isn't an indication of the taste!

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Messing about on the River!

My OH and 5 friends decided to enter the local Raft Race this year.  Organised by the Rotary Club, the event is held every year on the River Wye starting in Monmouth.   Their raft looked much the same as many of the 60+ crafts in attendance on the day.  But when it came to it, it was surprising how much difference there was. 

Apart from the serious racing rafts which set off first, they all placed their rafts in the river in turn and set off.  As ours was almost the last to set off we watched with anticipation as rafts broke apart when contestants got on or up-turned completely when fully loaded.

 If there was a prize for the best turned out raft, this one above should have won it by a mile.

 Thankfully, it was quite stable, easy to manoeuvre and went well.

 Off they go to the first bridge where onlookers 'traditionally' throw things like eggs and flour at the competitors!! Fun eh?!!  Incidentally, it rained most of the day - not that it bothered them, they got wet anyway.

 Rafts heading for the half way bridge, where this pic was taken from, and another dosing of eggs/flour bombs.

 This was also the location of an optional pit stop (a pub standing right next to the river) and the place we went to meet up.  The raft-park above with a clamber up muddy bank to the pub.

 See how many costumes you can spot.  It's still raining but no-one cares by now!!

Here they are on the home straight.  Two of them had just gone in for a dunking with one still struggling to get back on here.  We watched, incredulous, as the 2 just appeared to jump in one after the other!  They told us afterwards that they had to 'go in' because they were coming to the finish line and the others had all gone in at some point (one had even dived in after some dropped chocolate!).  That's male logic for you!!

We all sang Happy Birthday to my OH as he came dripping out up the bank at the end (he's getting too old to be doing things like this :-)  )  and then we finished off the day by erecting a BBQ and gazebo (while the men dried off and changed) for some very welcome refreshment.

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After a couple of quieter weekends, it's back to the post-summer routines, so apart from the raft race on Sunday I had my monthly quilting club day on Saturday and went to the local theatre to see a Queen tribute band on Firday evening (which we enjoyed only because they were so bad they were hilarious).

Bye for now

Teresa x

House to Home!

I came across some photos as I was rummaging in the cupboard under the stairs a couple of weeks ago and thought they would make an interesting little post.  I'm hoping you won't notice that you've got 'before and after' pics of a house instead of the promised furniture makeover.

This is Huntsmans Cottage where my OH and I lived when we were first married in 1984 (OH had already lived here for a while with his first wife).  It's a beautiful picturesque cottage in a peaceful country location, although some rooms were quite cold in winter and it needed some modernisation.  With it being a 'tied house' (that is - it came with OH's job and is located on the estate where he works) and a listed building, we were restricted as to what could be done to improve it.  The layout inside left a lot to be desired when you could only get to the bathroom through the kitchen and, there being no door at the back, you had to walk all the way around the house to get to the garden (the green front door you see was not in use).

(If you look closely you can see the children looking out of the bedroom windows)

 When the children came along I felt increasingly isolated here and longed to live back amongst people in the village which was about 3 miles away.  When an opportunity arose to own our own little cottage in the village we jumped at the chance.

(The front of Huntsmans Cottage with DS by the door)

 And this (below) is what we were faced with!!  The house where my father and his brothers and sister were born and grew up which had been empty for many years.  I can hardly believe my grandparents brought up 6 children in this tiny cottage.  Apparently, the older children used to sleep next door at a relative's and they were also quite spread out in age which must have helped.

Planning and paperwork took a while but eventually work began.  There wasn't much left when it was stripped back.  At one stage we nearly lost the side wall on the right too but the builders managed to save it.

It took a couple of years in all but eventually we moved in in 1992 when the children were 4 and 6.

 

And this is how it looks today (the porch was added a couple of years ago).  It's not very different in style because we live in a conservation area and had to keep the general look of the building as it was. My auntie now lives next door, where my great aunt used to live until she died in 1978.  She moved there with my grandmother (who died in 1988 if I remember correctly) from our house about 12 years before we came along.  A little further down the road you can just see the end of my parents house.

I enjoyed this little amble down memory lane. It brought back some lovely memories, such as the the things I have in common with my grandmother.  Apart from living in the same house, we were also both members of the church choir (I still am!), members of the church council and Head Cook at the local school.

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Thank you for the lovely comments recently but I'm afraid I haven't been able to reply to some.  I replied to a few but for others I didn't receive an email so couldn't answer.  I try to answer all comments when you lovely people make the effort to leave them and am disappointed when I can't.  I do appreciate you taking the time to 'connect' as it makes all your blogs become more alive to me (and if you don't have a blog you're still very welcome).

Bye for now

Teresa x

Its Curtains for the Shed!

Having had Friday off work as well as the Monday this Bank Holiday I was able to get quite alot done. I helped DD at 2 Body Shop parties, went out with friends a couple of times and managed to get a respectable amount of housework and baking done. The job I was most happy to finish was sewing the curtains for the shed which I made from a double sheet I bought from a charity shop.  It feels much more cosy in there now.

 Inside view.

 Outside view closed.

 Outside view open.

As you can see it was a lovely sunny day yesterday and felt quite warm in the sun, but step into a shadow and the feeling was very different, as were the evenings.  Very autumnal to say the least (and only a month early!)

 As my offering for a party we went to I took Honey-Nut Muffins (what else!) and also baked a couple of Fruity Tea Loaves and a loaf of bread (which I haven't done for a while) for ourselves. 

I wanted to post before and after photos of these shabby looking items today but the 'after' will  have to wait.  My OH removed the edging and fabric from the tops and I painted them yesterday but I still have to choose new fabric for the tops and possible other finishing touches.  When finished they will go in the shed to increase the storage for me to get more of my stuff out there.  It's getting there!!  I'll move in soon!!

Bye for now
Teresa x

Lovely Books!

There's been a bit of book buying around here recently.  Mainly for presents.  I thought I may as well get them while I think about it in case I forget until it's too late to order them.

This Smallholder's Manual is for my DD's boyfriend who's birthday is in November.  He'd love to have his own place with a bit of land and is very experienced in working with animals.  I just hope this isn't too basic for him because I don't know too much about it. 

 This one is for my DS for Christmas.  He saw it while we were visiting The Lost Gardens of Heligan on holiday and showed an interest in it, so I said I'd get it for him.  While searching for this image I saw that there's also a blog associated with it (which coincidentally has The Woodland House in its reading list) so I'll tell him about that too.

 Any fan of Grand Designs on Channel 4 will have seen the episode featuring Ben Law and his woodland house.  We recently saw a follow-up episode which showed that he's now married with 2 children (and has extended the house accordingly) and they are all happily living an idyllic existence from the land. It reminded me that I was intending to get it  for my OH for Christmas.

 Finally, I have been looking out for A Thousand Splendid Suns in charity shops since I read The Kite Runner by the same author, and managed to find a copy a couple of weeks ago.  It's now on my 'to-read' pile.

No photos to show from the weekend I'm afraid and it was very similar to last week with heavy rain on the Saturday and better on Sunday.  However, the rain didn't spoil my enjoyment of a lovely, long, leisurely lunch out with a friend.  She's been busy setting up a new Life Coaching business so it was good to catch up and find out all about it.  Her flat is on the market and she's hoping to move back to our village, nearer to her parents, which will also make it easier to meet up.

Sunday included church in the morning and curtain sewing in the evening with a bit of housework in between.  I'll definitely get some pictures taken when they're done.

Bye for now
Teresa x

A Weekend of Two Halves! and A Bit of Barter!

Saturday

What can you do when it feels like autumn and pours with rain all day, but bake!

Ginger Biscuits from the recipe book that came with my cooker and yummy, light shortbread from my DS's Cook with Jamie.

Sunday

Gloriously sunny and warm!  Ideal for taking a few pics out in the garden. 

(The cottage garden border has filled out nicely)

The subject of  Tales from a Stone Cottage in Country Living this month is bartering in the countryside, albeit with a comical twist. According to Aly, there are 3 stages of bartering that go something like this:
1 Bartering home grown produce;
2 Bartering items made with home grown produce i.e. jams and chutneys; and finally
3 Bartering services i.e. lawn mowing, pet watching.
This sounds about right to me although, perhaps, not in quite so structured a manner where you have to achieve one stage before you can qualify for the next!

(I love the colour of this holyhock which is growing tall and strong.  Must be well over 6ft.)

Thinking about bartering while wandering around the garden, I was at first dissapointed to think we didn't do it much. Then as more and more instances came back to me I realised we did it more than I thought.  It's just that it's such an integral part of life that we don't think of it as bartering.  And we don't ususally, as the article suggests, expect anything in return (but it's a welcome surprise).

(The one and only apple on young tree No 1)

I then thought further and it occured to me that bartering must go on in some form in every country of the world.  (Not that it's a very original thought - I just hadn't considered it before).  I expect the experience is very similar throughout the Western World but it would be interesting to know what happens in places like India, Africa and The Arctic. 

(The one and only apple on young tree No 2)

Here are my examples:
-Runner beans we gave to a passing friend who later left a jar of raspberry jam on the doorstep.
-Rhubarb, beetroot and cooking apples we give to my auntie up the road who leaves apple pies, custard slices and millionaires shortbread on our garden bench. :-)
-My OH cutting an overgrown hedge for a friend who will spray OH's tractor panels in return.
-Church members bringing produce and leaving it in the porch for the congregation to help themselves.
-The Vicar announcing in chuch that she has raspberries or blackberries ready in her garden for picking
Plus lots of general lending and borrowing of tools, baking ingredients and skills too many to mention (and many forgotton).

(The knarled old Bramley groaning with apples)

On the stiching front, I have cut out the curtains for my shed at last, from the charity shop sheet (a tongue-twister if ever I heard one) I bought especially.  Results hopefully before too long!

Bye for now

Teresa x

Random Ramblings!

The new Blogger in Draft has some useful additions (especially for someone as Blogologically challenged as me).  The more realistic looking preview is nice but what I like most are the new photo uploading method and the easily accessible Stats.  The photos are now attached in the order in which I load them and I can see a little preview to make sure they're the ones I want.  On the Stats page I saw recently that someone had searched for 'how-to-find-time-to-stitch' and ended up on my blog.  How disappointed they must have been. They won't have found much help with that here!!  In fact, I think I might do a search on that myself :-)

 Look at what I found in the kitchen at work with a note attached saying 'Free to a Good Home'!! 

 This is where I spent part of my evening yesterday (well, half an hour of it anyway).  It's what our friends jokingly refer to as our 'gym' - in the same way as they call my shed the 'studio'.  My OH bought this treadmill recently and, as we were waiting for delivery, he painted the walls and floor of our outside yard to accommodate it (there's a roof too so it's not completely open to the elements, but it's going to be a tad chilly in the winter).  I think the old lockers he brought home and painted add an authentic touch - they're not there to store our gym gear though.  Oh no.....they're for storing recycling and home made preserves but don't tell anyone, it spoils the illusion!!

I've done a little stitching (or preparation for it) in one way or another every evening this week but I've not got anything interesting enough to show for it.  I don't want to be one of those bloggers that takes a picture of every square I cut out or every row I knit until you're almost fed up with the finished item before you see it.

Bye for now
Teresa x

A Concert and A Ceilidh!

This blog should be called "My Weekend Diary" or something similar because that's what it's turning out to be mostly about.  Never mind, I'll keep plodding on with it and let it take me wherever it leads!

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I had the day off work on Friday to prepare for our concert in the evening.  Rehearsals (with an accompanist none of us had met before) began at 4pm and I have to say, if anything could have gone wrong, it did!! None of us got through a song without a mistake and, in some cases, lots of  mistakes!!  This didn't do anything to help our nervousness and there was no time to try again.  The performance went much better but mostly because we kept valiantly singing through the mistakes and hoped they weren't noticed.  At the end we sang A Clare Benedition and We'll Keep a Welcome to our teacher and there was more than one tearful eye when we finished. Who knows what's going to happen now - Craig says he'll choose us a few songs to work on then come back sometime in September to coach us but even that will eventually fizzle out and we'll have to make a decision!!

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Isn't this a fantasic view!!!! As soon as I uploaded it I had to make it my Desktop image.  It's such a relaxing scene to look at.  Do you see the white farmhouse just above the third post on the right?  We are on our way there to a Church Ceilidh and Hog Roast in a barn.

I was a little late and the dancing was well under way when I got there.  Before I had chance to join them we were called to the marquee for supper and unfortunately I didn't get to dance at all because I had to leave (with my Mum, Dad and Auntie) before it started again, to go to my niece's 21st birthday party.  It was a shame that they clashed on the same evening as we couldn't really do justice to either event.

The weekend also saw me getting a routine eye test and as a result I am on the slippery slope to grannydom!  Only joking!  I don't mind really, but I agreed to get glasses for driving (for safety really) as I have one short-sighted eye and one long-sighted eye.  I relied on the receptionist to choose a style for me as I haven't got a clue, and as I'll probably just keep them in the car I don't mind too much what they look like.  I've a pair at home that I bought for about £3.99, with very slight magnification, to wear when I'm sewing or knitting in poor light, but for everyday activities I'm fine without them.

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I'll finish today with big thank yous for all the amazing comments you've been sending me.  I am astounded by the connections I've made here and love the fact that some of you overseas readers are learning new things from me (and me from you)!!  It makes it more 'real' to hear about these things from actual lives than to read it in books or see it on TV!!

Bye for now

Teresa x

"A Very Merry Unbirthday to Me"?

First, I want to say what a fantastic show we saw on Monday.  Les Miserables is an amazing feat for all the performers and backstage crew.  Everything about it was stunning from the singing and acting to the many, many scene changes (so smoothly done) to the costumes and music. We thoroughly enjoyed it and would happily watch it over again (if it didn't cost so much!) as many people do.

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Now, to the subject for today. As I sat at my desk in work the other day, my boss came in carrying a big white box containing an enormous white chocolate cheesecake and a bithday card.  Now, before anyone starts sending me birthday wishes - IT WAS NOT MY BIRTHDAY!

 Let me explain. If people know about a birthday in our office they will, at least, buy a card and all sign it.
There was a birthday in the office recently (and a Cheesecake Fornight where we had a cheesecake everyday for two weeks - but that's another story).  Anyway, the recent birthday got people wondering when mine was and they realised they's missed it (it was in March!) and decided to make up for it!!!
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A few things then fell into place. Like a colleague asking me, at the time of the other birthday, when mine was (and me smugly answering that they'd missed it) and another time asking me which was my favourite of all the cheesecakes we'd had during our recent cheesecake fortnight (don't ask!). I actually said the damson and white choc was my favourite but the lady who makes the cheesecakes had no damsons left and used raspberries instead.  She even sent in one of the damsons from her tree to prove they were not ready yet this year.   I put an earring next to it to show how tiny it was. 

 Here's my slice.  I expect you're wondering how I managed to hold off from eating it to take a pic.  Well, it wasn't easy, but I managed it!

"You don't have to be mad to work here but it helps.!!"

Bye for now

Teresa x

Stitching and Singing!

There's been a serious lack of any news on stitching and singing around here lately so here are a few little snippets of what's been going on. 

Cutting out squares from the fabrics left over from my quilt-as-you -go quilt. I'm going to team these with a lighter plain fabric in triangles, see how many I end up with, then decide what to do with them (What? - it's how I work!)

 Preparing another block for quilting. It's all tacked down and marked up!

 Finishing the binding on my mini-quilt made from left overs (what else!).  Just need to put a couple of hanging loops on the back.

 I don't know what to do with it now!!  It doesn't really suit any room in our house.  Maybe I'll start a stock of things to sell and this can be the first item. 

I also had a yearning for yarn yesterday and got out the kniting needles and crochet hooks.  If my plans work out I'll report on that sometime too.

Last week at work we held our annual cricket match and BBQ.  You  can tell how seriously they take it (or not) by the state of the kit they're wearting.  It was more fun this year because we made up two teams internally instead of playing an external company who would take it very seriously, turn up in complete 'whites', thrash us, fill up on the free BBQ and then leave!

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As OH and I had no fixed commitments on Saturday I suggested we went to the cinema (I got to choose).  We saw Toy Story 3 and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I found it so funny and clever, and there was so much going on, I'm sure we must have missed something.  In fact, I learned this morning via Facebook that we missed a rude hidden message!  I wasn't tempted to click on the link to find out what it was but may have to wheedle it out of my nephew sometime!

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I'm so looking forward to tonight.  We're going to the theatre in Bristol to see Les Miserables!  It's first on my list for a must-see show.  I know the story and love listening to the fabulous music on CD but have never seen the show.  There's a local chap who runs coach trips to the theatre for charity so, as soon as we heard it was on, my sister contacted him to see if he had a coach going and a crowd of about 12 of us are goin.

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Oh........and I nearly forgot. How could I!!!  The latest singing news is that our teacher is finally leaving us to become a minister!  I've mixed feelings about this.  In the beginning I felt some benefit from the lessons but more recently have come to think I've gone as far as I can with him, but we've been with him for 5 years so it will be a sad occasion.  That is, the concert on Friday will be a sad occasion. 

Oh no, another concert and I feel less prepared than ever!!  I'm going to be singing Evergreen by Barbra Streisand, An Old Fashioned Wedding from Annie Get Your Gun with Brinley and Lakme's Flower Duet with my sister as well as a couple of group pieces.  The trouble is (and I may have mentioned this before) that our teacher cannot play the keyboard.  He just about manages a plonk, plonk with one finger, to pick out the tune.  So when we get to the pre-concert rehearsal (also on Friday) we will never have sung any of the pieces with an accompaniment!!!!!!  I can't emphasise enough how vital that is for confidence in knowing when to come in and what note to start on.  He says he'll conduct (and he does) but quite honestly, that's not enough!

( I hope the utube links work.  I don't know what the last one is like but whatever it is we'll be dropping the pitch a smidgen!)

No sure whether I'll try to find another teacher sometime but for a little while I'll enjoy having Wednesday evenings free. :-)

Bye for now

Teresa x