Is It ?

Is life a bowl of cherries ?

It probably is if you organise your day .

I spend too much time reading blogs and then don,t have enough time to write my own , but some people have very interesting things to say and do .

I,m trying to finish projects before the garden needs more attention . I sit down to hand sew and start to fall asleep . I was so tired last night I went to bed 10.30 which is 2 hours earlier than usual , the result being I was awake at 2 a,m . I then passed the time filling in a new telephone / address book .

Today I had filing to do ,but now I will have a quick flip around the blogs then go back to my felt embroidery .

It has been a good week on the whole ,had my hair trimmed , eyebrows waxed . out for lunch , it was o.k

Hopeful

Dec ,. 27th the bug that is sweeping Britain bit me ,and continued biting for about 3 weeks , then I seemed to recover . I had a few days feeling fine then I developed a nasty cold or perhaps a recycled version of the bug . Once again I was knocked for six but I think I,m on the mend again , sniffly but nothing to complain about so I shall be blogging again . I lost enthsiasm for sharing my day while not feeling well .

I have changed doing patchwork for sewing with felt . It,s a lovely fabric to work with and I now have a good selection of colours . I read of girls picking up wool jumpers from charity shops to felt and use . I have looked in charity shops for ages and I have not seen one 100% wool jumper . I cannot find naive patterns using felt either so will have to twiddle and convert patchwork patterns .

I still have two patchwork quilts in the final stages to finish . One only needs the binding sewing down , the other is a medallion quilt , I,m on the final border .

The sewing machine came back from being serviced but still does not do the decorative sts, satisfactory , I,m not going to pursue the matter , straight stitching will do for me .

I,d love opinions please , do sewing machines have a time of being in good working order or are they like cars start to be a problem after a time . I discussed this with Silver sewer , we both thought a well used sewing machine would give up . I have had my present machine 8 or 9 years .

It,s OFFICIAL

Listening to the East Midlands news at 6 o/clock last night the newsreader said it is now official , Leicester is the first city with a white minority .

This is what I call social injustice . Leicester was known ( albeit many years ago ) as one of the richest and cleanest cities .

It is now scruffy , empty buildings and very mis,managed . It is a very multi cultural city . Not a place to frequent at night .

Shop assistants are very polite and helpful . On the whole the staff in hospitals are caring , but it still does not make everything right .

My lovely online friends

Thankyou one and all for your birthday wishes .

I honestly have wonderful days , it is very seldom that something rocks my day . I get a bit steamy about social injust . and when people are unkind to each other . I see good in all until I am proved wrong .

My lovely bag I showed in my previous post is a present from bluebell along with Estee Lauder Pleasures perfume and body lotion and a book and a T,shirt and a decorative tin of mints . Gosh !! it,s like christmas all over again .

My year starts here

A red letter day , today is my birthday . It,s the start of a new year for me . I,ll make just one resolution . To try to be a better person .

Jenny of Elefantz new BOM

Just look at Jenny's new block of the month . I did the 2010 shabby roses quilt , It,s lovely and I look forward to doing this one , those little shabby roses are so pretty . It,s the easiest embroidery you will ever do and you just need heat and bond for the applique heart . Doesn,t everyone love blanket stitch and back stitch .Do take a look at Jenny's blog .

I heard you say you don,t make quilts , O ,K make a little mat to stand your beaker on . Just sit and think lovely thought while you are stitching . So relaxing you will be stress free in no time .

Bag full of nothing

You would think a mouse would not enter a bag with these illustrations on . I stored my tulip bulbs in this bag .

It has been a beautiful day today , sunny , breezy , cold but o,k for getting into the garden . I did some tidying ,getting leaves up etc,. I decided to plant the daffodils that I did not get chance to last autumn . Either they bloom or they don,t . Having done that I thought , we are on promise for another pleasant day tomorrow I,ll look at the tulip bulbs and perhaps they might flower .

Mm , the mouse had been there before me , not a single bulb . Just the husks .

The sewing machine goes for repair on Monday . Its booked in .

Woe is me

Disaster has struck , can you think of a bigger blip than a patchworkers sewing machine breaking down .

I am using the term disaster in a very loose way because obviously there are real disasters in many peoples lives .

The machine broke 3 needles by hitting the bar on the needle plate . The irony is a part completed quilt has been staring at me for months , yes months . I just could not get enthusiasm going to finish it , then after giving myself a nudge to get going the machine has a tantrum .

Oh well , nothing can be done till it,s had a overhaul .

Wishing and hoping

I,ve been whiling a little time away looking at garden photo,s. Last year it was very poor and most disappointing .so much so that I decided to just go for hydrangeas , lavender and roses which I planted in abundance last autumn . I realise all of these plants take awhile to get established . Due to the awful autumn I did not get round to planting bulbs . It will be a dismal spring without them but perhaps I shall buy ready planted pots to fill spaces .

I,m looking forward to even 1 pleasant day soon to clear leaves and tidy round the edges

My Start to the New year

I fell victim to the dreaded lurgy that is sweeping Britain . I felt there was an army of people inside my head , poking the back of my eyes ,blocking my ears with cotton wool , and goodness knows what they concocted in my sinus . Today I feel 99% better , still stuffy in the head but the pain and coughing and sneezing have almost gone .

Apart from all this I spent christmas with my family 150 miles away . I had a lovely time . I was collected by my grandson and bought back home by my son . I came back with the virus , almost all the family were suffering in various stages of the bug so it was a foregone conclusion I would succumb .

I,m not making resolutions this year but I would like to declutter a little . I,m a hoarder and saver , I love my clutter, I do occasionally put thing away for awhile but they always come back out again .

I,d like to eat more healthy , less cooked stuff such as potatoes and carbs . I don,t go down the path of exercise , it,s a nasty word and an even more unpleasant way to spend time .

Would you believe I have had burst pipes twice and a frozen pipe from the boiler already and there is still a long winter ahead of us . Fortunately none of the pipes were in the house . My washing machine is in the garage so water pipes extend outside the house . They were adequately lagged and boxed in but the weather has been so severe .I have never had a problem with burst pipes before . My grandson is an electrical engineer and has now fitted electric cables to the system that will protect against frost . He assures me no more burst pipes. The plumber and the corgi boiler man came promptly each time they were needed . I musn,t forget Bluebell , she has been a gem . We went out today , lunch and a little retail therapy .