Wednesday, 20-11-24

 So here we are, two thirds of the way through November and there's a frost outside.  We haven't had many frosts this year so far but I gather the next few days will be cold.  Thank goodness for central heating!

Good morning, everyone.  How was yesterday for you?  Mine was a mix of good and bad.

It was chucking it down with rain by the time Chris and I went to Groove so it was a drive down rather than our usual walk.  No snow though, just a little bit of sleet at one point, of the 'blink and you missed it' variety.
Groove started off a bit chilly but Lindsey is very good at getting us going and we all soon warmed up, thankfully.

Jen came round for lunch.  Jen is our former Slimming World consultant who has now stopped because she is moving up north in a couple of weeks' time.  We miss her - she was such a good group leader and I owe her a lot so it was lovely to have a good old catch-up and natter about this, that and the other.

I then got on with Beth's cardi but I need to do another fitting as I think I'm making it too long and I didn't want to do any more in case it had to be re-done.  I'm popping over today and then I should be able to finish it, fingers crossed.

The bad was that I waited for the delivery of my wine box from Naked Wines.  It's a sort of subscription service - you pay so much a month and order your wine when you need it.  I placed my Christmas order last week and it was supposed to arrive between four and six but no box.  So I waited up until nearly half past eleven but - yup, no box.
You can track and I did but after seeing that the delivery van was (supposedly) sat in a village a couple of miles from here for three hours with me being the 16th delivery, I gave up, took some screen shots and went to bed, cold and tired (aaaawwww, poor me!)
Anyway, the tracking thing now says it is at the depot and will be delivered on Thursday.  Hmmmm.
Not sure I believe that because this happened a couple of years ago almost exactly the same and I can only assume that the box was nicked because it never turned up.  Naked Wines replaced it and compensated me but it wasn't great because it was mostly gifts and it was so close to Christmas I had to buy more.  At least this time there's room for a replacement box, if necessary.
Anyway, we will see, but I will be in touch with Naked Wines today.  No point contacting the delivery company - they have a Reputation anyway!

And once this is sorted out, I will spend the remaining money in my account and cancel the subscription; I'd been thinking of doing this anyway and this is the deciding factor, whether my order turns up or not.  I can increase the money I save each month to use at Christmas.  When you only make one order a year and in the last three years there has been trouble with two of the orders, it's really not good.

Goodness - what a rant.  I must be more cross that I thought.  Sorry about that!

Let's finish yesterday on a good note - last week, Sue commented that her Jacquie Lawson advent calendar was working perfectly after I had mentioned that the house wasn't opening yet (if you know, you know) so I got in touch with the company, got a speedy answer saying they were working on it and, lo and behold, yesterday it had a massive update and it is now working fine.  Now THAT'S good service.
I'm going to decorate the tree today, I think.

Today is busy but it is all nice-busy.
I'll be popping round to Beth's this morning and then, this afternoon, it is Knit and Natter (yes, really, I checked) followed by a quick change and a drive to Lindsey's for personal training.  In between times there's a bit of housework and meal prep to keep me busy.
I'll be tired after all that, seeing as I was late in bed last night and didn't sleep great to start with.  Too cross, I suppose.  :-)

What a ramble!  If you have made it thus far, congratulations to you.  Have a pleasant day, whatever your plans, and do stay warm and cosy in this cold snap.  xx

Tuesday, 19-11-24

Morning, everyone.  I hope you had a great night's sleep.

Yesterday started off with Circuits class at Lindsey's studio and it was, as always, good fun.  I did loads better this week, having had a healthy weekend's eating, unlike last week which was after a weekend of afternoon tea - well, a Sunday anyway!
Strength was better, balance was better . . . and I enjoyed it a lot more.

Then I came home and got stuck into the housework.  Boring but the motivation grew and I got everything done that I wanted to get done and still plenty of time for 'me' things too.  It was nice coming downstairs this morning and seeing it all clean and tidy again - must keep it up now as I have so much in the diary that housework time is short (tragic, innit? )  😀

And the day finished off with a Messenger chat with some ladies from the Facebook Slim Win group.  These are always good fun and very helpful too.

And to cap it off, I had a great night's sleep.  Lovely!

Today it's c-c-cold but Chris and I will warm up walking down to Groove class, assuming it isn't raining.  Later on, I have a friend over for lunch - tomato, red pepper and lentil soup made yesterday with bread to dunk and grated cheese and then some fruit - she's a Slimming World girl too.

Probably no time for housework but that's OK - I won't be ashamed of downstairs now.  😀

Better go - thanks for reading and have a really good day.  xx

Monday, 18-11-24

Morning, everyone!

Yesterday was a day when I did what I wanted to do rather than what I ought to have done - which means I still have a little pile of ironing to clear this morning after circuits class on top of the usual Monday housework.  It won't take long, it just needs doing!  

I remembered to take some photos.  None of the Christmas stuff is out of the garage yet so I just used a rather decrepit bush in the garden!

This was the one I made at the workshop.  It is biggish, about 10cm plus in diameter . . .

. . . and here's the one I made on Saturday using a size three hook instead of a four.  Pretty much identical apart from the size but the smaller one looks 'neater' somehow..

I don't like the crocheted loop though and won't do it like that any more.  I can buy some shiny cord and loop it through which should make attaching the bell and the bow a lot easier too - as will using polystyrene balls as the inside.

Different coloured ribbon or patterned ribbon would look nice and ring the changes too.

I looked up how to make a little decoration bow . . . really easy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY0tApswLYo&t=207s

Today starts with Circuits class and then it is housework.  All the housework I really should have done over the weekend but didn't.  
Have a great day, everyone, and I hope it doesn't get too cold where you are.  xx

Sunday, 17-11-24

Morning, everyone.  So here we are, back to morning posts and let's see how they go.

Yesterday was one of those really pleasant days.  To be fair, nowadays the good days far outnumber the less pleasant days but the feelings of having had a great time remain, how often they occur.

I spent the morning and lunch time with some of my favourite people on a walk.  David had worked out a new route for us, parking at the Horse and Groom (we had a table booked there for lunch), heading off down Lawford Lane and over the Can, just touching Writtle and then back out again to rejoin Lawford Lane.  It was really pleasant and I took a few photos, given that it was a new route for us.

It was a rather dull day.  In fact, just before we met up, it was drizzling but that cleared quickly and the sun just popped out and back in again a few times.  It was a delightful Autumnal walk, shuffling through the leaves, but a bit more sun would have given so much more colour.  Never mind, it was lovely anyway and the paths were so well marked that I think I could do it again easily.  Maybe I will, finishing off with a coffee in the pub before coming home again.

Lunch was nice too - I had a chicken and bacon panini with chips and salad and brought half the panini home with me to enjoy for dinner.

I took the rest of the day very easy.  I may or may not have snoozed a bit but I made another, better bauble - my tension is not that tight so I went a couple of hooks smaller and it was just right.  I've also ordered some seven cm diameter polystyrene balls which, I think, will make better filling than wadding and I can then use pins to attach any decorations.  Anyway, I am very happy with the pattern; it's simple but effective.  I'm sure there are other patterns around so need to do a bit of a search as I'd like to make some as little gifts.
Photos tomorrow - I haven't taken any yet.

I loved Strictly although, as Catriona said, the marking was all over the place.  I think the final order was OK though and look forward to seeing the results show this evening - I don't go searching so, please, no spoilers!  I know who I think SHOULD be in the dance off but you never can tell with Strictly.

Today there is absolutely nothing in the diary for once so I'm just going to potter.  Don't get me wrong, there's plenty to do like gardening, housework, ironing, etc, but I'm just going to wing it.  According to the BBC, we might possible get some sunshine and, if that's so, a bit of gardening will be nice (and needed) but - well, we will see.

Have a lovely day, everyone.  Stay safe and warm.  xx

Saturday evening, 16-11-24

Evening, everyone.

Thanks for your comments, especially those regarding morning/evening posts.
I agree, morning feels much more natural to me so I think I will continue to do the food blog in the evenings and this one in the mornings, although there will be times when I can't - coach trips, fitness classes and over sleeping, etc.

So I'll be back tomorrow morning . . . and thank you again.

Sleep well!  xx

Saturday morning, 16-11-24

Morning, everyone.  Late again and it's the usual excuse.  I'm obviously getting old!  🤣

Anyway, here I am, Saturday morning and I have time to ramble on.

Yesterday's Hobbycraft workshop was as expected - except that I was the only one there (apart from the instructor, of course).  There's another one in a couple of weeks at the beginning of December (eeeek) and it's pretty full so I guess I just got lucky.

The instructor (can't remember her name) was lovely, a very interesting lady with lots of crafting interests including making amigurumi and watercolour paintings.  She showed me some photos of her work and the landscapes were just lovely.  I do love a watercolour landscape and, in the past, wished that Beth's artistic talent showed in that way.  But no - she did very modern, expressionist type stuff.

I'm rambling.
The pattern was not difficult although I started by making the rookie error of not re-counting the trebles into the magic ring and doing too many.  Ooops.
It was a really nice time - we chatted as we worked and occasionally she modelled something to me to clarify.  She said she might be doing on on reading crochet patterns as so many people found it hard and I suggested that she could do a 'Beginning amigurumi' workshop - I'd go like a shot.  I love amigurumi but what would I do with the finished products?  There's no little children in the family and I'm certainly not aiming to sell.
Maybe I could make just one or two . . . 

I came home with 

a nearly finished bauble (I just have to add the ribbon)

a cotton bag with all the materials in

three 100g balls of yarn - red, green and white

a bag of jungle bells so now I can finish my wrist warmers

two good sized darning needles

a size 4 crochet hook - not needed, I have loads, but another never went amiss

a thingy of red ribbon (can't remember the name - roll?  Like sellotape, anyway)

some stuffing

the pattern

and a really nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Big apologies for lack of photos.  I will take some, promise and they'll probably be in Sunday's post.

I'm not short of projects for the rest of this month now.  Beth's cardigan, some knitting, baubles to make . . . plus another project that can wait, if needs be.  Then in December I have that lovely (and challenging) Persian Tiles blanket.  I'm looking forward to starting that.

Hobbycraft had some new yarn in.  Oh, I was so, so tempted . . . but the halo is still intact.  I did get a wee cross stitch kit (reduced to £1.50) for my Twelve Days of Christmas box and now I have just one more to get.  I have my eye on a recipe book but will think about it as it's more than this sort of thing warrants really.

Goodness, how I have rambled!  But it was so nice to just sit and craft and chat and now I am so looking forward to going to the Knit and Natter group next Wednesday (it's definitely next Wednesday - I checked).

Thinking of today though, we're having what might be the last Golden Oldies SW Walks this morning and we're having lunch together afterwards.  I am really looking forward to that.  WHen I get home, I have a pile of ironing to do so that's my day, more or less.  Then there's Strictly this evening, of course - that will be nice too.

Such a lovely couple of days!

Well, better stop waffling.  Have a great day, everyone, and stay warm as it gets colder.  xx

Thursday evening, 14-11-24

Evening, everyone.   Today started off very dull but it brightened up nicely eventually which was cheering.

Have you had a good day?

I got some housework done, not as much as I should have done because I kept stopping to do other, nicer stuff.  Never mind, the rest will wait and I did make inroads into the whole thing, including getting almost all the washing done and quite a lot of tidying up - plus cleaning, etc.

I pootled over to Beth's this afternoon and the alterations meant that now the cardigan will fit perfectly now so I can get on and more or less finish it.

Then, this evening, I did some gift wrapping.  Stuff was piling up and I wanted to get it wrapped before taking it upstairs - so I did.

Sue - my calendar isn't working properly so I have contacted them asking for help.  We will see what happens now.  I'm glad you commented ot I wouldn't have known until the 1st December - which isn't so far away now, is it?

And finally, after discovering that I could have used my mobile to pay in a cheque, I discovered today that I can do a very nifty transfer from bank to building society account much more easily than before.   Excellent.

And that's today.  Tomorrow starts with SW and later on it is the bauble workshop at Hobbycraft.  I am looking forward to that.

Good night, everyone.  Have a lovely day tomorrow and sleep well.  xx