A Vendetta Against Emma Bridgewater??

Once upon a few years ago, I lived on my own with my three children.......and I possessed three pieces of Emma Bridgewater china. Then I met The Partner....and the rest, as they say, is history. And in the case of Emma.....quite literally.
The first victim was a lovely dish, with ducklings on it, that came out at Eastertime, to be filled with Easter Egg Goodies. The Partner washed it up and put it back in the cupboard. Badly. The next time the cupboard was opened, out shot Duckling Dish to meet a rather nasty end on the kitchen floor. I was understanding.
The next casulty was my Emma Bridgewater Storm Lantern. The Partner and The Son were playing football in the lounge (hmmmmm) while I was houseworking elsewhere. I heard the crash and came racing down the stairs, only to find Emma in bits beside a ball, and The Partner and The Son pointing at each other, like something out of a Laurel and Hardy sketch. Without much humour. Words were said.
And last night, my special Emma Bridgewater limited edition bowl, that I'd saved a gazillion yoghurt tops for, was dropped on the way to the washing up bowl. I intended to be a grown up about it.....until The Partner's flip comment " Well that's one less to wash up!"......I mean, REALLY????
If he didn't like Emma, all he had to do was say so. They could have been wrapped up and put away for special occasions.....or something......

Bye bye Emma...it was nice knowing you. xx

HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!!!!!!

Daughter No.2 is safely back in the fold!!! Last night saw me whizzing up to Heathrow (well as whizzy as a clapped out VW Sharran can manage.......it's going into Car Hospital on Thursday, to see if The Mighty Paul can weave some magic......watch this space!). And let me tell you, it was a FAR happier visit than last time I was there, saying goodbye.
There were tears-obviously-but this time they were happy ones, and didn't leave me as a sobbing, incoherant mess. Let me tell you now, all you Mums out there.....forget this "I want my child to live his/her own life" malarkey. It's not all it's cracked up to be, and hurts like billy-o. No....clip their wings right now, and start saving up to buy them the house next door....it's the only way. On a sweet note, we hadn't told The Son, that Daughter No.2 was coming home 10 days earlier than expected, so the first he knew about it was when she walked in on his breakfast. I don't think he's actually let go of her yet.....though I dare say that bickering and normality will return soon.
In the meantime, I shall enjoy having all of my children under one roof, for the first time in almost 6 months, and get on with some much needed (deadline this weekend!) hand quilting....

I hope you all have as wonderful a Bank Holiday as mine is going to be. See you soon. xx

A Thank You Quilt.....

Well, I finished "The Queen's Floor" quilt, that I was lucky enough to be picked from a hat, to test the pattern, for happierthanabirdquilts.com . It was a dream to make, and I thoroughly recommend that you pop over to her Etsy shop to buy the pattern.
Anyway, I'd already decided who the quilt was for. A while ago, one of my mums from work (who has since become a friend) who also happens to be a physiotherepist, decided to take my bad back in hand. I should explain at this point, that my back pain is NOT crippling, but it is painful and it IS constant. Several years constant. So off I toddled for some treatment sessions.
Let me tell you, the woman is completely mad. She had me trying to do all sorts of convoluted exercises that were nigh on impossible for my 47 year old self to achieve. "I want you to bend this bit here and push down here" she'd say. "That's not possible. There isn't a single person walking God's good earth that is capable of that" I'd reply. She'd then proceed to demonstrate just how possible it actually was. Next ensued extreme effort on my part, trying to make my own body conform. I can promise you that "Youv'e Been Framed" have missed out on some SERIOUS footage!
Long story short....my back isn't as bad as it was. It's not cured...I'm blaming that on my pelvic girdle which apparently is not straight (who knew?)......that, and I'm not so very dedicated as I might be, in doing the homework exercises. (Sorry Melanie!) And because Melanie went the extra mile for me, and because she is genuinely one of the most selfless people I've ever met, I felt I needed to give her a proper thank you.....
....and here it is....

.......The Front.

....The Back.

....The Detail.

And now I must leave you, and go and write some Pre School Reports. Progress Reports. For 3 year olds. I ask you!! (Don't worry...I really am going....I shall save that particular Soap Box for another day!)
See you soon. xx

Reward Time.....

Yesterday was Tournament Day No. 2. We had to be there at 8.30AM (ON A NON SCHOOL DAY!!) and for the next four and a half hours I stood on the sidelines, giving direction and encouragement to my Under 9's team. Not continuously for that amount of time, you understand....there is an awful lot of standing around, while other teams take their turns at chasing a ball around a field. But you ARE stuck there for that whole time, taking Ref result slips back to the organiser (it was a competitive tournament), tying shoe laces, keeping 8 young lads quietly occupied so that they don't keel over with boredom while they wait to go back on.....you get the gist.
Anyway, we did well, finishing second in our league, and making it through to the quarter finals. There we were defeated, which was a shame.....but at least it meant that we could go home!
And we DID go home....via the fabric shop.
Reward Time......

These pretty prints were a NECESSARY buy, as I'd discovered the other day, whilst having a Good Sort Through, that I had very few brown tones in my stash. I'm not a huge fan of brown, but one never knows when one might need it!
Then there were these....

I fell in love with the little elephants ( at just £2.30 a metre, who wouldn't??) , and the polka dot had to come along too, to keep them company.
I also bought a heap more white cotton, as I seem to get through it like a house on fire. Yay. I returned home, a tired but happy bunny!
I wonder what today will bring.....given that The Partner and The Son are pootling off to watch the televised play-off between Yeovil and Brentford at a local cafe that happens to show Sky Sports......such a shame we don't have Sky Sports at home.....Hmmmmmm...
Thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx

An Almost Weekend.....

The end of the football season (apart from 3 more tournaments for my Under 9`s team) means that this weekend I've had time to sit and sew. Yay!
Obviously, I've still had Mum Duties to attend to (the Little Darlings WILL keep on insisting on being fed and watered at regular intervals!). Then there are the Loving Partner Duties (the Big Darling insists on regular feeding times too, plus scintillating conversations as to which product is the best to use on the green mould having a large party on the fence, alongside equally thrilling chats about Team Formation)....so sewing time wasn't at a maximum......
However, in spite of all this, progress has been made, and I've ALMOST finished the "Can You Just" request quilt. I'm up to 11 hours work on it now, and just have the binding to hand stitch.....

.....I cheated a bit, and machine quilted, in a simple"x" across just the blue squares, but as it's only crib sized, I think it's enough.......

Then I managed to finish the hand quilting on "The Queen's Foor" test quilt........

......so it now looks like this.....

....and if I stop typing, I'll have enough time to get it trimmed up, and the binding on, before an evening of hand sewing on the sofa, making that 2 quilts that are ALMOST finished this weekend.
Thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx

A Little Slice of Heaven........

It's really not very often that I get a bit of Pamper Time for me, but today that Pamper Time happened. For my Happy Birthday, back in February, my lovely friend Mary, gave me a spa treatment of my choice. All I had to do was book it......Well it's taken me until now to do so!
I chose a full back massage, which was due to last an hour, but which actually lasted a bit longer. And it was PERFECT!
I've been deep cleansed, body brushed, exfoliated, massaged with aromatherapy oils, and been purified with a body mask of warm marine mud. (I'm glad I couldn't see that bit.....I'm not very good with gloop! It felt nice though!) Emma The Therapist certainly knew her stuff.
At the end of this little slice of heaven, I was told that I could relax for a little while, before getting ready to leave......and that's where the Pamper Time ended. Stupidly I glanced at my watch, and fell to earth with a bump. I'd expected to be home almost half an hour earlier.......The Family were back at home, waiting to be fed.....Hmmmm....Back to reality, and off I dashed...
Still, if any of you are in the area, and fancy a treat, I can thoroughly recommend you pop in and see Emma. She can be found here, www.retreat-milford.co.uk

.....and now I think I need a cuppa. See you soon. xx

Bamboozled.....

Bank Holiday Monday. I had plans. These were mainly fixed around my sewing machine, but most definately involved a lazy morning. However, The Fabulous Plans were bamboozled. Hijacked. Done away with.....
The Son woke me up at 7am precisely. For no other reason than he can. Then The Partner voiced a Cunning Plan which involved getting to the sports shop today, so that The Son could spend some birthday money, before his pocket was burnt clean through. Apparently, it made sense to do this today, because it's the third day of the long weekend, and good weather....which obviously was given proof that Everyone Else would be either A) heading to the beach, or B) heading home. The Cunning Plan could possibly been squashed flat, had The Partner not shared it with The Son.....
So off we toddled to Sports Shop No.1. Trainers and Astro Turfs were viewed and rejected, on various grounds...."I've got yellow studs", "I don't like the green stripe", "That brand doesn't fit me properly".....you get the gist. There was nothing for it, but to head to Sports Shop No.2. Now this particular shop is my pet hate of all sports shops, so I put my foot down, and told The Partner that he could share this delight with The Son, and that I was going Fabric Looking. Fabric Looking is similar to Fabric Buying, but with the illusion that you are in fact, only browsing...with no actual intent to buy. And as I've not posted any photos here, you have absolutely NO proof that I came away, with two clearance bargains from the Tanya Whelan range....
Nor have I posted the photos of the trainers that made it out of the shop on The Son's feet. I have done this for your own protection. Suffice to say that seeing is believing when it comes to florescent yellow and orange, with a leopard print Nike slash on the side.....Well. The upside is I won't lose The Son in a crowd...
Shopping completed, we headed out to The Forest, to meet my longest serving Best Friend (43 years and counting!) and her children, for a bbq lunch, which turned into a truly lovely bbq and ice cream afternoon. We only live a few hundred yards apart, but you know how it is....she taxis in various directions with her children.....I taxi in different directions with mine...we snatch the odd phonecall here...the random text there....and rarely get the chance to just sit and be. So this afternoon we sat and were. Really really good.
Home again, home again, jiggedy jig, where I FINALLY got round to some of the original plans....

I whipped these up quite quickly, and tomorrow they'll be winging their way to Judith for her Bee Blessed project, over at judith-justjude.blogspot.com . Then I boxed this small cot sized quilt up, to be sent off to my local Project Linus group....

....a poor photo, but quite a pretty quilt, which I'm sure will be useful somewhere. And now it's time to stop wittering on, and do some more of this.......

Hope you all had a lovely day. Catch up soon. xx

A Lady What Elevenses.......

On Thursday, I had an enforced day off work. The hall which we use as our pre-school setting had been commandeered as a Polling Station, and funnily enough, The Powers That Be didn't think it was conducive to The Correct Voting Atmosphere, to have 20 small people playing with cars, paints et al milling around in the middle. Some people can be ssssoooo demanding! But it gave me a paid day off, so ho-hum.....
And it was on Thursday, that I decided I should have been born into an era of Ladies What Elevenses (Elevenses are cheaper than Lunches.....I know my financial limits!). Anyway, a small group of us went to the delightful Braxton Gardens, in order to celebrate our friend, Linda's, Happy Birthday. (I've blogged about Braxton Gardens before, but can't remember in which post). We sat outside, in the pretty gardens, in the pretty sunshine, listening to pretty background music, whilst partaking of pretty (large!) cream teas. I'd put on a nice frock, which makes a lovely change to the usual attire of jeans and sweatshirts normally required for fending off paint and playdough. The company was fabulous, and the refreshments equally so. So I decided there and then, that this was the life I should have been born to. And if the period dress could also involve an Empire line, so much the better- very flattering the old Empire line; hides all sorts of rolls and wobbles!
However, it was back to Earth with a bump, as Friday saw me setting up for the usual morning spent with Little-ies.
On a completely different subject, I'm making progress with Lindsey's test pattern for The Queen's Floor ( www.happierthanabirdquilts.com ). I've set the blocks differently to the way suggested in the pattern, as I've only used two colours. However, it is a lovely pattern-simple to follow, and comes together easily. I'm at the basting stage now, getting ready to hand quilt.......

Not sure why my dining table is auditioning to be a ski slope, and absolutely not sure how to rotate the photo to a better angle! Anyway, thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx