February Brings the Rain

Now got a full set of photos from the February Brings the Rain swap, I've been waiting for the final one but then found it had arrived earlier and I had buried it under a pile of fabrics!!

 From Helen and Alice

 From Jacquie, whose card I had buried - sorry Jacquie.

 From Miriam

And finally from Pauline, this card looks great in real life and is very tactile.

We had good news yesterday from Keith's oncologist.  He was so pleased with the way Keith looked that he has upgraded his prognosis from the lower end of months scale to the higher end.  He was pleased with Keith's positive attitude which he believes is helping him overcome some of his difficulties.   He has now acquired a shower seat and two perching stools.  One of the stools his OT has today adjusted so he can reach his lathe which has raised his spirits.  He has really missed playing in his shed.

I've got the top of Julie's throw finished, just got the border to put on then I'll take some photos.  She's already tried it on her sofa and is pleased with how it looks.  So a happy time all round.

At last photos of Julie's throw

At last got to the bottom why my photos wouldn't load - I wasn't using Google Chrome, swapped browsers and low and behold there were my photos.  We are making headway with Julie's throw (I call it Julie's as Sy doesn't really care what colour it is or what pattern).  

These are the colours she chose, there also one or two fat quarters included in the same shade range.

The pattern she chose was, I think, called Hidden Stars and comprise of two basic blocks.  One a four patch and one a rectangle with a flying geese block attached.  I think the stars are hidden in the corners when they are all put together.  We will have to wait and see whether our stars come out to play.

Julie was keen to get involved in making the throw so to make things easy for her we used the Accuquilt to cut out the block parts.  I think Julie enjoyed cutting the out as we now have enough pieces to make a King sized quilt and one for Buster!!

Keith hasn't been too well of late, mainly down to the shock of him having had two falls.  Thankfully though he has been improving over the last couple of days.   His leg muscles are still quite weak due to steroids and his ongoing spinal problems. The outcome is that he will now be walking with a stick and has been referred for a wheelchair. He wasn't keen on the idea of either stick or wheelchair but after the pain of the last couple of weeks is more amenable to the prospect. It will mean that he can come for walkies with Buster and me and drive one of those buggies round the supermarket - oh the joys of having a blue badge.

Anyone else having problems

I've tried three days on the run now and have not been able to update any photos...... I can select them in blogger and they appear for selection but as soon as I say upload blogger hangs.  So guess no photos for now.  This might be crunch time for me and blogger I think its time to look for another blog site.


I've managed to catch up with my February swaps and I've been playing with EQ7 to design the new sofa throw for Julie and Sy.  Hope to cut it out this week.  I had hoped to have had it done by now but things took a turn for the bad where Keith was concerned.  He had a nasty fall on Friday which has set him back a bit. The meds he is on are making him drowsy but he is so darned independent that he puts himself in danger so I daren't leave him alone for too long.   Between the steroids and his old back problem walking is difficult for him, though he struggles manfully up and down the stairs.  Oh for a house with downstairs facilities.   He's reached the stage where community services and the Macmillan nurses have made contact, we are still managing on our own but they are putting things in place for the day when we'll need a little extra help.


We went to get his blue badge sorted out this afternoon (for those who don't know what a blue badge is, its something you put in your car window that allows you to pack in special bays nearer to shops etc - that's if they haven't been used by others).  Keith was so sure he wouldn't qualify that he's been away most of the night and I was up at 2:30am watching tv with him, then again at 5am and finally when I had to get up he went to sleep.  For those with young children, does this sound familiar?   We'll I'm having an early night and tomorrow the excitement of tidying up my sewing room begins.

Quick Update

I've not dropped out of orbit just been a bit busy.  Keith hasn't been too well recently and I had to undergo a routine colonoscopy, which thankfully proved okay.  I've been doing a few more stitch samplers, now finishing my fourth and bought fabric to start a throw for Sy & Julie's redecorated living room.  So guess I'm going to be busy.  I've also joined Kim Klassen's "Skinny Mini Ecourse" which can be found here  It's a long time since I did any serious digital work so thought I'd take a refresher.  It's a free course and looks good, why not try it yourself.   God I sound like an advert.....


Keith's gone back to bed, we went out for lunch yesterday with the family and I think its taken a lot out of him.  So I had better go and sort out the washing while he sleeps.   I will post photos tomorrow.

Bit more creative

 

 

Its a while since I last did anything reasonably creative but I had a sampler to make for a swap based on machine and/or hand embroidery.   I started this piece and got carried away.  Its a mixture of machine and hand stitches with added beading.  Unfortunately its too large for the swap so I will just have to force myself to keep it lol.

 

A closer look at some of the stitches. 

I really enjoyed myself and got totally immersed in the stitching.  I might even do a small series in different colours. 

 

Doing this piece (and I now have a commission from my dil to make a large one for her living room) has given me the motivation to do what I love most - create.   But things aren't easy at the moment, Keith is okay but still not well and I want to spend as much time with him as possible.  Soooooo that's where one of you might be able to help.  I have a Samsung tablet and Keith has an Ipad I can use (he's not well enough to use it himself at the moment).  Does anyone know of a good program I can use on either of these tablets that I can download that would allow me to do a bit of digital art as a source for future creativity?  If so could you please let me know.  

 

It's Sy's birthday today and he had a party last night, we had Buster overnight again so one spoiled dog.   He made a meal for his friends with a Mexican theme complete with a six foot plastic palmtree ice bucket.....

Three weeks and five hours later

Our central heating broke down again.........   The very helpful plumber arrived out of hours to fix it but guess what - he didn't have the part that had gone haywire.   He's coming back again today hopefully with the correct bit to fix it.  If not it looks like a new boiler.   In the meantime we are wearing several layers of clothing and staying close.

Having said that I have, trumpet sound..... done some sewing, yeh...  My friend Jenny bought a wall hanging pattern while she was in Canada last year but changed her mind about making it and loaned me the pattern.   Its by Ursula Riegel of www.designstoshare.com and is called "In the Mist".  Well, being me I liked it but didn't want to make it in shades of black and white.  So I changed it to greens. Then I thought I don't want snow, or a stone and left them out.  Then I decided I wanted leaves on the ground and a few left on the tree, after all the colours I had looked very autumnal.  So here it is.

 

It probably could have done with a few more leaves on the floor but I'm happy enough with it at the moment, especially as its the first thing I've done for a while.  Its about 18" x 20".

 

I'm off to a room with a heater now as I am very definitely beginning to feel the cold.

Weekend in Seahouses

Wow the sea was rough!! Our holiday weekend cottage was a stone's throw away from the harbour and we could see the sea from our windows. We arrived Friday teatime just in time to have a quick look round the harbour before the light went then picked up fish and chips for supper.  I still like my fish and chips wrapped in newspaper but they aren't allowed to do that any more.  Sometimes though I think the smell of the salt and vinegar is more tempting than the actual meal but not this time, it was delicious and Keith really enjoyed his.

All the boats had remained in the harbour only the big oil tankers were seen on the horizon.

On Saturday we had a look round Berwick but it was quite cold and Keith was looking a little tired so we spent quite a bit of time in coffee shops.

On the way back we called in at Bamburgh where the Grace Darling Museum is situated, think every child in the UK was taught about the heroic Grace Darling who rescued seamen from a wreck in a storm.  The Museum was cold by the time we got there, in fact lots of places were closed if we'd been going this weekend they would have been open but hey that's life.

 

The best views of Bamburgh Castle are from the sea but no one was willing to paddle out to get me a good photo.  Again Blogger won't let me make the photos any bigger, looks like threes the limit.

 

Back to Seahouses where we stopped off at the Swallow Fisheries for smoked prawns.  The shop has been open since 1843 (well it did close sometimes, usually on a Sunday).  I'm not keen on smoked food but the others enjoyed them dipped in mayonnaise.  More photos of waves before we went to the local hotel for dinner.

 

 

I made this scrapbook page for Marc and Alix as a reminder of our lovely weekend.  

 

 



Knitting

I've been trying to spend as much time with Keith as I can, especially since he can no longer work in his shed for the cold.   So I've taken up knitting again as its something I can do while I sit with him at night.  What have I made, not a lot, I'm not a fast knitter but here goes......

One moebius scarf which is supposed to have only one loop (I managed to get three!!).  It was the first time I'd tried knitting from both sides of the cast-on stitches.  I bit tricky at first but easy once you get going. 

 

Two cushion covers, one got pulled out as it was too big for the cushion but the other one is okay.

Three matinee coats for my goddaughter's baby which is due officially in March but will definitely be delivered early.  Julie has problems bringing babies to term due to her high blood pressure and kidney problems, pre-eclampsia has meant early deliveries for her other children.  It was her and her twin sister's 40th birthday at the beginning of the month and she wanted to announce the sex of her baby at their birthday party.  The hospital she had her scan done at made her a cake which showed the sex when it was cut into.  Her cake had blue icing in the middle - so guess she is having a boy. 

 

 

You can see the cushion behind the matinee coats.  I have made three the missing one is identical to the multi-coloured coat but in plain white.  Not sure she will want the multi-coloured one but it can always be donated to the premature baby ward.

 

I have received a few postcards, I won the postcard lottery so will post these later.

 

We are off to Seahouses on Friday for the weekend.  Marc and Alix have booked a cottage for themselves and as there are two bedrooms are taking us with them.  Not quite sure how Keith will cope as he is exhausted most of the time now but so far not a lot of pain.  He's keen to go though and I'm sure we'll all enjoy the time away.



Happy New Year

We had a family buffet yesterday and Flynn never stopped eating for almost the whole two hours he was with us.  He entertained everyone with kisses and hugs.  He's at the stage now where he parrots everything you say which had us laughing.   It was good to laugh again and Keith had a lovely time even if he was exhausted this morning the company cheered him up no end.

Julie hasn't been too well either recently and we are waiting for the neurosurgeon's report on the tumour on her neck.  We know its benign but she is rarely free from headaches so the family gathering was a distraction for her too.

Marc was very reluctant to have his photo taken.

Why is it that everyone congregates in the kitchen?

 

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year.  We thoroughly enjoyed our family breakfast, lunch and Matthew's 21st birthday dinner.  New Year was very quiet but that is what we wanted, a rest after all the entertaining over the previous few days.   We had Buster staying with us overnight as his parents were off to a party.  Ten minute before the old year ended we realised that Buster's lead was is the car, the car was in the garage and neither of us wanted to go and get it.  Result - Keith left the house with a large dog on a bright yellow ribbon lead.   There were fireworks going off all over the place and Buster kept heading for the bushes.  Keith thought he fireworks were frightening him but no, he just wanted to let out some of the water he had drunk.  

 

Happy New Year everyone and I hope its is a happy, healthy, creative one.

Christmas Postcard Swap

I've waited until all the cards had been received before posting pictures.  This is the annual Christmas swap with BQLPC I sent my cards out without photographing them, durr.

From Alice and Sue

From Miriam and Diana

From  Jane and Jacquie

 

 Two from Pauline I think this may have been in error but I like them both.

 

From Pascale a strippy tree and from Janet a candle

Finally two lovely patchwork trees from Jan and Rosemary

 

I still haven't photographed the knitting bits and bobs but will do that before I send them off to the recipients. 

 

I unearthed the table topper I started making earlier this year and am just finishing off the binding.  Not before time either as Keith managed to get candle wax on the one we are using at the moment.  He is doing well though still gets tired easily, which I believe is very common for someone with his complaint.  He is really looking forward to Christmas and having all the family around him so we are all going to try and make it a very happy one for him.

 

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and a happy, healthy, creative 2014.

 

 



Phew

Not blogged recently as not much to tell.  I've been kept extra busy making all the family Christmas cards, with his lordship's help - he sticks the stars on the trees.  Flynn is 18 months old now and a big help.  I was making quiches for our Plus4 Christmas lunch on Monday and putting baking beans in the quiches to bake them blind and he very helpfully brought his yoghurt covered raisins to add to the baking beans.  He has a bright cheeks and a runny nose as his molars are just coming through - warning he loves to bite if you put your fingers in his mouth.

Playing with Mum and Dad everything looks better from this angle.

Christmas lunch with the Plus4's was great fun and we each made a small present for one another.  This photo is a bit blurry, not sure why except perhaps I had my finger in the way.  I made the birds from Maggie Grey's pattern in Stitch magazine and Jenny made clowns.  We also got plants and covered coat hangers, can't have too many of those.  As there are only five of us it wasn't too much an effort to make a small gift for everyone.  I really enjoyed the day as it took my mind off other things. 

 

Postcard swaps

Here is what I've been up to in between everything else.  It has kept me sane and in contact with people. 

Applique cards from Jacquie and Miriam

Mine for the three other ladies in the swap.

 

The next swap is Upcycling I would call it recycling but not sure what the difference is.

Top left is from Jacquie using old lace and created motifs from the paper she used to transfer the dye onto the lace.  Next is Alice who has found a novel way to use up lampshade fringing. And finally Irene who also has used old lace but I love the stitching in the middle of this one.

 These three are my answer to Upcycling/recycling.  Old transfer dyed shirt fabric, old knicker lace and beer cans with a bit of machine embroidery.  Can't miss out the embroidery.

This is from a new group I joined a few weeks back, mainly because the only swap one to one.  The group is Postcard Pizzazz and this card is from Pam Crawford.  The swap was Turquoise and Fuchsia but unfortunately I forgot to photograph/scan mine before I sent it.

Finally also for Pizzazz is my take on squares and triangles.

After the sunshine comes the storm

Today wasn't just a downpour it felt like being hit by a tidal wave.  Keith's scan results showed improvement in the lung tumours, the kidney tumour is static but the liver tumours have proved resistant to the aggressive chemotherapy and have actually grown.  The liver cancer is progressing quite rapidly and we've been told to just enjoy what time Keith has left.  This could be as much as 12 months but is more likely to be in the low months number.  

I feel swamped by the news but Keith is philosophical and determined he's going to make it to next Christmas so lets hope he's right.

This is Keith's answer to the news.

We were certain it would be better news, especially as Keith had enjoyed going to his woodturning group.

He was making a mushroom box, which is still in the boot of the car!!

He also managed to enjoy the Woodturning Show at Harrogate Show Grounds yesterday.  He went with our elder son Marc whilst Alix and I took in the Knitting & Stitching show.

 

 

Weekend report

After Keith had got the news about his cancer our sons put their heads together and decided to book a weekend cottage for the six of us.  We were to have the holiday at the end of Keith's cycle of chemotherapy.  For a while I thought we wouldn't make it, he was so ill, but we did and despite having not driven for years I took the plunge and drove us across country to Southerness on the coast of the Solway Firth.  It was a lovely bungalow the family had rented with a large living/dining area and four double bedrooms with all the necessaries.  It was a minute walk from the beach and only a five minute walk to the local pub.

Keith on his own for once, usually all the seating was occupied and the normal family 'discussions' taking place.

Marc and Sy decided to make themselves a snack.

 

Keith found a jigsaw and over the weekend everyone took part in putting pieces into it.  It's years since we did a family jigsaw and we all thoroughly enjoyed doing it.

Keith's working on the second jigsaw we found, I think he's got the bug and was talking about finding some we had stored away.

 

The coast where we were was rocky but there was sand at one end and the Southerness Lighthouse at the other end of the beach.  The main path along the top of the beach was made up of crushed seashells.  Buster had a whale of a time and had more walks along the beach between the six of us than he's had for the past year....

Did someone say walkies?

 

We had a lovely family break but on Monday it was time to go home again.  It was quite foggy when we woke but by the time we left it was clearing and quite sunny by the time we got to Dumfries.  Unfortunately the rest of the journey from Dumfries to Penrith was a mixture of fog, heavy rain, fast lorries with the odd spot of sun in between.  We stopped on the way back at a large Edwardian house for morning tea, which was served from a silver teapot on a silver tray complete with lace tray cloth.  It was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed the break.  But now its time for catching up on the washing, ironing and dealing with household matters.  

 

Keith has really enjoyed his weekend and being with his boys and being able to have a pint with them has brought him lots of pleasure.   A weekend of happy memories to be treasured.

No I haven't forgotten you

Life has just been a bit tough lately and even tougher for the big guy - although he isn't so big now he's lost over 4 stone in weight since he started chemo.  But the good news is today he had his last cycle and he gets his comparison scans etc on the 15th November so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Good news is I have a new baby grand nephew, my niece gave birth to a bouncing baby boy last week.  They have called him Angus John, a brother for Charlotte Grace who I understand is a bit of a handful.  At the moment they are in Boston as her husband is doing research into micro surgery but are due back in the UK early in 2014.  We are all looking forward to photos.

I have done nothing at all but am feeling much more inclined to sew and knit now that Keith is finally beginning to feel a bit better so hopefully I'll have something to show next post.