100 km round london at night!

I did complete last week's challenge with 102 miles But I started this week with a biggie, this weekend i cycled 74 miles! On Saturday night my son had worked out the route and was the event leader and i was the participant! we cycled 100 kn round London overnight. Two days later and I am still quite tired, I think that is the effect of doing it at night as my legs etc feel fine and not aching at all. I managed to cycle 5 miles back to Marylebone after 5 hours sleep with no difficulty. All of this is amazing for me and I still feel its a bit like a dream! There are some substantial hills in London and they all seem to be close together! We had a climb over Streatham Common and then on up to Crystal Palace, which was our southern most point. Then it was fairly downhill or flat to the Cutty Sark, which looks great lit up, easy riding round to Tower Bridge, through the city and out to Canary Wharf. Docklands is a weird place, sort of bright and shiny and unreal somehow! There a strong wind that hit us in this area, which the buildings sometimes sheltered us from and sometimes seemed to tunnel the full force straight at us!! We saw quite a lot of urban foxes, mainly in the very built up areas, one even in the underpass to Canary wharf!! We continued on through Hackney and Dalston, which had quite a selection of fruit and veg shops open at 3am! Do late night clubbers do their shopping on the way home? through Highbury and on to the next batch of hills, definitely the hardest, mainly because I was so tired by then! we got up tp Alexandra Palace about 3:30am, this is a long slow climb and I made with a couple of stops on the way, then a quick whizz down to the bottom to traffic lights and a right turn straight back up Muswell Hill. This I'm afraid defeated me, I managed about half way then walked the rest, I was now feeling tiredness more than anything, and I had an annoying tickly cough caused I think by the Plane Tree spores. We were now heading in to Hampstead and around The Heath, we stopped at traffic lights with 2 downhill roads and one ahead going straight up to Spaniards Lane and my son saw how tired I asked him if that was our direction! Past the Heath and then left downhill all the way to Camden Town! It was now around 4am and the sun was coming up, the sky was a lovely purpley colour. Dawn is not something I have seen very often in my lifetime!! Onwards round Regents park and up Euston road, turning down Russells square and going down to the river, viewing the land marks south of the river that we had cycled past a few hours earlier! We got to Big Ben as it chimed 4:30am. Up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square and it is daylight now, The Mall was shut so along Pall Mall, up St James' and past the Ritz on Picadilly. We crossed Hyde park corner and Will offered me a choice, we had done 90km and we could go straight home but if we wanted to make it 100km we had to do a loop around Hyde park. I bravely said 100km is what we set out to do, so let's get round that park. It was quite eerie cycling round a park totally on our own in broad daylight! then it down Old Brompton Road and home to Fulham finishing at 5:25am and just as the GPS clicked to dead on 100 km!! Will's wonderful girlfriend had made up my bed and I fell straight in and slept for 5 hours! then back on the bike after a delicious bacon buttie! I cycled back through Hyde Park in the sunshine but this time crowded with people!! It was definitely early to bed and i was snoring by 9pm and didn't stir till this morning1

Week 2

Week two started last saturday, with a ride to Stratford So all packed and ready for the off, the sky was grey but it was dry so I packed my waterproof but didn't wear it! Just lately this is an event in itself!! I started my ride by going to Chaddesley Corbett, a pretty village with a great teashop, where they make the most magnificent scones and the best poached eggs on toast that I have ever tasted!! However, I'm attempting to stick to a diet so I resisted, which as you will discover is a major achievement in itself!! This village and those close by are full of lovely chocolate box cottages like this one. My cycling is becoming more fun each time I go out, as my fitness increases I'm getting such a buzz when I can cycle up hills that had me feeling like a heart attack on legs only a little while ago! Please don't get any ideas about me being some great athlete, I do get up the hills but at speeds that I would be overtaken by the average jogger, and my bike computer can't always record the speed because I'm going so slowly!! I'm doing a 5 day ride from Newcastle to Edinburgh later in the year and that involves a section through the borders across The Moorfoot Hills, and the road is going uphill for 10 miles!!!! So every time I get up a hill I have that in mind. This next picture will give you some idea of the amount of rain we've had lately I had to cycle through it, I was slightly nervous, with my record for falling off as I was quite a long way from home and didn't fancy the rest of the day soaking wet. I got to Stratford in just under 4 hours cycling time and it was 42 miles so a good start for this weeks target. I didn't go out on Sunday but Monday I took the bike on the train to work and cycled home, so clocked up 10 miles. My family always laugh when work and I get into the same sentence, and I must admit this is one of the best jobs I have ever had, I teach knitting and they pay me! Most of the ladies in the group are good knitters so I really provide ideas and sometimes I teach them a trick or two and sometimes they teach me!! The challenge worked really well yesterday as I had lots of small jobs to do and I was out all afternoon, pre 100M/WC cycling would not have happened, but I got up early baked a cake, then went out on my bike and clocked up another 13 miles! Today I have had a short ride of 5 miles and it is lovely and sunny but sadly some time must be spent on the mundane, like food shopping, cooking etc. So I opted to go to a supermarket a few miles away and over a hill, which got the shopping done and I got some exercise. Back home and I made weight watcher jam, milk jellies both very good for my diet and then choc chip and nut cookies! We're visiting friends this evening and I will take the cookies there and no tasting before I go. Running total for the week is 70 miles and 2 days to go to do another 30 miles, hopefully the sun will be with us tomorrow as I plan to do a 35 mile ride, which goes up a very steep hill that shares properties with a cliff face! I've just checked this post on preview and for some reason blogger has ignored all the paragraphs and it is coming out in one lump, I do apologise for this and hopefully I will work out how to change that before the next post.

End of week one

The challenge to myself is working! This morning it was raining again and I had other stuff to do but was still a few miles short of the 100 mile target. Normally I would have thought oh we'll I'll miss today and do a longer ride tomorrow but then when tomorrow gets here resolve weakens! With the challenge in mind, and especially as I have made it public here and on Facebook, I had to be organised, so I was up early, sorted the dogs (they were off for a cut and blo-dry) and just after 9am me and my trusty bicycle were on the road! I did 13 miles, and that takes my total for the week to 104 miles. At least 60 of them were done in the rain! The weather tomorrow is looking better so I'm planning a long ride, from here to Stratford which is 45-50 miles, then the train back. I'll take the camera and try and remember to take pictures!

The 100 mile per week cycle challenge

So I'm on the last few months countdown to Cycle India. I have done well so far in getting fitter and can now cycle further than I ever imagined I would. BUT I need to push myself a bit more so I have decided to challenge myself to ride a minimum of 100 miles per week. The distance is not really an issue, it's 5x 20 mile ride and that is well within my capabilities now, but the discipline of getting that often is what I need to do. I was really good at going 4 times a week when I first started but as I have been able to cope with longer rides I have not been that strict with myself and now I want to be! So this challenge needs some rules, though not too many because I'm not really a rule kind of person! 1. A minimum of 100 miles to be cycled each week. 2. The week starts on Saturday. 3. No carrying over miles to the next week, counter starts at zero every Saturday morning! That will do 3 is a good number! This week I have done 91 miles and 51 of those were done in the pouring rain, so you can see this is hard core stuff! Tomorrow is also forecast to be wet but I will get out there and do some more miles! Just to remind you all, I am 54 yrs old and about 3 1/2 stone overweight so if you are little Lycra whippet, this blog will not float your boat as they say! However, if, like me, middle age is approaching, let me encourage you it is possible to get fitter and enjoy it. In the process of doing this I have raised over £3000 for women v cancer, so it's a win win situation for everyone. I have enjoyed it so much that I'm planning to cycle Cuba in 2013!

Happy New Year

So like many of you, I'm sure, as it is the beginning of a New Year, I'm making some resolutions! Most of them have been made before but let's try again!

Fitness and weight come top of the list, as ever, yesterday I joined weight watchers, and today I went out for the first bike ride of 2012, so a start has been made on both of those!

Use up some of my stash and get back to some of the principles I practised when Wardrobe Refashion was going strong. I have also made a start at this. Over Christmas and the New Year, I knitted Leisl by Ysolda Teague in Flirt, I had bought this yarn for another garment but that is the joy of using stash yarn, it has several 'lives' before it actually becomes a garment!

Last year I have made a good start at making and selling bags, the impetus for that has been raising money for Women v Cancer, but I'd like to keep it going after I have raised the money for my bike ride in India.

The last one is to get up earlier! I'm much more likely to get a training ride done if I get up earlier, and if I don't sleep in the day maybe I'll sleep in the night!

My bike ride today was beautiful, lovely crisp sunny day, bit chilly but I was well wrapped up in new merino top bought by my lovely son for Christmas! I'm not really one of life's exercisers as I may have mentioned before, but when I do get out on my bike I so enjoy it! I was pleased because although I haven't been out for a month or so I was able to get up the hills,even Cemetery Hill, which is right at the start of
my ride and quite long and steep! While it was lovely and peaceful along by the canal it was very muddy and I had a skid moment, which makes me a bit nervous by such a large body of dirty water, which I'm sure is very cold. With my history of falling off I think it may be better to find a less watery route until the paths dry up a bit!

My lovely husband bought me a new bike for Christmas, it's very splendid, has front suspicion and is all black and shiny, very pretty, or was before I splashed through the puddles this morning! It is wonderful to ride a bike where the gears actually work! I do think my old bike was quite good for training as so few of the gears worked! But I must say I'm enjoying the help from the new bike gears! At least this one doesn't creak at every bump, I was always a bit scared something vital would break on the old bike when I was furthest from home!

So I'm all set up for the new year's resolutions and I think this time I might keep them well at least for January! How about you?

Bags for sale

So last week I managed to get some sewing done and I have managed to sell some of the bags already and got an order for some more so thanks to my supporters. I will be putting the rest on my folksy page today so pop over and check them out.

So here are some ipod socks, they are made of black jersey and each have a little embroidery on them.

Then here are three different designs of bags.

And lastly a coin purse

Today I have plans to continue my training but its pouring with rain!! I have been doing some walking as well as cycling and today I had planned a 10.5 mile trip on the bike along the canal but I find I'm a fair weather exerciser!! If I plan to continue training I probably need to get over this as I live in England!!

So I shall get on with more sewing as I wait for the rain to stop.

Hair ok, biking started

Just in case anyone was worried, my roots didn't rot so I still have hair!! Colour hasn't lifted brilliantly but no grey so got to be good.

Went for the first training bike ride this morning, I did 4 miles in about 25 minutes which doesn't sound very fast to me. However, my legs did not turn to total jelly and I could still breathe and hold a conversation when I paid for my milk and paper. I'm going to check the map and make it 5 miles, I was kind of guessing and following my nose today. Stourbridge is going to be very good for training because everywhere you go there are hills!! And as I have often found on a bike there are more ups than downs!! I have now set up my just giving page so if you want to encourage me, click the link and add to the fund!!

Well I'm off to sew now, I'll post some pics and be putting stuff on my folksy page later in the week, all proceeds towards women v cancer.

Beautiful Shoes

We have been invited to a wedding next week and whilst I have been given a lovely Navy dress with big white polka dots I feel new shoes are probably necessary!! So off to Merry Hill (our local Mall) and I had just walked into the shops and I found the perfect pair!!

They fit perfectly and don't squish my toes at all so that was a done deal and I was on a roll!! Twenty minutes later and I also had a red cardi and navy fascinator to finish the outfit!

I do feel slightly guilty buying finished clothes, especially as I have already had a mad spend up in Oz!! I signed up to wardrobe refashion for life some years ago and I have stuck to it fairly well, until now. But these shoes and cardi will all go with a red fitted Mad Men type dress that I made last week so that has soothed my conscience a bit.

I have noticed a new me made coming up, Me-Made-June and I'm tempted to give it another go, except I have all these ready mades and had a good clear out and I don't need anything new!! Maybe I will have a Let's Sew June and make lots of items for sale to raise money for Women v Cancer.

I have also been catching up on blogs and noticed a trip to Goldhawk Road with Karen of didyoumakethat? She managed to get around 20 sewists bloggers together for a fabric shopping trip, I'm definitely jealous!! Go to her blog and check the fabric fandango post, looks like they had great fun. I enjoyed checking the other sewist blogs as well.

I need to go and rinse my roots before they rot!! I don't think it matters if hair dye is on an extra 10 mins does it?

New Challenge!! India here I come -on my bike!

Yes you read the heading right, I am going to ride a bike across Rajasthan, a distance of 350kms!! As a friend commented recently, 'If Janey decides to go on a bike she goes on a bike ride!' As you will know , I am constantly fighting the flab and trying to get fitter, which is a tricky thing as I love food and I'm not very keen on movement let alone exercise!! However, one of the things I have always enjoyed is riding my bike and so when I saw the advert for this ride in a magazine, I was quite excited.

Its a charity ride, Women V Cancer, and the money raised goes to support Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, breast cancer care and Ovarian Cancer Action. Between there is a balance between care and research. The biggest challenge is I have to raise a minimum of £3000, but I have lots of ideas, inc a charity dinner and quiz nights, all of which will challenge my organising skills. I will be setting up a just giving page and I'll put the link on here. I have decided to make small bags and purses to sell, as ever I will use recycled materials so all the proceeds will be profit!!

So the training has begun, the bike has been renovated and serviced - just got to do the same for the body on the bike. Action for charity, the organisers, have sent a training programme and encourage us to include other aerobic and fitness training, so last night I went to Zumba. This is basically aerobics with a salsa/meringue/mambe/chachacha bias!! I didn't quite get all the moves but I did manage to move and be breathless for 1 hour so that must be good. I also rode my bike to and from the leisure centre. This morning I'm off to Pilates fitness I will being walking there as my daughter is coming and she is a bit nervous of bike riding!! I did offer her my electric bike but even that didn't tempt her. This has to be on top of regular dog walking so if I don't get superfit and thin doing all of this I guess I have to accept I'm not meant to be that.

I have been doing well on Slimming World since Oz, I have lost 6 lbs which is great but I think most of that is due to stopping my anti-depresssants quite quickly, I know you aren't meant to do it like that but I did and I'm ok so I'm not worrying!! I put 1/2 lb on this week which I didn't understand because I had been eating well and that really just made me want to eat more. I know this is a ridiculous reaction but I'm a girl who thrives on success, but so far I have curbed the worse tendencies in that direction, and only indulged in an ice cream and a bar of choc. So had my rebellion and back on track!!

Now about a month ago Roobeedoo tagged me so I must answer the questions.

1. what size shoe do you wear? if you wear a size 7, can i borrow your shoes?

I wear size 6 so if you can squeeze in Roobeedoo you are welcome, I spent years wearing size 5 because I didn't want big feet and always had blisters and sore feet!! How vain is that! Even today when I buy shoes the Tune-King asks what size I have got!

2. 30′s or 60′s? For style: the 30's every time. I love the flowing bias cut Vionnette (not sure spelling is right!) Age wise I'm not in my 60's yet but being 50 is the fabbest thing that has ever happened, very releasing. Being 30 was hideous, I felt so old and some one knicked my make-up bag from a changing room!!

3. have you ever kissed someone you shouldn’t have? Only, when he kissed me first!!

4. have you ever been poisoned? was it by the girlfriend of the person you kissed? that is awesomely “knot’s landing.”Never been poisoned... except by a dodgy meal in a spanish bar! I had the squits for 2 weeks and lost a stone so there's always a payoff!!

5. who’s on your “celebrity free pass” list (top 5)? \this is a bit tricky, cos like roobeedoo I thought it was about inviting them to a party, then I googled it and realised it was a bit more intimate!! I have to say sleeping with anyone (other than the Tune-king) would seriously change my life and I don't really want to!! But if we stick to the dinner party theme this is my choice.

Fred Astaire

Johnny Depp

Julian Clarey

Paul Merton

Jesus

I think that would mean I could have a dancing lesson, look at beautiful faces, have a laugh and be loved all around one dinner table. I also think there would be some good conversations going!! So who shall I tag?

Cpeezers at Home,

Did you make that?

Lixie makes it

Tilly and the Buttons

100% Rain

Home, weddings and bbqs!

Well I'm back from Oz, many £'s lighter and only 2 1/2 lbs heavier so that's all good!! I had such a fantastic time, I went to a quilt show, several yarn shops, a japanese kimono fabric warehouse, a totally amazing vintage trimming shop, where I could have spent my entire holiday!! I fed kangaroos, saw little penguins, koalas, kookaburras and cockatoos in the wild, visited stunning coastline, had a ride on puffing Billy through the Dandenongs and spent several days wandering in Melbourne, which is a real mecca for handmade and fresh new ideas, not to mention the best coffee I have in a very long time! And best of all I spent two weeks with great friends, laughing and chatting, eating superb food and drinking cider. So all in all in a holiday that won't be forgotten, I took about 1000 photos! They need a bit of sorting before I can share them, and I'm sure you will all be grateful for that!!

Yesterday was wedding day and like loads of others we watched Kate and William on the telly in the morning and oohed and aahed over the dresses, and loved the way the couple seemed so relaxed. I'm not a particular Royalist but it was great to have something that was good news to celebrate as a society. We all like to have a chat about 'well-known' folks and I loved the fact that most of the chat has been about positive stuff and not brick-batting their private lives.

So The Tune-king and I decided to have a bbq and invite our neighbours to celebrate the wedding together, we had about 30+ in our garden and had a great time until it got a bit chilly and the we decamped inside with coffee and choccy bix. We didn't know some of the neighbours before yesterday and it was a great way to get to know them. I have a passion for community but in today's modern life we go in and out our front doors, life is so busy and we hardly ever speak to our neighbours, maybe a wave or a nod but that's all. We decided a while ago that to change that we needed to invite people into our home and see what happens and each time we have done it has been a success and we are slowly getting to know the people who live around us. So if, like me, you long to rebuild local communities just invite the neighbours round, and see what happens.

Australia

So have I mentioned, perchance that I'm off to Australia on Monday, if you really know me and have seen me at all in the last week or so I may have popped it into the conversation once or twice. I am very excited, and that kinda makes me regress to the state of a 5 year old promised a treat!! Especially as I am going to Australian Seaside!! I will get wet in Australian sea, which I'm reliably informed is called The Ocean (definitely with a capital). Now I'm also wondering where exactly the sea becomes The Ocean, is there a fence?

Now to practical stuff, the fact that I'm going in 3 days and I have spent this last week being excited, means I now have stuff to get ready, I will need money, I must pack and that will probably involve laundry. So although it goes against the grain I must write a list. I usually write lists after I have done most of it as I find it more encouraging to start by crossing things off!!

1. Wind yarn for holiday knitting, check needles, I'm using my Denise set so will be able to knit on the plane. Make sure patterns are on Kindle.

2. Upload latest audio choice from Audible. If you like being read to then I really recommend Audible, if you join their monthly plan, its very reasonable and you can spend hours browsing and listening to samples and deciding what you really want to listen to. You can of course do that without joining but when you pay you don't get the discount!!

I do love a bit of internet window shopping don't you? You don't even have to leave your bed and you can be in bookshops, dvd shops, clothes, fabric, yarn, shoes all are at your fingertips, the choice is endless. you just have to keep an eye on the clicking finger!!

Anyway I digress, back to the list,

3. Pack clothes, I think I've decided what to take and I have learnt over the years to pack lightly but Oz is very different weather wise to here. But on the whole these days I'm always hot, (the eternal cry of the menopausal woman) and if it is really chilly they have shops don't they!!

4. Pack flight bag, then re-pack flight bag because first attempt is so heavy I need a sherpa to carry it for me!! At least Kindle and ipod are lighter than books and maggies. Iwill need spare knickers, some kind of washing/teeth cleaning stuff, bit of makeup to cover the I've travelled for 24 hours look on my face, hairbrush. I have planned travelling knitting, a spring Clapotis, in King Cole Riot, lavender, green and cream.

I have decided shawls are the way forward especially for spring and summer, they are easy to slip on for the extra layer or just have loosely over the arm when all you need is that certain something that is called style!!

Digressing... focus please...

5. Get Aussie Dollars, insurance is sorted, ticket is printed, visa is done so think that is the last bit of paper stuff to do!

So there you are that's me done!!

Well I must be off and try out the new "No more pulling' harness that I have bought for Rosie as her life's work at present is to stretch my arms to twice their length in an effort to get me to the park!! She is such a darling and so wants to please me and do what I say but we have a complete communication block on this pulling thing, we just aren't speaking the same language. This is fairly frustrating as I'm usually fairly fluent in Dog, well I think they understand every word I say!!

Mothering Sunday

I have had a lovely day today being spoiled and chilling!! Started the day with Saturday's Guardian in bed with first mint tea, then coffee and a bacon sarnie, followed by more coffee! Sun was shining so we took the doggins to the park & clouds immediately gathered and we got a bit wet, but it was gentle rain so no complaining.

My Beauty trudging up the steps the dogs have pottered off, in fact I tried to get some shots fo Rosie but she runs so much all I got was grass!!

Here Beauty and the Tuneking definitely look very fed up waiting for me as I try to take arty pictures of park benches!! But hood is down so rain has stopped!

Today I have been reading Tilly and the Buttons and she is talking about never having enough time to sew and doing some research with a diary to see why and if she can make time to do more sewing. That really links to my last blog, not only do I need to push myself a bit but I need to discipline myself to do the sewing!!

I have just recieved my copy of Sewaholic's Pendrell Blouse, which has been made by Roobeedoo and Did you make that?. I really want to have a go at that as I think it could be a good cross between a t-shirt and a blouse for me. I always feel so frumpy in a t shirt but they are very easy to wear. I like blouses but I'm not good with collars, they make me feel fat. This blouse is princess seamed so flattering , collarless and has a variety of sleeve or no sleeves and it is simple enough to allow embellishments. I have lots of passed on t-shirts and I have a desire to pick them apart and try and put them together as this blouse!!

I have also re checked the stash, which sounds way too tidy and organised for my piles of fabric!! I have found quite a few suitable patterned fabrics for summer skirts. I have been browsing The White Stuff Catalogue and I really like the a-line skirts they have in there, very simple style but made in all different prints. Actually I like most of the clothes on The White Stuff!!

But for the next few days I'll be visiting my oldest friend in the beautiful city of York so there will be lots chat, lots of knitting, maybe tea at Bettys and a day out with my just teenaged God-son. I have said anything except I'm not good on scarey rides!!

Today is a new day

Well I have woken today with a real sense of newness! I'm not sure why, except that recently I have an increasing desire to explore more creative outlets but I know I'm avoiding doing anything because I have this fear that I won't be any good at it. So I stick to the safe, mostly knitting, but while I'm doing that my mind is whirring with possibilities that then get stuck in a wall of but you're no good at that!! I feel like I want to get out of the box but I've spent so many years saying I'm no good at design, I'm not clever, I'm just a good technician, I only know how to make things well, but now I feel trapped in that box and I want to try more, push the box out til the walls fall down. Even as I write this, I'm feeling excited about how I could represent that in textiles, that is my medium, because I need the feel and touch to be right as well as the look. Maybe this sense of the new starts today is the impetus I need to make me do this rather than just think about it, then push it back into the box because it isn't good enough for anyone else to see. I'm sorry if today's post is a bit of a ramble inside my head and it may not make sense to anyone else, but I don't think a well knitted garment is enough for me (although that kind of knitting will always be part of me) anymore and saying it out loud here is like a starting block. I'm on my marks, now I need to start the race proper!!

Is it nearly Spring

Well I think it must nearly be spring, the calendar sys it is and last week the weather agreed but the weekend and so far this week have been so chilly again!! I did manage a lovely walk in the woods with the doggins this morning. I love this particular walk and it is lovely in all seasons, magical in the snow but it also gets very muddy so I have not been there for a while. Mud is ok but three muddy dogs make a walk last all morning by the time they are all cleaned!! Today it was sunny and I could hear several woodpeckers, were they chatting to each other, or maybe it was one woodpecker going from tree to tree! I'm not really that much of a nature person so I don't know what woodpecker calling habits are but today it just added to the peace of me and the doggins wandering through the trees. My other reason for liking these woods is that I don't get lost in them, which is a huge plus as I have very little sense of direction and have been lost in a wood on a regular basis since I was about 3!! and that was a fair few decades ago!!

Well sewing and knitting, what has been happening? I haven't really done much sewing, lots of plans but also lots of excuses, I keep reading about everyone else's creations, especially in the latest MMM extravaganza and I do take my hat off to all the participants, I have seen some truly inspiring outfits but somehow even that has not driven me to get the machine out.

I have been knitting, socks for the tune-king and for our daughter and a lace shawl that needs to be blocked, when I remember to order blocking wires!! I am now in the middle of Hooray Cardi from 100% rain, which gets my vote for the best knitting patterns at the moment. I have bought a few of them but I want to make all of them. If you haven't seen this site go and have a gander and I guarantee you will be drooling over the lovely designs.

Well its late and I'm whibbling so I'm off to sleep now.

The weekend is here! and sewing is planned!

Well its 2011 and I have started by doing lots of sewing, I finished my wedding outfit and had a fabulous day celebrating with my friend and her daughter and family. The wedding party looked so elegant and beautiful, and the day passed off well, with lovely food, plenty of friends there tocatch up with and finished with a great disco, that all ages joined in to dance the night away. Proof of this was my hobbling to the car in my lovely evening shoes that are made primarily for looking at and admiring rather than wearing!!

This the Tune-king and I before we left for the wedding, my dress is ankle length and I felt very comfortable and elegant in it, I hadn't quite lost as much weight as I would have liked but I've lost a significant amount since last January and feel so much better so I was ok with that!!

And this is with my fur jacket, I'm very pleased with this little number, the fur is really soft and drapes well so is ideal for jackets and would even be suitable to make something for a child. It came from Fabricland and was a real bargain. It has a pleat in the back with a bow detail and the hem dips at the back. I used a vintage hook and eye clasp from my collection, which I picked up somewhere in my travels, I think a french broccante when we holidayed in Brittany.

The dress fabric came from croftmill and is called Times Square, I lined it as well as it was quite a fine drapey fabric and I felt it needed the support, the lining fabric also came from croftmill. I was very pleased with it, for although it is man made fabric it is very fine and drapey, and didn't affect the movement of the dress fabric. So often, linings these days are acetate and too stiff, they work well on a wool skirt in a straight or a-line style but if your design has any movement or fluidity then I find that lining just destroys that feeling.

I ordered both fabrics before Christmas and despite snow and delivery difficulties they arrived within a week so a good service from both companies. I ordered zips and other haberdashery stuff from Jaycotts which is a fab service, pretty much return of post whatever the weather!!

So onto this weekend, I have some tartan knit fabric that I'm going to make up in the same pattern as evening dress but knee length version, this time I'm going to be brave and cut a smaller size!! The evening dress was fine but I did cut a bit too big and had to make some alterations! The pattern is see & sew B5168 and I think I got very cheaply on one of the many websites I wander through, but sorry I can't remember which one!!

Last week I also attended my big brother's wedding, his third to the same wife!! It was actually a lovely occasion and my usual non-emotional big brother was quite teary through the service and my sister-in-law had a beaming smile, they looked so happy, even better than 40 0dd years ago when I was bridesmaid at their first wedding. I wore a dress I had bought from a friend's dress agency, I've made a slip to go under in matching jersey, as the dress is totally see through!! I will be making more slips like this as they add a bit of warmth and stop any clinging. Talking of under garments, for both weddings I wore Trinny and Susannah magic knicker tights!! They are a bit of a fight to get on but are really comfy to wear and they meet your bra so they keep everything in with no ugly overhang!! I got my reduced in good old TK Maxx, so I was doubly pleased with them!!

Anyway, I'm off now to walk the dogs and then get on with sewing my tartan dress. You enjoy your weekend too!

Look at my cosy sewing room!

So the dusting is done all the collected stuff dumped in the dining room during the decorating has been put away - euphemism for moved to another room!! As you can see I lit the fire in there and did some sewing yesterday, yay! I really enjoyed doing it, I made a bag but no pix cos its a Christmas pressie!! Now I have to make my wedding outfit but I have fabric to make a trial run of the dress and jacket which I would like to do for christmas but have I got time to do both? I always think I can fit in more things than I can manage!!

we have been having lots of snow again and I manged to take the camera and the dogs out yesrterday,

Hard to believe this taken in our local park! Right in the middle of town.

Poor old ducks don't have much water to swim in, most of the pond is frozen solid!

Rosie loves to leap about in the snow, so much that is hard to get a picture of her but her she is running back to me and about to leap over Finn!

Well in case I don't get back on here this week I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Winter wonderland

Doggins walks have been absolutely lovely for the past 2 days, the snow/ice/frost in the woods is so pretty. I have been slightly concerned that I might bump into the Snow Queen at some point!! There was a very scarey picture of her in my Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale book and I have never forgotten it, or the need to turn several pages at once so that you didn't catch a glimpse of her before bedtime!! We are talking several decades ago but I find the imagination has a powerful memory!

Well I have been busy knitting, a brown/lime striped scarf and a Norie Hat from Shetland Trader, there are some fantastic patterns in the book and the great thing is you get an e-copy immediately and then the solid version is sent in the post!! So you can start straight away but also have the joy of savouring each page later on. The photos are lovely with some beautiful scenery so there is plenty of enjoyment in store!! I'm using British Breeds yarn in purple, I got the wool from superknits, which is run by a local girl, Gemma, she had a stall at the Christmas Craft Market in town and I got this and 2 balls of sock yarn by babylonglegs, which I expect will be shawls one day!! I am now doing a pair of fingerless gloves to go with Norie Hat, they are from November issue of Creative Knitting, which I have subscribed to as a digital mag. This is a great idea as you have access to 2 years past issues as well as current ones, without having a pile of magazines hanging about and it costs about 1/2 the price of printed subs.

I am excited to get my parcels of sewing fabric I ordered last week but I must give a huge plug for Jaycotts they are definitely the best mail order company I have ever used. I ordered some patterns and haberdashery stuff last Friday morning and it was here on Saturday morning, that is pretty impressive by any standards. Their prices are also very reasonable, in fact it has been cheaper to order zips from them even with postage than buy the zip at a local shop!! This does cause me to have a few qualms because I do like to support local shops especially yarn and sewing shops. I have less worries about buying fabric on the net as there are a no great shops near here. Well there is the rag market in Birmingham and while lots of that is cheap price wise the quality is also cheap. Its great for curtain fabric though, so I shall be going along to get something for my new living room very soon!! But back to dress fabric and Croftmill have just emailed to say they have dispatched my fabric so sewing machine get yourself ready for a bit of work!!

Creative Juices are rising!!

Well I've spent a happy hour ordering fabric and related stuff on the net, so I'm planning a few weeks of happy sewing and creating!! I've been getting very fed up with myself lately I have a head full of things I want to do but can't seem to get my lazy butt up and into action!!

Today I have plans!! We have just had a new bathroom fitted and new Kitchen floor laid both beautiful but the process has left shovelfuls of dust!! So today I tackle it!! In doing that I will clear the dining room so I have space to sew again!! and we can sit at the table for our meals and we can invite friends to share our meals!!

I'm also very bored with the look of this blog, which is what puts me off doing much on it!! So this weekend after the big dust I'm going to have a play at that!! Look out a new me is on the way!! I've just christened myself Queen of Power only fair as my daughter thinks she is Princess of Power, anyone else remember She-Ra, she may have been Lion Cat's mate!!

Dusting here I come!!

I'm cross, very cross

Hey, I have just listened to a podcast on Woman's hour from 16/9/10 a discussion between Vicky Simister of the London anti-harassment campaign and a guy called Brendan O'Neill. They were talking about why young girls don't like being wolf-whistled and sexual innuendos made about their body and appearance in public by groups of young men. Brendan didn't see how these kinds of taunts were as unacceptable as racist taunts would be!! He felt that to stop men doing this would curtail their freedom of speech rights!! I'm speechless and I'm not often that, I can tell you!

I have always hated this kind of behaviour cos I was never sure it was directed at me, and even if it was, it made me feel uncomfortable. I'm older now and it isn't ever directed at me but times have changed and the kinds of things that are shouted are much more explicit and more intimidating, if the stories we heard on the programme are anything to go by. Also it is often a group of men and a lone female. So putting aside the sexist issues here, which I do agree are very important, when did it become right and libertarian to protect one group's freedom of speech by allowing them to make individuals feel at least uncomfortable and more likely unsafe and vulnerable.

I'm sorry this is a bit of a rant but I can't believe that a young man in today's society is still so blinkered. When talking about human rights, and freedom of speech is one of those, there is always balance and compromise because we live in a society together and one person's freedom may mean someone else's restriction and we must weigh the importance of these things. When "banter" means physical fear and discomfort then we have to say it is wrong and must be curtailed so that everyone can feel at ease on our streets!

Quite frankly I think this is an issue of common decency as much as it is a feminist issue. If one persons actions make another uncomfortable then it is wrong no matter what!!

Follow this link and see what you think and let me know.

What a great Summer!!

So I'm back now after a long summer break, with lots of news, for those of you who read my ramblings. I still can't really believe that anybody does, but thanks to those of you who do!!

Me, the tune-king and all 3 lovely doggins had a fantastic holiday in our motor home touring Scotland. I think its the best holiday we've ever had, something I do say most years!! But this year I really,really mean it, it was so relaxing and we loved motor home living, it was comfy and cosy and fantastic to have everything with you when you go out for the day, cup of tea when you like, get lunch when you want it and no packing up sarnies !! Then if it rains you park up, read the paper and when it stops you are ready to get out and go for a walk, I can't think of anything better, you can keep your 5*hotels, me I'm a motor home girl. We were able to be away for 3 weeks which we have never managed before and I highly recommend that too, even the tune-king completely relaxed until at the end of our holiday, I backed the motor home back onto our drive, a tricky operation that seemed to raise his stress levels a tad, talk about steam and ears!!

As you know I'm always fighting the flab, well I have to report a successful fight is taking place, I have lost over a stone since January (some of those lbs have been lost twice!) and I still seem to be losing. My clothes are fitting much better, I still have a way to go but I'm going to get there. I'm sure walking the dogs much more often is helping, and I certainly feel much better, no huffing and puffing on the mildest of slopes now and I can walk much faster than before, one day I may even keep up with the tune-king.

The other thing to report is that I passed my counselling certificate with merit and I had my first graduation!!

I did do quite a bit of knitting over the summer, 2 shawls that both need blocking, so pics soon,

and this cardi , which is Rosalind by a mingled yarn. I knitted it in Rowan cotton perle, a lightweight DK, which was perfct for this pattern as it makes a heavy weight garment without it being bulky. I was also lucky enough to be near Stirling for the last weekend of knit camp, where I was encouraged to spend what I liked, honestly I was and I did spend a bit and got some lovely yarns, several sock weights, which may be christmas socks for some folks, another shawl for me and I have just purchased an armwarmer pattern from yarnissima, which I have some gorgeous, cashmere/silk mix yarn from Artisan yarns, in purple, so photos of that coming when I've knitted them!!

Here are a couple of friends I met and had lunch with who were also wearing Leisl cardis!! Three in a row for lunch!! It was great to see how different they all looked as we had all chosen different yarn, it has inspired me to make another in DK yarn and see how that turns out.

I am failing on the self stitched september, I'm afraid, I had such plans to sew lots before I went away but I did enjoy doing not much and also I had joined fatty club (slimming world really!!) and so didn't want to waste fabric and effort if I was going to get smaller. however I did make a dress from curtain fabric that looked very Cath Kidston, I used celeste from burdastyle. The pattern was great it was easy to fit and really flattered my figure and I wore it to my niece's wedding but somehow, I missed getting a photo of me!!! Now that I have got into a size that I think I will remain for a bit even while losing, I'm going to attempt the bella trousers from burdastyle. They are a wide leg high waist style and I think I will be able to carry them off now that I have less of a belly!! If I can't I'll just wear long tops til I can!!

If any of you are new to sewing I do recommend the burdastyle site, they have some free patterns which you can download and print without leaving home!! It does mean they are printed on A4 paper so you have to do a bit of piecing together before you can start but I find they are great size wise and you can find links to other people who have made that design and so can see a variety of fabrics and sizes as well as how they have added their own touches for individuality!!