Post op creations - part 1

I'm getting a little insight into what my life will be like when I am retired - at the age of about 99 at this rate - life is slow, things are taking a lot longer than usual and my mental faculties are not that sharp.  I blame the codeine but maybe it is just me these days!

Daytime tv holds no appeal but it has been on 'for company' and I have managed a couple of little creations so far.

I had a lot of grey cotton that I didn't know what to do with so made up this little cushion, lined it with some lovely raw silk I picked up at a car boot sale last year and finished it off with some mother of pearl buttons.  Anne declared it 'very boudoir-ish' - I think it was a compliment :)

In the spirit of 'using things up' I made this little crochet bag from some leftover pink cotton.

It's sweet but totally not worth the time taken to make it.

Lastly, whilst watching disc 2 of Downton Abbey I made up this little crochet bowl, being inspired by the little amigurumi owls I made for Michael (which he loves, loves, loves and wants to learn to make himself - woohoo).

It's sitting in the washing machine now waiting for some company to be felted.  My knees are looking similar in colour in fact. I might have to dig out some of my other pure wool odds and ends and make another one whilst watching disc 3.

It's a grey day here, feels like a Sunday but so has every day this week.  I do have lots of lovely flowers to cheer me up though - daffs, tulips, roses and lillies - lucky girl, am I.

Wishing you all a crafty weekend.

Jules

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R & R

Well, the knee ops are over so I have some time with my feet up to look forward to.  All went well apart from a rather spectacular bleed in my left knee which worried the nursing staff rather, especially the rather cartoon-like spurt across the room from one of the keyholes!  It was a bit like an Itchy & Scratchy sketch without the chainsaw.

I asked the surgeon if I should be worried that he had to draw on my legs to show where my knees were (what kind of training do they get at medical school?)  The lovely Malaysian theatre nurse didn't have to shave my legs - I was prepared. No 'Jules Hairy Legs' in that theatre, no sireee, Bob.

Tubi-grip bandages and surgical stockings - a very sexy look, don't you think?

I was only supposed to be in for the day but had to stay overnight.  I finished Stephen Fry's second autobiography (excellent, beautifully written, witty and poignant), managed to make a complete mess of a hat I was knitting on double pointed needles so pulled it all back and will have to buy a circular needle as the stitches kept falling off the dp ones and it was making my blood pressure go up.  Not good when you are being monitored every 30 minutes!

So, I have some time off, am not logging on to my work laptop and have already completed one crochet cushion cover - not ready for a reveal but this is one of my Mum's patterns that I managed to finish last weekend.

It'll be going into Anne's shop or on her website soon.

I have a big box of chocolate Brazils (courtesy of my Mum), a stash of wool, a plan to finally finish my quilt using the tied method as it's too bulky to hand or machine quilt, Stephen Fry's first autobiography, Ian McEwan's new novel, Solar and some of my favourite films to watch - Tea With Mussolini, Love Actually, Meet Joe Black and Cinema Paradiso to name a few.  

Life is good.

The wind is blowing furiously here so I hope you've all got your wigs glued on tightly!

Jules

x

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now ...

..it's just a Spring clean for the May Queen.  The sun shone, the wind didn't blow and Spring seems just around the corner!  I have spent most of the day in the garden shifting a tonne of soil from the drive to the raised veg beds.  It's been sitting there since I moved the old compost heap and dug the pond!  No more Gypsy encampment here (apologies, no offence to Gypsies).  I can now hold my head up amongst my neighbours (who are all seriously ancient and have obsessively tidy gardens - we are the bad neighbours in the hood!)  Well, I would hold my head up high but I think I have done serious damage to my back.  When will I ever learn? A nice deep bubble bath has helped but I think I'm going to have trouble getting up tomorrow.

I'm afraid I've no photos to show you this post.  My week in Finland was a blur of meetings, no time for sight seeing but I did buy a couple of balls of wool.  I'm having my knee knobs operated on this week so will be putting my feet up for the rest of the week - need to have plenty of projects ready for the making.  Trouble is I've got so many ideas buzzing around I can't seem to settle to anything at the moment.  I've been spending too much time surfing all the fabulous blogs out there getting more and more inspiration.

Still haven't won the lottery so work will continue to get in the way but you never know what's round the corner, hey?

Hope you've all benefited from a drop of sunshine this weekend.

Can't wait until the garden is full of these

Jules

x

Sunday at Sandsend

In order to blow some of the cobwebs away and make the most of the sunshine (intermittent though it was) I headed to Sandsend with a friend to take a walk on the beach and collect stones for her collection.  As we drove up onto the moor the sky darkened and the rain started to spit but it was so windy the rain clouds were blown away by the time we got there.

The beach was quite crowded considering the brutal wind but determined dog walkers and intrepid parents bundled up against the cold while children danced in and out of the waves in their wellies and built sand castles.

We had a quick look round Wild Hart

Before heading into the pub for a warming bowl of home-made leek soup - just the ticket

I had planned to get out in the garden when I got back but my frozen nose and hands changed my mind!  I'm away to Finland tomorrow where the forecast is lows of -16 C and highs of -2 C so I shouldn't complain and it was so good to have some fresh air.

Work has been very demanding this past week so I've done very little in the way of crafting but did want to show you some little Amigurumi birds I've been making.  

They are winging their way to a new home at the moment so I hope they'll make it OK.  They should do - they are wise young owls after all.

Hope you've had a great weekend.

See you next week.

Jules

x

Post Apology

I have to apologise to my middle son, Michael - he is not happy with the calibre of photos of him that I have been posting on my blog (and Andrew also complained)!  Oh me oh my-o.

I have changed the photo of Michael and Andrew as St Pancras as I had to agree with him, it wasn't the best one - but the best one of Andrew had Michael all blurry (and that was before I finished my glass of bubbles, I hasten to add).

So, in an effort to redress the balance and keep my favourite graphic designer happy (you might have noticed that my blog is undergoing a bit of a transformation - it's a work in progress as he is much in demand at the moment) -  let's see what they think about these ones....

Andrew and Michael, New Year's Eve early on.  The later photos and ones from the day after are definitely not fit for publication!

Michael, Summer 2010

Lynne is running a 'favourite things' feature on her blog so here are three of my most favourite (and most definitely my best) creations

I'm very proud of these three chaps - L to R, Michael, Will and Ben

Hopefully, these meet with approval!  I shall be snapping in earnest when I go back to London to visit Ben and Michael at Easter.  Ben and Will don't like having their photo taken (must take after their mother).

Hope you are all keeping warm.  It's bitterly cold here and sleeting :(  I'm off to make some cup cakes for work as we have a Polish visitor to the office tomorrow.

Jules
x

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain

... but the rain in Catalonia fell mainly on our heads!  Having been reliably informed that the weather was lovely and warm in Polinya (half an hour from Barcelona) I packed lightweight clothes only to find that it was nithering!  Plus 9 was the warmest it got so I spent the week with cold hands and tootsies.

I expected it to be a pretty tough week on the work front but things went surprisingly well.  Ulla and I managed to stretch our legs most evenings but were usually the first to be at the restaurants - very un-Spanish.  The first one we went to wasn't even properly open and they looked surprised to see us and checked their watches!  I think I have gained at least half a tonne and retained sooooo much water from all the salty food that I daren't even get on the scales.  Ulla and I both had swollen fingers and feet - just not used to the diet I suppose.  We didn't complain or refuse any of the delicious pastries though!

This is pretty much the quantity of bread and pastries we at this week!

We also had to sample some very nice Jambon in this tapas restaurant (and some of the local wine, of course!)  The restaurant had been recommended to us by the lovely Despina from our sales office in Athens - it only took us an hour and a half to find it despite it only being about 10 minutes from our hotel!  We thought we deserved the wine by the time we got there and the waiter was VERY nice :)

I didn't do much crochet - just a little on the way out as the days were long and by the time we'd walked around, eaten and headed back to the hotel it was straight to bed.  We did manage to go to Barcelona on the last night and had a tour of the city in the rain.

A rather blurry shot of one of Gaudi's finest... well, it was tipping it down!

THE department store of the area - El Cortes Ingles - we almost got vertigo from the one in Sabdell as there seemed to be endless floors.

We had to seek shelter in this rather nice bar and have a glass of wine (or two) to warm us up and rest our weary feet.  Then it was off to enjoy a very nice meal (and a little bit more wine).

Ulla and Bernat toasting the end of a successful week (with, you guessed it, some very nice Spanish wine!)

Last time I was in Barcelona it was sunny and warm but the city is really beautiful, so much wonderful architecture and very alive.  The shopping is excellent too but there was no time for any of that, which is just as well as the prices were pretty steep.

I seem to be missing out on a fortune - first I have a clothes shop in Nancy, now a chain of parfumerias in Barcelona ..

But if I had to own a chain of shops I think this one would be perfect..

It's actually a candy store but what great name!

So, a week at home before I head off to Finland.  Hope it warms up a bit as they had record low temps last week at minus 40 C - yikes!  That's weather for staying in the sauna me thinks.

It's tipping it down with rain, snowing up on the moors and more cold temps forecast .... guess I'll just have to stay in and stitch and stuff, shame hey?  Hope you are managing to spend your weekend doing the things you love.

Jules

x

Whistle Stop Number 3 - London

OK ladies, wait no more, now I have figured out how to work Photobucket (yes, I am one of the numpties to whom Lynne  refers) - here's Loop....

It was lovely but mega expensive so I headed upstairs to the jumble sale for patterns and some inspiration

Too much choice!

Gorgeous buttons

Some gift inspiration

So what did I buy?

Some reduced patterns and a couple of lovely books

Love, love this book by Julia Arkell although I doubt I'll ever make any of the projects.  It was all the lovely shelves of goodies that drew my eye.  Oh to have a work room like this.

By now we were starving - hungry students in tow - so we took a quick look around the market and then found this wonderful place called Elk in the Wood for a spot of lunch.

Just love this wallpaper

and all these lovely fireplace tiles in the kitchen

and all these mirrors on the wall.  That's Michael taking the picture for me - I haven't grown a beard, honest!

Next was a wander around Borough markets and a look at all the lovely fare.  

We were in search of desert but couldn't find carrot cake so we headed to Patisserie Lila for cake and tea/coffee.... well, I had a long train ride ahead, needed to keep my strength up :)

Mission accomplished!

Did I mention that Michael and Andrew met me at St Pancreas and we had a glass of bubbly in the Champagne Bar and then went back to Kingston for dinner at Carluccio's?

Oooh, get us!

So that was London, tomorrow I'll bring you Barcelona.  Gosh, my life sounds rather glamorous but trust me it's not!

Happy Weekend all and thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your comments - I look forward to every one.

Jules

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