So firstly I need to apologise for it being such a long time since my last blog, as you may or may not now I have been back in the UK visiting all my little munchkins 2 and 4 legged, mind you most of them are now taller than me, ok I know that’s not to difficult but even so, anyway for some unknown reason they seemed to take up much more of my time than I had anticipated! Hence no blog, I am now back in the land of wine and cheese, which also means peace and quiet… not a concept I have been use to in the last month, but I am gradually adapting back into this pace of life, it has been great catching up with friends in the last few days and spending time with of course Mark & Moriarty, I am now well and truly fully ensconced back into French life, and ready for the festivities to be Gin, I mean begin…
I promise to write more over the coming days and tell you some of my adventures while I was away but just wanted to let you know that the last few sale items are still available on my site, just click on “Available Items” and see if you would like anything for yourself or a last minute gift for someone… from Wine or Chocolate Bags, to Book Cushions and Peg Bags, I also have some new Foldable Shopping bags for only €8 and some lovely phone pouches for €15
Stay safe and enjoy this festive time of the year, don’t stress about presents often it is your presence that means more…
So it’s been a week of many things… let’s start at the end, I am sat writing this in my commadore cabin on my way to see the family back in the UK… eek just a little excited, I even have priority disembarkation, but the fun packed week actually started last Saturday with our trip to Poitiers, obviously a cheeky little Starbucks (other coffee shops are available and let’s face it, much cheaper, but not with oat milk and toffee nut syrup and sprinkles) while we were there, also picked up a second-hand cream rug for the lounge which we had seen the week before and this week it had 10€ of (bargain, it is a tad small but will do the trick till I find something bigger) then with our weekly viewing of Strictly, well, didn’t call that result on Sunday, however one of our party of 4 will be very pleased with that result… mentioning no names, then Tuesday we went shop shopping, excellent loved it, tissue paper, brown paper bags, ribbon, string, baskets, oh and the mighty Sumup machine, all hail the mighty machine, which means I can now take card payments for all my creations, then drinks with friends, vets, (for Arty obviously, as we go to the doctors, just thought I better point that out) coffee with a few ladies, great chinwag to put the world into perspective, (shout out to a lovely friend, follower and awesome shopping buddy, who is worth her weight in gold (plus mine) thinking of you, even though I am not there, you got this hunny, I am now singing a song for you, just as well it’s not a vlog you would probably not recognise the song, but it goes something like this, Lean on me, when your not strong and you need a friend, somebody to lean on… etc sending love to you) then in the afternoon at a charity pop up stall, what a great idea and raised some money for 2 great charities, met up with some old friends (not in age) and made some new ones, some with amazing taste in fabric, and now I come to mention it great earrings, Sandy you would love them, then home to do my lovely French clients nails and ending with a little trip over to see the family until 17th December, what a week, 3 migraines later, and ferry crossing change, you are now caught up on my week, other than the reason I am on the ferry now and not on Monday when I was initially planning on coming over, that will be because I think and hopefully can, decorate our lovely apartment in Taunton for less than the quotes that we had… it also means I get to see the children and grandchildren earlier than planned, the down side to that is I leave Mark for longer, but I think he enjoys the peace and quite, he never reads my blog if they are more than a paragraph long so no fear he will get this far, but if by some miracle he does.. I’m saying now 17th December feels a long way away and I am going to miss you, so enjoy the peace and quite while it lasts because in the immortal words of Arnie… I will be back, back to nagging and incessant chatting and keeping you awake with my reading at all hours of the night, then my early morning departures to the sewing room… x
Right so the main reason for this blog is Black Friday is next week “officially” it’s the last Friday in November the day after Thanksgiving (is that one word?) but most businesses tend to have it most of November and I was not planning on being away for so long or so soon, but I want to have my first Black Friday event for my items, the only issue I have is that I am not there to post, deliver or for you to collect until after the 17th December, but it’s still before Christmas, I will also have time to make some things that have sold out, or if you have a particular request, let me know what you want, I will be on the scout for fabric whilst I am in the UK in all the charity shops, I will keep you posted with pictures as I find the fabric, so message me with any requests if it’s not on my Available Items Page, which you will find if you click on the 3 lines at the top of this page, (if you are on a phone) on a PC it’s the menu at the top of this page, choose “Available Items” and have a look… grab yourself a bargain, if you have read to the end of this blog you deserve a bargain and for the next week this is the only place I will be advertising the amazing 50% off all items, I may not have the exact item shown as it may of sold, I try and update as soon as I can, but if you don’t mind it being in a different fabric I can make it when I get home, with the 50% off.
A friend (you know who you are and I thank you for it) wrote on my post the other day and it was lovely she said “There are never imperfections in hand made goods only love” that meant a lot, because a lot of love goes into my makes, and also a lot of unpicking, swearing, crying and frustration, but mostly love, I hope you love my sale, look forward to hearing from you.
I’m going now as my cuppa tea is cold, so need to make a new one, love a commadore cabin..
Have a great weekend everyone whatever you are doing, I will be mostly be up to my eyeballs in paint…
Starbucks… another day I’m asking you not to judge me, so on Saturday a lovely friend took me to Poitiers shopping, why have I never been there before I ask myself, it is a beautiful city, full of typical French architecture and little shops with windows full of displays to entice you in… so many streets to wander around and boutiques to mooch in, but one of them in particular was… Starbucks! yes it’s expensive, yes it’s not a local artisan coffee shop, but did we go in? heck yes we did and the icing on the cake or should I say the topping on the coffee, they had the festive drinks in, so I got me a wonderful Oat Toffee Nut Latte, with vegan cream and sprinkles… is it something I would do every week, absolutely not, well not since moving to this wonderful country and having a much more relaxed lifestyle along with giving up my salary that allowed it… but to know that a little piece of something we used to enjoy is still available on our doorstep was a sight to behold, and one that on occasions I will return to with Mark.
Have you ever been caught up in the moment (not that kind of moment) and panic bought? Well we may of done that yesterday in Castorama (other DIY shops are available), well we have a loyalty card in this shop and they were giving us 15% discount on all bathroom fixtures, and as we have stripped out our ensuite, we needed to buy a new one, well to be fair we didn’t really need it so soon, as Mark still has to take the tiles off the wall and build a false wall and floor so to say it was a little premature is a bit of an understatement, we only had until Tuesday to get the discount… so let me just tell you the colours I had the choice of for the sink vanity, and then lets see if you can guess which one I went for… not that I’m predictable in anyway… so, gloss white, Navy blue, light very false looking oak, or black…. Ok so I am that predictable, yes I went for black but to be fair it was the best of a bad bunch, and as we are having a black frame shower it seemed the only option, eek to be honest I was going to buy a second hand buffet and paint it and Mark would of made it fit, but as the sinks we bought, which also were not what I planned, I was going to have two individual sinks and taps, which would of looked nice on top of a buffet, but we then thought we would have one long sink with two taps, well then the lady said the only 100cm sink with two taps she had was one that looked nothing like either of the option I have mentioned and of course I panicked and said oh yes that will be ok we can make it work, to which Mark said we will need a cupboard to go with that as you will not get one the correct dimensions, obviously all my design ideas left my brain and I asked the lady what option they had to go with this sink, and the above colours were the only option she had, so you can see I have now got a lovely new sink and vanity which has blown all my original design ideas out of the window, I am now back on sssshhhhh Pinterest (don’t tell Mark) it’s actually got worse than this as I have just been upstairs to see the progress of the tiles coming off and the plasterboard is now also off as well, I am now thinking we could close up the current door and make a new opening in the other wall from the bedroom, as I can now see a lovely beam, which was hidden behind the plasterboard… I will not tell Mark yet, I think I might go and make him a chocolate cake and some dumplings to go in the stew for dinner, do you think that will do the trick to butter him up to discuss the new layout option?
I’m off now to do some baking and I will let you know how the conversation works out for me in my next blog.
Go and do something that makes you smile, especially if it also makes someone else smile, that’s a double win x
Do you think he will notice?(picture at the end)… He did, I know it is only November but Halloween and bonfire night have gone so it’s Christmas right? Well in my book anyway, like I said last time with having a few grandchildren I must start early! And I saw these lovely mugs and just couldn’t resist them, I had already walked away from some in Action so when I saw these in the next shop (not the “NEXT” shop) it was too much to walk away again, plus the one I bought for Mark is not really Christmas, it’s a gingerbread man and hearts, and you can have them all year round, so actually don’t see what the issue is at all now I have said that… but I guess mine might be classed as Christmas, oh goodness if Lily is reading this she is going to be having a blue fit at me mentioning the “C” word again before December.
Sorry it has been over a week since my last blog, so what have I been doing you might ask! Well not much sewing, a bit of baking, fruit & nut tray bake, has been going down nicely, and a gluten free lemon drizzle cake, also been going down nicely…
We have moved into our winter residence in the west wing, and have decided to strip out our main ensuite and redo it over the winter period, oh doesn’t our house sound grand… ok so maybe a slight exaggeration, we have just moved bedrooms, it is warming in this room as the heat from the pellet stove goes straight up the stairs and arrives in the spare room, so makes sense really, but also gives us the opportunity to redo out ensuite, Mark has stripped it out now and we have been deciding what to have where, should we move the door? Move the shower, move the vanity… so many decisions but finally we have decided to keep the layout the same but raise the floor so step into the ensuite rather than a big step into the shower, so all the pipes will go under the floor, we have done this before in a house and it works well, so this is what we are going for, so now the fun starts, my favourite bit I get to choose all the pretty bits, tiles and colours, well I have to say I am stumped! I really have no idea? I am still banned from Pinterest by Mark, well that is what he always says, but obviously I still go on for a little inspiration sometimes… but I’m coming up blank at the moment, I know I want white toilet, sink and shower tray, but as for tiles I really don’t know, for the first time in this house I am trying desperately to stay away from anything Black! I’m even thinking maybe all white and just put the colour in with towels, the ensuite obviously is leading into our main bedroom and that has oak furniture with white walls and bedding, with some burgundy cushions and throws, and chaise longue, so should I do the same in the ensuite? But that seems a tad boring, I could do maybe Neutral colour tiles, like travertine or maybe a grey tile, or stick to white with a black framed shower, with black taps and accessories… see I’m back to black? I definitely need therapy, once a friend came and looked around my house and to be honest, and I do believe she was, she thought it was nice, not her style, but nice, every room we went in I realised there was some form of black, and by the time we got upstairs to our main bathroom she looked at me and said “ you like black don’t you” ops that was when I saw our house through someone else’s eyes… and yes I like black, ok my kitchen is black and I have black furniture in the lounge and black sink and furniture in the sewing utility room and black and white check flooring in the bathrooms and some black furniture in the bedrooms, I guess I may have over done the black so this is why I need to seriously think about what colour to do the ensuite, so if you have any ideas or really love your colour scheme let me know and help me make a decision… just in closing I do have accent colours in all of the rooms I have mentioned, red in the kitchen, burgundy in the lounge, mustard in the sewing room, blue in the main bathroom… see I do use colour but mostly as an accent…
Lastly in my next blog, I’m going to have some audience participation and some great discount on all items on my site so keep checking in…
The weather has not been great this week and has reflected my mood a little, so I need to put my positive pants on and smile because I can…
Chickens… yesterday I realised why Chickens cross the road, I have told my chickens if they don’t lay soon they are going in the pot!! (I would not do that, but they don’t need to know that) So obviously they cross the road to get to carrefour to buy some eggs, and put them in the nesting box before I go and check in the morning… seriously does anyone else have chickens that don’t lay? We spend a fortune buying lovely mixed grain food for them twice a month, I actually think we also feed the whole of the wild bird population in the Charente, and the said chickens have the cheek to chase them away when they fly down to have a little snack on the seeds that Ivy, Bluebell and Fern ( That’s the chickens names) have pulled out of the feed bin and left them on the floor, because they don’t like those bits. I mean seriously they also get rich pickings from us everyday of our leftovers, mind you they also have to fight Ignatius (the cat) for those, he is as good as gold in the house never goes on the worktops or the table and doesn’t even bother when we sit and eat anything in front of the tv, but as soon as the leftovers whatever it is, bread, pasta, rice doesn’t matter, but as soon as it touches the floor of the chicken pen, he is there, and it’s fair game, having said that Ivy, Bluebell & Fern give him a good run for his money, they chase him like they do the wild birds… he sits in the tree above the coup and waits till they are not looking and then nips down and has a snack, I will post a picture of Iggy in the tree, in camouflage of course, as much as an orange cat can be camouflaged in tree! Maybe they don’t like their names and that is why they don’t lay? Maybe they are egg bound whatever that means, maybe they are flying out and laying in Mr McGregor’s vegetable patch (story for another day) and then flying back to nest in our coup at night, whatever the reason I have no idea, I have cleaned the coup, is there and “e” on the end of coupe? Or does that turn it into a type of car? I know I could google it your right, but I feel not everything should be googled, it’s good to have a debate about things and try and work the answer out, using my brain, use it or lose it they say, so here I am having a debate with an inanimate object my computer… at least I get to win every debate, or at least leave myself wondering if I am right or wrong.
Oh just before I go thought I would give an update on the book, the one for the book club we have started, so Riders is going well, the other day I thought I had about an hour left but turns out I actually have 14 hours left, my, I need to get a wiggle on, but last night insomnia my best buddy at night, paid a visit nothing unusual there, but it was a particularly long visit, I didn’t even get to sleep until 1:30 having gone to bed at 22:00 and then back visiting again it came at 4:00 so I read a fair bit last night, but as I still had a long way to go thought I would put the audio version on whilst I was sewing this morning, well that was a mistake, not the sewing part, but as you know I have my utility in the same room as my sewing machine, well today that didn’t work out so well for me, as I decided it was the day to wash the bedding, well obviously that’s a long cycle with lots of spinning involved, so every time it was spinning I had to pause Alexa ,as it was a tad noisy which happened a fair amount, and then (don’t judge me) I put the bedding in the tumble dryer, I know, I know, it could go out on the line or on the clothes airer as I have the fire on, but it didn’t it went in the tumble dryer, which made an inordinate amount of noise, ok so some would call that kalma, I call it very annoying and meant even though the washing machine had finished I still couldn’t hear Riders over the din from the tumble dryer, so this is why you all have this war and peace blog as I can’t hear the audio book over the noise, so thought I would take a break from sewing and put a few words on paper, although it’s not really paper but kind of is, kind of on the subject, Mark and I had been talking this morning (I’m going off on a tangent) whilst having our coffee about what to buy the grandchildren for Christmas, (Sorry Lily if you are reading this I know it’s only October, and I have mentioned the “C” word but with 11 grandchildren I need to start thinking about this early) anyway we were saying that when we were young we didn’t have computer consoles, we didn’t even have computers or phones, and I think it must of been easier to buy for that generation, a colouring book, some pens, a board game, (Team Heath my daughter and her family do play a lot of board games, will tell you about some in a future blog, some great ideas for Christmas presents) or even a kite or bike or just some chalk to draw hopscotch on the pavement outside, now it is so difficult as most of them just seem to be interested in some kind of electronic device, so what on earth do you buy them? Well… Longleat festival of lights day out! They can have my time and my undivided attention (well divided between 11) to make memories as a family, that’s what I am buying them this year…
You will be pleased to know that the washing machine and the tumble dryer have now stopped and I will let you get back to your busy lives, and I will get back to sewing and listening to my audio book…
Sending smiles and positive vibes across the internet to you all…
So the clocks went back today giving us a whole extra hour in bed! Well I wish someone would of told my internal clock that… but on a positive as that’s the way I like to work, being positive, it does mean I have a whole extra hour to sew with, how exciting, well I have been wondering how to answer a lady that asked me how I make my book cushions. On a Facebook page that I follow someone asked what would make a good Christmas presents and I suggested book cushions, and posted a picture of one of mine, the author of the post asked me how to make it, well as most of you know I don’t really use patterns I see something or have an idea and work out how to make it, and this is true of my book cushion, so I am in a quandary as how to explain it? Should I take pictures of each step, should I just write each step, or should I do a video? I have been thinking about videoing and vloging (I don’t know how you spell that) for a while now and wondered what people think, how do you learn best? is it with written instructions or watching a video, I personally prefer to watch, write notes and then do it myself… I am probably over thinking this as this is also what I tend to do, going off on a tangent, also one of my tendencies, My eldest son Dominic 39 years and 3 months, ( accuracy of age is very important as every moment counts, in a parents life when they are talking about their children), several years ago now, but still as an adult he was diagnosed with ADHD (and an onion allergy but that is not important in this blog) one of his traits was (and still is to a degree) to overthink things, he obviously gets that from me… well anyway I am going way off on a tangent here, but it is Sunday so what else do you have to do but sit down with a cup of coffee/tea and lose an hour reading my blog… ok ok I know lots more exciting things, so I will crack on with it, when he eventually got his medication he described to me how it had changed him, his words were, I didn’t know that you didn’t have to constantly be thinking, and it is possible to switch your brain off! Wow… I said neither did I… so obviously I don’t have this medication so I do overthink things and go off on tangents, and I can’t switch my brain off, so back to how do I explain my pattern to her? All I have written down is in the photo attached, please excuse the handwriting… do you think that will be enough for her or do I need to elaborate, I mean that says it all to me, but would it to someone else?
I will also take this blog and apologise now for my grammar and spelling, I try to check everything but often get things wrong, please read this as it is written from my head and my heart, I really hope my spelling does not detract from my ramblings too much, you are always free to send me a message if there is a mistake, I am happy to be corrected, constructive criticism is something I can take, let’s face it there is a lot to criticise and every day is a learning curve, I have a couple of my readers who have pointed things out and I do go back and correct them when I realise, one lovely lady who reads my blog sent me a great helpful sheet which I keep printed out by my computer when I am blogging, but to her dismay I do still get it wrong, I have attached her cheat sheet so you can see I do take things on board and try!
Today the sun is shining and it is a great day to be alive, I have a lot to be thankful for, even if we just think of one thing everyday and focus on that it is a reason to smile.
Invictus Melt and a new tea for me today, Lemon, Ginger & Turmeric…
It’s been a tough few days after Sherlock our lovely grey tabby was sadly taken to Rainbow bridge way to soon, but things are getting back to the new normal…
I have been keeping busy sewing in my happy place, silly hours of the morning when the insomnia kicks in, I think it’s best to go with it and not fight it, the more I try to sleep the worse I get, so I just get up… I have a couple of orders that I am trying to fulfil before Christmas as I have mentioned before and they are coming along nicely, still have a few more to keep me out of mischief, oh yes I need to tell you about our new book club and what we are reading, but let me finish telling you about my sewing, I found some odd bits of whacky pink fabric that was enough to make another book pillow so this one is for sale if you are interested just WhatsApp me, picture below.
I have also been making some foldable totes, they fold into a little pocket so you can keep them in your bag or car for those unexpected purchases, will take some photos so you can see these, and they will soon be posted on my available items.
In November I am having a special promotion for all my makes, will tell you more nearer the time but watch this space…
Oh yes the book club, well it is that time of year when the mornings are dark, well until the clocks go back on Saturday, and it’s dark early in the evening, so some of us have decided to start a book club, I did mention it in a previous blog, well I think I did? I could be wrong, I’m sure I did because I mentioned Jilly Cooper, anyway we have had our first meeting and decided we would read Jilly Coopers 1st book which is “Riders” well it is warming up nicely, and I can’t put it down…. I have it on Audio and kindle, so when I am sewing I can listen and when Insomnia kicks in at night I can read it, I just love how, the kindle knows that I have been listening and will ask if I want to go to the latest location, hey isn’t technology great, so I have a month to read the book but in the meantime I have been watching “Rivals” on Disney, which is the next book in the series, I’m loving it other than they have cast Rupert Campbel Black with black hair and in the book he is blonde? Why? Why would they do that? Anyway there are some very good actors in Rivals I keep saying to Mark oh look It’s him out of Poldark or him out of the musketeers… It’s worth a watch if you can, but read the books they are great there is a whole series of them, I’m looking forward to our next book club meet to discuss Riders, we were going to have a Margarita Thursday, (Sweet Magnolias, great series on Netflix) but it is now on a Wednesday, so felt we needed to change the title, so it could be Book & Bottle, or Wine o’clock Wednesday or even Books & Banter, or A Noval Idea…. Oh now I’m getting carried away, it’s not just my decision, but love a name for something, it’s makes it more special, in my opinion, it’s like naming your car or even your vacuum (I know I just had to mention Dreame, he is still working like a dream) it just gives it that personal touch and makes it special.
I must go now as I have been selling things on market place from our barn and I have people coming this morning to collect so better not great them in my PJ’s…
Yes, it is raining today but that is why we have lovely green grass… remember to smile…
It is a little later than I planned but the day’s just fly by in the blink of an eye… but vacuum update… wow wow, it’s a beauty and a beast all rolled into one… the suction is great, better than any other vacuum I have ever had, and I think it looks good to… ok don’t judge me but I like things to look good, and match and the fact it’s black means it goes well in our home, so double bonus… out of the box it was already 45% charged always a billy bonus, means you can try it without waiting for hours for it to charge, and boy does it perform, it also has many attachments some I’m not sure I will ever use, but a couple of them I think will come in hand, it does have a dog brush, I know right! how good is that? Have to say think that will be one I don’t use unless it’s on the orange cat maybe?
Will post some pictures and keep you updated, but so far so good, it feels like a quality piece of equipment.
Ok so thought I would do a little bit of sewing this afternoon just to try and get a head on Christmas presents, oh on that note the apron is finished, but I will not be adding that pattern to my repertoire, but hopefully the recipient will love it even with all its faults, there was a lot of love and a few choice words went into making it. Today I needed to make something fun and relaxing, so I choose a book/tablet cushion, and I made it out of that lovely red tartan fabric, with a striking red pocket, I absolutely love it and hope the recipient does to.
So I started this blog on Tuesday night and it is now Wednesday morning, no I have not been up all night writing it, Mark had cooked dinner last night and so I stopped to eat and then got caught up in a Netflix series, anyway the beauty of stopping is I can post a picture of me this morning with the fire on, well not actually a picture of me but a picture of the fire… it was the first morning I felt like it was a fire morning.
I will stop now so this doesn’t turn into war and peace again.
Enjoy whatever you are doing today, remember to smile at someone, it’s infectious just try it.
Where do the day’s go? Well the last couple have gone with me spending more time unpicking this apron than actually sewing, but it is finished phew, well at least the mock up one is finished I now just have to start on the actual one, and I have to say I love, love, love the fabric I have for it, I only hope that Alana likes it as much as me… well there is always regifting, it’s better than it sitting in your cupboard, right? Maybe not, I’m doubting myself now, but in the whole better for the planet, it is also better than going to landfill or sitting collecting dust…
I have some other lovely fabric which I am also looking forward to using but can’t quite decide what to use them for, they were end of rolls so only small pieces but then most of the things I make are small, I have a couple of peg bags to make and a book cushion so I could use them for those, but I actually like them so much I want to make something for me… maybe a banana bag, I will post pictures of the fabric I have and you can tell me what you think I should make, maybe a crossbody phone bag would be good? Let me know what you think, just click on the date at the beginning of this blog and at the end it will give you the option to leave a comment.
Vacuum cleaners I need to speak to you about my failure to purchase the correct one, so upstairs I have a cordless Dyson (other brands are available) and it’s great as we have carpet up there, downstairs we had a hoover, I don’t mean a vacuum I mean a branded hoover, actually I have had 2 in the last 2 years the same one, but each time they have broken, well amazon being amazon are very good with their warrantee and they have replaced them each time, this time I asked for a refund and they happily complied, so with the money in the bank I set about looking for one, I didn’t want the same again as I felt having had 2 that broke I didn’t want to go down that route for a third time, so found one I liked did some research and all looked favourable so I ordered one, it was due within 3 day’s not bad, so I was waiting for the day to arrive, and as it did I had a notification saying it was delayed, so no problem (as i thought) I would wait, and I did, and I waited some more, well after a week of waiting I had a message saying it was lost! So I looked again to buy one and the same one was on offer again and it would be with me in 48hours if I ordered in the next 3 hours, so I did, obviously after I have my refund again… well the 48hours came and went and no sign of the vacuum cleaner, once again a notification said it was delayed, so I waited another 48 hours and guess what? Yes you guessed it, it was lost… really! well obviously I again asked for a refund which they were again happy to oblige, in the meantime yes I could of used the upstair Dyson but I wanted to wait for my new one, so I had to go to buy some paint for the lounge and whilst in one of the DIY stores I purchased a brush, I wanted a soft one, not a hard bristle as they tend to flick the dust everywhere rather than just guide it into a neat pile (obviously I have a lot of dust to have a pile) well I pick one up and the bristles were so soft and they went up the sides and on the ends not just along the bottom, well this was the one for me, it felt so soft like velvet, I thought I had better check the price… wow just as well I did, it was a lot and I mean it was a lot! So I thought oh it’s only temporary fix till the vacuum arrives, so I decided not to spend that much, and off I went to our friendly little shop that sells everything you never knew you needed… and I bought a lovely soft brush not like velvet you understand like the other one, but it was soft and would put the dust into piles without to much being consumed into the atmosphere, it only had bristles along the bottom but hey ho I had never seen the other kind anyway, and like I said it was just a temporary measure… well when I got home and used it, I totally understand why the other one was so expensive, sweeping under a table or sofa or anything come to that with a brush with bristles on the bottom is nigh on impossible, you just have the dragging of the side of the brush, the bristles don’t touch the floor, oh man I was frustrated, I really wish I had forked out the extra for the more expensive velvet brush, maybe I would not even need a vacuum then?
Anyway, I digress, back to the vacuum, I still don’t have one and am now getting desperate and still determined not to bring the one down from upstairs, it is the principle of the matter! There are hundreds of vacuums out there but I can’t seem to choose one that I now like, did you know that you can get cordless ones that when you take them back to the charger they sit on a box and it sucks the dust out of the cordless bit into a bigger box… is that a gimmick? Because you are going to have to empty the bigger box at some stage so am I prolonging the inevitable? Or does it make sense? There are also ones that vacuum and wash at the same time, well this sounds like a good idea, then I think does the vacuum get all smelly with all the dust and water in there.
I know I want a cordless but which one, Shark (favourite at the moment), Dyson,(way over priced), Tineco (new one on me but good reviews) The original Hoover (that was the brand that I have had two of in the last 2 years) anyway let me know if you have a favourite one, that you recommend or even one that you would say don’t buy… I must go now and get on with some more sewing… let me know what you think I should make, and also any ideas on Vacuum cleaners as my sewing room floor is beginning to look like something out of a sweat shop there is so much thread and loose ends everywhere…
Hope you are all doing something to make you smile this weekend x
Spiced black pomegranate melt, with ginger and lemon tea for me today…
Well It has been a while since I wrote, so thought I would update you on what I have been up to, and sadly not much of it has been sewing, I did make a little bottle bag for a friends retirement Pineau but other than that my hands have been very busy painting and laying our new floor in our lounge… As that is now nearly finished, still needs skirting boards and a rug, but yesterday I started back in my sewing room, my first task is to tackle frills! Oh my so many frills, I was asked back in July if I would make an apron, and the only stipulation was it had to be like Julia Childs, well I think I have mentioned this in a past post, well yesterday I made a start on a mock up one to see how it was going to work out for me! Having never done frills before it started out as fun, I love a new challenge as you know and then as the frills got more and more and longer and longer and that is just the pockets and skirt I still have the shoulders to do yet, but it is something different and I am enjoying the process, I think this is more Julie than Julia Childs… what am I talking about you are probably saying well there is a film called Julie and Julia, excellent film and it really made me want to be able to cook like Julia, but oh my her recipes are very complicated and time consuming, I was very grateful when her family produced a more modern version of the original cook book, I would recommend the film, if you ever see it on Netflix, Disney or Dodgy box.
I will keep you posted as the apron progresses.
So it getting near to that time of the year when I for one get excited, when we exchange gifts, and I was thinking, that if you are unsure what to buy a family or friend, why don’t you write to me and tell me a bit about them, their favourite colour or if they have any hobbies, and an amount of money you would like to spend on them and I will suggest something that I could make for them…
I have added a photo of the room I have been painting… of course Moriarty had to be in on the picture.
It’s another beautiful day today here in the south west of France, I hope wherever you are you find something to smile about…
