A little catch up

Been pottering about, doing bits n pieces, sowing seeds, now we have been able to get some compost, some crafting, renovating, reading. We have been having more low pressure and torrential thunder storms, it always exacerbates the fibro, especially any added stress, so I have been struggling a bit.

Been a bit Eeyoreish too with the pain, and found I didn´t have any thing to say,

 which as they say, if that´s the case then don´t say anything at all lol.

I found an old bar stool looking very much worse for wear so after rubbing down all the peeling varnish and getting it back to basics, I painted it a nice bright colour.

It´s hard to believe that its been a year since we had to pack up the family home and move MiL to her care home. We did it on the back end of the visit for her 90th birthday and managed to collect bygone treasures and childhood memorabilia. One of the treasures she said I could keep was a  wood and wire Victorian bird cage. We had the stuff shipped back in February, so why I had a sudden whim to sort it out I don´t know.

I think I used several pots of elbow grease as it was so rusty with layers of dust and grime.

Wirewool, a soft dremil wheel and beeswax.

I haven´t decided what to put inside it yet, a nice candle maybe, certainly not a bird thats for sure.

Whilst sitting quietly and trying mind over matter, I started on some coasters for the courtyard table, made 3 so far

I was given an old pair of riding boots, so after Chris drilled some holes in the soles, put some gravel in the bases for drainage and stability, topped up with compost and planted them up. They fit in nicely with the theme

Theo has been enjoying his toys, especially the crunkly book, so I´ve added to his collection by making the fins of the fish crunkle, with a couple more pentagon balls.

Then made up my own pattern for a little owl

I thought I would start another book, maybe with little pockets to put shapes in, but I wasn´t in the right frame of mind so instead I went through the materials stash, folding, straightening and even ironing, it was a win win because I have ended up with a neat and tidy cupboard and found a few long forgotten treasures along the way.

Been taking cuttings from various established plants, honeysuckle, jasmine, geraniums, rosemary, they have 2 chances lol, then I did the trick with the end of the celery, it worked lol

A gentle day today me thinks, we have a skype call later this afternoon to wish MiL a happy 91st birthday. Then to morrow is Rebecca´s birthday, so although we speak or video call every day it will be lovely to catch up with her on her special day.

take care

xcx

Toy making

Trying times, we have had a couple of scares, firstly with MiL who is in a care home. We were told by the home that she was not well and they suspected covid, they told us they had given her antibiotics but she was confused.

I immediately rang Mum and had a lovely 37 minute conversation with her, perfectly lucid and perfectly normal.

24 hours later we find out that there are 3 Joyce´s in the home and even though we identified Mum and the family connection, they got the wrong one.

Terribly unnecessary worry and we complained about the lack of attention and questioned their policies.

Then Shine (DiL) was sent home from the care home where she nurses as her immediate colleague had contracted the virus and she had similar symptoms.

She self isolated whilst waiting for test results, which I´m happy to say proved negative.

Phew, and breathe!

I have continued to make toys for Theo, he has grown and changed so much and it´s been so difficult to contend with the fact of not being able to visit. 

I tried to incorporate lots of different elements, such as rattles, crunckles, plush, colourful fabrics and different shapes.

Chris made the support for the mobile using dowl, which he sanded and polished and made it in such a way the arms can be dismantled for posting.

Such a difficult thing to take a good photo!

I used pentagons to make another smaller ball

and a squishy cloud that rattles, a plush butterfly and one that crunkles

A cloth book, using wadding to give it some thickness and the (washed) inside packaging from a box of cereal, just the right sound

The material was a mix of dolphins, cat, ducks and dragonflies, so I added some shapes to match the pages

These multi sensory toys seem very expensive to buy, so I was quite pleased to use items from the stash to give him a variety.

In the meantime, I finished off his hooded jacket, but I wasn´t very pleased with the result, especially as the hood seems to be rather big, but at least it will give him another thing to wear. This jacket was from the same pattern as the last one that just had a collar but it seems to be a little too short. Don´t think I shall bother with the pattern again. Have to have a look through Revelry and see what I can find.

There was enough yarn left to make a pair of bootees too.

One of Rebecca´s friends is expecting a little girl in a few weeks, so I sent along a lilac pair and a light grey with sparkly speckles

The first parcel took nearly 2 weeks to arrive, but the second only took 4 days, I also popped in a bar of dark chocolate so Rebecca had a little something to open too.

On my searches for suitable patterns etc, I came across a site suggesting making toys using household items, some are not suitable at the moment, but one was taking an empty tissue box and stuffing either light scarves or little socks inside that can be pulled in and out. At the end of the day he doesn´t know what toys are, just wants different stimulus.

Thought I would try an owl next, so off to look for some patterns.

take care

xcx

Dinosaurs

Gosh, I´m slacking, didn´t realise it was so long since I last posted.

We have been having inclement weather these past few weeks, but we have managed a few garden days when the rain has stopped. Never seen the Bernia mountain so green or the grass on our terraces so long. All our efforts on taming the wilderness are still happening but you turn round and a tiny green hue of weeds are back again. 

The roses seem to like it though and the Iris I planted a couple of years ago actually flowered this year.

The daisies in the courtyard brighten it up, some of them had self seeded in strange places so I repotted them together to make a nice splash of colour

Unfortunately some of the rain has been ´dirty´so the pool is in need of some tlc and the courtyard became a skating rink as green algae coated the tiles, yuk!!

There was nothing for it but to scrub it off

This area is about 84 sq ft, took me 2 days to complete it but so much better

I am trying not to look at the rest of the courtyard, it´s a much larger area, probably 5 times the size,

little by little I suppose.

I have been doing all sorts of different projects, Chris wanted a face mask, I found a pattern which incorporated a pipe cleaner for the nose piece which made it quite a snug fit so he was happy.

Rebecca wanted some wall stickers for the nursery and decided on a dinosaur theme, so running with that I thought a mobile would be nice.

Searching through the stash I found suitable colours of felt

They are all about 3.5" with this larger one for the centre

I embellished them with components I wouldn´t normally use, ie buttons, but thought it would be ok as it will be well out of Theo´s reach.

Then decided to make a couple of larger ones

Whilst on a roll, this cube was next but I added a rattle inside

Each side has a different motif

Chris is hoping to get to the post office tomorrow as we haven´t collected our mail for several weeks, so hopefully they will accept a parcel and it can make its way to Theo.

Got a little jacket to stitch up now.

take care

xcx

Activities

I know I´m saying and feeling the same as everyone, gosh it´s hard not being able to be there physically for family and friends.

Finding positives, however small each day is a way of getting through this nightmare.

Rebecca is on the severe, high risk register so they are both isolating for the 12 weeks, luckily Antoni was working remotely anyway, only travelling into the office once a week, which of course has all stopped now. Rebecca has just received a second food parcel with all sorts of essential items fresh veg and a few treats. The 2nd one also included personel wash items , little bottles of shower gel, shampoo, soap etc, including 2 toilet rolls! As she hasn´t been able to get a supermarket delivery slot until 12th April, she was so surprised, but delighted and felt quite blessed as this has not only helped and take away some of the worry, but has given her a lift. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all those who are helping with this service along with those who are donating.

We have daily video time which is helping both of us and she sends daily photos and video of Theo.

He is growing so fast and is quite free with his smiles and gurgles, although he also likes exercising his lungs which is a little daunting for a new Mum trying to figure out what is wanted.

During one of our calls, Theo was intrigued by the video and hearing my voice, he started smiling at me as I was talking to him, we thought it might be a fluke, but no he did the same the next day, aww bless.

We have also been extremely lucky in that our neighbour asked if we needed anything from the supermarket so we were able to top up with some fresh veg and a fresh chicken. I have been quite inventive in the kitchen and managed to get 7 meals out of the chicken, plus making fresh stock from the bones. I have been experimenting with different spices to ring the changes and give different tastes to the dishes.

We have been quite active in the garden, taking advantage of the very rainy weather we have been having, it has made weeding possible having loosened the soil from being like concrete.

I think we may be able to tame the jungle wilderness. Its raining again today so hopefully with better weather tomorrow we can do some more.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a 5 minute gardening video suggesting that you take the whole seed compartment of a pumpkin, loosen the seeds a little and plant it in its entirety in a pot. Well, give anything a try, this is the result, they need transplanting now.

Something has already had a nibble though

When its been pouring, I have taken the opportunity to just sit, recover a bit from the gardening and

make a jacket for Theo with little cat buttons. 

I also finished off a little vest top

It has a moss stitch at the top which gives it a different look

Well take care everyone, stay safe

xcx

Softies

We had a reasonable day weather wise last Thursday and with the two of us pulling weeds out for 2 hours we managed to fill a huge building sack up. Lots still to do though

Since then it´s been raining, heavy, drizzle, huge showers, but wet, wet wet, great for all the plants but not so good being holed up and the furries are using the house as a race track or finding themselves little hide aways to snooze.

I decided to make some soft toys for Theo

I don´t have many childrens fabrics in the stash, but I thought as long as they were bright, colourful and cheerful they would do the job

pentagon patchwork balls

A toweling softie with different textured ribbons, felt features and a little rattle inside

building blocks

It always amazes me just how much stuffing these little things take. I like to use just little pieces at a time as I find it prevents them being lumpy

Just have to continue making for now, saving them up ready to post.

We have just been locked down for a further 15 days, our kind neighbour ventured into town for provisions this morning and managed to get us some potatoes, broccoli, sprouts and spinach. But no cat food was to be had, luckily we had bought a huge bag of a cheaper version we don´t normally use

so they will have to put up with that for now.

take care

xcx

Back home

Well that was a bit of a panic

With impending lock downs in Spain and conflicting information, I decided to cut short my visit and head for home.

I managed to book a flight for Saturday afternoon, although they wouldn´t allocate me a seat until check in

There were a few trains running direct to Gatwick, without changes, couldn´t deal with 2 changes.

Reading town was almost deserted and the train had few people traveling,  likewise the airport was very quiet. 

It was rather stressful not knowing if the flight would be able to take off and land, as earlier in the day flights from another airline had turned back half way across France.

Despite my late booking, I was allocated special assistance, such a brilliant service, and a window seat, the plane was only half full so obviously there wasn´t a problem.

On approach to Alicante I could see that there was hardly any traffic on the roads and again the airport was quiet.

The cloud formation was really interesting

But I was back and before the final lock down which is supposed to be tomorrow at 8am.

Such a wrench to leave so suddenly, but it seemed the best option. We had hardly left the house during my stay, only to go to a baby massage class which Rebecca had been going to and a supermarket trip, otherwise we relied on home delivery and the bonus of having Amazon prime.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time together and it was wonderful to help and look after Theo leaving Rebecca to catch up on some sleep and catch her breath.

We put some time saving ideas into practice, chatted and generally had girls time together.

Poor Theo had to have his first round of innoculations last Thursday and he has been under the weather since, although they were warned it could happen. 

Does make you feel a little helpless when he was being so upset, but we took it in turns to comfort him with lots of cuddles, nothing like it when they fall asleep in your arms.

In the last week he has began to really smile and interact as he begins to focus properly on his surroundings.

Such a joy to share those moments.

Everything here is shut and travel restricted to visits to pharmacy, post office, supermarkets (one person from a family only) work, hospitals or emergency visits only.

We don´t go out that often normally so it is really no different, apart from the need to go to the supermarket, and being quite isolated up here in the mountain it will only be the residents of the village that would have a need to come up here.

We have plenty to do around the place, especially the garden, luckily Chris managed to get veggie plants before the restrictions so they need to go in and of course we have our hobbies. The bonus we have is it is quiet warm and the sun is out.

Where ever you are, take care and be safe.

xcx 

Over here

Well would you believe it, I

have been over here for over a week and it's all going at a fast rate of knots

Chris came over too but only for 6 days. Although he did manage to fit in 2 football matches with Reading playing at home.

We had arranged to meet MiL and SiL for Sunday lunch so they could meet Theo and we could have family photos, but it wasn't to be as Mum wasn't feeling well and not up to it. Such a shame.

I arrived to find a beautiful vase of daffodils in our room and Antoni bought me this pot of teeny tiny ones. So pretty. 

I'm doing this on my phone and that photo went in the wrong place, never mind!

I'm doing lots of Grandma duties, so Rebecca can catch up on some much needed sleep, and just have the pleasure of having an uninterrupted bath etc.

It's so lovely to share these precious moments, Theo has changed in the last few weeks already. He is quite strong in his neck muscles, holding his head up and he is a wiggle bott. 

Rebecca has joined in a couple of the local baby groups, including one for baby massage. I'm so pleased she took up my suggestion to get out of the house and meet other new mums, so good to talk and swap ideas and not feel isolated and realise they are saying and experiencing the same things you are.

I think I have managed about 3 rows of knitting so far and Rebecca had seen something she would like crochet for Theo, just need to find the time lol

Take care
Xcx

Fun but practical

Firstly, apologies for not replying to your lovely comments on my post of Theo´s one month birthday,  I am certainly counting down the days, can´t wait for some Grandma hugs and daughter cuddles too. Today is the first day for a week I have felt human again. Chris went down with a nasty cold and bless him, he kindly shared it, I did say he didn´t have to share everything!

Today I received a message sent about 5am from Rebecca, not that I saw it that early, she was obviously up with Theo, anyway she sent a link and said Mum I know you are clever, (flattery gets her everywhere) could you make some of these for Theo please.

Well Theo is brilliant at doing what all little boys do when you take their nappy off, usually resulting in a complete outfit change etc and a face full if you are not careful

I checked out the link, thought what a good idea, yep can do some of those

I also checked out the usual one stop, very large company that supplies all and found that they wanted 9.99 for 3 with different variations, no way! with a little time, patience and a good rummage through the stash, we could do this

So I set too, 

I was pleased as it took me out of feeling sorry for myself and gave me something to focus on that was useful and removed some of the cotton wool that had somehow replaced my brain

What on earth is she talking about, you may ask.....

Well they are called pee pee teepees or wee wee wigwams, take your pick

Little production line

They are basically one piece of cotton and one of toweling and they do pass the water test (pardon the pun) I used a syringe to test them

So with a certain piece of anatomy encased, hopefully it will help

I also finished off the little blanket that she asked for, ran out of yarn, but hope its ok, so I am going to send a little parcel off tomorrow, I know I can take them over with me but it´s always nice to get a little something in the post and then she doesn´t have to wait so long

this is folded in 4

I shall await the results of the wigwams!

I do hope that all of you in the Uk are ok after the devastating storm Dennis

take care

xcx

One month old

I know we all say how time flies

but it really has

can´t quite believe little Theo is one month old

Wide awake after his bath

He has changed already, counting the days.....

take care

xcx

Logging in

We´ve just had our second delivery of logs for the season

We have used the same supplier for years and he always gives us a little discount which is nice, we also recommend him to others, so I suppose it´s a little bit of scratch my back etc!

We always order 5 cu m and get a nice mix of almond, olive and other woods and he keeps it all under cover so it´s nicely seasoned and dry

Now we just have to barrow it all down to the wood shed and stack it, bit back breaking, but as it´s our main source of heating, it must be done... slowly....

Thomas investigating the pile but he refused to turn round

I have had a little tidy up in the courtyard and amazingly found these

Would you believe, over wintered without any protection

I was pleased to see the geraniums are nice and healthy to, must take some cuttings

Our only casualty seems to have been a large lavender bush, which is such a shame as it was tumbling over the wall into the lounge patio and a rosemary.

Definitely need to replace those, I use quite a lot of rosemary for culinary purposes, I like to sprinkle it over roast potatoes with garlic granules and add sprigs to roasted veggies amongst other things. Just crushing the leaves to release the oil just gives everything a fresh lift too. 

I must admit the sage has been a little neglected but it doesn´t seem to suffer, the other evening, wanting to make sage and onion stuffing, I harvested a bunch then put the leaves in the processor, along with onion, garlic and slices of bread, it was very aromatic, peering into the oven dish, Chris commented "What´s this" however it soon disappeared! 

Lavender brings back memories of sitting in Grandma´s garden, aged about 7 or 8, collecting and drying the sprigs and making little bags for the house. 

It´s nice to replenish little bags each year, and of course wonderful to see the bees enjoying the flowers. 

take care
xcx

Play time

 Whilst in Reading I treated ourselves to a new little gadget

I thought it would be right up Chris´s street with regard to making our miniatures

So I bought this

It´s a 3D pen, a bit like a cross between a glue gun and soldering iron, so you introduce the filament and draw with it, whether free hand or using a pre printed/hand drawn template.

I had a little play myself , it takes a bit of getting used to, like every new technique, but I´m left handed and of course all the buttons were on the right, I´ll get used to it, but then events took over and it was left to explore at home.

Antoni is a whizz in the computing department, writing all sorts of code for different applications, have to admit, a lot of it goes straight over my head, but when I purchased my new tablet, he just transferred all the relevant data within minutes for which I was very grateful

He also has a 3D printer, yes I know I went off on a tangent, but I´m there now!

He writes the code to produce all manner of items, some decorative but mostly useful, 

For example, one bracket of the wardrobe hanging pole broke off so he printed out a replacement, storing batteries can be a pain, so he produced a bespoke holder for them, special hooks to clip over a shelf to hold a lamp, napkin holders in the shape of a cat, he even made a beautiful specimen vase to hold a rose for Rose´s special shelf.

The uses are endless.

So, he showed me various You tube clips, amazing, you are only limited by your imagination  

The main thing that persuaded me to go for it was that although it only came with a small selection of filament in 4 colours, and by the time you had introduced it into the pen it was used up, but Antoni buys the filament by the reel.

So he produced reel after reel of every colour you could think of, then he gave me wood effect

ding!! brilliant for sculpting trees 

So there I sat winding all these colours onto the spool, bearing in mind the weight for my hand luggage

So, silver, gold, fluorescent, blue, red, purple, wood.......etc......

As I hadn´t bought anything else, except Earl grey tea bags I thought it would be ok.

With a little jiggery pokery it all went in, under weight!

These are the result of Chris´s first attempt at using it, not bad for a start

 I always have assistance at the airport and my case duly disappeared for checking, my assistant came back very apologetic saying my case had been taken for extra screening. With my mind blank apart from please dont take my knitting needles, even though they were bamboo, we went over to the security desk.

A very jolly man lent over and said we seem to have something that resembles a large sewing machine  part, Ah ha, I explained that it was a reel of filament for the new 3D pen I had purchased

Thinking, please don´t take everything out as it was like a jigsaw puzzle getting it all in.

He smiled and told me to have fun with it and handed over my case without even unzipping it

Phew!!

So now it´s play time

take care
xcx

Oranges and lemons

My goodness, February already!

It seems it was only yesterday I was heading off to the UK to welcome little Theo into the world and now he is 3 weeks old!

We went into town on Friday, but the co op didn´t really have much choice on the pluglets

perhaps it is a little too soon, even for here, so we will keep popping in to see what they have.

Each year I find it quite enchanting to see the trees in town are laden with bright colourful oranges.

Our next door neighbour has a very large bougainvillea growing up his front wall.

The colours are beautiful, although dare I say it does need a little prune, it was from this bush that I dried loads of the flowers ready to use for confetti for Rebecca´s and Antoni´s wedding. My gosh and that was nearly three and a half years ago!

(the photo really doesn´t do it justice though)

He also has a large lemon tree which he very kindly shares and they taste totally different.

I tackled another part of the garden yesterday, this is an area where all the fallen fig leaves seem to accumulate and although we have weed suppressing membrane down it doesnt stop the seeds germinating on top of the gravel.

I totally filled this huge container, squishing everything to get it all in, it was formally used on Antoni´s late fathers´ fishing boat for the catch, I´m just glad I don´t have to move it!

So I think a bit of an easier day is called for today

A few chores then perhaps a spell of knitting

Thought I would leave you with a photo taken just before I left having given Theo his little rabbit.

(Just to say it was taken out straight after the photo and is being kept for when he is older)

take care

xcx