The Last Few Years- where have they gone.

 I can't believe how long it is since I last posted.  The last two years were taken up with the virus, of course.  I didn't go anywhere in 2020, apart from in my garden.  I found it a relief to not have to go anywhere and my anxiety levels dropped considerably.  In 2021 I did go on a short beak in June to Llandudno but didn't enjoy it very much.  Before I went I bought a rollator walker with a seat.  I'd found that when I did go out at the beginning of 2021 I tended to start to feel faint if I didn't sit down frequently.  The trip to Llandudno was spoilt because of this and I only went on one of the day trips out as I was worn out being on my feet a lot. I ended up staying close to the hotel with the occasional walk on the sea front and into the town.  When I got back home I decided that I'd better see the doctor and, after some tests, it turned out I'd got asthma.  Once I was on the inhalers I started to feel much better.

This year, 2022, I'm still not going out much as I get very tired.  My veg growing has given me a lot of pleasure and gets me out into the fresh air and keeps me active.  I've also been doing quite a bit of cooking, mainly trying Japanese and Korean recipes.  Also, I've done some interesting baking using yeast and strong flour, I think I've got the hang of using yeast at last.

That's been my life since the first lockdown in 2020.  Sounds boring I know but I enjoy it.  As to my anxiety, which I've suffered from all my life, I rarely feel it, I even went to the dentist for a tooth out last week and coped really well, usually I'm a wreck.

What a Year

 2020

In all my 74 years I've never known a year like it.  The only time I've had a walk out is when I went for my flu jab in September, apart from that the furthest I've walked since 16th March 2020 is to the end of my garden.

We had four short break holidays booked, all were cancelled.  I thought I'd get bored just staying at home but I wasn't.  Even though I didn't get much crafting done, like I expected to, I kept as busy with just pottering around the house and cooking.  In fact food seemed to take on much more importance than usual.  My husband did all the shopping, he just went locally to the Co-op mostly, it is only a few minutes walk away and nearly everyone in our neighbourhood respected the masks and social distancing rules, just the odd one or two thoughtless people showed themselves up for what they are.

Talking of food, the only item we had any difficulty getting was flour, lots of people suddenly took to baking.  We did have enough for a while and when we ran out of plain flour a friend very kindly delivered some to our doorstep from a shop near his house.  When meals started to get a bit repetitious I decided to try Japanese/Korean type food.  It was fun trying out new recipes that I found on the internet.  We already have noodles and soy sauce in the house and only needed to buy some extra sauces.  The vegetables and meat we normally have could be cooked as per the new recipes.  I found this type of cooking quick and easy, just needed to use a bit of ingenuity with ingredients that I couldn't get.

For entertainment, I had the internet, of course, and had already recently subscribed to Netflix.  Netflix made a big difference warding off boredom.  Also, my Kindle was a big help, I don't know how many boxed sets of books I've read, I chose the 99p sets so that they were affordable.  The main crafting I did was making masks for family and friends.  Unfortunately I made them so many that they said not to make more for them!  The patterns for those came from the internet, the most popular was the 3d one from here https://hellosewing.com/3d-face-mask-diy/ .

I did feel sorry for Boris Johnson, no matter what he did certain types of person disagreed with his decisions.  He didn't run away from the situation like Cameron did from the referendum result, he stuck with it.  I wonder if Mrs May would have coped like Boris has.

Oh well, just got to wait now for the vaccination that I might be getting sometime after the end of January, if I'm lucky, it'll probably be several months later than that but I think I'll cope!

Hope you and yours have all coped and let us all hope for a better 2021.

April 2020

Apart from going into my garden, I haven't left the house for seven weeks.  It doesn't particularly bother me, I don't go out a lot these days anyway.  We were supposed to be going away next week but, of course, that has been cancelled.  Probably our June holiday will be cancelled as well.  But, I'd rather entertain myself at home than be dead taking chances of catching the virus by going out!  The days zoom by, there's always something I can be doing.  Here's a miniature kit I finished assembling...

I bought seven of these kits, this is the third one I've finished so I have plenty more to get on with.

Also, a few weeks before this current situation I subscribed to Netflix.  Plenty on there for me to enjoy whenever I feel like it.

Then, of course, there is the internet, always something to research/read/browse.

Kindle is great too, I'm excited today that the latest Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper book downloaded, I'd pre-ordered it ages ago and it arrived today unexpectedly, as I thought it wasn't due out until later in the year.

And that's all apart from the usual things like cooking and gardening, both activities I enjoy.  Not that I do much gardening these days due to my physical unfitness.  One thing I've tried, that I saw on the internet, was slices of tomato planted in a pot of compost.  I was quite surprised when a few of the seeds started to sprout.

Life is good.

Miniature Garden

I came across some DIY Dollhouse Miniature Kits on Amazon, here's the first one I made.

I thoroughly enjoyed assembling everything.  All the items are included in the kit, all you have to do is follow the instructions to assemble them.  I think they are 1:24 scale or thereabouts so they don't take up a lot of room on a shelf.  I've bought several more of these kits.

How Retirement Affects a Spouse

It's been ten years since my DH retired and, looking at myself today, I've realised what an unexpected affect this has had on me.

Gradually I've become inactive in a lot of areas that I used to be interested in.  I hardly do any crafting, in fact lately I've done none at all.  I don't go out except for Wednesdays when I go out with DH to meet one of his friends and wife for lunch.  I struggle to take an interest in my house.  Previously I would keep the house to a high standard of cleanliness and tidiness.  The house is still acceptably clean and fairly tidy but not to how I like it.  My main jobs each day are doing the laundry and cooking dinner.  Each year we go away for three coach trips of five days each.  I don't have day trips out from home anymore, mainly because his driving is erratic and I get nervous, hence the coach holidays.

So, what can have happened?  What can I do about it?  I can't seem to put my finger on the problem.

One idea I have is to go out on my own occasionally, even if it is up to the local shops and stop for a coffee by myself.  I know he won't be happy with this, he will want to come with me.  He does not like being at home on his own.

This situation needs resolving.  I'm wasting my life sitting about at home.

Vintage Look Dresses

I'm so glad that the 1950s look has been in fashion lately.  As a youngster I couldn't wait to wear the fashions of the 50s.  Then, of course fashions changed to mini skirts and shift dresses during the 1960s.  This year I decided to make two summer dresses that have a bit of that retro look.  A friend was interested in what I was doing and brought along a pattern she'd used in 1960.  It was her favourite ever dress and included a little bolero.  This got me very enthusiastic.  My friend lent me the bolero pattern and I made two to match the dresses I'd made.  Here's the original 1960 pattern...

I didn't do the buttons and buttonholes,  even though the pattern says size 14 it was tiny, I'm a size 12 and I doubt I could have managed to fasten it up.

Here are the two outfits I made...

This blue one is from Kwik Sew K4098

This pink one is a New Look 6723

The bolero goes really nicely with these styles of dress, I prefer a sleeve so the bolero gives me that bit of cover on the tops of the arms I prefer.

Autumn Clear Up

Starting to clear out my Vegtrug, tubs, pots and baskets.  Everything has done well, some better than I expected.  The Cherry Cascade tomatoes did brilliantly...

One tub of green ones for chutney and the final few red ones.  These are definitely a favourite and I will grow them again next year, they are so prolific.  There must have been hundreds from the three plants I grew, beautiful and sweet, not as small as I expected from the seed packet, mostly a proper cherry tomato size.

The carrots I grew were Paris Market 5 - Atlas.  They turned out a bit strange....

Some were really knobbly, some were small and the stems grew out of the carrot in a bit of a hollow, making them awkward to prepare.  I wanted a small carrot to grow in my Vegtrug but probably won't grow these again.  Also, the ones I grew in a small trough placed on the ground soon got carrot fly, did quite a bit of damage.

My cucumber did well, actually got two cucumber off it, they were about 6 or 7 inches long and tasted lovely.  They were grown outdoors in my Vegtrug and did surprisingly well for an indoor type.  Have also had success with baby sweetcorn, Minipop , been having some very nice baby sweetcorn this last few of weeks.  Courgettes, runner beans, peas, leeks have all done well in tubs and hanging bags.  Purple sprouting broccoli is coming along nicely, did have a few sprouts off it but expecting to have some ready for next spring harvesting.

I've bought a small paraffin heater for my greenhouse, hoping to get things off to an earlier start next year.  My big fault is starting seeds off rather late.

Tomatoes

My tomatoes are always very late ripening, though I have had the odd few for a couple of weeks now.  At last they are all starting to ripen.  Here are the ones I picked today, plenty for the two of us with our gammon...

There are a mixture of three types here.  The bigger ones at the top of the plate are from a plant a friend gave me, could be Moneymaker or Gardeners Delight, can't remember.  

Four or five of the slightly smaller ones are Sweet Aperitif , a trial variety .  I'm growing the Sweet Aperitif in hanging baskets and they are doing well.  The high winds a couple of weeks ago did break a couple of stems on one basket of them but there are lots to come on all of the three baskets.

Lastly, the very small ones are Cherry Cascade .  Two plants are in those hanging plastic type growing bags suspended on a hook on the fence, and one is in a hanging basket.  These I will definitely grow again, loads of tiny tomatoes, not as tiny as it says on the seed packet though one or two are currant sized.  Very tasty too.  And they survived the high winds.

Container Veg So Far

My containers have done well and the new vegtrug has been fun to use.  The strawberry plant didn't do well, it was so wet in June that the strawberries got mouldy as they ripened so only got a couple worth eating.  The cucumber plant is growing amazingly, not had any cucumbers off it yet but there are quite a few growing nicely.  Radishes were a failure, think that was the poor weather again.  Leeks are looking good, should be able to harvest some of them soon.  There are other bits and bobs in the trug, carrots, spring onions, basil, chard, and some salad leaves I sowed the other day, just small amounts of each.  Anyway, here's a picture...

Below the trug (on the right) are carrots, they will be ready soon, they are the small, stubby type.  Beyond the carrots are some peas, sowed these later on than the ones in the big tubs so expecting to harvest some soon.  Above the trug are some cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets, lots to come on those.  Tomatoes in hanging baskets take a lot of looking after, they dry out very quickly.

On the fence on the left there is another hanging basket of tomatoes, these are tiny tomatoes, smaller than cherry types, thought they'd be interesting to grow.  Also, hanging off the fence, are two vertical growing pouches, one has the tiny tomatoes in and the other a couple of pea plants, both are doing well.  Not shown in the picture is another vertical growing pouch containing a courgette plant, it's doing well, had some courgettes off it, the round sort, very tasty.

Further into the garden I have some big tubs containing courgettes, again, had loads off those.  Peas, these did really well, had more peas from them than I got from the ones in the ground last year.  Lastly, runner beans, they aren't ready yet.

I've enjoyed my veg gardening this year, my back didn't play up once like it would if I try to garden in the ground.  It's containers for me from now on.

Laurie, thanks for you comment, I sent you an email, did you get it?

Vegetable Progress So Far

Feeling a bit fed up that the weather is still cold, today there is a cold wind from the north.  I have started to put some things outside...

The peas and courgettes are doing well.  I'm leaving the peas without any supports, they are in a deep tub so I'm hoping they'll hang over the sides as they get bigger.  The courgettes like it in this spot at the (outside) end of the greenhouse, very pleased with how they are doing, there have been some male flowers on them already.

The salad leaves have been doing great.  I did have to move them to a partly shaded area, too much sun and they wilted.  This mix is chervil, mizuna, parcel and pak choi.  I recognise the chervil and pak choi but not sure of the other two, it all tastes nice though and I've had loads off them.

Rain on Rhubarb

There's a nice, gentle, rain today, just what the garden needs.  Still nothing in my Veg Trug and I'd spent the last few days watering it anyway, it dries out very quickly, so this rain is doing a nice job of moistening the compost.

Here's a picture of my rhubarb...

It's really massive this year.  None of it is harvested yet, I have to rely on my husband to do this for me (due to not being able to bend down because of my bad back).  I stewed quite a bit of it last year and froze it, it came in very useful for pies, often I added some other fruit to the pies for a bit of variety.

Talking of bad backs, I'm recording on this blog this year how I get on not doing any bending or leaning over in my veg growing.  This means I have to rely on help from my husband, so far he's doing a good job and seems to have more enthusiasm for veg growing than he normally does, he's more of a flower garden person.

Peas in a Tub

I took this picture on Saturday immediately after transplanting these peas into a big tub. Today, Monday, they have grown quite a bit already.  I've not grown peas in a tub before. This tub had a scruffy looking perennial in it that wasn't adding anything to the look of my garden.  So, took it out and left the original soil in the bottom of the tub and topped it up with new compost.  We'll see how it goes.  I should be able to manage these pea plants much better than the ones I usually put in the ground.

Noticed this morning that my carrot seeds are sprouting, really pleased about that.  I will be using the thinnings in my new Veg Trug.  Nothing in the Veg Trug yet, still deciding what else to put in there, a strawberry plant probably.  Maybe some radishes, they'll grow quickly while I wait for some of my seedlings to be big enough for planting out.

Vegetable Gardening (but I have a bad back)

For twenty years now I've struggled to garden because of my 'bad back'.  Bending over or crouching down would set my back off and I'd be seized up for a fortnight.  It is very frustrating.  I asked my husband several years ago to make me a raised bed, which he did.  Unfortunately I didn't supervise the making of it!  He made a fab raised bed but it was so big I couldn't reach the middle, I could only plant around the outside edge.  This year he could see that my struggle to grow veg was not working and he redesigned this bed, turning it into two narrower ones.  Then he treated me to a Veg Trug .  It should have arrived yesterday, I hung around all day waiting for it.  Will it arrived today I wonder, there was supposed to be an email notification giving me an hour delivery slot but still haven't heard anything.  I'm also going to be growing things in window boxes and pots that are raised to a suitable height on bricks.  All I'm waiting for now is some decent growing weather, it is very cold at night, last night the temperature was down to 1C.

These are some of the seeds I've sown and transferred from the house to the green house...

Cut and come again lettuce mixture

Boltardy beetroot

Courgettes

I still have other seedlings indoors, broccoli, tomato, courgette, peas.  The broccoli is the sprouting purple type.  The tomatoes are cherry and one I haven't tried before that has really tiny fruits.  The courgettes are the round ones in addition to the normal shaped ones shown above.  The tomatoes and round courgettes I will be growing in hanging pouches, looking forward to seeing if this works, I did want to grow them in Topsy Turvy type pots but I had these pouches handy so will use those.

Here's hoping the weather picks up soon and that my veg trug arrives so that I can get out there.

Another Summer Dress

Another dress from Sainsbury's, £20.  This one is shirred around the sides and back of the bodice so fits very nicely.  The fabric is quite fine and it is lined.  Really pleased I saw this dress, I love red...

To go with it and give me a bit of cover on the shoulders I bought this little cardigan, only £8.  It's 60% cotton and will be just right if I get a bit cool...

The red is quite a near match to the dress.  Maybe I'll team it with my red shoes and bag, if that looks too much red, my black shoes and bag will also go nicely.

The dress is a size 12 and the cardigan is a size 16.  I tried the 14 cardigan but it was a bit tight across the back.  I never trust sizings!

Summer Clothes 2015

It's that time of year again when I start taking an interest in clothes.  I spend the winter well bundled up so it will be nice to dress up a bit.  I bought this dress from Sainsbury's a few months ago...

It was shown on a mannequin near the entrance to the store and I loved it as soon as I saw it.  It's slightly short to what I like to wear but still covers my knees.  The navy tights and red shoes it was teamed with made it look very nice, so I bought those too.  Also bought some blue shoes.

Also got a red bag, I love matchy!  The shoes were only £14 and are quite comfortable.

Same shoes in blue and blue bag.

The bags were from Shoe Mad  in Arnold, only £15 each.  They have some good prices on shoes and bags.

Walk away dress

After seeing the walk away dress on the Great British Sewing Bee I just had to make it...

The pattern is Butterick B4790.  I think the pattern they used on Sewing Bee had been adapted slightly because the pattern I have doesn't have the buttons and loops on the front fastening.  I used press studs.  

There are a lot of alterations on my dress.  The bodice part of the pattern is too long so I took it up on the shoulders and had to slightly alter the size of the armhole area on the front bodice part.  The back neck is too low so I raised that.  The front neck gaped so I put two pleats on each side of the front neck line.  I decided not to put the bias binding down the front opening as I thought it made the dress look a bit like an apron.  Because my waist is rather large I also added two inches to both sides of the front where it meets and also on the underneath sheath part where that meets at the back.  This allowed for the extra size of my waist and for a hem instead of the bias binding.  I do think that it is best to make sure that it fits really well at the waist as this will stop the back part of the wrap around pulling down, there is a lot of weight on the wrap around.

I've not worn the dress for more than fitting and taking the picture so I'm not sure how it will feel and behave whilst on the move, I have heard bad reports of it bunching up when moving, we'll see.

Having to do all the alterations took up time so I didn't find this a quick or easy dress to make.  I am pleased I made it though and I think it looks nice.

Purple Jacket

My wardrobe is full so not much clothes shopping or making going on lately.  However, I was away for a few days last week at a Warner's Holiday Village on Hayling Island.  While away on these short breaks we have trips out each day and I usually find something to treat myself to.  This time I couldn't resist this jacket...

It fits better than it looks on my mannequin, I must get that sizing sorted out, the bust area needs adjusting.  Anyway, it feels great on and is quite an up to date style, it's thin enough to wear under a coat in the winter and warm enough for spring and autumn wear with a jumper under it.

It looks nice with the zip undone a bit too.  I'll wear it tomorrow with black trousers when I meet my friends for coffee, I'll see what they have to say about it.

The Warner's that we went to was great, it is chalet accommodation, which was warm and comfortable.  There is a complex of main buildings in the centre, the dining/entertainment room, a piano bar, a shop, a seating area and there is a nice cafe that opens at 7.30 in the morning, great for me as I get up early and can go over and get a cup of tea instead of messing around in the chalet and waking Graham up.  The food was ok, some good, some adequate but plenty of it if you are a big eater.  There are lots of activities during the day and early evening there is dancing and the entertainment staff put on some line dancing instruction.  The absolute best part was the entertainment in the evenings, there were ten entertainment staff and they put on some great shows.  One evening there was a comedy duo, we really had a good laugh that night!

A Very Simple Blouse

This blouse only took a couple of hours to make.  I drew around a simple blouse I'd bought recently (it is the blue one from New Look) that has no darts and drop sleeves so it was a very simple design.  I didn't spend ages finished off the raw edges, I just sewed up the shoulder, turned a seam on the neckline and armholes, sewed up the sides and hem.  It wouldn't win any prizes for finishing off but it is wearable and fun to make.

Chiffon Kimono Jacket

It was a bit late in the summer when I bought this kimono...

I'd seen them in New Look and really fancied one but did I really need one and would I wear it I asked myself.  A lot of them were lined, which I didn't want and a lot of them had fringing, which I didn't like.  So when I saw this simple chiffon one I thought it would be useful over my sleeveless blouses.  Of course once I'd bought it the weather changed and I've been going out with a thicker jacket for warmth.  I will be able to wear it under a jacket or coat if I want to so it will come into use soon.

While I was at it I bought another sleeveless blouse - love these blouses - and wore it with another of those narrow micro-pleated scarves I've been collecting...

I have eight of these scarves now, all but one from the same charity shop.  There haven't been any more in this particular shop so I must have bought up all their stock.  Will have to look out for them in other places, they are so useful.

1940s Retro Blouse

This Simplicity 1590 pattern was straightforward to do and feels comfortable to wear.  I did struggle with the fabric I was using, it is a sort of silky searsucker, not sure if it is viscose or polyester.  It tended to slip when cutting out, frays a lot, puckers when machine sewing and the peplum curve was a bit fiddly.  But I am pleased with it...

It doesn't look as baggy on me as it does on the mannequin, must have put a bit of weight on since I set the mannequin up!  If made with a cotton fabric this blouse would be very easy.

The next blouse I make will be a very simple one.  I want blouses in fabric that drapes nicely even though it is fiddly to sew.