Blogtober 18th

And now I've got the cold.

I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself right now.

Snow is forecast, hopefully a bit further north than Alyth but it's mighty cold out there tonight.

I've got a red runny nose and I'm going to bed.

Click over to the left on the Blogtoberfest badge and see what is happening elsewhere and I'll do my best to be back with something interesting tomorrow.

x

Blogtober 17th

So much for blogging everyday for a month. I've just gone and missed a whole weekend.

Do I need a note for the teacher or can I just tell you what I got up to?

Well... it was a birthday weekend for my daughter and since she is on school holidays we thought it would be a good idea to make a bit of a holiday out of it.

We flew from Edinburgh at tea time on Friday and headed to London.

We actually stayed in Colchester in Essex which turned out to be a really good idea as we had brilliant weather over the weekend and it was nice not to be in the city the whole time.

On Saturday we went in to the city with enough time for lunch and a bit of shopping before the main event.

We spent ages in Forbidden Planet as my daughter loves Manga, and Myths and Science Fiction.

She was in her element.

Surprisingly, even I found something which I just had to have.....

There are some truly gruesome crochet patterns in here.

I don't know why I would want to crochet a cannibalistic cockerel but you never know.

Then it was off to Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket for the matinee performance of Phantom of the Opera. Awesome, is such an overused word these days, but really it was.

On Sunday we made the most of the fine weather and headed down the coast to Clacton.

I love traditional English seaside towns and Clacton has everything you would expect.

Ice cream on the promenade and frothy coffee and a fortune teller on the pier.

While we enjoyed our frothy coffees Rhona tried to beat the 'claw'.

Despite her disappointment, I was really rather pleased that she didn't manage to hook a giant fluffy bear.

After all, we did fly Easy Jet and there was no way I wanted to pay excess baggage allowance on a giant stuffed toy.

So ... that's my excuse for missing two blogs.

x

Blogtober 14th

All done.

It's my baby's 15th birthday today and I'm closing up at lunchtime.

Why be your own boss if you can't take an afternoon off from time to time ?

Blogtober 13th

My Creative Space this week comes courtesy of MY BIG MOUTH.

The one that opens at all the wrong times and lands me with projects that I wish I could say no to.

So there I was showing  some friends what I did with a 20 inch zip and a piece of ribbon ....

And now I'm trying to do it again, while taking step by step photos

Our Rural has been invited to entertain another Rural in November and despite telling everyone that I'm really not that entertaining I have have been volunteered to demonstrate.

Not quite a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Just a little coin purse purse from a zip and a ribbon.

You will find a link to the original tutorial for this purse on fruitfulfulfushion

Blogtober 12th

Sometimes you see something and you just know the answer is NO.

However, if anyone thinks differently and wants a cute little crocheted bikini you know where to come.

Fiona x

Blogtober 11th

I finished work today to a house full of teenage girls.

To be honest, there were only three of them and one of them is mine. 

Still, it was really rather nice to go off and leave them to it.

Tuesday night is yoga night and it was definately a lot quieter in my yoga class than it was in my house.

I'm all relaxed, stretched and bendy now and looking forward to a really good sleep.

Blogtober 10th

 When I was about 12 or 13 years old my dad bought my mum a ring.

And since I was about 12 or 13 I asked to try it on. I was a skinny wee thing and although mum was very petite her ring was just too big for me. Over the years I repeated the question and waited and waited till it fitted me. The question then changed from "Can I try it ?" to  "Can I borrow it ?"  The answer to that one was always no. Over the years it became a bit of a family joke. Me asking to borrow the ring and mum saying I'd have to wait till she died then I could have it. That doesn't sound very funny but that's just the way it was.

When mum died in 2003 she was just 67 and I was 40. Far too soon and I wasn't ready to be without my mum. I don't suppose we ever are. Despite everything, my dad remembered about the ring and gave it to me just before the funeral. I spent ages just looking at my hand and realised something that I had never seen before. All my life people told me I was the image of my mum. I could never see the resemblance, but what I did see for the first time was that I have my mum's hands. Maybe I only saw it because I was looking for something but even now I sometimes look at my hands and it makes me smile.

She taught me to sew, to knit, to embroider. She taught me to write my name.

It seems fitting that I have her hands.

 I also have my grampa's legs (they don't meet in the middle) but we don't talk about that.

Blogtober 9th

Today I did something I don't do very often.

In fact today I did something that I hardly ever do.

Okay.... today I did something which I only ever do when I have exhausted every other possibility.

I read the instructions.

I tried being clever yesterday and it didn't work.

I thought I was being really clever posting a sweet little video on my blog but when I went back to view it, it wouldn't play. Hilary at quilary was left in suspense and and I do hate to leave anyone in suspense.

Hopefully, I've edited yesterday's post so that it actually works now. 

And maybe I should read the instructions a bit more often.

Blogtober 8th

Lets just see if I have learnt how to copy and paste.

Or maybe it's share.

I hope I have because it's Saturday, everyone is home and it's really rather nice.

Blgtober 7th

I've been doing manly work today.

Not a single crochet hook in sight.

And just a sneaky peek at what I was making.

I think it's going to lovely once it's all clean and polished.

Pop back later and see for yourself.

Blogtober 6th

I never really understood the concept of fingerless gloves.

Surely if it's cold enough for half a glove then it's cold enough for a whole glove.

I even found a pattern for wrist warmers. Why would you want to warm your wrists and leave your hands out in the cold ?

These impossible questions were answered for me this week by a child minder from Meigle. I now know that fingerless gloves are really handy when pushing baby buggies and tending to the babies in the buggies. Childminders and young mums alike enjoy the benefit of keeping the chill off the the top of their hands while maintaining freedom of movement in their fingers. 

And  ..... on particularly cold mornings wrist warmers are great for stopping the cold wind blowing up the sleeves of your jacket when pushing the buggies.

 And so, armed with this new information, I have been trying out some fingerless glove patterns today.

This is my favourite one so far. Ably modelled by my youngest daughter, who tells me that fingerless gloves are pretty cool even when you don't have a buggy to push.

Time now to visit ourcreativespaces and see what everyone else has been doing today.

Fiona x

Blogtober 5th

We're busy doing nothing

Working the whole day through

Trying to find lots of things not to do

It's been a nothing doing but doing lots of it kind of day.

We take turns in our house for early morning dog walks and today it was my turn. I'm not really a morning person and don't normally function until at least the second cup of tea. But today was an up and at it kind of day and I've been chasing my tail to catch up ever since. Had a busy day of making in the shop then had a visit from a neighbour who stayed for a long long chat. It was lovely but then I was rushing to finish a hat before rushing off to collect my youngest from dance after school. Quickly rushed dinner then off to a meeting tonight.

It feels as if I haven't achieved very much but I've certainly been busy.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a lot more productive.

Blogtober 4th

Someone, suggested  revealing stuff  that other readers might not know about you as a way of filling the time during Blogtober.

That might be a good idea if I was more interesting....

Does anyone really want to know that I used to play in a brass band ?

I do like a good book though so here are the last three books that I read.

This is what I'm reading in bed.

This what I'm reading after work and before bed.

And this is my all time favourite book.

So how is that for revealing something new about myself ?

Oh yes, I like to read and I like my bed.

Fiona x

Blogtober 3rd

It's not all fun and games when you have your own business.

On the one hand it's a new month, a new season with so many new ideas of what to make and do.

On the other hand it's the end of the month with sums to do and totals to check. Cheques to be written and sent out to my suppliers, and cross eyes and upside down photos.

I don't know what I did there.

 It was the right way up on the camera then the wrong way up on the computer. But it does reflect my mood at the moment. Oh well, at least I have a whole month before I have to do that again.

Blogtober 2nd

The other day I came across a post where someone had pledged to buy nothing new for the month of October. It was the same day I came across the link for Blogtoberfest. Now blogging every day for a month might be a bit of a challenge but I believe it is possible. Buying nothing new for a month is just not going to happen.

( well I really needed a good winter coat and when the perfect coat presents itself... what's a girl to do?)

This afternoon we went for a drive up to Abernyte to the Scottish Antiques and Craft Centre. Pretty safe really since antiques aren't new are they ?  I could easily have bought lots of old stuff to counterbalance the new coat but it was more of a browsing visit today.

I probably spent more time than was really necessary scanning all the old cutlery on display. This is just one of perhaps a dozen similar displays. Sadly I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

I saw some really quirky bangles made from old forks in Covent Garden a few years ago and have been wanting to create my own version with tea spoons for a long time.

This was my last attempt and it's not too bad but not quite right. I bought silver spoons, though they weren't actually silver which was pretty annoying. (and possible a breach in trading standards since they were marked as silver) I cut the fancy handles off and soldered two teaspoons together. It was all going really well until I got to the cleaning and polishing part of the task and discovered the silver plating disappearing. 

Still with all those cabinets of old cutlery I'm sure to find the right spoons one of these days. So the next time I have 10 hours to spare I'm going to pack my lunch box and head back to Abernyte.

Fiona x

Blogtoberfest

Well that's it. I have been and gone and done it.

I have just signed up for this year's Blogtoberfest. The challenge is on to blog every day for the month of October. Will I do it ? Will I find new blogs through the month ?

Will I run out of things to talk about ?

Only time will tell, and I'm looking forward to the journey.

Fiona x