Baby its cold outside…

Ok so today wasn’t so cold outside, it was actually quite warm for October in the UK – about 18 degrees C and I had a pleasant little walk earlier to get some butter from the shop and to pop my booking form through the door for my first craft fair of the year at my stepson’s school on 14th November.

I am thankful that it is nice and mild at the moment, as well as the hot water being on the fritz (had a marginally nice shower this morning which was marred by the boiler going out towards the end and having a stone cold rinse off…) but also the heating has decided to pack in too. We have now booked in a replacement boiler to be fitted next Friday, so just have to make it through this next week with some quick showers and hoping it doesn’t get too cold! Extra layers and keeping busy.

I have also fairly recently kept having dreams involving a very tiny mouse, that I have a pet mouse (I did used to have a pet mouse…) but that I keep losing it, and then finding it again only to lose it again. Wonder what Freud would make of that. In one of them I found the mouse in a cup of coffee. Some years ago when giving away our old sofas, I had thrown the cushions down to the hallway by the front door and when I picked them up I noticed something small scurry away under the shoe rack which we moved out the way to find the cutest tiny mouse ever. We looked after him for a little while before taking him to a field over the road. Isn’t he cute?

I’ve been making a fair few bits and bobs this week, a mixture of christmas decorations and other items. Photos to follow!

I have also ordered some little blackboards for my stall to write prices on, I think they will look pretty nice with my black and white theme. Got to pick them up tomorrow.

I was thinking again today about some items I have made in the past that I am quite pleased with and a while back my stepson had a party to go to for a little girl called Scarlet. I asked him what he thought she might like for a present. He said ‘a drum and a gun…’ I suggested that while she might, maybe girls don’t always like guns etc. He thought again for a moment and then said ‘I think she would like a badge that said she was super.’ So off I went and made this – and a little set of hairgrips for something extra. I hope she liked them!

I used some glittery red and pink felt for the super symbol for that added bit of glam!

Ups and downs

Yesterday I was lying in bed when I heard a sound I dread… the boiler making cacophanous banging noises while my husband was in the shower. Next thing I see him dashing out of the bathroom to check on the boiler. Yep the hot water has decided not to want to work.

So I had a brief cold shower before he left for work and had to call for an engineer – one is coming on Monday. So it will be lots of boiling kettles and washing with jugs this weekend. Not for the first time, our boiler is rubbish and we regularly have this problem thanks to the hard water area we live in, ruining all the internal workings of the boiler.

However I did meet up with an ex work colleague for lunch on Friday which was really good. Had a nice meal and a great laugh.

This morning I had to make two more of my cute little bat decorations as they and my hanging pumpkins I made for my challenge a while back are heading off to Washington DC.

Then it was shopping, decided to throw a bit of a buffet lunch tomorrow and invite my sister and her family across so bought an array of items. The main reason for doing this is because just recently my husband had a chat with his ex about their son being perhaps old enough now to make up his own mind about whether he wants to be a vegetarian or not. (He has been raised a veggie as originally my husband was a vegetarian as is his ex.) However he doesn’t really like a lot of vegetarian things and it is sad when he goes to parties and gets sweets in party bags he isn’t allowed to eat etc. We thought that he should be allowed to make up his own mind about food now he is almost six, and that buffet type stuff might be good for him to nibble on and decide whether he likes things or not. He was pretty over the moon when we told him Mummy said it was OK for him to try non-veggie things. “You mean next time I go to a party I can have anything I want?” Sometimes it is the simple things in life! (He said he wants to try a bacon sandwich to see if he likes it!) So will see how that goes down tomorrow.

I have made a trifle for tomorrow a bit of a twist on something my Mum used to make. I lined a bowl with thin slices of chocolate and vanilla swiss roll, then poured some raspberry jelly on top so it soaked into the cake. Then when that had set I poured more raspberry jelly on top. I had a carton of ready made Ambrosia Devon Custard (yum) and melted some milk chocolate and added a small amount of strongly brewed coffee into the melting chocolate and mixed that into the custard. (It tastes divine!) Tomorrow I will be putting some marshmallows on the top. My Mum usually makes it with raspberries and cream on top, but lately I have found that I cannot eat cream – it makes me pretty ill. I have IBS so there are a lot of foods out there on my death list! Plus the kids don’t seem to like raspberries all that much at the moment, too many seeds I think.

My husband has been baking tonight – making a starter dough and making some walnut bread – he’s made it before and it is super nice, especially warm out of the oven with butter on!

I have got a few craft fairs coming up in November, so I decided to try doing a bit of a mock up of my table. A while back I bought a folding trestle table from eBay and some other bits and bobs for display including some ex-shop units which were black and white modular units. Turns out the white one was just far too big for the table and so that is now residing in our airing cupboard playing host to loo rolls and other gubbins! The black one is smaller and can go on the table for displaying some of my larger items.

I also painted my pasta dryer white this week, and it works pretty well for displaying my hanging items.

The table isn’t quite how I want everything to look at the moment, I wouldn’t put everything out, just too much going on. I have also ordered some chalkboards to stand on the table with prices written on to make things a bit clearer. (Although sometimes you could have the prices in massive neon lights and people will still ask you how much things are!) I am thinking of putting all my finger puppets into baskets to keep them together and look a bit better organised. Any comments are welcome for ways to improve!

I will also be putting a frame on top of the black unit with the shop name in to make it clear who I am. Also patently clear that I need to make more larger toys!

Also in two weeks time I will be having my first physio session. I have been waiting for about 12 weeks for the appointment to come through. Initially the appointment was for my left shoulder, but 12 weeks ago (about four days before I was referred for shoulder physio) I fell over in a car park. I have a special gift for being able to do things like that. My foot rolled over in a dip in the tarmac and doof! My left ankle immediately swelled to about three times it’s normal size and I was in agony, couldn’t walk on it at all. Thankfully my husband was with me at the time and dashed to the nearby supermarket for some frozen peas and whisked me home. I kept it iced and elevated but still couldn’t walk on it properly for about a week. The bruising came a third of the way up the outside of my calf, all down both sides and the top of my foot. Two weeks later it was still hugely swollen and I ended up at A&E for an x-ray, no broken bones. But now, 12 weeks on I am still in such a lot of pain and discomfort and cannot walk very far without it swelling up and being incredibly painful. So my GP added to my physio referral for my ankle due to my ligaments having been torn. So will be good to get them both seen to soon and hopefully get back to my normal self!

I have also made a few more things this week but I really need to find my camera battery charger! I live in a little house, there are only so many places it could be, but we have turned the place upside down for it! I can bet that if I was to buy another one that I would then miraculously find the original one. So I will probably use my husband’s camera and take some pics soon!

My husband and I will also be going to Bristol on Monday 21st October to see Fascinating Aida at Colston Hall. Looking forward to that. I was going to go with my Mum but my father isn’t too well at the moment so it is best she stays with him and he takes it easy. For those of you who may not have heard of Fascinating Aida, they are a trio of ladies who do musical comedy – this is probably one of their more famous perfomances – Cheap Flights.

Hopefully next week we’ll have hot water again (although somehow I reckon he wont have the parts and will have to come back!) The photo below just sort of sums up everything!