Phew, it's all over for another two years!!!!

What a long weekend it has been and very tiring.  Why?

Well last weekend Higham Piecemakers had their Biennial (that is every two years!) Exhibition and I seemed to spend most of the weekend at The Bede House.  As secretary of the group I had spent time on the odd jobs that needed doing and ensuring that the publicity appeared where it should.

I arrived early on Friday afternoon to help Mr T and L set up the tables, the quilt hanging stands and the gazebos for the outside catering,  By 6.00pm the group helpers had arrived and we set up for the following day.  Lots of quilts which I will not show as they are very well documented here, the sales table overflowing with goodies -

the Bag-a-bola that sold out by lunchtime on Saturday -

the cushion raffle that always draws in the punters -

and the Christmas Challenge 2014 set out on the stage, thanks to John.

Our group quilt, that had gone walkabout, for the last Exhibition was in its rightful place outside the front door and I forgot to take a photo of it!!

The following morning I arrived good and early and helped L to put out tables and chairs for the refreshments; what a glorious sunny day it proved to be -

On the way to the hall I had taken a very quick photo -

Excuse the shadow in the middle but taken very early in the morning

People started arriving well before the official start time, so we either let them in or pointed them to the refreshments.  It was 'Farmers' Market' day so we did quite well out of that.  As the collector of the entrance charge (or the Rottweiler on the door!) I was determined no-one would get in without paying!!!!  By 4 o'clock we were very tired and glad to close up, but the chairs and tables had to be brought in, in case it rained overnight.

On Sunday the weather was also kind to us and we had a steady stream of visitors until the drawing of the cushion raffle just before we closed and a really fast clear up!!  My car was stuffed with 42 'unclaimed' cushions and so the first job was to list all the details from the ticket stubs.

I was in the middle of this when I received a phone call from L to say we had raised

£2,149.25

 

What a brilliant effort and all for charity.

 

Monday morning was spent phoning all the cushion winners and the job of delivering started, including two that I have posted to Nottingham and Norfolk.  People come from far and wide for our show!!

 

So now I only have 8 cushions to re-home and I will need to ring these people again. For me, this is the worst part of the whole show and I hate cushions!!!!!!!! BUT everyone receiving one has loved them so that makes it all worthwhile.

 

Now to get on with converting my third bedroom to my new workroom - my project for October,  November,   December  .....

Preparations

I am juggling so many balls at the moment that I feel that the whole lot will come down on top of me!!

Firstly I have started to clear out the very small third bedroom to turn it into my workroom that has involved a great deal of searching the 'net' to get ideas and ensure that I get the best possible price.  My first purchases have been a Z-bed and a small two door cupboard.  The Z-bed only needed castors fitting and I was able to wheel it out of the way.  I must point out that I am not a novice when putting flat pack together and the cupboard was slightly more problematic and everything was going brilliantly until I put the doors on.  When closed they overlapped so back to the instructions to see what to do - undo some screws.  OK, one door sorted but the other one fell off and after an hour trying to get it back on, I GAVE UP!!!  And that is how it has remained; one door on and one door off; but in the meantime the suppliers have sent some more hinges, I have put my cordless screwdriver on a charge and as soon as I get a moment I will have another go!!

Two 'before' photos -

The quilt is now stored and the toys put to one side

The shelves have been cleared and this furniture will be broken up-

 In the meantime I have been getting 'stuff' together for the Exhibition (see last week's blog)

When you realise how much has been made in the last two years, it is actually quite a lot.

I have baked a carrot cake for the Refreshments and am about to make an Orange cake as I have a little time to spare.

The carrot cake needs to be iced with cream cheese

Oh and finally a sneak peek of the 'Mini Mania Log cabin quilt' that I finished during the week and will be needed to show next week.

The green square is a quarter inch square

Now can I lie down  in a darkened room until Saturday morning when I will be taking the admission money for the Exhibition?  Let's hope that I take lots as everything made will go to charity.  I can't of course, as I have smocking class in the morning

See you at the Exhibition!!!

A free weekend , yippeeeeeee!!

I cannot believe it but I have a completely free weekend, including today, and already it is lunchtime with very little to show for it!  However this has been a busy week (when are they not) and I am glad of going a little slower because the following weekend will be full on. 

Anyway, as promised, an update on Mud and Mayhem last weekend.  On our arrival we were divided into two groups (very important for later on) and the first activity was blindfold driving.  Not only that but there was reverse steering so when we turned left it went right.

The start

The steering wheel was on the left and the instructor sat on the right controlling the clutch and accelerator.  Navigators sat in the back and shouted instructions for turning the steering wheel, but they were not allowed to say 'left' or 'right' so we each had our own code.  I found this worked well for me until the end - only 5 minutes per driver - when I was steering back to the start and was allowed to take my blindfold off and could not steer at all!  I completely lost it and needed help steering.

Next was 4x4 driving.  Certain rules - thumbs on the outside of the steering wheel and no crossing arms when steering because if the wheel turned suddenly thumbs and/or arms could get broken!!!!!!!!!!  What a good start.  I engaged first gear and took off the handbrake and was told to clamp that foot to the floor as only the accelerator and 1^st gear were used.  Up the hill with foot down and all I could see was the sky, then foot off as the vehicle went over the top and "do not steer as the 4x4 knows how to go down the hill, oh and you can breathe now" says the instructor!!  I knew the final hill had a corner at the top but it was still scary as I didn't want to roll down the slope on the other side.

We were all marked and a male club member in the vehicle with me was only marked 5 out of 10.and I got 9 out of 10 and felt on top of the world. 

Next was quad bikes on a very rutted track.

Not me as I took the photos

I have enjoyed quad bikes more at another venue where it was flat and we could open them up.

A good day and my team won, though we don't know how it was scored and we got a real bottle of champagne, which in keeping with our friendly club, we shared with the other team.

I have finished my Road Trip Scarf and am really pleased with it and it keeps my awful old neck warm.

The photo does not do justice to the colour which is more shades of purple

Having been envious of friends with work rooms I have decided to take the plunge and turn my little third bedroom into one.  When I say little it is only 9' square, so space will be at a premium especially as my grandson got upset that he could not come and stay as the bed will disappear.  I will have a put-u-up instead so he is now happy.  However I think there will a ripple effect as the 'stuff' that is currently stored there will have to go elsewhere so some clearing out will take place.  I will try and remember to take before and after photos. 

I have decided to start next month as I do not have any time at present as I have my Mini Mania Log Cabin to finish and then we have

Higham Piecemakers Biennial Exhibition 

 

next weekend 26/27 September at the Bede House in Higham Ferrers. 

 

Busy, busy, busy.

A sneak peek and other things

Is it Friday already and another week gone?   Am I the only person wondering where a large part of 2015 has gone.  My youngest grandchild started school today and I received a delightful photo of her looking very grown up in her uniform and because of this her Mummy and Daddy are moving her bedroom around to make it a 'big girl's room", so out with the small bed and in with a new divan.  Must check if she has a quilt for it as I can't remember!!

Yesterday I had to go to Cambridge to look after the children and as I walked to school to pick them up at 3.30pm I decided to pick some of these from a tree that is on the way.  It is laden and nobody bothers to pick them -

Their common name is 'Dog's Bottoms' as my grandson remembered!

Yes,  they are Medlars and I must have picked about 3kgs as the bag was very heavy.  I have put them into a bowl to 'blet'.  I probably should have left them a little longer but I didn't know when I would get another chance to pick them.

I have succumbed to the Mini Mania challenge that some friends are doing and you will find information through this blog.

Here is a sneak peek -

Needle packet to give indication of size

I will tell you that the centre square is finished at ¼" and I am hoping that the finished squares will be 2" finished.  No more than this at the moment.

But I have a finished item - YAAAAY!

I worked the last few rows of my toe to top socks last night and though they were very difficult to make I am pleased with the finished result and they fit beautifully.  So here is the TAH DAH moment -

The photograph makes my legs look fatter than they are!!

Tomorrow it is 'Mud and Mayhem with the 50+ Adventure Club and I am desperate to drive a Hovercraft!!

I will definitely let you know how it went....

Going batty!!

This week has seen me doing 50+ Adventure Club activities, starting with Line Dancing. 

Many years ago, when I lived in Chepstow I joined a Line Dance class as a beginner and was with them for about three years and gradually moved up until I was in the Advanced Class and I loved it.  My big problem was that though I recognised all the music I could never remember how they started, but thankfully in class we were shown.  Many is the time when I stood in a queue at the supermarket or shop and the Muzak has played a tune I knew and like a Pavlov dog I started jigging!!!!!

However it is many years since then and so when I signed up for this class the only step I could remember was a Jazz Box!  That did not matter as we were instructed on all the dances and as usual I cannot remember a single name!!

Too complicated for me so I took a photo!

It was good fun though and thanks to the local group 'Happy Feet' who helped us to dance.

Last night was the more adventurous activity of a Batwatch Paddle.  Going with Canoe 2 we had a great evening and if you follow that link and watch their video the three 'oldies' are our members who helped them to make it.  They had a great time filming.

From Ditchford we paddled downstream to Higham Lock, at one time running beside the A45 and the river was very smooth.

 We were told that there are otters on the river but all that was seen and heard were a kingfisher, a green woodpecker and some bemused swans.  Coming back upstream seemed a little harder -

especially as my partner had to keep the canoe straight whilst I took photos from the back!  Incidentally I was the skipper and had to keep us straight but I never really mastered the steering!!  In the past I have always sat at the front so had someone doing it for me.

As it was dusk when we got back we proceeded to meet our guide for the walk and off we set in the gloom with our bat detectors!!  Bats use echo location to fly and catch their food, so the detectors were set to pick up the signals that the human ear cannot hear.  We walked round Ditchford Lakes with the detectors held high and suddenly we were hearing Soprano Pipistrelles and were told that whenever we heard a 'raspberry' type noise it was catching its prey!!  In the gloom we tried to see them but it was difficult as they were flying high up round the trees.  Setting her detector to a different frequency our guide picked up a Daubenton's bat but we didn't mange to locate that one.

It was a very special evening and one that I am glad that I did not miss.

Tomorrow is the 50+ Adventure Club cycle ride that I did back in July.  At least the weather will be cooler - more like winter at the moment.

Whether the weather be fine ...

Today is a Bank Holiday (public holiday) and as I lay in bed this morning I could hear the rain coming down!  Absolutely typical!!

I can remember when this was changed in 1965, from the 1st Monday in August to the last, "to extend the summer holidays"; I thought it was because the weather always seemed to be better at the end of August than the beginning, so I too, have learnt something.

This little 'anonymous' poem popped into my head:-

Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not

A typical Brit poem - and the reason that the British are obsessed with the weather; never knowing.

So what to do on a wet Holiday Monday?  Well I have been lucky to have the whole weekend free and so I have been picking my 'crops' from my greenhouse and garden.

A good mixture

I have been picking figs from my tree which has always been prolific.  When I originally planted it, I dug a huge hole and put the stainless steel drum from an old washing machine in the ground and added compost.  Ever since it hasn't grown huge but twists and turns up to waist level with lots of figs, though sometimes difficult to find in the undergrowth.  The slugs and snails love them so I sometimes leave a ripe one for them so they leave the rest alone!!!

I have picked about 20 this year

 

This year I have grown six varieties of tomato, including a plum tomato, a sun baby (little yellow ones), Alicante, Ailsa Craig and one I can't remember!  The sixth is unusual and I thought I would try it out.

Sold as black and white on the same rootstock

 

The tomatoes are black initially and then go to green and finally red.  I am finding them slightly woolly in texture but the flavour is good.

 

Finally I am also growing peppers and aubergine n the greenhouse, though the latter are not ripening yet though I have plenty.

 

I am quite pleased with this and the flavour is good.

I have made Bolgnese sauce and this will be frozen -

All the vegetables used are either out of my garden or my 'Cambridge' allotment.

Guess what?

I have spent time ironing embroidery threads because I have started a new piece of smocking and teacher 'J' said that the threads would lie better and as usual, she is correct.

I will not tell you what this will be but it has been started.

It is more even than it looks and when it is finished the work will be blocked and the rows straightened out.

Oh and my toe to top socks are progressing - one made and about to turn the heel on the second.  The second has proved quicker of course, as I now understand the pattern, so it is just finding the time to finish them.

At last the sun is shining ......

Since I last blogged my feet have hardly touched the ground, hence a week since I last wrote.

I have had my two 'Cambridge' grandchildren, B and Ellie, to stay and was so proud when B loved doing the Adventurer course at our local 'Jungle Parc' and whizzed round the course quicker than some older children.  Daddy will have to take him on the adult course next!!

The day after they left it was the 50+ Adventure Club Summer Walk and picnic and we met in Stilton and set off for a 7 mile walk.  We passed the field where there used to be the medieval village of Washingley and looked at the field where the 'motte and bailey' castle had once stood.  The ancient fish ponds are still there.  On the way we saw this little chap -

The caterpillar of the Elephant Hawk Moth

and saw this strange tower in the distance -

An amazing building!

When we got past the building there were stables on the other side - not what we expected.

I was back at Chester Farm on Monday to help on the archaeological dig again and again I helped with pot and bone washing.

An area where there may have been a medieval hall, but definitely a Victorian glasshouse

Unfortunately by early lunchtime the rain had started to fall and we had to leave the dig site; however we had a very interesting talk from the resident archaeologist about the Roman town, the cemetery of which is being excavated by us!!  Oh and talking about the cemetery, I did have a look around at all the skeletons, some in better order than others.

I was back there again yesterday, but this time clad in heavy boots, waterproof trousers and waterproof jacket because it was raining and blowing a gale (typical British summer!!).  Work did start on the dig and I was pot washing, beginning to learn a little more about the different types of vessels that were used. 


Lunchtime in the tent, out of the rain

I was quite pleased that I queried some pieces of what I thought were the expensive Samian Ware but turned out to be a copy made in this country in Oxford.  I knew the shards were not quite right!!

I also learnt about the minute details of a dig; a very detailed map plotted with the numbers of all the finds but also each grave and skeleton is detailed as well showing every little bone and the stones lining the grave and all to scale.

Double click and this will come up larger

There have been skeletons of adults, children and the most poignant of all, a tiny baby, probably a still birth.  I found this so sad when I saw it as it was so very, very tiny.

However the most beautiful piece I washed was at the end and caused some excitement.

 'Puddingstone'

This is a piece of Iron Age quern and how do they know?  Well the hole in the top is a funnel which tapers down to the flat surface underneath where the corn or whatever was being ground would drop down for grinding.  It was extremely heavy but absolutely lovely; puddingstone is found naturally.

Oh, I have managed to finish one of my knitted 'toe to top' socks and it fits!!  Second one is started.