Bish bash bosh - we are 50% of the way there!

Today, as you know was a Scamblesby day and it was lovely to all be together again and have a chance to admire each other's work.  I was particularly taken with Heather's latest quilt - even though she is not sure about the colour combination!




I also loved this tote bag that Jean has embroidered - I gave it to her after Lynette Anderson's workshop last year and it has turned out really well - well done Jean.





I decided to make Terry's simple pencil case first - so easy it ONLY took me a couple of hours!  I will admit to talking and helping Jean in between!  The next one shouldn't take as long.




It was also my turn to make a cake - cue my lovely mini victoria sandwich tin, lemon curd and fresh cream.  I had to take a photo just before this last one was pinched.  Me?  Well I resisted and had a low cal lemon drizzle bar - as delicious of course!




But my main aim today was to start my brother's wedding bunting - he wants 100m of it in 10m lengths! Normally I would machine two pieces together and turn through but he wants the "bish bash bosh" variety - single pieces sewn onto  ribbon of sorts.  Fortunately, for me Pat finished all of her work and set to making two lengths of bunting -so 5 are now made and waiting to be posted.  Phew - thank you Pat - you're a star!



Home now, its time to water the veg trug, sort the dogs out and make some tea before finding some hand sewing to collapse in the sofa with!

But what about this secret project that you keep mentioning you ask?  Well, Terry and I have set up a small business with a view to publishing some sewing patterns - designed by sewers and written by sewers for sewers.  The business is called Sewlyte Designs and our first pattern is now being tested before being published, we hope, by the end of May.  However it will appear first here, on this blog, along with a limited time, special offer - watch this space!

Oh dear - why do I have friends with such good taste?

Let's start with last night and our epic win (cough cough).  After an interesting discussion about this month's book, and some fabulous food choices from Paula and I which kept us on the straight and narrow, we entered two teams in the weekly quiz night.  By the end we were both tied on a winning score of 41 points and so entered the tie breaker - which we lost.  So - why the epic win?  Well, we share the £20 off voucher anyway so I have brought it home to keep safe until the next month's meeting -so we all won in the end!

Today Daisy decided to give me a lie in - and I didn't surface until nearly nine o'clock!! No sooner was I out of the shower but my phone bleeped - fancy having a cuppa and a catch up with wendy?  Well, never one to turn that kind of invitation down, I was round by 11 and spent the best part of a couple of hours chatting (no - we didn't really see each other on Tuesday - honest!).  She confessed to buying a simply perfect pack of fabric for the next Lynette Anderson BOM but the shop thought that it could be the last one - erm, no it wasn't -I was able to get one as well so thank you Wendy for fessing up!  We also talked about the cruise and how I was also hankering after a return to New York or perhaps more Boston way so that we could go to New York for the day -at which point Wendy said - I want to go as well - don't leave me out - so that could be 2019 sorted then!  These friends are costing me a fortune!!


Back home, a quick tidy up, loading the washing machine etc and it was time to try a new Slimming World recipe - Cauliflower cheese bake.  I will admit to being sceptical about a cheese sauce that uses natural yoghurt as its base but it was lovely and one to try again.

The next step was to christen the new lawn mower before the rain re-appeared - I love it!  No pulling and yanking your shoulder out!  It is so easy to mow that I could get quite giddy!



Then it was onto the secret project (which is taking longer than I thought ) before spending some time getting everything ready for our Scamblesby day tomorrow (I am on cake duty so need to rustle one up this evening).  Hardly the most productive day but a very satisfying one nevertheless!

I've only gone and done it!!

Last night it was the WI craft club where they were learning how to crochet granny squares.  Most of them had never crocheted before and I was really impressed with how quickly they caught on - even if there was some suspect language being uttered every now and again!  We were in Carine's holiday cottage - the couple who had been renting it had to go home a day early since the wife was, sadly, ill so we took advantage of the resource.  I have to say that its a lovely cottage if any one is looking for a holiday cottage to rent.


After two important text messages last night from Julia and Trisha, the first task of the day was to go ahead and book the cruise - yikes!!  It turned out to be even cheaper than we thought AND we get some on-board spending money to do as we wish with - happy days!!  I have even booked my car parking space - get me - how organised!  So - a year ahead of saving money to pay for the holiday plus weight loss!!!


Next up was a quick trip into Louth to buy my low fat sausages - I use this company who have a stall on the market and whose sausages work out to be around half a syn each - result!!  Sunday is one of those Scamblesby sewing days and if I want to avoid the temptation of the lovely sausage rolls then one / two of these will do the trick!  I don't know about you but the weather here is still inclement - cold and overcast (even raining) one minute and then sunshine out the next so walking the dogs meant careful timing!  However my lunch of asparagus and bacon pesto pasta soon warmed me up (there may have been a touch too much chilli though!!!).

This afternoon was another trip to the swimming pool (this time I managed an impressive - well to me - 100 widths!!!!!) before settling down to the secret project that I haven't touched for a couple of weeks -all will be revealed after Sunday I promise!  All that was then left to do was to get ready for tonight - our monthly book club meeting.  The pub's menu has been carefully scrutinised for a SW friendly meal and I have put together a low syn option for pudding (even have enough for Paula if she wants one!) - I am being focused!!

I only came to have a chat! What on earth have I got myself into now?

Today was one of our frequent catch up meetings at Meadowhall -Trisha, Julia and I spent a couple of hours or so in the M&S cafe -drinking coffee and then having lunch (I took my SW Caesar salad in and nobody said anything).  Trisha informed us of a slight career change, Julia caught us up on family details -particularly cute photos of her grandaughter -and I caught them both up on my parent's move -we now have a possible date of 1st June so it's creeping ever closer!  Julia then brought up the issue of our annual holiday and asked if we had thought about where we wanted to go?  A chat later, we found ourselves making enquiries about another cruse!  We haven't booked it yet but it does look like a good one and at a very acceptable price.  I will keep you updated - dates and family commitments have to be checked first before rushing ahead.

Whilst I was in M & S, I took the opportunity to purchase some treats that are also SW friendly- a diet shouldn't feel like a diet now should it?  These mini meringues looked really tempting (7 syns for the whole pack of lemon ones and 7 1/2 for the coconut ones),







the Percy Pig sweets are 1.5 syns each,








whilst the Percy Pig biscuits are 1syns each.







Finally, the mini jaffa cakes are 1 syn each.  I have some small containers which I fill with 4 / 4.5 syns each so that they are all pre-measured and easily counted!

Tonight I am out at a WI craft night learning how to crochet granny squares.  mmmmm -now which treat should I take to ensure that I do not get side tracked by Carine's carrot cake?  It's a difficult choice!

Et tu Brute?

Last night was one of those sleepless ones where I just couldn't drop off - so, instead, I got up and tidied the craft room for an hour or so - daft I know!  Consequently I eventually woke up around 9am - how shocking is that? Tired as I am, this has meant that not a lot has been achieved!

I started by tidying the kitchen and loading the dishwasher (how wonderful is the 30 minute cycle?) before settling down to cutting out 48 1 1/2 inch squares and sewing them into 2 rows of 24.  These were for the Lynette Anderson block of the month wall hanging - the central part of which is nearing completion - or so I thought!  The last block was nearing completion and so I finished that off next and added one of the strips.  Whilst I was sorting out all of the panels - I made a gruesome discovery!  I still have one block left to do - block 9 - ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Back to the embroidery board then!

Today was my return to the swimming pool after I had given it a wide berth during the holiday period.  It felt really good to be back!  I even managed to swim 60 widths and two circles (770m in total) again!

And why the title of the blog you may ask?  Well, tonight is the RSC live showing of Julius Caesar at the cinema and you may recall that my mission is to watch every one.  So far so good (only walked out at the interval of one of them) - so far I have seen 15 (if I have counted correctly) out of 38 so we are heading towards the halfway point!!

It's snowing here -how about you?

Well, if it's Tuesday then it must be ..................... Senior Screen day!  Today we went to see the much anticipated, Oscar winning "Manchester By The Sea".  The trailer looked good, although it promised to be a weepie.  Boy was I wrong - it was a good enough story but very very long and ponderous - the typical "That's 2 1/2 hours of my life that I won't get back again!" film.

After the film, we stopped off for a small Tesco shop (well loads and loads of fruit and veg in my case) and came out to pouring rain and sleet.  That bad weather (the temperature dropped to 4 degrees) continued on and off throughout the afternoon -well, what was left of it at any rate!  To compensate, I had bought the first three series of Line of Duty and the DVD's arrived today.  I had been catching upon You tube but they seem to have been taken down.  So, this afternoon was spent cutting out the rest of the bunting and watching a couple of episodes -I am nearly at the end of Series two and things currently in Series 4 are beginning to make sense.

Tonight is the return to our fortnightly sewing class where we are starting on a silhouette wall hanging.  The pattern looks good - let's hope that I can do it justice.

I was waiting for that!

After the lawn mower debacle yesterday, I spent much of the morning glued to the phone -awaiting instructions as to when it was going to be delivered.  Since I had little spare time today and tomorrow, I wanted to ask them to deliver it on Wednesday.  As the rain poured I grew ever more concerned -if I was out and the electric mower was delivered it would hardly do it any good.  No problems - the nice delivery men had delivered it -and put it in the she cave out of harms way!  Now I just need a dry day to mow the lawn!!

Today was the Textile group - grappling very unsuccessfully with a pencil case of all things! - followed by a WI meeting (in a pub but too soon to weigh in to eat or drink!!)  Then came the main event of our Mondays - weighing in.  With a total of 19 1/2 pounds off in three weeks, this run just could not last without a maintain week.  Today was one of those weeks - I had followed the plan 100% but only lost half a pound.  Am I down?  Nope - I always knew that it was coming so now I have got it out of the way - onwards and upwards.



I got home to a lovely treat from the postman - this month's crochet box.  As you open the brown box, to reveal the coloured box and then the nice tissue paper your excitement mounts.  Inside this months was crochet cotton, patterns for some crochet love hearts, some lip balm, a nice hand warmer, some stuffing and a nice stitch marker.

So -some crochet tonight?  Erm nope - more handsewing me thinks!

Well - that was fast service - NOT!!

After my PC adventures yesterday, I really struggled with the lawn mower - to the extent that I went ahead and treated myself to a new one.  Imagine my surprise when I received an email saying that the mower would be delivered today!!  Less than 24 hours since I ordered it!!  Given that the delivery firm, DPD, don't deliver in this village on a  Sunday I was surprised but delighted at the quick service.  Cue a morning of waiting in!  Ah well, it was a chance to finish a Christmas present and to start cutting the bunting for my brothers wedding (they only want 100m of it !!).




Around noon, I had another lovely surprise - my PC was ready for collection!!  All my birthdays were coming at once!  However I should have known better.  Checking the DPD tracker revealed that my mower was back in Lincoln (around an hour away) by 12:57 because Sophie couldn't find my house.  Dare I suggest that Sophie had not actually tried.  No one else has a problem - if they did then they could ring!  There is no way that, in my opinion, the mower ever left the Lincoln depot - it certainly couldn't make it back from this village in 40mins as their tracking would suggest!

Rant over -I then set off to pick up the PC and took my old one in to be crushed and obliterated to keep the data safe.  The PC was plugged in and worked straight away -even finding my WIFI printer straight away -I couldn't believe it.  In fact I am writing this blog on the new PC. It will take time to get used to it - the last one was 10 years old after all and things have moved on - but it will be fun trying!!

Elsewhere I have taken advantage of the nice weather to paint a third coat (in places) in the she cave and will spend tonight measuring out 10m lengths of bias binding for the wedding bunting (I just know that you are all jealous now!).  Well, it stops me playing with my new toy now doesn't it?

The best laid plans and all that!

So, today there was nothing planned.  One of those rare commitment free days where I could do exactly what I wanted. I planned a day of tidying, sorting and ironing - getting the house in order.  Of course I also planned some sewing projects but my aim was to feel on top of everything by the end of the day.

So, over breakfast , I turned my computer on - to check the news you understand - and nothing happened.  Although the computer came on, there was no screen.  No matter what I did, nothing would work.  It wasn't a huge surprise- I will  admit - the computer is nearly 10 years old and the screen had been flickering the last couple of days.  I had had the forethought to back the computer up on an external hard drive , so all is not lost, but it's the sheer inconvenience!

So, off I went to buy a new computer.  I must have had the techiest, geekiest woman in the shop - but I came away with a computer purchased and it will be ready for collection on Tuesday - all booted and suited!

That took much of the morning but, nevertheless, the house has been sorted and the lawn mowed.  Sewing wise I have not been able to do everything planned but I did, drum roll please, finish the UFO - Lynette Anderson's bag from her workshop last year.  I have also traced the embroidery for another Lynette Anderson pattern - a scissor case that Wendy spotted.  I can start the embroidery tonight.

So, today has not quite worked out as planned but I have rolled with the punches and have still ended up feeling on top of things so the objective was achieved!  More ways to skin a cat as they say!

Hold on to your hats ......

Over the past couple of day I may just have had a bit of stick about how boring my days have been -fair do's they were.  But I think that I may just have topped them today!!




After an incredibly early "Daisy induced " start (6am), it was of out to the supermarket.  Just to ring the changes I went to Asda's - they sell primula light cheese for this recipe whereas I have never found it in Tesco's (see - you're getting overexcited now - calm down - it's not good for you!).







Then it was onto a fabric store for some fusible wadding and some Lynette Anderson fabric for lining to the UFO bag - the bag may even (and I am whispering now) be finished this weekend before heading on up to the hairdressers for two hours of pampering and book reading - not to mention the endless cups of coffee.


Once home, dogs walked etc, I then settled down to the afore mentioned UFO bag - attaching the exterior pocket and cutting out the lining fabric, ironing wadding and interfacing etc - before then working on the computer to do some personal paperwork.  Now then - don't we all dream of says like this?

The UFO bag front requires some hand stitching round the hexagons, which I will do tonight, and the block 10 has the numbers 2016 still to be sewn - I am making progress - honest!!



Tea tonight is a homemade cheese burger with chips, beans and mushrooms - followed by stewed rhubarb with an orange "cream".  With a breakfast of baked raspberry oats and a lunch of poached salmon, this food lark isn't going too badly!!

Memory loss - day 2

Well, Daisy didn't take long did she?  The howling started at 6:30am - lightly at first - and finished when I gave in at 7:30am.  We will need to have words tonight!!

With the second coat of paint beckoning, I delayed long enough to cut out and bondaweb on a mug rug (the photo is upside down - stand on your heads everyone!) before setting to with the paintbrush.  Two and a half hours later (feel my pain - every joint is aching like mad!) I came indoors for some lunch.  Looking at the shecave I can see progress but there's still a long way to go!





Along with some lunch (pea and mint soup since you're asking), there was a message from Wendy - her new toy had arrived and would I like to come round and play?  Well, of course, I rushed out and jumped into the car!!  She has worked really hard to quilt a lovely large quilt for her bed (I have taken a photo but am not allowed to show you yet) but has also been thinking (and saving) about a new machine - bigger and with more functions - well today it arrived!!



After a play, and a chat over a cuppa, it was time to come home and get ready for our church's AGM tonight.  As treasurer it is my job to present the accounts and try to answer any questions that arise.  Let's hope that there aren't too many difficult ones!

Dietingwise all is well - sort of!  I had planned to have salmon for tea but now can't find any in the freezer and the branded ones are 11 syns!!!!!!! so I am not using them.  So, at 4pm, I have taken a portion of mince out and will have to let it defrost over a low heat in the saucepan.  Any alternative that I came up with would have taken me way over my syn allowance - not good!

Memory loss

Wow, no Maisie and Daisy lies in until after 8am before she started making a  fuss.  So why did I wake up at 6:30am - go figure?  Refreshed, I decided to try an unusual breakfast - an all day breakfast spaghetti - it was more like a main meal but it was really nice and worth doing again.  It certainly kept me full for the morning.







With a couple of appointment free days in the diary, today was the day, I decided, that I would make a start painting the inside of the she cave.  If it didn't look orange then it would feel less like I am sitting in a shed.  Out came the paint, the floor was covered, steps erected and ........... well, I just had to do some sewing first now didn't I?  Cue one pocket finished (well nearly) from this month's UFO.  I just have to applique some hexagons, sew some running stitch around the top and then sew a button on - before attaching it to the side of the bag  The hand sewing part of all that will be done tonight.



So, without further ado, I ........ put the hoover around the house and filled the dishwasher - are you getting the picture yet?  One swipe of the paintbrush and it all came flooding back - how much I hated painting this "elderflower" cream paint on the orange wood - the outside took 4 coats to cover it properly - FOUR!!!!!!  This time I am doing the same inside - plus the inside of the roof - grrrrrrrrrrrr!  Well, long story short, the first coat of the back half of the she cave is now done.  Patchy? Yes?  But it's done and will get its second coat tomorrow. The front half is a little more fiddly but shouldn't take as long since its mainly windows that will be the darker green which shouldn't need as many coats - she says!



After 40 winks in the sunshine (that's what a conservatory is for isn't it?) I then took the dogs up to the beach - where they behaved much better today!! The postbox revealed a lovely surprise - my runner up prize from a facebook competition- a set of little squares from the new Anni Downs range.  mmmmm - now what can I do with these? (Apart from giving them to Sewingbuddy of course who has already made her claim!)

Tonight I will obviously finish the pocket and I am a hairs breath away from finishing the Lynette Anderson block so will continue with that.

My own Robin Hood and Maid Marion.

Today it was time for Maisie to go home - Mum and Dad would be travelling down the M1 so I arranged to meet them at Woodall services so that we could transfer the dog and her bed.  I think that it's true to say that Maisie was pleased to see Mum and Dad but I hope that it wasn't in desperation at my ill treatment of her - lol!  Whilst at the service station we had a cuppa (but no cake - just shared a bag of "go-ahead" biscuits - 5 syns) and they enjoyed a romantic moment.

My journey home took me past Sherwood Forest and The Major Oak (hence the blog title) - I have to say that it was a fabulous drive - lovely and sunny spring morning weather.  After a quick pit stop at Waitrose, I got home just in time to receive an emergency phone call from Jean - "help, I can't remember how to sew the Sew Together bag".  Cue a trip around there to help her pin and sew the pieces together which, of course, entailed several more cuppas.

Finally, and by now I am on my knees, I took the dogs up to the beach where there were only a couple more cars.  Just as well - Houdini Millie and her accomplice, Daisy, decided to make a run for it just as we got back to the car park!!  They came back - eventually - and then fell fast asleep on the floor when we got home!  That will teach them!

Craft?  What craft?  Oh - well, this evening I will carry on embroidering leaves on the Lynette Anderson block - someone has to do it!!

Foodwise all is well, if a little different - fruit salad for breakfast, cold pork and egg meatloaf for lunch and Spaghetti Bolognese for tea - all syns within the allowance so another day negotiated with success.  Now I need to hope that Daisy will let me have a lie in tomorrow!!

Playing catch up.

After another early start (grrrr), and enjoying the early morning sunshine before it all went overcast and cold, I set to finishing the lunch tote that we made on Saturday.  Both Sewingbuddy and I ignored the advice to bind the seams as we went along - but, thinking about it, thought that it would look a lot nicer with bound seams - so, I fought the battle!  I am not saying that it would ever pass the sewing police but it certainly looks a lot better and "finished".







Next up was this month's UFO - the Lynette Anderson bag from last year's workshop.  Having sewn all of those hexagons together, it was time to take all the papers out and then applique them to the front panel of the bag.  I guess that's tonight's sewing sorted then!  Well, apart from concentrating on "Broadchurch" that is!





After a dog walk up at the beach, plus a break for 40 winks in the lovely warm conservatory, it was then time to get the shecave ready for inside painting.  The weather forecast suggests that its too cold to paint today and tomorrow but, from Wednesday, we should get above the lower temperature threshold so at least everything is in there ready to go.


All of this activity, plus the usual housework, was designed to distract me from this afternoon's weigh in.  I must admit to feeling apprehensive before I set off - I knew that I had stuck to the plan but I have had two good weight losses - it must be my turn for a maintain or just a couple of pounds.  I needn't have worried - 4 1/2 pounds off this week - superchuffed and pumped for the week ahead!

Happy Easter!

After a lovely sunny start to this wonderful day, let me begin this blog by wishing everyone a Happy Easter xx

After a lovely service at church, it was time to pop over to Sewingbuddy's for the sewing bee - day 2.  Jean was continuing with her sew together bag whilst Sewingbuddy and I were attempting to make a Luna Lapin felt rabbit!  However we started with a lovely lunch - boy have I got my own support team with this weight loss venture.  Sewingbuddy had cooked a lovely roast chicken dinner - stuffing my breast with low fat cheese and wrapping with back bacon - fat removed.  Even the vegetables were dry roasted with just a minimal amount of oil.  Jean had then prepared a lovely fruit salad and I brought some lemon muller light yoghurt for afters - I have even got the fruit salad to bring home!  If I don't lose tomorrow then its not for the want of trying.



The rest of the afternoon was spent sewing - or rather trying to!  As you can see we managed two heads whilst Jean achieved some pockets in her bag - its all progress!

Tonight, after a tea of Pea and mint soup followed by fruit salad, I am continuing to embroider the Lynette Anderson block 10 - about a thousand or so leaves to do then!  It's been a lovely weekend but I guess that its now time to return to reality!

A sewing bee!

Today Sewingbuddy, Jean and Wendy all came round for a sewing fest.  Sewingbuddy and I had found a lunch tote to make, Wendy brought some handsewing and Jean brought her fabric to make a Sew Together bag.  Cue lots of laughter and cups of coffee!






The dogs, meanwhile, relished all of the attention that they were given but quickly settled down - well, nearly all of them at least!









After a lovely lunch of shepherds pie and veg - the pies were made by Sewingbuddy's fair hands but I forgot to take a photo - sorry, talk came around to what Jean had had for lunch the day before.  It seems that it was a childhood favourite which we had never heard of - put some milk onto a plate, slice some cheese and put sliced onion on one side and then crack an egg onto the other.  Finally put the late into the oven until it is cooked.  This seemed just too strange so, of course, we had to see for ourselves and Jean rustled a plate full up.  It did taste nice, I will concede, but I am not sure that I would make it again myself - the egg is too well done for my liking!

By the end of the day, the lunch bags were made.  I think that the seams need some finishing off inside, but they are perfectly serviceable and will fulfil their roles - another coordinated bag to add to the range!  the only problem we now have is that we didn't eat the lovely fruit salad that Jean made - I guess that we will have to meet up again tomorrow to do so then!

Tonight its my turn to serve Ice Creams again - doesn't it come round quickly?  I will take some handsewing to do but don't know yet whether I will get round to doing it.

Precious Cargo

My parents are spending a few days over Easter with one of my brothers.  Since his puppy is becoming too noisy when other dogs are around, I met my parents in Nottingham's IKEA today to take their dog for a few days.  You will also be aware that my parents are moving in (hopefully) 6 weeks or so and so mum had brought up some precious items that she didn't want to trust to the removal men.  It made me think - what would your precious cargo be?






Would it be your great granddads pocket watches or the tobacco jar that your great grandmother made?












Would it be the chipped but still intact soap model in its original boots bag that Dad gave to Mum many many years ago?









Would it be the Devonshire primrose that Mum has tended over the years or the poppy cushion that I made her several years ago?



All I know is that the two items Mum has checked the survival of, by text, is their dog and the primrose.  I know my place!!

Those little things in life that bring you pleasure.

What a wonderful, warm sunny morning it was - a real change from yesterday and a sign of things to come.  Somehow, even the housework seems easier in the sunshine!  So, that was how I spent the morning - sorting and tidying - ready from some friends to come round on Saturday and sew (well, what would you expect?)

The dog walk at lunchtime brought an unexpected surprise - the environmental agency were filling in all the ruts in the car park - it was getting really bad so this was a real treat (I know - little things and all that!).



Once back home, and lunch watching the last episode in Line of Duty series 1, it was time for 40 winks before tackling the mountain of ironing that seems to have accumulated.  Ironing also gave me the opportunity to iron the fabric for the outer of the Lynette Anderson bag (well it has been folded for over a year).  Oh - did I tell you that I had finished sewing the hexagons - cough, cough.  I am certainly not sad to see that particular task finished but now I have to do something with them.




Tonight's craft will focus on the handsewing required to finish the two outstanding BGB's. It will be nice to see some projects being finished for a change.

Oh, and the other little treat that arrived today was Gail Pan's new Chrsitmas book - I won't say too much more since Wendy hasn't seen it yet - but ................

Modern technology!

This morning, after an early alarm call from Daisy, I settled down to finish the Sunday workshop project.  Having quilted the background, I then added the points - and realised that I am four short.  Two I can cut from my own fabric but I have sent an SOS to Sewingbuddy and, hopefully, she will come through!  Mind you it's quite large - a huge cushion / wall hanging!!  I will make my mind up soon!


Then it was round to Jean's.  She was wanting to book some train tickets for herself and her husband but was getting a tad confused with the many different offers.  I talked her through them and then booked the tickets on the ipad.  I then came back home where Jeremy Vine was talking about the Amazon echo product - one that I am yet to see the point of I must admit.  they then ran a piece that had been recorded earlier about a retired couple trying out "Alexa" for the first time - hilarious!  I don't think that they will be buying one soon!

After a lunch of homemade pea and mint soup, it was time for some general housework before heading off up to the beach.  Boy has the weather changed - I don't know about you but it's been freezing here although it has brightened up this afternoon!

Tonight I am tackling the penultimate row of hexagons (this sure is a labour of love!) and will do my best to cut out the pieces for a lunch bag (Sewingbuddy is coming over here on Saturday for a sewing session!)

Dietingwise all is well again - beans on toast with an egg for breakfast, the afore mentioned soup for lunch and shepherds pie with veg for dinner - with a few planned snacks along the way!  My favourite are the 15g Green and Black chocolate bars - 4 syns (sometimes 3 1/2) for a very "naughty" treat!!

Simply overwhelmed

Today, being a Tuesday, Jean and I decided to go to the senior screen.  they were showing, amongst others, a film called "A Monster Calls".  Aimed at a 12A audience it featured how a 12 year old boy would deal with bullying at school, his father choosing his new family over him and his mother dying over a period of time.  The "monster" in the title visits him and helps him with some coping strategies.  In short I was in bits - the sort of crying where, although you are not sobbing, the back of your throat hurts!  Ouch!  Well worth seeing though - its a lovely film and really well acted by the 12 year old!




After popping into Tesco's for a couple of essentials, and coming out with two bags full, it was back home for a late lunch before walking the dogs in this unexpectedly lovely weather.  Whilst I was out the nice postman brought me the first block in this year's Lynette Anderson Button of the month club.  Ouch - I still need to finish last year's mystery pattern! 

In short I am both overwhelmed by the film and by the quantity of projects awaiting my attention!  Never mind, step by step!




The last task for the day involved a secret project that Sewingbuddy and I are working on (hopefully to be revealed next month) plus some further work on Sunday's workshop project - I needed to get these outside points folded before I forgot how to do them.







On the hexagon front, I must report a minor catastrophe.  It's hardly surprising but, after nearly a year, I seem to have lost misplaced 2 1/2 rows of hexagons and have now sewed all of the others (the white that you can see in the picture is a piece of A4 paper - just to illustrate how small the hexagons are and why it is taking me so long!).  If they don't turn up in the obvious places then, fortunately, I bought another pack last year and so can break into those.



Dietingwise everything is on plan - overnight oats for breakfast, two custard creams at the pictures, salmon for lunch and Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner.  I even have enough syns left for a banana with sugar free jelly and yoghurt for afters - mmm.  I know how to live!

Well, who would have thought?

Today started well, if a little chillier than the previous couple of days (the heating is back on again!)  First up was the Monday Morning Gang - with Paula and I re-joining Slimming world last week his was the last meeting that I will go to and it was lovely to award Carole the "tin" as the person who had lost the most weight - 4.01 %!

Then it was round to Jean's for a cuppa (or two), a good catch up and a sneak preview of her current sewing programme.  Last year I gave her a shopping tote that I bought at the Lynette Anderson workshop and she has started to embroider it - it will look fantastic when it's done!









Jean also showed me her entry for Dobbo's challenge - all made from scrappy offcuts from her sewing projects - very inventive.





Once home, and a catch up of Line of Duty (I am loving the current series but have missed the previous ones - thank goodness for catch up tv!) it was time for the main event - the weigh in at Slimming World!  Yikes, I was nervous - I have really tried this week, yet have not weighed myself so have no idea how it was going.  I really shouldn't have worried - I lost 8lbs which is amazing and has really set me up for the forthcoming week.  Yippee!