My Great Niece!

Not much happening today! Hubby & Tori are having a Lord of the Rings festival, watching them all back to back!!!!

But thought you might like to see a photo of my Great Niece born the 1st December 2006.

£339 gone, just like that!!!!

A bit late posting today!!!!
Both Tori and I had eye appointments today! Need I say more. I need another pair of glasses, they can't change the lens in the ones I've got because I need these for working on the computer, the new pair are for all the close (craft) work I now do!! I wouldn't mind but I don't ever use them in the summer!!!!! I always make sure I have very good light to work in as well, I suppose thats old age, at least I know how it gets into the body, eyes first!!!
Tori has had a bit of a scare though, she to needs new lens's,also, but he found a 'bobble' at the back of the retina and has refered her to a specialist!!! Not really the year for eye problems what with GCSE's coming up!!! But I will keep you posted.

Yesterday was my pre-admission appointment for my operation a week today. Well my blood pressure was off the scale (understandably) Oh!(for those that don't know I had the same operation on October 13th, discharged 14th, emergency re-admission for a 'significant bleed' on the 16th and operated on again then kept in for 4 days!)but it didn't solve the problem so I have to do it all over again and have been told the pain will be even worse this time!!!!!!!!! They couldn't find any veins to get blood out of, so I'm like a pin cushion!!! and apparently I am just a day case this time!!! All this has been done privately (hubby has private medical insurance)so I am not feeling very confident!!

I am saving my knitting for when I'm not well, but I really need to find something to do in the meantime!!




I bought this little fairy about 16 years ago, she used to smell wonderful, her body is one of those wooden balls that smell lovely, for the life of me I can't think of there name! The red material is wrapped round and glued at the top, then the gold ribbon is put round and glued, some gathered lace as the ruffle. The head is a smaller ball with eyes, mouth and nose drawn on, the gold ribbon is used for the hair. The head is then attached to the body, a large sequin is used for her halo and 2 gold leaves for her wings and a ribbon is glued to the halo so she can hang from the tree.
When I first got her I used to keep her wrapped up in a plastic bag, slowly the scent wore off. Wouldn't it be nice to make a couple of new ones!!!!

Is anyone else having problems with blogger??? I can post photos in the main post but nothing in the side bar! Any clues as to what I'm doing wrong!!

Libbys Crafting World!!!

Lottie and my sister's comment on the last post made me laugh!!! Why? well believe it or not Mark and I had discussed about getting planning permission for the shed to be converted into a brick built building!!! Somewhere to put my mother when she came to stay LOL!!!!!! To store veg! But I must admit I hadn't thought about making it a craft room, that is such a cool idea!!
Space is a premium in our 150 year old cottage! I suppose they didn't have alot of possessions in those days.
We created a cupboard under the stairs, because apart from the airing cupboard and the cupboard in Toris room this was the only place to store stuff but look......



full to the brim!! This is where the onions got moved to. You will find cat litter , bird food, tool boxes, craft boxes, scales, candle making equipment, sewing machine and sissors and all the other bits that go with it, wrapping paper, gift cards, telephone books, jamjars, theres also a 25kg sack of cat food and also a 15kg sack of sunflower hearts in there, the hoover fits in as well. When I get round to it I will have a sort through and make space for more 'STUFF'!

2nd Post Today!!!

Do you remember the days when the postman delivered twice???? Such a long time ago! My postie never gets to me till gone 14.00hrs, so maybe I don't have a first post!!!!
Anyway this is nothing to do with what I'm about to write

Tori and I have been out playing!!! I took her to the hairdressers, so she could see where she was going when she goes back to school next week! While she was there I went round the shops!! Look what I got!!



2 trays of dates for 50p,1 hand of ginger 79p both from a specialist veg shop! Some Lavender Joss Sticks £1. 2 x 100g balls of cotton £2!
Well we all know what I am going to do with the ginger! The dates Mark has to eat (I don't eat them!!!) The joss sticks have already been tested and are my favourite! Now the cotton, I couldn't leave it on the shelf, could I, well not at that price!! So what shall I do with it, I suppose I could make some dish cloths, they would be bio-degradable, wouldn't they? Let me know if you have any other ideas!
I tried to get 100% wool so I could have a go at felting, they had some but I didn't like the colours, (fussy)so will have a look elsewhere!!

Then we went out on a photo trip, to one of the most picturesque villages in Wiltshire! But I can't tell you cos that would spoil the surprise on the Daily photo! But there are a couple to that are seasonal and would look odd in February!!!

This was in a court yard,isn't it lovely!



I saw something similar to this on another blog, but they had wreaths on the windows of a log cabin. This is definately different for round here, very in keeping I think!!



That last photo may have given it away, but look who I got in this one..



He! He!

We went on and did an 'Orange Wednesday'! If you are on the Orange Mobile network you phone the number 241 from your mobile phone, you then recieve a text back which has a number on it. Then you go to a particpating cinema where you can go and watch a film at '2 for the price of 1'. This is only available on a Wednesday though! Tori wanted to see 'Eragon' a story about dragons and dragon riders!! Very enjoyable!

To Gamble or Not!!!

I have quite a busy day out today with Tori! So I thought I would pop some info on here to help the pip growers amongst you!!!

These are 2 of the more difficult 'pips' to grow so are quite a Gamble!!!

Ginger

This plant is a perennial, dying down in winter, when it needs a temperature of 55F (13C)and shooting up in spring. In theory it is possible to propagate the ginger plant from the dried roots bought for flavouring. The dried ginger 'root' called 'hands' because of the way rhizomes are grouped, are imported in two forms, coated and uncoated. The latter have been peeled and processed and are usually sold pre-packed, there is no hope of growing these. The uncoated roots are more likely to be sold by the non-supermarket grocer.
Plant the pieces of root close together in soiless compost kept moist and as warm as possible. If nothing has happened after a couple of months, nothing will. If a piece of rhizome does shoot it should be potted up separately and grown on in a warm room. The plant resents direct sunlight and if the temperature is reasonable will succeed in a north window. It needs plenty of water in spring and summer, but after October, when the leaves die off, the roots should be kept dry. If you 'Google' root ginger and image there are a couple of sprouted rhizomes to inspire you!

Date Palm


Some of my stones in soak!!!

The date stone is very, very hard and sometimes infertile and needs alot of warmth to start it on its way. The only way to cope with infertility problem is to plant as many stones as you collect.........
Collect all the stones from your box of dates and soak for 48 hrs in tepid water. Put a thick layer of soiless compost in the bottom of a poly bag, spread the date stones over and cover with another layer pf compost. Tie bag tightly and place in airing cupboard or some other really warm spot. As you get more stones treat them in the same way, adding them to the same bag. You can repeat this for as long as you eat dates!!! The contes of the bag need an occasional sprinkling of water and an inspection for signs of germination. As long as they are kept warm and moist it doesn't matter if they get mixed up!
A stone that shows signs of germination-usually the appearance of a root- is potted up by itself in soil-less compost in a smallish pot, about an inch below the surface and care nust be taken not to break the root.Keep the compost moist and once a root has popped through the pot must be put in a light place. A heated propergator is ideal, but a window sill in a warm room especially near a radiator is better.

Let me know how your going please!!

Sewing

Using some of the lovely material I got from Mrs N..... I sewed some rectangles







I then filled them with wheat another friend had given me.....





I then sewed up the ends and there you have...



2 wheat bags!! Warm them up in the micro wave and they are better than a hot water bottle!!

I also made a much needed draft excluder for my front door



this is the original front door and has loads of cracks and gaps in it, I refuse to get rid of it! We do have a porch but the letter box lets in drafts, so hopefully this will go someway to helping cure the problem!!!!

I still haven't managed to up load my photo onto the side bar, I will keep trying though!

All back to normal, just!!

For some unknown reason my daily photo in the side bar won't load, but it is on the photo blog, just click the link!!

Well the season of goodwill to all men is over!!!! (Don't expect me to be nice anymore!!!!) Hubby has gone back to work after 3 weeks off!! It's going to be odd not having him under my feet???
Kathryn should be returning to Uni today from Derby, to be honest I haven't the foggiest whats going on, as my mobile died on the 27th December!! It doesn't owe me a penny, I bought it from Ebay, secondhand for £45, 3+ years ago! But boy have I missed it, especially whilst Kathryn's been away! So off to Chippenham today to see if I can bag a bargain!!

Now I need to get my crafting,knitting or sewing head on............. mmmmmm I've just had a thought, do you remember that pack of goodies I won from Mrs N, well I think I might drag them out and do something! Pop back later and see what I get up to!

2007!

Happy New Year to you all!!

Have you made your New Years Resolutions yet???? Well one I know I will keep is my Blog! What an amazing community there is to be found out there in blog land. It gives you the opportunity to pop in and visit anyone, see what there up to, what there doing and can inspire you to take on new challenges!!

I have tried candle making, soap making, beading in cross stitch, knitting with wire and beads and I don't intend to stop there!

Now the BIG challenge is this photo a day!!! Having looked round a lot of blogs who do this, they seem to go out and take pics of there local community, buildings and such like. Well the problem I have, is there are only so many 'cow' pictures people can look at!!!!! Being as rural as I am, and enjoying it, this is going to be one massive challenge! So be prepared for the odd, the obscure and alot of my garden!!!!!! I hope it will bring out the creative in me, Oh I know I can sew, cook garden, etc, that has always come relatively easily, I realise I need to think outside the box. Leonie at Country Garden posted a picture of 'barbed wire' on the Potting Shed forum. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful picture but for goodness sake, what was it, that even made her think of taking it!!! So now you see the challenge I have!!!

Pips at the ready? no I haven't done mine yet, either!!! But I will!!!

Plenty Going On!!

Happy New Year To You All!!!

Plenty going on, you can join in the Daily Photo or the Pip Challenge, please read below and let me know so I can put a link to your blog!!

I will not be back until Next Year!!! So until then Cheers!!!!!