Bed-raggled!!!

I think it's time for a new bed.
I have woken up this morning aching from head to toe and it's taken me forever to loosen up and get going.
We will have to go to a store I think so that I can try out different mattresses as I am very picky....well no that sounds a bit like I'm a spoiled brat which I'm not. I just need to be comfortable so it's best to go and do a try out.

Today will be a no sew day as I will be tidying and getting the house ready for the weekend. I might even cook tea for tomorrow and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Once that is all done I shall do a bit of research into products I want to use for two DIY projects I have on my to do list. One is a beautiful round table I picked up for £5. I would like to chalk paint it and use it as a coffee table in the living room. The other is a fire surround which we have had for twenty years. It needs a bit of tlc so I am going to strip it and stain it but can't decide on what colour I want to do it yet. I'm thinking oak but not sure. So far it has been pine and then white and I think I'm ready for a change.

Tomorrow DD and I are off to Derby. Last week I saw some beautiful offcuts of fabric on a stall in the market which would make beautiful clothes for the doll and they were quite cheap. DD will be searching for books to tick off her list. We didn't get much chance to look last week with having Ruby with us.
No need to plan for Sunday lunch as we have been invited to dine with Miss Doodle and her mummy. Looking forward to that.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.
Thanks for stopping by.
Sheila-x-

 

Sausage Fingers!!!

How lovely to discover two new followers on my blog.
Hello ladies...........and welcome.

Sausage fingers? Well that's what mine feel like as I struggle with the fabric I have chosen for this flippin' doll dress. It is so slippy and has a mind of it's own. I will persevere and it will get done but there may be a few swear words along the way.....maybe more than a few actually....lol!!!

Yesterday I was very good and made hubby a fruit cake using my Bero recipe for Easy Fruit Cake which is boiled. I had no run of the mill mixed fruit so I measured out a mixture of dried fruits I did have.......apricot, mango, pineapple and cranberries. All part bags that needed using up. I tasted a little piece (I don't like fruit cake) and it tasted very nice. Hubby and DD declared it yummy.
So that's four things used up and a little more space in the cupboard.
Today I will make a lemon cake and some scones. Although we love scones I don't make them that often as we only like them on the day they are made and there are usually too many. I am going to follow Pam from A New Life In Wales and try freezing some cooked ones to warm up in the microwave and that will solve that problem.
It's cold, dark and wet here today so what nicer way to spend the afternoon.....baking in a nice warm kitchen.

Thanks for visiting today.
Sheila-x-

Greedy People!!!

I don't know if it's just me but I feel so sad reading and hearing about people's greed these days.
There is a student wanting a lifetime supply of Kit Kats because she ate one that had no wafer biscuit in it. I hope that nothing worse than that ever happens to her else God knows what kind of state she'll be in.
Then there's the woman who wants paying because someone took a photograph of her horse and won a holiday competition with it. Honestly it just beggars belief what people will stoop to to get a bit of money or something for nothing.
Sad, sad people.

Well despite the blue sky and sunshine outside I don't think I will risk putting any washing out today as there is not much of a breeze. I don't think it will dry so I might as well just put it in the dryer.

I didn't get any sewing done yesterday as I spent the afternoon making a copy of the pattern I want to use and making some alterations that I didn't want to do on the original pattern pieces. I think I have it sussed now so I will put scissors to fabric today and cross my fingers that it works. All this trouble for a flippin' dolls dress but it is worth it for my Ruby.

I've changed my top up shop day to Wednesday from Thursday now. We have to take Ruby home on tea nights and as she lives only minutes away from the town it seems silly to go out two nights on the trot. I'm still using stuff up so I shouldn't have a big list today just basics like milk, butter, flour and sugar.

Hubby will need feeding before he goes off to work so I am off to put the oven on and cook him some faggots. Not home made unfortunately as I can't stand the things.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Frozen Memories!!!

Melted snow and frozen lake jelly made from tinted sugar free lemonade and gelatin.

The food table.

Snowflake cupcakes.

A bowl of sleeping trolls.

I fell in love with Frozen before I had even seen the film.....in fact I had never heard of it. I had walked into the Disney Store in Times Square, New York in December 2013 in search of a Snow White dress to bring back for Ruby and was amazed by a Frozen display of the cutest characters and most beautiful colours.........and that was it.........I was smitten.
We came home with the limited edition dress, the wig, the shoes, the gloves and a doll and when we eventually got to see the film we became a family of Frozen nuts.
This time last year DD and I were in our element as we did a lot of the preparation for Ruby's 5th birthday party on a Frozen theme while Ruby and her parents were away on holiday. We made everything ourselves and hunted down special items like the stone sweets to use as trolls. We made games and die cut hundreds of snowflakes to cover the floor. I found cracked ice fabric to use as a table cover which we put over the top of some icicle lights. It looked amazing. 
Despite the fun we had arranging it all my most abiding memory of the day is Ruby's face when she walked into the village hall and saw it all set out. That will stay with me for the rest of my life. The other memory was sweeping up the snowflakes and glitter from the floor at the end......lol!!!
I would love to show you some pics of Ruby with her friends....all miniature Elsa's and Anna's but I am unable to share pics of Ruby or her parents due to the nature of their work.
This year because DDIL is heavily pregnant there will be a party at home with a few friends from school and Ruby will enjoy it just as much but ganma will miss doing all the work.

It's still pretty windy here today but bright and sunny. I will be lighting the fire later though as it is very cold and I like the house to be warm when DD comes in when she has been out in it all day.
I think she will appreciate something hot for tea so I have pulled a casserole out of the freezer.
We finished Downton last night so will start on Call The Midwife tonight although we do still need to buy season four of that.

I'll be sewing today. I am going to make a Frozenesque version of the Christmas dress for the doll. The fabrics are all the right sort of colours but the design won't be to an exact pattern of Elsa's dress.
So that's me snuggled up for the day. Music on and sewing machine whirring once hubby has left for work.
Thanks for stopping by today.
Sheila-x-
 

Happy February!!!

Well here we go.............
Another new month full of hope and possibilities.
Not a month I have been looking forward to as my darling hubby will be going far away in a couple of weeks. He is going to Johannesburg in South Africa to visit the grave of his younger brother who died a year ago. He will be travelling with two other brothers but none the less I am not looking forward to him going. I have all kinds of nightmare scenarios playing through my mind. I am glad though that Martin's wife will be there to meet them and guide them around.

This wind is driving me mad. It has hardly let up all night.
No rain at the moment but there are some very black clouds which are threatening some to come. Luckily all my jobs are indoors today putting my house back in order after Doodle's sleepover.
The sofa quilts need washing as Ruby loves to have them on the floor so they will get done today.
Crafting will depend on what time there is left between finishing the housework and Ruby arriving for her tea after school. She has requested tomato soup and DD and I will be having leftovers from Sunday lunch while we watch the last episode of Downton and then the finale. So no major cooking today.

I think I'll just have a coffee and a quick read of the papers before I start anything.
Thanks for visiting today.
Sheila-x-