Ups and Downs Again

Our mornings have been shrouded in mist on most days this past week, sometimes it has been teatime before the sun has broken through, making a lovely evening but yesterday it had cleared by lunchtime and was lovely and warm and today, although it is a bit cooler, it is a sunny day.

This week has been a costly one for us.  OH had a hospital appointment and we were journeying over the mountain when the front brakes locked on the front wheels.  We do belong to the AA but decided it would be better if we tried to get the car back to the garage we use but it was quite difficult, the smell of burning rubber was awful and we had to keep stopping and starting till we limped onto their forecourt.  The chap came outside to have a look and the wheels were 140 degrees!  When it had cooled a bit they put the car up on the ramp to have a look and we were quoted £585 pounds to fix it.  Luckily i had been putting some money by to help us through the winter months when work becomes scarce but it seems every time i get some, something crops up so we have to use it.  We need the car so we had no choice. It now means tightening our belts a bit harder over the next few months to save up again and luckily OH has a couple of bigger jobs to do, a large decking to build and wardrobes and other joinery to do for someone. We still need to get in more coal and wood for winter and i have resigned myself to the fact that we will only have an open fire and not the stove this year.

Anyway moaning over and yesterday the local Learning Centre was celebrating their 10th Anniversary.  They had free taster sessions of some of their courses

Me and sis-in-law at the back of the class studiously doing needlework.  This is what i was working on

When finished it could be made into a card or framed perhaps.  We also tried the creative writing class and went into the cushion making class.  There was also spinning, computer classes and outdoor art activities but there wasn't time to do everything.  Having refreshments and a chat with people out in the sunshine was nice and i even won two prizes in the raffle, a bottle of wine and a large cross stitch kit.  Very unusual for me to win anything.

I went to my Wednesday night sewing classes and at last my top is coming together, not ready to reveal yet but maybe next week.  I also met up with the patchwork ladies i am going with on the trip to Edinburgh and they loved the bags i made for them all so that was a relief.  I have no work on Monday so i am going to meet up with them again at the morning sewing group.  

When i went food shopping this weekend Lidl had an offer on pulled pork, £1.79 a pack.  We haven't had it before so i decided i would make coleslaw and potato salad for dinner plus a pasta quiche as son doesn't eat meat. It was a bit of a rush before going to church but i have to say it was delicious.  I would buy it again.

I still feel the days are flying by at the moment but everyone i have spoken to have said the same so its not just me but i am not ready to think about the C word just yet.....shhhh don't say it!

Terri X

Comments

  1. Patricia GibbonsSeptember 15, 2014 at 11:56 AM

    Hello Terri, jolly good blog. I'm afraid the C word is upon us, even went into a shop who had a Christmas section at the end of August, world gone mad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Small and Cheap Changes to my Room

Image
The light is not greatest this week for taking photos but I am excited to show you  my new side table.   My nephew had this suitcase in his bedroom and I had my eye on it for ages. I swopped a  wicker hamper for it as he only needed it as a bit of storage space.  The case is lined with plywood inside so is quite sturdy.  The legs came from my sis-in-laws house and they had a wooden top which I removed.  Perfect for the case and making it a freebie side table too. I put up my winter curtains that I found in a charity shop.  At the time I didn't know what I was going to do with them but just loved the retro pattern and colours and they are perfect in my green room. They also happen to be the perfect size and length for the window so I sent for curtain hooks and rings for the pole from ebay, cost less than £5. I reframed this stag print which was given to me.  It was origionally mounted against a light background and a pine frame which had lost its glass but I had this fra
Read more

The fridge is nearly bare!

Image
I've been cooking this morning and now my fridge looks like this I have half a tub of stork, 1 oz of cheese left in the Tupperware, 2 tubs margarine, half a pack of streaky bacon, half a butternut squash and 5 carrots left. I started out this morning with 1 green pepper, 1 courgette, 2 sticks of celery, half an onion, carrots, butternut squash and the last of the frozen sweetcorn and peas.  I have made soup for lunch by adding a tin of tomatoes and some dried soup mix with veg stock I also found some turkey leg meat  at the bottom of the freezer and a packet of chicken and leek bake mix that I made up with some milk. I had a few frozen breadcrumbs in there too so using up the last of the parmesan cheese I had,  added this to some of  the veg from the list above and my OH now will have this for his dinner tonight    The green bits are chopped parsley I picked from a tub in the garden. I have enough of the chopped veg left to make up a rice dish for me and will us
Read more

Life

Image
Its been a long while since I have posted on my blog.  You just never know what is round the corner do you.  There I was merrily getting on with everyday life then something happens out of the blue that changes everything.  My instinct was to hibernate and I have done that and now I am popping my head out to say I am still here.  Change is in the air and as I steady myself and breathe, I try to think more positively now. Terri X
Read more

Frugal Shopping & Cooking

Image
I've been to the auction again with my BF  today and look at this lovely oil painting I brought thinking it could go in our bedroom or bathroom.  I got it for a bargain £1 and with commission I paid £1.12 and now I have hung it up and I think it is lovely.   We also bid on a box of old books as we spotted a few in there that we would read and could then car boot the rest.  We got that for another £1 but it turned out to be four boxes of books!  They were so heavy that we had to have help to put them in the boot of the car.  I was giggling over them as some are in French!  I think those ones will be used for a few crafting projects.  I am sure we will be able to make a little profit at the car boot in September with the rest. I also used my favourite cookbook again (A girl called Jack) to make gnocchi.  I used potato and parsnip 50/50.  They don't look as elegant as the picture in the recipe but they sure taste good with a spoonful of pesto.  I doubled the recipe so that I could
Read more

The Green Room

Image
I have been thinking about changing my lounge around for a while and this photo gives you just a peak of the new colour choice for my feature wall. Before I show you more, at my last craft fair I was able to get hold of another dining chair that matches two of the others.  I got it for a bargain price of £5 so I now have two of them to transform at some point.  I spent a little while crocheting some feet so they dont scratch the painted floor as the felt pads i tried kept falling off. The wooden chair with the gingham seat pad is Bonnie's favourite place to sleep.   I took a while choosing the new paint colour, eventually matching it against a skirt i had on at the time. Its probably just me but I have to like its name too and this paint was called Bohemian Bliss which was just perfect for me.  So here is my ta-dah moment ...... I love its dramatic colour against my floor. This pic was taken at 6pm but as its in a south facing room, the sunshine lightens it more in the day.
Read more