beautiful blogger award.

Look what Lara has awarded me! Apparently because I inspire her and make her laugh - I'm thinking more the latter than the former!!

The rules of accepting are
1. Thank the person who nominated you - Thank you Lara doll!
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award onto 5 bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fantastic.
4. Contact the bloggers you've nominated and let them know about the award.

Soooooo.........er.........

1. I am and have always been a tomboy. My childhood was spent falling off of rollerskates and bikes and out of trees. My Mum was so delighted to get a girlie-girl in the form of my Precious Wee Chookie! Finally she could indulge in the buying of pink and frillies!!

2. I almost joined the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot when I was 19 after passing the entry exams at 18. A sudden dose of cold feet (thankfully) put paid to that whole fiasco. Really - can anyone see me in the military?

3. I don't have a sweettooth - a peculiarity I've passed on to the Chook. I mean, we'll both eat sweeties and cakes but offer me crisps or chocolate? The crisps will win EVERY time.

4. I'm a bit of a coward over some supernatural things. I know, I know. I love vampires and will happily watch a monster movie but anything with ghosts in it? Nightmares for weeks!

5. When my Spouse and I first met? It was loathing at first sight. We obviously changed our minds over subsequent meetings! Or did we? Heh.

6. I'm a Spiritual Atheist. I actually had a bit of a revelation today over this. It's a term I coined to define my beliefs (to myself, I rarely discuss them with anyone) but while looking online for a description of what I think to put up here (purely laziness on my part, you understand) I discovered this website. Called the same and pretty much defining my thoughts. It's nice to know I'm not alone (I've been an Atheist since I was 16 but it has such baldly negative connotations with the idea that it means lack of belief in anything - which is not its true meaning) while still being individualistic.

7. I love bats. And weirdly, I don't think it's related to the vampire thing! They're just so cute and fascinating - their sonar is remarkable and I keep hoping we'll get them in our loft. We do see them flying about some evenings!

So, my noms. Right. I'm cheating and only entering 3 - lots of my favourites have already been nominated!

1. Mrs Wookie's Wanderings - a longtime scrapbooking friend who has the coolest outlook on life and the best blog posts.

2. DeeRoo Designs - a new friend from quiltland! Who also has a very cool life view (and cool kids!!)

3. Texas Freckles - I'm new to her blog but it's full of pretty stuff!

I'll edit if I think of another 2, promise!!

summa this and summa that.

I admit it, I've been putting off blogging on account of the whole keyboard drama - I've still not got one sorted for my tower. So this is me on the Spouse's laptop while he's out cleaning his car with a brief roundup of the last few days.

I made this wee chap for my Sony eReader on Friday while watching "17 Again" (aye, Mrs Wookie, I am a multitasker while handsewing!). It is based on a tutorial from the Moda bakeshop which only needed a few wee dimensional alterations since my reader is a different size from the Amazon Kindle it was designed for.


I don't get on with the leather flippy cover the reader comes with so mine is in a groovy bounce-proof condom (safety first!) with a screen protector but I wanted something pretty to cart it about in and knew when I saw that Japanese Little Red Riding Hood fabric through the week that it was destined for here. Love that gormless wolf!

Saturday morning is riding and the Chook was magnificent on the very tall and extremely pretty Miss Molly. Heels down, lassie!!!

We had some free ranging time with our boys this morning. They are much slower than our girls so we're happy letting them run about the floor but it's still almost impossible to get a good photo of them. I got lots of bums!! This is Zep's.

But I got one profile of pretty Wilson. Ignore the dust bunnies under the radiator if you please!!

And I spent the afternoon quilting Freddie's Pinwheels. It is done!! But I've not enough solid black for binding. So I need to shop before it's finished - pants!

I'm about to fling Chookie in the bath and commence stacking 30's reproduction coins. Yay!!

I've been shopping...

...so that's taken care of the next few evenings!

for Dolores and Pauline...

THIS is a waterfall cardigan. Lots of drape at the front, normally with a much shorter back. I love them with jeans coz they're just a bit smarter than a regular cardi. Although ones with buttons are hard to find so not a great cold weather garment!

pretty stuff

My March Scraptastic Bee block for Kristin. She wanted raw edge applique circles and sent the pears and the brown circles. There's another 3 blocks the same, all not made up so she can put them together with the other girls mini blocks. This will be an amazing quilt!

And see what I bought! Japanese imports with no purpose but I fell in love with them. Little Red may be getting stitched into something useful - plan is afoot!

Still no keyboard. I am heading into the loft to find my old tower one before this on-screen one gives me RSI!

Little Miss Grumpy.

Do you know there isn't a Little Miss Grumpy in the Roger Hargreave books? Obviously because only men are crabbit. Not so in our house yesterday!

I had a bad day. Long story short? Busy at work. No leeway given for amount of busy from stupid shops (a 3 day turnaround just ain't happening this week so STOP telling patients that it is okay!!) but I got paid. Woop!! Only I had massive trouble at the bank putting in wages cheque - all sorted 25 minutes later but since I only get half an hour for lunch? Not helpful. Couldn't find what I wanted for Papa's birthday even in Glasgow and then struggled to find a card with Papa on it. Seriously? Is it so weird to not have a Grandad? And then. Oh, the disaster. I've coveted a green waterfall cardigan in a local shop for about 3 weeks now. So, having such a rubbish day? I decided I was having it. I went into shop. And when I finally found it? It was in the plus size bit. I'm a 10/12 - the smallest they had was a 18/20. I'm talking circus tent on me. Grrr.

However, it's a new day today! I have a plan for Freddie's pinwheels (about to start basting!), the fence is all done (thank you Juliet for asking), the sun is out and I got a nice brown waterfall cardi for less than half the price of the green one. And it's my early day so come 12.30? I am outta here!!

flying in...

...and flying out. This on-screen keyboard is murder! So, here is the Chookie on wee fat Angus.

And off of wee fat Angus. Not a fall, end of lesson leading back to the yard.

You remember the easy back garden fence repair last weekend? We started the front today - it has not gone well. We may get it finished tomorrow before we go out for lunch. Harumph.

mother's day wall hanging

I made this for my Mum for Mother's Day. She is all accented in green in her kitchen just now and bemoaned the lack of a co-ordinating hanging for above her sink. Et voila! It is based on this brilliant tutorial here. Still no keyboard (I used Spouse's laptop yesterday) so short and sweet from me!

Mid Week Mundanities.

I really will try to do this once a week!! And I need a new photo - that's my old iPod and that t-shirt has fallen apart!

My general mood? Is sleepy! I'm having one of my bouts of insomnia currently - I'm blaming the cold I've had for weeks!! And work is crazy busy. So I am humpty.

What am I wearing? the boyfriend jeans (they've a hole in the knee - bollocks!) a navy dinosaur t-shirt (he is saying "ROAH!" !!!) and black socks.

What have I been watching? All finished with Being Human, loving Glee still and Stardust again with the Chook. It's just the best film!

What am I reading? Rachel Caine's "Morganville Vampires" series. Marguerite? I'm on book 3 - I think you might like them!!

What have I been listening to? My last 2 downloads are Yo-Yo Ma's Bach's Prelude (Cello Suite no.1) and *NSync's Girlfriend. So sue me. *grins*

What have I been creating? A Mother's Day very-mini quilt wall hanging for my Mum and a wee bag for her dressing table (I forgot to take photos but I'll be in her house tomorrow and will try to remember!) and Freddie's pinwheels.

plans

I had planned a mid-week mundanities post today but my keyboard is playing up again and this on-screen one takes forever. So a more wordy post tomorrow, maybe.

This arrived yesterday! Alexander Henry "Willow Grove" in chartreuse. It is destined for the backing of my repro coin quilt using these coins from Greta. Cute, eh?


And I've finished Freddie's pinwheel blocks. This isn't the final layout, I've moved stuff twice before I sewed them together. Just borders to do and then we'll need to figure out the back.

Am off to shop for a nice simple not wireless keyboard!!!

back garden show jumping.

Once we'd finished the fencing yesterday? There was some showjumping going on!



Daddy named the horse Sauchie (Sock-ie, and sometimes it has a soft CH sound) after the slightly insalubrious village next door to us (I get to say that - I grew up there!) and my camera memory ran out before I got the TER out of disaster. Ooops. Isn't my poor wee garden sad looking? Experts say we're about 4 weeks behind with all the cold weather - normally my herbaceous perennials are shooting all over the shop! And the lavender has definitely had it. Poo.

Happy Mother's Day, too, if you're a Brit! I got the most wonderful basket of house plants from my darling Chookie (in a keepable green and white basket!!) and the most fabulous home made pancakes with bacon and syrup in bed this morning. Saw my wee Granny and Mum, forgot to take photos (doh!) and am all alone since Chook is out rollerblading with friends and Spouse is at football. Peace reigns!! Have a lovely end to the weekend, all.

sunshine, fencing and us!

We've had glorious weather here the last week so this morning we decided the much long overdue fencepost fixing was going to take place. It actually wasn't such an arduous task once we'd started (we've had 3 broken posts for 2 years now!!) and I've painted the whole thing, too, so it looks grand. But look what the Chook did! It's a photo of me an' the spouse!!

Bringing the number of photos of us together to about 5. Not including wedding photos. He has a really weird camera smile (y'know like Chandler in that episode of friends?) and I think he's much better looking than this. Plus, I've not a stitch of makeup on and if you look closely? I'm covered in paint (it's even in my hair!!!) but I think we look happy, healthy and that's a lovely straight fence behind us!

chick, chick, chick, chick, chickeeeeen...

...lay a little egg for me!! The orange has gone, we're back to green coz the Easter stuff is out!!! I love the spring and I *love* Easter decorations. I've decorated our house since the Chookie was a baby - back when it was really hard to get nice Eastery things! Not the case, now!

The white and pink quilt hanging at the front here was a birth gift for the Chook from a childhood friend of my Mum. It's a Peter Rabbit panel, hand quilted and is a quillow - she has always loved it and I've a whole new appreciation for the work involved!!

This egg garland was one of the bits I picked up on our giant shopping and sushi eating expedition to Glasgow last month. Gotta love John Lewis!

A new bauble from my wee Mum - glittery daisies!!!

Spring Mickey and Minnie (I'm trying to collect them for every occasion - we're getting there!) and my wee Mum herself!

Now, the teaset was handpainted by Chook and was one of her winning prizes at the Bingo a couple of weeks ago. It's the cutest set!!

This tree was my first Easter purchase when Chook was a baby - it is somewhat shoogly this year and I suspect we'll need a new one for next year!

This, however, is my very specialest ornament. It was made by Chook at nursery when she was 3 (spot the scrapbooker - I've marked the back with the date!) and it gets hung every year. Although this year? It's been tucked in the daffodil basket with the mini books because I don't want it to get squashed or torn. It's becoming too precious!

And there you go! More frivolity and frills but I like having a pretty home. Sue me. *grins*

to quote Woody

See what I bought!! Sooz makes these and sells them in her Etsy shop (there's a linkie from her blog) and I've always thought they were the coolest things. Sooz somewhat generously put a full tutorial on her blog some months ago but there was no way I was going to get round to making one. So I was patiently waiting for her to make one for ME. Not consciously so, just one that was destined to come live with me here.

It's the coolest sewing organiser!! Designed by Sooz herself to fit over the arm of your seat. I'm really bad for needles getting shoved in the arm of the couch and for the little thread clippings getting stuck to everything AND losing my scissors down the side of the cushions. This solves ALL those problems!! While also having a cotton-not-roller-away-er (that's SO a word!) and needle and tool holders. And a pocket for stuff.
And then it all folds away to this. Cool or wot?
So in the words of Woody (the cowboy - not Allen, Guthridge, Harrelson or Woodpecker) "if you've not got one? Get one!!"

quilting - the next generation.

If you remember, the Chookie received some horse fabric from my wonderful Doll Quilt Swap partner, Wendy, and she was desperate to make a bag with it. So on Saturday out came the horses and she picked something to match from my stash (thanks, Sooz!!) and I remembered a pattern for the dead simple but very sweet friendship bag at P.S. I Quilt. It turned out so cute - look!

Now, she was insistent she do it herself. So I cut and pinned and she sewed remarkably straight seams! But then *gulp* she wanted to quilt it herself. So I was in charge of the foot pedal and she reckoned she could do the rest herself. Check this out!!

And when I asked had the other side had gone a bit wonky? I was told in no uncertain terms that she had been trying to write her name!

If you trace back from the Y? It's actually a darn fine attempt. Of course, she got fed up not long after and I had to finish it but still. As a first quilting project it's not bad, eh?

pony girl

Do you like the "not MORE photos, Mum!" face? But she's mostly kitted out! Mum and Dad bought her hat (they are expensive!!) and all we need is her own body protector and we're done! She borrows one from the school meantime. Do you like her pink chaps? The long things on her legs - it's instead of wearing traditional knee high boots, apparently it's easier to feel the horse under you when you have ankle boots on with the more pliable chaps. Did she HAVE to go for pink, though? *sighs* See the washing I'm going to have to do! Her jodhpurs are actually navy with pink checks so she really does all match. She wasn't so really despondent about the photos, honest. She looks like a poor wee waif here! The monkey. And hasn't my poor wee garden had a battering with that weather? I need to get out to fix that fence but it's too wet and too cold. Come on, spring!!!

whatcha think, Tallulah?

The start of Freddie's pinwheel quilt. Do you approve? A tiny part of me hopes you don't like it - I'd quite like to keep it!

Granny Bett's quilt

So my beloved Wee Granny turns 87 in April and has been dropping not-so-subtle hints to my Mum about a quilt. Now she is tiny and she has a tiny little suite (you want to see my 6"2' brother folding himself into her and Papa's armchairs!) so I made tiny little quilt for her lap.


It's her living room colours and the idea is it's so small (28 x 39in) she won't get herself caught up in it and trip but it will cover her knees and legs. Or her shoulders.

The pattern is Garden Trellis from the Jelly Roll Quilts book by the Lintotts. It was super quick to put those blocks together and they were perfect for my half jelly roll. All done - and i'm 6 weeks early! I just need a name - suggestions? And see my slightly eccentric traits? They come directly from her so humour is welcome! She gets "congrats on not being dead yet" type birthday cards - one in a million is Wee Granny!!!

*Thanks to Sooz, this is now the "not pushing up daisies yet!" quilt. Hee!*

completely batty.

There's a post here about a rather cute wolf bought in a toy shop in Stirling. Well, I was in the same shop with my folks and the Chookie on Saturday. See who my Mum bought me.
Chook has christened him Fred and he is the cutest vampire bat, is he not? I expecially love his spider-skull lining on his wings (they velcro closed when he is sleeping) and his faux-hawk hair.

Me auld Mam knows me well! He was far too cute to be squashed in my pocket or in my bag on the keys - so he is my new handbag ornament. I am batty. Really. I was quilting yesterday (my Granny's very traditional wee quilt) singing Megadeth's Peace Sells at, well, at megadeath volume. Talk about a contradiction. *grins* I like being weird.