Zig-zag baby quilt

Well after watching DS play football on Saturday - they won 8-1 against one of the strongest teams in the league, YIPPEE! - I thought I'd better make some progress on the baby quilt for their teacher's new baby son.

I fancied working with blues and naturals as I said before and had a reasonable amount of sandy shades downstairs as I'd been using them on my ostrich row quilt but as I'd had a major 'put-away' session a few weeks ago there weren't many blues downstairs.

As DH was busy outside I didn't think he'd appreciate being dragged back in to play 'fabric-shuffle' with the blue boxes in the loft so I went with what was to hand. I wanted it to look a little scrappy but only had two fabrics in each colour to play with. This is the result. It's okay, not as scrappy as I'd have liked and I think the 2" wide stripes might be a bit on the big side for a baby quilt but it's done now and I'm not changing it. I've always loved rail fence and the zig-zag effect you get.

I only have enough of the starry sand to put a border round so will add a 4" plain one in that all round - a step away from the norm for me as I usually do multiple borders and my gut feeling would have been thin sand, thin navy and then thick sand but I didn't have enough of the fabrics to do that and didn't really want to introduce another into the equation.

I'll then bind it in the duller of the two light blues for the same reason - I feel the navy check would have looked better especially as I always do a bias double binding so would get the checks on the cross but as the fabric came from a charity shop pair of men's pyjamas and I've not got much left that's not an option - shame :o( Need to get it finished for the middle of the week so it'll be another large meander pattern.

What a difference a day makes :o)

I never seem to get the hang of which order to load photos onto this thing - I add them in the order I'd like them to appear - sometimes they come out like that, other times they wiggle around and sit where they feel like. Sorry girls you'll just have to do a bit of creative viewing :o)

I said yesterday morning that the builder had got the base slab of concrete down (the darker photo before it got properly light yesterday morning) - well just look how much he got done yesterday. The outside half of the dwarf walls all up and looking very smart indeed. He will be back on Monday to do the inner blockwork and finish off the step - boy is this whizzing along nicely :o)

Dad has settled in back at home and is feeling much better than before the angioplasty - he did admit to me on the phone last night, that the night before he came home he had another fainting fit in the hospital, which I feel confirms my suspicions that they may well have dramatically improved the blood supply to his heart but haven't actually completely tackled the problem he was originally admitted for. I have this deep misgiving that things will continue as before once he gets up and moving about normally. We will see! Mum knows to dial 999 as soon as anything happens and at least if it does and he's back at the hospital they might sort it out this time. Only time will tell, but it has made Mum very nervous and she's loath to leave him for any length of time for shopping and errands etc.

Well in the hour and a half before heading off to work yesterday morning I was as busy as our builder and whizzed along with my sister's birthday cushion covers. I'm very pleased with the result and hope she likes them too. I can't believe they're all completed, wrapped and ready for posting this morning before I go to watch DS play football. Her birthday isn't until Tuesday so, Post Office willing, she should get them a day early - a minor miracle for me who is usually right on the wire.

Sarah had a letter this week saying unfortunately she hadn't got through to the next stage on from the rugby talent identification day she participated in during the half term holiday. She was quite pragmatic about it on opening the letter consoling herself with the fact that she is only just 14 and there will be plenty of other opportunities in the years to come. It was a different story later on in the evening when she learned that a friend of similar age from Cornwall had been selected, the flood gates opened then. But now that a couple of days have passed she seems okay with the whole thing and did admit that Lucy had been playing since she was 7yrs old which might have had some bearing on it. This weekend there's no match but she has County training in Wells (just under an hour from here) starting at 10.30am so no lie-in for me tomorrow.

I've spent a little time this morning cutting 2.5" strips from my dark and light blues and sands to make a very quick triple rail fence for the new baby of Nick and Lou's teacher. I pinched the basic idea from Siobhan - it should come together nice and quickly ready for them to take in to him when he returns to work on Wednesday.

Progress in several directions

Well the conservatory moves on a pace - you can see the footings are well and truly coming on - these photos were taken first thing yesterday morning and in fact he spent his time during the day putting down the damp proof membrane and then putting in the concrete floor slab. You can see DH in the background still in shorts in one photo - the weather has been pretty mild again after last week's cold snap. Probably just as well with concrete setting here and there.

Dad is home from hospital. It appears from the experts that they have sorted out his angiopathy and the fainting fits should be controlled with changed medication. They seem more concerned with his post heart attack care - I guess we just have to trust their judgement and hope they've got it right. Maybe it's just me being suspicious but I can't understand why they even mentioned the defibrillator when they'd already changed the medication but then I'm not a doctor - merely a very nosy lay person who likes to ask lots of questions and get good honest answers - after all how do you know what you're dealing with if they won't let you 'into the club' ?

He was very, very weary at home last night and didn't even want to talk on the phone which is quite understandable - however he did tell mum that his chest feels 100% better than it has been for some time so they've obviously sorted something out. Only time will tell if they've covered the whole picture. I truly hope so!

The applique I showed you last time has miraculously developed into a bucket bag but minus the handles - they will go on next. The more I look at it and see other people's creations in blues and naturals, the more I really like the colour combination. Nick and Lou's teacher's wife had a baby boy on Tuesday night. None of us even knew she was expecting as he's kept the information out of the children's radar screen. However I may try and cobble together a baby quilt for them this weekend and as it's a little Lloyd I think blues and naturals would be rather nice - we'll see, still got to finish my sister's cushions to post on Monday.

OK lets see if I can get the photo to come up here then!

Yup - there we go.

For the accompanying text read on down please :o)

The builder arrives

OK Guys I'll apologise in advance for no photo and try and publish it on the next posting on its own! Typical of today really!!!!!

Well at 7.30am on the dot a man with a van arrived at our house - he merrily squirrelled away digging holes, taking deliveries of skips and building supplies and then filling the aforesaid hole with concrete and left again at 4.20pm

Doesn't sound much but a real start has been made on the foundations of the conservatory.

I would pop in a picture of this concrete except I'm not quite that sad and of course it's dark out there now so I can't :o)

Nigel has decided to have tomorrow and Thursday off to supervise so things are moving along nicely now

Neil (that's the builder) should have the dwarf wall completed on either Friday or next Monday. We then have a weeks gap before the men with the glass arrive and please God the top fits on the bottom. Nigel has been out there tonight already with the measure tape to check everything looks about the right size.

Then the week after the glass men the final fit men come along to do the internals, plastering, finishing the floor etc

Whilst he was off over half term Nigel got all the electrical works sorted out ready for them so we're all on schedule

God willing, with a following wind we should be finished by 1st December but I'm counting no chickens until we're a bit nearer.

Someone asked me about mitring the corners on my celtic knotwork. It's a little difficult to explain in words but I'll have a go.

When I get to a corner I tack nearly up to where the mitre will be. Then I fold the tubing back on itseld exactly on the line that the outside edge of the following bit of tape will take. I then fold back the tape over this and tuck any excess in under itself and tack it down quickly before it has chance to slip. Sounds a bit fiddly and I suppose it probably is until you've practiced a lot (which I have) but it works for me. Then as you hand-stitch the two sides of the tape down you secure across the mitre line in ladder stitch making any final adjustments with the needle turn edge of your needle as you go along. I have to say if I get any choice (and obviously with the twist and turn of a celtic pattern it isn't always possible) I always endeavour to stitch the outer edge first thus securing the point of the turn before having to faff about with the mitred bit. Hope this is a bit clearer than the mud on our building site :o)

A few developments with my father this week.

He was transferred to Sheffield by ambulance this morning with a view to them carrying out the angioplasty procedure this afternoon. However best laid plans and all that, unfortunately they had too many emergency procedures to carry out and so he never got as far as the operating procedure. They have assured us he should have it done tomorrow.

We were under the impression that the fainting fits he had been suffering were now thought to be due to his heart beating irregularly - sometimes it races uncontrollably, other times it goes on strike and is too slow to send sufficient oxygen to his brain - hence the faints.

They had led us to believe that the insertion of a 'defibrillator' at the same time as the angioplasty would tackle this problem.

It now seems that, as this little piece of kit costs in the region of £30,000 they can only insert it once the expenditure has been approved by the NHS Trust Finance Body. Accordingly he may well be sent home and put on a waiting list until they've authorised the spending basically!

The real question is what happens if he keeps having faints as before - Mum is not strong enough to keep manhandling him and it could happen as he crosses the road in front of a 40 tonne truck!

So we'll see what tomorrow brings - it sadly all boils down to resources and the NHS is currently very strapped for cash indeed across all departments. There have been some very sad high profile cases of people not being funded for breast cancer drugs, alzheimers drugs and a host of other expensive procedures in the media of late. It must be awful to be a pawn in such a political funding game but that may be exactly where we are about to be.

I've told mum that if they do send him home without one and he keeps fainting that she has to dial 999 for an ambulance each and every time - eventually they'll get so hacked off with carting him in there to the Casualty Department that they might sort it out for him - I do so hope it doesn't come to that.

I went back to work today after the two and a bit weeks half term break - I was not at all keen to go back at all - as expected it was yet again three steps forward and four steps back. I keep hoping that eventually, once I get the job and its procedures under my belt, the forward steps might outnumber the backward ones but at present I'm wading through treacle with my snorkel getting ever longer just to maintain the air supply :o( To quote Winston Churchill 'I'll just have to keep buggering on!'

Lets hope for a better day tomorrow - please!

The photo shows a little bit of hand applique I did for the centre of the Christmas present bag I'm going to make for our Secret Santa group in blues and naturals.

Christmas cometh!

The big day arrives tomorrow!

No you're alright girls - don't panic, not Christmas - the day the builders arrive to start our conservatory.

DH will be home to get them started in the morning, but from then on the supervision will be patchy by me in between working - gulp!

I'm sure they'll be fine - but if I'm not here I can't see that they're getting on with everything according to plan and sort out any problems as they arise.

Never mind DH seems to think this arrangement will work okay so here goes ........... watch this space - the photos show our before photo after DH lifted the existing patio slabs.

The conservatory is a massive financial undertaking for us. (Isn't all building work?) As you look at the back of the house it will stretch from the right hand side of the patio doors along the back of the house for 6.5 metres covering the kitchen window nearly up to the back door out from the utility room and then out from the house 3.5 metres as far as the back line of the garage. It will make a wonderful large extra living space.

When we searched for a house in Taunton a conservatory was a big part of our wish list. Unfortunately none of the houses we viewed ticked every box. The house we bought came closest but didn't have a conservatory so we took the decision to add one ourselves and borrowed extra money to cover the cost.

Not having done our homework quite as thoroughly as we needed to we didn't borrow enough to cover and have taken out additional borrowings for the complete package - after all we'd have looked pretty silly if we couldn't pay for all the glass wouldn't we :o)

So the rest of the household is now on economy drive mode! Belt-tightening is most definitely the order of the day for the foreseeable future

I've taken the decision that everyone will receive homemade presents this year starting with my sister's birthday this month

When Lorna was down in the summer she purloined bits of my old cross stitch fabric etc and started a celtic knotwork design in burgundy on cream to go in her new living room - she loves Scotland and Ireland and is very fond of this type of design

So her birthday present from us will be a couple of cushion covers with the centre pieces of the two knotwork designs you see above which I've merrily stitched this weekend in front of the tv - I shall surround them with a very fine burgundy border (about quarter inch) and then a 2" border of the same cream with fine gold spot

Now I have to decide what to make for the other family members for Christmas - no pressure there then eh!?!

A lovely send-off!

"Somehow in the depths I feel sure that life is continuous through the grave. It is like a stitch of embroidery which appears above the canvas, runs along and is seen, then dips back below out of sight. The thread, the wool is continuous and only appears to disappear. Indeed I had a strong feeling that only humans need starts and finishes, beginnings and endings. In the real spiritual world there are no starts and ends, all space, time and life are boundless and eternal."
Peter Tatton Brown (From Quaker Faith and Practice 22.85)

This was one of the readings at Cicely's celebration service yesterday. A very fitting passage for a lady who spent much of the last third of her life with a needle in her hand. God Bless Her

Looking around other people's blogs I came across a lovely bag on Dawn's blog

I've always wanted to make a bag to take all my bits and pieces to quilting group on Mondays. I've looked at lots of ideas, discarded most of them as I hate following patterns and generally coped with dragging everything along in a supermarket carrier bag - not very stylish!

So when I spotted Dawn's bag I thought aha! this is something I could have a go at and here is the result - a bucket style bag with the oval base size and shape determined by a pyrex casserole dish I just happened to have in the cupboard :o)

Of course being the 'dash in and get on with it without thinking it out first' kinda girl I always am I didn't bother to read Dawn's comments that went with her picture til after I'd started stitching - so I made a little extra work for myself having to sandwich and quilt the fabric afterwards instead of adding strips to the wadding and backing as she had done 'quilt as you go' fashion - mental note to remember that for next time.

The sharpest eyed of you might spot the orphan block leftover from my ostrich second row, and of course I already had all the homespun/folk art type fabrics out for that too so I cobbled this together from them over the past couple of days in and amongst lunch out with friends on Thursday and of course Cicely's service yesterday.

It's very simple - no fancy clever pockets or fastenings like Dawn's but it's ideal for keeping whatever I'm working on at present in an easily identifiable holder to just pick up and grab as I go out of the door to quilting

Might even have a go at something similar for a surprise Christmas present I have to make :o)

Funeral Attire :o)

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago our recently departed group leader has requested that all of us who knew her through quilting should wear something depicting patchwork and quilting to her funeral.

A bit of a poser for me as I've made loads of quilts but nothing wearable - no lovely waistcoats or bags or anything.

So what to wear - I did think about wearing my Somerset County Quilters badge as that is where I first met her but felt on its own it wouldn't make the statement she so obviously wanted us all to make

I was pondering in bed last night, during those gentle moments before sleep, about making something at such short notice - the funeral is Friday - and realised that a waistcoat is most definitely out of the question, firstly because of lack of time, secondly because I don't have a decent pattern and thirdly because I couldn't be sure of getting it to fit and would have been really miffed after putting in all that work for it not to fit properly.

I finally decided on a sash to wear over my normal dark funeral outfit and then came the question of what to make it from

It just so happened that I was going to make a wall-hanging for our lounge and had put together a number of 4" blocks in a ziplock bag

Perfect - I'd sash between them, add a backing and Voila! the result you see above :o) pinned together with the afore mentioned badge - absolutely fit for purpose - I think she'd like it :o)

Just as an aside - the church has granted her family permission to hang all her quilts in the church for her funeral - a really fitting tribute

Treats of different kinds

Halloween isn't anything like the big event that American kids delight in on this side of the pond. People seldom bother to decorate their houses or even their front doors and porches.

English kids have only cottoned on to the whole concept of Trick or Treating in the past decade or so.

Sadly in some towns with the older teenagers it degenerates into groups of them paining the life out of any old dears they don't really like with the emphasis most definitely on trick rather than treat.

The main local news story on the tv last night was about Avon and Somerset Police force mobilising every officer they have to counter the nuisance element of gangs of young people marauding round throwing eggs and flour at houses and generally showing anti social behaviour. I'd like to think this is only a minority element but nevertheless it is a real nuisance factor later in the evening in some urban areas. It's a shame that the situation has escalated to this extent - indeed some shops and newspapers have been providing posters for people to display asking 'Please - no trick or treaters at this house' - understandable, but still a damning indictment of the way the generations interact in some parts of our land.

Fortunately for us on our little estate we don't see any of that - we do sometimes get groups of youngsters hanging out in the park behind our house after dark but they're generally un-threatening and don't pose us any problem. As a nation we are appallingly bad at providing fun things for kids to do to keep them out of mischief - people generally agree in principle that there should be more skate parks, youth clubs, activity zones etc but when push comes to shove they don't want them 'in their back yard' and aren't prepared to help with the provision.

It was with my heart in my mouth that I allowed Nick and Lou aged almost 11 and 9 1/2 to go out with two of Nick's 10 year old mates just around our little estate to trick or treat for an hour or so - the first year they've gone on their own. I also had a mixing bowl of goodies on the hall cupboard ready for any little people who might call here. It's always difficult to know how far to allow them a little freedom and independence.

We only probably had a dozen or so kids call on us, plus our own who called in on the way round, but they were all very polite and it was such fun to see them all dressed up

It occurred to me about ten minutes before they were due to go out that the only thing I could find for them to collect their treats in were supermarket carrier bags - I mean, what sort of mother does that make me? So as I had some black starry fabric from another project to hand and a piece of lovely orange space dyed fabric too I rustled up a couple of bags for them - DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT look closely as there are no edges finished off and I used the selvedge strips for handles. They served as a temporary stop-gap for the evening - in fact Lou did tell me she was worried that hers might not hold together once full of goodies (I did say they were thrown together) so I shall make them some proper ones for next year - but they were delighted with them and my elder daughter just shook her head and laughed with incredulity at me just throwing something together in a couple of ticks - she obviously doesn't know me as well as she thinks she does.

As you can see from the other picture the Rugby Baby Quilt is completed for Sarah's Coaches new arrival. Jack Cockayne entered the world last Wednesday at 8pm weighing in at 9lb 9ozs - no small chap there - definitely destined to be in the pack! The irony of him arriving right in the middle of training was not lost on the girls. We did have a quick peek at him on Sunday afternoon when his parents brought him down to the club for his inaugural visit. Jenny (his mum) will be at training tonight so I had a deadline for the quilt - I completed it last night and am very pleased with the result. I decided on a big meander all over in a thin white thread and I think it's worked pretty well. Hope they like it too!

Better news with my Dad - the CT scan of his head showed no abnormalities - and as a bonus they have decided he still does have a head and a brain! :o) Result!!!

He had his angiogram yesterday which shows a couple of vessels in need of angioplasty - this will be carried out probably next week in Sheffield and, as his heart had a funny racing session while they were in there looking, his consultant is also considering putting in a pacemaker at the same time - they feel that the irregular heart rhythm is most probably what is causing his funny turns and the pacemaker will help with all this

When the picture wasn't quite so bright a few days ago I broached the subject of their accommodation with both my mum and my brother (at present they rent his old terraced house complete with steep staircase and no downstairs bath or loo). They are on a waiting list for sheltered accommodation down here near us and have been since they lived in the wilds of West Cumbria before they moved to their present home.

However the good news is that the medical team are of the opinion that once these procedures have been carried out Dad should actually feel considerably better than he has for some time and that the stairs shouldn't pose any problem. Catastrophe averted for the time being

I am of the opinion though that we should still continue investigations for something more suitable eventually, whether it's near me or my brother - my sister is worse than useless and would be of little help or support. So I shall continue with my covert investigations and broach the subject with them at a future more appropriate time.

Ostrich Reaction

Quilting group this morning and a very mixed meeting

You may recall me mentioning our 92 year old group leader Cicely who I said had forgotten more than I'll ever know about quilting.

She has been unwell - becoming progressively more so - all summer since our show, eventually being admitted to hospital

Just over a week ago one of the group rang each of us to let us know that she had undergone a scan where they'd found pancreatic cancer

Sadly she passed away last Friday

Realistically we are all relieved that it wasn't prolonged for her to suffer for any great length of time but she will be greatly missed especially by some of the group who have known her for many years

Her funeral is this Friday and she has asked if those of us from the group who are attending can wear something 'quilty' - as you can imagine that had us all racking our brains

I didn't know her that well but I am free on Friday and have a large 7 seater car - several of the older members of the group can't drive and the church for her thanksgiving service, which follows a private cremation, is in the middle of nowhere a good half an hour from Taunton. So as my tribute to her, and the hand of friendship that she extended to me on arriving in Taunton last year, I shall taxi and accompany these members and consider it an honour to be able to do so.

However it wasn't all sadness this morning we managed to remember her with affection and some laughter and I like to think she would have been pleased at the second part of our Ostrich Challenge that I set them today - she always liked to both undertake and set challenges

The response to 'Circles or any part thereof' was less horrified than I expected thankfully, and bits of discussion has, I hope, sent them all on their way with their thinking caps firmly on - we shall see what they come up with :o)

Later today I decided to have a play with Part 6 - 'Opposites' and the 'Dutchman's Puzzle' ??? is what I came up with - thank goodness for that 'flying geese ruler' again

Then I laid out on the floor what I've got done so far - I'm happy with it :o)

The news on Dad is a little more positive - the unofficial result on his CT scan has showed nothing to be concerned about - they still need to do the ultrasound on his neck vessels. However they have altered his combination of medication and the attacks seem fewer and less severe so maybe we're getting somewhere.

They expect to do the angiogram tomorrow to get a clearer picture on the heart front so the fog is starting to clear

Louise had painted a sweet little picture of her and Grandad (complete with his flat cap and walking stick) standing outside the gates to Vivary Park in Taunton. This arrived with him today and lifted his spirits somewhat - Mum says he spent the entire day pestering the staff to look at it whenever one of them came within a 20 yard radius of him :o)

So we shall keep on hoping and praying for more positives tomorrow - thank you to all of you for your kind wishes and prayers :o)

The flower row for my Ostrich finished

Well that's another row done - hand appliqued flowers formed with english piecing over paper

Next will be 'Opposites'

That'll test their initiative and imagination they can interpret it any way they like

Both my sporty kids did well this weekend

Nick had a football (soccer for you girls over the other side of the pond) match away against Minehead which is a seaside town just over half an hour's drive away so that was a reasonably early start.

Before the match Minehead were #2 in the league and Nick's team, Blackbrook Wolves was #4

We won 6 - 2 and it was a cracking match - Nick plays in defence so doesn't get the same opportunities to score as his sister in rugby but he put in some good defensive play and stopped some hard pushing advances by the opposition definitely keeping their score line down

Today Sarah's team played a derby match away against our closest side geographically - Bridgwater

It was a real grudge match as last year they were a real force to be reckoned with and our last match was a loss with a 50 - Nil scoreline

This year some of Bridgwater's eldest girls have graduated to Ladies and some of our U14's, including Sarah, have moved up to U17s obviously changing the dynamics of both teams. However they were still a hard team to play and the half time score was 15 - 5 against us.

Historically we've not been particularly good at coming back from the underdog position but today the girls did themselves proud with Sarah scoring a try under the posts from a 60 yard dash down the pitch and then converting her own try to put 7 of the 27 points on the board

Next week they have another toughie against Thornbury but at least that one's at home

My dad is much the same in hospital - I had a longish chat with the ward sister when I phoned this morning. It appears that the funny turns he's been having seem very much like text-book TIA's or Mini-Strokes and there is a very real risk of him suffering a biggie in their wake

He still needs the angiogram they talked about first of all post silent heart attack as the Medical team feel they are fighting two problems - one the post heart attack and secondly the strokes on the other hand

The thought of a major stroke will be especially frightening him underneath as his mother died during her second stroke at 51 and he nursed her at the age of 21 for the year after her first one up to her death

I really hope the CT scan and neck scan this next week will show the cause of the problem and indicate something that they can treat

Having said that if a full blown strike is inevitable I hope it's a real biggie as I know he'd hate to be left in the same state as his mother - I desperately don't want to lose him but you wouldn't wish that sort of existence on your worst enemy

We're contemplating a flying visit next weekend after Nick's football and then back later that night for Sarah to sleep at home for her match on the Sunday - I think it would give Dad a real lift to see us all including the kids and put my mind a bit at rest too :o)

A little bit of dyeing for light relief

Nigel and I spent a few hours one day this week sorting out our bedding, table linen and towels. What a romantic way to spend an afternoon I hear you say.

We have a corner cupboard in our bedroom which is a funny shape as it is tucked in under the eaves of the apex above our front door area. When we moved in last year we earmarked it for a linen closet. The removal men duly stuffed it full of boxes of linen and since then we've merrily pulled out bits and pieces as we needed them with no regard to their order or how we'd get it all back in again.

As you can imagine twelve months later we've now got to the stage that the door won't close due to the tide of linen encroaching on our bedroom

Time for drastic action!

All the linen out - all the linen sorted into sensible quantities to store for day to day usage and balance to store for future supplies (yes that's how much we've accumulated all this time, the kids won't need to buy any for university!) - sensible quantities for day to day usage returned to nice set of roller baskets for ease of access. Balance of linen on our bed to pack up for storage for future supplies

In and amongst all this for some reason it was apparent that all our lovely white fluffy towels are beginning to look decidedly grey and shabby - why is it that children seem incapable of rinsing off dirty suds before acquainting their hands with the lovely white fluffy towel on the rail

So instead of chucking out these towels I decided that as they had loads of fluffy life in them I'd buy some washing machine dyes and give them a new brighter lease of life

Of course being the lover of space dyed fabrics that I am I couldn't resist popping a few bits of white sheeting I gathered about my stash to join them in the washing machine

They are all quite light as I had them in with several towels being given a new brighter life but it was fun to see how they all came out and they will sit happily in my stash for future use

The photo shows the initial results

L to R Green overdye on some turquoise/denim blue I had kicking about

Green over dye on a piece of the pink neighbour

'Burgundy' space dye (told you they'd come out quite light)

As for other non quilty/fabric related things we've had further news on my dad

He's still on the Coronary Care Unit and should have gone for an angiogram today with the intention of possibly moving him to Sheffield in a few days for angioplasty

However he had a couple more of his fainting attacks so they decided to postpone it for a day or two

They've now decided they think these attacks are probably mini strokes so he's now down for a CT scan and a scan of his neck - all a bit scary really

When I spoke to my mum after the ghastly conversation with my sister she insisted I didn't need to rush to go up to see him and that they also don't need the worry of me travelling all that way on top of everything else

I have to say this was the response I expected although it doesn't make the discussions with my sister any less painful

Mum did reassure my by saying she'd tell me if things developed to a situation where I needed to go up and we've been keeping in touch on the telephone several times a day for reassurance and support for each other

It is hard being so far away although my brother has been a brick both with Mum and for me on the phone - as he's nine years younger than me and always been the baby of the family it feels very strange to rely on him now but he's proving more than capable of shouldering the burden and thankfully I haven't needed to talk to my sister again

We're all drawing comfort from the fact that Dad's in the right place and should anything drastic happen he stands the best chance of them dealing with it to the best of their ability rather than laying on the pavement waiting heaven knows how long for an ambulance to arrive

I just hope and pray that he will be okay but if it is his time to go that he can go in peace with dignity

A little more work on the Ostrich

Well the next round for my unsuspecting ladies after the bias applique will be 'Flowers'

They are free to interpret this in any manner they decide - I'm even giving them the option to use a flowery fabric in a different pattern if they can't face doing actual flowers

For mine I decided to applique hexagon pieced flowers and here are the first three - four more to go for the full row

The other photo shows how to keep two primary school aged children and their grandmother occupied on a miserable wet half term afternoon.

Nigel's parents are stopping with us for a couple of nights to see the kids and us of course. Grandad was helping Daddy with the pre-conservatory electrics, I was stitching hexagon flowers sitting on the sofa in 'my spot' and Sarah was catching up with her mates on the internet after a very heavy rugby session earlier in the day - luckily the ankle held up and she had a great time.

Nick and Lou decided to play nicely together ( a rarity in itself I might add) and started the game you can see in the photo - it's based along the same lines as Twister where you have to put the relevant hand or foot onto the continent as selected by Nanna turning the arrow for the relevant instructions. They had great fun and loads of laughs - it made a welcome change from them being glued to the PS2 or the internet

We're in the throws of a family crisis in a different direction at present, my father is in the Coronary Care Unit up in Doncaster, about 240 miles (at least four hours drive) from us having suffered a 'silent heart attack' and subsequent fainting attacks. My dear sister ( sorry the tongue is firmly in the cheek here) is now giving me enormous grief because my mother and brother (who lives very near to Mum) happened to phone me before my sister to give an update of the situation.

She is very childish and loves to play the victim - you might recall her stay here at the end of the summer and the turmoil she managed to stir up then - and to cap it all has phoned me this afternoon to demand when I will be travelling up to visit the hospital

The after effects of the labyrinthitis are limiting the length of drive I can undertake to about an hour and both my husband and children have other commitments all weekend - of course this has given my sister the prime opportunity to impress upon my parents what a dutiful daughter she is and of course by reverse what a neglectful one I am. I don't doubt for a second that neither mum or dad would expect me to dash up there especially as he is in the best possible place and not in immediate danger

Of course the net result of all this is for me to feel wretched at not being able to get there and all the more worried about his welfare for not seeing him

Families! Who'd have them?

My little spot

One or two of you including Jeanne and Amy have been showing off yor special 'sit and stitch' spot

So I thought I'd show you mine

I snuggle up in the very well worn corner of our leather sofa - don't look too close or you'll be able to see how worn the fronts of the cushions are - obviously well used and we're loathe to replace it even if we had the money as it is sooooo comfortable

I have an old Singer treadle machine table tucked into the corner there which tends to be the dumping ground for all my bits and pieces as I stitch along and tucked down between the sofa and the table is a little hidey hole area not easily viewed from the rest of the room where I tend to stuff whatever I'm working on at that moment - only tidying it up as it starts to spill out into the rest of the room

The kids and for that matter DH all know this is MY seat so vacate it when I come into the room to sit down

It has a good view of the tv so I can watch it over the top of my reading glasses as I merrily hand applique away and during the day I also get a good view of the day out of the window

The lamp is one of two I possess - purchased at great expense pre children when I had more money than sense, the other one is a 1920's art nouveau lady with a fabulous peacock sitting on her shoulder. DH thinks both my ladies are hideous but tolerates them because I love them so much. They did have to go into long-term hibernation in boxes in the loft while the kids were small - it was just too big a risk and it was wonderful to make their acquaintance again once the kids were old enough to respect them. Surprisingly the one in the picture throws out just the right amount of light for me to sit there stitching :o)

Those of you who have been dropping by for a while will see from the decor why I picked the colour scheme for my internet ostrich (with the celtic knotwork centre) and my hexagon quilt to go with this room as throws for the backs of the sofa and the armchair

So come on girls - I've shown you mine - let's see yours!

Freezer Disaster

You might recall back in August me talking about filling my freezer ready for the autumn term. Cart loads of chilli, bolognaise sauce, casseroles etc squirrelled away ready for the impending autumn and winter.

Well very soon afterwards disaster struck.

We have two freezers, a little 'under-counter' one in the kitchen which houses ice cream, frozen peas and about a weeks worth of meals to save me going outside to the garage where the bigger chest freezer resides.

DH had been busy during the summer knocking odd jobs off his 'to-do' list to keep out of the way while my parents were in residence. One particular day after doing some outside gloss painting he had left a tub of white spirit complete with brushes in soaking on a low surface directly next to the freezer.

One of us inadvertedly knocked the aforementioned tub into the open freezer - aaaarrgghhhh!!!

I wiped up the spillage and removed any affected food from the top of the 'totally full freezer' - well it would be wouldn't it - these things never happen with an almost empty one.

Having done this I thought I'd dealt with the problem but sadly it became apparent over the next week or three that everything we took out of the freezer was tainted.

Not having realised the quantity of white spirit that had been deposited in the freezer it didn't occur to me at the time to empty everything out and clean out the bottom of the appliance.

Of course white spirit, being neat alcohol, doesn't freeze at domestic freezer temperatures and was sitting in the base gradually pervading everything in there.

Being the busy sort of people we are it took us a wee while to get round to investigating the situation more thoroughly and once we did we realised we were going to have to destroy the entire contents of the freezer - hence the fascinating photo of these items going into bin liners before being transported to the tip.

As you can imagine having spent all that time filling the dratted thing I could have wept at having to empty it all again and waste all that food.

Sarah was a real gem and sat and made a full inventory of everything as it was discarded so I now have the joy of valueing it all (not that easy when things are homemade) and then seeing if there's any way we can claim on the house contents insurance - hence the photographic evidence.

This morning the entire Bebbington clan (well the Taunton contingent anyway) had a multiple dental appointment - our twice yearly check-up. NHS Dentists are notoriously difficult to find in the UK now but we were lucky and managed to sign up with one here in Taunton - we were never that lucky in Gloucester. Thankfully because of this it only cost us a total of £31 for Nigel's and my check-up and the kids go free.

I'm glad to say that we all had the all clear, I'm very proud to say that none of my children have needed any dental work at all except Sarah's orthodontist brace - very rare in this day and age considering the amount of sweets and fizzy drinks that their peers consume. Neither Nigel or I can boast that we got to their age without any fillings, that's for sure. Mind you fluoride in the toothpaste and the drinking water has also contributed to this difference 30-40 years down the line.

Because, when I booked the appointment six months ago, I didn't realise Nigel would be taking some leave from work, I booked the appointment for 8.15am so he'd be able to head straight off for work.

As you can imagine it was a bit of a pain having to drag everyone into town for that time on the first day of the half-term holidays.

Still it meant that we managed to visit the dentist, do all the little shopping bits and pieces in town, pick up some fabric (me on that one of course) and do some supermarket shopping before returning home around 10.45 - wow, can't you get so much more done when you get up in the morning!

So the rest of the day up to now has been doing some more cooking to refill that beautifully spring-cleaned empty freezer - shepherds pie base, chilli and lamb and garlic casserole simmering away as we speak.

The fabric photo shows my purchases - what looks like a fairly boring assortment of sand shades for my ongoing group ostrich, which is precisely what I'm going to do a bit more on now. I never did get that baby quilt sandwiched yesterday but it is draped over my sewing machine quietly reproving me for not sorting it out so that's still on my immediate to do list too :o)

It's Carnival Time here in Somerset

October and November are Carnival Time in Somerset

For all you bloggers outside the UK the English have what might seem a very odd tradition - 'Bonfire Night' aka 'Guy Fawkes Night' where we celebrate the thwarting of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in the 17th Century by one Guy Fawkes Esquire by lighting bonfires burning a 'guy' (effigy of a man made from straw and old clothes) on the top and setting off copious quantities of fireworks

In Somerset these celebrations also include a number of town carnivals all around the county where on various weekends the townsfolk line the streets after darkness has fallen to watch a procession of illuminated 'floats' interspersed with individuals and local groups in costumes.

All throughout the year various carnival clubs work in secret to build these illuminated floats in great secrecy hidden in out buildings away from the general public and the prying eyes of their competitors ready for their unveiling at the first carnival

The floats have countless electric light bulbs often mounted on moving parts with lots of loud music and people dancing away on them and take the form of a long trailer with a huge structure on top linked with a second vehicle usually housing a generator to power all those light bulbs and the PA system blaring out the music

It is a real spectacle peculiar to the county and brightens up those early winter evenings - lots of money is collected for local charities around the way with several dump bin type vehicles that the kids love to throw coins into to hit a painted target along with many people shaking collecting tins as they walk by

Last night was Taunton's carnival and having watched it as new residents last year it really brought it home to us that we've now been down here over a year. It took well over an hour for the parade to go past our spot in its entirety and thankfully the weather stayed dry as we've had some terrific rain over the past few days.

This morning Sarah had county training about an hour from here at Wells - home of a beautiful ancient cathedral - mind you standing out in the drizzle watching the girls hone their passing skills meant the cathedral was the farthest thing from our minds

Fortunately the ankle stood up to the session and should be okay for the TID day on Wednesday

This afternoon, as her coach still hasn't produced the youngest supporter of the Fillies Team and will be induced on Wednesday if nothing happens naturally before, I've pulled out his quilt top and am going to sandwich it next thing - that'll test my knees :o( scrambling about on the lounge floor with a box of safety pins and my pinning tool.

Ostrich progress

Wooohooo - not such a technophobe after all - well at least I managed to download some photos onto DH's laptop anyway!

The 'person' photo shows the determination of DD1 to continue using the computer despite being advised to elevate and ice her sprained ankle - would that I could get my leg up that high never mind use the computer :o(

Still it shows her determination - it seems to have paid off and she's almost back to normal again - she will have to take it steady at County training tomorrow and work with it well strapped but it appears she will be ok for the Talent Identification Day on Wednesday.

The other photos show all the work I've been merrily putting in on my group ostrich.

The initial row was 'Stars' which I've shown you before and needs to be completed by 1st November

Then after that I'm giving them 'Circles or any part thereof' - for this I did Jockey's Cap I think they're called.

I'm surrounding each row with 3/4" borders and then separating them with a 3" sand coloured strip with the heart, leaves and berries design you see just in the centre.

The third part will be 'Nine Patch or other squares' - for this I did nine patch with four patch in amongst

Then the fourth part will be 'Bias Strips' - they can choose to use these however they wish and a few of them want to learn Celtic knotwork - I felt that Celtic knotwork wouldn't really fit in with the overall theme of my quilt so plumped for using the bias strips as stems for my flowers

Out of the seven parts this one will be the middle one so I can allow it to be different from the other six which are made up of 7 x 6" blocks set in a line with 3/4" sashings between them

I have decided on themes for the other three months but I shall keep you in suspense until I've completed them

So far the quilt will be - from the top working down - stars, jockey's cap, nine patch, and applique flowers with bias stems

I'm a bit naughty working my way through ahead of everyone but I'm enjoying it so much I can't bear to put it down and of course my excuse is it's nice to have my part completed when I announce what the next part will be.

This of course is why I'm not fully assembling the thing as I go or else they'd get clues about the following part before their time :o)

Well that was the plan anyway

It sounds to me from different people's comments that I've got off very lightly with this labyrinthitis - nothing like as bad as your descriptions - thank goodness. It is still lurking around but I don't have to take quite as high a dose of the balance tablets so am not perpetually trying to doze off at every opportunity now. Not clear of it yet but working on it :o)

Well the plans for the weekend were made in good faith and as is the case with all such things they ended up being adapted on the hoof!

MIL rang Saturday morning while DH and DS were at football to put us off as she had a stinking cold and couldn't face visitors, plus didn't want to pass it on to us either.

Hence we ended up travelling the 80 miles to our old home town for the match on the Sunday morning and returning immediately afterwards. It was very strange to drive past our old house and see the changes the new owners have made. I'm glad to say I didn't feel at all homesick for anything about the town but it was odd to see changes that have occurred like a brand new Tesco on previous wasteland

We had also planned to call on a good friend while in the area but he phoned as we were leaving on Sunday morning and cried off with a similar maladie to Nigel's mum - obviously lots of it going around!

So just the match it was ...................

And what a hellish hard match it was too. We knew that the opposition were no pushover and the final score of 39 - Nil against us was really no surprise but to our girls credit the score really didn't reflect the true picture of the game. Our girls played harder, better and with more conviction than I've ever seen them before and the score, if it were to be a true reflection of both teams performance, should have been much closer.

It was not a game without casualties - Sarah sprained her ankle (fortunately only mildly) plus there was a suspected broken collarbone and a pretty substantial case of concussion on our side. The opposition lost one player with an ankle broken in two places and dislocated which meant an ambulance on the pitch and game abandoned part way through the second half. Jolly rough sport - Rugby - even if they are girls.

The ankle sprain has meant Sarah has spent Monday and Tuesday this week at home with her leg elevated and iced to try and ensure that she's fit for Sunday's County training and more importantly the Talent Identification Day next Wednesday where they select the top 30 girls from around the country at a total of 4 locations to put them forward on a fast-track accelerated training programme to really encourage and develop the cream of the game for future England squads.

As she will probably be the youngest participating there is little chance she would be selected this time but it entails a full day of expert coaching which is a real priviledge to be in receipt of and keeps her name in the frame and profile high for the future.

She has had more than a little confrontation with Dad tonight as she wanted to go down to club training as usual but just stand around in the cold and damp watching the others - he felt, understandably, that this wouldn't help her ankle at all and refused to take her down except for the last half hour so of course he's now the owner of the dubious honour of being 'THE worst parent in the world!' ........... well it makes a change from me I suppose although she doesn't usually throw that one at me very often :o) Don't you just love teenagers - why does nobody tell you about all this at ante-natal classes? But I suppose if they did we'd never believe them :o)

I've spent today on a training course - 'Introduction for Clerk to Governors' which is the other half of my role in my job. Pretty heavy stuff but thankfully delivered in a light-hearted and interesting format although I did come back pretty brain-boiled. So nothing new there then!

I could have really done without being out of the office as I only have tomorrow and then am off for two weeks and a day for half term with three inset (teacher training days) wrapped round it - Hurray!!!

The two younger ones have a tag rugby tournament after school tomorrow teatime - both representing their school with Nick as team captain - they're both fast and nippy runners who are good at swerving to avoid their tags being removed - makes for entertaining watching and I get just as excited watching them as I do watching their big sister participating in the rough stuff

Who knows maybe they'll follow her into full contact rugby eventually - we'll see.

Later on tomorrow evening we have a presentation do at Sarah's school where she will be presented with no less than five awards - house prize, science, PE, french and food technology. As far as we can gather no other pupil has been awarded that many so we're very proud of her even if we are the worst parents in the world - strikes me we can't be doing too bad a job if this is the end result!

The picture is an old wallhanging I made for our bedroom when I was playing once with a buggy barn pattern for hearts. The colours match my Flightless Beauty but it's never got as far as the wall yet - maybe I'll put it up when we decorate the room eventually

I've been merrily stitching away on my group ostrich - you may recall I said the next round would be circles or any part of. I've done a row of jockey's cap blocks in similar materials and I've got so carried away I've done the following month (3) of 'Nine Patch or Squares' and am working on month 4 which is 'Bias Tubing in a format of your choice' - I'm using it as stems for a long row of hand appliqued flowers. I'm really enjoying working in the muddy colours which would never be part of my usual palette. It's good to stray outside your comfort zone every now and then. I've no idea what I'll do with the finished quilt eventually but I'm loving working on it.

Once I've sussed the blessed camera and downloading it on this machine I'll post some progress photos for you

Sarah's coach still hasn't had her baby (now three days late) so I plan to sandwich and finish her baby quilt on Saturday - I have got as far as getting the wadding out of the loft so we're making progress albeit slow!

Roll on tomorrow tea time and no school for over two weeks - YES!

A funny old week

It's been a funny old week this week

Firstly I've been not too good as I'm suffering with Labyrinthitis - a previously unheard of (by me) complaint affecting the inner ear which keeps making the room spin when I least want it to.

The doc has given me balance tablets but they make me, if not drowsy, pretty tired all the time

Things have been incredibly busy at work and as I've had the Area Finance Officer in twice and the Governor Support Adviser in once I really couldn't afford to be off this week as the doctor really wanted me to be. So I've battled through and Nigel has been a real brick coming home from work as early as he could get away with to do the taxi runs and enable me to go to bed early just to be able to cope with it all.

Still we've got to the end of the week relatively unscathed and the balance thing is improving albeit slowly

The two younger ones are both cub scouts and the other week they were all given a quiz about the town to answer for a 'local area knowledge' badge.

So two Sundays ago we spent the afternoon as a family wandering round our adopted home town looking for clues and generally answering all the questions to the best of our ability. One of the answers was given to us by friends who are locals as it's the colloquial name for a particular bridge which we would never have found written down anywhere. However the rest were all our own work

The photos above are pictures of various views of the town which I gleaned from the net as I haven't managed to get long enough near the laptop to work out how to download from the camera

The funniest thing about all this was that the kids found out on Tuesday that they were two of the only three cubs who got all the answers right - Akela (the cubscout leader) thought this was hilarious as they're the only ones who don't come from the town. The other boy to get full marks was the boy we kept bumping into on that Sunday afternoon as we looked round and searched for the solutions

Tomorrow after Nick has played football we head off up to Worcester to the Out-Laws (Nigel's parents) for an overnight stay as Sarah has a match against her old club in Gloucester on Sunday afternoon and Worcester is a good deal nearer to make the journey from on Sunday morning. Plus we get to see Nigel's family and probably catch up with some friends in Gloucester too - lots of birds with one stone there - Result!!!

Gosh it's been ages

I hate posting without pictures - it's always nice to see what everyone is doing but today I have no choice

Our home computer has died a death (well almost) it's about at Intensive Care level anyway and has gone away to be fixed - who knows when it will be back - your guess is as good as mine

Hence I'm using DH's laptop and obviously have no access to all our photo files so can't post anything picture wise until I can take some new ones and work out how to download them onto this machine

With only being able to use this laptop while he's at home, the times I'd usually post are not available to me either so I may well be posting less frequently over the next week or more

I've done stitching this week, but in dribs and drabs, rather than having the chance to get a good run at it.

Work is challenging to say the least - lots and lots of learning to do so by the time I get home, run the taxi service, feed the family not to mention trying to tackle a bit of basic housework etc I'm so brain-boiled and shattered that I can only concentrate on easy stuff

Most of the bits and bobs I've done have been handstitching on my ostrich - paper pieced flowers, leaves and butterflies all hand appliqued

Sarah has had her first club rugby match of the season this afternoon - she and quite a few of her team mates had moved up an age group and were playing with the big girls and this was the first outing for the new line up

They really did themselves proud and it was hard to tell who were the newly moved up members. The match was excellent with Sarah getting 7 points on the scoresheet with one try from a 62 yard run and a conversion. Our girls went on to win 32-27 against Clevedon which had three of Sarah's regional mates on their side. A super match and a terrific first win of the season for a strong looking new squad - long may it continue :o)

Sarah's rugby coach is due to have her baby next Saturday so she was waddling around with a very low looking bump and the rest of us looking on anxiously just in case we had to call for hot water and towels rather than the usual medi-kit staples of dry ice spray and the magic sponge!

So I must now get that black, burgundy and white cot quilt sandwiched and quilted because that new Taunton supporting baby could arrive at any time

It's good to be back posting - now I'll have to get the junior members of the family to instruct their technophobic mum how to download photos onto Dad's laptop - Don't hold your breath!!!