Sunday 30 March 2008

More Exercise

It's catching this walking lark. Well I wasn't going to hang around a lake watching (& thereby causing problems with Joe) my dear son relearn fly fishing. He gets bored quite easily so I'm better off out of the way. I took the dogs for a walk instead. Just 3 miles or so & we all got covered in mud. Most of the walk was boggy but hey, the weather was lovely, bright sunshine was a pleasant change from the snow & rain & wind from Suffolk. In fact I got quite warm walking uphill. The dogs are now fast asleep & still have muddy paws but never mind. I'll have to wake them up later to go out again. It's a hard life being a dog. Obviously.
All this walking has to be good for me but boy is my back bad just now. I think I feel a long soak in the bath coming on before long. Nice end to a nice day.

Saturday 29 March 2008

Easter Break

Thank goodness there won't be another Easter so early in the year in my lifetime. At least not when we manage to get away for a few days. We drove to Suffolk in rain, snow, bright sunshine & more snow.
The next day we awoke to more snow. Well the others awoke to it. I saw it falling around 3 AM. In fact I was running around the site in it trying to catch a runaway dog! We hadn't mastered the heating controls in our rather damp chalet so it was way too hot for the older dog & she came to wake me with very loud, heavy panting. Clever me thought a little bit of fresh air would help. She could potter about outside the chalet while I stood in the doorway. Yeah, right. Sindy took off. Fast. I grabbed my coat & followed her, able to follow her tracks in the snow. In my dressing gown & slippers with a coat on top. The security guys thought it was hilarious when I finally caught her in front of them. No they didn't help.
We figured out the heating & the hot water & the weak shower the next day. We walked on the beach in the snow & Sindy took off again. She did every day. I think she's read that poem about wearing purple & pleasing herself. Well she is 15 now, that's 101 in human years?

We also went sea fishing, well the anorak & Joe did. I hung around & looked after the dogs & took lots of pics of the sea & waves crashing on the beach.

We went to the local wildlife park but as someone was shooting nearby we couldn't leave the dogs in the car so the anorak walked them back to the site. The younger dog, Jess, is gun shy you see. They wouldn't have been left alone for long anyway but it's not an option when she's panicked. Joe & I had fun watching the animals. Next day we went to Great Yarmouth & the anorak & son went to Sealife while I walked the dogs miles along the prom. We've had a good break with lots of exercise & by the last morning the dogs had got used to staying in the living area instead of trying to sleep with us. It's scary staying in a strange place when you're a dog. Obviously.



The pebbled beach. Just because I like pebbles.

Saturday 22 March 2008

Brrrrr it's cold.

The weather has gone mad! Today we've had sunshine, biting gale force winds, snow, hail, sleet & pouring rain. And then it dried up again.
A lovely surprise arrived in the post - I've wona book in a competition - Kaffe Fassett quilts in the sun. Something to drool over & plan & scheme & wish for time to create. I wanted to take something away with me to work on but haven't the time to prepare. Usually I have a small tapestry or embroidery or something to do. I'm just taking books to read instead & maybe some suduko or crosswords. I'm not good at either but hey the brain needs a workout sometimes. Maybe I'll try my son's DS Brain training!
meanwhile I have no idea how we'll fit everything in the car devoid of bootspace because the dogs will be in there.
Tea tonight was good. Jamie Olivers roast lamb with smashed veg! How come Joe doesn't like mashed potato, especially if it is remotely lumpy, but will eat slightly squashed potato, carrot & swede & love it. Likewise gravy. He never has gravy, says he doesn't like it. But make proper gravy from the roast lamb & stir in mint sauce & call it a sauce & one wolf & it's gone.
Being resourceful, tomorrows tea will be the remains of the lamb, in the gravy - I mean sauce - topped with the smashed veg & put in the oven to reheat & brown & call it a pie! Served with broccoli probably.

Thursday 20 March 2008

Brief Update

We went for a short walk last Sunday on The Helme. Just took the younger dog as Sindy wasn't well. It was fresh but enjoyable. The anorak came too, he finished work early Saturday night when the car broke down. Again. Work has been annoyingly frantic, typical when I'm on my own with no help. And I'll have to go in tomorrow for an hour.
Poor Sindy dog hasn't been at all well & I took her to the vet yesterday. She's recovering fortunately but we thought we were going to lose her. It was quite sad.
The anorak had a phone call earlier tonight, Watchdog want to interview him about the problem with his car. Which incidently still hasn't got the manufacturers part fitted. Lousy parts service IMHO!!

Saturday 15 March 2008

Boots, boots and jackets.

I went mad on Thursday on my one days leave. I should have gone to Birmingham to the Sewing for Pleasure show but couldn't get a cheap rail ticket so decided to spend my hard earned money locally instead. I have a decent pair of walking boots now & a good waterproof jacket. Both essentials up here & pretty useful in Suffolk too I imagine if the wind blows infrom the sea. However the anorak says I'm not to go fishing in the jacket it will frighten the fish! It's pink you see. Not bright pink but still pink! And in the sale as were the boots.
Today I went back into town with Joe & bought him some bigger boots & a coat ready for the hols & his school field trip in May. The Mountain Warehouse are having a relocation sale so I made the most of it!!! I was even organised enough beforehand to get a beef casserole in the oven which we had with fried polenta (that's a first - never tried it before). The left over stew wasn't enough for another serving so I added some more liquid & blitzed it with the blender to serve up as gravy next time we have beef of some description.
http://laurasewingroom.blogspot.com/ Here's a blog of a lady who's taste & style I love. I just wish I had the time and space to create such lovely clothes.
Friday I spent the morning at a "masterclass" for teachers of sewing related crafts. It was very useful. Not sure how I managed to get invited as I haven't even heard if I passed my teaching certificate yet but I'm not complaining. I even got a claim form for expenses! Anyway I fired off a few emails last night to see if I can get in with the local adult education centres.
Sunday will be quiet. I hope. Maybe the Joe & I will go walking in our new boots with the dogs. Joe likes woods so I'll get the maps out & see where we can go.

Tuesday 11 March 2008

A fun week?


It's turning into an eventful week. I just got back from 2 hours in A & E with Joe. Sudden sharp pains that reduced him to tears is not normal for my lovely little boy. The anorak panics over the slightest hiccup so I calmly got Joe in the car & went to the hospital where of course the pain disappeared rapidly & the mouth started. On & on he talks & talks & talks some more. By now I'm glad my hair is loose & the place busy or the staff would recognise me as the one who supplies their uniforms & they would think I'm the over anxious mother. All the usual checks done & then the wait for the doctor. In comes the senior nursing officer who promptly recognises me! We're referred to the out of hours GP who is based there as the A & E doc is busy & we'd have at least a 2 hour wait. We're seen quite quickly & a urine sample is requested. Joe is examined & no pain anywhere but there is apparently a trace of blood in his urine so now we have to convince our GP's receptionist that he has to be seen within 48 hours or else. That's a job for the morning then. Immediately before the school run.
I cooked tea tonight, having been unusually indecisive for an hour or so, I opted for quiche as we've so many eggs. Broccoli & bacon to be precise. Served with baby corn & curly fries. I have a big bowl of grated root veg that I use for my lunch & the anorak & I had a helping of that as well. He of course smothered his in salad cream. I didn't, I don't much like it. Mayonnaise I do like but decided to keep the last little bit of home made mayo for my lunch tomorrow - it's got garlic & chilli & lemon juice in with lots of black pepper. Yummy.
I embroidered the back of a fleece jumper for the anorak last night.

"Carp fishing.
It's not a passion.
It's an obsession."

Says it all really. I did take a photo but the light wasn't good so I deleted it. Instead there's a pic of Joe when we went sea fishing last month. The light was brilliant.

Sunday 9 March 2008

News

News. Good. Or bad? Good as in I'm not pregnant & there's no sign of any abnormalities so Mr Anorak has started to breathe normally again & we can manage financially I hope. Bad as in I think I secretly wanted to be pregnant - even at my age. I don't think I could have terminated the pregnancy unless an aminio had shown problems. I had always wanted more than two children but a broken marriage & then a second husband who'd suffered the fall out from a cot death & was a gibbering wreck for most of the first year of Joe's life, five years into our marriage - this was why I'd opted for sterilisation to start with. Trust me to fall pregnant immediately before hand!! Ah well back to normality. The anorak has tea under control - smoked haddock.

What Joe wore last week. Thursday was world book day & dress up as a character from a favourite book. Hmm. Joe doesn't really like fiction but adores Jamie Oliver on the TV & likes me to try his recipes so he went as Jamie!! Charity shop shirt re cut to his size & jeans & T shirt. Easy. Friday was dress as a WW2 evacuee. Charity shop again for a jumper. I cut it apart at the seams & drew a smaller shape onto the pieces, zig zag stitched all around before cutting & then zig zagged the shoulder seams & ran them through the overlocker (at work so no luxury of one pass of 4 threads! I put one sleeve on by the same process & then unravelled enough yarn from a discarded piece to knit the neck rib - I kept the jumper bottom ribs as part of the new pattern so didn't need to knit them again. Took Joe to swimming lesson & furiously knit the neck. Back at home I stitched up the other side & voila a jumper only fit for an evacuee to be worn the next day.

What I cooked last week. The usual stuff such as pork chops braised in stock (or cider) with onions & apples. Left over sauce & bits in tray whizzed in the blender & frozen for use as gravy later. Very nice it is too. The anorak did most of the cooking - he's getting adventurous - coq au vin was on the menu.

What I cooked this week so far. Cup cakes - twice - they were eaten up rather quickly & I also have lots of eggs in the fridge! Pork chops - again - but this time roasted with potatoes, carrots & parsnip all in one tray. Lovely but a bit dry - I forgot to get the gravy out of the freezer! Actually this recipe should have had pears or apples roasted with the rest but I didn't have any. Blackberries in a sauce with this would have been nice too. Ooh I'm getting quite adventurous with my ideas.

What I'm knitting. Knitting the ribbing on the evacuee jumper made me decide to start something from the yarn stash I accumulated when I did lots of machine knitting in the dim & distant past. I still have my machines, & more acquired since, but nowhere to set them up for longer than a couple of hours so they no longer get used. Anyway I got a book out of the library & am knitting a hat. Not sure how it will turn out as I haven't hand knitted anything for simply years & years.

Is it really so long since I last posted ?

Obviously this blogging lark takes some committment, I seem to have struggled to find the time! Never mind I'm here now! With news that is taking some time to get to grips with. But first the last few weeks have been crazy, no sooner had we booked the holiday than the car the anorak just bought for work broke down. Not major, easily fixable but had to be fixed under manufacturers warranty. After three weeks, no sign of the part, none available in the country apparently. What? Yes really, not one part. Anywhere. Now after three weeks of no income from the main earner in the family things were getting tight, really tight. Mortgage company contacted along with all the other people who demand a slice of the monthly income to see if we could reduce payments. That upset me more than anything else. Fortunately most were understanding & best of all the independant garage the anorak bought the car from retrieved the car from the main dealer & fitted a part that they "adapted" from another brand of car so that the anorak could start work again until the replacement branded part arrived. We're still waiting for its arrival. Lousy service from the parts division of **UK.

On the bright side the anorak has had a good couple of weeks & the bank balance is recovering & he has booked us a week in Suffolk soon. Not that he realised just how far away that is but hey we've never been to that part of England before so it will be a nice change. A six hour drive though & we're also taking the dogs so it will be an even longer drive. Whose car we go in remains a moot point. Will his be sorted properly by then? Currently the fitting of the temporary part means no working fuel guage amongst other things.

Now the news I can't quite come to terms with is that at the ripe old age of 49 & menopausal is that there is a chance I could be pregnant. I go for a scan tomorrow. The anorak is in shock & I just don't know what I think! Ho hum. I had been sterilised & had a D & C just over 10 years ago & then four weeks later I found I was 6 weeks pregnant with Joe. The realisation while with the gynae doc on Friday was that the sterilisation had never been checked after the op with the shock of discovering I was pregnant so the symptoms that I now have may not be down to being peri-menopausal.
The holiday to France goes ahead come what may - we've waited too long for this holiday.

Oh yes, there has been the chance of developing a clothing line for a local boutique & working for myself in the the last few weeks as well as an invitation to a "masterclass" for teachers of sewing. Do bear in mind that I haven't yet been told if I passed my teaching course!!