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 1^st 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…

Invictus melt and coffee this morning…

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…

Snow Fairy Melt, with Lemon & Ginger tea for me today…

Happy Monday everyone…so the weather has turned a little more wet, so just as well Mark installed the pellet stove into my sewing room last week, as I feel it will soon be needed, but still holding off using it at the moment!

I was researching some projects for gifts as it’s coming into that time of year again… ok I will not use the word yet as we still have October Rose, Halloween and Bonfire Night to get through first, but anyone who creates gifts knows that you have to plan ahead for these things and having 10 Grandchildren I definitely need to plan well in advance, especially if I am making things for all of them! Girls are easy to make for, but boys take a little more thought, especially teenage boys, so if you have any ideas, please let me know, as I am a little stumped for sure.

This weekend I did make a little fold up shopping back out of an old duvet cover, and I have lots more material so I can make many more of those, but as I like to make everything I create different, I may have to find a way to funk them up and make them more individual.

Last week my hoover broke, yes it is a hoover not a vacuum cleaner, well it is a vacuum cleaner but it is a hoover brand, not a Dyson or Shark, the reason I am clarifying that is, I used to work with someone who always corrected me when I mentioned hoovering, I should of said vacuuming but it just doesn’t sound right to me? But yes technically he was correct, he did used to work in Health and Safety, and Quality, so maybe he was protecting the other vacuum manufactures reputation, I have to say Hoover did a pretty good job on us in the marketing of their products for us to say I have hoovered, when I guess we should have said Dysoned or Sharked… Um I’m not sure either of those are going to catch on like hoovering? Or maybe it is just me that hoovers and you vacuum? Again let me know… Oh I forgot what I was going to tell you then, so my hoover broke last week and as I purchased from that lovely online shop that is also a rain forest, I contacted them to see what they could do, and they are good, don’t you think? You do have a certain amount of worry free shopping when you buy with them, you know you can send it back free of charge and get your money back, and this hoover is over a year old but they have just said send it back we will refund your money, and that is worth a lot in my opinion, I do know other people have other views, and that’s also good, it wouldn’t do for us all to be the same it would make for a very dull world, anyway I digress the dilemma I have is do I buy the same make again, this is the second one that has broken in 2 years, but the fact that I know it and I can have it replaced when it breaks again… is it better to have the devil you know? Or have a change? Well I will let you know what I decide as I need to do a bit of looking around to find a good one… I do have a Dyson which is my upstairs vacuum (I had to change that as I wrote hoover) but they are so expensive, but they last! So you get what you pay for, it’s just the initial upfront cost, anyway, I will let you know next time what I went for and how it worked out for me…

Below is a photo on one of the hottest day’s of the year, when Mark was testing the new pellet stove… It’s going to be toasty in my lovely room.

Have a lovely day whatever you are doing.

Invictus melt and liquorice & Peppermint tea for me…

Things happen for a reason, I’m not sure what the reason was yesterday, but today for me was obvious, the sunrise… isn’t nature wonderful! If you’re in any doubt see my photo below, it’s not the best but you can see what I mean,

So after I had written my blog yesterday and decided I needed to get a wiggle on, Mark was just on his way out the door and I thought I had better check what time my sewing machine needed to be with the service centre tomorrow… oh wow all of a sudden I had a very different agenda as Jerrie the Janome was due a check-up at 10am that morning, as you can imagine I was running around like a Tasmanian devil, after having to box up Jerrie and find her documents, get myself showed and dressed, sort Arty, I was in a right flap, anyway I made it in time and left Jerrie in the capable hands of the service centre, with them promising to call when she was ready, but on the way out, just sitting there was a beautiful new Jerrie on steroids… A Skyline 3, of course the lady was quick to ask if I needed any help, to which I replied oh she is magnificent, she then proceeded to tell me that it was not worth upgrading to that one as it only had the same functionality as Jerrie, but look at this one! she said this is the best option for you! Of course it was, at additional few hundred euros… well by now she had me hook, line and sinker, so I sat down with her and thought what’s the harm in having a little demonstration, I will tell you what the harm is, €1,469.00 is the harm, but she proceeded to show me just what I would be getting for that money, well you will be pleased to no and so will Mark and my bank manager, that I thanked her kindly for showing me the possibilities and I left saying I would return for my Jerrie later that afternoon, that is not quite the end of the story, as when I returned home it’s didn’t stop me from looking on line to see if I could get the said machine for a better deal or even a second hand one, as you all know most of our home has been refurbished with preloved goods, and my whole sewing ethos is reuse and repurpose… I have still not purchased even a second hand one but who knows in the future maybe.

On to today and the reason things happen, well at 5:30 I woke and remembered that we had not put the bins out for collection, well 5:30 was a tad early to wake Mark up with me trundling the bins down the drive, so I waited will 6:45 and the beautiful view as the sun was coming up with the moon still high in the sky was breathtaking, I’m not good at taking photos as I’m sure you can tell by now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the picture and give it a go, so I thought I would share the view over our pool, this was definitely the reason for not putting the bins out, and I’m very pleased I didn’t…

I hope you find something to smile about today…

Invictus melt today, and Ginger & Lemon Tea for me…

Smells are funny, aren’t they? Some people go through life and just take smells for granted, but I do love a smell, obviously I prefer nice ones’ but sometimes you don’t get a choice do you, anyway, recently I have been obsessed with Fabulosa No.1.  I have it in floor cleaner, hand soap, fabric softener, and even toilet cleaner, I’m beginning to think I need therapy for it, I go shopping with a lovely friend and she just laughs at me as I unscrew the top of bottles so I can smell before I buy, but to me a smell will inspire me, relax me and even challenge me when I can’t quite place what it is,  the melt I am burning today, Invictus, I believe is an aftershave which my talented friend Jayne, has turned into a lovely melt, it’s very masculine with a warm and welcoming vibe, I guess that is a good thing to have in an aftershave…

So this weekend has been a wonderful social time spent with lovely friends, but I did manage to make a gorgeous mustard cord banana sling bag for my granddaughter Tiggy, I actually have a couple for sale in the adult size but I made this one for Tiggy in a smaller size, will put the two together so you can see the difference, I might make a couple more as little girls do love a bag don’t they?

Yesterday I made a start on preparing our lounge to be redecorated, when we moved into our home nearly 8 years ago the only thing that we did to the lounge was repainted it from yellow to Elephants breath…. Umm how do they come up with these colour names and how are you supposed to know what colour elephants breath is? Well I can tell you it is sort of a beige colour like a very milky latte… just as well they don’t ask me to choose colour names, so today I am doing more of the same I think preparing the room to be painted, what colour I hear you say well that is the big question, I have already put a dado rail, (I think they still call it that) around the room and would like to do the bottom a different colour to the top but what colour is the 50million dollar question, well I love the colour I have in my sewing room which is Studio Green, thought it was appropriate as it was going to be my studio, but will that be to dark in the lounge is my only concern, as many of you know I do love black and my furniture is painted black but hey let’s see how it turns out, what’s the worst that can happen I will be repainting it again…

I do also have a new project to start which I am looking forward to and that is to make an Apron the only stipulation is the more like Julia Childs the better!  Well, if you don’t know who she is I will leave that to you to research but I have a wonderful cookbook by her, so that might help.

I had better go now or I will still be sat here at lunchtime, hope you have a lovely day …

Snow fairy melt today, and for me liquorice and peppermint tea…

Yesterday we had a lovely trip to Bordeaux to collect a wonderful friend from the airport, they have chosen our little corner of rural france to live, and we couldn’t be happier, her husband will be joining her in a weeks time and their new life here amongst the sunflowers, goats, horses, corn, vineyards and wonderful history begins, this jolly to the airport meant I could do a little bit of retail therapy in Ikea, nothing much just a couple of little bits, and amongst them I was able to get some new lightbulbs or as Rich another friend and neighbour, who also happens to own a lovely lighting company called Dusk, tells me they are lamps not bulbs, well that just does’t make sense to me, a lamp is what holds the bulb! But hey I will bow to his superior knowledge and except that I maybe wrong, but I can’t change 61years of calling it a lightbulb… anyway I digress these new bulbs/lamps are for my sewing room, I did purchase some locally but when I got them home and put them in they gave off a lovely orange glow, but defiantly not the look I was going for, hence the new ones.

So I mentioned that the bag I made for a friends birthday had a funny story attached, well sometimes it’s lovely to be able to pattern match fabric so on seems and pockets they become invisible as the patterns just flows, well this very rarely happens with my creations mostly due to the fact that I am using repurposed fabric and often just odds and ends, and also it is incredibly difficult and skilled to pattern match, well with this bag the pattern happened to create a rather funny picture of a donkey with the riders body being on the wrong way round… Lily who now owns the bag said, it looks like he is wondering where the mule’s head is! I think he is saying help me my mule has no head! Photo below so you can decide what it looks like… I will be careful in future when placing patterned fabrics.

Have a lovely day and bon week-end.

Today is another Snow Fairy Day and Ginger and Lemon tea… Deja vu

Finished! phew sometimes things take a little longer than anticipated but they are always worth the wait, in my opinion.

It’s another beautiful morning here in the Charente, the sun is not yet up, and the birds are just beginning to stir, I have lit my melt and have my cuppa, what a way to start the day… so let me tell you about the little bag I made yesterday.

I really enjoyed the process of putting this little bag together, admittedly the interfacing I used was way to thick, but it is very padded so hopefully will be robust, may tweak the pattern a little for the next one, and had to do an emergency shop for some different hardware, ie Zip, D Rings and Slider… I have to say these are the things I find hard living in rural france, nothing is readily available, you have to search on line or drive a round trip of at least a couple of hours, not an issue if you have a long time scale but as I am a little impatient that doesn’t always work out well for me, so if anyone out there has a good supply shop for sewing supplies I would be very interested in hearing from you. I will post pictures below, and I have added the bag to my available items, sadly this one will be heading to my daughter in the UK, but I have plenty of fabric to make more if someone would like one, I will also have the option to have just a wrist strap if you do not want a full crossbody strap.

So today I think I may actually get round to making another one of these little bags with different interfacing (the padding) and I have just the right fabric to use for this one, it is a little left over from an old quilt cover that was donated to me, and I think it will make a great phone pouch.

Have a lovely day…

Today is a Snow Fairy day… with a cuppa Ginger and Lemon tea..

Things don’t always go to plan…So i only managed to cut the fabric out yesterday for the phone pouch, not as much progress as I would of liked, but some day’s it’s just like that, I spent most of the day trying to fix the like button on this blog, but alas it eluded me, so I have parked that task for now in favour of finishing the bag. I have a wonderful friends birthday coming up and really need to focus on the task in hand or she will be giftless! I will post a picture of what I am hopefully going to make her after her birthday as you never know she may be reading my blog.

Does anybody else have chickens that are not laying, honestly we are feeding the whole wild bird population of the Charente at the moment I think, our chickens are indeed very fussy about what they eat, they pick out the bits they want and leave the rest all over the floor for every Robin, Jay and Pigeon to eat! seriously if they don’t lay soon they will be in the pot!!! ok ok they won’t I couldn’t do that, but I do tell them, but I think they know I am a bit of a push over, so in the meantime while waiting for the chickens to lay, oh they have names by the way, we have Ivy who is head hen, and then we have Betsy… we did have Repecka but sadly she is no longer with us… (no she did not go in the pot) I think life is a little to easy for them and maybe we should get a couple more chickens to shake things up a little, after all how am I meant to make Mark cake if I have no eggs… buy them I hear you say, well yes I do but it’s a little bit counter productive when we have chickens who should be providing the said eggs for the cake! but I have to say they are fun to have around and it means they eat our scraps, and it is very much part of living in rural France.
I have to get back to the sewing now, until next time… have a lovely day x