Monthly Archives: January 2017

Glitter! Oh My Goodness.

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ow don’t get me wrong I don’t mind some glitter but really!  As you know we had taken the decorations down and put them away, including all our Christmas cards.  and I put them aside to make sure I had replied to the notes.  However almost all the cards we received this year, and they were lovely, had glitter on them!!!!!!!  We always recycle them by shredding them and by the time I had finished, I was covered in glitter, our den (the office) was covered in glitter, the floor was covered in glitter and so was Treacle!!!!!!!  It was everywhere!!!! 

I must admit when I buy our cards I always ensure they don’t have glitter on as it does send me a bit OCD about it!!!!!

I managed to get most of it up with the vacuum cleaner and I did brush Treacle off but I am still finding it!  I think I will be finding it until next Christmas!

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Today we have been playing Cars!!!!!  Youngest’s car needed his dash camera fitting and Eldest’s needed his adjusting, so DH has been taking cars to the electrical man and I have been collecting him and then going back again!  It has been fun!!!!!!  This was after I had been to our local Doctor’s surgery for a blood test (just a check up) and had to wait for twenty minutes past my appointment time as the Nurse was late!  you just get days like that!

Do you suffer from nuisance calls?  Well here is a tip from DH (it only works if it is an actual person calling and not the machines!) whatever they ask you, just reply you don’t have whatever it is.  So today an unsolicited call came in and they asked if we have any phones(!)   The obvious answer is “well of course we do you are calling me”! but no DH says to the caller no we don’t have any phones!  It took the person about five minutes before she gave up!!!!  The other month he had a caller wanting to talk to him about hearing aids, so when he said this DH said “Pardon?” and kept saying this until the caller realised he was being wound up!!!!!! 

The other more serious one is when the callers pretend to be Microsoft support and try and persuade you to give them money to repair a fault, which of course you don’t have.  This happened to an acquaintance of ours and it caused no end of problems.  DH’s response when they say they are from Microsoft – he says he is from Microsoft’s fraud department!  They soon ring off!!!!!!

However the best response was told on a radio show.  The owner of the home was sick and tired of these types of calls and the next one he received the caller asked if he was the home owner he said no he was the CSI Officer who was dealing with the dead body in the home!!!!!!!  The caller rang off very quickly!  If every DH gets these calls diverted from home to the car and the Boys are with us they are in stitches in the back listening to it all!!!!

Tonight and tomorrow night is swimming and jobs to be done over the weekend and DH and Youngest are out on Saturday evening at an event announcing.  I am DEFINITELY going to get some quilting done this weekend!!!!!!  I have made a stand on this!!!!!!!

How is your Thursday going?  Happy I hope!

Hugs, Susie x

Mom, stop typing so much you are disturbing my sleep!!!!!!

The Wednesday Wag!

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The weather today has not been good and we have had some high winds which I do not like.  Every time I go out it blows my ears.  Mom was stood laughing in the doorway whilst I was outside as my ears were flying but I did not find it funny at all!!!!!!

I am really pleased that Mom has made this space for me on Eldest’s bed so that I can snooze out of the way.  Eldest’s room also has the boiler for our home in it so it is always warm in there. 

 

Mom keeps telling me that we may have some snow at the end of the week but I think it is just going to be cold.  Molly & Mackie have lots and lots of snow as well as Farm Quilter (our friends in the US!)  It is not fair!!!!  I would love to have some snow to play in!!!!!

I hope you are having a Woofy Wednesday I am back off to bed for a quick snooze.

Treacle

Happy!

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I read quite a few blogs of ladies who quilt and we all know that anyone who quilts is a lovely person and also blogs who have animals, especially dogs, and we all know that anyone who shares their life with an animal is a lovely person too.  Quite a few of these ladies have said that they are not setting any New Year Resolutions but have decided to find ways to help them through the year.  Quite a few have resolved to get UFOs’ finished or to try a new skill each month.

I have always been useless with resolutions and after the first week often forget what I resolved to do so last year I decided to ensure that I did some quilting each week.  I was doing okay until it got to the lighter nights and better weather and then life and commitments took over and it was quite a few weeks between quilting.

I was reading Madam Samm’s Blog (here is the link to her post http://www.sewwequilt.com/2017/01/h-is-for-happy-with-some-happy-hints-of.html#more) and she has declared this year as her “Happy” Year.  It is a great post and I have decided to try and emulate it and go along with the Happy theme. 

This picture makes me happy!

The New Year is seen as a fresh start and we all know that things happen during the year, especially as this year is being portrayed as all of us staring into an abyss,   but at least if we start from a Happy place it won’t seem so bad.  Well that is my fuzzy theory!!!!

These three make me very Happy!

Also the top picture is of Mr Happy from the Mr Men books by Richard Hargreaves and when Eldest was a baby he had a soft squeaky version of this which hung on the inside of his Moses basket when he was a new born so he could watch it and as he got a little older reach for it.  This is definitely a very Happy memory for me so I am starting off well!

Today is busy with work and I am running Youngest around for various things including swimming later and then DH is doing the pick ups!!!!  I am happy that we are able to do this and that we do not have any snow!!!!  They are still forecasting snow for some parts of the country but I don’t think we will get any, it is just going to be cold and frosty again!  Treacle will be disappointed.

This Goofball always makes me Happy!

So I am wishing you all a very Happy Tuesday.

Hugs (another “H” word I love!) Susie xx

Monday Again!

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Oh it’s Monday again!  Saturday we got lots of things done and got up to date with house jobs and I am up to date with my work!  Miracle of Miracles!!!!!  

Yesterday DH, Youngest and I left home at 6.00am to get to the swimming pool for the swimming open.  300 eager swimmers began to arrive by 7.00am, some having stayed overnight at one of the local hotels, with their parents, guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles and anyone else!  DH was commentating all day, Youngest was organising the swimmers for each race and I was in Event Control with the recording equipment!  It was a very, very long day with quite a few problems especially with one person and with a few issues with parents and one coach!  It is a shame that the whole day which was a success for the majority and helped by so many giving their time that a few can create such problems!  One of our parents gave me a lift home and I walked back in at 6.30pm and Treacle was extremely pleased to see me, which made up for all the rest!!!!!  DH and Youngest got back an hour later having stayed to break down the sound equipment.

The sky has been this colour today and Treacle has had to be persuaded to go out between the rain showers, she was not happy!!!!!  They are saying at the end of the week we may get snow but not very likely in our part of the country!!!!  I have been at my desk all day working and Treacle has been quite happy in her basket and the heating is on.  It does not take a lot to please Treacle!!!!!!!

This week is another busy week with work and I have some other things I need to get done as well.  Like before Christmas I could do with another few hours in each day!!!!  Some good news Youngest has passed his Level 1 Coaching course for swimming so he is really pleased and we are so proud of him.

I hope your Monday is going well and a great week, even if the weather is not co-operating.

Hugs, Susie x

Twelfth Night! The Debate!

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Okay big debate when do you consider Twelfth Night to be?  Some say it is January 5th and that is if you count Christmas Day as one but do you count from Boxing Day, December 26th, then it is January 6th which is Epiphany.

In our home we always take the decorations down by today but people are saying that that is too late and it should have been yesterday!  Well I got some of them down by yesterday!!!!!!  Oh my!  My Grandmother, who was Welsh, was very superstitious and had something to say about every day of the year (!) and she would always get my Dad to “first foot” her door and give us gifts of a piece of bread, a piece of coal and a candle which as a little girl I found weird!!!!!  If you don’t know what the gifts mean bread was to have food all year, coal to have warmth all year and the candle for light all year (we needed it in the 1970’s during the Three Day Week!!!!!).

I know a lot of the superstitions are very old but even I find myself doing some of them, like saying good morning or good afternoon to a solitary Magpie!!!!  I have tried very hard not to pass them on to the Boys as it can be quite exhausting following them!

Do you have any superstitions which you follow or do?

SO tonight I will be finishing getting all the decorations put away and then a big clean so we can start off the new week all clean and tidy, just like my sewing room!!!  Tomorrow we have jobs to do and then Sunday is a Big Swimming Open event for our Club which we organise so from 7.00am until about 9.00pm all of us will be at the swimming pool.  It is going to be a long day!!!!!!

I hope everyone will have a lovely winter weekend.  The weather here is supposed to be a little warmer but dark and dank which would be ideal for sewing but hey ho!!!!

Hugs, Susie x

My Clean Sewing Room, see it now before it gets into a mess!!!!

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As you know my sewing room is actually Eldest’s room and although he is not using it at the moment it will always be his room and his bed will be there forever.  However he has allowed me to camp in it with my sewing things and I have started to tidy some of things away into boxes in the attic to make more room for my things, especially when I am quilting a big quilt.

Anyway here are a few pictures of it looking very tidy (thanks to DH for helping with it) and clean, so get a look now before I actually get in there and sewing!!!!!

Here is my Janome and cutting mat in front of the window.  I use the small dvd player in the corner on the shelf for playing films or dvd’s of my favourite TV programmes.  I also have put up the bunting I made for my stall and then I had an idea that I should make some for each season, yep another project!

Here is my little ironing table I made and Eldest’s bed with the boxes of my stash and backing fabric and scraps.  The basket holds my UFOs’! These are my two quilts which I have been trying to finish for ages!!!!!

The bookshelves which held Eldest’s books which I have packed away and have now put all my sewing things on them.

This is my Christmas present from Youngest.  I have not opened it yet but love the look of it.

Better view of the bunting.  I made this for summer and think that a green and yellow one would be great for spring and an orange one for Autumn and of course red and white for Winter.

Of course when we were tidying up we made sure that there was a space for Treacle to get on the bed so that she can snooze whilst I am sewing.

The quilt on the side is Eldest’s which I have half finished quilting and what I am going to be working on, now it is all neat and tidy. 

I am determined that I am not going to let it get into a mess (!) and will ensure that I clean up after each finish, well that’s the plan!!!!!!!!

I hope your Thursday is going well.

Hugs, Susie x

The Wednesday Wag!

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I have been catching up on my sleep while Mom has been catching up on work.  We had a great holiday but Youngest is now back at college so I am feeling a little lonely!

Here I am with my new toys which Santa brought for me.  They both squeak which I love although Mom says they are a little noisy when she is on the phone!!!

I have been keeping up with my Aire-yoga and I call this stretch position number 5.  It is great for keeping your legs supple!!!!!

These are the yummy treats I also got from Santa.  They are organic with a little bit of icing on the end and some carrot pieces.  They are delicious!

Mom giving me my lunchtime biscuit!

I haven’t been completely quiet all day I have been on patrol in my garden and I saw the pesky squirrel, although he cannot get all the bird food now as Dad has some new feeders which are squirrel proof, but I still need to bark at him when he comes by!

Tonight and tomorrow I am going to have cold paws again as it is going to be freezing but then get a little warmer at the weekend, we are sure having some funny weather at the moment. 

I hope everyone had a lovely Woofy Christmas and New Year and Santa brought you all the gifts you liked.

Treacle

New Year’s Here!

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We had a lovely Christmas at home doing not a lot really!

Christmas Even DH and Youngest were out helping at the local carol service which is outdoors.  They were helping with the sound and lighting equipment and just as they left the heavens opened!!!!  Despite that there were a lot of people in attendance.  I took the opportunity to get the finishing touches done, including the chocolate log and icing the Christmas Cake (I told you it was a bit chaotic this year!).  Here are the finished articles and they were stored on top of the microwave, out of someone’s reach, Treacle!!!!!

Christmas morning arrived and Treacle was very excited to open her presents!  Now that the Boys are older we are not getting up before the birds and just as Santa has been!!!!  I remember when Eldest was six and Youngest was two and DH and I had just finished getting everything set on Christmas Eve and crawled into bed at 11.45pm.

Now if you are a Mom you will know what I mean but you know when you are fast asleep but your brain registers that something is different?  Well this Christmas Eve I woke up to find Eldest’s face an inch from mine and he says “Mummy I heard Santa and the Reindeer on the roof he has been, can we go down and look at the presents?”!!!!  I looked at the clock to see that it was 12.30am and I had been in bed for half an hour!!!!!!   Needless to say that I managed to persuade Eldest that Santa could not have been as he was awake and got him back into bed and stayed with him until he fell asleep, just to make sure!!!!!!   Well now they both tend to wake up at the more civilised hour of 7.00am!!!!

Here is Treacle opening her gifts.  She loves opening presents but soon looses interest when she finds out there is nothing to eat! Youngest opening his gifts.

Treacle got a squeeky reindeer and some organic biscuits decorated with some icing.

The gifts round the tree.

So after busy days on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, DH Youngest, Treacle and I did not get up that early on the 27th!  In fact we had a lazy pajama day of watching films and picking at the food that was left!!!

Here is Treacle on the Lazy Day!  She had been so busy with everyone and up so much during the previous three days that just after this picture was taken she was fast asleep for the whole evening, trying to catch up on the sleep she had missed!!!!!!

Christmas Day the weather was quite mild but on Boxing Day and several days later it was very cold and frosty and a little spider had made its web on our bench just outside the kitchen door and the frost had made it glitter. 

New Year, which as you know I am not a big fan of, we spent it at home and watched the fireworks at Big Ben on the TV.  Youngest has been taking the opportunity to go out with his Dad and practice his driving.  We went over to Nottingham to go to the cinema and for Youngest to buy a particular item with his Christmas money.  We ended up coming home to go to the cinema as Nottingham was heaving with people. 

We went to see this, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!  Now we are all huge fans of the Harry Potter series and I read all the books to both Boys when they were little and of course went to see all the movies.  In fact the Boys really grew up with Harry Potter and I am so glad they did as it will be with them always.  I had the Narnia series and loved it and can read the books now and I am sure that the Boys will feel like this when they are older.  This film is set in the 1920’s so is way before Harry Potter but still has the feel and look of it and yes some very funny moments, especially the scene above!  If you get a chance see it.

I will be slowly packing the Christmas things away this week and I really do hate this part as I love Christmas and hate the way our home looks without the decorations and I sometimes wish that it really could be Christmas every day!

Sorry this has been a long post but I have some fun things to show you later in the week and hopefully Treacle will be awake enough to do her Wednesday Wag!

I want to thank everyone who stops by my blog to read my posts and to everyone who comments.  You all mean a lot to me and brighten my day especially if it has been one of those days!  I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.

Hugs, Susie x