Another month gone by.

Gosh the year is going by so quickly, I don't know if its the pace of the world today or if it's me getting older :). Now is my favourite time of year, Autumn, I love the colours of the trees, I love sitting crocheting with a crochet blanket or lap quilt across my knees. In fact I just love Autumn, the nights are drawing in so quickly.

It still seems very strange only having only two dogs, I miss each and every one of them, they brought a lot of love and happiness into our lives. It is easier with two and it's very quiet, Livvy bless her has very little sight now but is fine otherwise, it's amazing how they adjust. Just as with a blind person in the family we don't move furniture around so she knows where everything is. When we're out walking on causeways (sidewalks) we have to make sure she's on the inside because she will fall off the edge. 

She's still a happy, smiley Shiddie girl, she reminds me of a teddy bear, she sleeps like one too, she certainly loves her bed. Nemo is more active but is sending himself dotty trying to catch flies! He loves to be outside chasing them and he doesn't like the birds landing either lol. He has taken over Megan's mantle of telling me when it's time for their dinner!

I still have my little girls ashes, they're in a box with her lead, collar, discs and her Diva t shirts she wore in the winter. I'm not in any hurry to scatter them, I still miss her so much, I know time will heal eventually.

We went away for three weeks during August, I took a lot of fabric with me and my Accuquilt Go and over that period cut out 8 quilts, I managed to piece 2 of them the photos are below. They are both designed by Pam & Nikki Lintott, they're from one of their books, There wasn't a border on the hidden stars one so I add one. I love both designs and am looking forward to piecing the others together.

Now I only have my two fur babies I sold all my grooming equipment, I can keep them brushed but I have to take them to the groomer for cutting etc, I can't do it now. All my equipment went to a friend who has her own grooming salon so I know it will be used.

No grooming means there is a summerhouse with nothing in so I came up with the idea of redecorating and storing my fabric in there. Mr B has been brilliant, giving it a good clean, sealing all joints again on the outside and insulating the inside for me. He's covered the insulation with hardboard and spent today painting it and my large shelf unit. He's done a really good job, we're leaving it to dry completely and will move my fabric in this weekend. It isn't a massive place but I can also get my cutting table in there this will give us more room upstairs. The other summerhouse further down the garden is rarely used with us being away so much so he's going to refresh that one too and move my seeing desk in that Paul my eldest made for me, that SH isn't big either but will make a cosy little sewing room. We have to route an electric supply to them both, I'll post pics when they're finished. I have a fabric in my stash which will make the perfect curtains, the cost was very little, the hospice charity shop have really good, clean bargains in and if I remember right it cost me about £3 for almost 6mtrs of fabric. I called in two wks ago and came home with over 20mtrs of 3 different fabrics for less that £8.

It's going to be quite enlightening when we move my fabric, it isn't all in the cupboards, its in, lidded tubs, my wardrobe, boxes and storage drawers. It will give me a chance to sort out and perhaps pass on some I'll not be using.

Well its time for eating again, Mr B is hinting he's hungry so I'll say bye for now.

Take care and enjoy whatever craft you're working on.

Hugs

Peg xx

Photo heavy post.

The past few weeks haven't been great, no not with my health but with my little ones. My little Megan who I adored had been unwell and under the vet for a while, we knew we didn't have her for much longer but I wanted her last days to be calm, filled with love and no stress. Even though some ex puppy farm dogs make great headway Megan, although she could be cheeky at times, never lost her fear of strangers, sudden noises and any changes. I loved all my dogs but Megan held a special place in my heart and always will we were very rarely apart only when absolutely necessary. She passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 1st, I had prayed her leaving would be this way and not a vet visit, she would have panicked so much she didn't like anyone holding her feet or legs it was to much of an awful reminder of what she'd had to endure when used as a breeding machine. It didn't lessen the pain of her leaving, it was devastating, it hurt much more and knocked me sideways far more than my cancer diagnosis.
I miss her so much, her odd little ways, her beautiful bright eyes which once they'd been treated changed to bright sparkling jet coloured jewels. She brought so much laughter and love into my life, this photo was taken just a week before she fell asleep. She was such a pretty little girl with her Queen Anne legs, just minutes after taking this she told me off for not getting her down quick enough :)
I have her ashes I can't let her go, I still wait for her barking at me when I go to open the front door to go to the recycle bin, she never barked when anyone came always when they left. I miss her running into the living room when she'd been outside, she'd run around the room almost skipping then roll on her back riddling about. She'd do the typical Shiddie play bow and jump about on all four paws in front of Nemo trying to get him to play with her, he just looked at her as if she'd finally lost the plot. I think he like us knew if he'd gone to play she would have legged it behind me lol.
She didn't like it if she thought she was alone, if I was out of sight these past months she panicked. The thought of scattering her ashes and leaving her is to raw at the moment, until the time is right, if it ever comes, she will stay here with her Mum.

Here she is with Livvy, next to her, and Nemo on her last visit to the van, she couldn't walk far in her last few weeks before she had to be carried but she still got her walks around the lake in her Dad's arms. I recently sold all my dog grooming equipment to my lovely friend Jayne who owns her own grooming salon. I can keep them tidy with brushing but not a full bath and groom any more. Mr B is turning my grooming room into a place to store my fabric, today after some boxes were moved I was sweeping the floor and found some hair that had gone behind them. It hurt, the hair was Megan's from her last groom, I have her lead, collar, harness and little Diva t shirt and now her hair will go into the box with them. I know some may think it silly or over the top but she was one very special little girl and I loved her and miss her, Livvy misses having her snuggled up beside her and still lays on one side of the dog bed they shared instead of in the middle.

Bless her, Livvy is such a good hearted girl, I can't look at her without smiling, she's like a big teddy bear and gives amazing snuggles. Thankfully she's a very healthy girl full of beans and fun, she has very little sight but you wouldn't know it watching her out walking. I have her on an extending lead, every so often when she's not sure where I am she will stop and cock her head listening for me I just call her name and she moves towards me. We don't move furniture around and she's got it all sussed where everything is and she still loves her rough and tumble with Nemo, it's like the clash of the Titans :). Both have gone through a lot these past months and he was depressed for a while but is slowly coming back to his old self. He's taken on Megan job of telling me it's time for their dinner but as he has a really deep bark it gets my attention quicker.

On a happier note I have finally managed to get back to and enjoy doing some quilting and crochet, as you know there have been some downers on the health side but as I said in my last post things are improving.
I've made the two quilt tops below I need to get some of my tops backed and quilted but it's getting the time to do them

.
Earlier this year I managed to get a place on a workshop held at Quiltessensials in Cromford near Matlock Bath. It's very rare to have one where I could travel to so jumped at the chance. It was run by Lynne, a lovely lady who designs, writes quilting books and has a great blog Lynnes blog she's so easy to get on with and has the patience of a saint. The workshop was making a Union Jack pillow, Lynne also has a quilt made from them which I intend to make one day. The pillow front is paper pieced, my first effort, I wasn't able to finish it on the day but her tuition was great and I finished it a while after. I'm so pleased with it.
Lynne's book

 This is my finished pillow I used fabric similar to my bedding.

Here's a close up

We've been at our bolthole for the past few days and will be going again on Wednesday for a few weeks, my grandson is coming to house sit, he loves my bed, its nearer to where he works too. I've got a break in treatment until September. I'm well prepared sewing wise, I spent last week cutting out kits for the quilts I want to make, I've found a lovely little quilt shop in Louth called The Little Fabric Shop, run and owned by Helen. It's a pleasure to visit and have a chat, my purchases the other day were these few fat quarters, 2 Jelly Rolls and 2 background fabrics, the books are mine I have several of Pam and Nickys books I love them they're so easy to follow. I cut the fabric for the one on the front book on Saturday it's called Jitter bug. 

You know we quilters like other crafters always seem to end up with rather a lot of fabric or whatever we use in the craft we do don't we, I was looking for a particular jelly roll last night and found some I'd totally forgotten I had, it was a lovely feeling :)

Well I think I'll leave it at that for now, I've got more photos to share but will do that next time. Wherever you are and what ever craft makes you happy enjoy your day.

hugs Peg x

Hello Lovely People

Hello to you all, I wanted to say a HUGE thank you for all the emails and messages sent to me wishing me well, they certainly helped.
There had been a problem with reoccurring infections I think I've only had 6-8 days without antibiotics since my op last September. I've had repeated scans and repeated drain offs to try and keep the breast from filling with fluid. They took away the Lymph nodes on that side because the cancer had spread there too. Consequently any fluid coming into the breast could not drain away naturally via the lymph nodes.
I had another appointment with the consultant after yet another drain off, this time they'd drained off a blood clot and some fluid. Samples had been taken and sent for analysis so I had to go for the results.

When we got there it wasn't the consultant but a staff nurse who actually asked me what I'd gone for and what could they do for me today! He then had to send for the results, checked them and said there hadn't been anything to nasty in them. Upon examination he said I needed to have the draining off and another scan despite only having this 3 days before. My daughter wasn't pleased and said so,  the outcome was that I waited a few minutes and the consultant slotted me into her clinic. She diagnosed straightaway what was wrong and referred me to my local hospice for treatment.
There is a clinic there with specialist nurses trained in a massage that moves the fluid to Lymph nodes in other areas to drain it away. The consultant at the hospice told us the reason I've been feeling so ill and having to have it drained so many times is because it's like putting a bucket of dirty water outside in the garden and leaving it there, just adding more dirty water. Because the fluid is sitting in the breast it's stagnating just as the water in the bucket would do and it gets impacted, it has to be moved.

I take 4 x 250mgs of Penicillin pr day and will do for the next 6 mths. Along with their treatment and the antibiotics things should start to get better. They showed us how to do the massage it's very gentle which I was pleased about I was dreading them touching me because I was so swollen and painful. It can be done with a clean blusher brush it's that light, some breathing exercises to help also. There was a lot of things they told me I had to do to keep other infections at bay, a different cream to use on my skin ect. Not to wash dishes, do the garden or any cleaning without gloves on and to avoid being scratched and to keep antiseptic wipes with me. Not to expose my arm, shoulder or breast to the sun, that's not a massive problem I'm fair skinned and burn so don't sunbathe. As well as them doing the massage I do it at home several times a day I don't need to stand, I have to have someone do them on my back and neck we're aiming to move the fluid to the Lymph nodes on the other side.
Just so you can see what we've been dealing with, this photo is without a bra on and the breast on your left is my Norah Batty one, the one on your right is known as Jordan and shows you how big its has got.

The good news is I'm so happy to say it is working, as well as the swelling slowly going down, it's not as painful I still feel quite sick sometimes but not all the time and I get tired quickly but it's nothing like it was and at last I feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The nurses were rather annoyed because I'm not the only patient this is happening to, they've seen several over the past few months who they've been able to help after being referred to them and each one could have been helped earlier. I could have been feeling a lot better a lot earlier.

I have been slowly getting back into doing some sewing and have things to show you but as you've probably nodded off by now reading through this I'll write another post later with the photos.

Once again thank you for caring enough to get in touch it means a lot.

hugs

Peg xx

My apologies

Hello lovely fellow bloggers I must apologise for my absence over the past couple of weeks I have a lot to share with you but unfortunately I've had a lot of problems with a severe infection yet again and I have to go back to the hospital and have the compacted fluid, its called a seroma, drained off again. I've had antibiotics for the past 3 wks and it hasn't made any difference it's still there and there's still a lot of pain.

I will be back as soon as things settle down and I'm more comfortable, I'll know more after seeing the oncologist again.

Take care and happy stitching

Peg xx

The Winner of my Grow Your Blog giveaway

Hi ladies

I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in Vicki's Grow Your Blog party, I have met many new friends and have increased my followers. The bonus is I have so many new blogs to read, it has been fun and I haven't finished visiting them all yet.

A huge thanks to Vicki for organising the party and her helpers who gave their time in making sure we got it right :)

I put 86 in the generator because I had replied twice and Tammy posted a PS.

I've used the random number generator and the number chosen is........drum roll.......................................

No 35  Thea http://gizzimomosstitchyplace.blogspot.co.uk/  so if you send me your address I can get your winning present to you.

Thank you to everyone who took part it's been a pleasure looking through your blogs

Keep safe and enjoy your weekend

Peg x

Is the half term holiday off?

No not mine, poor Mr B's, every year at half term he joins 10-14 of his climbing friends from all over Britain. They hire a beautiful cottage in Glen Co and hope the snow has compacted to ice so they can do their ice climbing. It's quite amusing, over the years they've spent their week in a rough and ready 'hut', a small cottage where it's first ones to arrive get a bed the others bunk down on the floor. Now they're all over 55 and going for the comfort factor :) this particular cottage has enough rooms, utility/drying room, 2 sitting rooms, large kitchen, it's not cheap at almost £700 but shared between all of them it isn't much.

The problem is my poor Mr B has a chest infection that is making him feel pretty rough, they sent him home from work yesterday morning. It's pretty much expected he'll be on antibiotics before the end of the week. I'm keeping everything crossed for him he really deserves this break, it's been a tough few months for him too.

I really enjoyed our main meal today, I don't eat fish much at all but decided to give it a go for once. I used cod fillets from Farm foods, not expecting them to have much taste. In all fairness it was delicious, I poached it in a small amount of milk, this is what I made for Mr B to accompany his. I really wanted to use tinned chopped toms but they're in the store cupboard and I can't reach them, Mr B was having a sleep.
I chopped up
3 medium fresh tomatoes
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 Courgette
1/2 Onion
8 Black olives
2tsps Capers
Tsp Parsley
Olive oil for cooking
Salt, pepper
Tomato purée
Boiled spuds
Spinach
Home made parsley sauce












Mine was minus the tomato concoction I don't like capers of black olives, I had the spuds, a small piece of fish and spinach and really enjoyed it. Everything was from the fridge, freezer and cupboard and it cost very little.

There was a good sized piece of fish left over so I put that in the bottom of this dish, put the remainder of the tomato mix on top, a layer of grated cheese and topped with the remaining mashed potatoes. That's in the freezer for another day, he'll perhaps enjoy it with a green salad and roasted peppers the long red ones I can't remember their name.


There was also 2 loaves made in the bread maker today, 1 white & 1 wholemeal mmm delicious.



We got up to it snowing this morning, it was very cold and wet so it didn't settle and the promised sunshine came through at lunch time for a couple of hrs.

I managed to do a little sewing today, I have a lot of blocks made up and left over from making this top.



The blocks are 9"sq so I used 5 across and 6 down I'll add a border, it will make a nice sized lap quilt, I'm hoping to get the border on tomorrow. I really love these autumnal colours and may just make a few patchwork cushion covers. I had my first dabble at FMQ yesterday on a small amount of fabric I thought I may just have a go on a cushion cover. I'll let you know whether its success or disaster lol. The quilting will be simple 'doodling, I'm not being modest honestly when my family were in the artistic queue I didn't quite get my full quota like Dad and sisters! I make matchstick men un identifiable :).

Take care

Peg x



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We're back to the cold, windy and very wet weather.

Hello lovely visitors, thank you for popping in despite being so busy. Continuing on from the Grow Your Blog party I've met so many lovely new blogging crafting friends. I'm really enjoying the party and a big thank you to Vicki for hosting it. Don't forget to leave a comment if you'd like to take part in my give away, there's no pressure to become a follower to take part.

It's been a bit of a busy week both on the health and crafting front, I am having tension problems again with Betsy I checked my invoice from the repair shop and according to them the machine was serviced and repaired with :
clean out hook and race
remove damage from driver
reset all timings and tension units
reassemble and lubricate

new parts:
shuttle driver/stitch cushioner

She was having a hissy fit after one seam was sewn, Heather very kindly had a look at her, but she went curly underneath threads again. Mr B suggested the obvious, why not contact the shop who carried out the repairs it was only a month ago and I haven't been sewing on her. I did and all credit to them they replied straight away and asked me to take it into the shop and they'll have a look at it for me.
These machines were the rolls royce of machines and I don't want to not use her so I need to get it sorted.

My freezer is nicely stocked with cooked chicken and chicken stock, the first lot nicely cooked now to strip and use the bones to make stock.

All the chickens yeilded 6 1/2 pts of stock, I also cooked some apricots I'd bought tinned, Co-op's own brand, they weren't very nice very sour and hard so I poached them and later add some crumble mix we had in the freezer baked it and topped with home made custard delicious.

Mr B made the first course Aubergine stack with ham, green salad and new potatoes that he had grown in tubs which we froze when harvested. Well Mr B had spuds I didn't not with having a dessert afterwards.

I managed to cut some of these and am in the process of making 4 patches using Lori's method at http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.co.uk/
 Sorry for the dark photo I took them on my iphone.

 After sewing 2 sq's together down both sides cut down the middle.

I still have more to do of these.

I have a few quilt tops to back but am suffering some unpleasant side effects from the Letrozole so am doing things when I have the energy and when the joint pain is at it's lowest. I didn't think the latter would affect me much already having arthritis, joints replaced but it has and it's not pleasant. I'm not complaining there are a lot worse off than me.

Well that's all for today, I've been popping into some of the blogs on the list for GYB still many to go but I'm enjoying meeting new people and seeing what they're about.

Thanks for popping in

Peg x

Catch Up Saturday

We've had sunshine today yeahhhhhh, after 4 solid days of torrential rain, it tried to rain earlier but the sunshine came back. Thankfully we haven't been subjected to the awful flooding some people have.

Why not pop on over to Lily's Quilts here  and showcase what you've been working on and visit others to see their creations.

Still on enforced rest I've not got a lot of quilting done  but have managed some. I've been able to finish off some socks I had on my needles,

I  made a new bed for the munchkins who are now not happy there isn't room on it for all of them so need to make a couple more. Nemo won first dibs lol

I managed to get another row added to this quilt which is now ready for the border and backing.

I love the autumnal colours in this

I treated myself this week to this little treasure,

 I need to bite the bullet and get some FMQ under my belt. I've started reading it and I'm enjoying it no complicated destructions as my grandson used to say :) Now it's time to dive in.

I've met some lovely new friends through Vicki's Grow Your Blog party and hope to do the same with this sharing. I love reading about the amazing talent out there.

Enjoy your weekend

Peg x

I'm linking with lily quilts

Grow your blog and a give away!

Hi
 my name is Peg and I am married to the wonderful Mr B, we have 3 grown offspring, 8 grandchildren and share our home with 4 Shih Tzus and 4 Lhasa Apso's, all rescue dogs. Along with my crafting I am one of the directors of a small rescue for small dogs. I am taking time out at the moment due to ill health.
This is my daughter and I on a girly weekend at our holiday home and a very young me knitting :)

The ever patient Mr B on a break from work with 4 of our munchkins.

I have been blogging since about 2005 and although I've gone through barren patches when I've not posted due to the demands of having a family and running a rescue I have thoroughly enjoyed my blogging experience.
I absolutely love making these

I have only been quilting for a few years, I've always enjoyed sewing and began in earnest when I was about 13yrs old. I was the 4th daughter in a family of 5 daughters, the sewing bug grew in all of us apart from the youngest. My Mother was a very accomplished sewer, curtains, cushion covers, clothes were always homemade and lasted a lot longer than shop bought. I did the same with my own children making theirs and my own clothes unless it was something that I definitely couldn't make. Quilting came about after I had taken part in a xstitch stitchalong I chose small samplers from the designer Lizzie Kate. When the samplers all returned to me I decided to make them into a wall hanging which included quilt blocks and borders

 I liked my wall hanging so much I decided to make this Prairie Schooler Autumn sampler into one also.

I love cross stitching also this is a sampler I made for a friends anniversary 

My lounge walls are covered with samplers which were my favourites to stitch but I also love to stitch the Mirabillia and Lavender & Lace beautiful fairies.

Mid summer nights Fairy

LL Celtic Noel

and I enjoy making these

I have rather a lot of stash for cross stitching, knitting/crochet and of course my quilting, some ladies collect shoes I collect stash :)

Why do I like blogging, well I enjoy talking to people, I enjoy spending time on my computer, I have learnt so much from fellow bloggers who have shared their talents in tutorials both on their blogs and through You Tube. Yes I've had the odd spammer but I just press the delete button and they're gone!

I have to be honest and say I've met some pretty awesome people out there in blogger land, I have had so much support and encouragement from them and have been able to give it back. They make me laugh, they make me cry when they're going through tough times, they inspire me and I am so glad I've come to know them.

To say a huge thank you for visiting my blog I am having my first GIVE AWAY

it is open to all bloggers new, old. Included in the give away is a  copy of Mollie Makes magazine, a pack of 15 new 18" x 6" pieces of Shirting all pressed and ready to cut out plus a pack of 2 Needle Grabbers for the hand quilters amongst us. All you need to do is leave a comment here on my blog saying you'd like to be included in the drawer. I will leave this open until February 15th to allow everyone the chance to be involved, all names will be put in the hat and then the winner picked out.

MY GIVE AWAY

I am so looking forward to visiting the blogs in my group and getting to know new friends, I hope you have enjoyed your visit and enjoy the blog party arranged by the lovely Vikki at 2bagsfull.blogspot.co.uk

Take care and enjoy your weekend wherever you are.

Peg xx

What a variation.

The day started out with the ground covered in a very cold white all over frost, visibility was down to a few yards due to a thick icy fog. By lunchtime the sun was showing her face and the temperature had risen. I even tried a few items of clothing on the line but they weren't impressed and asked if they could please have 1/2hr or so in the warm tumble dryer and promised to be quick. I gave in and credit to them they were dry under the 1/2hr time, folded and put away.
Later in the afternoon the weather decided we needed a smidgen of rain, for all of 2 mins, if you blinked you missed it! The other day it was extremely cold Mr B only works three days now he starts at 6am comes home at 9.30 am then goes back at 2.30 until 6pm. Some of the munchkins had been sleeping on his chair because its near the radiator and I sit well away from it lol.
He came in, removed them and sat down to drink his cuppa, this is what happened the other 4 decided to stay with me lol.



I have actually done a little bit of sewing, paper piecing without the papers using Heathers tutorial which you will find here at www.itssewthisnthat.co.uk


There are still quite a few to do as you can see by the pile on the bottom right of the photo, once these are added to those already sew together then the top will be ready for sandwiching and quilting. All the hexi's are handstitched so it's not a rush job but the colours are so pretty. The part sewn top and remaining fabric was for sale quite cheaply a few years ago on ebay, I was a complete novice then thinking ooh I'd love to complete it. I must admit I can't hand sew for long at the moment so it's not going to be finished in just a few days. It is an ideal project though as a change from crochet when Mr B enforces the hospitals rules about resting.
I'm not really sure yet what pattern the original quilter was aiming for as its a bit higgledy piddly. I need to lay it out on my bed I think to see if I can work out what her thoughts of pattern were. Whoever she was she has put a lot of patience and many hours sewing them together. She used newspaper to piece the others and I'm hoping when I take these out there'll be at least one piece with the date on. If I remember right it was the sellers Mum who'd passed away.
I have another one which is hand sewn but that's in diamonds and darker fabrics all cut from clothing worn by family members.

I was looking through some boxes the other day and found some socks I've knitted so will post about those tomorrow.

Well its 3am and I've got a hospital appointment tomorrow, or later today so I'd better try and get some sleep.

Take care

Hugs

Peg xx





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