thoughts on allsorts!

Wednesday 25 June 2008

glasto festival

well here are the 'pimped up' wellies - and thought they might well be needed when i took my daughter and her friend to the drop off site for glastonbury - just as we got there it rained! hopefully it was only a shower as it is forecast to be nice most of the time - not that they care - they could not wait to get there! i must confess to a wisteful moment - one that she is so grown up now and two that i couldn't go!


last night was spent trying to squeeze all the 'necessities' into one bag, then there was the bag with food and stove, cooking pot, gas, etc., the flagpole and very pink flag - which a friend had done with graffiti like writing - so they can hopefully find their tent amongst a sea of tents! finally there were the sleeping bags and two little fold out seats called Howard and Hilda! (can you guess where that comes from? couple of fat quarters to first one!


she has since text me saying tent up, flag flying and 'all good and happy'. that brought a rather silly lump to my throat!


after dropping them off decided to go to Bath for some retail therapy - the traffic was horrendous as you can imagine - then there was an accident so they sent us up some little lanes and when you came to a junction there were no signs! got to bath in the end tho and ended up - guess where - the lovely quilting shop called country threads - only bought some wadding and a magazine - honest!


well thats all for now - will leave you with photo of girls - am sure there will be more!

Sunday 22 June 2008

movie news!

just quick ps to last blog as have been asked opinion of movie - yes it was good, very funny - could have done with a glass of wine whilst watching though!

will chat more tomorrow - am trying to sort out some pics!

have just looked at trashys blog and am very excited by swap - easily pleased me!

Tuesday 17 June 2008

sex in the city/mending fences!


how diverse is my life! a friend wanted to go and see sex in the city and asked if i'd come - her treat - well how could i refuse - i had never seen the series on tv and neither had she! sitting in the pics i had a quiet chuckle to myself (sign of madness!) that one minute i was dressed up (reasonably) and watching a film with fantastic designer outfits, jimmy choos, you name it and that morning i had been in wellies, old jeans and t shirt, helping my friend mend a hole in the fence to stop her cows getting out! i would add that this was a dangerous mission as said cows had calves and can get quite lary! so we were banging nails in and trying to watch our backs at the same time. needless to say the landrover was parked close with the doors open! i did think at one point it would be interesting to see how fast i could run, but then decided it probably would not be fast enough!

not had a lot of time to sort out my fabrics for my quilt - here are some i quite like


while sorting through stash i found a wall hanging i had made a while ago




so thought i might give it a wash and hang it up - not sure where though yet!





oh, by the way, i have made a really, really stupid error and run out of wool on a jumper i have been knitting for ages - only need 1 ball but of course Rowan have now discontinued the colour - so if any of you have 1 ball of Rowan all seasons cotton shade 194 Cape ( a blue colour) i would gladly buy it off you and pay for post and packaging. have tried most yarn shops and ebay but to no avail - its not a complete disaster as i only have to do the neck so i could do this in a contrast if necessary.


better go now and get on with jobs - seem to have a long list of them! thought you might like this as it made me laugh - bought it as a thank you card!




Thursday 12 June 2008

ladies who lunch!

thought this might make you smile! Molly checking out dishwasher!



i can't believe i just did that! i just wrote a blog and for some reason went to look at pics and lost the whole lot! what a croc!




thats what happens when you have wine at lunch! have been very lucky and had lunch out yesterday (some old friends i had not seen for a while which was great) and again today - took out daughter for some much needed r and r in the midst of revising for a'levels.




a small amendment to the number sheep - we now have only three - one having popped her clogs on monday - she was quite old and i think it was her time - but i do miss her and so do the other three remaining old dears - people say sheep are stupid but believe me they are not! mine have been pets - living happily just eating and occasionally letting me have a fleece when i used to spin. an old farmer once said to me 'when i die, i'd like to come back as one of your sheep'! how sweet! i like having them around but am not sure whether to get any more - what with all the red tape around nowadays - plus at this time of year it gets quite stressful waiting for them to be shorn, especially when it gets as hot as it has been - fly strike is a big risk - and i keep looking at them every time they want to itch! but they are such characters.




on another matter, having read silverpebbles blog and seen the lovely pics of the new arrival, it makes me feel broody - want to start knitting bootees and hats! doesn't seem that long ago mine were like that - now its all grunts and bedrooms where you can't even see the floor - my mother would be horrified - you would not find a spec of dust at her place - i think i'm a big disappointment on the housework front!




anyhoo - time to get on with dinner - have not got a clue what to cook - some days i just dont seem to have any inspiration.




hoping to lay out fabrics for my next project - a quilt - later on - have decided on a floral theme - but seem to have a rather large amount of fabric! wonder where that came from?!

Tuesday 10 June 2008

sweet peas

i just love sweet peas - the smell and the colours take me straight into summer - as soon as i smell them it just makes me feel happy!


just thought you would like to know that! am in the process of working out a new quilt - have not made one for ages - never actually made one just for me - did one for the children when they were smaller - never ceases to amaze me that even now they are older, the minute they are poorly and have to lie on the settee, they still want to be covered by their quilts!


have finally finished some stitcheries i have been doing for a very lovely lady, as i said before, and here is a picture of one of them, although not a very good pic i must admit


all that needs to be done now is to frame it!
actually managed to get five minutes this evening just sitting in the garden and decided it was pimms oclock! what a treat! actually felt like a 'country living moment' -you know you always get those fantastic pics of a family in the country, lovely garden, cath kidston tablecloth, emma bridgewater china, animals looking clean and cute! however in real life, my garden and animals never quite match up!
thanks again to those lovely ladies who have sent me comments, its amazing how great it makes you feel!

Saturday 7 June 2008

belguim fudge cake

as there seemed to be some interest in the above mentioned cake i will give below the receipe which was given to me about 10 years ago (as you can see by oz and not grams!) by a very dear friend and has been made literally hundreds of times - its great to do because its no cook! just put in fridge - hurrah!

4 oz butter
2 tabs golden syrup
8 oz rich T (or digestive) biscuits
1 oz raisins
2 oz quartered glace cherries
5 oz chocolate (cooking choc is fine)

1 loaf tin

melt butter , chocolate and syrup in saucepan (or in a bowl in microwave). mix well - put in larger bowl and add biscuits which have been crushed (plastic bag and rolling pin!). stir well and then add fruit. press into loaf tin (lined first) and place in fridge for at least 3 hours - the longer the better. then eat! wonderous!

if i had mastered the pics side of things i would post one but have not got that far yet!

the pic of the two dogs are my two cavalier king charles (my daughter put that one on for me)- the little one is molly and is the newest addition to our family - she's like a tasmanian devil and you need eyes in the back of your head!
but she's so cute. latest thing chewed was a tube of savlon - luckily she did not get much! loves to get in with my knitting which explains why i have not got much done lately!

she loves it when i go through my stuff, especially yarns - on one of my rare tidying up days (don't do that to stash too often as suddenly realise how much i have) i found some wool i had spun years ago - i used to have wensleydale sheep - she loved the smell of that (i would hasten to add that it had been washed, but spun wool does retain a slight sheepy smell for a while) - only enough for a scarf but thought i would do it as a pick up when i have a five minute window!

well, talking of dogs, time to take the little dears out for a belt around. hope you enjoy the cake.

Friday 6 June 2008

help!

i know i am new to this and probably being a complete idiot but could someone tell me how to post comments on other peoples replies to my ramblings! would love to be in the pink pearl draw if this is possible

i love the idea of this blog but at the moment it is so frustrating! my daughter, bless her, is going to help me later but at the moment is rather busy with her A level English exam so i am trying to work this out by myself - what a hoot!

i think i need refreshment - of the tea variety! perhaps a slice of belgium fudge cake which i made earlier! if anyone wants the receipe i am happy to post it later.

new friends

i would like to say thanks to all those lovely people who have commented on my entry into the blogoverse, as my good friend trashcan, calls it. you'll have to give me time to get up to speed with pics and things - all your blogs give me lots of inspiration, but also a lot to live up to!

spent yesterday looking at my stash and trying to organise it (should have been doing other things but what the heck). trouble is i have no will power - if i see a quilt or yarn shop i feel some invisible thread pulling me through the door and once inside i can't help myself! its not any better on line either - so much choice, so little time!

have finally finished two stitcheries - these are like little birth samplers but very simple and naive - a very lovely lady had seen some others i had done and asked if i could do some for her to give as presents - i was very touched that she liked them so much - i dont know about you but when i have made something for someone else i am always critical, when its just for me then its fine!

any way, outside jobs are calling, but i will try later to do some pics (with a lot of help from my daughter)

thanks again for all your encouragement.

Thursday 5 June 2008

confused!

i thought this blog stuff was supposed to be easy! having read all the blurb that comes with the setting up, ended up with huge headache last night!

still my good friend, who shall be nameless, who started me down this road, you know who you are, assures me that all will be fine in the end.

i love reading other crafters news, it is awesome and inspiring. I feel like i have come out as it were, having spent years just quietly doing my stitching, etc. everyone says that knitting is hip and trendy, yet if you do sit and knit, say in a cafe, on the train, people look at you as if you are mad doing it in public - i think things are getting better now and people are beginning to appreciate the skill and love that goes into making things. i can think of nothing better than receiving something someone has taken the time and trouble to make for me, and the reverse is true because i love making presents for others.

well thats probably enough for now - housework and poo picking (i have horses) beckon.

i feel like meg ryan (wish i looked like her!) sending my thoughts off into the void.

Wednesday 4 June 2008

new beginnings

right, never done this before, so its really quite scary, especially having looked at other peoples' fantastic blogs!

as for the name, wonderwoman, as you have probably guessed, this is ironic, - should be more like jack of all trades, master of none!

love to quilt, knit, bake (when time permits!) and try and grow things in the garden and greenhouse.

am slightly hindered in all the above as have a few animals - 5 horses, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 4 sheep and quite possibly soon, some chickens! never mind the three children and one very sweet, long suffering husband!


when got more time hope to jazz up the site a bit, have some pics, but this will take time as have not got a clue yet as to how to achieve all this. my daughter, bless her, tells me its easy.