Autumnal

Brrrr its really chilly, the temperature has suddenly dropped about 12 degrees down to 15 and we have had some rain, which we really needed.

The shooting season has begun which does get a little annoying early on a weekend morning when the guns start off, they always sound so close and we do worry about the furries - just in case it was mistaken identity.  At the farm in Devon, I would regularly find brace of pheasants hanging across my washing line gifted from the local shoot, sometimes the local hunt would bring round venison too. I never got involved in the politics of the hunt but when I first bought the farm I was approached  for my views, what a tricky question for a newby on the block, suffice to say I declined to comment saying everyone was entitled to their opinion but no you are not doing it on my land, something they did respect thankfully. Mind you many a time the back door was opened by a very large stranded hound and a very grumpy Master of the hounds having to come and collect it.

We are seeing the signs of the wild boar roaming up here again and poor DD had a run in with one as it darted out in front of her car on a country lane, the impact was enough to set the automatic hazards off but not the airbags thank goodness.  Again luckily for her she managed to break and although they hit, the boar ran away with no obvious sign of  injury and apart from another shake up, she was not hurt either.They are such big brutes.  Must say that I did pass the comment that 2 incidents in as many weeks in the car was 2 too many, no more thank you!!

Finally got round to taking some photos of various bits n bobs I have been pottering at in the last couple of weeks

another scarf for the pressie box

This time I decided to only cast on 7 stitches instead of 9, it didn't seem to make any difference really to the width but of course much longer, so a little more versatile.  

I found some little cross stitch card kits tucked away, must have had them since the late 90's when my parents retired from their craft shop. Just right with very little thinking involved

Some more wrist warmers, for me this time, I was lucky enough to buy a very good winter coat when we visited the UK in June, half price to boot, these will go very nicely with it.

Finally, a little more knitting, all the components are done now, just need sewing up, but what will it be?

take care

Still here.....

.....just haven't been in the mood to blog, or do much crafting come to that!
Hubby is having physio now and has been told to use it or lose it, he actually managed to hold a glass in his hand (empty) and lift it an inch off the table......progress

I had one of those phone calls that everyone dreads.....Hi, everything is ok BUT.........Poor DD has been in the wars again, she accelerated away from a roundabout, when the car in front suddenly breaked, she had safe stopping distance and breaked too, unfortunately the person behind didn't and rammed into the back of her.  Thank god no one was hurt and that she was in her boyfriend's car which had a very meaty bumper/boot, the other cars front was stoved in, also the police had a road block on the other carriageway so we already on the scene.  Something she just didn't need.

With hubby not being able to drive, I have signed up with the local supermarket for home delivery.  I used to use Tesco and Sainsburys in the UK, living in a remote hamlet in Devon it was ideal, it worked really well when we were busy with guests and unable to take the time out to shop. Anyway I thought I would give it a go here and I must say I have been really impressed.  Everything has arrived in good order, with long sell by dates and the fresh veg have been in excellent condition, the delivery man even carried the packs of water across the courtyard to the casita where I was storing them. The website has an english version and apart from the garlic which is normally bought in a net in the shop, so I ordered 1, yep, you guessed I got 1 garlic bulb for 22c, everything else has been spot on. 
As I am in the middle of a nasty flare up of the fibro, I have decided that the 7 euros delivery charge is so reasonable, probably cost as much in fuel going down the mountain, that I shall continue to order in this way and save myself wear and tear, time to be kind to me.

Today is DS's birthday, I really cannot believe he is 33.  He and his wife have travelled to London to see a show and stay overnight.  Apparently they get a coach ticket for 5 pounds each way, an absolutely brilliant deal from Devon to London. 

Weekend again, enjoy however you spend it
take care

Butterflies and pressies

Life remains challenging but then again it would probably be boring if it wasn't!?

Whilst hubby has been mainly sleeping during the day I decided to have a little play, I selected some pretty butterflies and asked hubby to resize and sharpen them, he does it in minutes in publisher and it would take me ages.

a little glitter

They are sitting in a little holder ideal for pressies, pattern from Lynette Anderson

adds a different dimension to a plant

 I will print out some more and plan to use them to decorate presents just to add a little something

The online yarn store I use recently had a 30% sale, so I selected different balls to make some more of these

another chrstmas pressie, would match the wrist warmers I made previously

Still on the christmas theme, a nice hanging decoration

sorry couldn't find a way to turn it round

 Then I moved on to some lavender sachets along with another couple of dish cloth/pot holders.

My mind wouldn't stretch to anything complicated so I feel pleased to have finished several albeit simple things

Finally, leave anything open, a drawer, box or in this case a guitar case and you will find a cat curled up in it

Willa

DD is visiting today, so I am looking forward to lots of catching up

take care 

Good news

Yesterday was check up day for hubby, he was so tense with anticipation.  One of our friends kindly drove us over to Denia, we arrived 15 minutes early, hubby was called within 5 minutes and was checked over, dressings changed and replastered in 20 minutes. Wow never seen anything so fast, so we were home just after 2 hours from leaving, including the travelling time of 40 mins each way. Fingers crossed is happens each time we have to go.

The good news is that he only cut half way through the tendon so the surgeon was able to reconstruct it and says that he will be able to play again.  Hubby commented that his hand looked like something out of a frankenstein movie which the medical team thought was amusing.  They just said he should have seen the inside.......err no........

Three weeks of plaster casts then probably physio, the antibiotics are making him feel yukky, as they do and I think the trauma of it all is catching up with both of us. Amazing that a wek has passed already.  Hubby wears a magnetic wrist band and we realised that this was the only think that saved his wrist, the consequences doesn't bear thinking about.

Had the carpenter out to measure up for a complete revamp of the entrance doors, complete with safety glass!! something about horses bolting springs to mind........

take care

Drama

Amazing how fast an innocent pleasurable evening spent singing and hubby playing the guitar can turn into a nightmare. Sounds a bit dramatic, but let me tell you that is certainly what it was.

It was about 10.15pm and hubby stepped out into the inner courtyard for a breath of cool air, on his return his shoe caught in the grooves of the floor tiles and he went flying.... putting his left hand out to steady himself he went straight through the glass of the front door, unfortunately the inside shutter was not fixed, otherwise it would have saved him.  How he managed to retract his arm without further damage I shall never know, as it was things were beginning to look like a war zone.

After contacting 112 (emergency servcies) i ran down into the plaza to try to find any neighbours, no reply anywhere, eventually one came up, I must have given them a rude awakening, the ambulance had still not arrived (it took an hour) so we bundled into Beno's car and luckily met the ambulance half way down the mountain where we transferred.

Emergency bandaged hubby up and he was admitted by about 3.30am then it was a waiting game for the doctor, who eventually arrived about 10am, in the meantime however poor hubby had to endure the nursing staff removing the sodden bandages, pouring oxigenated water and iodine over everything, awful feeling helpless with only comfort to offer, a bit daja vous as with DD.  

He was taken to the operating theatre at 12, about time, as the bandages were sodden again, he didn't return till 2.30pm, the operation had taken over 2 hours with the doctor exclaiming  'mucho, mucho, mucho sutures'  The artery, nerves, tendons were all repaired completely encased with bandages and then a plaster cast was applied, making sure there was no movement.

Hubby's home now, rather wobbly and certainly not looking forward to what comes next.  Going to be rather a long time before he will be playing again, just hope he doesn't get too frustrated coping with one arm.  DD has been brilliant in running me/us around, and unless I can get my head around driving again, which I haven't done for years with the fibro, she has offered to do 'taxi' services whenever. 

Due to our health care plan we are visiting totally different hospital/clinics, adds to the fun of trying to find our way around.  If it's not one thing it seems to be another.  Don't want to play this game anymore.....:-(

take care

Little knits

Last week the storms came, not too bad really and at least the garden is happy and everything got a wash, power only tripped but no outage. Even had to find a cardi!  Back to 27C and sunny again.

Friday saw DD and I making the trip to Denia hospital where it was the beginning of the 3 monthly checks, except its now 4 months but hey it was August....... we were very surprised to see the Doctor that we saw every week in Valencia, he in turn was so pleased to see the progress DD has made since he last saw her, DD found it comforting that there was continuity as he had even been on the team for the ICU scare... he is also a bit of a dish!!!!!........now we have PET scans in Benidorm, vascular consults then back for final reports in October, it's the waiting that winds us up.

Knitted a couple more pairs of wrist warmers, one was using cable...... getting adventurous.

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Little bunny was a bit cold in just his jacket, so he is now sporting a nice pair of dungarees

But then again he might be a she, being a tom boy, so for a party girl she must have a dress

ends to sew in and buttons on the straps

Saw this through the landing window yesterday morning, the sun was a huge red circle throwing pink hues across the valley.

Photo doesn't quite do it justice.

Off to play with cable bracelets and kitchener stitch............

take care

Mixed bag

Our internet is still pretending to be a yo yo, so we are having to be patient??!!...........

We really enjoy the cold Spanish soup gazpacho, very refreshing and ideal during the hot days when you really don't want anything to eat, so hubby decided to have a play

He took the basic ingredients, plus olive oil etc, a few tweaks and produced this

It was lovely, but it changes each time he makes it, now he is blending twice and sieving it to give a nice smooth texture, such a good way of using the plentiful veg around at the moment

Our vine has loads of white grapes on it this year, just need a little rain to help them swell, then it will be a race to beat the wasps......

half of the vine

 These are the first pickings of the almonds, we have a young tree in the driveway so they were easy to pick rather than putting the nets down and bashing the nuts, even though some of them were small, the kernals were quite large, plump and on sampling yummy.  We have around 16 almond trees, wonder what the yield will be this year

 Some more refurbishments - the watering can was in a sorry state with it's spout broken , after a quick solder and a lick of paint, good as new, the  little wheelbarrows came up nice too

Puff (the dragon) with his buzy lizzies

 

 

 

Needed a little over the shoulder bag for just those few essentials, really wanted this for the fiesta but guess I was a little late lol, came up quite nice using bamboo and cotton yarn

Saw this cute little rabbit pattern complete with its own wardrboe of clothes, just had to have a play to see how it came out

pattern from www.bysmallmeans.com

Isn't it cute, dungrees, a little dress and hat as well.

We are expecting storms for the next few days so time perhaps to play further.

Of to batten down the hatches

take care

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