February Unlocked

 

I have survived a long, wet January. I am thankful that I did not have several feet of Scottish snow, icy temperatures and probably power cuts but it seemed like every time I stepped out of my door I got very wet. It made a lovely change to wander into town on Nessie’s 6th birthday to see a spring-like display of crocuses. 

I had a different week at work - due to a last minute cancellation, I was able to be a pupil in the 4-day intensive B990 training course. There are interesting crossovers between the B990 and the computerised side of the Q24 longarm machines. As long as I practise what I learned by using the machine regularly, I will be able to do all sorts of projects and more importantly, explain how the machine works to other members of staff and customers.

I am hosting Matt Wilding again this week so I spent a whole day doing chores, even washing the floors by hand. I stuck some Hama bead shapes to the wall and framed up some prints in IKEA frames. I must be aware that there is a fine line between Cottagification and Hoarding. I was not responsible for cleaning the old house so I never noticed how much black fluff Nessie produces. The idea is that I can sew all day on Sunday, guilt free although now that the sun is out I should probably be outside pressure washing the green, slimy back yard. 

I visited Mel in Looe but it was blowing a hoodie so we stayed away from the sea. I showed her my French seam method of making puffs and she is now inspired to use her Liberty charm squares that she had been “saving”. I sewed a few puffs during the week which made me feel quite productive although I have realised that they end up smaller than the 4” that I was hoping for so I made need to make more puffs than I bargained for. 

I spotted a handy IKEA pegboard hack online - Bernina feet fit very nicely into the Skadis key hanger. Apparently, some people attach the pegboard onto the Raskog trolleys so everything is at hand. I was up in my craft / spare room the other night using my old iron when I was plunged into darkness as it tripped the electrics. Maybe it is finally time to admit that it has reached its sell-by date.

Birthday Week with Freya

I only worked a 3 day week so I could have 2 days off with Freya. She was working her job from home with Nessie’s help and it was so nice to have some company. She took Nessie for midday walks and cooked something delicious most evenings. We made a successful vegan apple cake and even delicious vegan Scottish tablet. 

It was great to have help to do some jobs that I had been putting off like hanging up some string lights (which have only come on once so far) and repotting some house plants. We had a blustery outing to bohemian Totnes where we had lunch outside at The Hairy Barista while watching ageing hippies go to a daytime disco in the coffee bar opposite. 

My sister sent some knitted bunting for my kitchen and I received some lovely tulips which I had to put into a tall Tupperware tub as I don’t have a vase.

People living on Dartmoor had a super show of the Aurora the other night but it was too misty here in town. Since then it seemed to rain constantly so we did not bother to make a trip to the seaside and most of the National Trust properties are completely closed until Spring. Freya and Nessie were happy to stay at home but we did nip out into Tavi to get a pasty between downpours. The weather was so stormy that the sea wall protecting the train track in Dawlish was partly washed away but Freya’s train managed to get through. Typically, after my visitor departed,  the sky cleared to a bright blue and we had a warm, sunny day. 

At work this week will be a Bernina 990 retreat for 4 days so I put together a table runner for the event. I am hoping to participate in the course so I can be more au fait with the flagship Bernina sewing machine. It will be interesting to see if I enjoy the machine embroidery aspect. 

I did not plan in advance for Burns’ Night so have not managed to procure a haggis or a neep. That could be an activity the next time I see my children even if it is out of season!

Girl Visitors

Customer Quilt

This week I have been entertaining my 2 lovely girls, Freya and Nella. There has been a lot of washing up but plenty of helpers to deal with it. I made some genuine Scottish tablet which turned out perfectly but you can feel your teeth rotting!

I had another go at working out the best way of constructing a puff quilt and have decided that French seams are the answer. 

At work I reconstructed a table runner for B990 using Q-Matic. I also tried using its own built in jumbo stitches to embellish the project which I found a bit tricky because I have not done the training course and the manual does not give step by step instructions. I think it will work out well and I have enjoyed getting to know how to do machine embroidery.

The girls and I walked from Calstock village to Cotele and had lunch in the National Trust cafe. Nessie sat on Nella’s lap to stop her from barking as a protest about having to sit on the floor like a normal dog. 

They gave me a great early birthday present - Bokashi compost bins which ferment food scraps of any sort. It looks like I am all set to become a keen gardener. But first I have to sort out the mould in the shed.

Do I miss Proper Snow?

Do I miss proper snow? - certainly not;) There has been severe winter weather in Aberdeenshire since New Year’s Day and I can imagine how wet it will be in my workshop when that all melts. We had a mere sprinkling of snow in Tavistock and rather icy roads for a few days. A gritter lorry actually tipped over on the edge of Dartmoor, which is ironic. We had a red storm warning at the end of the week but it really landed in Southern Cornwall. In bed in my stone cottage I hardly noticed it. I must have done a really good job of filling in the gaps in my shed because everything is now covered in mould due to a lack of ventilation. I need a few fresh, blowy days for everything to dry out!

At work we gradually caught up with post Christmas orders and getting prepared for forthcoming classes. I came up with an L890 project after being reminded of Nella’s puff quilt. I think it is super cottagey but a lot of people think it is only suitable for a pet bed. It’s a bit like making mince pies - you need just enough filling but if you put in a fraction too much it all becomes a bit messy. 

I went on an outing to Totnes with Jo and Karen. The town was bustling with independent shops, a Saturday market and a definite hippy vibe. I could imagine living there except it is rather expensive. I restocked on spices and bought some Tilda fabric to get started on my puff quilt. Once Nessie and I have been out for yet another wet walk I aim to get started…

I was Lied To! (about snow)

When I first moved to Devon and asked what would happen when the roads became icy, a local person told me it happens extremely rarely. Well, I had planned a last day of the holidays trip to the seaside and woke up to snow on the ground and rooftops. It is not nearly as much as in Aberdeenshire but I think Devon Council only owns one gritting lorry so the roads are not treated to the extent that they are in Scotland. It actually makes me more nervous to drive here on ice than it did when I lived in the North. Nessie and I will walk into town instead and go for hot chocolate. 

I spent Hogmanay in Glasgow with my children at a very nice tenement flat of one of their friends. Nella and I were in bed by 2 am but the boys straggled in around 6am. Our Christmas and New Year holidays were super relaxed but frankly, exhausting. I have become very used to living on my own and going to bed early. I am glad I decided to travel down a couple of days before returning to work. It took me about 12 hours to get back to Tavistock because I detoured via Ilkley to drop Nella off for her friend’s birthday. I enjoyed time with the children very much but Nessie and I were delighted to sleep in our own bed. 

I don’t have any life changing plans for the year ahead other than to make more effort to just DO stuff, like going out for the day instead of rearranging my cupboards. June and July could be potentially busy with an invitation to a school reunion, Nella’s Grad Fest, Graduation and a holiday with the 3 Fs! Life is short - I need to make the most of it!

Christmas Capers

 

If I was going to continue with last week‘s theme on Christmas hosting I might mention that it’s annoying to arrive somewhere and find there is no food in the house and nowhere to sleep. Fortunately I found a mattress and some bedding and made myself a little nest up on a landing. 

It is very frustrating to realise how much of my stuff is still here in Aberdeenshire but I don’t have room for it in Devon. 

I am trying to work out how I am going to fit a couple of boxes, 2 adult children, their Christmas presents and a dog in my very small car for the trip back to Glasgow. 

It was a bit weird being in the old family house for the festive season but we all got on pretty well.

 The house is not being looked after since there’s quite a lot of damp condensation and the kitchen ceiling looks like it might fall in at any moment. However, we did have quite a few laughs, very good food and some toasty log fires.

 The children and I went on a couple of lovely walksand Nessie had a wonderful time with a choice of two sofas.  

To be honest, I am not sure how many more Christmases will be like this one but the children were so delighted to be in their childhood bedrooms that a little bit of discomfort for me was no big deal;)

Hosting Tips

 

I like to think that I am a very good hostess and when people come to stay, they have clean bedding and towels and there is plenty of food in the house. I made the long drive up to Glasgow and stayed with one of my children who will remain nameless as this is not trip advisor Nella and I had a couple of lovely days together, but it was very much like staying in student digs. The area is not very salubrious and Nessie was having to pick her way between poo vomit and fast food on the patch of grass outside. 

We all travelled north together to stay in the old house in Crathes which seems to be falling into a state of disrepair. It is totally fine though because we are all together and getting on famously which is a blessing however my bed for the week is a mattress on the landing but hey, it was my choice to move out. 

At least we have been able to do the food shop and fill the fridge without caring about the cost;)

Days Out and Crafts are Great!

My work week was a lot of admin, mostly streamlining the sewing machine inventory. During the evenings I put together 2 basic patchwork projects for Nella’s Christmas - a hot water bottle cover and laptop sleeve. They were not fancy, just rectangles with flaps and walking foot quilted with a wiggly stitch but both will do their job perfectly well.

I spent more in Lidl on chocolate, nuts and bubble bath than I usually do on my whole month’s groceries but I have pretty much finished my gift buying. I “just” have to wrap it all and stuff it into my suitcase.

I went into work on my day off to complete a dinosaur quilt for a work friend, took Nessie for another expensive hairdo and enjoyed the Tavistock Christmas tractor run from my back doorstep. I made another batch of lemon curd and some Dukkah, a spicy nutty mixture to sprinkle on salads or soup. 

Fergus celebrated his 24th birthday performing at Oran More in Glasgow’s West End. I have not heard whether his Messages bag is a success. If the handles are too long I will have to borrow a sewing machine to put them right when I travel to Glasgow at the end of next week.

On Sunday I drove to Agatha Christie’s summer house near Brixham. It took me a while to get there down some hair-raising Devon lanes and a detour reversing after the satnav took me to a village on the wrong side of the River Dart. After a ridiculously short ferry trip, I eventually reached my destination at Greenway, a National Trust property where I met up with my cousin Karen and her family. The house was full of treasures (organised junk) and in my opinion was in need of a bit of a makeover but it was fascinating. I went for fish and chips in Brixham afterwards and was amazed to see the Golden Hind, replica of the ship that survived Francis Drake’s round the world trip. 

It is so easy not to make an effort and go for a day out or do a spot of crafting but it is very satisfying to know that time has been filled well!

Festive Stress Ramping Up

I don’t know why I am surprised every December by how quickly Christmas looms. I was feeling some dread that I had not done any Christmas shopping or making and could not see how I could fit it in. Additionally, it is Fergus’s birthday 2 weeks before Christmas and I just have not got the funds to send something amazing, especially as I won’t be there and he is doing his last big gig of the year at Oran Mor in Glasgow’s West End on his actual birthday! He had expressed an interest in a cross-body tote bag so I found some hideous cheap grey denim and made a lined bag with 2 inner zipped pockets, a denim patch pocket on the bag and the word, “Messages” which is Scots for groceries. It took me quite some time and I hope that the xxl straps are not too long or short! 

I had a customer quilt to do at work, as well as mucking in on the phones, warehouse, making cups of tea for classes, testing freezer paper, and a million other things. I went in on my day off to do work friend, Jo’s quilt. It would have taken far too long to do it custom so I suggested an all-over in sparkly thread which can have further quilting in the borders if she feels like it. I was pleased with the result but giving up a day off means I have less time at home to do chores and make gifts.

Tavistock had a very wet festive Dickensian evening which was really nice for a wander.  The church was full of trees decorated by various schools, clubs and businesses. It did put me in a more festive frame of mind but added to the panic of not having made all of my purchases. I am only going to send a handful of cards because the price of stamps is ridiculous. At least I went to Lidl and made a start by getting some shower gels and sweeties for my children. 

My sister suggested that I make her boys toilet bags which was actually a great idea and meant I could use more of the horrible grey denim. I don’t have many sewing supplies here but I had enough fabric for lining and zips. 

Nella requested a patchwork hot water bottle cover but has now changed her mind and wants a laptop sleeve. I bought a pack of squares and will see how far I can make them go. 

Sunday was taken up sewing, cooking, making fresh juice, washing up, going for a wet and windy walk on the moors, chores - no wonder I am worn out! I only have one weekend left in Devon before I drive to Scotland for Christmas so I need to get my act together!

Outings and The Last Straw

I had a lovely week with Nella staying and Nessie loved the company. I made lemon curd then thought about how I could attempt to make vegan lemon curd for Nella using custard powder. Nella had a couple of weeks off Uni, waiting for dissertation results so she went to stay with Freya then came here via her friend, Daisy’s house in Ilkley. She had a relaxing week doing crochet projects and despite worrying about her marks, was awarded a First which is fantastic. With the big essay out of the way, she has the rest of the year to tackle her major textiles project. This involves wool so we visited an organic, very ethical sheep farm where she bought a whole sheep fleece that she will have to wash and process.

We both rejoined the National Trust so we could go and see the amazing flower garland at Cotehele, made from 38 000 dried flowers. It seemed that a lot of people had the same idea so there was a lot of reversing up and down the lanes leading to the property. Apparently 4-wheel drivers can’t go backwards. 

In order to get our money’s worth we visited Buckland Abbey with my Hampshire cousins, home of Francis Drake. That was a lovely property, having been converted from a Cistercian abbey. The layout was quite odd, particularly the stairs. There was an Arthurian legends Christmas event on in the Great Barn. The weather forecast had been dire but we had a lovely, sunny day wandering around. 

Instead of having a gentle Sunday afternoon reset, I decided to have a go at making a giant wreath, initially wrapped in straw. The straw that I got from a friend seemed to have been chopped up into tiny pieces so it was a daft idea for me to think I could do this in my kitchen. My hoover got clogged up, I ran out of straw and got rather annoyed. Maybe next weekend I will try to cover it all up with greenery or just give up;)