Slept not too badly, considering, but it did keep on going into spasm, but very short ones, not like the usual. Have also arranged an appointment with the osteopath next week, even though we’ll have two grandchildren staying with us. Needs must when the devil drives.

It does mean I can’t pick anything up off the floor, can’t feed the cat, can’t plug the phone back in after a sleep, can’t water the pots, empty the dishwasher, blah blah blah, the list goes on. Fortunately hubby is an absolute hero and doesn’t seem to mind. But then I’d do it for him if he were in a similar state.

If I can, tomorrow, I’m going to have a go at the ironing sitting down. Hubby will need to bring the ironing board in, and set it all up for me but it’s worked before now.


Anyway anyway anyway. Have started reading War and Peace on my Kindle. It’s very good, but I was getting a bit confused with all the different characters, so I have printed off a page from Wikipedia which lists all the principal ones, who they are, and what they do. It is helpful to have something I can look at quickly while I’m reading.


Also got three more Kindle books – free or very cheap. One is a Robert Ludlum one about Rome, and I’ve already forgotten what the other two are.


And now it’s hurting too much to sit still any more, so will do a short walk round the downstairs . . .
 

The plants I potted up look wonderful. The red geraniums look much better outside the front door than the pansies did. Why on earth did I think pansies would look nice in the summer, when the sun is on the front all day long (when it shines!)? They look lovely in the winter, when they really brighten it up. So the poor old pansies are at the back now, recuperating in the shade. The marigolds, bright orange, are lovely. I love strong bright colours. At the back of the garden I’ve planted two red perennial lobelias, and they’re just coming into flower. Something is eating the red covering of the stem, though. Probably earwigs, little b*ggers, but the flowers are doing their thing anyway.

The garden looks nice though. I’ve moved the pathetic pansies into the back, where it’s shadier, and hope they’ll recover, and put the two red geraniums in their terracotta pots outside the front door, one each side. They look much better, and prefer the sunshine too. Pots have their downside (constant watering) but make it very easy to change the look of the garden very quickly.

Photos possibly to come . . .

Monday hubby and I went to see the final Harry Potter film. In 3D. Absolutely amazing. Follows the book very closely, although misses a few bits and pieces out. Very, very good. Then lunch in Giraffe in Solihull, very nice. Sleep pm of course.

Tuesday I had a pedicure – excellent. Neat pretty feet now. No nail polish though, don’t do nail polish. And of course, obligatory sleep pm.

Wednesday – I did do something – now what was it? Oh, I know. I went to Top Hat n Tails, which is a cat and dog boarding kennels, to book Bertie The Cat in for a few days. They all seemed very kind, and the cats have balconies, as the pens are all inside a building. The cats all seemed very happy – and there were five kittens all in one basket. God love ’em – all fast asleep, one on its back with its head thrown right back. Oh bless!

Then came home and did my ironing before it mounted up any more. Sleep in the afternoon as usual.

I bought enough material to make five tunic tops for £13. Now that’s what I call good value. One lot of fabric cost £2.50 per metre, the rest was £1 per metre. Amazing! lovely stuff too. Also, enough lambswool fleece (3 metres) to make some more bedding up for the cat, and so there will be enough to wash as well. Finally some PVC table cloth material for the outside table, and that was £3 a metre. The most expensive thing was the lambswool fleece, at £6.50 per metre! but the cat will absolutely love it.

Then had to go to Hobbycraft to get the sewing thread. They do sell some at the Rag Market, but not the make I use (Gutermann). 


The first thing I’m going to make up is the cat bedding. Easy and quick, and will make a big difference to the cleanliness of the cat’s bed . . .


Next up, one of the tops to a Prima magazine pattern, only with short sleeves. I will be making one with long sleeves too, I have enough fabric in two different colours to make four tops, two with short, two with long sleeves. And then there’s the fifth top to make up from a different material, and haven’t decided on the pattern quite yet. Will wait and see what Prima come up with next month.


All very exciting.


And on Monday I’m having an MRI scan of my neck – another step towards fixing my poor hands and wrists. Tuesday means 5 injections in my poor old feet – let’s hope that works! and Wednesday will be phoning my favourite uncle to see how his consultant’s appointment went. Fingers crossed.

I came back yesterday from five days in Cornwall, staying with my cousin Karen and her family. Her mum and dad, my favourite aunty and uncle, live next door, and it was just so wonderful to see them all. They live in a lovely house, in a beautiful part of the world, and you can see the sea from the living room. Excellent.

lounge

Stewie the cat

Trebarwith

Lottie, foreground & Alfie

Aunty Jean

Uncle Al

Gull Rock

Kevin & Alfie

Carnival!

Coral & Steve

Johnny Cowling (youtube him!)

Karen & Kevin

Aunty Jean

waiting for the Rock Ferry to Padstow

steady as he goes . . .

Padstow, Uncle Al & Karen

It’s just great to spend time with family – we had so much fun. Can’t wait to go again. I swam – in the sea – love it – and in a little swimming pool with Uncle Al & Coral. Coral and I wore matching turquoise swimsuits. 

There are two cats, two dogs, two Shetland ponies, and a tortoise. Karen does a lot of “extra” work for Doc Martin, which is filmed in nearby Port Isaac. All the “Fishermen’s Friends” have full time jobs there too, as well as making CDs and doing gigs. 


There’s a real community feel to the place, you can’t walk along a road without somebody recognising them and stopping for a chat. And, just like in The Archers, there was a scarecrow contest! The different villages all have carnivals, different weeks, so that they can share the floats. A lovely lifestyle. A lovely area. If I lived near the sea, I’d swim in it every damn day. The air is clear, the sea is beautiful, the countryside is fab, love it all.

Well, bless my soul. I have actually been sewing. Cut down an old dress which I love, made from denim coloured cheesecloth, into a tunic to wear over trousers, and changed the buttons on it. That was the easy bit! then today I made a new knitting needle wrap and matching craft bag (from wonderful, clear instructions, from here). The reason is that I rashly bought some fabric in the John Lewis sale, which is lovely, but really not suitable for the tunic top I intended it for. So. Here is what they look like. The material is patchwork, which makes it quite easy to match and so on, but I did have problems with the bottom of the needle wrap as there were so many layers. One machine needle broke, another blunted. And they were intended for heavy use, with denim for instance. The bag was easier. You’ll see the lining and straps are a bit startling – it’s the remainder of the Ikea bed linen I used to make a set of matching curtains for the bunk room. Which I’m also very pleased with, so as smug as hell now. Ha!

needle wrap, open

needle wrap, closed

craft bag, open – note pocket!

craft bag, closed

Now I’m looking for a free pattern for a pinafore dress (I think it’s called a “jumper dress” or something in the States) for a little girl of three and a half, because I have 1.1 metres of 90 cm wide of the patchwork material left and thought it would be nice made up.

Also have gradually been re-organising my wardrobe – chucking stuff out for the charity shop and rearranging the space so it’s a bit less fraught. A new bedside table/chest of drawers is on its way from John Lewis so that should help too.

Will post again soon . . .

Saturday – went to joint 30th and 60th birthday bash. ED 30, her uncle 60. Fabulous venue, hog roast – and I haven’t eaten pork for some 28 years now – and it was absolutely delicious. Stuffing, apple sauce, lovely.

ED certainly enjoyed it, and both she and YD looked fabulous. Just fabulous. I was a very proud mother. 

All my family were there, my sister and her husband, daughters and our mum, and most of ED’s family (her dad has seven siblings, all of whom have children, and mostly grandchildren too), as well as hubby’s youngest son plus wife and children. Lovely, just lovely. Love my nieces To Bits.

But of course absolutely exhausting, and I have slept a lot since then to make up!

Still no sightings of mother hedgehog. Hmm. 😦

Took cat to the vet today for her annual injections. She doesn’t mind being in her little carrier, and walks into it quite calmly (maybe because we always have it available, and she sometimes plays in it), but hates, absolutely hates, being in the car, and yowls the whole time. Even when I’m stroking her head. There’s no aggression, she doesn’t attack me, or have any hackles up, but just yowls loudly.

As soon as the car stops, the yowling turns into a squeak, and she is completely silent in the vet’s surgery. Interested, though, in the other animals. Today there was a terrier, a chocolate labrador, and a chicken. Yes, a chicken.  In fact, once she’d come out of the carrier, she jumped casually onto another desk to investigate. When she has injections, she doesn’t wince, or yelp, or seem to notice at all. Bless her heart. We also had her ears checked (they’re fine), the vet gave her a worming tablet, and we have now started anointing her with anti-flea stuff. And she doesn’t seem to mind at all. A complete sweetheart.

Garden is looking good. The pansies are looking a bit sad though so I have moved the pot from the front of the house to the back, where they might do a bit better, and put one of the geranium pots in its place outside the front door. The sun is on the front most of the day (if it’s out at all) and I have a feeling geraniums cope better with sunshine than pansies. I can always replant the pansy pot, or just dump them, if they don’t recover.

Poppies going bonkers (the annual ones, the perennials are nearly done now) – and they’re lovely. Sort of raggedy petals, a bit like the parrot tulips.

And what else. Ooh, have bought two short sleeved tunic tops from Next in their sale. YD doesn’t really approve, but I love them. Am awaiting delivery from Boden of another top – mixed reviews so I’ll see what it’s like before I decide.

Saw the GP on Monday and she prescribed some better painkillers – Cocodamol (15 mg). They work very well, but are addictive, so I’m taking them alternate days, and Paracetamol on the days in between. Today is a Paracetamol day, so the pain’s not so good, but I know that tomorrow it’ll be ok.

Well, that’s about it for now.