Not a lot sort of day

 I woke up late...I must have needed it!....After hearing the six o'clock news...after hearing something at 3am.....

Without the radio on very low, sleeping can be difficult...when I am awake I can hear it, quite low....which gives me something to focus on. However it is a double edged sword....when it does get interesting one relaxes and falls asleep!!  

I am gradually sleeping better...good sleep won't come overnight (ha ha!!)

So, make a small pot of coffee....grab a small cupful and take the car down to Davey for a check over after two long trips.

Then back for a late breakfast and consider the jobs that need doing...

A bit of sun....so washing in....and on the line!!

Collect the car at lunchtime. I knew the offside dipped beam was out on the headlights...but the bulb was broken..most odd. Anyway, all fluids topped up and everything checked....worth the £20 for peace of mind.

Back to the house and let floor cleaning commence!! Downstairs anyway...even with taking outdoor shoes off ( most of the time...) it is surprising how much gets in. So, vacuuming and steam cleaning the hard floors done...and it looks much better.

It didn't actually rain, but the air felt really damp... clothes in, on the rack and dehumidifier on...

And the day just goes in bits and bobs.....when dusk creeps in, you don't feel like doing much.

So the evening's occupation was sewing ( accompanied by YouTube....some Time Team and some Robbie Cummings of Canal Boat Diary. )

That is how I carry the patchwork....one square block...the strips pinned up in order, sew one strip and place it at the bottom of the stack. 

When all are done, the strips are in the correct order still, hopefully, to be pinned together to make the block. 

Gardening and sewing and cat

 Today started with sewing 

And cat

After lunch, washing on the line as we now have sunshine and a stiff breeze after yet more rain this morning!

Then some weeding....

I would love a garden like this...but giving a hand is a good substitute!!

Back in the saddle

 I have been concentrating on shirt deconstruction...the quilt will be Ours..a combination of Pirate's shirts, both the ones that he wore and the ones of his that he liked me to wear, and some of mine.

The bike room is gradually being sorted...his newer desk emptied, bikes to one side mainly and boxes of tools in one place. This may be the spare bedroom and sewing room eventually..but the turbo trainer stays.

With the weather warning carrying on today, I rigged the bike up on the trainer and had a good pedal for half an hour.

It was strangely warm after a cold night last night...the mist was almost steam over the hills at the back.

Then back to unpicking after lunch. I am on shirt number six!

Friends

 We managed to get out for a day... eventually...mornings are not easy for Pirate.

Lunch was a gift from a friend in Dumfries..a local church there has built a new community centre about four years ago...gym, meeting rooms, hireable conference/office rooms, a really good cafe Monday to Friday...and a church.

They have employed a full time chef and the food is good....and there is plenty of parking, unlike our favourite bike cafe by the river in Dumfries.

Then our original reason for going to Dumfries....the Abbey Sewing Machine shop....he was initially trained by Singer in Clydebank, Glasgow...and has a lifetime of working on sewing machines..he services machines from far and wide as there are so few doing this now. He also sells secondhand machines.

I took two electric machines that I had....and found out their worth...and discussed what I needed....I initially he didn't think he had what I needed....

But then remembered the last one of a batch of Bernina machines he had.... older style ones, not the modern all plastic jobs....

My mother had a Bernina in the 1960s...and I was supposed to get that when she wanted to change it but she part exchanged it for a Janome instead of letting me buy it....This one doesn't have all the embroidery stitches..which I never used on the old one..but it runs well and sounds just like the old one!

Sweet!!

He gave me a part exchange rate that I would have got by selling them on any online marketplace...which was a good deal. 

He did have a Husquvarna Viking machine.....but that was another £150 above the price of the Bernina...worth it, but I don't have that spare!!

To celebrate we went to see Phil McMenemy at the Gallery at Lauriston...celebration should be done with friends! 

Cake sharing....Ginger and Lemon Drizzle...with a proper hot chocolate that doesn't need the mug to hold it up!!!!

And now he has requested new curtains.....I do have some light tweed material....now to investigate the fabric stash ... Do I have lining material?

Now for some sewing mathematics......

Room to think

 We met a friend for lunch yesterday..nearly a year since we saw him last in person...but he is busy running his own business and travels a lot.

Then down to the sea for ice cream and Pirate to sit and write and set out his thoughts.

He wants someone to write on his behalf..but unless you go down the legal route, that won't be possible, and that wouldn't be sensible...it would be being as bad as them.

He is really stressing, which isn't helping what he already has. 

However putting his thoughts and feelings on paper has been a good step.

Far better than just stewing them over and over in his head.

We looked over all communication over the past few months...and got it into his head that he has done nothing wrong.  He has had the backing of the Macmillan nurses and District Nurse and our doctor in all he has done.

So if a couple of people are being unpleasant because he hasn't done what they thought he should be doing....tough. I am even getting bad mouthed as I am his secretary...but I never write in his emails anything other than his words.

He has the love and respect of hundreds of others.

After all that he had a down day today, mainly resting and sleeping... ironically what these people think he ought to be doing every day...and by doing that he ends up feeling worse. Too much bed rest ends up with him being fatigued, shorter naps and activity works.

I just hope that next week's op will work and relieve him of at least some of the pain.

What did I do today?  Not a lot....

Our boiler and radiators and loft were surveyed this morning...one more step towards a government grant.....fingers crossed...

A bit more tidying and sorting....and some mending.....

A stitch in time as is said.  Worth doing, as very slowly my waistline is reducing...it is no longer a stretch to do up my waistband buttons on my trousers AND I can tuck in a t- shirt....

I am not going to weigh myself again until I can feel that I am getting my waistline back properly!! 

Easy day

 The garden is really grateful for the rain it is occasionally receiving..I am hoping that the latest seed sowing will succeed. Radishes, beetroot, carrots and now at last the dwarf french beans have germinated..just hoping that the slugs and the birds don't get them!!

Today I have been steadily working on edging the hand towels...interrupted by getting into town on the bus. Our village postal collection is breakfast time...and daughter's birthday is on Monday and her husband's the following Saturday!!

Just before going for the bus I checked fleabay...I had a small sale!! That is the first for over a month. Just like most shops, my sales have really slowed down these days.

Quickly processed it....and left it on the table!!  That can go in the post tomorrow, possibly a ride over to Mauchline if the weather is good.

Now I am pinning up the binding on the last two towels and keeping an eye on the commonwealth games on the TV!

While they are away...

 Pirate and our Fife friend have gone to London...a return gift from Pirate as Fife friend took him to Brisbane four years ago....

I am, therefore, having a holiday at home!!

This gives me a chance to go around clearing up all that backlog of little jobs......

Two loads of washing done, and nearly dried....we had some welcome rain today.

Two lengths of moulding varnished twice....these go on the outside corners of the workshop and are untreated wood so cannot just be left bare.

 The main job today has been making bias binding and starting to use it on hand towels made from a larger towel...one down, five to go!!

I am trying to find where my machine was made..I know it was May 1922...and it is a 15K....this might mean that it was made at Kilbowie, Glasgow.

Its first owner survived the Titanic sinking...her great granddaughter gave it to me as her daughter was not interested.

Now what shall I find to do tomorrow?!!

Sorting...

 A month ago I saw a tablemat pieced block that I was working on two years ago in NZ.....

Can I find it?? No way!! Therefore, cue sorting out all the sewing stuff! 

My grandma's sewing store box has been organised...

We had a walk around Hannahston before lunch, and the catkins are coming along fast.

And fungi too, with little really cold weather are still fruiting.

Two fleabay sales to deal with, one packed and the other sent an invoice, hopefully he will pay ready for a post run tomorrow.

Pirate has started sorting the building materials and clearing out clutter from my workshop, ready for verandah construction.

And so it's back to more sorting.....while he has a siesta!

Staying safe

In other words keeping busy, making kitchen hand towels..half a dozen, from old towels. To teach the Pirate to use a fresh one every day!!
While I wait for my turn on the easier turbotrainer.
No point going out in sideways rain showers. I have no wish to get soaked or blown off my bike.
We might go for a short walk later. For a change of air.
Or I might stay in the warm and bake!!

Today's projects

 Yesterday we supported our local family owned garden centre and took advantage of the usual Spring special offers

Then did a little hoeing and weeding

And this morning the jackdaw lovebirds were eyeing up our eaves where the soffit needs mending...

He is scarifying the lawn...just don't tell him that is the patch that is destined to be the next vege bed.....
And I have at last reached the sewing table..now to see if the tension is ok.

using remnants

A nice remnant of Laura Ashley fabric..I've made a square tablecloth with most of it, what is over is just right for the coffee table. I could lightly quilt that

Another day

 Planes do 'circuits' from Prestwick Airport,a dozen miles away..practising approaches,landings and take-offs.

What a change for today's walk. Wet,windy and still cold,but not freezing.

We had to have a walk...cabin fever had set in!! Luckily it stayed dry for the duration..our village circuit takes us out around the village,past two derelict mills and is nearly four miles long.

Indoors has been productive.  My bike is now winter ready..just need weather fit and safe to go out in.
Door curtains are being sewn to keep the cold out and more decorations made.

Tomorrow there are prints waiting to be titled and filed and some more work getting the rooster prints right.  for some light relief,more curtain hemming and lining!  And if the forecast is right, we may even get out on the bikes!!

Quilt for sale!

Here it is, finished at last!  It has taken many hours of work over the past months, all by hand.
The small squares are 1 inch squares, and the overall size is 24.5 inches or 62 cm square.
The cloth is 100% cotton, as are the sewing and quilting threads. The wadding/batting is made from sheep fleece, and the edging is polyester satin ribbon, sewn with polyester thread.

It is now for sale- NZ$600 or GB£330 or US$500  .

I wonder if it will go?   The Pirate is wearing two hats....one hopes it will sell, we need to eat!!  The other hopes it doesn't as it could be seen as a bit of family history.