Cherry takes the reins

Seasidegal58

Laughed at you treadling with one toe although as I'm a complete numpty with anything sewing related, well done you!

Cherryfudge

Seasidegal58 said:

Laughed at you treadling with one toe although as I'm a complete numpty with anything sewing related, well done you!

ROFL, yes it is a bit of a weird picture! It's a trigger-happy treadle, anything more powerful than aforesaid toe would have me metaphorically dragged along by the machine as it galloped out of control towards the horizon...

Seasidegal58

Cherryfudge said:

Seasidegal58 said:

Laughed at you treadling with one toe although as I'm a complete numpty with anything sewing related, well done you!

ROFL, yes it is a bit of a weird picture! It's a trigger-happy treadle, anything more powerful than aforesaid toe would have me metaphorically dragged along by the machine as it galloped out of control towards the horizon...

Had to chortle at that scenario...🤣🤣🤣

Cherryfudge

Yesterday the weather went from wet to mild and dry though I really wasn't in the mood to go out and enjoy it for most of the morning and only managed a short spell of outdoor-ness before work. Being at work lifted my mood back to normal, though.
Today DH has been clearing the shed and found some bags of papers that had been stowed away and got very wet. I've gone through one which turned out to be unimportant so those are binned but am going to have to take them in stages emotionally so most are going back in the front of the shed for me to do a bit at a time. I only have till Friday, though, as that's when the new shed is to be started.
Meanwhile I'm off to work...

Cherryfudge

The 'April weather in May' continues: yesterday afternoon while I was in work there was a terrific hailstorm, so loud the fire doors closed themselves! Today I had an extra shift which was quite chilled and nice though I'm tired now. I did pop into the garden to start cutting back the overgrown bushes near the shed that we're replacing, but I got rained off quite quickly.
The other thing going on with work is recruitment - and about time too. Reading between the lines, higher management have been worrying about the lack of middle management: as recruitment hasn't gone well for years they are doing a three line whip to get some people to step in. I won't go into detail but ripples are rippling as other staff are worried about how our jobs might be affected but that's not what I picked up from the meeting. The good news is that they are recruiting for 'shop floor' staff soon.
Yesterday's news was, of course, the return of the hug - I'm so looking forward to that! Far too much has happened that should have been accompanied by hugs but hasn't been. A and H asked us over to tea next week to celebrate the start of indoor mixing, but sadly I don't think we can find a date when both of us are available so I've told DH to go if I can't. I'm sure we'll sort something out in the not too distant future.
DH rang the estate agent and they are expecting completion towards the end of June. That's thrown my emotions in the air: the house has been part of my life forever and it's beautiful, though in recent years it's been a great burden and I know I'll be better once it's gone. I have a list of things to treat myself to once I don't have that tie: a greenhouse and some pets come to mind.
Tonight I'm thankful for society reopening (though I've found some aspects of lockdown life calming and useful, its been good to push on with hobbies and not to have to fight people's work hours and social commitments to get everyone together), finding a small stash-busting project in a library magazine and having made a bit of progress in the garden.

Seasidegal58

Another here looking forward to hugging again!
it's natural to have mixed emotions with regards to the house as it's been such a part of your life for so long. But you will have more freedom and time now - greenhouse and pets sound lovely!

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Seasidegal58.

Apart from a terrific thunderstorm in the middle of the night, we've escaped the rain today and it's been mild and sunny with a few black clouds. DH and I have moved the rest of the tubs that were by the shed and I've cleared some weeds that were encroaching on the lawn. We're at the stage where everything grows quickly and the side border is a jumble of weeds and intentionals, but today's job has been making access for the new shed. It's going to be set back by a couple of feet as the space behind the current one is useless . If we can make that space available at the front, instead, it should make the entrance more roomy.

The clearing has meant various plasticy things going into the bin or the recycling depending what they are. Of course we would do this on a day when the tip is closed... I've also decided to get rid of a wooden compost bin shaped like a bee hive, that's started to come to pieces. It was useful for a while but more ornamental than practical and now it's very tatty.

In the (much-needed!) down time I've been knitting busily: I found a pattern for making collars that can be worn with tee shirts or jumpers. I started it to use up a gorgeous white fluffy yarn but quickly realised the complexities of the pattern would be lost in the fluff so I swapped to a baby pink acrylic which will have limited usefulness but worked well with the pattern. I've finished one side of the collar and had a lot of fun watching the lacey bits develop - I can see I've made progress so my strategy of knitting lots of undemanding stuff might be paying off: I don't have to think about the basics too much now so I'm ready for something a bit more tricky.

I popped to the shops for some groceries in the afternoon then cleaned out the fish tank, so the goldfish has said he will call the lawyers off. It was a close thing, though. It's such a big job that I put it off.

DH and I had a walk with both our boys: I don't know when we last saw both of them together but it was really nice. We are hoping to meet again soon though it's nigh on impossible to get everyone at the same time. It's also the nearest I've been to exercise for a week or more.

So there are lots of things to be thankful for: rain at night, sun in the day. The nice chap who is going to do the shed for us and turns out to have my sense of humour as well as being willing and able to shift a couple of elder tree stumps that are in the way of the new base. Spending time with DS2 and A. Being able to do knitting for the fun of it not because it's needed to clothe the family. Discounted strawberries in the supermarket.

Spending:
Housekeeping £13.44

Cherryfudge

Today's rain happened just as the washed towels were nearly ready to go on the line. Ah well.

I waited in as some flag stones were supposed to be delivered ready for the shed, but they didn't arrive. DH was working so he had to be at the phone and couldn't have answered the door or given instructions. This meant I didn't get to the shops and one of us will have to pick up my prescription tomorrow.

I did the fiddly finishing off bits on the collar I've just knitted and found the instructions for DH's jumper - a big project that I keep putting off! I also have my notes about needle sizes, which I changed as the swatches were quite different from the original. Apart from that I've been at work, and DH, when his work finished, cleared out the rest of the shed. Half the lawn is buried under garden stuff, a rabbit hutch and various boxes with plastic over. What a mess! Having a slightly bigger, waterproof shed will be helpful, though.

So tonight I haven't spent anything, and I'm thankful for DH getting the shed clear, a nice shift at work and a stash-busting project completed. (Aforesaid stash is smirking in its corner as it's only the slightest bit dinted and I have been looking longingly at some wonderful yarn online).

Cherryfudge

Today is my shortest shift so I've been to the shops and done some knitting. Yes, I'm finally braving that jumper for Dh again! I think this is at least my third start but now that I'm not trying to do the twists and cables (which were invisible in the dark, fluffy yarn) and just knitting and purling, it's growing beautifully.

Work has started on the shed: the old one didn't put up much of a fight and the ground is clear with paving laid to where the door will be. He wasn't able to move it as far back as I'd hoped because he needs to be able to get round all the sides but at least it's moved in the right direction.

Lots of errands completed while in town, though I couldn't get one type of curtain hooks, but even so having the other sort will be useful - we have a three rooms where we're short of hooks! Such a simple thing but it's taken a while to organise having a sample to take into the shop. You may know the feeling.

I also treated the wild birds to a couple of new feeders: we were given one of those feeding stations for Christmas and at long last the ground is soft enough to push it in, so it's now planted a few feet outside the dining room window.

Spending
Pets £5.08
Donation £4.47
Toiletries £4.00
Medical £1.50
Household £5.25
Housekeeping £10.13

Cherryfudge

Work was very quiet and when I got home, the flooring was in place for the new shed.

I've spent the evening knitting: I seem to be having a bit of a phase of it and have rather fallen for a beautiful yarn that's currently on offer. I'll save a tenner if I buy it on the current price but I don't feel I can justify it with most of this jumper still outstanding. I'm actually at the stage of 'Well if it takes me two more days to finish the front and I can keep up the pace then that's three days to finish the back and say two each for the sleeves and two or three to make it up, and I order the yarn tomorrow so they send it out on Monday and it arrives on Wednesday then I will be finishing the back by then and in a week I will be finishing the current jumper so I can justifiably have another ready to do...'

Oh, the machinations of desire! I think I will just buy it and plough on with the current project at a more sane and achievable pace. After all the wool is really nice to work with and I don't want RSI from knitting too much so why hurry?

Tonight I'm thankful for nice projects to work on and the prospect of more, encouragement from the friends who have cheerlead me into keeping on with the jumper (actively keeping on, not just 'one day'), and being able to watch the birds feeding while we're in the house - I think DH gets as much pleasure from that as I do, rather to my surprise.