Monthly Archives: June 2018

Twenty Years.

Warning – Picture Heavy Post!

I know today is Friday and usually we do #TBT on Thursday, but I saved this for today.

Fourteen years ago Youngest started school at the age of four years and nine months old in Reception Class. Today is his last day of formal education after fourteen years.

This was taken last September aged seventeen years and nine months old!

This also brings to an end for DH and I twenty years of taking them to playschool, school, college and:

Going to Nativities, plays, concerts, Easter productions, Harvest Festival productions, Christmas productions, End of Term Shows, House plays, endless sports days in baking sun and pouring rain, Parents’ Evenings, Fundraising events, endless bake sales, getting their new uniforms and sewing their name tags into everything including their socks and handkerchiefs (!), buying school supplies and getting extra for after the first week when they had lost most of what you bought originally (!) sewing costumes the night before the event, collecting Youngest from his first trip out at senior school at 3.00am as they were stuck on the motorway because of an accident (!), several trips to A&E with both of them when they had hurt themselves playing sport, being there when the first relationship crashed and biting you tongue when you didn’t like the girlfriend that they thought was terrific (!), encouraging them and explaining why they needed to revise for their exams and then picking up the pieces when the results were not as they had hoped, but they were ashamed to admit that Mom and Dad were right!!!!!!!

I could go on with a lot more things but you get the idea of the last twenty years and I would not swap one second of it ever. I might have not said that at the time but I never meant it!!! I loved taking them to all the things and seeing them doing things and being there as their Mom and the same goes for DH being their too of course. Working for ourselves meant that we were able to be there and see all this and do all this with them so we were very lucky in that respect.

The following pictures are both of them taken on the first day of school each September until Eldest left.

I just now need to go and cry for a little while!!!! These pictures always make me this way!!!!!

We are taking Youngest out tonight for dinner to celebrate his finishing and then he is working all weekend. DH is at home tomorrow and then is out tomorrow evening being the Compere for an event and Sunday he is out all day as it is the Crowning of the Carnival Queen and picnic on the park. I will be staying home and quilting as I have plenty to keep me busy.

The weather is going to be hot again but not as hot as some places such as the East Coast of the US where they are going to get temperatures over 100°F and I know some parts are already getting that, so our paltry 84°F is nothing really.

I hope you lovely lot have a fantastic weekend whatever you are up to and if it is hot where you are stay inside, stay cool and drink plenty of water.

Hugs, Susie xx

Thursday Thirst.

2 Replies

You know how the British can be really boring as all we talk about is the weather? Well Today is the same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, what I mean is it’s HOT! Now this is actually quite unusual for us as our summers are almost always hit and miss and of course there is nothing to say that this band of warm weather will stay and as we are away on our family vacation at the beginning of August, it probably means it will be gone by then but while it is here I am making the most of it.

The garden is starting to show the effects of the heat and I am just watering our new plants. The established bushes, trees etc don’t need it as they have been in a long time but the grass is also starting to go brown. Certainly driving around the village, you can see how brown the grass verges are getting. However a few days of rain and they will green right up again.

This begins on Sunday, our Village Carnival, and of course we couldn’t ask for better weather. When I had my stall a few year’s ago it had been constant rain for several weeks beforehand and on the day it was blowing a gale so because I will not be there it will be lovely and warm!!!

Mel, Girlfriends Mom, took me out for breakfast today at a cafe in Ockbrook, near to where we live. It’s called “The Apple Tree Gift and Teashop” and it is lovely. The front of the building has all sorts of gifts and cards, great for that present you need for someone who is difficult to buy for!

This is their cake counter and I must say they looked lovely, although we had breakfast which was very good. I will have to take DH as he loves cakes!!!

When I got back I did some work and again sorted out some other things in our Den so I am slowly getting everything tidy!! Tomorrow I have house jobs to do and am going to get up very early and get that done before the heat gets too much. I also have some errands to run and again will try to get them done before it is too warm. I also have to call on the Boys’ Godparents who are back from a month’s holiday in Europe, it’s his Birthday next week so I need to take his present round as they are usually away for his Birthday too. Oh to be retired and be able to do what you want when you want!!!!!

I have to keep checking Treacle when she is in her basket to make sure she is okay as she sleeps so soundly as she is spending so much time outside in the fresh air, that when she is in her basket she is solid gone!!! This was this afternoon and you can see how tucked up she is!!! She kept getting up in the night again last night as it was so warm and she was trying to find a cool spot. One of my jobs tomorrow is to call her spa and get an appointment for her!!!

I hope you are having a Thrilling Thursday.

Hot Hugs, Susie xx

Linky Party & The Wednesday Wag.

2 Replies

I am pinching a little bit of Treacle’s Wednesday Wag to let you know about Val’s Tuesday Archives at Val’s Quilting Studio (http://myplvl.blogspot.com). This is a Linky Party every Tuesday where we re-visit old Blog Posts based on a different theme each week. This week Val is holding a Giveaway as it is her 200th Linky Party, so why not hop over and have a look at whats been going off and join the fun and have a chance to win. Val has let you know what you need to do to join the fun and also several ladies, including me, have already linked up. It is also good fun to look back at old posts and get inspiration from things you have made in the past and also see what other talented ladies have been up to.

Thank you Treacle x

********************************************************

I mean really using my day to promote your quilting! Mom! “sorry Treacle, it won’t happen again”.

Since Monday it has been lovely and warm and Mom keeps telling me I need to go visit my Spa but I am okay at the moment. I have managed to find plenty of shade when I need it to cool down but then I cannot resist sunbathing for a while. Mom said she is very glad I am not white and she would then have to put sun cream on me as well as Dad and the Boys!!!!

I am loving it at the moment as Youngest has almost finished college and so is at home more and his new Girlfriend is also with him. She loves dogs and that means I love her too. I am so lucky as both my Boys have Girlfriends who love dogs, what more could a doggie ask for. This picture was last week at Mom’s Birthday.

It is even sunny where I sit waiting for my breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Mom says walks have to be done early in the morning or late at night when the sun has not gotten up or when it has gone down so it is hopefully cooler. Mom likes the heat but even she is staying out of it today after the last few days.

Because I am spending lots of time out-of-doors I am very tired as I am not getting as much sleep as usual and as it is so warm I am getting up in the night trying to find cool spots to lie in and then keep waking Mom up. Dad does not hear me and still manages to sleep all night without being disturbed!!!!

This weekend Dad is out for some of it so I think we will be gardening and then Mom will be quilting so I will be able to catch up from all my missed sleep this week when she is quilting!!! I hope you are having a lovely start to summer.

Woof, Treacle.

Heatwave.

8 Replies

It is another scorcher with top temps of 27°C today, it really is lovely but obviously you have to be very careful in the sun. Treacle is loving it but she is spending so much time outside that she is so, so tired. In fact she has been in her basket this afternoon whilst I have been working to try and catch up on her sleep!!!

The sky is just so blue!

Obviously one of the things with this weather is making sure the plants have a good water every evening when the sun has gone down so they can survive and our grass is starting to look quite brown because of all the sun. It is to remain like this until the end of the week and then perhaps some rain at the weekend, of course when everyone is home from work and school!!!

You can’t see the heat haze, but at 12.00 Noon it was so hot it was almost painful to look outside.

The door onto the patio.

Our plants are still doing okay with us watering each night before bed.

Our vegetable basket is doing okay as it does have a little shade.

Our table, chairs and bench under our umbrella so we are able to eat outside and also take our drinks outside!

“Sorry Mom did you say it was biscuit time? I am so tired I really don’t know what to do with myself”!!!!!!

I am trying to keep our home cool and as you can see we have a tiled floor which stays cool and I open the windows first thing in the morning when it is cooler and keep our curtains and blinds shut all day and mostly it works but today the atmosphere is hot too. I think we are all going to have a sticky night’s sleep! Treacle kept getting up in the night last night and moving around trying to find a cool spot and then getting back in her basket which creaks!!! So I kept waking up again!!!! Oh boy!

I have not got any quilting done as I am waiting for DH’s help to sandwich and pin the two quilts, but I am going to start quilting our summer quilt. It is quite big so it will take a while to get it done.

I did get all the ironing done yesterday before it got too hot which was a relief but I must have drunk a couple of gallons of water doing it, tee hee!!!! Well certainly a lot of water. I keep refreshing Treacle’s water bowls inside and out trying to keep her cool.

DH is out most of this evening with meetings and Youngest is out too so I think it will definitely be a quilting evening.

I forgot to tell you about our weekend clear out of the garage. The weather was good on Saturday so we decided to start at 11.00am with the garage and any rubbish was going in the back of DH’s truck. It took us four hours to get that done but decided that we should carry on with our room off. I ask DH to store things in the room for me and then it just gets to a point where I haven’t used them or needed them so they can go. This room has shelves around it so we just started at the left hand side and worked our way round. A lot of DH’s things just needed tidying and putting together in one place so it was a good opportunity to do this and also get rid of things too.

After ten hours we had finished and DH’s truck was full! We did get it all done in one day and it looks great now and I can also find things rather than trying to search for stuff. We took everything to the re-cycling centre on Sunday morning and it took us half an hour to empty the truck again!!!

One down and now just the attic to do!!! Although this is going to take a lot longer because if the Boys are helping, and I am guilty of this too, getting distracted by what is coming out!!!! We will have to do this job in September or October when it is a lot cooler than now as the attic is like an oven when the weather is this hot.

I hope you are having a Terrific Tuesday.

Hugs, Susie xx

Derbyshire Hotter Than The Sahara.

2 Replies

Today in Derbyshire it is going to be hotter than the Sahara Desert! SO I have a week’s worth of ironing to get done which is why I started at 6.30am to try and get it all done before the temperature goes off the chart!!!!

I will be back later to let you know how I got on or I will be in a puddle somewhere!!!!

Hot Hugs, Susie xx

Calm.

2 Replies

I have had a lovely Birthday week. I had lunch with Jayne and we got to talking about life in general and I said that after the last ten very challenging years with the business as well as coping with huge changes in our family, I have been very stressed. However this year I got to the point where I decided that really at the end of the day there is only so much I can control and the rest I just have to go along with.

I also found that I was worrying about months ahead and even years so now I only think about tomorrow, possibly the following weekend and perhaps next week, but no further. Fortunately things are getting better with our business, as are a lot of our friends who are in business as well. It is not just us that have been going through these challenging times. I do feel a lot better than I did, but one thing I have stopped doing is reading the news. I feel that the news shows present the items with their spin on it and they just love dire news so I don’t watch or read the news now. I listen to the radio and usually there is a five-minute news report at the top of the hour and that is plenty of news for me.

My Quilting has also helped me to focus my attention as well and then watching a DVD of one of my favourite programmes whilst quilting I find it very soothing. In fact if I don’t do some quilting now I get quite upset so I try to do some in the evening after making dinner and clearing up. I also find I get quite frustrated at some programmes that I have watched before but now seem to lead you by the nose and are stressful so I have stopped watching them too.

Books, of course, are another way I relax and find it very calming to get lost in a story. I am also lucky, if you can call it that, that I can re-read books again and again which says a lot about my memory but even if I remember the story I love reading it again as it is like an old friend. In the past few months I have not been reading as much as I normally do, so this is something I want to rectify. I also used to read in bed and I stopped doing that after my Op as I was not able to lie very easily on my right side but now that I am better I think I will try again. I am hoping that this will help me sleep better.

I have also been going through another period of waking several times in the night, which can be quite draining and I am still working on a solution to that. I have tried the hot bath before bed, lavender oil on my pillow, wrists etc and many other things. I never have a problem getting to sleep, I have a problem staying asleep! I woke at 3.45am this morning to the birds singing and the sun rising. It has been a wonderful day with constant sunshine and no clouds in the sky at all. In fact I think we are warmer here than the Mediterranean and the temperatures are due to rise during the weekend and next week. I love this weather but usually by 4.00pm am getting very tired. As I say still working on a solution to this.

Treacle loves this weather and lies in the sun for so long and then moves into the shade for a while and then comes back into the sunshine! Silly dog. She just loves being outside.

As the weather is going to be lovely over the weekend we are taking the opportunity to empty the garage and room off and tidy it up, get rid of anything we don’t want and of course put back the things we want to keep!

I hope the weather wherever you are is going to be lovely and you have a wonderful weekend and remember:

Live In The Moment

Forget The Past

And Don’t Worry About The Future

Hugs, Susie xx

The Longest Day!

2 Replies

Today is the Longest Day with the most amount of daylight hours in it and here it is very sunny and the birds were definitely awake before 4.00am this morning!!! My Mom of course always said the Longest Day was yesterday when I was born!!!! I am sure she was joking!

DH and I went shopping during the day to Nottingham nothing special just to get a few things (a new walking foot!!!) but it was great to just be doing something other than work! In the evening Eldest, Youngest and their Girlfriends were coming for dinner and we managed to sit outside for a bit but it was quite cool (next week we are going to be roasting as there is a heat wave coming).

The flowers are starting to open in the garden.

I had some lovely presents, vouchers for the beauty spa, vouchers for the farm shop, a new scarf/wrap and book tokens. DH bought me some perfume and membership to the Royal Horticultural Society for a year which means we can get tickets to visit The Chelsea Flower Show next year!!! The Boys went with a gardening theme too with new clippers, gardening gloves, seeds, solar-powered lights, a DVD, notebooks. We had a takeaway at home for dinner which was very nice as I didn’t have to cook!

I am very lucky as I had so many lovely presents and spent time with my family, I could not ask for anything better.

When I was on Google yesterday morning this popped up! DH is not keen on all this information that is out there, although we don’t do any social media sites, but I liked it!!!!

You have seen the picture below on my sidebar :

Well this weekend is exactly ten years since we went to collect Treacle from the breeder in Aberdeen, Scotland. So June 2008

Ten years on!!!!! Eldest wants me to point out that he and his brother are both the same height but he has his knees bent in this picture trying to hold Treacle!! They have all grown up.

We came in after dinner as it was cool and had cake inside, which is what Treacle is looking at!!!!

As you know we are big Formula 1 fans, including me and when DH was 40 for his present I took him to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. We have said for a long time we should go again and take the Boys but have never gotten around to it. Well DH is going this year but with one of the company’s we work with and a few of their customers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO he is in big trouble with me!!!!!!!!!! Not only does he get to see the race they are in a hospitality suite!!!!! Don’t worry I will think of something so he will be able to make it up to me!!!!

Today it is back down to earth with house jobs to do, some work and errands to run tomorrow. The weekend weather is supposed to be warm and sunny, but not too hot, so the garage emptying is still on the cards.

I hope you are all having a thrilling Thursday.

Hugs, Susie xx

Quilty Projects for the Week.

3 Replies

I love finding quick Quilty Projects on the web to make when I need a finish. This I found is a book cover or anything else you want to protect, like an E-Reader. Of course you can change the dimensions to make it larger or smaller as required.

The inside below. It is a great way of using up larger remnants of fabric you have left from other projects.

I also made three of these :

Again using up remnants of fabric and these drawstring bags are great for when you go away on holiday to keep things together in your bag/suitcase.

Here is a sneak peek of our friend’s 50th Wedding Anniversary quilt. I just need to get it sandwiched and then quilted.

And here is a sneak peek at the Baby Quilt for our friend’s daughter who is due in October. Again it needs to be sandwiched and then quilted.

I have broken my walking foot which I am annoyed about, especially as most of it is metal except for the casing where the guide bar goes which is plastic and the two bits which hold the guide bar in place have broken. Of course it is the most expensive of all the Janome feet!!!!! I am hoping to get a new one soon.

I don’t know if I showed you this but Youngest bought it for me for Christmas last and I just love it. It was too nice to put away so it now sits on the door handle of Eldest’s room.

Treacle has finally come in fromt he garden and the only reason she has is because it is dinner time!!

Here she is queuing for her dinner!!!

I hope you are all having a terrific Tuesday.

Hugs, Susie xx

Oh, It’s Monday Again!

2 Replies

We had a very busy weekend. Youngest was here on Friday with his new Girlfriend who is very nice and she had dinner with us. Saturday Eldest Girlfriend’s parents came for dinner and we had a lovely evening but a late one and then if was Father’s Day yesterday. I seemed to spend the whole weekend cooking but we had a great time.

Friday night we ate in our kitchen to make it a little less formal but Saturday we were in our dining room as true to form the weather was dreadful so we couldn’t eat outside.

DH bought me some lovely flowers for the centre.

We had Sunday dinner yesterday of beef, DH’s favourite. This morning I was running errands and I think the weekend has caught up with me!!!! Not feeling the best but I still have lots of jobs to get done. It is the year-end for our business at the end of May and I have got most of the jobs done, just now have to do month and year end on our accounts and then I can get everything sent off to the Accountants.

Tomorrow I am having my hair cut and going out to lunch with Jayne for our Birthdays and then Wednesday I am not sure what I am doing, although my Jeep is going in for its MoT!!!!! Next weekend we have no plans so if the weather is kind we are going to empty our garage and our room off it and throw away anything which is not needed and tidy everything up and then put what is left back. It’s a plan and it does need doing!! It will give me chance to give it a good clean too.

When the weather is nice Treacle spends all day outside and I only see her when she comes in looking for breakfast, lunch or dinner!!!! This means that when she is in at night we don’t see her either as she is fast asleep in her basket or on the bed in the sewing room with me!!! I think it must be all the fresh “Aire” she is having, tee hee. I am trying to book her appointment at the Spa for her to be cut and timing it with her holiday at the beginning of August, although her coat has not grown a lot since her last Aire cut! She also received mail the other day from her Doctors as her annual injections are due which should be done at the beginning of July. DH will be taking her in for those.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and a great week. I am going to be doing some sewing tonight and hopefully will be able to show you what I have been up to tomorrow.

Hugs, Susie xx