Life, the universe, everything - but mostly crafty stuff!

Last week our granddaughter came round on Friday evening - and we said goodbye to the 4 year old girl for the last time. The following day, we said hello to her as a five year old for the first time. She was a little confused on the Friday evening, saying that it wouldn't be the last time we saw her, and we explained that it would be the last time we saw her when she was four years old, as the following day she would be five years old. She had been excited about her birthday for at least a week beforehand, telling us everyday (and sometimes twice a day, or more often!) that it was her birthday on Saturday. That joy and excitement is something that wanes after a number of years - and once we get to September, I know that it isn't long until my birthday. I'm pleased to say that the one coming up seems to have been a long time coming - and that is fine with me, as it means that I have spent the past year enjoying life and trying to make each day count. As we get to three ...

Some people can let things wash over them - and I'd like to think that generally I am one of those people. However, from time to time I encounter those petty annoyances, which seem to get blown out of all proportion, and stay on my mind. Over and over and over again, I replay scenes in which I give a piece of my mind and tell it like it really is - or at least, how I see it from my side. This morning my heartrate is still up, due to events yesterday, because I can't seem to get myself out of this funk, this state of frustration. This can mark the start of a downward spiral, as I know that obsessing over these scenes I'm playing out in my mind creates stress and anxierty. This is why I'm writing this post today - in an attempt to let loose my frustrations, without resorting to being as petty as what has prompted all of this. So, the more I think about the whole situation, the more I play out imaginary future scenarios in my head, which results in me wanting to do very l...

One of my earlier posts was a reminiscence of smells - how smells bring back memories. While shopping earlier this week, I saw a bag of apples in Asda, held them up - and sniffed them - and I was back in that reception classroom, sitting on the floor with my apple. The bag of apples are Worcester apples - and the smell is just gorgeous! I could spend ages just sniffing those apples, and enjoying the smell and memories. Yesterday I went to a course, all about de-escalation, and as I was driving to the venue I was looking at the trees along the North Devon Link Road. I was looking for the fruit trees. This is something I only noticed last year, as I was driving along the link road. Why was last year the first time I saw them? Is it because I drove along the road so many times last year - with trips to Liverpool and trips in pursuit of achieving the challenge I had set for myself. What I noticed was how many trees along the side of the road had fruit on them. It was lovely to see the fr...

Some people love flip flops, but I've never found them particularly comfortable. All that changed yesterday. Two days ago I suddenly developed a rash on the back of my hands, that was soon to be seen on my feet, and then on my arms, stomach, legs, palms of my hands and soles of my feet. This rash is particularly itchy, and led to me not attending my quilting group yesterday, which is very unusual for me - that is my one time in the week that I regularly meet with friends and like-minded people. The itching was so intense during the first night, that I made a doctor's appointment, and went to see the local pharmacist, who advised me to try to get a doctor's appointment that day - which is what I did. With intense itching and wheezing and slightly laboured breathing, I saw the doctor. His response to the rash was not one that I had expected - "Fantastic" he said. From a medical point of view, to see such a reaction probably is quite a fascinating experience; at th...

It is the first day back at school for many young people today - and the teachers went back a couple of days ago. I used to look forward to the first day of school - as a pupil and as a teacher! The preparation before going back was very important. As a pupil I had to get a new folder, a new pad of paper, new pens and pencils, and occasionally a new pencil case. However, I didn't have a new pencil case every year - and I still have the cotton pencil case I bought when I was about 16; it is a Friends of the Earth pencil case. I remember that there used to be a craze for pencil tins as well, I don't have any from my childhood, but I do have one that I bought over 12 years ago, when I did AS French as an evening class. I do love a good pencil case. One of my favourites is a barrel type one, in a dusky rose pink colour - made of leather I think. I bought it in Berlin when there in 2011 with Mum. If I remember correctly, she discouraged me from getting it, asking what I needed a pen...

Douglas Adams introduced us to Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Slartibartfast, Marvin the Paranoid Android, to name a few. My lasting memory of the wonderful series is 42 - the answer to life, the universe, and everything. As I celebrated becoming 42 years old, I thought that I should have the answers. It wasn't until a couple of months later that I realised I had come up with my own answers - answers that form a way of living that is right for me. I don't claim to know it all for everyone - what I have discovered, is that this is right for me, it works for me. It is a little sad that it came about in the way that it did, but perhaps that is what it took for me to find this way. So what is my answer? I don't think that there are 42 aspects, but there are several different strands. The first is - Use It Up. This came about after my mum died. She was diagnosed as having PSP in November 2015. At first it was thought that she had Parkinson's, but it ...

I went to a library on Thursday, for the first time in ages. People who know me, or knew me when I was younger, will know that I like to read - I could often be found with my head in a book. I've been lucky enough to live with books around me since I was little, and we have so many books in our house. Before Mum left her house for the final time, she told me to take any of her books that I wanted, and that was not the first time she passed books on to me. The difference this time is that I could hardly put this book down. Very often these days, I will start reading in the evening, just after getting into bed, and before long my eyes get heavy, and it is not long after that that I'm asleep. This book had me gripped from the start; it was Christopher's Diary: Secrets if Foxworth, by Virginia Andrews (well, published under her name, although she died in 1986 - however, it ties in with the Flowers In the Attic stories). I read the Flowers in the Attic series in the early 1990...

When I opened the window this morning, it smelled like September. I know that it is September, but the air had that September smell in it - you know the one? The one that lets you know that autumn is one its way, that has a bit of a chill in the air. As I write this at just gone 9am, I can't smell that smell any longer, but it was definitely there at 7.40am this morning. However, the chill is there still. Smells evoke so many memories, some of the memories pleasant, some not so - and the same goes for the smells! A week or so ago, I sniffed my crocheted blanket - the one that has got me into crochet, the one that I made without any pattern, just free-styling it all the way. It had a salty smell to it, tat reminded me of being on the boat with Dad - the cushions and sleeping bags all had a salty tang to them, and my blanket had that same tang. That then reminds me of the morning ablutions on the boat, and being warned that we were better off staying out in the cockpit for a bit - an...

Here I am with another blog. Today marks a change in our household - quite a big change. My husband has officially retired! As a teacher, during August he was officially on holiday, but September marks the start of a new school year, and so today is the first day of retirement. By strange coincidence, or just a warped sense of timing, he told me that he woke at the normal 'getting up for school' time this morning. I suppose it is a way to make the most of the day! Why have I started this blog and what is going on with the address for it? Well, I want to share my passion and enthusiasm for crafts with people, share my makes, encourage others to try something new, and to share websites that I think will be of interest to people. I want to share my hobbies as well - not just the crafty ones. I also want to promote website, shops and services that I think offer a good or even great service. Finally, this past year has been a bit of a voyage for me, and I want to share what I hav...