New shoes.

Hopefully my break from blogging is past now.  I needed the time to move to our new home, as our wee family.  Shame there had to be so much crappy work to do in the house though.  Rotten home report didnt spot a ton of stuff.  Dont get me wrong, the lovely lady we bought from wouldn't have had a clue about any of it either.  But you move in, things expose themselves.  Knackered roofs, rotten floor, packed in central heating, "vintage" boiler, leaky shower, rotten door, the list goes on and on.   Big ol pile of POO.  However, we love the house, love the garden, love the (slightly) better weather, the central location so near by to everything we could want.  Man has had many adventures on his bike.  Moo has been to the beach and paddled in the sea, toddles to duckponds, tea in a castle, drives through forests, as well as going to big shops and big parks.  I've had a visit already, from Aunty Katy!  Man had his cousin visit!  Visitors in Shetland were few and far between... Anyway.  Past 3 months has seen loads of wonderful stuff.

 I have a sewing area set up in the spare room.  God only knows how I had all that stuff squeezed into a bloody cupboard!!!  At the moment sewing time is extremely limited.  Nap time really does have to apply to her AND me.  And by the time she's in bed, well, its only an hour or two until mine!    Every now and again Granny has come to the rescue and given me the space, the time, and a nudge to remind me I'm allowed, and I've done a few bits and pieces.   A few blocks for a long standing WIP (a made up sampler with 30's repro prints) and now the start of a retro flowers top too.  I guess I'm not alone amongst you when I say that a wee bit of sewing just makes me feel, well, human - ME! !

Man is back at sea now, so that means a whole new and equally big adjustment for me and moo (and granny and gampa!).  I need so much help, every day, its a bit sucky.  But its not sucky when its Granny and Gampa.  I'd be so utterly lost without them.  Moo heard Gampa come in this afternoon and leapt off the changing mat and ran to him with one shoe on and her dungarees round her ankles!

Elliecat is settling in too, although there's less activity for her with no stairs, no high window ledges, fewer rooms, etc.  She seems like a much older cat!  But whenever I worry that the kid is too much for her, she actively seeks us out.  If the kid bothered her she wouldnt always need to find her, would she.  There is a wee bitty of a territorial dispute over her bed though...

Well, I've a lot more settling in to do, like a new shoe I've got a whole new situation to break in.  This could be so cool, I just need to get beyond the blisters.  I'm so thankful that I'm not on my own.  When I started this blog I was starting to adapt to life without employment in a remote place where I was living alone often.  Blogging brought me so many friends, both online and in real life.  And I've missed my blog, my mates.  Even if the followers have dropped like flies...  I hope to be able to answer any comments again, but it might take a while.

Big ol' Mwah!

Daisy doo

I'm just dropping in to quickly wave and blow kisses, and hope you've not forgotten me!  I will get back to blogging in a couple of months, when i have a table in a room of my own in my new house, cant wait!

There's a lot going on (well a hell of a lot for me anyway) and very very little of it is sewing unfortunately.  We're a step closer to getting to the new house though, and I'm hopefully close to setting up an actual final moving date for a few weeks time.  Eeeeek!  Am so keen to get in the new house, but at the same time really scared of not having granny in the same house....  Granny and grampa will be a few months away from being in the same town too...  Dont worry, man is home, I'm not alone!

Anywaysees.  I did get a teeny bitty sewing done.

I attempted some needle turn applique cos I wanted some kind of orange peel / fake cathedral windows block for the long standing WIP that is my sampler in repro 30's prints.  Some of the petals' curves got a little bumpy, but all in all I'm happy with it for a first time go!  Goodness I wish I could get some good solid piecing time.  I have this WIP burning an image in my retinas, and another 3 quilt tops (with the fabric bundled and sat waiting natch) I'm sooooo keen to make.  Oh and I bought 2 huge 28" feather inserts with a view to making 2 covers to match the big blue beeast.  One day...

Right, I'm afraid my eyes are totally going and I need to kip, again.  I shall leave you with a wee pic of my cherub....  (who has given me a whopping big cut down my schnozz, the delicate lamb...) Cheerio for now peeps, pip pip honk honk!  x

Quick fixes

What a shame I missed January!  And a shame also that I started 2015 blogging on such a sad note too.  Fingers crossed it only gets better from here on.

This is gearing up to be another big year for my wee family.  We have a new house to get ready for living in, and thank the Lord mum and dad managed to also get one, near by ours.  So they have a move to prepare for this year too.  A whole family relocation!  Blimey...

My grocery totes.  A bag for life might as well be awesome, no?

So funnily enough my mind keeps wandering to fabric, though not exclusively quilts.  Both bedrooms face what is at the moment a very busy road.  Eventually I hope we'll get planning permission for a 5ft fence or hedge so that the garden at the front becomes usable and we dont have to look at the road.  I'm hoping we'll get some thicker double glazing put in for noise reduction, but I just cant think how to do the windows.  Currently they have net and curtain.  Bleurgh!!!!!  An absolute must is to get blackout roller blinds.  Its what to put with that though.  As much as I hate nets, I dont really want to see the main road, or have people walking past see in.  And curtains.  It can feel awffy cold without them.  I dont like to do away with them, but then the radiatiors are all below the windows, and you dont want to cover the heat source.   Could voile or double gauze replace nets?  And would you still have a thicker curtain?

Floor cushion (needs a bigger infil and maybe a button on that back)

And tell me, has anyone had a sofa recovered?  We'll have a sofa and an armchair that I'd really love recovered, but when new costs so cheap is it worth it?  I'm starting to think that at £600 sofa and £450 armchair, PLUS fabric, the answer would be no....  Certainly I fancy doing a quilt style made to fit cover for the back cushions.  I think homemade and "rustic" might be the way to go!
And just how many quilts can I get away with hanging on walls?  And will I ever find a crown version of my beloved Dulux greys?!

So much to think of. All of it utterly boring to others I'm quite sure.  Just as well I've broken this up with some pictures of the easy makes I've managed to squeeze in.  Just enough sewing to keep me sane, but not so much as to need more than an afternoon or two.  I absolutely love my grocery bags.  They are so strong and get filled to the brim and cope fine.  A nice big cushion for the floor for Moo to mess about with.  Currently used to block access to the telly...  I only got a photo of Moo's baby blankie, I did make another two for besties new baby too.  Moos' is a rather lush Dutch needlecord backed with flannel.  And then we have the beanbag....  Supposed to be a beanbag for moo....  Its way too big!  She does NOT like it...  And it took 2 yards fabric, and 3 bags of beans.  It is filled as much as possible and still it does not look like the one in the tutorial.  Not happy with it to be honest, and it became such an expensive mistake too.  And no, its no good for an adult, even one capable of getting up off the floor!  So.  In all, a pretty bunch with mixed success!

Monkey is spoiled...

So this and the last post kinda cover January.  Bit of a low month, but its that time of year, isnt it, I know lots of folk find it a bit crappy.  Oh, Moo turned ONE though.  ONE.  Unbelievable.

Hoping, dreaming, and longing to get back to some quilting this month.  Seriously, going without it has a detrimental effect on my mental health!  Also hoping I get a wee visit from someone I'll be so excited to see.  And if we're lucky, dada should be coming home at the end of this month.
Onwards and UPWARDS 2015 please!

a bit of an obit.

Oh Harvey. 

You had a rough start before you came to us, and its no wonder really you had a bit of a screw loose.  

We fell out a lot, I didnt like it that you beat up Miss Ellie for pure amusement.  You'd seek her out and just go for her.  You two were supposed to be friends.  Big pity.   

You had a bad reaction to the neutering and developed a massive low hanging gut - totally empty, not fat, not fluid, just saggy gut.  Poor Harveynoballs!  

I think you were at your happiest when my brother came home to live with us a while, boy did you love him!  Two gingers together... 

Moving house did a lot for you too, becoming an outdoor cat with your own big territory, master of your own house.  You decimated the shrew population...  You charmed everyone, the ministers cat welcoming people at the door, always coming to say hello to any visitor, sitting outside the church on meeting nights, waiting for dad.  When I came to visit you were so happy to see me you ran the length of the garden to see me, gut flapping from side to side.  I did love you buddy.  

You were a wee shite though.  You randomly attacked me one too many times for me to really trust you.  You went for mum.  You went for my man.  You'd take a strop at dad and sneak off to deliberately crap in his room... Yup, there was something a bit twisted about you pal.

But the things I'll remember are these.  

You dribbled profusely when you were happy.  

You picked your nose with a single claw, and your nose was almost always scabby.

You LOVED feathers.  OMG you went mental for a feather.  You made a "hehehehehehe" noise and chased it obsessively.

You hounded anyone using the telephone, and loved the fact that it meant they couldn't move away from you.  Using the phone meant leaving covered in white fur and drool....

You did team up with Ellie once - a joint effort one night got the biscuit tub open on the floor and we came down the next morning to the fattest, sleepiest, stuffed cats ever.

The other time you and Ellie joined forces was to hide inside the piano together the day we had workies in.  

You once tried to sleep with mum and dad, and when dad chased you, you picked up his glasses and ran for it, dad stumbling behind you cursing you and yelling at mum to catch you cos he's blind without his specs.

You were a proper little tea-leaf.  If I didn't give you enough affection when you wanted it, you'd steal something and disappear with it - my baccy, my specs, my phone.  Not forgetting the time I dozed off and you buggered off with my bloody toast!!!

You'd always deliberately lie across my mans shins and go utterly prone and completely unshiftable.  Made me laugh anyway.  

You were not a bad lad.  When we turned up here last year, bringing the hated wee cat and a screaming baby, I was all for you living in the shed, but you proved me so wrong.  You didn't give a stuff about Ellie being here.  You even let my wee girl dive on you and "cuddle" you when I wasn't fast enough to get her away from you.  There would have been another move for you in a few months, and you would have been coming with us, not mum and dad, thats how much you'd changed and calmed down.  I was going to take you with me.  

But things happen.  You were fine before christmas, but you faded fast.  Well, I say faded but it was kinda the opposite wasnt it... seriously you ballooned...

The vet said your end would take 10 minutes this morning, but you were gone in a little over 60 seconds.   Thanks for the reassurance that it was the right thing to do.  

You will be missed.  Just not by shrews.

PS.  I'm sorry I said that bird must have committed suicide or dropped down with a heart attack in front of you.  I'm sure you did catch it and kill it.  Honest.