Bits & Bobs in my week

A sprinkling of bluebells are appearing now.  I remember when I was a child that i used to love walking through the woods where there were so many bluebells that however hard i tried, i could not avoid treading upon them.

Its been a busy week as luckily both OH and i have been working.  After doing our accounts, our income has gone up by £40 a month but unfortunately our essential bills, i.e. rent, council tax & electric have just gone up by £115 a month!  I will have to find other ways to economise somehow but we already live pretty frugally so it won't be easy.  I wasted a whole day worrying myself silly over it and frantically doing figures on paper but it never works out especially when you don't have a regular salary to budget with.  I will aim to get a month ahead on the bills if possible and am using the envelope system to put money aside for these,  keep a well stocked larder and keep making economical meals,  make things for the home and presents, prepare for the winter months by getting in coal and gathering wood and just do the best i can to live as simply as possible.

This week at sewing class i made a make-up bag

I found it very fiddly putting in a zip for the first time

I propped in up against my pepper pot to show you.  Its not perfect but i got there in the end.

After finishing my knitted bird as seen in my last post, i have started knitting a cover for my tablet.

Enjoying doing some simple garter stitch stripes but will have lots of ends to sew in.

We haven't had the warm sunny weather like they have had down south but it was dry and fairly bright yesterday morning so we took a trip over to Lidl to stock up my tins of beans and tomatoes etc. and get some diesel at Tesco garage.  It got quite warm nearer the coast, well 13 degrees anyway and we stopped the car to look at the grey seals lazing on the sandbank as the tide was out.  There must have been about 60 seals there, never seen so many before.  I watched them for a while through OH's binoculars that he keeps in the car. I enjoyed our trip out and i also popped into a charity shop and got a lovely lime green string bag ( just because it matched the jumper i had on!) always useful though and this lovely circular tablecloth

Thought i would just show you what else i have done with some of the vintage wallpaper i brought a while ago.

I found an old gold framed picture which i took apart.  The little pottery vase was made by my daughter at school.

I have also dyed my hair back to purple, had enough of my red phase now. When i first moved up here my hair was a bit of a novelty and i was easily recognised, now its more common.

Next week i am going to spend five days with my Grandchildren so really looking forward to that :-)  My son was planning to go down south anyway so i am hitching a lift with him and then flying back from Luton airport.  Hoping their sunny weather continues too as its yet another wet day here.  At least my water barrel will be full again, every cloud ......and all that.

I am making a shepherds pie for dinner today, all prepared before my friend picks me up to go to church.  We haven't seen each other this past week as she has been busy with guests in her B&B and has her mum up to stay so will be a good chance to catch up over coffee afterwards.

Terri X