Cakeywakey

Well I did eventually make my photo book, in fact two.  One was supposed to be free but actually cost more than the paying one.

And now I am digging an allotment and planting veg that should have all gone in in April.  Somewhat behind but at least the ground is clear - well part of it.  Still a lot more digging to do.  Someone stole all the paving from my allotment - my home made slabs have gone except one broken one.  This gives me an idea.  I will crazy pave my paths.

It turned cold so I started crocheting a blanket.  It is beautiful; my first attempt was hideous but nice friends got me the kit and I am now in with the crochet blanketeers.

I must get off cake.  Other people do coke but I do cake.

virtually inopenable book

http://www.albelli.co.uk/share-online-photo-book/c69eb11e-ebe2-4d32-b33c-2af0cd7fb441?utm_campaign=CRM_SML_EML_T9885_WidgetCrea&utm_source=Service-Mail&utm_medium=E-Mail#

Well that didn't work.

http://www.albelli.co.uk/share-online-photo-book/c69eb11e-ebe2-4d32-b33c-2af0cd7fb441?utm_campaign=CRM_SML_EML_T9885_WidgetCrea&utm_source=Service-Mail&utm_medium=E-Mail#

Oh well.  Back to the drawing board.

Free as Air

I have finished my latest painting.  Phew.

I am now free to do whatever I want.  I can't even procrastinate because I have finished work for the weekend.  Oh happy me.

I will finish a patchwork quilt then continue with my next one.  Oh the fifteen PhDs (projects half done) are going to get a bank holiday workout.

I spend a lot of time in front of the telly doing nothing.  This is madness when I have so many projects that could be hand sewn whilst absorbing the news, the murder, the soap, the antique, or usually the cricket or golf.  So it's out with the knitting, the patchwork, the embroidery and the journal.

I feel today the world is my lobster.  I will bask.  I won't do anything horrid or boring. I suppose some exercise wouldn't go amiss.  My allotment needs attention.  I must make it fun. My life is bloody lovely.

Presents arrived yesterday.  A little bag of sheer perfection from Designer Susan and some black and white fabric and a book from Suzanne who is returned from her Antipodean adventure, thank heavens  because one more bungee jump or zip wire and I would die of fear, just watching.

Lovely times, happy me.

No time to lose lautrec

Do you ever feel there is just not enough time to do stuff, I mean do anything?  Everything has to be preplanned and there is never enough time or the right time.  I do achieve things but by setting hideous deadlines with punishments for failure to meet them I am grindstoning it throughout the night sometimes.  I only set these so I can have some time to do nothing.  Staring into space is one of my all time favourite passtimes.  It is a matter of getting the balance right.  I don't work.  I had to elect one of my hobbies to be the most important so I chose the only one with any pecuniary return - painting.  This makes all the other pursuits mere daliances.  Oh.  I hadn't looked at it like that.  My life is spent making things so I can feel happy with my ability to see a project through to the end and boast about it.  I like to show off.  Work then show off.  If I get paid that is the very greatest applause of all.  Mostly I don't.

I need to tone it down a bit.  I currently have 8 patchwork quilts and four paintings on the go.  Then there is knitting and sewing and printing and embroidery and and and.  STOP.  Ok.  Time to take stock.  I will finish 6 of the 8 quilts one by one.  I will finish 2 of the paintings.  That is enough goals for now.  It tidies up a few ends.  I have paintings for people but they can wait.  I have almost every hour of every day allocated.  Staring into space time is becoming ever more elusive.

Well this is Mrs Smith doing what she does best, panicking about the time constraints on her life.... Whilst procrastinating.

Twenty sixteen

Happy New Year.

Well what happened?  I definitely ate and drank too much, ended up wearing a wet suit to dinner and then got a cold.  None of those things are remotely related.

My parents were golden.  Good guests.  My boys decided we were having more fun than them so they came for our post New Year weekend too.  I had to make extra pies which sort of scuppered the whole efficiency of advance preparations.  Next year I will make extra and freeze everything.  Oh the joy of cryogenics.  I had managed an extra lasagne just in case.

The award for beautiful behaviour and over all loveliness goes to the dog who was an obedient little sweetie all weekend.  I am sure he will rapidly degenerate over the next few days.  His fleas will return along with his smell.  He had a New Year bath in preparation.

As for resolutions, I am following the Benjamin Franklin method of improvement through 13 virtues except I have only seven and none of them are silence, justice or anything too taxing.

I call it my TOFFEES list

T - temperance - stay off the pop
O - orderliness - clean up
F - food -  eat less
F - frugality - spend less
E - exercise - take some
E - effort - make some re work
S - start - get up before 8.30am.

I have failed on every single one so far except perhaps frugality.

And now I will take my stinky cold to bed where I might stay until late January when we depart for a month in the Caribbean.  

Chrimbo

Christmas seems to be complete madness of such bonkers consumerism that has left me flat broke.  And fat.  Sorry to sound so bah humbug but I can hardly breathe for eating and spending.  I don't know why or how we do it really.  I would like to tone it down a bit for next year but I know I won't.  Well, I might on the food because we really do not need whole hams and whole cheeses, huge fish in their entirety, mince pies and Christmas puddings.  A fruit salad would be nice.  Actually, I feel a vegetarian week looming.

And now we have New Year and then post Christmas diets.

We are off to the Caribbean at the end of the month. Hooray.

Gingerbread House

I am in a bate.  This is because we found a very nice house for Mrs Smith, mother of Mr Smith, here in our village/town which we cleaned and mended and polished and licked and got all ready for Mrs Smith to move into.  Her loathsome eldest son, brother of Mr Smith, has filled it with junk.  Everything he didn't know what to do with, such as a table tennis table, he has had delivered to this little house.  I pointed out that it isn't his house and he is not to fill the garage with junk as his mother might like to keep her car in there.  When are the table tennis championships to be held?  With no bats balls or nets one assumes never.  I have threatened to set fire to all this rubbish if he doesn't get rid of it.  As far as he is concerned his mother's house is Big Yellow Storage with a maid.

In the meantime I am getting all excited about our trip to France tomorrow.  Hope the weather gets cheery.  It looks a bit grey today.

Mrs Smith actually moves in today as she spent the night at our house last night though I have absolutely no idea why since she has a perfectly good house of her own.  I will deliver her to it and make sure she stays there tonight.