Tuesday 30th December

Not a good day today.My 'get up and go' 'got up and went'
Achieved nowt, feeling fed up about that.

Monday 29th December

Very pleasant night out last night,cheese and wine round work colleague of hubby.
Today lunch at the King's Head with Sarah C and Terry.Lots of chat and catching up.
Tonight trying to do a little sewing.Made myself a crochet hook roll.Now working on
'Abigails quilt' Hubby is back to work tomorrow.

Sunday 28th December

Meal last night was very good.Never sure with pub grub what the quality is going to be like.It was just at our local,very local about 100 yds away. Everyone seemed to have a good time and son's girlfriend's Dad was on fine form.He is a very funny guy.
Today we did a bit of retail therapy.Got up late (after the Archers) then hit a garden centre for some half price Christmas stuff. Set of lights etc. Then to our favourite designer outlet Matalan. I really needed some clothes! Sadly all my weight has gone back on again so I think I will have to do something about that in the new year.
Back home and a lovely lamb curry and then we are off out to a work colleague of hubby.

Saturday 27th December

Well that's Christmas done and dusted.Meal out tonight with MIL ,son and girlfriend and her parents looking forward to that,nice not to have to cook.

Christmas was an odd one this year as hubby was on nights.In 20 years of shift work this has never occurred before.Meant that for the most of Christmas day and all of Christmas night I was on my own.Thought I would be fine but wasn't really so won't do that again.Wasn't helped by the fact that just before Christmas I went down with a really heavy cold which laid me out for about 3 days so last minute preparations just did not happen.
Always think about people that I can't be with anymore like my mum and especially my granddaughter.
Did just about manage to get a few bits made for decorations and presents



Little mouse for Jessica



Table runner for Claire and Carlos



Snowman and Penguin for me

New Things

Been fiddling around trying a few new little things that will probably end up in my etsy or folksy shops .Really like this little blue bird.I have done a sort of robin version as well.May list later

Bad bad blogger

I know I know every time I say I am going to blog more regularly it just doesn't happen.
Anyway I have made a little banner for my table at Wemake London. Reverse applique and satin stitch.Not perfect maybe ,need a bit more practise but it looks OK. Also starting to try some new things out for my etsy and folksy shops.More of that later.

East Exhibition

By June Carroll

By Carol Dixon

Went to Braintree today ,with Margaret to go to the O2 and E.a.s.t exhibitions. Both very interesting. More pieces appealed in the East exhibition.
A couple of beautiful,what I am going to call,memory dresses by Libby Smith incorporating text embroidered on net and newspaper snippets.
Some really interesting work, as usual, by Jeanette Bright on foundlings and Mercy. One piece by Julie Topsfield that I really liked.
Some terrific textured pieces by Carol Dixon and some clever work on maps and journies by June Carroll.Annoyed with myself that I didn't take notes or enough pictures. Did give Margaret and myself time for a good chat and some ideas have been sparked off I think.
Nice lunch in the cafe attached to the museum. Weather was great ! All in all a good day.

Etsy September Challenge

Our challenge for September was to create something on the theme of 'Birds'
I had seen an article in Quilting Arts magazine on pet and animal portraits so I thought I would give it a go.I chose to do a Chaffinch as they have a fair bit of colour on them and we do get a lot of them in our garden.I adapted the method a little but started with creating a background of hand dyed fabrics by strip piecing in green including a few bits of blue to represent the sky.I then enlarged a picture of a male chaffinch and turned it into black and white using this final image to make a tracing.I used the tracing to machine the shape of the chaffinch from the back of the fabric tearing the paper away when completed. Then from the front and using the original image as reference I added fabric pieces and some machine embroidery to recreate the bird. I also used my embellishing machine to create his legs and to 'knock back'some of the background and the fabric on the bird. To finish off I added a few buttons and some hand stiching and then made a quilt sandwich using a light wadding and some calico.



To my great surprise I won the challenge this month.Thank you if you voted for me.

September

Lets see if I can cover all my September events in one blog posting.
Patchwork classes have started at School House Arts. Despite people telling us that they wanted basic classes the uptake has been slow. But numbers are increasing which is promising.
My car has had its first MOT.Nice boys round at Hanningfield Motors looked after that for me.Highly reccommend these chaps very fair on price and their workshop has got to be the tidiest I have ever seen!


I have applied for and received my very first passport. This is momentus for me. I don't really like travelling or holidays so have avoided getting a passport. Why now then? Well it's motorbikes of course.Brother in law and a small group of chaps have been going to Jerez MotoGP for a few years now. His daughter and son in law have a house a few miles away from the racetrack so it makes it a very reasonable trip. So my love of bikes and more especially Valentino Rossi have pushed me into this. All happened fast as well. Less than a fortnight from sending off my application.And that included having to go for an interview to prove I was who I said I was!

Concert crowds

Finally on Saturday last we had a family trip down to Brighton.Son has been before but couldn't remember and his girlfriend had never been. So we made a reasonably early start and drove down. It was only when we got close that we realised that we had picked the day of the Fat Boy Slim concert on the beach and the place was jammed.Still we had no problem getting to the park and ride and getting in to town. The shops in the Laines were wonderful as always and we had a great time wandering around.Lunch at the Gourmet Burger Company was yummy.

Jess and Peter
I managed not to spend too much money but could easily have spent loads more. The weather was fantastic and I am sure all those crowds had a great time at the concert.

Mr on beach

ArtyAllsorts

Saturday 30th August
The wonderful ArtyAllsorts very kindly came down to School House Arts and spent the day helping us to learn more about using our cameras and taking better photos. I don't think I will ever be terribly good at it,I haven't got the 'eye'. But I certainly learnt loads .Thanks Arty!

I am a bad blogger

Yes I am. It is so long between posts that I have to look at my calender to see what I have done since. So this is me catching up (again)
The day after my epic charity bike ride Hubby and I went on a day sail on a Thames sailing barge out of Maldon.Hubby has had a couple of trips away on one of these as team building exercises from work and has really enjoyed them.So much better that paintballing!
Very early start was needed to catch the tide and it was a bit nippy and windy to start off with but later on the sun came out and it warmed up a bit. Got some sail up and headed out. Now obviously you don't go very far just sail for a bit, anchor for lunch and sail back. Nevertheless it was a very pleasent way to spend a day. The real highlight though was the food which was excellent.
On the way back they did manage to get it into full sail for a while but it was the wrong kind of wind so we were not travelling fast enough to get us back in time so sails had to come down and engine started.

Charity Bike Ride 24/08/08

Still catching up! Went on a charity motorcycle ride with EAMG. Riding pillion with Rob who's daughter is going out with my son.Alledgedly it was to be 160miles or thereabouts. It turned out to be nearer 250. It is over 30 years since I spent that long on the back of a bike. That was OK though. Weather was most unpromising to start off with but it did brighten up later and I only got slightly damp and soon dried off.
Riding on the back of the Fazar was a very different experience to the Ducati! Much more comfortable for distance riding of course. I think I did OK as a pillion passenger although Rob has had to replace his back tyre!

Nec Festival of Quilts

Gradually catching up with my blog! Sunday 17th August saw me catching a coach with the ladies from Ferrers Quilters to go to Birmingham. An early start but that was OK. Gave us plenty of time for a really good look round. Lots of wonderful work,too much to list here. Trends seemed to be many more art quilts also lots of painting,bleaching /discharge etc. The Kemshalls have been real trend setters there.It was interesting to watch them working using various different methods to transfer portraits on to fabric in a quilt they are making featuring the women in their family.
My favourite pieces were in the 3D and wearable section with some interesting use of computer parts, just quirky enough to appeal to me
I was most interested in watching people working with new techniques. Committed to Cloth is always worth watching as was Kim Thittichai and Maggie Grey. A few new ideas I might even get round to trying.
All in all a good day with only one downside. The button up quilts that had been made by so many groups in the UK and abroad were poorly displayed. Ferrers Quilters entry had very little showing but the one I was, in a very small way, involved with from Springfield Quilters was almost completely invisible. In fact most of Region 8 and 9 were very restricted

Etsy Retreat

Can't believe it's been a week and a half since I set of to York and the Uk etsy retreat. Overcoming my fear/dislike of travelling was the first hurdle so I was much relieved to find my way to Kings X and met up with reform aka Tricia, charlottenarunsky aka Charlotte and Dichotomy aka Bronwyn . Collected Gillian on the way somehow. Collected at York station by the wonderful Debbie
who was responsible for us all being there.There ensued a wonderful weekend of crafting ,chat,laughing etc. The facilities at the school were superb.Lucky girls that go there! I really hope it happens next year as now I know what is there I have ideas of what I would like to do. Tried a few new things although my screen printing on Sunday morning was hampered by me feeing decidedly unwell.

Getting Ready

On Friday I am off to the etsy retreat in York. Really excited about this but don't really know what I am going to do. I am not in the slightest worried about being with so many strangers for the weekend because they are not , strangers that is. I have met a few of them, the rest I feel I already know and I am certain that we will all get on fine. I haven't done much to prepare for this trip but I have bought my first 2 bars of Green and Black's chocolate which I understand is an essential ingredient for this weekend.
I have also signed up for flickr's 888 event so I will have to take my picture and post it before I leave for the train on Friday morning.

New Week New Start

Haven't blogged for a while(again) no excuse really but have been feeling a bit low.
Went to a retirement do at the school I used to work at and it was nice to see lots of people I used to work with from years back.No job yet but a few interesting possibilities. Have also been neglecting my day2day so I will just briefly tell you about the last series I did,
They were all flowers from a local butterfly house. We have lived here 3 years now and only recently visited Tropical Wings down at South Woodham Ferrers. It's not huge but has a good variety of animals to see including otters which I love. Haven' t yet managed to catch sight of the Red Squirrels that they have there.

Friday 4th July

Happy Independance Day to all our US friends.
day2day this week I have bored everyone with pictures of our bike. Ducati 996. Red,Italian,fast and loud. I know I am obsessed with bikes which for a 5o year old woman is a bit sad. In my defence (not that I really think I need to defend myself) bikes have always been a part of my life.
My late father used to race bikes and had bikes on the road.Mum and him went on their honeymoon on a bike. It wasn't planned that way ,Dad had hired/borrowed a car from a mate but on the morning of the wedding he was pulling out of Mum's road and someone ploughed into him and although he was fine the car was totalled. So plans for the Isle of Wight were cancelled and they went down to his sister's farm in Devon on the only transport available to them which was Dad's motorbike. Now this in itself would not have been so bad but it was not even a proper road bike but a Dot 3 speed scrambler. Then they hit a swarm of something on the way down(greenfly or something) It was nearly a very short marriage! They continued to have road bikes until I was on the way.If we still had all of my Dad's old bikes we would be very rich!!
I met my husband because of a motorbike. At the time he was working with my Dad and had bought a racing sidecar outfit. He didn't have anywhere to work on it so Dad offered him our garage, bought him home to show him where it was and the rest is history.
Hubby used to work with bikes and race them before I met him. Although we never got to race that outfit we had road bikes and he briefly raced a Bantam. Mortgage and kids put paid to our biking for nearly 25 years but then the yearning returned. So we bought a classic racer a Tony Dunnell Triton beautiful machine.He paraded it for a couple of years but then moving and Mums illness halted this temporarily. To get more miles in he decided to get another road bike. First we had a 600 Hornet then came the Ducati. I have always wanted one it is my dream bike.
We are never going to do loads of miles on it touring and such so it suits us.
Gosh sorry about that didn't realise this day2day business was going to make me all nostalgic.

Monday June 30th

June nearly over and done with.
Have joined a new flickr group called day2day Take Five Ordinary Beauty
Take a 5 pictures of ordinary things.Try to see beauty everywhere and improve your photography skills.My first series of photos(Only 4 of them) is of clocks.
The cat clock was our Christmas present to each other.Hubby spotted it and took me to see it thinking that I would not like it but I did so we bought it.Hopeless for telling the time but a bit of fun nevertheless. The old clock was my Greatgrandmother's and family legend says that her first husband bought it for her out of his wages on his first harvest.My family were all either farm labourers or in service.All really poor.Great Gran was born in Maldon workhouse as her mother was not married.She did manage to keep the baby. However when Great Gran found out she was illegitimate she tore up her birth certificate so we never knew who her mother was. My cousin has been researching the family tree and after much searching ,tearing of hair and knashing of teeth has tracked her down.There were other children also born 'out of wedlock'
She was a great character my Great Gran and lived to 98. I often ponder on the tremendous changes she saw in her lifetime coming from an age where the poor did not have electricity or running water,no cars or free health care.We live in a very priviledged age

Saturday 28th June

Allthosethrees,myaphrodite,artyallsorts and Charlottenarunsky
Yumtatious,abibansaldesign,charlotte and arty
Abi,myaphrodite,pinkangel and allthosethrees
Clothcat and Angharad

Again a big gap in my blogging.Smacked wrist for me.So whats been going on.Much research into washing machines and tumble dryers as we need to buy them for the utility room. This research now includes dish washers as ours decide to break.
Went to the Wemake craft fair in London,with Artyallsorts. So wonderful to see so many etsians together. Some I had met before, Clothcat,Angharad,Daintyprettythings, and Lovealittle. But also so many that I had not met like Greygoat,Madebycara,Momentsbymartha,Stitchywoowoo,millimoomi (and baby)Lazygiraffe,Thebirch tree, and Creamrose to name some(but not all) also loads of non stall holders that came to support including abibansaldesign who should have had a prize for travelling the furtherest as she had come up from Devon for the day. Much chat and laughing! Decmamped to a pub in Covent Garden for Pimms and more chat with arty,Allthosethrees,myaphrdite,yumtatious,kankalin,and pinkangel.Got home in one piece though!

Friday 13th June

Passport Cover

Hairbands soon to be listed

Uneasy day on UK etsy thread.I'll say no more.
Had a brief run out on the bike to get petrol. ( while we still could)As hubby works in a power station he should always be OK to get it but you never know.Last time there was a strike/blockade he had a letter to present at petrol stations saying he was an essential worker or something.
Have just got round to taking some photos of things I have had made for a while and just haven't got round to listing on etsy
My resolution for next week is to start applying for jobs.I have had a nice break and its been great but really must get back into the swing.
Confidence not at it's highest though especially since trawling through loads of jobs on the web and honestly not seeing one that I thought I could apply for.My qualifications ,such as they are,probably need updating and I am up for that. I do pick things up pretty quickly but feel that my age is now against me.

Dengie Craft Group

Learnt how to do Broomstick crochet today.Not sure what you would use it for but it would make good scarves.Had a good laugh anyway.Still battling to get my swap items finished for the etsy May Swap.

Monday June 9th

Glorious day today, bit too hot for me though.Haven't managed to set foot in my sewing room today.Hubby is off tomorrow so we may go out somewhere as it looks like the weather is set fair.
Probably will spend half the morning debating where to go and then deciding its too late to go out anyway. Decisions are not something I am very good at.

Been Nagged Again

Grungie Granny

Space The Final Frontier

Nagged again that I have not posted on my blog recently.Yes you know who you are!
So what have I been up to.
Went to the dentist with toothache.Said it was my gums not my teeth.
Written my CV which means I am slowly getting round to looking for a new job.
Managed an entry to the etsy uk challenge for May which was space.(finished third)
Pieced a small scrap quilt (Will I ever finish it?)
Attended a super workshop and made a grungie granny.

Rainy Bank Holiday

Yes true to form the British weather has delivered us a horrid ,wet and windy Bank Holiday.Not too bothered myself as I had not got anything planned.Keep getting told off because I don't blog often enough but I do lead a boring life so what's to write about.
What have I been doing lately.

Trying to look after hubby while he tackles tiling the utility room.Copious cups of tea required there.
Looking after my boy after minor op.
Missing my cat much more than I thought I would.
Making some hairbands.
Trying to get to grips with zipped pouches.Still can't get the zip right.

Decided that I could blog about an etsy shop that I have recently discovered.
margrietje.etsy.com
A true treasure trove of little charmers.Definitely on my wish list and in my favourites.This little bird in particular
So adorable.And her shop is full of these.As soon as paypal manages to credit my account with the money it is hanging on to this is going straight in my shopping cart.It makes me so wish that I had some artistic ability.

Tuesday

Theoretically since I am currently unemployed I should blog more often.Doesn't always work like that though.I am coming to think that I am one of those people that get more done if they are busy anyway.Only taken me 50 years to realise this.Sometimes a day goes past and I think 'what have I done today' and I can't really think of anything apart from the washing cooking etc that I do everyday.
So what have I done today.
Mowed the lawn,front and back.Bit of weeding.Food shopping.Made lunch.Hung out washing.
Thats so far. Now I would really like to make a bit of an effort for Tuesday Rawks as it's punk/emo/goth today. I loved punk and goth still do actually.Emo was a bit after my time.

Sadness and Joy

Been a mixture of these over the past few days.I find the rollercoaster of emotions, that life can be sometimes, very difficult. I am a rut person really, change does not suit me.I have also been in quite a reflective mood which is never good for me.
Our eldest cat ,Eric,died on Saturday.It wasn't completely unexpected as we had noticed his decline over recent weeks.We think he could have had a stroke.Came back from shopping and noticed that he was not right and within a few hours he had gone.I love my cats but I am not overly sentimental about them.It has just made me think a lot about loss.Big things and small things.Sometimes I find the small things affect me more than the big.
I am missing my Mum and my granddaughter.
I miss my youth.
I miss having energy

Sunday we went to the resheduled BSB meeting at Brands Hatch.Glorious weather in fact to hot for me.Great racing.Good fun.

Bakey cakeyness

Can you believe it the weather has actually been great this weekend and although we did not go far we have enjoyed a couple of little trips out on the bike.Just does so much for my spirits to get out on that thing it is just so much fun.
In the true spirit of the UK etsy thread I baked a cake.Little story behind it.Mr S and I were chatting and he said he fancied a coconut cake.I reminded him of the coconut cake that I used to cook years ago.So while he was at work on Sunday I whizzed to Asdas and got the ingredients to make it.He was chuffed to bits.Here's the recipe for those interested

Wholemeal Coconut Cake

8oz wholemeal self raising flour
4oz butter or marge
3oz soft brown or caster sugar
4oz coconut
1 beaten egg
5fl oz milk

Heat the oven to gas mark 4 180deg
Line a 7inch round cake tin
Rub together the flour and butter(or marge) stir in the sugar and coconut
Mix the egg with the milk
Add this to the dry mix
Bake approx 1 hour

Its quite a dry cake but we like it.

May Bank Holiday Weekend

Although its a bank holiday weekend MrS is at work.Well you all need electricity.He has got quite a lot of time off soon so we are hoping to make great strides in the utility room.But then if the weather is good there is a Ducati to be ridden.
What have I been doing this week.Joined Gardening 365 on flickr.I resisited at first because my gardening efforts usually fizzle out with my waning enthusiasm but I figured that if I took part it may spur me on.For those that don't know the 365 groups involve taken a picture every day for a year(365 days)In this case of your garden or gardening efforts.Since MrS has become more involved in the cooking at home he is quite keen.We are concentrating on herbs and salad leaf as we can grow these in pots and we don't want to open up any beds at the moment.
Still trying to get brooches made of Kala's cats but its proving harder than you might think.
Was going to go to an exhibition this weekend but looking at the map it was about an hours drive away and I would be going on my own so decided against it.
I am however going to a craft fair tomorrow as my friend libertybelle is doing her first one at Runwell village hall.
I am having major sort out in sewing room as I have decided that my chaos is not helping the creative juices.Well we shall see.

Stitch to Paint with Nickie Kimber 27th April 2008

The very first workshop to be offered by School House Arts. And what a cracker.
Nickie, very ably assissted by Sharne, presented her workshop on Stitch to Paint.
11 students started the morning with experiments with discharge paste using freezer paper and masking tape resists and and also bleaching some fabric that had been stitched into.
Next we machine quilted a sampler piece with four different patterns and used a different medium on each to colour it.These included markal,emulsion paint, a rub on gold medium and lumiere paint.
Next was lunch!
We then moved onto what was to be the main focus of the workshop which was a Celtic tree piece.First we ironed on the leaf motif down the side then discharged the leaves and either painted or used markals to further inhance these.Using a freezer paper pattern we machined round the tree and then machine quilted the background to give texture which would later be either discharged painted or decorated in any of the ways that we had been shown.
At intervals Nickie stopped us to show more techniques ideas and wrinkles.
At this point I feel I should mention something that I feel will become a feature of School House Arts workshops
THE LEMON TIMER
Maybe I should explain.As this was the first workshop Nickie and Sharne had a run through and noted the time that things should take.Nickie had then written herself a timed running order and the timer was set accordingly.Needless to say we did't always keep exactly to time but it caused much mirth and various offers of what we could do with this timer.
Everybody was really pleased with the results of their day and I know many of the students were stretched to attempt new things.
A great day and a great start of School House Arts

Muffins

As usual lots of talk of food on the UK thread especially cake. Now I am not much of a cake maker but I do a mean muffin.So at the request of lostintheforest here is my recipe for Orange muffins
10 oz plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
1/2 tsp salt
4oz granulated sugar
1 egg
3 tsps finely grated orange rind
(of 2 large oranges be careful not to include any pith)
Juice of both oranges first set aside enough for glaze add water to remainder to make up to 8fl oz
3fl oz corn oil

Glaze
3 oz icing sugar
3-4 tsps orange juice
1/2 tsp grated rind
Prepare muffin tins (makes 10 muffins)
Heat oven to 375- 400f 190-200c Gas mark 5-6
Sift together flour,baking powder,bicarb,salt and sugar.
In a separate bowl beat the egg and add grated rind, juice(plus water) and oil
Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.Batter will be lumpy
Spoon into tins and bake 20-25 mins until lightly brown and spring back when pressed

Combine glaze ingredients and spread over warm muffins

Cap'n Ronnie's Cake

Cap'n Ronnie's Cake
Originally uploaded by debsmuddle

In a moment of lightheadedness I volunteered to make a birthday cake for my cousin's 2 year old son.Party theme was to be pirates and I found a recipe in an Australian Womens Weekly book of childrens party cakes.
First hurdle was the baking.Had to buy a new tin ,fine,found one at the right price in TKMax.Now I am not a great baker so I was a little nervous but that all went well.Trimmed it up and decorated, brilliant,really pleased.
Now all I had to do was to get it from my house to their's.A drive of some 20 mins usually.I decided the safest place for it to travel was in the well of the front passenger seat so I wedged it in and set off.
By now I am shaking.
All I can say is it did wonders for my driving.I have never driven so smoothly before.Braking was done very carefully and in plenty of time.Corners were taken at the correct speed.
Happily it arrived in one piece,a little warm and melting slightly round the edges but fine.

Hair Bobble by Guerilla embroidery

Hair Bobble by Guerilla embroidery
Originally uploaded by debsmuddle

I can't say enough about this ladys work I just love it. This is the first piece that I have bought and it will not be the last.

Friday 4th April

Real meh day today haven't got anything done.Oh did list another couple of things in shop.
I hate it when I have days like this.It's like I am mega lazy but I don't think I am really I just can't get going.Quietish day on chat as well.
Son got home from working at Dover,had a shower and went out leaving the place smelling like a tarts boudoir bless him

Thursday 3rd April

Just about recovered from my tooth extraction and enjoying the holiday and the lovely weather.
When I have done this I am going to go and pot up some plants to make the front of the house look a bit more attractive.Have completed a few more brooches for my etsy shop.Just have to list them.Also trying to write up instructions for making some brooches that I am hoping to teach.

Doesn't feel much like I am unemployed at the moment as the schools are on holiday anyway.

Tuesday 1st April

Not a good day.Was hoping to get lots done.Ha! some hope.Started the day with a trip to the dentist.Haven't had a dentist for about 3 years since we moved.But I had been having a few twinges so thought it was time to try and find a new NHS dentist.This proved easier than I thought it would be.Hubby went last week and was very impressed.I went today all was going swimmingly only took me about 10 minutes to get there ,managed to get parked OK and didn't have to wait hours to see the dentist.Did some X rays and decided that one of my wisdom teeth needed to come out.Time to do it know he asked his nurse.Yes she says.
Well this tooth was a little reluctant to leave me.Not quite the knee on the chest but nearly.Since the numbness has worn off I have been suffering all day .Feeling really sorry for myself.
Lets hope for a better day tomorrow.

Sunday 23rd March Snow and Amigurumi

Woke up this morning to a light scattering of snow.It carried on snowing for a while, heavily at times.By the evening it was all gone. We did go out for a short drive round the countryside as it all looked so pretty.
I finished my first attempt at Amigurumi today.A little cat. I think that the head is too big and it is all a bit wonky.I also did not have the correct eyes but couldn't wait until I could get to the shops.
On the whole, for a first attempt,I am quite pleased