"If reading be the food of love read on"

Today I must first thank Sandi at http://Holding Patterns.blogspot.com/ for her generous award of " You lift me up". She has been having some painful treatment but still retains an amazing sense of humour throughout. Sandi lives in the USA but spent some time in UK in late 1970s. She is currently writing about her English experiences on her blog. Visit her if you want your day to be brighter as its very funny. So Sandi, sweet peas picked from the garden yesterday. Hope you are feeling brighter today and thanks.

This week has been a week of horrible jobs including wallpaper stripping and uncovering horrors! This is a little part of the dining room. We are still awaiting plumber, to replace radiator, plasterer to make the walls look erm normal, before we can paint. I saw a chandelier Sophie Honeysuckle and thought of you! Now will we or won't we have one??

But now to the reading part. Lots of bloggers have been writing about reading! Angel Jem devoted her blog to the numbers of books she has read. I can't apply the equation, am useless at maths, can I just say a lot for me. Reading has been part of my family for ever. Sarah has so many books she even keeps them in a wardrobe, her clothes..... well she is very untidy! We use our 4th bedroom as a study now and as I write this books are everywhere, yes even in piles on the floor. However I have recently bought 2 lovely books at car boot sales. I am ashamed to say I have never read any Daphne but got this for a bargain £1 so have an autumn read.I also spent another £1 on this old sewing book which hopefully will help me to sew but is also a bit of social history.It has amazing illustrations and was a Christmas gift to Patty in 1945. I wonder what todays girls would make of this for a Christmas gift?

You all know how much I hate ironing and it is now Simon's job. Can't imagine he would want to do it like this though!!

To round off today. Sarah, Sophie and I are having a home made Christmas challenge so sewing is involved. I am patchworking with squares for someone ( not them ) and Dougal decided he would try and help!! Hope everyone is keeping well. I'm off to sunny Spain on Sunday but more about that before I go!!!!

Happier Days

Today we are going to be happy.I got some advice about washing the eiderdown that I bought about 2 years ago. It was always a bit "mucky" and I wasn't sure whether it would wash. Thanks to the advice from jessica daisy I washed it at 30 degrees and tumble dried it and then gave it a very good shake and it looks about 10 shades lighter. Thanks Jess it has a new lease of life. This is its close up and below is the whole thing. This is for all of you that love eiderdowns!!!

Sarah bought the October edition of Country Homes and Interiors and low and behold the dinning table, chairs and dresser that we have ordered are featured on the front cover. Hope they look as good in our room when they arrive. We are off tomorrow to order a new fire for this room. We have seen some cast iron vintage ones which I love but I want to be sure as they are so expensive and don't want to make a mistake.

On a different note I enrolled for a day school course for 10 weeks to do some basic craft things. I am really looking foward to it and all the others there were so enthusiastic I'm sure it will be fun.

Meanwhile I'll leave you with the 2 boys Dougal and Hamish keeping each other company!! Many thanks to all of you for your good wishes following Lucy's death.

Sunshine and sad news

We have been in the country for 2 days getting some fresh air and picking these lovelies. When we returned yesterday it was to find that Lucy had become very unwell again. The daughters had taken her back to the Vet who found her to be very dehydrated. Despite syringing rehydration fluids into her she became very distressed today, with very rapid breathing. Simon and Sarah took her back to the Vet whilst Sophie and I said our goodbyes to her. The Vet said her lungs were full of fluid and on his advice we had her put to sleep. We couldn't let her suffer any more and the vet thought she had a tumour in her abdomen as well as her thyroid problems. We have buried her in one of her favourite spots under a bush, where she used to lie to cool off after her sunbathing sessions.

I know I need to thank some of you for awards but I will do later in the week.

I have been a naughty girl

Today is a very quick post. Jenny has returned to OZ this am. She will be winging her way back right now.The cats were very quick to jump on the bed.

Lucy ( the white and black one ) is the cat who is ill at present. She has an enlarged thryoid gland which is giving her some heart problems. Trying to get tablets down her is a work of art! She knows when you are going for them and hides! She has improved and we all hope this continues. Hamish likes to keep her company. I think he knows she is ill and is watching her.

Now to the Damson gin. I have had some requests for a recipe for this. I'm not good at precise measures. It's mostly done from memory as I have lost the original recipe.

You will need a large glass container ( old fashioned sweet jars are good for this) which has been sterilised. I use the tablets that you can get from chemists to sterilise baby bottles and rinse throughly afterwards. You need one bottle of gin ( can use cheaper brands), to 3 pounds of damsons and 1 kilo of sugar.Wash the fruit and discard any stalks and any not in good condition. Place gin in jar with the sugar and prick the fruit in several places with a fork placing them into the jar. Place lid on and leave in darkish place. Stir gently ( try not to disturb fruit too much )once a week and leave for approximately 3 months. You can then strain it and place gin into bottles of your choice. It makes a nice little Christmas present in a jazzy bottle. You will get approximately twice the original volume. I have a friend who used the damsons to make pies afterwards. She says they were very alcoholic!!!! You can drink as is but can be very strong or have with ice, lemon and tonic water/lemonade.

Now why have I been a naughty girl? We visited Laura Asley on Saturday and they had 20% off the dinning furniture that I really wanted so... a new table. 6 chairs and dresser will be with us in October. New curtains came home with me! The hard work on this room has now started. I am planning before photos as well as after. I may have to go back to work if I carry on buying anything else for this room. But it has not had any sort of face lift ,except a coat of paint for over 20 years.

I have an appointment to see an Orthopaedic surgeon regarding my shoulder next week. For those in UK I got a letter from my GP to say he had refered me one week post X-ray and a reference number and password so I could choose and book my appointment on line, where and when it suited me. How good is that. Well the sun has decided to appear this afternoon but its not very warm. I think I'll make veggie soup tomorrow.

ALL I WANT IS A NEW IRON AND IRONING BOARD..........

Says the birthday boy! There is a long story behind this. It was Si's birthday on Monday of this week. He is the most difficult man to buy a present for. We all pussyfoot round him for weeks before his birthday to see if he drops hints and eventually ask him what he would like. The response this time was the iron and ironing board!!! I ask you .It was said in this pathetic voice !! Now for the story. Si had a small stroke about 4 years ago. He had extremely high blood pressure which he did not know about until after the event. He is a wimp where going to the doctor is concerned and eventually when it was obvious something was not right we got him there. The doctor wanted to admit him to hospital but he refused. We had a difficult time with him for several weeks because he could not believe it had happened and it took some time for the treatment for his blood pressure to work. He was off sick for about 12 months and had to have a staged return to work. He is very well now with a completely normal blood pressure. However whilst he was off work and begining to recover he began to get very bored. I was working fulltime in quite a stressful job and suggested he started to do things around the house to help. This man can take cars apart and fix them, can do mental arithmetic but the washing machine leaves him scratching his head. So he decided he would start ironing and he has taken this over now. I no longer do any ironing he's the main man!!!! The iron and board are very old and falling apart at the edges A bit like myself. There is no way I'm going to buy anyone those for a birthday, especially when each one should be treated as special when his blood pressure could have killed him at the age of 54.

So we scratched our heads and came up with the idea of a picnic basket as he loves picnics and than the Fortnam and Mason picnic hamper grew from there. We all contributed and ordered it on line. Below is said hamper with goodies.

As some of my family were around we invited them and some friends for a barby on Sunday (had to be Sunday as Mike(son) who is a staff nurse on a childrens intensive care unit) was working on Monday. My sisters kids and their children were able to come and they all bought him a red Ferrari. Now the picnic hamper can't go in the Ferrari Oh no the opposite way round.

We all had a good time and it's lovely to see the children as they are all spread out around the country so don't see enough of them.

The garden is looking a bit sad. The weather has been very strange. This morning started very grey and now the sun is shining. The everlasting sweetpeas are just coming into flower.

Berries are abounding here.

Look what we have been making Damson gin . Should be ready for Christmas

Now the last photo are my runner beans Yes they were runner beans until Mr and Mrs Slug and their family moved in Gone in one day now we have Mr and Mrs Snail attacking anythings else they can find.Oh well thats life.

Tagged for name game

OK its happened again. This time the name game. I have to use the letters of my middle name to describe things that are relevant in my life. Well I have a long middle name with a Z in it so this going to be hard. OK here we go

E.. eyesight I do not know how I would cope without it.
L.. love from my family, friends and the cats.
I.. imagination running wild of how my dinning room will look after its makeover.
Z.. Zebras are very cute are they relevant in my life ? Well erm can you think of a Z??
A.. alcohol couldn't do without my odd glass of red wine & G&T
B.. beans cold baked beans on toast with marmite (or vegemite)
E.. England I love many other countries in the world but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else
T.. thrifting. I know its an American term but I can borrow it can't I.
H.. husband of 32 years I am going to blog about his birthday tomorrow.

So there you go Elizabeth I was going to cheat and say I spelt it with an S but I didn't. So now I have to find 9 others to get with this. So Sarah, Sue, Sophie,Hayley and Fred, Alison, Jo,Jenny and Kara its your turn to hurt your brains now.
It's called the name game, and here are the rules for those that choose to follow them: Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Well I'm off to the Vet with Lucy now I've had fun doing this.

A WEEK THAT HAS GONE TOO QUICKLY

This week has rushed past me in a flash. Its sort of been one of those weeks. The weather has improved and I just had to get bedding on the washing line to take advantage of the sun and breeze. First I want to thank all of you for your best wishes regarding the shoulder. The pain is less acute but the X-ray shows an area of calcification right on the joint which will need "nibbling off" to help me regain movement with no pain. At present I have only about 40% movement. The physiotherapist cannot give me any exercises to do as this would make the pain worse. But I do feel better knowing that it is a fairly simple procedure to fix it and shouldn't have to wait too long. So to all of you here are the thank you flowers. Best buy from M&S at £2.99!!

Now Sophie Honeysuckle has been asking for bed photos. So I got the camera out, put some new batteries in,looked at what was there and decided I had some old holiday pics that I would show as well as taking new bed photos. These below were taken when in Italy last September for my nephews' wedding. He married a delightful Italian girl. The wedding was wonderful and we had 2 weeks enjoying a very hot holiday.These 3 are of Lake Garda. There was quite a heat haze so difficult to get great pictures.

Sarah's head in some photos.It was a family affair as all 5 of us went.

This next photo is the view from the wedding reception venue overlooking Lake Varese.

When I was still able to knit I used up the left over wool to make a pair of booties for my greatnephew who is now 4 months old!! We are seeing him and quite a lot of family on Sunday as it is big Sis birthday and we hoping to barbeque!!! Now it will definately rain.

Finally to the bed pics. Many years ago when visiting my parents-in law we used to drive through a place called Chirk on the Welsh borders. We saw signs for a place called Seventh Heaven and stopped for a look one day. If you are ever in the area stop. It has grown since then but they have the most beautiful antique beds, gorgeous linen and duvets, eiderdowns etc. Look on line at www.seventh-heaven.co.uk/ I coveted one of their beds for years. We saved and eventually bought ours about six years ago. It is late Victorian (circa1890) and is cast iron with brass bed rails. When we went to get it I was like a child in a sweet shop Took me ages to decide which one to get. The people who own these delights are delightful and the service is fantastic. Here is the top view.

And the bottom ( so to speak) with our vintage patchwork quilt folded up Too hot to use in the summer.

And to Hammish's foot stool! He is our old cat who is a bit arthritic and the bed is high so he gets on the linen chest and pokes his head through the bars waiting to be invited onto the bed. I must get a photo of that one day!!

Well this has been a massive post so I must be finished now. I have one more photo of sunset taken in France when we were there in June. Happy and healthy weekend to all.