Out and About

I've been trying to upload these photos for the past three days but Blogger wasn't having any of it. At last though I've managed. Over the past few weeks we have been so busy taking care of family matters that we haven't had much time to do much more than eat and sleep. This weekend though we've been out and about. On Sunday we went to Winderwath Hall and Acorn Bank with the U3A Garden Club. It was hot and the gardens were at their best. First call was at Winderwath Hall near Penrith. It's a private house with wonderful gardens owned by Jane Pollock. The garden is well know for rare alpine plants as well as trees and plants from South Africa.

The colours were really bright and cheerful in this part of the garden, red, white and blue, very patriotic.

Can't remember the name of this plant, there were three of them and this was the smallest. They take 13 years to flower then die!!!!

We picked up a couple of these Monk's Head plants several years back not knowing what they were. We were staying with some friends in a caravan park and their caravan was being moved from the old walled garden. The owners were putting in sewers or something when we say these bulbs just lying on the path. We asked what they were and the owner didn't know but said we could have them if we wanted them. We took them home and planted them in a border, they grew to over 6 feet!!! Gradually over the years they are increased in number and decreased in size, they were one of the victims of Keith's new shed but we did manage to save a couple of bulbs. Now I know what they are I'll probably take more care of them and they'll die off.!!

Our next stop was Acorn Bank, again near Penrith. This estabilishment is known for its herb gardens. The house itself has a chequered history and is in very poor repair, unfurnished and normally not open to the public. It started off as a religious house for the Knights Templars in 1228 then passed on their suppression in 1323 to the Knights of the Hospital of St John, an order of nursing monks. They held it until the dissolution of the monastries and then in 1543 it became the property of the Dalston family. The Dalstons refashioned it and put a new frontage on in the 1740's and most of the latter buildings are now either lost or incorporated into the building.

Such as the original staircase to the tower rooms. This became the servants staircase.

Acorn Bank with its 18th centurary frontage, the to floor windows on the right are painted on, this being the original stable block.

The day before, Saturday we went to the Woolfest in Cockermouth where I had a wonderful time drooling over all the colourful wool tops. I came away with a big basketful so I have no excuse now for not getting some felting done. On the way we stopped in the layby just outside of Eggleston for a view over Teesdale. We did not take buster with us as he really is not a good dog with sheep but he too drools over the wool tops and I had a great deal of difficulty keeping his head out of my bag when we returned home.

As you can see Buster has taken over the garden completely and is becoming spoiled. This is Julie who is only there to rub his tummy.

Buster at Gibson's cave in Teesdale, he wasn't too sure of the waterfall but loves to play in the water. He's determining whether or not to go in, he decided not to. We took him for a walk yesterday round one of the local nature reserves where there is a large duck pond. The ducks were quite unconcerned, they'd dealt with dogs before but he loved running in and out of the pond. On the way back to the car he decided to do what dogs do against clumps of weed and fell into a deep pool headfirst. His expressions was wonderful and we couldn't stop laughing, well until he shook himself all over us.

Getting back to normal

First let me thank all my kind cyber friends who have sent their condolences on the loss of Jan, they have been a great help during this sad time. Thank you everyone. The funeral is on Monday and we'll meet up with the rest of the family then. Why is it you only meet at weddings, funerals and christenings, we always say "we'll have to get together sometime" then go off and do our own thing. I'm sure we will all feel better once Monday has passed.



I have done some sewing, not much I'll agree but the hand sewing of my cards for the June 'patchwork' swap was very calming. I chose a variation of Cathedral Window for my card and I think I'm going to make a smaller version in Christmas fabrics to hang on the tree. Anyone done this?

This is Jennifer's June patchwork card, I love these colours.

Cindy is a quilter and her card shows her skill at getting points to meet.

Brigitte too is a skilled quilter and her windmill patchwork block is as usual beautifully made. She said her machine has been ill so Brigitte I do hope it is better by now.

I joined the Flower Page swap on MixedMedia_ATC group and the two pages below are my June pages which by now should be with their respective new owners. I hope they like them.

The background is painted lutradur on which I sewed paper lace then used the backing of the lace as a stencil. The central 'flower' is several layers of sheers which I then burned back using a flower stencil. Small lace flowers were the last pieces to go on.

The next two flower pages are the onces I received in the swap.

This one from Paula Watkins. I think she has bonded dried flowers and silk rovings between a cotton bottom sheet and a top sheer.

The second page is from Pat Heeth and Pat has made folded patchwork flowers with buttons for the centres. Leaves and a lace border complete the card.

These are two very different pages, I really enjoy how different we all think when given the same theme to play with.

I received my jigsaw puzzle pieces from the swap Pat Winters had organised a few weeks back. I think I must have done the wrong technique as these are all crazy patchwork pieces and mine were made from fabric paper. These pieces are all similar yet different. My follow conspirators in this swap where Ira Rosenstein (blue top left), Janine Franc (green top right), Arlene White (yellow bottom left) and Jennifer Wilson-Parks (blue bottom right).

I received this really great Mailer Journal from Tracy Borders. Tracy has been really creative with the cover and I haven't photographed the inside but the pages are all blue speckles. Thank you Tracy.

Buster is making himself at home and knows he's top dog. He need to put on some weight and I'm sure with the amount he eats he will soon. He's begging to go for a walk, so is Keith so I'll close now and hopefully it won't be so long to my next blog.

Sad news

Sadly my mother in law Jan lost her fight with Alzheimer's last night and died peacefully in her sleep. She died on her birthday, she was 84 yesterday. We fully intended to be with her at the end but after several hours sitting with no decline in her status we took a chance and popped home to pick up my insulin. Naturally as soon as we got home the phone went to tell us Jan had gone she'd waiting for us to go.

We always said she'd wait for her birthday she loved a celebration. We are looking to celebrate Jan's life with lots of happy memories.



Keith and his Mum Janet.

Not all doom and gloom

I thought I'd show some of our Italian/French Riveria holiday as a reaction to all the doom and gloom we've been going through since arriving home. Portofino where Rod Stewart has a holiday home, we did wave to him but he didn't wave back. It is a beautiful little island but we'd need to win the European Lottery to even think of living here. But I can see why people love it.

Think I might go in for this model next time I buy a new machine it seemed to keep its price!!!! Not sure what make it was but it weighed a ton.

One of the things I love about Italy is the amount of vegetation on the roofs. This one has alliums would you believe, I find them difficult enough to grow in the garden let alone a roof.

Wherever you go along the mediterranean coastline you will see row of sunbeds and beach umbrellas. These were in Diano Marina where we were staying. In many tourist towns you will find the best spots on the beach are owned by hotels and they put the beds and umbrellas out for their customers. You can rent one but again its expensive.

I'm off now to pick up our newly adopted dog Buster, Sy has just arrived home and he is getting impatient so I'll blog later.

Back at last

It's been an age since I last blogged or at least it seems like it. A lot of things have been going on over the last few weeks, not all good. I caught the dreaded lurgy and it caused me a few breathing problems but they went with the Italian sun. Our holiday was lovely, we saw lots of beautiful places and I'll post photos in my next blog.

In the meantime back at the ranch the postman had been really busy and on return from Italy three beautiful journals awaited me. This touchy feely velvet and silk one from Margaret Roberts, love these colours.

Iris Bell's fantastic paper and fabric flower journal. I should say the insides of each of these journals is a work of art too.

Aynsley McKay's journal was completely different being made from melted plastic and very well done. Aynsley has created a unique journal and again her inside pages are all decorated too.

These two postcards are from the private swap with the May theme of 'anatomy'. Top one is from Jennifer and the bottom one from Cindy. I also got today one from Christine and mine are ready for the post but I will show those in the next post as I haven't scanned them yet.

And finally I received this beautiful little atc from Anni. Anni has made paper fabric for the background and layered images, lace and stamped. A really well made little atc which I love.

Now for some more bad news and then some good news.

Bad news is my mil is very ill and we aren't certain she is going to recovery. She was fine on Wednesday, singing and laughing but Thursday morning broke to find her far from well. So far they haven't been able find out what the problem is and its felt that perhaps she is nearing her time and we've been told to let the family know she may not get better.

Good news is - we've adopted a Staffy from the Dogs Trust. Buster is 4.5 years old, lively and very friendly. We've been considering getting a dog for a while now we are both retired and my son Simon and his girlfriend Julie both wanted a dog. We hope to get Buster on Wednesday and we can't wait.

I've been out of action this week, think the stress of the last few weeks has caught up with me and I came down with a nasty chest infection. Being asthmatic its hit me quite hard and it still hasn't cleared. Which is a bit of a begger as at 03:50 tomorrow morning we leave for Italy. Keith is quite excited, I'm trying very hard to be excited but failing miserably, far too tired. This "Anthing but cotton" card is from Arlene Franks and is silk and paper, stamped, painted and embroidered.

I have managed to do a little bit of sewing over the past couple of weeks. This small handbag is a Monkey Button's pattern its just about the right size to take all my odds and sods. It will go in my main bag and keep all the first aid bits and general medication one tends to take away with them.

As you can see I sewed one strip upside down and didn't notice until I'd put the zip in. I am not going to take it out now.

Finally got my mailer journals out in the post. They are made from fabric paper, stamped, gilded with cords etc. They looked a little like leather when finished.

Got to go now and finish packing, I hate packing luckily for me Keith doesn't. Anything I've forgotten now I'll have to do without. Well there's one thing I have to sort out and that some hand sewing. For the next day and a half I'll be travelling overland sewing, watching the scenery pass by (we have front seats on the coach) and listening to Conn Iggulden's Genghis series on my ipod. Don't you just feel for me!!!

A walk on the wild side

On Sunday we decided to go out for the day and blow away some cobwebs. We loaded up the car with walking boots, sandwiches and flasks and set off for Upper Teesdale to Cow Green Reservoire which is above Caldron Snout and High Force waterfalls. It was a bright day if a bit cold and breezy but we really needed to get out for the day. It's a bit wild up there, bleak in the Winter but full of wild life and rare plants.

The locals watched our every move with suspicion.

This is what we really went up to see - the rare blue Teesdale gentians.

There were other gentians out too, together with Spring viola's, some alpine plants and the mosses and grasses were really colourful. I was going to upload photos of these but Blogger is being so slow I ran out of patience.

Now here are the photo's I was trying to upload last night. My wonderful TextileChallenge house swap from Mariel. She has gone to a lot of trouble the stonework alone must have taken her ages to sew.

Closed but the dragon still strides along the cressellations and the King and Queen look out of the windows.

The back also has lots of stonework and the workings for my little drawbridge.

And here is its my "at the castle door" house with the drawbridge down and the knight ready to fight or welcome you. I just love it and my grandson enjoyed raising and lower the drawbridge.

Rose doll from Kari in South Wales has come to live with us, not sure she approves of us but welcome cariad (hope I've spelt that correctly).

We had a short visit to Newcastle Metro Centre today, not many in the centre wonder whether its the affects of the credit crunch or whether we just went on a slow day. There was a team from the Wii people trying to coax us onto the wii fit boards, managed to avoid that one. A fashion display was also being staged, that was a little more successful than the wii fit demo.

We couldn't really find anything we wanted to buy, well anything clothes wise for the holidays, so had lunch and returned home. The traffic was nose to tail until we got past the Angel of the North. I'm probably in the minority but I love the Angel and think the more rusty he gets the better his body shows up.

Mum's now home and is settling in, she's already phoned me three times I think she's missed having a phone and is making up for lost time. I must say I too missed phoning her and would often go to the phone thinking "Oh I'll just tell Mum that" and of course she wasn't there. Thank goodness though it wasn't permanent, she may be an old battleaxe but she's my old battleaxe and I did miss her.

Not a lot of work done

Well I tried to upload photos but blogger is just hanging so they will have to wait for another day. I've got absolutely nothing to show sewing wise as I don't know what's happened to the time. Good news though on both Mum and friend front, Mum is going home tomorrow she has made such dramatic improvement they are letting her go back to her flat earlier than anticipated.

My friend Wendy has shown signs that she understands what is going on and can give brief nods and shakes of her head. She still can't talk or move her left side and has to be fed by tube but talking to her over the last couple of days I've had a sense of her normal sense of humour.

I've had a couple of beautiful items through the post but as I can't get google to show their photos I'll leave them until later.

Off to Newcastle Metro Centre tomorrow to look for holiday clothes, now that both Mum and Wendy are stable I can relax a bit and look forward to Italy.

Good news Bad news

The good news is that Mum is doing well and ruling the roost at the care home. She's in her element surrounded by other rehabilitating patients who haven't heard her fund of stories. She's not in the least bothered if we can't get to see her every day, just so long as we keep her well stocked with clean undies. And, of course she knows she's not there for good - when I think of all the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that went into getting her there.

The bad news is that my friend Wendy is still gravely ill. She is very little respones from her - even when the physiotherapist comes to exercise her shoulder. We've been told its only a matter of time but at the moment she is stable, no better, no worse. In the meantime I'm sorting out her post, bills and anything else that needs doing for the time being. Bin day Friday so Keith and I will go round and empty her fridge etc and make sure there's nothing left that can create bad odores while she's in hospital. These couple of swaps though have taken my mind of things. The first is the 'Spring/Monoprinting' atc swap on Surface Design group. The background fabric, velvet and cotton where first monoprinted (twice) then machine embroidered and finally embellished with brads and fabric flower petals.

The second are for the jigsaw puzzle piece swap set up by Pat Winters on her Pieces of Friendship blog. These were more difficult to do than first anticipated or rather I should say more fiddly. The bases are fabric paper I made last Summer. They were then decorated using stamps and metallic inks, machine and hand embroidery. Flowers were stamped out of a tomato paste tube and the centres beaded. The first ones I beaded I sewed through the metal flowers but it was so easy to cut the threads I decided to couch the flowers down between the petals and this worked well. I enjoyed making them but wouldn't want to make lots of them I am though looking forward to seeing what everyone else has done. The pieces are darker and more vibrant than the photos shows.

The postman over the past few days has been very kind to me and I've been a bit remiss in saying thank you to all those who have sent me goodies.

First, from my friend Sylvia who sent me this piece of 'Shrink' fabric. Apparently you sew it onto the back of another piece of fabric then heat set it and it shrinks to create a textured surface. It reminds me a bit of a nylon shower curtains but not quite as heavy. I wonder if its the same fabric but finer. Has anyone else used this yet and if so what have you created with it?

The next two cards are the final two in April's private swap with the theme of Geometric. Cindy created a ballon from hexagon, circles, square and more circles in the chain stitch. Chris has used the Tangram a very old game. I remember playing with one as a child and I think they use something similar spatial tests. They are certainly one of the 'Brain Train games for the Nintendo DS.

Susan Monk sent me my first Mailer Journal and its beautiful (free tutorial on Iris's blog if anyone is interested). It's currently a swap on the Surface Design group. Susan has used a technique in Beryl Taylor's book to make the journal cover and finished it off with beaded binding and a really interesting pin on the front. She has made the pin detachable so I can reuse it if I so desire. I've made a start on mine and hope to get them finished before I go on holiday on the 23rd.

Susan also sent these goodies, a lovely card with a handmade embroidered foam stamp, decorated paper tag and everything came in the handmade envelope. Very creative Susan I am delighed with everything.

This beautiful card is from Jan Zeibol, again a Surface Design swap "Anything but Cotton". Jan has used wool and silk fibres, threads and handmade paper. She has also put a really lovely response on the back of her card "Thank you for the times of gifts and creative surprises".

Today Keith decided we needed to decorate the front lobby, which is where a lot of my 'stuff' is stored. Great timing as I had the U3A craft class this afternoon. I hate it when he decided to do things on the spur of the moment as we are now living with my 'stuff' spread all over the rest of the house. Luckily Sy has gone house sitting for the next couple of weeks so we can use his room as an overflow. This is the problem with small houses - you need to be fairly tidy, oh how I wish I were.

As for the Craft class well Keith decided to stay at home and paint as he didn't think any men would show up. They'd finished caning the chair bottom. Naturally two men turned up with a chair they wanted to upholster but neither had the foggiest idea where to start. Keith and I have upholstered furniture before (okay Keith has) so I had to get on the mobile and call him out. By the time he'd arrived all the ladies had advised the men on how to take the old fabric on, how to create a new pattern and impressed on the owner of the chair (another 3 in the pipeline) that on no account must he go shopping for fabric on his own. He has to take a lady along with him. I think the men were quite relieved when Keith arrived but Judy has been volunteered to go with Ron to buy the fabric, watch this space.

Wel the best laid plans etc. Just after dinner last night I got a call from the Intensive Care Unit at our local hospital. My friend Wendy had failed to recover fully from an operation to pin a broken shoulder and she had given them my number as an emergency contact. It appears that Wendy had had a stroke in the recovery room and they had had to put her on a ventilator. I had a very restless night worrying about her, she has no family alive so her friends are the next best thing. The hospital promised to ring me, regardless of time should they be any change for the worse. Luckily there wasn't. I've spent most of today sitting by her bedside holding her hand and talking to her. She has no movement at all on the left and limited movement on the right. She cannot speak but its still early days. They took the tubes out this morning and she is now breathing on her own.

I guess my sewing days will be limited for the foreseeable future, guess the challenge quilt will be one challenge I'm unlikely to finish. Just goes to show you never know what's round the corner.

April Journal Page Finished

It's taken me ages but at last it's in the bag, so to speak. The background is space dyed velvet in burgundy,pink,green cut and reassembled between two different green silks several times to create a 'brick' affect. Stems were made from machine made cords and the flowers from layers of pink, purple and gold organza. The flowers were attached with beading. I've called it "Climbing the Wall" because that's how I felt when making the background. This is for the Contemporary Quilters 2009 Journal Page challenge. All I have to do now is upload the photos to their site.

I've just had a nasty fright though. Earlier this year I signed up to make a ChallengeQuilt based on the last book I had read. The aforesaid quilt to be 20" square. The deadline date I thought was end of May, nope its Friday!!!!! and I haven't started so I'm off now to begin, wish me luck.

Machine back at last

Don't know where the last week has gone, well I do its been a round of hospital visits and a trip to Leeds to pick up my newly serviced Bernina. At last I'm able to do some sewing. I did spend some time doing hand sewing but I was really surprised to see just how much I'd missed my machine. Mum's op went well and today she is ensconced in a nursing home for rehabilitation, so far so good...... This is Ruby the Second (well third actually as number one went to the bushfire babies). I made Ruby for a swap but my friends puppy had other ideas and he adopted her. We found him licking her enthusiastically and she was not in good shape for sending onto to my swap partner. So this is her twin all ready for the off and I have it on good authority that her 'sister' is well loved and is acting as a pillow in the puppy basket.

I've received a couple of swaps in the post this week too. The three little atc are from Anne, Pat and Susan of Mixedmedia_atc_uk fame. The card below is from Tracy Border in response to the swap on Surface Design "Anything but cotton".

These are my cards for the same "Anything but cotton" swap. They are layered sheers, polyester brocade burned back and appliqued onto a velvet background with metallic thread.

The private swap this month is on the theme of geometric shapes. I had fun creating the background with Markal sticks and then overdyeing with the markal acting as a resist. The shapes are layered sheers, which I made at our "Serendipity" meeting last week. I've had fun burning patterns into sheers and have one more design I've burned out but I have yet to do something with it.