Frozen Fingers

I've just finished vacuum sealing the leftover vegetables. I freeze them in portion sizes then, once they are frozen, I decant them into vacuum bags and seal them.  I find this a little easier than trying to vaccum seal them unfrozen., because I can get them a uniform size and thickness this way (and they don't accidentally warp when in the freezer).   The down side is that I then have a mountain of tubs to wash, and very frozen fingers. 

DH is taking the last of the goose off the carcass today, and we'll be having Goose Rogan Josh for dinner.  I'm going to make some stock with the goose bones - although I'm not quite sure what I'll use it in.  Maybe I'll freeze a bit of leftover goose as well, and then I can use both for a Goose Risotto.   We'll see how much we have.

I made a very acceptable Disaronno Sour last night.  I'd bought some pasteurised egg whites (Two Chicks) specifically for making sours. We're buying eggs at the moment,  so I don't really want to use them for making cocktails.     The first Disaronno Sour I made, on Christmas Eve, was OK but not great.  Thinking it was quite a sweet alcohol, I missed out the sugar syrup - and that was a mistake.

Yesterday's was very acceptable.  I dipped the rim of the glass in almond syrup and then crushed almonds, and that worked well.  Not as well as the maraschino that I'd had when we had dinner out last month, but quite well.

I shall be making it again. Probably this evening.

Not sure it goes with curry, but I don't really care.

The smell of Christmas

The house smells lovely.

I do a lot of the prep for Christmas Day's meal on Christmas Eve, and this year was no exception.

Swede and carrot - steamed and pureed.  Plenty for tomorrows dinner put into a tub, and the rest portioned out to freeze.   Prunes in armagnac braised and now in the fridge.  Light goose gravy made (using the neck, giblets and vegetables), and in the fridge.   Goose liver Pate for tonight's dinner made (by DH) and setting in the fridge.

Best of all - always best of all -  I've made tomorrow's red cabbage.  That really is a Christmassy smell. The apples, the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg... mmmmmmmmmmmm

It's  cooling at the moment, then that too will have some put in a tub for the next few days worth of mealss, and the rest will be portioned and frozen.  I make a huge amount, so the "leftovers" (except it isn't really leftovers) will last me for months to come.

Eating rubbish

Up until about a month ago (maybe less), I hardly ever touched shop bought cakes and biscuits.  Even sweets and chocolates were a rarity (apart from Christmas).

For the last month I've been eating all sorts of bought sweets, cakes, biscuits, and Pringles.  It's ridiculous, and I'm cross with myself that I am doing it.

Today, my Christmas grocery order arrived.  I've got more biscuits (and little cakes) in this one order than I've consumed in probably 2 years. 

I don't know what I was thinking.

Little things

Not so very long ago, our cat Izzy had become very....unwell.  Something happened which meant that the body of our cat was still with us, but Izzy had vanished.    We weren't initially sure whether she'd hurt herself, or whether she was suffering from a kind of feline dementia, and we were back and forward to the Vet wuite a bit.

We came home from our last Vet appointment knowing the next time would, probably, be the time we took her to be put to sleep.

For the following week, things were very much taken on a day by day basis. We talked about how we would know when the time was right.    If she didn't eat;  if she lost weight;  if she looked in pain; if her fur started to look a it stark.   I was very aware of the "better a week too soon than a day too late" principle, and each evening I was sure it would be her last.


Each morning, she'd wobble downstairs to eat (having wobbled downstairs in the night to get to the litter tray - she won't use the one we set up in the upstairs bathroom for her).   Every couple of days when we weighed her, we were surprised (and relieved) to find she was maintaining her weight.

On the day of her last Vet appointment, we bought her a small heated pad to go under her bed upstairs.  She loved it!   A day later, I bought another one to put downstairs, so it didn't matter where she was, she'd have a warm bed to snuggle in to.

She was moulting like mad.  She's not really been able to groom herself, so the hair wasn't getting groomed out (and swallowed).   The tumbleweed hair balls were everywhere. It didn't matter how often I vacuumed, or how often we brushed her,  they just...bred!

Time marched on.

In the fine weather - when it was cold but sunny - DH carried her in to the garden and set her down on the grass, while he got on with something.  Sometimes she would sit where she'd been put,  sometimes she'd wobble round part of the garden,  sometimes she'd wobble to the door and then sit down in the sunshine.  These excursions really seemed to perk her up.


Sometimes, she'd get on the bed (with more success on some occasions than others) in the middle of the night,  staying between us for a couple of hours.

If DH was working in his study, she wobbles in to see him, and sits on his lap.  She's not been a lap cat before.

In the evening, DH would carry her downstairs and put her on her "downstairs blanky" between us.  Sometimes she'd stay, sometimes she didn't.    When the fire was lit ("orange TV" we call it, because the cats stare at it like kids watching tv), she'd move to sit in front of the fire.

I tried brushing her with dried catni on the brush hairs.   It did the trick, encouraged Wash to Wash her.  He was a bit to energetic though, so I've had to stop doing that,


Recently, she's come downstairs to eat several times during the day.  She's also tried to wash herself a few times.   For the last couple of nights she's gone to the catnip station to have a fix,  something she hasn't done in weeks.

We could see that Izzy was back in her body.  Her body was still frail, but she was in there.

I've realised that, for a week or so now, I haven't started each day wondering if Today will be The Day.

A few days ago I read that Tom Cox's gorgeous Cat, Bear, had finally died.  I cried. A lot. Bear, also known as My Sad Cat,  was 21 years old.  Tom's description of Bear's last few arthritic weeks really resonated with me,  we are going through the same sort of things with Izzy (although she's only 12!).

It  reconfiemd for me that Izzy isn't going to get properly better. 

And we're really lucky that we've got a bit more time with her.

Cards

It's been a Christmassy week.

We don't send many Christmas cards these days and, of course, the number we receive has gone down each year too.  Last year we delayed opening any cards until the Tree was up, which was really lovely. It meant we had a pile to open together, and we could look at each card and hang it up immediately.   We're doing that again this year. 

I started making Christmas cards earlier in the week.I made loads the first day.   The second day I made fewer, but these were more detailed.  I've still got 3 cards to make, and I've lost momentum.

Today was tree delivery day, so all the decorations were brought down from the loft.    The tree arrived safely. DH sawed the bottom off and we gave it a drink, then we stood it in place in the living room.  It's relaxing now before we decorate it  - probably tomorrow.  

We opened the cards this morning, appreciating each one.   I decorated the front door wreath. This year I tried to put a lot more bits in the back layers,  I'm not sure it really made much of a difference.   I've also put up most of the other decorations. I've stopped to look at the carnage and to have a breather before trying to tidy stuff away.

I was super organised last year. Not only did I write on the outside of the boxes what was in each box, I also added other helpful labels.  The swags and mantels had card attached marking the "middle" and "this goes on the left" bits.   I'd packed supplies of new batteries in the lights box.I'd labelled some ribbon to remind yself that "this goes across the RSJ in the kitchen, hang the cards from it". 

Very helpful of me.

I hope I have the patience to do the same this time!

Done. Nearly.

Yesterday DH and OC (Other Chap) refined the Allotmenteer arrangements, and covered the "roof" in tarpaulins.  The netting arrived yesterday afternoon, too late to do anything further.

Today, DH and I went and put the netting over everything, and made some final tweaks.  It took us nearly 3 hours.

It looks good, and the birds don't look too unhappy.  

We'll have to provide lots of fresh green vegetables, as they won't be getting any grass.

Chooks Away!

Garden Girls confined to their run. Luckily for them, their run is spacious, has lots of different levels, and is roofed.

The Allotmenteers presented a bit more of a challenge.  We don't have a 'shed' that they can be confined to, so we've spent the morning rearranging Heras fencing to create a confined space, away from trees.

Hopefully they'll settle down.  And we're fortunate that we'd started the integration of the 2 Littlees.  That seems to be going well,  and one of the Littlees has turned into the spitting image of Roobarb (one of my Garden Girls - hatched from an egg laid on the way  home many years ago - killed by Fox). She is a bit of a stunner, and I'd love to have her in my Garden flock.   Never mind, hopefully she'll provide us with stunning offspring in years to come.

But, I digress. Back to today's immediate problem.   We've ordered netting - hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow, I ordered it last night as soon as the DEFRA announcement hit my news feed and before it started to be generaly reported -  which we will use to put over the top and sides to prevent wild bird access.  

The initial Order is for 30 days. However, in parts of France, birds have been confined since 1st August, so we need to prepare now for a more severe announcement. 

No Mojo Blow

I've mislaid my Mojo.

It was here at the weekend. I rattled through lots of cleaning/decluttering/organising. 

Yesterday I was away for the day, we'd been invited to the "Grandparents Party" at the school of one of the DGC. A talent show put on by his year,  followed by some crisps and cake.  We were so pleased to have been invited.    Dinner afterwards with DD, and a lovely catch-up.

And then this morning - I could not find it.  I've tried, on and off, all day to locate it. Unsuccessfully.

I hope it turns up tomorrow.

*Hangs Head*

In between

Apples juiced and juice pasteurised.

We were so very late picking the apples, the birds had got most of them.  We couldn't get the enthusiasm to make cider this year,   and we had so few apples left we couldn't face dragging the scratter and press out of the loft.

I drank a lot of the juice while I was juicing. So very easy to drink.


Next lot of beer on
DH ran out of beer!   He bought some upgrade to the Grainfather programming, which required him to do a lot of work with the individual recipes.   He made a batch of beer which is currently standing on the kitchen counter fermenting. Brewing. Whatever it is.  He's since bought a little jacket for the Grainfather, which should help it heat more quickly.  As soon as the current batch is done, he'll be making another.


Finger Rolls
Home made hot dogs with home made batch-baked bridge rolls.  Bridge rolls made with egg and milk.  Lovely!   We sliced the remaining batch of buns to make toast for breakfast, it toasts really well.


Mega Bol
I got some a huge quantity of mince out of the freezer on Tuesday to make a mega bolognese on Wednesday to eat on Thursday.     I finally made the bolognese this morning, its simmering in the slow cooker now.

Vet Trips
More trips to see Uncle Tim with Izzy.

Pre-Christmas Clean
Boring domestics.  The house looks like a tip, mostly down to me having iles of sewing related paraphernalia almost everywhere.    I've started in our bedroom, ironically one of the few rooms not to have sewing stuff in it.   It didn't take too long, actually.  It wasn't an "everything out of the cupboards" clean, but it did include taking everything off the top of the wardrobe, everything out from under the bed, everything off the windowsill and bedside cabinets,  and everything moveable out of the room so Ryamondo could vacuum properly.  

I have, finally ,emptied and removed the box of "stuff" that has been temporarily sitting on the floor on my side of the bed since........erm.... Spring I think.   It was mostly "stuff to sell".

There is a small box of "I have no idea what to do with this" stuff, currently sitting on the bed.  The contents will undoubtably increase as I go through more rooms, so  I've decided I'll wait until he end before revisiting it.

I've started on the smallest "bedroom". It's going to be my temporary dumping ground, so I thought I'd clean it first. That way, once I eventually remove the dumping from there, there won't be any unpleasant surprises.  At least, that's the plan.... I guess it depends on how long it takes me to re-empty it.

Strange flavours
I bought some stuff from Approved Food.  They had Raffaello on offer, and I love Raffaello. I love it too much.  I normally only letit in the house at Christmas.  Anyway,  while I was mooching around on the AF website, I popped a few other bits and pieces in my trolley.  A bottle of wine (which was rather pleasant);  some Twix and Maltesers (for Christmas); and some Cucumber and Salad Cream Sandwich crisps.    I couldn't help myself. They were 4 for £1, and I was really intrigued.  Usually, "new" crisp flavours are just rehashes of old ones.  

I ate a bag while I was unpacking the box.  They tasted just like salad cream.  I'd forgotten quite how much I disliked salad cream.   When I was a child, I loved it, I ate loads of it.  At some point in my young adult hood I went off it, probably when I started liking mayonnaise.    The crisps (to me, anyway) really tasted of salad cream (and possibly cucumber, but that might have been wishful thinking on my part).  I kept the other three bags - my mum loves salad cream, so I thought she might like them.

The other day I ate another bag. My dislike of salad cream hadn't diminished,  I suspect it was a bit of the Twiglet effect.   That, and the fact that I was trying not to open a(nother) box of Raffaello. 

Bother. I wish I hadn't thought of either of those things.

I'm going to shut myself away until the calling passes. 

Success! (More or less)

I used the cheap fabric I bought in Ikea to make my next pair of test trousers. "Test trousers"?  Perhaps I should say "my next test pair of trousers"?? 

It all went smoothly.  I've ever worn white trousers in my life,  but over the next couple of days I grew to quite like them, and I was a bit sorry that they were only a test pair.  Because they were a test pair, and because I was in a hurry to get to my destination of having a finished pattern to use,  I didn't bother finishing the raw edges.  If I had done, the "test pair" might have surivived the mauling they got.

They went together well, I even got as far as putting the waistband on.  They looked.... quite good.  Although I couldn't quite work out where my waist was meant to be.  If I let the trousers settle, my waist was fairly low down, and the crotch was far to low.  If I hoiked the trousers up so that the crotch was OK then the waist was far too loose.   I looked at the pattern, saw that we'd marked my knee point (for Yoga Pants), so I measured myself.  The knee position was consistent with the crotch being in the correct place, so it meant that my trousers were a little high waisted. That was OK, let's get the fit right and then I can always lower the waistband - that's the easy bit.   To avoid any further confusion, I biroed a line on my side to show my where the trousers should sit.

I faffed and pinched, and decided I'd increase the width of the darts.  I pulled the waistband off,  did the darts, put the waistband back on,  and checked again.    Better, but still too loose.  I pinched at the back and then managed to  draw, in red pencil, at the back,  two vertical lines.    I slipped the trousers off, and looked - yep,  if I put the lines next to each other, that indicated how much I needed to bring the trousers in.  Tomorrow.

Tomorrow came and I had other things to do.   Thursday came.  I put the trousers back on, and looked at how far down I needed to go with the change, and then I went to my master pattern and marked the proposed change there.   I also adjusted the leg length, and compared the relevant sides of the front and back, making a slight adjustment there to.

At this point  realised that I couldn't really avoid the zip any longer.  I had been tempted to just put on a yoga wasitband or an elastic casing - but that wasn't really the right thing.   I really should do these test trousers properly, and I might as well get on with it.

I looked looked lessons on my Make it Sew sewing series.    I thought I'd have to do an invisible zip, but as I sat through 3 different zip lessons, I discovered that wasn't necessary.  I also watched the waistband lesson, to see how that works with a zip, and found I'd been doing it incorrectly. It didn't matter for the testing, but it did matter for the real thing.

Friday, I decided I'd start sewing straight away.   I ripped off the waistband,  I unpicked the seams, and I cut the fabric to the new pattern.   I also had a go with a zip.  I put it all back together, put the waistband on a bit more correctly.... and they looked really good.  Even the zip - which was a bit wonky and the stitching (which was black thread on white fabric) was all over the place - worked. 

I was so happy!

I cut our the fabric for a "proper" pair, and made them up - including a zip - before the day was out.  I'd pressed open all my seams,  I'd done the zip properly.  I didn't get the waistband done: they are still a little big round the waist - the fabric has a slight stretch - and I'm thinking about trying to use the waistband to deal with the extra (and I will make a pattern adjustment).   I also haven't hemmed them yet,  so that makes 3 items of clothing that I've almost finished but haven't hemmed.

The fabric is a bit of an odd choice - a bit floral.  I suspect that DH,  whose enthusiasn for my achievement was a little restrained, was thinking "Why on EARTH would you make TROUSERS out of  THAT".

 It's a black fine cordurouy with tiny flowers and stars on,  and I'd bought it to make a pretty winter maxi skirt.   I'm not quite sure why the fabric pattern would be fine for a skirt but a bit of an odd choce for trousers.   I do wonder if people will think I'm wearing PJ bottoms.

Ha! Just wait until I've been back to Ikea, THEN he'll  know what floral trousers look like.

Ha Ha Ha . Tuesday Part 2

So, buoyed by the joy of not needing to spend money on a screen repair, Ilspread out my trouser template,  turned my trousers inside out and attempted to compare them.  Becuae they were made up, it wasn't that easy, and I could see that I was going to have to unpick them to get the fabric flat again.  But if I unpicked them,  souldn't be able to put them back on to see what else was wrong.

I realised that I might be able to check some parts (like the side seams and the waist) without unpicking, so I decided to do that first.

When I laid the fabric on the pattern, it was miles out.  WTF?!?    Had I accidentally cut all fronts or something?  No, I hadn't. I was sure of it.  I was reasonably sure of it.

How on earth had I cut it so wrong. 

And then I saw what I had done.

What an unbelievably stupid mistake.

I hadn't put any seam allowance on my master pattern.

If you don't sew, then you probably don't really understand what sort of stupid this stupid is.

It's like....making a cheese sauce and forgetting the cheese.  It's like pouring a pint into a half pint glass.  It's like wondering why your DVD isn't playing, when it turns out you've been pressing the buttons on the wrong remote control.

What a dopey dopey dopey thing to do. 

What a waste of fabric.

But at least it explains it.

I'm going to add my seam allowances now, and then try again.

I bet you can't wait to see how this turns out!

Ha Ha ha. Tuesday P1.

I got up on Tuesday, and my knee looked better.  The ice packs had really helped.

Determined to make some progress, I cleared the table and got the pattern templates out.

I saw my tablet, and checked it.  The crack had spread. It had been a small crack last night. This moening  I googled to see if repairs were possible and was heartened to see that there were DIY kits.   I also messaged our local techy place who came back with some info and a price indication. 

I looked at the screen again and saw that I had obviously put on a tempered glass protector. Was that holding the screen together?

"I wonder...?"

I lifted the edge of the protector slighly, a teeny bit, just to see.  To my delight, it looked like the screen underneath the protector might, just might, be OK.   I carefully took the protector off a bit more, a bit more, a bit more.  Eventually it was off completely. The screen looked....OK!

How lucky was that!?!

I ordered a new one immediately.

And then I got back to my trousers.

Ha Ha Ha. Part 3.

Sensible side of brain "Go and Get it".  Other side of brain : "It's not raining. Leave it"

Sensible won.

I walked around DH's car in the dark. No parcel.    Had it been stolen?? 

An irritated short sigh escaped from my nose.  I limped in to the house and retrieved a torch.  I looked round the car again. No parcel.  "In front of Car".  I tried opening the car door. Locked.   Maybe it was under the car?  I couldn't see.  I looked at the ground.  My knee said "please don't".  I tried to get down on the other  knee, but that didn't work.  I held my breath and lowered myself on to my bashed knee.

No parcel.

I checked the card again. " "In front of Car".   I checked agains the fence and the gate in front of the car.  I olooked in the bushes in front of the car.

By now, I didn't care what the parcel was.  I'd sort it out tomorrow.

I looked around the rest of the garden.

And then I saw it.   It wasn't "in front of the car" at all.    Well, it was  in front of the car in the sense that it wasn't behind the car,  nor was it by the side of  the car.  Technically, I suppose, that meant it was  in front of the car.  Except it was no where near the car.  Or the front of the car.

"Next to the bin" would have been a slightly more accurate and helpful description.

Ha ha ha. Part 2

Monday continued being very Monday-ish, and I won't bore you with the minutaie of the rest of the day.

I checked my fabric stash for suitable test-pant fabric.  None.  I looked online to see the price of cotton drill and the best places to buy it.   I'd have to go out on Tuesday and get some, after I'd Cleared The Table.


Last night, DH was going out, and I was dropping him off. As I was out, I decided to go to Ikea.  I had some bits and pieces to get and if I went now it would save me psyching myself up for a trip later.  I got there at about 8pm.   I managed to park OK, so far so good.  I started to walk from the car park  to the store, and decided to check the locations of the items on my list on the Ikea Store app, to see if I needed to go round the store of whether I could just nip straight to the Market HallWarehousey bit.  Such a great App!

WHALLOP!!



I was splayed on the floor and heard my tablet skittering over the roadway.


I'd not noticed the hunking great kerb around a parking bay.

Full of embarrassement, I jumped up, and retrieved the tablet, stuffing it into my handbag.

A man a few feet away shouted "Are you alright?"  I looked up and saw several groups of people had stopped their car stuffing to look.      "Yes, thanks", I said.  Then I added in a loud voice, aerticulating what I suspect they were thinking "It's my own stupid fault for looking at my tablet instead of  watching where I was going".I rolled my eyes and smiled.

 I turned round.  Ow, ow, ow, ow.  Effing OW!  My knee hurt. I paused. God, this was so embarrassing. Breathe. Walk, just walk away.     Someonw on the side I had turned round to said  "Are you OK?"  I smiled again, rolled my eyes at my stupidity. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking. I should have watched where I was going".  (Ow, ow, ow, I think I'm going to cry.  How pathetic am I?)

An Ikea staff member came running up "Are you sure  you're OK?" he asked.  "Yes, I'm fine, thank you..  I'm just really embarrassed".  I walked purposely off, gritting my teeth and trying not to limp.

I was genuinely touched by everyone's concern,  but I was really embarrassed.  I wasn't embarrassed about tripping,  I was embarrassed that I had tripped because I was looking at my tablet instead of where I was going.    I was embarrassed because what I was really thinking to myself was "It serves you  right!"

I reached the sshop doorway, took a deep brath and walked through.  Up the escalator (OW, ow, ow, it hurts when I stand still, OW), I need to see what I've done.     At the top, I saw a store map, so I stopped by it and, while pretending to study it,  I stood and did some flexes to see what I'd done.   "Go to the toilet and take a proper look" said one side of my brain; "If you do that, you'll cry", said the other.    I stood there, bent diwn slowly to "pull my sock up" and looked at the blood on the knee of my jeans.  "Good job you were wearing jeans" I thought.

I decided I hadn't broken anything, I'd just whallopped and grazed my knee/  My My palm was slightly grazed, but the knee had taken almost all of the impact. I was very lucky really.  Good job I hadn't damaged the tablet!   Had I?

I got it out and tilted it in the light.  A telltale crack.   Fudge. Fudge. Fudge.  Nothing I could do about it now, I'd see what could be done when I got home.  I was here now, I might as well get on with what I came for.

I got round the ship as fast as my limp would let me.  The pain will go, I've only fallen over. Think about something else.

I didn't look at anything apart from the bits I had on my list.

Except when I got to the textiles.   I went in to buy a Vinter 14 panel. It's a fabric panel with a very realistic Christmas Tree on, that you can decorate.  It's really effective.   I bought 2.   When I was looking for it,  I saw that they had some thick fabric - possibly suitable for test trousers - at £4/metre.  It would save me a trip out tomorrow and I'd be able to get going on my test-trousers first thing.

There were lots of different options, some of them really colourful. I dithered.  I dithered. I dithered.  The sensible half of my brain was screaming "For f's sake!  Just pick any!!! You're not going to wear the damn things".       The other side said "Yes, you're right. Let's take this.......oooh, look at this one. Or that one.  No this one.  Oooh, look at this, it's so purdy (=pretty)"

The store announced that they were closing shortly.  I still had wardrobe lighting to get.   My sensible side shouted "just pick ANYTHING!!!!!!!!  We'll come back another time to get the pretty stuff!!!!!!!".  I grabbed a plain light coloured fabric,  measured out 5 metres (I'm expecting to have to make a couple more test pairs), got it bagged and weighed,  and I was done.on.

The rest of the store trip was uneventful.  I got home at about 9.30pm.  I was desperate for a drink of water and some painkillers. I wanted to get some ice packs in t the freezer so I could ice my knee.

I remembered to turn off the alarm.   I got inside the door and saw a "we tried to deliver" card.  It was too late to pop next door to collect it, but I checked which side they'd given it to.  They hadn't.  It said my parcel had been left "in front of car"......

Ha ha ha. Part 1.

I spent some time with the wonderful Judith from Surefit Designs UK adapting my trouser ("pants") master pattern. I promised that I would make a test pair ASAP to test the alterations we had made.

It's a good job Judith made me promise, as all my good intentions would (probably) have dissolved.   I decided that I'd cut the fabric out on Sunday and have a go at sewing on Monday.   I decided to take a bit of a short cut on Sunday and, instead of tracing off a copy of the master pattern, I simply used waxed carbon paper and traced directly on to the fabric. The were test trousers, not to be worn, so it didn't really matter.

It worked like a charm.  I also carefully wrote "WSB" and "WSF" ("wrong side back" and "wrong side front") on the pieces, in several places.  In addition - not one to do things by halves - I  chalked "F" and "B" in big letters on all sides.  In several places. It would be vsible everywhere, making it much easier for me to ensure I'd sewn up correctly.

So far, so very good.

On Monday,  I sewed them up. Great practice in remembering the order of construction for trousers, and they didn't seem so scary.   My seams were really good - I did the in a contrasting thread so I could see them easily, Because they were test trousers, I used a looong stitch so they were really quick.  I realised I had forgotten to do my darts,  so I pinned those.

It took hardly any gtime at all.  I couldn't wait to get them on.

I couldn't get them on. In my excitement, I'd sewn all the seams. Silly me.  I unpicked the back seam, and I trued again.


They didn't fit.

They were shaped OK,  They were a bit narrower than I expected, but of course they would be - 5/8th seams is quite a lot off - 1 and a quarter inches off each sode on each leg. .  But what I couldn't understand was that the fabric didn't meet at the top.

What on earth had happened?

Had I cut them incorrectly?  Had I sewn a front to a front instead of a front to a back?  Were the pattern adaptations correct?

I needed to check the trousers angainst my adapted template (to see if I'd cut them incorrectly),  and then the template against the original template  to see if the adaptations were correct.

In the time since I'd cut the fabric and sewn the pieces, the "cutting table" (aka the kitchen table)  had become piled high with stuff.  It wasn't going to be a quick clear, either (although I briefly imagined just sweeping everything on to the floor).

I decided I'd do it tomorrow (today).

I had other stuff to do in the meantime.

My day didn't get any better.

Procrastinating

I made a List this morning,  writing down a list of what I need to do.   I used to use lists all the time and had a rule that made me do things then and there if it was more time-effective than writing it down.  I used to get a humungous amount of thigns done, and I could carry my list in my head.

Not now.  I don't know if my memory really is getting as bad as I think, or whether I just CBA (can't be bothered) to do some things and conveniently forget them. 

Anyway, the written list helped.   I did find myself doing some things which weren't "on the List".  What made me laugh at myself is that I then added them to "the List", and then crossing them off.

I'm definitely procrastinating,  I'm doing it right now by writing this blog (which activity wasn't on The List) because I don't really want to do the next thing.

On the plus side, I've followed up with my Aunt about her energy tariff, and I've been in touch with another Uncle to see if he would like help reviewing his tariff.  He didn't, thank you for asking though. (A bit of a result really, from a List point of view),  AND I was able to help him with a cooking question.

I used to have a rule about procrastinating when it came to things I didn't really want to do.  The rule was that I considered whether the thing really  needed doing or not.  If it didn't, well, just don't do it and stop wasting effort avoiding it.  And if it did,  well, just get on with it. 

Doing something is a lot less hassle than avoiding doing it.

I know I'm right, so I'm going to go and do it.  Or at least make a start on it.  After I've taken the chickens some fresh water.  

No. Really. I AM going to do it.  I AM. 

FuddyDuddy

I'm turning into a fuddy duddy.

I had a day out doing some sewing-related learning.  Yes, it was a slight drive (about an hour and a quarter each way),  and yes, I did have to concentrate, but even so...

I phoned DH just before I left to come home so he could order a takeaway (deliverto might be more of an accurate description) to coincide pretty much with my scheduled arrival.   Two delivertos in two weeks, not exactly somethign to be proud of.

Ate food, watched one thing on TV, dozed off.  Woke up an hour and a half later, got up and went to bed.  I was just dozing off when the raido came on, signalling it was 10pm.

What a racy life, eh?

Bonzos

Bonzo Dog DooDah Band at the London Palladium yesterday.

We last saw them in 2006  at the Shepherd's Bush empire.    That night they had Phil Jupitus (and Ade Edmonson, I think) taking Viv Stanshall's role.   Because of the nature of the venue, we couldn't really see that much, but the sound was perfect/

We went to see "three Bonzos and a piano" at an arts venue in Windsor, Berkshire, 4? years ago, and that was great.

The show at the Palladium was fab.  Most (but not all) our favourites were played.   The audience was appreciative.  A little girl sitting in the row behind was bored bored bored, and kept kicking the back of the seat. It reverberated all down the row to our seats. In the interval, I asked her dad to stop her doing it. He said he hadn't realised.  She still did it in the second half.

The Viv role was taken by a chap I didn't know. I've just Googled, and his name is Michael Livesley - he did a fab job.     We spent a lot of the journey home trying to think of comedians who had a good enough voice to take the Viv role,  and struggled to think of any of the "current crop" (by which I mainly mean people we see on shows like  8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown or Taskmaster. ) who could pull it off.

Before the show we ate at Balls and Company in Greek Street.  They're a "gourmet meat ball" restaurant.  We rarely eat out as a couple these days, so we pushed the boat out a bit. Definitely a success - I didn't find myself thinking"I could have made a better x than that".    I loved their squash Arancini (I love Arancini anyway) so much, that I'm going to make squash risotto (followed by squash Arancini) at home.

Even my cocktail was lovely. I can make a very acceptable Sour myself and, as I drank theirs, I thought,"yep, this is better than mine".    I'm out of practice, and I think I'm going to have to get back in practice.


Everywhere was heaving last night. The trains were packed, the tubes were packed as though it was a weekday rush hour. There had been a problem at LIverpool Street, and I think that caused a bit of a backlog.    Even after the show, there were just so many people trying to get funnelled down into the tube.    We got to Paddington really quickly, and the mainline traine home was also packed, with many people having to stand.  I don't really understand why they didn't have a slightly longer train.

We got home soooooo late.  Or, from another perspective, so early.   We're old fogeys now, so anything after about 10.30 is "late".    Anything that means "in the early hours of the next day" usually only happens on 1st January!

We certainly know how to live!


 

Catchup

It's been a erratic few weeks.

I splashed out on a 3 day sewing retreat. To use a rather hackneyed phrase, it was "well outside my comfort zone", but I really wanted to learn. 

Day 1 was fine. Journey to the retreat was incident free and fast,  easy to understand what was going on, lots of progress.   Day 2 I woke up in my hotel room and I was really really unwell.  The lady running the retreat was really kind, but  DH had to come and collect me in the end.   Day 3, I was still too unwell.  Bit of a shame really.

The illness continued  well into the last week and, even now, I'm not quite  right.   I did have a massage treatment booked, and that really helped.


The lady who ran the Retreat has very kindly offered to spend half a day with me one-to-one so I can catch up on some of the key bits. 

I did a birthday card for our eldest grandson,  and one for DH.  EGS's card was a bit basic, so I haven't taken a picture.    DH's card was a great idea in theory,  didn't come out quite as well as I hoped.... but it made him chuckle. i'll try and take a pic later.

Before I went on the Retreat I did a card for my lovely MIL

I spoke to my lovely MIL on the phone today, twice.  The second time, she couldn't remember if she had hung up the first time or whether the phone had died; she enjoyed the conversation though, both times.   

This afternoon  I  did a card for youngest grandson. It's not his birthday until next week,  but I thought I'd get it done in case DS1 pops over to see his dad.   Unusually, I don't think we'll be able to  get over to them on DGS's actual birthday

Over at the allotment,  we've noticed that the flock is currently split in two coops.   There are quite a few moulting, and they are a bit snippety. 

For the last few days we've been letting the 2 young girls mix with the main flock for a short period of time. This also enables them to learn the layout of the main flock area and, more importantly, find their way "home".   

Ideally with just 2 of them, we'd like to wait until they were a bit more mature (they are 25 weeks) before trying to integrate them; s introducing 2 to a flock of 13 means they are likely to get a it bullied.    However, the cold weather (and the promised bitter winter)  means they could really do with being in the main flock.   Needs must: so, if the weather is dry on Monday, we'll be opening up their fence and leaving it open.  

As well as possible pecking and bullying issues, there is a  risk hat some of the other chooks may take a fancy to the Littlees'  coop and refuse them entry. .  So, of course, we'll go back and check that they are OK and that they manage to get to bed.

 At home the moulting continues,  although now we're on to the new feather shafts phase.   Sasha has finished her regeneration.   Fleur, the hen that was being bullied,  is ahead of the others, but is still being picked on by Sasha.  Even Fay has had the screaming abdabs at Fleur.  

Izzy's health has declined a little, so we're keeping a close eye on her.   We've bought two electric heat pads and have one under a bed upstairs and one under a bed downstairs.   It seemed like a bit of an indulgence, but they've been worth the money.