Weekend

 Thanks for all the comments everyone. Things are coming together. I booked my day 2, 8 and test-to-release tests. I had picked out one website (as listed on the UK government page) only to find out they didn't accept overseas payments. Their explanation, when I asked how to fill out for those with a different billing address, was that because they didn't ship outside the UK, they didn't accept payments. I picked out another site - recommended by someone in one of my British Facebook groups - and managed to book through them. They didn't ship outside the UK either but did accept billing addresses from outside the UK. 

I walked today. Made the most of the good weather as it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Yesterday was very buggy - mosquitoes galore (which I won't miss!) - and I got bit several times despite being covered in spray. Today was the total opposite. I went even more prepared today but the mosquitoes were few and far between. It was lovely out so I spent more time than I usually would.  Phone photo below of the lovely reflection and clouds. 

I spent the afternoon outside on the back porch watching the birds and their babies. They are so funny to watch. Later I did go up in the craft room for a bit. 

Oh I forgot to say - on a lovely plus note - husband got off work early and took about 10 boxes (books and other goodies) to the charity shop for donation!!! I had forgotten some of the books I had donated and although I was tempted to sort through them (again), I didn't. I let them go on to new homes. It actually feels very good. Before I leave on Friday I want to make sure to vacuum the area where the boxes were. We also got rid of the rest of the bottle returns (recyclables) that had been taking up room in the garage!!! So a couple of wins this week. 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Rainy AGAIN

 Thanks for all the supportive comments regarding Mum and my decision to go visit. It's taken me a while to make. I should say that I am fully vaccinated. I got mine as soon as it opened up to my age group. 

Jo - I think Prince Harry is probably doing the test and release that you can pay extra to do on Day 5. If I can manage to get the money that's what I'm going to do.  Not sure how much extra that one is. I also have to find the post boxes where you can post your tests. Please let me know if you do have any questions and I'll try my best to answer them. I'm finding out things as I go along. I think if it wasn't for Mum's health I would try waiting longer, but at this point I'm afraid to.

It rained most of the day today too. Storms, hard rain and a little smattering of dryness inbetween. I'm going to scream at the next person who tells me that we needed the rain. I don't think we needed it to all come at once lol. We had a tornado watch and then a warning, but it was on the other side of the county so, thank goodness, it didn't affect us. I did try to go for a walk, but I ended up completely drenched. The only good thing was that, for just about the ten minutes it didn't rain, I watched and managed to get photos of a green heron fishing. Usually you can't get very close to them as they are very jumpy. I think it helped that I was really quiet and the place was empty! 

I didn't get as much done as I hoped (story of my life). I did get in the craft room and have been trying to use up some papers and some pre-made mini albums that are in my stash. I also pulled out a new 'kit' to do some cards with. This came with Crafts Beautiful magazine. I must admit that I bought it for the hedgehogs! I do hope to get to see one when I go to Mum's. There was one in the community garden the last time I was there. 

Not the best photos, but the light in my craft room is mostly artificial and I was just plain lazy and couldn't be bothered to bring them downstairs to better light. 

The 'kit' comes with stamps, papers, toppers, some little sparkly bits and some 3d sticky bits. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can come up with!

A Little Happy

 It's been quite a week. I must admit that, as far as getting things done, it hasn't been a great week in way of accomplishments. I have been getting my usual things done and have been (mostly) making lists. I liked having the meal plan done. It helped me cut down on times going to the shops and there was no more trying to work out what to cook. My plan is to work on things in the freezer and make another meal plan for next week. I did have an epic fail with one of the recipes but oh well - it was due to my stupid mistake and not an error in the recipe. It's been a while since I had a fail that bad. Luckily I was able to pull something else out of the freezer and do that instead. 

Today I got up into the craft room and created something that made me smile. I had seen a Youtube video making a tiny little album. It was really easy to make but I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. After this week I decided to fill it with some nice little quotes. It gave me joy to make it and read the quotes - something a little uplifting. 

We will be going to the beach tomorrow - son lives close to one. We need to take him a couple of presents that arrived late. He was going to come up this weekend but he was close to someone who was diagnosed with Covid so is staying home instead. Luckily he is still working from home so he shall be able to continue to do that. His 'quarantine' is almost up and he's feeling fine - thankfully.

Monday, Monday

Ack. Back to Monday again. 

I have some crafty card creations to share today. I really do need to get going on Christmas (yikes) projects but I am enjoying Autumn and Halloween right now and seem to be stuck on them. 

These were all made using bits I had around. The first three were made with bits I 'won' in an auction when I went to see daughter the other year. I went to Woo-Woo Palooza, a fundraiser for Adopt a Husky Minnesota, and they had a scrapbook basket up for auction.  I think I'm going to send out a couple as a pick-me-up. It's always fun to receive something different in the post. 

A Crafty Life

Another thing that brings me joy is crafting. I have done some sort of crafts for years. I remember my Nana trying to teach me to crochet (an epic fail - I still can't!) and learning to cross stitch at school. I took up cross stitching a little more seriously when I was about seventeen and haven't really stopped since. There were periods when I didn't do a lot of it, but I've always had some sort of stitching around. I started doing some scrapbooking when my children were younger and that has evolved into other papercrafting. I have (sort of) learned how to knit and I can do the basics of quilting (not my favourite though). I think crafting of some sort is a great creative outlet. There is nothing quite like seeing something come together or making someone a gift and seeing their smiles when they receive it. 

My latest cross stitch that I'm working on. It's a pattern from a magazine that I've had a long time. It will be a bunny dressed in a Christmas outfit. I thought it would be something fun for my Mum. I'm hoping she'll like it. 

More mini-albums. I really need to start filling these!

It's lovely to finally be able to have my own room where I can create things. I must admit to be a little bit messy in the creative process and my room really needs a sort and a tidy. I plan on doing that once the weather cools down a bit as it's still quite hot upstairs and I can't stay up there for too long!

Do you do lots of crafts? Is there one in particular you really like? How long have you been doing it?

I can't remember a time when my Mum wasn't creative.  She would knit us lots of different things and when we outgrew them she would take them apart and wind up the wool into balls. When she retired to took some quilting lessons at the local college and has made lots of lovely quilts. My Nana was accomplished at crochet and she used to sew the gussets on thick leather gloves to make extra money. I remember her doing it when she was (seemingly to me) quite old. Mum says she had done it for years to make some extra household money as her husband was a little tightfisted. It's lovely to know that I've continued on (in some sort of way) in the crafty arts. When I pick up a needle I often think of Mum or Nana. 

Week Beginning

Thanks for all the support on the last post.

I didn't end up getting much crafty done on Saturday. I got started reading the book below and ended up getting hooked. I suppose there are worse things that I could have been doing lol. I love this series of books. I meant to put it down and do something else but before I knew it most of the afternoon had gone. I think that's definitely the sign of a good book. I actually ended up finishing it this morning as yesterday I only read for a little while at night.

My finished cross stitch is ready to be washed, pressed and (when I find one) framed.

Finally here's the little mini-album I finished. It uses 6 blank cards and envelopes. I've already started on another one as they are so fun and fairly easy to make and (bonus!) they use up a lot of paper.

The YouTube channel is Lyric Lover Crafts and this is the link for the tutorial. mini album tutorial

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Blah

Here's the moan first, then if you get through that (laugh) a bit of crafty stuff.

Just having a bad (expletive) day. This week was going alright. Today our state extended our stay at home order until mid-May except for some exceptions. I know why the exceptions were made - they were political (which really makes me upset). We have to wear masks in enclosed spaces. I feel like I can't breath when I'm wearing one and feel like throwing up (it's a really panicky feeling and something like I feel when I go to the dentist). So now I just feel like crying. Maybe I'll just curl up and go to bed.

Deep breath.

Now for the crafty stuff. My adult son lives with us and buys his own lunch and breakfast foods. The other week he brought home a cereal box that had a cute face on it. I had him save it for me and have been making a mini album cover out of it. He has since bought two more boxes that had different facial expressions - picked them especially lol.

I still have to do inserts for the pages, but I think it turned out well. I know it's not Autumn but I really thought the autumn pages went with the cover. I have forgotten how much I enjoy making these!

Not a lot done on my cross stitch but I have been doing a little bit.

I think tonight I'm going to put on some Jam and Jerusalem as it always makes me laugh and I could do with some of that!

Are you doing any crafty things? Or are you having trouble getting motivated?

I do hope everyone has a good weekend.

Ack!

I have having a heck of a time on here today. I accidentally completely deleted my last post. I meant to delete the one I'm working on as I messed up. Then I was halfway through writing this one and accidentally backspaced the whole thing and (even though I had saved it) ended up having to start again. Stupid of me, but I feel like crying (I think it's menopause) even though it's something so little to cry over. I shall try again. Maybe the third time will be the charm. Hopefully I'll remember something of what I wrote the first couple times.

Washing is all caught up. At least for now. It's one of the things I hate about going away. Yup, we had a long weekend away which you would have maybe read about if I hadn't deleted the post (banging my head against the wall). It was a lovely trip. I'd included a couple of photos. I shall have to pull them up again. It now looks as if I haven't posted since last Wednesday - I did!

The last couple of days have been quite sunny so I've managed to get out for a walk. It's been quite chilly in the mornings and I actually wore my gloves as they keep my fingers warm while taking photos. I haven't had to put the heat on yet. I talked to Mum today and she said she's put her heat on once. It scared her a little as she has one of those smart meters and it spiked up. I can imagine they can be quite scary to older people who are on a strict budget. I'm hoping Mum won't worry about it too much. I'd probably cover it up if I were her. When I was there it freaked out everytime you turned the kettle or the toaster on!

I have managed to get up into the craft room. It hasn't been sorted a lot yet but I have been working on projects including the albums I was working on last time. One now has papers and bird photos. I just have to add captions/quotes and embellishments.

This next one I'm not quite sure what I'm going to fill with. I love the paper pad that I used for this one. It's called Immortal Love.

I've started on another one, but have just managed to get it put together and am choosing papers to put inside. I'm going to put chipmunk photos in this one. I've been sorting through photos - I have a LOT of them!

I hope everyone is having a good week and am a lot less clumsy than I am!

Rainy Day

Another rainy day. I'm hoping it clears up before the weekend as husband and I are going away for a long weekend. I'm determined to make the best of it - rain or shine - but dry weather would be nice. No walk today as the weather just didn't cooperate. I had lunch with a friend. She brought along her wonderful granddaughter who is about a little over a year and a half. She is so delightful. We had a good natter. We hadn't been out since before I left for England so it's been a while.

Yesterday, when I realised it was October the 1st, I thought about blogging every day this month. Obviously that was an epic fail before it even got off the ground. I'm not sure what I would have said every day. Sometimes there isn't a lot happening.

I did do some crafting this morning and this evening as the weather has been so lousy out. I have been watching YouTube videos and found one that made a lovely little mini-album. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to use them for, but I gave one a try and it was really easy! I have lots of small photos and lots of paper, so was thinking I'd make some up to use for photos. The video is Easy Mini-Album. This is the beginning of mine.

For this one I used 3 sheets of 12 x 12 paper

The little pieces are the hinges to attach the pages together.

A bit of ribbon for the closure - be sure to add this before putting decorative papers on top!

This is the paper pad I used on each page. I think I brought it back from my trip.

The front decorated. I have to do the inside pages and then add photos and embellishments. I was really surprised how easy it was!

For someone who is supposed to not be shopping I have been watching far too many 'haul' videos on YouTube. These are videos people post of the items they have purchased - in my case I'm watching crafty bargains. Going up in my craft room though reminds me that I have a lot of stuff to use!

Something that made me smile today (despite the rain). Autumn is coming. There isn't a lot of colour around, but I can see the changes coming. The greens are beginning to fade and in places the leaves are changing. I love Autumn with all the bright colours before the dark of winter sets in.

Random Mutterings and some Crafts

I managed a few cards - and photographed them! I'll share three today and three more tomorrow.

I didn't have a car today but I wanted to get out so I walked down to where I usually drive to walk. I didn't manage as much of a walk around the park as I usually do as I had to walk there and back (and the skies were beginning to look a little grey). I made it back to one street from our street before it started to spit with rain. Not bad. I didn't get very wet. I hadn't taken an umbrella or a coat (was wearing a sweater) as it wasn't supposed to rain until later. I should have known not to trust what the weather said!

I did sort a book out today. I did read some of it and it was very interesting, but it's been a while and I know I won't get through anymore so it's time to let it go. I did find a lovely bookmark in it though which I shall be keeping!

Finally, I decided to put on hold the photography blog I was doing (have removed the link). I hadn't kept it up as I hoped and I was wavering all over the place in subject matter. I decided instead to do one on Tales from over the Garden Wall - all about the goings on in my garden.  I spend lots of time, in all seasons, watching and photographing what's going on so I thought I'd try organising those thoughts. We shall see how well that goes!

Another Week...and thanks

Thanks for all the comments on the last post! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's heard/used the saying.

It's the start of another week I'm going to try to approach it a little more cheerfully. The snow - for now - is gone and that, at least, makes me a little happier. It is still grey and horrible but at least I can get out and take a walk - albeit a muddy walk, but it's out! On snowy days I really miss walking. Anyway, this week I have lots of projects to get done. I am happy to report that I am finished with my Mum's calendar! Yeah! One big project down. I am going to start working on one of our holidays in a small album for her to send with her package. I have the photos and the album so now it's a matter of picking out the photos, embellishments and stories to go with them. This is where the travel journal I kept while on holiday helps. I can look back in there to help jog my memory.

I think I have all my Christmas cards done. I found up some decoupage die-cut sheets and have been having lots of fun making them into cards. As soon as we get some decent light I WILL take photos!

Daughter and her boyfriend have finally managed to get up the fence around their garden. She sent me a lovely video of the dogs running around for the first time. It was lovely to see despite not being there. Sometimes I really love modern technology.

How is everyone coming with holiday projects? Do you make lots of things or just a select few? I usually just make for people I know will really appreciate it. Which reminds me - middle son just gave me his list and a knitted scarf from me is on it! I made him one last year and he loved it. Makes me quite proud.

To end on - last week I took another walk in the park I visited at the beginning of the month. It was amazing to compare the same view.

November 3rd

November 29th

Couple Craft finishes

Another new week starts. Got to take care of a few things before we leave on Saturday. There is just something about getting the house all tidied before a trip away.

I have a couple of craft finishes. One was seen on my desk last Wednesday, but this photo is a close up.

Not the best lit photograph. It's started to rain again so no sunshine. I had fun making the background for this one. I've been on a little bit of a background making frenzy lately.

This is a little cross stitch. It's one of those 'free' kits that come with the magazines. It's been in my stash a little while and I'm determined to get a few of these done this year.  I think I'm sending this one to my Mum.

Lastly is an almost finished piece. I've got to bind off and then sew it together.

It's going to be a cowl. I really like this yarn. It was really cheap but surprisingly soft. I bought another few balls to make something else. The colour is just gorgeous. It's by Deborah Norville and is a chunky yarn.

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week!

Dreary Saturday

It was a really beautiful day yesterday, too good to last. I did make the most of it and went for a little walk.

Today was just the opposite - rainy and dreary. Certainly not a day to get out and about. I stayed inside, did a little crafting and Skyped Mum. It's Mother's Day tomorrow and always miss her more on such days. She received my card and bookmark. I've arranged for some flowers to be sent to my sister's house tomorrow where Mum will be spending the day. Hope she likes them!

I did get some things done on my to-do-this-year list. I framed a couple of cross stitch items and I framed a print I ordered from a photo I took a few weeks ago.

Two pieces framed - dozens to go lol.

I've also been busy knitting. I did another cable and am working on a hat. It will be my first hat. I picked really cheap yarn this first time in case I mess it up too much. It is actually black though it looks dark blue. I took the photos with my phone so not the greatest!

They forecast rain for tomorrow so maybe no walk this week. Sniff. Sniff. Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. Happy Mother's Day to all those who celebrate tomorrow.