A Beautiful Day!

Today has been sooooo gorgeous! The sun's been shining all day and it's been hot, hot, HOT! Spent most of the day in the garden and the sunshine inspired me to make some pretty dragonfly suncatchers. They're easy - all you need is a few sheets of coloured cellophane paper, some beads and some craft wire. I left them on the washing line all afternoon but now they're hanging in my bedroom window.







On Tuesday I spent a couple of hours with Diane and Karen, we went around the charity shops. I was looking for some bits of cheap jewellery to use on my altered book. I found a couple of pieces but I like them so much I'll probably keep them to wear, lol! I also found what I thought was a cushion cover, but on closer inspection I think it's a pyjama case. Doesn't matter though, I'm using it as a cushion cover anyway, it looks lovely with the other two that I have on the bed, and it only cost 75p - bargain! Oh, I got a pretty little hook thingy too, with a picture of a clock, it was only £1 and it looks kind of shabby chic.. I have an idea of what I'm going to do with it and I'll post a pic once it's done.

Here's the jewellery and the hook







I was pleased with my bargains but I still need some bits for my altered book cover so I'll jusy have to keep looking - I don't mind because looking around charity shops is one of my favourite things :o)

I had to go over to Tenby yesterday so I baked a batch of oatmeal cookies for Diane and made an old fashioned brown paper bag out of some parcel paper and tied it with some raffia. Simple, but it looked really good, kinda rustic :o)

Tonight I made a lemon drizzle cake for tea and over half of it's gone already, lol - nothing lasts long in this house!

Crafting Saturday

Today I decided to have the whole day to myself, doing nothing but crafting. It's ages since I last had a day to simply sit back and enjoy myself and not bother about housework, cooking or rushing off to work. Soooooo... I started out by making a miniature book - an old, battered, worn out book containing pictures of old-fashioned medicines and treatments.





Next I made another old book, this time containing pics of Victorian transport....





....and after that, I made a little journal. I don't have any pics of the inside of it yet, it's not quite finished, but here it is..



When I'd finished with the miniatures I started on something I've been wanting to do for ages - an altered book. There are some beautiful altered book pictures online and I just love them! Anyway, I gathered together some bits and pieces and I'm quite pleased with how it looks so far, although I want to add a lot more to it yet! I covered the original cover with plain paper dyed with tea and scrunched up to give it the wrinkled effect, and then laid some gold tissue paper over parts of it. I made two flowers with the tea-stained paper and later on I added some gold flecks of paint. Yes, it's coming along nicely, I think I'd like to add some metal pieces to it so I'm going to keep a look-out for something suitable. Here it is so far...

A very sad post.

This is going to be a very short post, I had a list of things I was going to blog about but everything came to a grinding halt the other night when a fox killed our eight beautiful free-range chickens. We searched everywhere in the hope that some of them had managed to escape and hide. We called to them as we searched and we looked in every possible place at least three times, but all we found were feathers. It was a terrible loss. I'm just glad that, while we had them, they had the best kind of life, roaming free, foraging and dust-bathing and just doing all the things that chickens like to do.

Ouch!

Went back to the dentist on Wednesday and finally had some dental work done. Had to have three extractions - yikes! I knew it was coming so I was prepared for it but I was still very apprehensive about the needles. It wasn't too bad and I was feeling quite pleased with myself, but when I went to stand up I had a hard time getting my legs to support me! It's quite normal, apparently. The dentist accompanied me back to the waiting room and told me to sit there for as long as I needed - he offered to phone Nigel, who was waiting down the road in the car, but I didn't have my phone with me and I can't remember for the life of me what his mobile number is, lol! Eventually I stood up to go and a very nice lady who was waiting for her appointment offered to walk down the road to the car with me. I thanked her but said I'd be fine, but as I walked to the door I started to feel really shaky again and she jumped up from her chair and insisted on walking with me, and to be honest, I was really grateful for her company. I felt a bit better once I was out in the fresh air and it was only a five-minute walk to the car where Nigel was waiting. It was really nice of her to take the time to help me. I didn't get her name and chances are I'll never meet her again since the dentist is forty miles from where I live.

I was going to go into work the following day but by then my face had swollen up on one side and it was really painful so I called Dawn, the supervisor, and explained that I wouldn't be in. Friday came around and still my face was playing up so I had to stay home again. It's Monday now (bank holiday) and I'm still taking pain killers, but I'm getting back to normal so I'll be going to work tomorrow.

Well, it's been a beautiful day today, hottest day so far. I went up to where Nigel works this morning and checked on our chickens, which we keep there. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves out in the sun. Nigel gave my car a wash with the pressure washer while I was up there so it's looking all pristine again - that won't last long, lol!

Took a few pictures and then did little bit of shopping on the way home. I bought a jar of local honey and I have to say it's the best honey I've ever tasted - gorgeous!



I spent the rest of the day sunbathing in the garden - I'm getting a tan! Hooray!! :o) Here are a few pics I took today..



All of these were taken up at the hotel where Nigel works, except the last one which I took on the way home, looking towards Newport Beach.

Weekend Bits

Well, that's it, the weekend's over, Monday's looming once again. I don't actually mind Mondays though,new week,new start and all that. It seems almost obligatory to hate Mondays these days and people look at you like you're a bit odd if you start the week with a smile, which seems a bit sad really.

Right, what have I done this weekend? Well, the runner beans are planted, I've got two different varieties in the garden and I'm looking forward to seeing them pop up :o) We went down to the allotment yesterday morning to check on everything and it's all looking good, all the stuff we've got planted is coming up nicely, all green and healthy-looking. We've got two allotments, on one of them we've got raised beds. We've got strawberries in one of them and herbs in another. Last year we had courgettes in one of them and they did really well. We've also got raspberries, goji berries and blueberries. Oh, and rhubarb - which is looking very good. My little frog pond which I put in last year needs a good clear out, it's not looking too good at the moment so I'll have to get down there one day this week if the weather's ok and sort it out.

I went to Haverfordwest yesterday afternoon to do a bit of shopping. Went to the pound shop and bought some indoor plant food, a couple of spray bottles and a few other bits and pieces, also bought a fiver's worth of savings stamps at Morrisons and put another fiver on my Wilkinson's saver card.

Today we did the food shopping for the week. I've stocked up on all the flours and bought a bag of oatmeal for baking, so I'll have a bread making day sometime this week. I did a load of oatmeal biscuits the other day but they don't last long, lol - they're too nice! I'll have to make some more.

I gave the bedroom a good sort out tonight. I'm trying to cut the clutter and I'm getting rid of anything I don't use, so I've chucked the useless bits in the bin and put some clothes to one side for the charity shop. The bedroom looks a lot tidier now and it even looks a bit bigger now that I've got rid of the junk!

I bought a bottle of washing up liquid today from Aldi's, it cost 69p and it will last me for about two months, maybe a bit longer. I dilute it and get around five and a half bottles out of it and I only use a little bit at a time so it lasts for ages - to think I used to use a whole, undiluted bottle each week! Actually I just did a quick calculation and I used to spend £35.88 per year on washing up liquid, and now I will spend approx. £4.14 - a saving of £31.74 - wow!! Just goes to show that these little savings really do add up! :o)

Learning Something New

'If you don't use it, you lose it'. That's what they say, right? So this week I decided to use my brain and try something new. My son uses photoshop and he's been on at me for ages to have a go, so I thought I'd give it a try! I found it quite confusing - all those icons! I thought I'd never get my head around it all but I persevered and slowly began to pick it up. I'm still very slow but at least I've made a start. Here's my first creation... It's very basic but you have to walk before you can run!! :o)



The weather's been crap again today so I just pottered around the house before going to work this afternoon. BORING! I hope it brightens up soon - the trees outside are still looking very bare, they should be greening up by now.

My mission for the next couple of weeks is to sort out all my junk and get rid of it - I've really got far too much stuff and it's starting to get on my nerves. I've got a whole shed full of hobby stuff that I don't use any more, but whenever I start to sort through it, I think it's too good to throw away! Then I think that maybe I'll start using it again. I've got to get out of this mindset - it's like those hoarders that are on tele, I can understand how they feel when they say they can't bring themselves to chuck stuff out. Thankfully I'm not that bad - my hoard hasn't found its way into the house yet, but my shed would look a whole lot better without that lot in there. I've got a dolls house in there which needs a clean up and a coat of paint, I think I'll do that and see if I can sell it, and if I can't I'll give it away, probably put it on freecycle, it's a shame for it just to be sitting in the shed doing nothing.

SUNSHINE!!!!

I'm blogging a bit earlier than usual tonight because I'm planning to have a long soak in the bath later tonight and give myself a pedicure in readiness for the long days of Summer (I live in hope).

Me and Nigel spent the morning on the allotment doing some planting and weeding, it was sooooo lovely to get down there in the sunshine! Nigel's been doing bits and pieces whenever the weather's been good enough but it's been so cold up until now that it's slowed everything up. There were a few people there today, making the most of the nice weather. I hope it stays like this now! I was going to take some pictures down there but silly me left the memory card in the computer!

When we got home I made a pan of vegetable soup and a chive and tomato loaf - it was meant to be a cheese and chive loaf but I discovered we had no cheese so I had to improvise. I'm glad I did because it turned out lovely - I'll be making it again!! I made a plain loaf too, as we were running low on bread and I didn't fancy going to the shops.

I decided to start clearing out the cold frame in the garden, it's been really neglected since last year because we put all out effort into getting the allotment going and our poor garden suffered because of it. Anyway, I thought I'd get it sorted out because it's a bit of extra growing space and it's a pity to waste it, I'll use it as a little raised bed. It was in a right state and full of wildlife - the kind with eight legs!! Here we have the 'before' picture. What a mess!



I've cleared it out and it's starting to look better - I'll be able to get some things planted in there soon :o)



Oh, I took the fruit water with tme to the allotment today, and it was lush! :o)