Welcome.

Just before I go to bed, welcome to my latest follower, Irene. Posts are going to be few and  far  between at the moment as last night we had the hair and make up trial run for the wedding, great fun even though I had had a crap day, but it brought it home how close it is! Had to spend tonight making bows with Joe and Emma's name on a ribbon and the date of the wedding and to try and make them so they could say everything that is on the ribbon "Emma and Joe,19th December 2010  making bows isn't easy at the best of times but trying to get the writing the right way up was tosh , they are to be stuck on 3" galvanised buckets that will hold the wedding favours Not easy!! 12 down  8 to go. I finally got the material to make the Ascot ties to day, so next week will be spent making the ties, I really don't think I will find time to post. Thanks for sticking with me, it's early days  ;- ) but I need to sign off until New Year, I've fallen out with minis, not through choice but because I need to sort RL out, we've only got one  child, a daughter, and this is her wedding day.

Good News at Last.

As predicted yesterday I didn't get any mini-ing done but I did get through my laundry, although not without the washing machine tipping it's entire contents onto the kitchen floor at one point but that's another story. The vet has just rung with Fern's results and her blood count has gone from 18 to 29!!! only 6 more to go. Finally some good news. :-D No mini-ing today either, too much RL stuff but my mood has certainly been lifted.

Monday Morning Blues.

I have a serious case of the Monday Blues :-(

1. It's Monday but it started last night after we arrived back home from the Lakes. I was looking forward to getting home and re-starting my room box but the blues set in and I seemed to have lost my mojo and couldn't seem to settle to anything.

2. It's seriously frosty this morning, it looks like it has snowed and it is COLD! Apparently it is the coldest October day since 1993.

3. Back to work.

4. I have piles and piles of laundry to do and with the weather as it is I can't dry it outside.

5. I think the biggest problem to my mood is Fern, she is due back at the vets tonight for another blood test and it is playing on my mind. It seems to be taking an age to get her back to health and it sort of gets you down.

Enough wallowing I'm off to start my laundry pile, no mini-ing for me today.

See you tomorrow.....

Double Grrrr!!

Yesterday started out well with the wine rack but by the time I had got to the end I had the same problem, it had gone narrower! In the bin it went and I am going to try something else, it wasn't a total disaster as I do find the weaving in and out rather therapeutic but I would like a usable product at the end of my endeavours, back to the drawing board.

See you tomorrow....

Things to make you go Grrrr!!

Having arrived back in the Lakes yesterday afternoon the question was "What to make?"  I decided on a wine rack, I'm loving the wicker work as it's relatively simple and it's something I can pick up and put down as and when with no major hassle. I set to as I was watching TV, in, out, in out, (shake it all about) 3hrs and 3inch of weaving later (you'll gather I wasn't rushing he, he) and I suddenly realised that my wires had gone cock eyed and the piece was narrower at the top than at the bottom!! Disaster. Piece went in the bin and I had to start again. Steve couldn't believe how calm I was but I looked on it as a learning curve and will in future keep a closer eye on things. Being new to wicker work it's all a learning process and I firmly believe in what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and this morning the wine rack has come along quite nicely and straight!! You live and learn.

See you tomorrow....

Brrrr, it's cold.

We had our first frost this morning and boy is it cold, it's been windy as well which has made it feel even colder. I didn't do much mini-ing apart from making a coat rack for the hallway, the coat, hat and scarf I received in a swap.

Back to the Lakes tomorrow so maybe I will get some Wicker work done.

See you tomorrow....

I'm Back and Back Home.

Apologies for the lack of posts over the past few days but my internet access in the Lakes is diabolically slow. It is Broadband but it is dial up and takes forever to post just a few words so I've waited till I've got home. As soon as I was home, with materials to hand, I finished the office chair.

And in place

 

With a laptop sat on it.

See you tomorrow.....

Office Chair Finally Started.

When we woke this morning it wasn't to the frost that had been forecast but to a cold, grey, dismal day but that wasn't going to dampen my spirits as today is our 29th Wedding Anniversary. We had arranged to meet some friends for Sunday lunch and we spent an enjoyable afternoon with them but as is the case when I have a drink with a meal at lunchtime it makes me sleepy so when we got back to the van I decided I needed to do something constructive or I would be out for the count, hence starting the office chair. As soon as I began I realised I hadn't brought all the materials with me so I can't finish it until I get back home but I have done the majority of it, now I can start some wicker work.

See you tomorrow....

Another Freaky Friday.

Considering on Wednesday night I had a list as long as my arm of RL things to do before we came up to the Lakes, by lunch time everything was done and dusted. I decided I would get the office chair materials back out, the ones I had put away in disgust! and bring them with me, whether it will get made or not is another matter, time will tell. I should have some spare time on my hands tomorrow morning as the shooting season has started here in the UK and Steve will be off in the morning to "Beat" with Bramble, I sorely wish that Fern was going as well but she is going to have to sit this season out, a 5 mins walk on the lead is all she can manage at the moment.

I found another wall light in my stash this morning so it has gone on the landing area so that whoever decides to pick up a book, take a seat and read can see what they are doing. LOL. I mentioned last week that it is 1-2 degrees colder here in the Lakes than at home and boy have we felt it tonight, it's time to get the furry slippers out! A frost is forecast tomorrow night but it won't surprise me if we got one tonight as the sky is perfectly clear, I love Autumn as long as it isn't wet.

See you tomorrow....

Where Does Time Go?

I wish somebody would explain that one to me.... Despite being a really well organised person I've been unable to find any time to mini over the past few days. I found the instruction this morning for making an office chair for the PC corner, but despite my best efforts I haven't been able to start it and have put it away in disgust. I won't get anything done tomorrow as it's cleaning day and on Friday I'll be sorting stuff out for going to the Lakes. Usually going to the van doesn't cause a problem, throw some clothes in a weekend bag, food in the cool box and off we go, but this week when we finish work on Friday we are both starting a weeks Annual Leave. Yippee!! so it takes a bit more planning.We'll probably touch base with home at some time during the week but a whole week of doing what I please and no work to bother about. Bliss. I'll hopefully get some wicker work done which, after setting the wires in, which I find really fiddly but I'm hoping will get easier the more I do, I find rather relaxing.

Well maybe,See you tomorrow....

No Minis Today.

Sadly there was no mini-ing today as I had a date with the Carpet shampoo-er again this morning, trouble was it was a double date as washing machine was there as well, never mind, perhaps tomorrow.

On a brighter note Fern's blood count is up to 18, only 2 up from last week but the vet was pleased and up is better than down. It's going to be a long job.

See you tomorrow....

The Lakes

This is the view from my kitchen window in the Lakes, the hill range is Gummers How

 This is a regular sight, especially at this time of year as the Stags come down from the hills to Rut.

 This was the dogs enjoying themselves in the frost last Winter, they are in there, Honest.

 This is Steve's favourite walk past the fishing Tarn on the left up to Ghyll Head where you can see the whole of Lake Windermere

The mist was rising from the water that morning.

 This is the view, 2 minutes up the road from the van, over the Lyth Valley.

 Beautiful!!

Beautiful Sunday.

Arrived in the Lakes yesterday to a beautiful Autumnal day, it may only be an hour "Up North" from home but it is 1/2 degrees colder up here and Autumn is a bit further advanced. The scenery is breath taking and has done me a power of good in re charging the batteries although I think they won't be fully re charged until Fern is given the all clear from the vet, she's there tomorrow night, so, fingers crossed. It was great to catch up with friends and they all seemed glad to have us back. When I get back home I will post some piccies that I have of the Lakes as it is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, even though it is in Cumbria which is the wettest County in Britain!

 Last night I managed to get some "mini work" done, nothing to look at, just covering wire with crochet cotton and making plaits for wicker work, but it was mini related and means I can do something at the van without cluttering it up and it transported me to "my little world" where I can chill out and relax.

While I was making the tub chair last week I met a dilemma as I wanted to make the leather shiny, not as in patent leather but a sheen, and was stuck as to what to do with it. I am a member of a mini digest, Small Stuff, so I put a post on there asking for help and as usual they came through with suggestions. The answer was simple really, shoe polish! DOH I must have been having a blonde moment not to have thought of that one but I think we all must be guilty of over looking the obvious from time to time. If you've not seen it check it out as it is a great place to be a member of and you will always find a solution to a problem

http://smallstuff-digest.com/

See you later....

Another Welcome.

Welcome to Pei the Blargh.

Welcome.

Welcome to my latest follower Josje.

Update.

I finally got my tub chair and foot stool finished. It looks black in the photo but is actually chocolate brown.

and in situ

I can't say I'll see you tomorrow as Fern is quite a bit better so we are going up to the Lakes. My internet connection at the van is mobile dial up so by definition SLOW and I mean slow! so I don't know whether I will be able to access my Blog, I'll have to wait and see.

See you maybe tomorrow or perhaps Sunday night.....

TGIF!!

After ticking everything off my list of RL things to do yesterday I awoke this morning with nothing planned apart from stuff that has to be done everyday. I found a pair of oily overalls, thoughtfully placed in a heap on the kitchen floor, that needed washing. By the time it got to midday I found I had done all the mundane trivia and acquired a leather bean bag in the process.I started it while having my morning coffee and a bit here and a bit there and it was done. I've made bean bags before but this one just seemed to get made by itself so that's another item to go in the box.

 And in place.

 Tonight I'm hoping to finish the footstool and chair.

See you tomorrow.....

Latest Piccies.

This is the upstairs reading area.

And this is the PC corner under the stairs.

I have just found a tute for an office chair so that will probably be next after finishing off the chair and foot stool.

 Not today though as Thursday is cleaning day :-(

Welcome.

Welcome to my latest follower Núria, hope you enjoy,

Don't make plans!

This morning I had no plans for anything, RL or mini, so wouldn't you just know it everything fell into place and I got plenty of RL stuff done and plenty of mini-ing. I won't bore you with the RL details as we all have it to do. I rooted through my stash and found a ceiling light and some wall lights, non working, well they are now as I cut the wire off. I've no idea where they came from  but it saved me buying or making some, remember I am trying to make this with stuff from my stash. I glued those in, put up a book shelf complete with books and tissue box, the tub chair and foot stool are nearly finished and I found my pattern for a bean bag. So all in all it's been a good day and by the time I went to work I was a happy bunny. Fern seems a lot better today so that was more good news, tonight I am too tired for anything so minis will have to wait.

See you tomorrow....

Plans, or not as the case may be.

I really, truly shouldn't make plans but I never learn. I was going to make a start on my tub chair this morning but instead it was spent on a date with the carpet shampoo-er, again, clearing up another of Fern's accidents, this time on the stairs. It and me are becoming far too close for my liking but as things stand I can't do much about that. Why is it so hard to claim time for myself? You watch, we'll go back to The Lakes this weekend, where I intend to start doing mini wicker work and something, what I don't know, will occur to put a stop to it, we'll have to wait and see. Even last night things didn't go to plan as my bookshelf took a lot longer than it should have done and is still unvarnished, hoping to remedy that in a while. On a brighter note I did manage to start the chair and stool before I went to work and am now going to see if I can get a bit further with it.

See you tomorrow.....

My Mini Make.

When I started my Blog I mentioned a mini make that had formulated in my head and hadn't taken very long to make. This morning I had an E-mail to say it had reached it's destination, Canada, so now I can show you what it was.

 Leather Hip Waders.

Mondays.

I've said before I hate Mondays and today was no exception. I spent the whole day, before work, washing pet bedding, due to Fern's accidents, shampooing rugs, again down to Fern and disinfecting outside to get rid of doggy smells due to her medication, poor little thing really has been through the mill but she appears to be on the mend. Considering yesterdays persistent rain today has been fine, dry and sunny, perfect for drying pet bedding.
Some mini-ing was done this afternoon but that was on paper, working out how to make a tub chair for on the landing,I found the perfect cardboard tubes at work that are just the right size for a chair and foot-stool but I don't think I'll get that done tonight, that's a job for tomorrow, tonight I'm hoping to make a small bookshelf for a reading area.
See you tomorrow..... 

Wet Weekends.

Today it has rained and rained and then rained some more, my back garden looks like a swimming pool so we decided not to go anywhere and to stay in where it was warm and dry. Staying at home meant I could do some mini-ing, although some of it was what I class as the boring stuff, like putting in skirting board etc, necessary but not exactly challenging! I also finished off the PC table and some printies and tonight I'm going to start putting stuff in the box.
Fern has seemed quite a lot better these past couple of days so hopefully we can go to the Lakes next weekend, fingers crossed. The phone has been ringing today and yesterday asking where we are so if things go as planned we can get back to our usual routine. Yippee!
See you tomorrow.....

An Afterthought.

I've just realised 3 out of 4 of my last posts have been film titles!

The Great Escape.

Well I managed to escape the house and get out into the big, bad world. We decided to check out a warehouse that until a few weeks ago was strictly "Trade" only but has now been opened to the general public. It was huge and sold everything you could think of, from food to furniture all at greatly reduced prices, best of all it had a craft section, OMG I was like a kid in a sweetie shop! They had large tubes of Acrylic paint for 94p, packs of 6 clamps, 2 for a pound I could go on and on. Needless to say my stash increased this afternoon.

The bottom item is a paper guillotine. I'll definitely be going again when pennies allow.
Hoping to get some printies made up tonight.
See you tomorrow......

The Shining.

Since Fern took ill, (2 weeks plus 1 day today) apart from a trip to the wholesalers and going to work I haven't stepped over the doorstep. I am starting to feel like Jack Nicholson, I've got "Cabin Fever" and have told Steve I need to do something different, I don't care what we do or where we go but I need a change of scenery! Don't think much mini-ing will be done today as I really do need to get out of here.....

Productive Day.

I've had a very productive day, mini wise, I decided to go with the PC corner rather than an under stairs wall and door, probably because that was the easy option rather than cutting card stock to fit the space with angles ,ugh. I scoured the internet this morning but stuck with Jim's, I haven't been on there for ages and was surprised at some of the new stuff that's on there, needless to say I am going to sign up for the newsletter, it's astonishing how printies have come on from when I started with this highly addictive hobby. So this morning was spent researching and printing. This afternoon I made the table to go in the corner of the hall, it's a triangle but with a curved side, why did I make a 3 legged table? A 3 legged table doesn't wobble! that's why milking stools have 3 legs. Left it to go to work all glued and braced etc which was a blessing, as I hate waiting for glue to dry, came home and everything was set and sorted. I was planning to cut out and make the printies but I am tired, I overslept this morning, alarm goes off at 7.15am, Steve gets up and I leave him to it and watch the morning news upstairs, this morning Steve got up and next thing I knew he was tapping me on the shoulder at 8.15. I think the problem is I have been so stressed about Fern that now she seems to on the mend I am letting go. She has had a really good day today, she has had 4 full meals progress!! 
See you tomorrow.....

Freaky Friday......

Well it is freaky to me, it's unheard of for me to have a Friday where there are no pressing, RL chores to do so I am going to make the most of it.

This is where the box is up to, stairs and door are just propped in there so I'm hoping to remedy that and to start on the PC corner under the stairs. I have found a great laptop on Jim's site  
http://www.printmini.com/
so will be off upstairs later to play with main PC and printer.
Fern seems a lot brighter today so all in all things are looking up.