Tell it like it is

We have a t,v programmei England where celebrities are taken back in time to find out about their ancestors. We see and hear some almost unbelievable relevations . The participants are often shocked and tearful but as yet I have not seen anyone ashamed of their background .

I have passed my three score years and ten but I,m not a grumpy old biddy, life has changed enormously in my lifetime.

Last week bluebell and myself took a different route to go shopping , and along the way I pointed out a small landmark in my life, a post office in a country lane. This story is a bit fragmented but it has small chapters . Here goes

I have always lived within about 5 miles of where I live now except for a time in Cyprus.

My mother was widowed when I was 16 months old. She remarried when I was 3 yrs old , and went on to have 5 more children.

My mother ,myself and bluebell were sitting around my kitchen table a couple of years ago . bluebell was asking my mother questions about her life . "what was Kathleen,s father like "she ask , Oh! my mum replied " he was a rag and bone man" !!! my jaw dropped down to my knees , I,d never heard this story before ,
I said " on my marriage certificate it says he was a master builder , I presumed that meant he built houses , how come your saying he was a rag and bone man " She replied "well times were hard and there was no work to be had" . bluebell was creased with laughing at my reaction . She said if you could have seen your face, and the twinkle in your mums eye .

Now back to the different route to go shopping . as we went down the country lane , I said to bluebell, my mum , my sister and myself used to walk down this lane to collect the 10 shillings orphan allowance she got for me , once again it was jaw dropping time , you see I wasn,t adopted into my mum,s second marriage because I was worth 10 shillings while classed as an orphan ,

Yes ! times were hard and might well be again. I ask a friend to authenticate my mothers revalation and it was right, This friend is a person that goes back into records to help people find their roots.

I told bluebell I was going to put this tale on my blog . I know bluebells roots , mmmm, " don,t tell them my grandfather was a -------------------------" she quickly said .

My DaddyI

His looks have come through my own family

All sewed out

I ,ve been sewing this week till I cannot see straight . Doing things for bluebell,s charity table . I,ve called a halt for a couple of days.

I have missed my blogging friends . I look forward to getting back with the in crowd. See you soon

A Sewing bag tutorial

If you left click on the picture and also on the instructions below they will be seen more easily. This bag is made in 4 sections,rather like 2 ordinary bags joined with a gusset in the middle to hold your ruler and cutting wheel and 2 side pockets for your fabric and work in progress. If you make a bag please post a photo on your blog and ask me to look at it

A Sewing bag tutorial

It is the first time I have done this ( I think), Perhaps you can enlarge it to read, If not, I hope someone will tell me the steps to take ,

More from the show

This is a button tree, sorry you have to lie down to look at it. It,slovely though don,t you think

These little cuties I love . I have to get another hanger for them

This is the sort of Patchwork I absolutely love . It,s clever and shows a lot of imagination. I like doing this kind of work myself . You can get lost in time creating . Not to be found as a pattern just dipping in your stash

To me ,this is also very creative

More quilts from the show

Looking at this quilt will always remind me of Cyprus

Perhaps you could lie on the floor to look at this one!!

Birmingham quilt show

My friend Silver sewer has been showing her selection of quilts from the show . here are mine, I go for a different kind altogether .

Dream On

I,m sitting in my conservatory wearing a towel having just emerged from the shower . The water fountain is tinkling . There is a huge tree in direct line of where I,m sitting about 30 yds away . It,s hot but windy . This tree , it,s leaves and branches blowing in the wind sound just like the sea .I can close my eyes and really believe I,m on a sea shore . Life is wonderful, I love wearing Woods Jasmine perfume, the smell of Jasmine is all it takes to complete the dream .

Cyprus Aug,. 2009

I must apologise for the picture quality , the camera I took with me is too light , My hand isn,t steady enough to not wobble when I click

Cyprus

The marina Larnaca

Casper having a nap

Cyprus

The Marina in Larnaca

I slipped down the last 3 steps of this marble staircase, oops a daisy

This is Casper washing Daisy Mae, they are not related. Lovely cats,very friendly

The finigoudes or the front in Larnaca the visitors were very scarce this year , the euro has changed Cyprus , it is now very expensive , everyone struggling

Cyprus

These young men catching fish for their tea . This is Makenzie in the heart of Larnaca ,

The entrance to the fort in Larnaca

The man starting on a fresh lot of Papasosica, What a life ,sitting outside all day ,facing the sea preparing fruit

Cyprus

These houses are lived in, the inside is a different scenario altogether,clean and welcoming

Makenzie area in Larnaca , this is facing the sea, the width of the pavement to the sea is about the width of 3 cars

This man makes cooking things for hotels, or at least I think thats what the stainless steel things look like. I did ask but he nodded and smiled

Cyprus

The gentleman sitting is peeling his papasosica fruit, he invite me to join him and eat some , I had to decline, they grow on big cactus plants , the fruit is very thorny and absolutely full of little hard pips, to Cypriots they are wonderful , I have never heard others say so.

This is a photograph of the mosque in Larnaca

People do live in these houses , they might look grim on the outside but inside they are always spotless,homely and cared for

Cyprus

My grandsons Russell and Andrew

The constant companions, Toby and Casper

Cyprus

A side street

Snaps from Cyprus Aug 2009

The lovely Daisy Mae guarding the footwear of a hunter gatherer

Quilt Shows ! a hazzard to your health

This morning I feel as if I have been splattered on the pavement, scooped up and morphed again . Work that one out if you can . I had a high energy breakfast , my head is just beginning to feel o,k. I awoke several times during the night, the first time I looked at the clock I thought it was ten past five, oh good ! it was really half past two .

When my day begins I shall start a beautiful bright coloured Kaffe Fassett quilt , and draw energy from the bright fabric . I shall stroke orange, yellow and turquoise cloth and drool .bluebell said "Well you made him laugh,but then you would make a cat laugh" meow !

It,s been a good week , Peter my son came from Bristol to repair my roof , so at least the lid won,t blow of my property.My two sons are good, they sort my building problems out for me .

Well! no more time to blog , I have fabric to stroke,patterns to study , books to browse and silly little novelties to smile at.

I want to say thankyou bluebell, she did the driving to the quilt show, she is a star in my life **

Judit

To all my friends that are responding to my request to please visit Judit,s blog, here is the address I use

http://foltmorzsak.blogspot.com/

Judit speaks and writes excellent English, she is a schoolteacher .Her friends blog too in both Hungarian and English , The English will sometimes make you smile but bear in mind, these girls can speak English , how many of us can speak Hungarian ? Not me , If needed there is a button to convert the language.

Today I have been to the N,E,C quilt show in Birmingham with bluebell and Silver sewer . We are exhausted, and we spent out of money even after visiting the cash machine to top up our spending money . The show was really good . We did take some photographs but it was very difficult , too many heads and arms , ducking and diving . I bought the two books I wanted , patterns, and fabric, also novelties to put on my wall .I shall post these on my blog over the weekend and some photographs I took in Cyprus .

I had a chat with Kaffe Fassett,and bought one of his books and some of his fabric , (I,m name dropping now)

I,m just going to browse now for an hour before stumbling into bed, goodnight all .Tomorrow is another day.

I found a friend

Hello all my blogging friends xx . My feet have hardly had time to rest this week, but tonight although tired I intended to do a little catching up and what, or rather who do I find ? Judit Sarkozi . Judit is a friend of a friend of mine . Judit visited England in 2007, she brought her son Gregory with her . Judit and Gregory were brought to my home for tea , I invited other friends to share the occasion . we had a lovely afternoon with a show and tell of my quilts.

Her blog is listed as --Foltmorzsak-crumbs of patch---on her blog she has a photograph that was taken in my garden . Bluebell is 1st on the left , then Judit , Silver sewer in the middle , then myself and then a friend that Judit and I share . Please, please visit Judit,s blog and make her welcome by joining her. She has joined my site as a follower , you might be able to get on her blog this way.

Back to life on the run

Early start to the Fabric Guild today, something bluebell needs. I think she must be running a sweat shop in the attic of her house . She seems to be sewing overtime and buying loads of fabric, I know she has a couple of commisions and other bits in the pipeline .

We went to our sewing meeting yesterday. Never stopped laughing, just could not get much sewing done . Out of there then off to check out the thrift shop . Times must be hard . they had just rubbish , bluebell bought £5.50 worth of rubbish ,!

We also called at the grocery shop , I bought a new scale while in there . I didn,t believe all those stones ,pounds and ounces so I settled for a digital scale marked in kilo,s .
I don,t understand that one either . 76 .5 kilo,s ! how can anyone weigh that much ,?
They have to be wrong , I,ve not been eating butter or chocolate , I gave them up for my holiday .

Cals award Can I live up to it

This award was given to me by Cal who often leaves comments on my blog, Thankyou Cal , I hope I continue to give you something to smile about , As usual I have to pass it on, here goes

http://diybaglover.blogspot.com/
Crazy Old Ladies quilts
http://bugs and fishes.blogspot.com/
http://izzynivydesigns.blogspot.com/

I should award 1 more person , there are so many wonderful sites, if you think your blog has something to offer other bloggers , please use it to bring your blog to the notice of other crafters.Young mums and people who spend time at home caring for others gain pleasure and comfort from the blogs of others

Snippets from my holiday

This is me being propositioned by a Cypriot New Yorker, came up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder, "are you British he ask" "no" I replied I,m English ." wanna go for lunch " he ask . To cut a long story short, he said he was from the big apple , he was in Cyprus for a month , his wife was still at home and would be doing the same thing. I politly declined, Alison took the picture , he said look for me along the front . Cheek of the man ,Geroff. Louie the leech

Back to Blighty

Flip Flops off , wellies back on . Not true about the wellies, here in England the sun is shining and the sky is blue.

I,m back on my own stamping ground . I,ve had a holiday that has renewed my energy , my equilibreum and my general outlook .

Dear bluebell was at the airport waiting for me , her smiling face reassuring me I was welcome into the fold again .
Silver sewer emailed me to say if bluebell had other commitments she would pick me up . Friendships ? priceless .

Everyday on my holiday there has been laughter that made tears run down my face . I was with family and Tony ,a friend of my son . He is a comic , always a quip of some kind that was humorous .
The only downside ? we were miles from anywhere right out in the country, but then looking at it another way some people spend a lot of money to go to a retreat, always two sides to a problem .
The only real downside for me was the smell of dried animal food for the dog and cats . It permeated the house,the bowls had to be by the kitchen door and kept topped up so Toby the dog, Casper, Felix and Daisy mae could graze whenever the fancy took them . The smell certainly curbed my appetite, I started my holiday with a weight 76.8 , final score, 76.3 so again something good.

Every time I go to Cyprus I say "it,s the last time , it,s too far " but when I,m back in England I think differently . This time for me it was the wrong time of the year , the sun was relentless and searing , we awoke to temperatures of 29 steadily rising to 34,and by night,time, it was unbearable, I just could not take it . The heat and humidity was too much for me ,

Because it has been raining a lot , my garden has flourished . I did some deadheading at 8 o/clock this morning , counted the fish , and felt life is good .

I love family ,I love my friends , I love life ,
Always look on the bright side of life .

Please look

I have just had a quick scan, I implore you to look at this siteHttp://bizarrequilterblogspot.com/ the work this girl does is amazing. I wanted to leave a comment but didn,t know how. perhaps someone will put me right. I will write my usual blog tonight . It came up to me as-bizarrequilter.com

I Wonder

I wrote a blog yesterday named, What comes First , being as I,ve had a hiccup on my blog I wonder if it was published

OH,NO !!

IT says I,m not following any blogs , I,ll be days trying to remember who all my contacts are , please don,t think I have deserted anyone , I will get it sorted, why does this happen?

What comes first

Re my situation concerning Mosquitoes ,
If you use a plug in you cannot have the air con,. on
If you use the air con,. you cannot have the windows open
End of that story

The dog is a much loved pet , a cross between a Labrador and an Alsation, resulting in the size of a shetland pony when standing, when lying down which he is most of the day , he,s the length of a young calf . To step over him when he,s lying flat out, is difficult , I,m an old biddy , I cannot stretch my legs that far . The animals , 1 huge dog , 3 cats are really lovely sweet natured things . The cat Casper washes another cat Daisy Mae , she is possibly 3 month old, she was a given to the owners when out for a meal with the alternative ,if they didn,t take her she would be put down , but I digress , Toby the dog washes Casper , in return for her sleeping with him . In return for Toby washing Casper from nose to the tip of her tail , she washes his ears . Abolutions over, they settle down together to snooze , Daisy Mae looks on as if to say where can I fit in .

That leaves Felix the black and white cat, very aloof and independant , she washes herself , quite affectionate but doesn,t mix much with the others . Daisy mae being a youngster spends most of her day chasing her tail and tormenting animals and humans .

Now for another saga!! I mentioned yesterday when I woke up 5.30 a.m having trouble with a mosquito in my room , not being able to go downstairs owing to the dog being stretched out across them I thought I.ll put plan B into action, I.ll sit in David,s room till he wakes up . Too many clothes on the chair so I,ll sit on the side of his bed. After 10 min,s he sleepily opened his eyes and had a shock to see me sitting there !! He went to bed for a doze in the afternoon to be woken by Felix the black and white cat licking his face .

If you laugh at holidays, I,ll be laughing for months.

This morning Tony , Davids friend got up, anxiously searching for his money . he thought he,d lost it. We,d been out for a meal , he had 2 beers, when he was searching he found it on top of the wardrobe !!! said he couldn,t remember putting it there , strong stuff beer.

I was tangoed

Woke up this morning to a mozzie wizzing around me . I sleep on top of the bed almost in the altogether so it had a large English breakfast . I quickly dabbed all the bites , and sprayed the room and closed the door. I couldn,t get by the dog sleeping on the stairs so decided to sit in David,s room till he woke up. The surprised look on his face was priceless when he opened his eyes

Nice blog

Have you looked at http://FoxglovesFabricand Folly.blogspot.com --------there is a lovely quilt on there made of yoyos, and also some beautiful babies

I think my blood is reaching the temp where it will be coming out of my ears ! the build up of heat is getting unbearable . clothes constantly wet with perspiration. the heat in Cyprus today is going through the thermometer . There is quite a big marble staircase here , very shiny and slippery, the rest of our party walk about barefoot , Me with my nose in the air. and flip flops on slid down the last 3 steps , result, I told the others I have a tattoo on my posterior , today I had to show it, comment, ooooh!!!

help

my daughter in law has opened a blog any one reading kindly leave her a comment on her blog which is alliepallie thankyou from cottonreel

Saturday

Hello and good morning from sunny Cyprus , the morning always seems to start at 29 degrees . so I mostly stay in the shade .
We had a lovely day yesterday, still no car until Sunday so we called Makris the taxi people, they turned up with a mini coach , plenty of room for all .20 euros , very reasonable . I went around Larnaca town , took photographs , chatted to various locals sitting in their doorways watching the world go by . One old boy peeling his papasosicas and inviting me to have some . They are a very stony fruit , they grow on huge cactus bushes, I cannot stand them . The rest of the party went on to the beach . David joined me for a coffee at Mcdonalds before he joined the beach party . We went to Militis for a blow out supper before coming back . Everyone happy .

Yassou

We are still without a car, I think Friday might be the day we have wheels . This morning David watered the flowers and plants and as soon as he turned his back the cats rolled in the muddy parts and jostled for the wettest places. talk about drowned cats , they were real scrag ends.

It was the dogs turn next . he stood very still while he was being attended too. He didn.t mind the shampoo or the hosing down , but of course dogs love to shake afterwards .

My dear daughter in law Alison has turned laundry maid today . I think she is on about the 6th lot of washing . At present their are 6 of us here. After Sunday we go down to 3.

It is very hot, I,m trying to keep an eye on what I eat, I,m already overwieght so. I,m hoping I won,t put more on.

It was Alison,s birthday yesterday, she celebrated by going out to play cards at the u,k club .One of her friends came earlier with a chocolate gateau ,and another member of our clan found a cheese cake mix in the cupboard and made that up for her. It hasn,t been cut yet , so cannot comment.

I bought books out with me to read . In 3 days I,m still on page 28 . every time I try to read I fall asleep. Some unkind blood relative said I look like a venus fly trap , not nice is it .

I shall miss you all, but it,s lovely to be with family

hello friends

I arrived in Cyprus safely, my son was at the airport to meet me, the flight was good , the plane was full . Today myself and my daughter in law went into Larnaca , coffee at Mcdonalds, a stroll around the shops and a trip along the road to Lazarus church to light candles for our dear ones . Back to the front along the sea for another cold drink. We were sauntering along chatting, then a tap on the shoulder, a hunky guy said are you British , I replied ,no, English , would you like to come for lunch . I ask are you married, first he said ,no, a bit more chatting, he said his name was Louie .mmm . and where are you from Louie , the big apple said he, and then admitted he was married and his wife was in New york and would be doing the same thing. he was in Cyprus for a month and was obviously on the prowl , well we were not for the taking, the cheek of the man . We were waiting for my son to pick us up at the arranged place . no David ! more mmm. had he got the time wrong ? NO, the BMW he had been loaned had conked out!! all Cyprus is on holiday, cannot be repaired for 2 weeks , some other frinds can rent a car to him from Sunday We are in a beautiful big house, out in the wilds , 1 large dog lovely gentle nature , 3 delightful cats , so friendly, and we are within walking distance of nowhere , No,one is champing at the bit yet, so all is well . Yesterday I wieghed in at 76.8 today I wieghed in at 77.2 ? at this rate I will be like a barrel by the end of the month