S'No Balls!

We went to the beach today.

I didn't wear my bikini.  Not today. 

The temperature was -2.5°C.

Yes, that is The Runner.  Today.

Yes, he really is going To Do It!  This is Challenge One of Ten.

Ten years (nearly) since I had my life saving heart operation and it seems that The Runner is quite pleased I am still here!  He is planning on doing ten challenges in the next eight or nine months.

One down, nine to go.

Mad Bugger!

Ripplelicious!

Just about managed to finish this last night!  Happy Christmas Scary.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Look what we had delivered today!

No, not Starfish!  She's been with me for a long time!

We are now the proud owners of an old but trusty piano.  It's for Scary really but she's either with tall boyfriend or my weird God-daughter; sometimes I lose track of where she is!  Thinking about it, I reckon she's with Weird God-Daughter tonight, back tomorrow with the promise of being home Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Things have been a bit hectic of late; just about got my cards in the post yesterday along with my last ebay sale, battling through the snow to the Post Office and waiting 25 minutes to get served; spending ages on the phone trying to get a taxi to take us half a mile down the road so that Starfish can get to the chiropodist to change the dressing on her toe (she had another operation on Friday); trying to finish all the knitting and crochet for Christmas along with all the other paraphernalia associated with Yuletide.

I did manage to make Scary a badge for Christmas though ....

She usually can.  Whether you understand it is another matter!

Merry Midwinter

When the days are the shortest, the nights are the coldest,
The frost is the sharpest, the year is the oldest,
The sun is the weakest, the wind is the hardest,
The snow is the deepest, the skies are the darkest,
Then polish your whiskers and tidy your nest,
And dress in your richest and finest and best ...
For Winter has brought you the worst it can bring,
And now it will give you
The promise of Spring!

from The Secret Staircase by Jill Barklem

Snow

This is the main A road out of Honiton on the way to Axminster at lunchtime.  If you didn't have a 4 x 4 or tractor, you were stuck!  Earlier on you couldn't see the road at all but it was still snowing then so didn't fancy going out!

No work today; thank goodness I didn't have to slip slide down the hill!

How's the snow where you are?

Hic!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I'm now off to watch Strictly!

PS  The cider's ready!

To Do List

I've been a naughty girl.  I've started something new.  And it needs to be done for Christmas! 

Some wrist warmers for Starfish.

The wrist warmers for Scary are half done, ie I've finished one!  (Still got the ends to sew in!)

Shhh, I've also bought some more wool to start something after I've finished the ripple.

Not sure whether it's going to be for Scary or for the living room.

The ripple is coming on and I'm on the 80th stripe; only 10 to go (and about a hundred ends to sew in, yuk!)

I don't know how I managed it, but I've landed myself with mending tall boyfriend's shirt.  It's lined with fleece so not the easiest thing in the world to mend.

And I've also got these trousers to shorten for Scary.  I hate shortening things.  They've been hanging around for a while now so I guess I'd better get on with it.

We've also got another Christmas Fair on Saturday, so a few badges need to be organised.

Good sentiments but I am beginning to panic.

Is what I've been saying until recently, but I do seem to have found a little enthusiasm for the season.

Well, maybe not completely, but I am getting there ....



Wordless Thursday

Tis December

Pinch, punch, first of the month and all that.

Just an update to let you know WE HAVE HOT WATER!!!!!

No heating yet, but hopefully tomorrow ...

Off to wash my face with a Warm Flannel!!  Woo Hoo!

AND have had a Very Tasty Apprentice to look at all day!

Not as gorgeous as Eric,

but very nearly.  Even Scary thought so too!

Freezing

Wow, 30 days in a row!  Not much crafting done this month but I have managed to blog every day.

The Runner has just been up to the attic to get down the Advent Calendar, I've found the chocolates (Thorntons) I bought a month ago to put in each individual pocket and Scary says that she wants to fill it this year.  I still cannot comprehend how it's December tomorrow!

And, wey hey, The Newly Married Boilerman is due tomorrow!!!!  Not sure what time to expect him as we haven't heard anything so I suppose I'd better get up early and tidy the utility room, so that he can actually get in the door!  We probably won't have any heat until Thursday or Friday but at least the process has started.  Even with the open fire in the living room, I don't think I have EVER been so cold.  We have several electric heaters but unless you are actually standing right beside them, they don't seem to make much difference.  And certainly, as soon as you turn them off, you are freezing again.

Poor Starfish has moved into the small office on the put-you-up bed because her room is so cold.  (It's the biggest bedroom at the front and has three outside walls.)

Oh I am so looking forward to being warm.  Having a shower without shivering all the way through.  Washing my hands without them freezing.  Being able to wear less than 6 layers of clothing.  Maybe even having a bit of hanky panky because I can bear to take my clothes off!!!!  Shhh don't tell anyone.

And Having A Bath!!  Do you think I might persuade Eric to share it with me?

I Love Eric

OK, OK, I think I'm obsessed.  A while ago, by mistake really, I found this programme on Channel 4 late at night which caught my fancy.  True Blood.

My girls go all goo-goo eyed about vampires but they've never really tickled my fancy until Eric (and maybe Bill a little bit to start with).

Please don't watch it if you're at all offended by sex, blood, drugs, devil worship, swearing, gay relationships; well, just about anything really.  But it is such a good story.

And Eric is so gorgeous.

I'll grant you he's a bit on the skinny side; nothing a few good pies wouldn't sort out.

I suppose they would have to be blood based.  I could do that.  I can cook.

The books are a rollicking good read too, although not very much like the tv series.

Give it a go, if you're not easily shocked.  I'm sure you'll find someone to fancy on there, even if you don't like My Eric.  No more wishy washy vampires.  These vampires are dark, evil and sexy as hell.

Sorry, it must be my hormones!

Slowly But Surely

The progress is very slow but at least there is progress and I haven't managed to mistakenly unravel it again!

I do hope she likes them!

What's Your Widget?

In East Devon we woke up to a very light smattering of snow this morning but the sky has been very snowy all day and the hills surrounding us are white.  I intended taking some photos but somehow I just couldn't drag myself away from the fire!

I am surrounded by sniffing wimps!  Everyone has a cold (well, man flu in The Runner's case!) except me, so I guess I'll be going out for sudafed and paracetamol tomorrow!

The Runner has a new phone (LG GM360 if that means anything to you).  Now, I may have mentioned before how technologically phobic he is.  So you can imagine all the questions we have had this afternoon whilst he was trying to work out how to use a modern touch screen phone.  'What's a status bar?'  'What are SN updates?'

Scary has helped him as much as she can bear with a teenager's short attention span.  We did both laugh out loud when he said he had an 'idle widget'!

We have put in his old sim card so that he doesn't have to change his number but this means that he cannot access some of his old pictures and files.  The one he is most concerned about, however, is a recording of Terry Wogan reading out his poem on Radio Two before he gave up the Breakfast Show.

You can tell we are a certain age, can't you?

Christmas Fair

Thank you for all the good wishes for the Fair.  It went very well, thank goodness and was certainly worth doing.  We made a reasonable profit, which always makes you feel better, and our stall seemed very busy.

I knew I'd forget something and I did.  I left behind all the signs and price tags!  Duh!  So our stall looks a little bare.

Scary and Starfish helped out as well and a good time was had by all!

Now I'm pooped!  Night night.

One Month To Go

How did we get here so quickly?

The other day I mentioned I was going to try some wrist warmers for Scary from this magazine:

I was doing quite well, then I rushed to answer the phone and realised too late that my foot was wrapped around the wool and some of it had unravelled!

Anyway, here's one motif and the pattern is basically six of these joined together (I think!)

Back to my fire now.  I don't stray very far from this at the moment!

Wish me luck at the Fair tomorrow!

Bah Humbug!

Well, I suppose I'm going to have to think about Christmas soon.  Maybe tomorrow.  I guess it will have to be tomorrow because on Friday The Runner and I are doing a Christmas Fair!  Ooops, better get going then.

I'm feeling very lazy tonight, having spent the whole day trying to gather together every little scrap of money to pay for our new boiler next week!  Finances are so wearing!  I've even been trying to sell a few things on ebay for the first time ever, but perhaps I'm doing it wrong because no-one is bidding!

Anyway, tonight I just thought I would mention a lovely little Christmas project I found on a blog called Crafty Helen @ Home.  I have been trying to post a picture of the really simple but effective Christmas puddings made out of felt but for some reason, it won't, so you'll just have to go and have a look yourself!

Grrrr; what's the matter with Blogger?  It won't link or preview!

Crafty Helen

Hopefully the above link will work!

Humph!  I'm in a huff now!  Going to bed!

See you all tomorrow.  Bah humbug!

'Oh Dear, I seem to have dropped Something on my toe', I said

Work was so busy today, I've been trying to catch up with myself all day.  I had intended taking a picture of the wrist warmers I have started to crochet for Scary but I think that will have to wait until tomorrow.

If you have been reading this blog for a while now, you will know that we have no heating (or hot water) at the moment.  Of course, everybody keeps telling me it is going to snow.  Thanks a bunch.

We have an open fire in the living room but we live in a cold house and it is chilly in here even when the heating works properly, so you can imagine what it's like at the moment (lovely in a hot summer though).  Various electric heaters are spread around the house, so I dread to think what that bill is going to be like!

Whilst I was fetching some logs this evening, I dropped a log on my toe.  Hope my neighbour wasn't the other side of the fence because I might have taught him a few swear words.  My poor toe is so sore but, even worse, it looks perfectly normal!  At least if I am going to go through all this pain, it could at least LOOK as if it's painful!  A bruise or a little swelling would be ok; perhaps even a drop or two of blood.  Nothing.  Humph!

Well, I think I will go and put a few more layers of clothing on and go to bed!  Maybe tomorrow I can take some pictures in the daylight. 

Also tomorrow, I have to get myself organised for the fair on Friday.

If it wasn't for The Last Minute, I would never get anything done!

Overkill

I got a parcel in the post today.  That's funny, I thought, nothing I've ordered is as big as that!

Another photo with one of my magazines to show you the scale.

'Not very heavy' says The Runner.  What have you ordered?  'Nothing that big', says I.

Doesn't look like there's anything inside.

Oh look, it's a poster!  (For Scary, for Christmas)

Fancy putting it in a box that big!!!

Rocky Road Muffins

Do you fancy a rocky road muffin?

Yesterday Scary and I were in a coffee shop and had a rocky road muffin; we weren't too greedy, we did share it!

Well, I must admit I missed the nuts in it.  To me, rocky road has to have some crunch.  They did have some little crunchy balls on top but it wasn't quite enough for me.

So I tried my own today. 

DRY INGREDIENTS:

7 oz plain flour (sorry I don't think in grammes!)

1 oz cocoa powder

3 oz castor sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder
4 oz/100g/one packet of white chocolate chips
big handful brazil nuts, chopped
(I also put a few chopped cherries in, but Scary said they didn't 'go')

WET INGREDIENTS:
1 egg (decent sized one)
2 fl oz oil (I used sunflower)
8 fl oz milk

Prepare wet and dry ingredients separately and mix at the last minute very quickly.  Don't worry too much about getting it smooth, just make sure there are no major lumps of dry ingredients.  Don't overmix and get it into 12 muffin cases as quickly as possible.  Cook for 20 minutes at Gas 6.

I made a small amount of chocolate butter cream icing and dolloped it on top and then scattered with mini marshmallows and drizzled over some melted chocolate.

For the buttercream I used approximately 4 oz milk chocolate melted it in the microwave.  I cut up 1 oz butter into small cubes and mixed into the chocolate whilst still warm.  It didn't melt, just softened and I beat in sifted icing sugar with a wooden spoon until it was the right consistency.  Sometimes a little milk helps it come together.  Sorry I didn't measure any of these ingredients so this is just a guess!!!  (Like most of my cooking!)

Eat up quickly because they are made with oil so won't stay as fresh as cakes made with butter or marg.

See you tomorrow!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like the 'C' Word!

Look what it was doing in Exeter today!

Sorry, no, it's not real!

Looked quite pretty though!

After a little light Christmas shopping (rude boxer shorts for tall boyfriend and running gear for The Runner), it was off to Harry Potter.  The cinema was packed but nobody tall sat in front of us thank goodness.

I can remember struggling to keep up with the plot in the book, and I did find it a bit long (mainly because I got cramp half way through!) but it was very good and it is rather irritating that we now have to wait until next July for the second part!  I think I might need to read the book again in the meantime!

Anyway, better go to my cold bed now.  The Runner is away tonight so will have to go and make a hot water bottle!

Looking forward to Harry

We've had beautiful weather here in Devon today and it was lovely walking through the town, wandering around the shops trying to get some inspiration for Christmas presents.

I'm not feeling at all Christmassy I'm afraid but I guess when we do the Christmas Craft Fair next week, that should wake me up a bit.  I've been making badges this afternoon in a small effort to get ready for next week.

Tomorrow we are going to do a little shopping in Exeter and then we are going to Harry Potter!

See you soon

Crisis Averted

He's back!  Woo hoo!

I stayed up til way past midnight trying to find Mintoe, the hamster, to no avail, but left his cage open on the floor and this morning he had crawled back in and gone to sleep in his bed!  Thank goodness for that.  He seems a bit shaken by his ordeal; a bit jumpy and nervous but generally well.

See you all tomorrow!

AWOL

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS HAMSTER?

Oh no!  Mintoe has escaped!  I know I've talked about Flump, our younger hamster, but I don't think I have mentioned our other elder statesman whom we've had for nearly two years.

Unfortunately last night his cage was fastened but as the catch is not very tight, a peg is needed as well, and Starfish got distracted and didn't put the peg back on after feeding him.

Now, we've had hamsters escape before.  In most cases, I sit up for hours in the night and catch them again.  Unfortunately we never found one, but I must admit I was almost glad about that because I didn't know how I was going to catch her without getting bitten.  Notice the 'her'.  We have a lot more trouble with the ladies I'm afraid.  All the ladies we have had have been quite vicious!  We have had loads of boys and all but one have been really friendly.

Earlier on I thought I'd done him a mischief.  I was in the kitchen and so cold, I thought I would put the oven on.  I've had this habit lately of putting the oven on and leaving the door open a little bit because our house is truly freezing without any proper heating at the moment.  I went to answer the phone (maybe ten or fifteen minutes) and came back to a burning smell.  Oh hell!  I must have left the oven door open and he's crawled in and now I've cooked him!  I was envisaging the conversation with Starfish: "The good news is I've found your hamster ...... the bad news ......"  I opened the oven door and found The Runner had left a croissant in there!!!

So think of me tonight in our cold, cold house, sitting up waiting for the hamster to appear .........



PS Just thought you'd like to know that the cider is bubbling away nicely in the corner of the kitchen, making lovely farting noises every few seconds!

Stressed

Well, I'm feeling a bit of a fraud today as I have really have nothing to say other than all the things that are going wrong at the moment!

I think we've all had times when every electrical/mechanical/inanimate device seems unwilling to co-operate.  I asked the Boiler Man the other day if it was possible to hate inanimate objects.  'Oh Yes', he said with feeling!  OK, so I hate my boiler (defunct), my dishwasher (doesn't wash anything unless you use the dearest tablets), Scary's laptop (won't work tonight), back door (sticks), front door (has gap underneath that lets in the cold), television (picture disappears when you change channels too quickly and you have to turn it off and on again at the wall), digibox on Starfish's tv (missed the last ten minutes of Kirsty tonight because trying to get it to work so she could watch Vampire Diaries)(didn't succeed), my new laptop (cos it's male and can't do two things at once), Jimmy Carr (I know he's not electrical, mechanical or inanimate but the Runner is watching him on tv and he's very distracting; not in a good way), upstairs toilet seat (wobbly and impossible to mend), downstairs toilet seat (one of these soft close things that the lid won't stay up and whacks you on the bum just as you're sitting down), the cash point that told me I'm overdrawn already this month (I mean it's only the 16th, how can I be overdrawn already?), the electric heater in my bedroom that I keep banging my toe on; I'm building up into a rant so I'll stop now!

ALL STRESSED OUT AND NO-ONE TO CHOKE

DESSERTS IS STRESSED BACKWARDS

THERE ARE ONLY TWO TIMES I FEEL STRESSED: DAY AND NIGHT

I TRY TO TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME, BUT SOMETIMES SEVERAL ATTACK ME AT ONCE

Shall I go on?