Getting crafty, and tidy

Mondays are days to do what I want.  

Today, is wet and wintry.  I want to snuggle up on the sofa and craft. One fingerless mitten has been finished, and then second one is at least half way done. The pattern for the fingerless mittens is currently being written.  

My house is in need of some attention, and today the kitchen and the laundry room are receiving a little bit of TLC (tender, loving care). But I am fearful about those rooms going into shock, so they are only getting the TLC for about 10 minutes in each hour. 

This gives time to improve the situation, and get some crafting done.

So far, there has been knitting, pattern writing and testing. In the kitchen the chicken has been transformed into stock, and the stock into carrot soup.  In the laundry room, three loads of laundry are/have been washed. One load is in the dryer, and two load have been sorted and folded. These will be disappearing upstairs soon. All in all, it's looking tidier.

Reasons to be cheerful

A few days ago a friend on Facebook lined to a quiz about 1980s music. I scored a very respectable 12 out of 12.  This was on 'Black Friday', and rather than have a rant about the insidious nature of this  despicable import being forced upon a culture, I decided to be thankful instead.  The words of Ian Dury and The Blockheads started running through my head, Reasons to be Cheerful.

This is so much better than being ranty!  Reasons to be cheerful.  There's so many reasons to be cheerful, and I'm having a hard job choosing just the one thing to post about each day.  There is no real order to them, just what pops into my head, and then isn't displaced by something else by the time I come to post it.

1.  My first reason to be cheerful is someone named in the song, 'Miss Molly'.  Miss Molly was a person I knew on-line.  She died almost 13 years ago.  The way she approached death was an inspiration to all who came in contact with her.  Even though death was stalking her, she was very much alive.  She encouraged people live life, and not to fear death.  

Reasons to be cheerful - part 1:  I am alive, and have a life worth living.

2.  I have a stash.  No, two, sorry, three... at least, stashes.  There's my yarn stash.  There's my fabric stash, and there's books.  These stashes represent the potential for many happy hours.  There's happiness in planning, joy in making and a delight in using or giving things away.

3.  Reasons to be cheerful - part 3:  This is the song that started the whole thing.  It would make no sense if it were not included!

4.  A wet and wintry day off has created the perfect excuse to smuggle up on the sofa and do some Christmas crafting.

My quilts

I realised I didn't have photographs of my quilts on my blog.  This post is to remedy the situation.

My first quilt: 

The second, a table runner for my parents' golden wedding:

And my third, a lap quilt for me:

The time between the first one and the second was about three years.  Then it was one year between finishing the second and starting the third.  The time between the finishing the third and starting the fourth was 5 days.  And it was only that long because I couldn't get to the fabric shop to buy supplies!

There are unfinished projects around the place.  After the two Christmas present quilts are done I am going to get back to them and sort them out. 

Machine Patchwork can be incredibly swift!

Today I started work on a Christmas quilt, well, a Nightmare before Christmas quilt.  This is one side.

And this is the diagram for the other side.

The yellow has been changed to a bright pumpkin orange.  The yellow sashing will be white, and the outer purple will become a dark grey pattern that looks a bit spider-webby, and echoes the colours in Jack's suit.

Granny's Flower Garden Quilt

My summer project has been completed.  This is my third quilt, and my first hand stitched one.

Previously, hand stitching and quilting is something that I would not have tried. It takes a huge amount of time to make a quilt by machine, and it's even longer doing it by hand. However, I have found the experience to be strangely compelling.

This quilt is a lap quilt. My next quilting projects are also lap quilt. &They are for my offsping. There will be a TARDIS quilt, and a Nightmare before Christmas one.

Twelve week fitness course

The National Sports Centre offers a system whereby your GP can refer you to trainers to help with your health.  In the last 6 years my shoulders have dislocated 3 times, and there are many, many subsequent dislocations.  It takes about 18 months for my shoulder to heal, and I've had enough.  I've asked for help in targeting the muscles that will help hold my shoulders in the right places.

The system means I have 12 free sessions at the gym and swimming pool between now and Christmas.  The woman handling my induction this morning will be seeking out exercises specifically for my shoulder issues.  

Today I spent 10 minutes on the treadmill, keeping my heart rate at around 130.  There was 5 minutes on the bike, again at 130 bpm, 50 repetitions on the rowing machine, and having a go on various other bits of kit.  This evening I took a half mile walk.

Next week, I'll do more work on the treadmill, bike and rowing machine, and hopefully add in some shoulder-specific things.  Then, it will be time to go swimming.  When I was swimming back in May I found it to be very useful for my shoulder.  

Update on Grandma's Flower Garden Quilt

The central flower section of the quilt top has been made. The top, wadding and backing have been sandwiched together and pinned in place. I've even managed to quilt 3 of the flowers!

When this section has been quilted almost all of the hand sewing will be completed. A purple border will be added, and then a wide white one. There are a few flowers left over, and these will be onto the white border (the bit that hangs over the edge of the bed.

Rainbow Cake

I made this cake a few years ago.

Oops, I wasn't meant to eat those things!

Learning the dos and don'ts of Whole30 is proving to be a bit of a tricky business!  I've managed to have corn with every meal today, and had peas at dinner time too.  Ooops.  We live and learn.

Breakfast: chicken and sweetcorn risotto

Lunch: chicken and sweetcorn risotto with salad leaves

Dinner: roast chicken, jacket potatoes, gravy, peas and sweetcorn

Fruit: honeydew melon

The last two days I seem to have done nothing but think about food.  However, there is a very helpful little paragraph on the Whole30 website:

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days

It isn't a trivial thing to do the Whole30.  I've been trying for 2 days, and I messed up on both days.  It happened by accident, not by design, and tomorrow will be a better day.

My guts were in uproar last month, and my energy levels were all over the place.  I want to get to a place where the food I am putting into my body nourishes me properly and doesn't cause problems.  

I've love some chocolate just now.  My body wouldn't.  This month has to be about my body's 'needs', rather than my brain's 'wants'.

Whole 30

July was not a good month for my gastro-intestinal system. The slightest little thing could set things off. Whole 30 was suggested as a way to give my innards a bit of a rest, and try to re-set things. A dietician recommended some rice was added to the standard Whole 30 program. This is wonderful for me as when my guts start acting up my go-to meal is chicken and vegetable risotto. 

"The Whole30® is our original nutritional program designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system." This is done by removing, for one month, grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods. I already know that it is these food that are causing me problems.

Most days I am not hungry in the morning and breakfast isn't something that happens. There was some dairy in last night's dinner, and let's just say my system had a bit of clean out. This meant I was very hungry this morning. Many of the suggest breakfasts rely very heavily on eggs. They are another one of my trigger foods. Today's breakfast has been sweet potato, onion, leek and bacon.  

Lunch was a couple of gluten-free sausages with a green salad and some home made lemon mayonnaise.

Dinner came in the form of chicken and sweetcorn risotto.

Flowers are in bloom

My summer holiday project is coming along nicely.There are 11 colours of flowers, and currently there's two flowers of each colour.

It is working well to make a flower at a time, then add partial ring of 5 white hexagons. This gives a block of 12, and it tiles nicely. Then one flower of each colour is placed beside the part that has already been sewn and the family collaborates on a pleasing arrangement.

This fabric flower garden will form the top section of a double bed quilt. There will be a strip of one of the purples around the hexagon section. This section will be hand quilted by stitching about 3-5 mm away from the colored hexagons. It will make the flowers 'pop'.

I haven't quite decided what to do with the sections that will fall down the sides of the bed. They might well be deep sashings of white. I am loathed to try to buy any fabrics to match the existing ones as they were bought in Hereford, mid-Wales, and Chester. Hmm, I'm sure I could order more of the purple bought in mid-Wales. It was bought from Cross Patch in Velindre.

Granny's flower garden, part 2

The flowers continue to grow.

Birthday cake

A birthday cake made by the wonderful offspring.  When they brought it through, they were like two little children again, full of gleeful delight in their creation.

A Scrabble Bag

A friend commented on the picture of the Rummikub drawstring bag and said she really needed to make something similar as her Scrabble tiles are currently in an sock!

Being on holiday, having the rest of the fat quarter, and a bit of ribbon, I offered to make her a bag.  This is the result.   Tomorrow it crosses the Irish Sea to its new home.

Ideas for Sustainable/Eco Housing

For as long as I can remember I have been designing houses I would like to live in. At the Centre for Alternative Technology I came across a couple of ideas I really liked.

The first is using photovoltaic cells to form the roof of a cloister or corridor. On a bright summer's day it is rather like being under the dappled shade of a large tree. There's still significant amounts of light, and there's also shade too. Being photovoltaic, the roof also supplies electricity too. I had initially thought of it as being a way of creating a covered 'outdoor' space with good natural light, but this image from the University of Southampton has made me consider whether it would be possible to do this on the whole of the south-facing roof space. The big question would be whether it would be suitable in the winter.

A conservatory is a must. It provides additional living space in the summer, and in the winter it is an excellent thermal barrier, keeping the house itself a little bit warmer.

Cordwood construction struck me as a very low-tech way to build, whilst at the same time having visual interest and appeal. I'd love to try this for a garage or outbuilding. I'd prefer my house to be a bit sleeker, with clean lines.

In cordwood construction the "cordwood" or short pieces of debarked tree are laid on a bed of lime or cob mortar. The whole wall can be made this way, or an infill of a thermally insulating material can be used. The eaves of the building extend 30-40cms beyond the walls to throw off as much rain water as possible.

Another little bag

We packed the game Rummikub to play on holiday.  I thought I had made a bag for the tiles.  And it wasn't until the contents of the box spilled open whilst we were away I realised I had made a bag for the tiles, but I had given it to my Mam for her Scrabble tiles!

Time for another bag.  This one was made from half a fat quarter of fabric, and 1.25m of navy ribbon.

These drawstring bags are so easy to make, and quick as well.  They make great little bags for games, but can also be used to store bread, vegetables or as a re-usable present bag.

Little Living

This year we spent part of our holiday in a static caravan in mid-Wales.  The whole caravan was about a quarter larger than my bedroom at home!  

Whilst on holiday I learned a few lessons about 'little living'.  The first was the vast importance of tidying up as you go.  If things are left out beyond the time they are being used then the whole place looks untidy, cluttered and claustrophobic.  Tidy as you go.

Another lesson was the importance of good storage.  One very nifty storage solution in the main bedroom was a bed where the mattress could be raised to offer access to the divan.

My parents have drawers in their divan.  They are useful, to get access to the drawers at the head of the bed you have to pull the bed out, away from the wall.  This isn't practical if you need to use those drawers more than a few times a year.  At home, we have a wooden framed bed, no divan.  Under the bed I have a couple of large, flat plastic boxes with lids.  They are great for storage, but it gets rather dusty under there (if I am not diligent at evicting dust bunnies). 

Another lesson was I have too much stuff!  From books, to yarn, fabric and clothes, I have too much stuff.   Eight years ago when we moved into our current home we rattled around in it for a good while.  Now, there's stuff everywhere.  

It's time to use these lessons.  Since the start of the year I have bought no yarn.  My stash must have reduced, but I am having problems seeing much of a difference. At the start of the year I couldn't imagine not buying yarn for a whole year, but I reckoned I could make it until Easter.  At Easter, going until the summer seemed possible.  Now, 6 months later, I am ready decide not to buy yarn for the rest of the year.  But, I suspect I need to do something similar with fabric.  It's time for no new fabric either.  However, to give myself some wiggle room, I am going to say that I am allowed to buy just enough fabric to finish a project.

And each time I leave a room, I will cast my eye around to check that things are tidy.  I will tidy as I go.

Holiday creations: hexagon patchwork and project bag

This holiday, I decided I wanted to try a project that was small & contained, didn't need electricity, and was a bit different from my usual projects.

Doughty's of Hereford do a fantastic range of fabrics, and it was a little pack of 20 strips of patchwork fabrics that caught my eye.  Next I spotted a little pack of hexagons, and my holiday project was decided.

It feels very weird to be doing all this hand sewing.  But I am enjoying the simplicity of it.

At Christmas, the Beloved bought me some lovely yarn from Wool Warehouse, The yarn came in a drawstring bag.  I have been using this bag on and off since then, but over the holiday the bag started to fall apart.  This morning I remade the bag, making sure that all of the voile was carefully enclosed within seams.  I also added a much stronger cotton top to the bag.  

I love that the bag is see through, and I can easily find the little hexagons, the threads etc.  It is much easier to use than an opaque bag.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins

Today's time in the kitchen was spent cleaning the cooker, hob and surfaces. There was also so indulgence in baking - chocolate muffins with a cream cheese icing, topped with strawberries.

The recipe is the same as the Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins, but instead of adding the cream cheese to the middle of the muffin, it was spooned on the top. Also the milk in the recipe was substituted for apple juice. Both versions are quite delightful.

IronMay Challenge: Finished!

During May a grand total of 2.4 miles was swum, 116 miles cycled, and 26.2 miles walked!  I have completed 1.01 of an IronMan spaced out over the month.  

Apparently there's people who do this within 17 hours!  My poor body is still rather tender, and just plain grumpy.  It is a lot of physical active activity.