Walking in a winter wonderland

Cor blimey, picture uploading has been slow tonight. Tried to do them en block, but blogger wouldn't have it, so had to resort to doing them one at a time. Watching that line go across the bottom is like watching flippin paint dry. Not a very exciting day, we had more snow overnight, so there was more shovelling for me to do. I don't mind, the excercise is good for me. The drive is now clear again, but there's a big pile of snow up against the side of the house, and on the front lawn.

I didn't think the library would make it today, but I was pleased to see the van parked up outside the medical centre, so I went and changed my books. I took a few pics as I strolled through the village green. Looks kind of pretty now.

The path is covered, don't know if anyone will come and clear it again. The council have given us a box of salty grit to scatter on the paths, but I don't think there is enough to do the whole of this one.

The snow must have been blowing sideways to stick to the wall. The main road through the village has been cleared, the gritters have been through.

Definately no ball games going on at the moment. They're all hurtling down the hills on their toboggans.

Back home again, and I am trying to get on with the rug, but a certain puss cat called Heidi wants to play. The square is growing slowly, round and round I go. Need to cut some more fabric.

I've made a three day pan of veggie stew tonight with parsnips, carrots, onions, tin of tomatoes, and  pasta. That will save on the washing up. Toodle pip.

A shaggy rug story

I've been getting on with this rug today. It's been rather dull outside so I reckon the best place to be is inside, keeping busy. I've put a few pics together here, because someone asked for a tutorial. I would have liked to do a little video about it, but with only one pair of hands, mine, it is near impossible.

First of all, cutting the pieces. I don't have any special tools to do the job, so this is my way. I've made a little template from a cereal box, it's 1 inch x 5 inches. I use it as a guide, the pieces don't have to be an exact measurement. Just move the template along the fabric as I cut.

I guess the width according to how thick the fabric is. Very thin fabric like a teeshirt, you can go to the one inch, or the thicker sweatshirts you can cut narrower, maybe half an inch.

I started off by using the latch hook, and yes, it does have the Readicut name on the handle, so it is from those rug making kits you used to buy many years ago. Go through the backing and out again, hook on a piece of fabric, about in the middle of it.  

Pull it part way through, the barb will close.

The next bit is a bit fiddly. take the two ends between finger and thumb, push hook through and wrap ends round, and pull ends through the loop you have made.

Tighten the knot up, not too much, and there it is.

Then I changed to a crochet hook. Same principal really, through the backing.

Pull a loop through with the hook.

Get hold of the two ends and wrap round hook, and pull through. The fabric is a bit stretchy so you need to pull the loop so there is enough slack that the ends will pull through it.

And there it is, one piece knotted onto the backing. You might be using some hessian which isn't so loosely woven as mine, so you might need to cut thinner strips as they might not pull through if they are too fat.

I am not following any kind of pattern, either with the colours or how far apart I peg the strands. I am working row by row, but not pegging into every hole. I am finding it is easier to keep the worked piece on the left hand side and work on the right. I can flatten the strands with my left hand as I poke the hook in with my right. You might like to work the opposite way round if you are left handed. You can work in any direction, turn the piece around to suit. I am finding it easier to work on the table rather than my knee, I can go at quite a fast pace. No need to be fussy about getting it perfect, the shaggier the better.

My backing is not a perfect square or rectangle. I am going to keep adding to it till I get somewhere near the edges. I might trim it, but I might leave it as it is. I will turn under a couple of inches to make the edges thicker and stronger as I work towards the outer edge.

I am not sure if I have cut enough pieces. I have more fabric and will cut more as I go along. Is anyone going to have a go with this? I am going to keep on with this, do a bit every day, because I don't want it hanging around for ages. Toodle pip.  

Dressed for a walk in the snow

This post is for people who like snowy pictures, and anyone else. After a late start this morning, I didn't get out of bed till 10.30am, no, I tell a lie, I got out of bed at 7.15am, made a mug of coffee, and got back in again.  Anyway, I set off for a walk at 11.30am, after a late breakfast. A few other people had the same idea, walking is very popular round here. I took a few photo's.  .

I like this knotty growth around the bottom of the tree. It looks like there is a figure hugging it.

I made a little video

I think I misjudged the angle of the camera towards the end, so here is a pic of the rest of me . I look like a shepherdess who has lost her sheep, ha ha. .

The walk took a couple of hours, due to me stopping to natter to people. Everyone was in a jolly mood and enjoying the snow. I must say it was hard going in places, due to the ground being frozen, with deep ruts in it. I'm glad I took the walking stick to steady me.

I've made a start on the rug, the latch hook is not working so well, so I have changed to a crochet hook. There won't be a particular pattern to the colours, just a mish mash, higgledy piggledy, mix them up, jumble. This is my first attempt, I'll see how it goes. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

Note. This post has been edited due to a judgemental comment made by a judgemental person who jumped to conclusions and got the completely wrong end of the stick. To that person, think before you make ridiculous assumptions and accusations, you don't know the full facts of the situation. I have removed the paragraph in case someone else jumps on me with a stupid remark, I can do without it.

A new project using up scraps

I've got far too much fabric, I need to get rid of some. This is a pile of old clothes, some of them mine,  some I bought from car boot sales, and some given to me. I am fed up of it lying around, I need to do something with it.

I have got one of these, goodness knows where it came from, it was probably in a box of stuff my friend gave to me when she was having a sort out. My mum used to have one, she made all our rugs with it, I remember helping her to cut up our old clothes into strips.

I think I'll have a go at this. Today I spent a few hours cutting up several teeshirts, two bits of sweatshirts, and two pairs of shorts. The jersey fabric stretches quite well and is soft. It will make a nice rug.

I found this mesh kind of stuff in my garage. It fell off the back of a lorry, ha ha. It is very strong, I think it was used to secure the contents inside a container so they wouldn't move about and get damaged. No one wanted it so I nabbed it. It will do nicely as a backing for my rug. I don't know how many strips of fabric I will need, I have never made one before. I've checked out a few videos on yootoob to see how to do it. I will make a start tomorrow.

If anyone is still wanting to know what I eat, here is my menu for today. Breakfast was bran flakes with diluted evap milk and a greek style yogurt on top. The yogurts were only 15p for four, and I got two packs. Lunch was a cheese sandwich in lovely seeded bread, with masses of water cress stuffed inside. Dinner was the usual steamed veg, with half a tray of cauliflower cheese. Fandabidozi :o)

I didn't bother going out at all today. I kept thinking I might go out and get some snowy pics, but then got on with the job of cutting fabric, and by the time I was ready to go out it had started snowing. At least we haven't had it as bad as some parts of the country. I've been listening to the weather reports on the radio, there has been accidents all over the place with lots of road closures. I aint goin nowhere when it's like this. I hope you are keeping safe and snug if the weather is affecting you. And for the people in Australia, don't forget to put loads of sun cream on, and eat lots of ice cream to keep cool.

Toodle pip.

From the Heart by Kym Marsh. Book review

Why Howdy, mighty glad you could drop by. Hey, do you like that, I'm trying out a bit of my American on you, just so my friends over the pond feel at home here :o) I think we Brits might do things a bit differently sometimes, if any of my lingo is confusing, I am happy to translate. Someone asked what are jelly cubes. Fruity jelly comes in a packet of 12 cubes joined together in a small slab. You pull them apart and put them in a bowl, then add a pint of boiling water, and stir them till they all melt. Then you can either decant the liquid jelly into smaller dishes, or leave it in the big one, to set. You can add fruit, or sponge to make a trifle. I do believe you can get jelly in granules now, I can't be sure because I haven't bought any for donkeys years, (that's a long time). When I used to make jelly for my mother, it always turned out a bit sloppy, because I ate a cube when she wasn't looking, ha ha.  

It is so nice to have a good choice of food in my fridge again. I don't mind running it down now and then and eating out of the cupboards and freezer, it helps me to keep a check on exactly what I have in. So here we are, back to eating fresh again. This was my lunch today. A two egg omlette, filled with spinach and garlic, with a sprinkle of grated cheese, on a bed of raw spinach, dotted with pesto.

It was so darn good, I had to take another pic, half way through eating it, ha ha. 

My dinner tonight was steamed vegetables. Cauliflower, baby sweetcorn, green beans, carrots, broccoli, and parsnips. Again dotted with pesto. I love pesto, but I don't buy it at the horrendously expensive price of £2.40 for a little pot, I wait for it to be reduced to 24p  :o) 

I went to town this afternoon, because the weather forecast says we are all going to be snowed in by tomorrow, and we won't be able to travel anywhere as the roads will be completely blocked with twenty foot snow drifts. I went to pay my credit card bill at the bank, and take my latest artyfarty robot/spaceship to show them at the Arts Centre. They were well impressed. I had a look at the latest exhibitions while I was there. One of them is absolutely amazing, the other is quirky and fun. I couldn't stay long because I was on a one hour free parking, but I will go back and take some photo's to put on here.

I'll just write a few notes about this book I have finnished reading. Some of you will remember Kym Marsh taking part in the first reality show called 'Popstars'. She was picked out of thousands who auditioned to become a member of  the band Hear' Say. The book begins with her childhood, she was constantly bullied at school about her size, which led to an eating disorder, then she fell in love and found herself pregnant at the age of 17.

I can remember the controversey when it all came out that she had two children while working away with Hear' Say. Her parents encouraged her to go for the audition because she had always loved singing. They supported her by looking after the children while she was touring.

Kym comes across as a very down to earth person. Because she was a single mum living on benefits for a while, she was determined that she was going to do what ever she had to do to make a better life for her children. After she left Hear' Say she pursued a solo career for a while, then she found some acting parts and decided that this was the direction she wanted to go in. Eventually she was lucky enough to be auditioned for a part in Coronation Street. Kym's relationship with Jack Ryder broke down, and she eventually found love again with Jamie Lomas. They went through great sadness when the baby Kym was carrying was born premature. Archie was born alive but died immediately, that part had me in tears, it must be the worst thing a woman ever has to go through. In 2011 another pregnancy showed signs of going the same way, but with the dedication of the doctors, and Kym's friends and family, they were able to delay the birth, and their daughter Polly was born fit and well. 

Sorry, I have given you a bit more than a book review there, hope I haven't spoilt it for you if you decide to read it. I would say, if you like Kym in Coronation Street, this is a good book to read. I kept hearing her voice in my head while I was reading it. She writes as though she is chatting to you, it's like having a good natter with a friend. There is a lot of emotion in it, but it's not too hard going.

Adios amigo's, catch you tomorrow.

Stocking up on a frosty night

Hey, I'm back. What, you didn't know I've been missing, ha ha. I started writing this post at 5pm, and it's now gone 10pm. Well I had my dinner, and made the quick decision to get myself down to Tesco. My fridge is bare, no veg or salad left, and you know how I crave my fresh vegetables. I got there just before 8pm and had to hang around untill nearly 9pm for the best bargains.

The fruit and veg man was on his break, I kept my eye on the trolley and watched several people pick stuff up and put it down again because it had not been yellow stickered. I decided I would be first in line so waited for him to come back. Yipeee, it paid off. I got spinach, salad, parsnips, swede, fresh beetroot, cauliflower, peppers, broccoli, lettuce, milk, lychees, greek yogurt, watercress, and pancakes. There wasn't any reduced bread so I paid normal price of 99p for a seeded loaf. I also bought some grapes, and soya milk at the normal price, everything else had a yellow sticker. Total price I paid was £6.86, If you deduct the cost of the three full price items, that makes all the rest £3.92. An absolute bargain.   

It's been a right old murky day today, the fog hasn't really lifted very much at all. This is our village green, not very green at the moment. Someone has cleared the snow from the path, we have a lot of elderly people in this village, and a lot of them cut across here to go to the shop.

I took Lady dog for a walk, her owner Graham has gone off on one of his rambles with his pals.

The sun is making a half hearted attempt to shine through the mist here.

Coming back from the hills, we cut through the church yard, looks very spooky.

Looks like this angel has a hat on.

The next few photo's are of the bushes in my garden. I like how the frost clings to the edges of the leaves.

There aren't many berries left now, the birds have been scoffing them.

That's it, I'm off to bed. Good night.

A walk in the snow

I've been a lazy bones today. Leisurely start, back to bed with a mug of coffee and the laptop. Then spend an hour lounging in the bath, reading a book. Yes, I did put the heating on for that, ha ha. After a cheese sandwich lunch I went to visit my friend, and went a walk with her and Henry choc lab around her village. This friendly horse came trotting across the field towards us wanting to say hello.

It was freezing but we were well wrapped up. Helen had her wellies on and I had my clumpy big boots on. It was hard to find the actual path, most of the time we were walking along the edges of muddy fields. Helen is adjusting her scarf, it was so thick it looked like a neck brace supporting her head, ha ha.

It was a lovely fresh crisp day, sorry there aren't many photo's but it was too cold to take my gloves off.

Afterwards it was back to Helen's for a lovely hot drink, and a catch up natter. I had hot red berry juice, it tastes like hot jelly, the sort you make from jelly cubes. I love hot fruit drinks, much better than tea. I think I'll be snuggled up in my bed early tonight, best place to be to keep warm. Toodle pip.