Sunday 24 January 2010

Parrot in a cage

We have had no internet for a week and it has been really odd - I had not realised just how much we use this wretched machine ! When the new router finally arrived yesterday and we went on line again 170 emails came through, quite overwhelming, emails concerning George's Rotary Club, the church, Open Studios, Luncheon Club, MESCH, etc. quite apart from mail from friends and family. And DD1 came for the weekend so it was only this afternoon that I got to my sewing machine and produced this little fellow. It is part of the work I am doing for Cottenham Textiles in Focus, this is the third attempt as after I had disolved the Romeo the first two did not seem colourful enough. I then had quite a struggle to get him safely behind bars -
but I got him there eventually although he does not look too happy! I have called him Kevin and I am undecided whether to leave him like this with a rather weird stunted tail or to add a few feathers like this -


What shall I do? I think I am inclined to go for the feathers.
It has been a funny week, no computer, miserable weather, the funeral of a friend who died very suddenly, rotten news in the papers, a wonderful massage from one of my favourite people and a nice supper party. So a really mixed bag. I have just finished reading Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope, I think it is the first book of hers I have ever read and I really enjoyed it.
My daughter brought me a super little gizmo which I saw in my grandson's flat at Uni - a sock dryer. It has 20 pegs suspended from a ring and I can peg all the socks onto the one hanger in the warmth of the kitchen then whop it on the line where it is easy to retrieve if it starts to rain! I'm tickled pink with it - it doesn't take much to please me! Funny though, when I came to peg the socks on somehow I had 21 socks, now how can that be? Why is there always one sock which lurks in the laundry basket? Another one of life's great mysteries.



Wednesday 13 January 2010

MY chicken !

Everyone seems to have been showing photographs of their chickens in the snow. Well, not to be outdone, this is MY chicken in the snow. She's not a lot of bother, she just sits. Of course, the downside is that the sitting does not produce eggs but then I don't have to worry about

feeding her or putting her away at night in case a fox comes along! So I am very fond of her, especially as she was a present from DD2.





I have been trying to get some stitching done during the snowbound days - the exhibition at Cottenham Textiles in Focus is getting ever nearer - but it has been so cold I just couldn't get down to work. However, I've now had a couple of good days at the machine and have just finished stitching these little blue birds. I put a blue sheer under the Romeo and I am just


hoping and praying that when I dissolve the Romeo they will be OK to use on a big piece I am working on. They ARE supposed to look like cartoon bluebirds!

George and I are addicted to crosswords and always do the Telegraph cryptic at lunch time and I have to say that with two heads being better than one, we do usually finish it. But today we were very frustrated because there were a couple of clues we simply couldn't solve. So I shall take the paper off to the bath now and ponder whilst I soak.


Friday 1 January 2010

Happy New Year

It seems only yesterday that we were celebrating the arrival of the Millennium and here we are ten years on! Where does the time go? In our younger days we used to always go to a fancy dress party but for the last 10 years or so we have been more than happy to settle for a nice grown up dinner party. There were five couples there last night, we all dress up - here you can see the rose between two very well dressed thorns - and we all make a contribution to the meal. Last year the party was at our house, this year at the house of a friend who revels in entertaining and goes to endless lengths and expense
to make everything cosy and welcoming. This was the table, you will notice that I am fascinated by table settings! I made a pavlova and as we only used half of it, this morning I squidged it all up and put it in a clingfilm lined loaf tin and stuck it in the freezer so it will see another day!
I shall call it raspberry meringue loaf.
We had a lovely evening sitting chatting with old friends we have known for 40 years - I cannot think of a better way of seeing in the New Year. We got to bed about 2.30 so were not up very early, but we have been for a walk (even if it was interrupted by a sherry stop with an old friend) and I am about to go and do some sewing so that is a good start.
Like Gina, we went to see Sherlock Holmes - a rattling good adventure but very violent. We combined the trip to the cinema with an expedition to buy a new dvd player and recorder which is now unpacked in the sittingroom, the only trouble is that we cannot understand the instructions ! HELP. SiL is still in Holland, next door neighbour is in New York, 13 year old grandson gone back to Market Drayton (guess what, this morning they had SNOW - he is very excited) so we are stuck. Maybe we just need to take the bull by the horns and plug it in and see what happens.
May I take this opportunity of wishing anyone who reads this blog a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Resolutions ? At my age I have accepted that they don't usually last beyond February but I WILL try to be tidier, drink less, walk more, and get on with some stitching. Now.