Ladies who……

Earlier today I had a really catchy title in my mind for this post, however the sieve that has replaced my memory in recent months has let it leak out and it’s lost!

I hope as I’m writing I can come up with something that tells you what a great day I’ve had today! A few weeks ago I had the brainwave of inviting some likeminded ladies to spend the day being crafty and today was the day we settled on. I suppose I expected maybe two or three friends would say yes please but we ended up with eight of us – and John!

John very kindly rearranged all the furniture a few days ago so that we could open up the space available and this morning we got ourselves ready. We opened up the dining table, laid out the cutting mat and sewing machine, pulled out a box of yarn and awaited our guests. I’d said 10 o’clock for a start time but slowly messages started coming in about people being delayed. The best one has to be the text that said ‘Please tell me it’s tonight we’re sewing’! Poor Trish had got 6 on her mind not thinking that was the date and not the start time! She and her daughter arrived just in time for lunch much to the amusement of those already gathered!

So here is the day in pictures – I think we all enjoyed ourselves, Isabel sort of learnt to crochet with Janet’s help, Sian made one of Nicky’s lovely boxy bags, Julie and Steph enjoyed a bit of show & tell, Trish wasn’t having a good day – instead of bringing her dress to finish she bought the remaining fabric, John got a few photography tips from Trish & Sian and me, well I did some crochet and marked out the half square triangles for my next project.

 

The sewing end

Elevenses!

The other end!

Yes – I left the ironing board out! The sewers amongst you will know that this is an important piece of equipment!

She need a bright colour!!

Don’t show my face!!

See – Nicky used that so important piece of equipment!

I’m not looking up!!

Always happy teaching!

The final result!

Thank you all for coming – shall we do it again?

Fishy Feet Friday!

I’d been looking forward to my trip yesterday for several weeks. It was the day that Janet and I had planned for our Fish Pedicure, neither of us had been before but both wanted to try it. Janet was Project Manager for the adventure and was set the task of finding somewhere for us to go, after much research she settled on this place – Beauty Rituals in Melton. The location for this seemed a little strange as it is in an industrial estate but the place itself was lovely. It’s a beauty salon as well which seems to be a common theme for fish pedicurists (yes, that is a word!!).

We had opted to share the experience which meant that one of us had to shuffle across the bench seat whilst keeping our feet out of the tank – surprisingly I managed this successfully and let Janet have the easier option .

I wish I had taken photographs! The whole experience was amazing, the first few moments are hell if you have ticklish feet (which I have – big time) but after a very short while it settles down and becomes almost a buzzy feeling. I didn’t feel as if my feet were even in water – the temperature is just right – even though I was sitting dangling my feet over the edge of the seat. I think I had the best feet for the fishes as they spent more time with me than they did with Janet but I have to say my feet are now feeling probably the best ever! No scraping or rubbing with files, no slicing with scalpels or pushing down on cuticles. I still have a little hard skin around the base of my heels but my cuticles, soles of my feet, back of my heels where shoes had left their mark have all gone – along with my corns!!

There weren’t this many fish in our tank but it gives you an idea!!

So, if you get the opportunity, do find somewhere to have this done – this one cost £10 for 15 minutes. Janet and I would both recommend single sittings though – whilst it was very nice to spend time sitting, literally, cheek to cheek it would be better on your own!

It was Janet’s birthday as well yesterday, so we made the most of the time we had together by having a little retail therapy followed by lunch at The Riverside which her husband kindly treated us to!

The day was rounded of with a visit from son 1 and FDIL for dinner – for some reason I was shattered by the end of the day!!

So that was Friday, today I’m off to Felixstowe to buy zips and thread – why is that, whatever I decide to make, I always need thread that I haven’t got – I’m turning in to Nicola with my stash of reels of thread! (Take a look over at her latest post – she’s already planning Christmas!!)

VRWP!

What a weekend! It started off with that wedding on Friday and just disappeared really!

So what have I done? Friday saw me up at 6.30 to make sure I got a front row seat at the Virtual Royal Wedding Party (VRWP) I’d foolishly volunteered to host. The word ‘Virtual’ is the giveaway here – on line attendance only, but never let it be said that I don’t push the boat out for my guests. People came from far and wide, err well Lincolnshire, Kent, Ipswich & Missouri anyway! It didn’t quite attract the numbers that I’d been hoping for but we were a select gathering!!

We all sat in our respective corners of the world, linked by Twitter & Facebook, sharing our feelings on those outfits, especially the younger Royals – somebody should really have taken them somewhere else to buy their outfits and hates, sorry girls you were wide of the mark in the fashion stakes!

And then we saw her. Catherine Middleton. She looked, in my opinion, absolutely amazing! I think William felt the same judging by my limited lip reading skills. As they left the Abbey as the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge I couldn’t help recall that my late father-in-law always referred to my late mother-in-law as Queenie – because she was his Queen! It got me thinking would William refer to Catherine as Duchess – a good old London term? I guess we’ll never know!

So Friday spent glued to the TV (apart from the two hours of champagne induced slumber during the afternoon!!) watching the wedding, the highlights, the news bulletins and looking on line for images. I was productive as well though, following Son 2’s request for garden cushions last week, I decided to convert nine squares that I’d already crocheted into a cushion cover – but I needed to make up the back. It’s still a WIP so you’ll have to wait a few days to see it!

Saturday was the last home game of the football season – I’m not sorry to see the end of this season and, probably against our better judgment, we have renewed our season tickets. Next year will be the last though if it’s anything like the previous three years – where have I heard that before!

Which brings me to Sunday. Sew day. John went out really early to geo cache so I had the morning to myself. i have to say I love time home alone to do ‘me’ things. I made a cake (wanted to test the new oven) but forgot to grease the pans (I used my new silicone pans and it just didn’t occur to me to grease them) so first attempt at getting them out meant that the tops cracked, I decided to leave them in the pans to cool down then turned the pans inside out and scraped the cake out with a spatula. Thank goodness for butter icing to stick it all back together – it tasted delicious though!

So back to sewing. I had a pattern I had downloaded and was eager to try for the first time. I knew just what I wanted to do and who I wanted to make it for. I can’t say it was easy but that was possibly because I decided to adapt it – note to self never adapt a pattern the first time you try to make it – and used iron on wadding instead of a sew in interface – it was too much I think and the zip didn’t sit as nicely as it would have otherwise. Still, never mind, lesson learnt and here it is!

I made it specifically for Janet, in her colours, in exchange for some plants that she had grown for me in her little ‘greenhouse’. We exchanged yesterday over coffee and scones – she has even blogged about it here!I think her photos are probably better than mine as well!!

So that just about sums up the weekend – when’s the next long weekend? Oh yes – next week for me, so if it’s not the same for you!!

Catch up!

Before I get started, if you read me in a reader and only see a few lines, I learnt this great tip the other day! In Google reader, go to ‘Settings’ (over in the top right had corner) and choose ‘Reader Settings’, then take the tab that says ‘Goodies’ and scroll down to ‘Put reader in bookmark’, drag the ‘Next’ button (right click and drag) up to the lower tool bar and you’ll see the Google logo with the word ‘Next’ – and you can read the posts from their original location and in their entirety without having to open a new window – simples!

Well, my last post certainly brought me a lot of visitors from worldwide locations! It seems I must have been the top Google response to ‘Paul Evolved Management’ searches – sadly it appears that ‘Paul’, whoever he may be, will not be buying any of our super duper blogs!

While on the subject of money, I was ‘lucky’ enough to receive an email from a poor man called ‘Blessing’ this week, begging me to help him get his late parents’ monies out of his country – sadly I did not feel charitable enough to help him out (please don’t judge me!)

In other news, errr… other news, ummm – let me think…Oh yes, last Saturday Janet & I finally had our day out in Framlingham. The weather was a bit grotty but we enjoyed a good natter and a mooch around the various shops, including the ‘Pretty Birdcage’ which I don’t believe has a web site – yet! It’s my kind of shop selling both yarn & fabric – heaven! I didn’t buy anything though – I’m feeling very virtuous – I must use some of my stash first as I’m spreading, sadly I don’t have a dedicated room for all of this stuff, poor John can’t raise his eyebrows any higher!

During the week we had dinner at Julie’s before going of to see my lovely goddaughter in her last ever school production – I can’t believe she’ll be 18 in a couple of months!

On the sewing front, I’m whizzing through my ‘simplified log cabin’ with just two more rows to piece, sadly I won’t get any done this weekend, what with football yesterday and Linda & John visiting today. I’m being a domestic goddess today, having already made blueberry muffins and having a bread & butter pudding soaking in the fridge – oh and I made a banana gingerbread loaf yesterday as well, get me – first time I’ve baked in an age!

Football wise things are looking up! We are now undefeated in seven games – haven’t won them all but we haven’t lost any, surprising what a change of manager brings!

I’d better go now  - can’t entertain my guests in my PJ’s however comfy they may be!!