In the Pink

I was 56 on Monday which means it is almost 16 years since I started blogging! I have been thinking… do I have a good work / life balance? Am I creating enough? Am I having fun? Does any of it even matter?! I certainly don’t seem to travel as much, mostly due to Nessie, costs and probably the state of the world. I am trying to be more focussed as I am easily distracted and that can be overwhelming.  

I “allowed” myself some time off for my birthday and had a lovely lunch out with a friend but I still felt guilty for not being busy all day.

I guess I made up for it for the rest of the week. I tentatively started the pink iris panel with its computerised designs. The advice had been not to move anything on screen and there was actually only one place where the designs overlapped a tiny bit. It was tricky, not placing the designs using markers and there were often undefined areas on the fabric where it was difficult to see if there was an actual petal. It does look good though and I would like to do it again if I can source the panel. It only seems to be available from the USA at huge shipping costs. Speaking of which - the Tula Pink butterfly quilt kit that I ordered from America cost me £68.00 in post followed by the same again in customs so I probably ended up paying the equivalent of the £300.00 that Cotton Patch UK charges for the kit!

I plan to make another short Art & Stitch video, mostly so it sinks into my own brain. I have read the manual and watched all of the available tutorials but the programme still confuses me sometimes. I am trying to learn it inside-out to become an expert well before my teaching retreat in June.

In February I am giving a Zoom lecture and demo about “Help ma Boab” to Region 16 (Scotland) of  the QGBI. Apart from checking that my tech all works, I need to write clear instructions on constructing a block. I had my usual rough notes and some photos but I had to start from scratch in order to write a pattern. I suppose I don’t know at the start of a quilt project that it might become one that I need to recreate;) I discovered that the blocks are far more complex that they seem at first. First there is the reverse appliqué hole, then the rickrack and silver lamé attached by tiny, accurate blanket stitches. Then there is the cutting and placing of the vinyl circles, decorative machine stitching where all of the thread tails need to be sewn in, followed by kantha-style hand stitching!

February starts next week - as well as keeping on top of the projects that I have started for Art and Stitch / Qmatic consolidation, I need to pick up the pace and get back onto customer quilts. No wonder I have to write basic things like, “Brush Nessie” on my do list or they just would not get done!

Allsorts Achieved

It was a snowy week - not that much snow to be honest, although the roads were bad but it was COLD in my workshop. I have just got a digital thermometer out there and yesterday when it was beginning to warm back up it was only 5 Celsius! I was not out there very much unless dressed like an Arctic explorer. I managed to quilt a second sofa cover from fluffy fleece and anti-slip-rug-stuff. I had a bit of a panic when I got an error message that the Q-matic system was not recognising its motors but I discovered that cables had got dislodged by accident when I left a drawer open underneath so it was easily fixed.

I have loaded a digitally printed panel to practise using complex Q-matic designs. I am following the advice of a closed Facebook group and have basted it with a million pins which took me hours. I have even ordered a suede welding apron so I don’t snag my clothes on the offending stabby pins every time I lean over it.

I spent a lot of time on my computer this week which always feels a bit of a skive because it is so easy to get side-tracked by Youtube and online shopping. However, I did reorganise lots of documents, sent some files off tho Quilt Direct relating to the Art & Stich retreat in June and I made a video explaining how the backdrop tool works:) I “wasted” some time figuring out how to customise the boring blue folders on my Mac desktop but now I can easily find the folders I want. I admit to doing some procrastinating as I actually sorted out the pantry where everything just gets piled on top of each other (by other members of the household).

I had a blustery but lovely day in St Andrews with Freya. It is such a nice small town which even has a seaside and she enjoyed reminiscing about her Uni days there. I left early to beat yet another storm home. Hopefully it will not be too bad this far north - fingers crossed that any rain gets dried up quickly by wind because I can’t stand the thought of mopping up yet again.

Crunch Time

I drove back from Norfolk listening to an audiobook which passed the time easily - Kate Atkinson’s “Normal Rules Don’t Apply”. Even though I had taken some craft projects with me I did not even look at them. I made a slightly rash purchase of the Tula Pink butterfly quilt kit and companion digital designs. I think it was due to a combination of not having a planned project and feeling that working with the digital patterns would be a good learning curve. 

Freya was home when I got back to get her broken front teeth fixed (again). I had been meaning to book a dental appointment myself as I have not been since 2019 and one of my molars has been bothering me. I was angrily crunching breakfast cereal and thought there was something hard in the mix. A large chunk of tooth had broken off! Fortunately, the dentist was able to mend it the next day. My hideous 1970’s metal fillings were the culprit. These were liberally used as a preventative measure if any sign of decay was spotted in children’s teeth but they expand and contract, causing cracks. It is a crying shame that there are so few NHS dentists these days as it is so expensive to get check ups and treatment.

I used the excuse of having a visitor for not getting back into my workshop which feels COLD. I eventually gave it a surface-level tidy and plan to get back in on Monday, starting with an easy second sofa cover. My main focus is to put together course-work for my classes and retreat at Quilt Direct in March and June and promote it on social media. Firstly though, I have an online talk and demo on Zoom in February so I need to practise setting up all of my Tech. It feels like a lot to get done but if there is a List then I can work through it;)

The Year is Still New!

 This winter holiday seems to have gone on for while! I wonder if it is because the main holidays were on Mondays. I kept meaning to give my workshop a really good tidy and clean but the wet weather has gone on and on so there did not seem to be any point. I did eventually do some of my new 100-piece puzzle which seems to be quite tricky. It is funny how I can decide I will do it for an hour but still be fiddling with it 3 hours later. 

Nella crocheted at light-speed and rattled out a couple of hair scrunchies and even a granny-square balaclava. 

We binge-watched The Buccaneers (an Apple TV adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel) and loved it. Nella and I drove to Norfolk mid-week and enjoyed listening to its audio book but the reader’s accents were really weird. 

It was nice to see my sister on her birthday and the next day Nella and I visited Oxburgh Hall near Swaffham. We have both really enjoyed using our National Trust memberships for outings such as these and will definitely renew them when the time comes. 

I don’t plan to stay long as I really need to get properly started with the New Year - I feel like I have been “on holiday” for weeks!

Christmas Chaos

 

Christmas with one extra person and a dog seemed more chaotic than usual. I did not get to do my jigsaw puzzle much because there was nowhere safe to leave it out. I have often accused Nessie of eating one piece so leaving set up with a curious puppy did not seem like a good idea. Nessie ended up mostly opting out of the sitting room - she and Fizzle kept out of the way, probably hatching plans for revenge.

Freya made me a cute little sconce from clay, Nella gifted me a non-alcoholic blood orange cordial and Fergus got me edibles (chocolate - not magic mushrooms!) My sister gave me a fabulous swimming hat with rubber petals because I expressed a desire to try out the local pool. 

We had 2 bouts of very heavy rain which caused more flooding hereabouts so I have not bothered to give my workshop a pre-New Year tidy as I still have sandbags and towels by the door. 

The kitchen was a bit chaotic - George brought a haunch of venison that did not fit in the oven and he was not accustomed to our casual approach to oven temperatures or timings. I got a bit flustered and accidentally turned the top oven onto the grill function so my hot oil for spuds created one or two slightly alarming flames. 

It was lovely to have guests for the holidays but I think we all (especially Nessie) secretly heaved a sigh of relief when they departed. I will be heading to Norfolk with Nella so it will feel like an extended holiday but at some point January will hit me hard and I will have to get stuck into lists/projects/quilts!

Festive Drama

I had to collect Nella from Aberdeen bus station so went for a wee wander around Union Square shopping centre while I waited. I went into the new Seasalt shop which already had a sale on. I stroked the velvet dresses to see if they were as wrong as the ones I had seen in Norwich and to my horror, I discovered that all of the nap was running in the wrong direction. When I helpfully informed the sales assistant, she insisted snippily that the designers would have requested that. It made me shudder to think that if I ran my hands down my imaginary party frock, the fabric would feel bristly!

The week was spent endlessly making grocery lists, trying not to eat the food that I was stock-piling for Actual Christmas. In between hot chocolates and schmaltzy Christmas films, I did at least some “Art and Stitch” practice.

Freya arrived with boyfriend, George and his rather scatty young collie, Poppy. Poppy has made it her mission to terrorise Nessie. Freya unwisely got in the middle of a dog fracas and got hit in the face which broke off her front tooth crown (that she smashed when canoeing at Uni). Obviously, dentists are all closed for the hols… Poppy has also decided that it is a good idea to poop under the Christmas tree even after she has been outside to go to the toilet. The seagrass matting that we have is not the ideal type of flooring from which to remove squashed-in poop. Nessie and Fizz have decided to spend Christmas together in my room, minding their own business. On Christmas Eve morning everyone is walking on eggshells, hoping there won’t be any more drama. I honestly think I should write a sit-com. I am almost tempted to pour a large gin and cranberry, despite having been teetotal for almost a year;)

Only a Week to Go!

When my children were younger Christmas did not begin until after Fergus’ birthday on December 11th. We have an artificial tree now so it has been up with only its lights on, waiting for Nella to “dress” it when she arrives home. I must admit that I sort of miss the frantic round of Christmas concerts and performances. The trouble is that since the festive season starts so early nowadays, the whole thing is spread out and there seems to be no definite Christmas period (for me, at least).  All of the Christmas Fayres are over already and I never go into Aberdeen where there probably are not any jolly carollers anyway;)

Fergus was 22 this week and I made him a semi festive cake. It was gingerbread with cream cheese frosting and cranberry sauce in between the layers. It was meant to be one of those “naked” cakes ie. inexpertly iced. I had a shortage of plain cream cheese so mine was a bit bald. I had bought 3 cartons of the stuff but had not checked the labels and discovered that they were the garlic and herb version! It tasted great - the sharp cranberry sauce helped to cut through the super-sweet frosting. I put together a fancy breakfast box as he is a bit of a foodie. I was going to order it online but the company did not deliver here. He was very pleased and gets to keep the IKEA crate.

I finished the bunny cushion but forgot to take a photo before I wrapped it. A DIY customer who has been waiting a while came and completed her grand-daughter’s quilt. I continued to work my way through digitising tutorials for Art and Stitch. There is a lot that I don’t feel I would ever want to bother with but I need to know how it all works. I have also signed up for a pricey digital Quilt-a-Long but I am treating it as a learning experience. 

Other than that, I have tried to wrap some gifts, scrawled a few cards, done some grocery shopping, and cleared the junk out of Nella’s room that had been dumped by other members of the household who did not want it in their rooms! Nessie had a pre-Christmas trim and was not impressed while Fizz remains oblivious to everything.

Woeful Weather

 Nessie and I travelled back to Scotland by train which is a long way with a dog on your lap, sometimes the floor. She was very good, especially at Edinburgh Waverley where we had 10 minutes to change platforms. Thistle (Fizz) was delighted to see me and was especially pleased that she could get access to my bed. Meanwhile my room had been turned into a recording studio and Nella’s room seemed to have been filled with the junk that everyone else had decided they no longer wanted in their rooms. It seems that I will have some serious sorting to add to my list of pre Christmas preparations and my general ever expanding To-Do list. 

We had extreme weather again this week with temperatures so low that it was minus something in my workshop. Since I had received chase-up calls from customers wondering what had happened to their Christmas quilts (they did not say they were Christmas quilts), I had to wrap up and get on with it. I am so glad that I was on top of things before I went away so I “only” had to quilt 2 and bind 5! I have now declared that I will not try to do any more customer quilts this side of Christmas:)

After the freeze, we had rain and more rain and I had to put sandbags outside the workshop door as the water was rushing off the field and 6” deep in the trench outside. This used to happen occasionally but now it happens several times a year and I have to shift everything and hope for the best that I just have to dry the carpet out afterwards. 

I caught up with Mo and asked her very nicely if she would be able to staple some scrap fabric onto a swivel chair that I found in the yurt. She found some fabulous leopard-print corduroy and I had the chair back together later that day.

I have been frantically doing some online shopping without any success for Nella then realised that I had intended to make her a bunny cushion from an Elizabeth Hartman pattern. Luckily, I had already cut out the 60-odd tiny pieces to make a small bunny in dungarees. I took most of a Saturday to do the single bunny block then I made a random patchwork cushion back in case she does not want to see the bunny all the time. 

Festive Felbrigg

 This is my third and final Sunday in Norfolk. Things have been hectic but having routines has helped. My Mother is recovering well and arrangements are in place to lighten the load of caring for my Dad. My sister is nearby but cannot be expected to put her life on hold and she has not persuaded me to move to Norfolk;)

I had an outing to Felbrigg Hall with Nella. It is a National Trust property in North Norfolk and it had put on a Christmas display of Christmas trees, lights and drawings of countryside creatures. I was intrigued by the notion of mushroom music but it was not even playing so I have no idea what it was meant to sound like. 

I am looking forward to getting back to “normal” back home. I am sure it will be a hectic couple of weeks as Christmas is looming fast with Fergus’ birthday before that!

Organising Chaos

 It has been quite a week! I started out by taking my dad to the dentist then a care home for a week’s respite visit, then my sister and I took my Mum home from hospital. She is finding it difficult to rest and recuperate as she usually runs around after my Dad. She had become quite stressed and overwhelmed, which I am sure led to the mini-stroke (TIA). I have tried to find ways of simplifying daily life here. I don’t know whether it is because their house is spacious and has lots of cupboards but there seemed to be “stuff” stashed in multiple places. I find that organising things reduces stress so I rounded up all of the meds and first aid supplies, putting them into labelled boxes in one sideboard. I will probably find that everything gets returned to its original place when I leave;)

Although I brought my laptop to try and do some work, my role as a temporary carer takes  an astonishing amount of time, patience and brain-space. I admire anyone who deals with it full time and I feel that people who work with Old People deserve far better wages!

I did go into Norwich one late afternoon for a mooch and met Nella for dinner which was nice. Nessie has been a very good dog and loves sitting on the back of the sofa to watch out for visitors.

The coming week will be interesting as I will be the carer for both parents. My sister and I are trying to persuade my Mum to accept more help and once that is in place I should be able to head home. I think my Dad would like me to hang around as long as possible but I definitely want to be back for Fergus’ birthday in mid December at the latest.