Blogtoberfest day 31 - the ghosts of Halloween past

Since this is my last Flashback Friday and since my Chook isn't dressing up for Halloween this year I am being indulgent and revisiting our past dressing-up efforts. We've had some stoaters!

2003, age 1. The Wee Devil.

I didn't dress her up for her first Halloween when she was 3 months old so this is her first fancy dress experience. There were fluffy horns, too, but toddlers and many props = many things to chew!

2004, age 2. Fu Manchu.

My Dad brought this wee set of jammies home from a business trip to Hong Kong when Chook was a wee baby. That eyeliner took days to wash completely off!

2005, age 3. The Faiwy Pwincess.

A special request for the nursery party. "A faiwy pwincess wif a 'parkly dwess and a cwown on she's head." D'aaaw.

2006, age 4. Marie the Cat.

A small obsession with Maria from the Aristocats gives us this wee cutie.

2007, age 5. Trick or Treat the My Little Pony.

This might be my favourite. Well, second favourite. Made for her first Halloween disco at school the headpiece is a cornflake packet and some paper mache. I'm still disgruntled she didn't win anything. *g*

2008, age 6. The Cute Bat.

Amazing what you can do with an old brolly! And she was insistent on the "cute, mum please!"

2009, age 7. A Unicorn.

No, this is not the pony head recycled. I had chucked it out about 2 months before. Curses!! Still, I'd had practise making one.

2010, age 8. Harry Potter

A school challenge for an entirely recycled costume gave us this cute Boy Who Lived. Hedwig is a paper machied softener bottle and Harry's wig is an orange net with wool hooked into it. *g*

2011, age 9. The Goth Fairy.

Ah, yes. Growing up this year! This was a super comfy outfit, too.

2012, age 10. The Steampunk Adventurer.

So THIS is my favourite. And her only winning costume from all the school and Beaver/Cubs parties. Not that I'm counting. Or anything.

2013, age 11. Marceline.

The vampire queen from the Adventure Time cartoon last year. That was a surprisingly fiddly prop, that big axe bass.

So that brings me to the end of the Halloween costumes. *sad face* But there's still Comic Con! *yay* Also it's the end of the month and the Blogtoberfest challenge! Thank you for sticking with me, I am looking forward to a few days away from the 'puter and I bet you're all glad. *g*

Blogtoberfest day 30 - Thankful Thursday

Parents. We all have them in some sort of capacity whether you are lucky enough to still have them or have contact with them or not - we're not quite at the stage yet of cloning humans! Here are mine at their wedding 40 years ago.

Now I was quite old before I realised not everyone gets the same gig with parents. I was 20 when my then-boyfriend asked whose favourite I was. At my puzzled look he elaborated that he was his Mum's favourite and his sister was his Dad's. I was mildly horrified and stumbled over my "my parents don't have favourites!" reply and put it down to his family being a bit odd.  Of course, as a not-so-naive 40 year old I now know that, indeed, some parents DO have favourite children. And - even worse - some don't hide the fact!

I am constantly shocked by other people's families. We have a few things going on just now within my larger family. A wedding, a significant birthday, serious illness. And I have friends and colleagues going through a lot of the same things. What always stuns me is how unsupportive and downright selfish some people are to the people who should matter most and what a difference it makes when people DO have a thought outside of themselves. I'm particularly thinking of my uncle (my mum's brother) currently sharing the burden of Wee Granny's palliative radiotherapy with my Mum. She often says how lucky she is to have him.

But those familial bonds obviously don't magically appear or spring forth fully formed. They are like little saplings that need watering and nurturing to do more than just not die - duty will get you so far but it's a bit like existing and not living. And MY parents are awesome gardeners. Our saplings (my brother's and mine) are now a mature silver birch and rowan and we've added to our little wood with a beech, a willow and a wee holly tree. *g*

Mum and Dad being very glam at bro and sis-in-law's wedding in 2006.

So today I am thankful for winning the parental lottery. It really is pure luck who you are born to and my folks really mean it when they say we are the most important thing to them. So thanks to the universe and my Mum and Dad for being marvellous. Although lets get some more photos taken, eh? I have almost none of you both!

Blogtoberfest day 29 - a name badge

I've got another tick on my finish-along list! (original list is here, Katy) At the Muckhart Quilters last month we started name badges. Most helpful for people like me who will remember your phone number before your name! Of course, mine is a bit different.

I do like the pin cushion zombie voodoo doll, heh heh. It needs something around the name/bat area but so far I've come up empty. None of my vast supply of buttons or embellishments work. I am thinking little silver star buttons or something. But I'm happy to wait til inspiration strikes and in the meantime I am nicely identified!

P.S. Although hardly anyone calls me anything other than Lynz, I always introduce myself as Lyndsey because the shortened version gets misheard every time!! I think that's maybe why I embroidered the full thing - Lynz is shorter, I shoulda thought of that mebbes!

Blogtoberfest day 28 - borders on!

Check me! I actually got the borders on my Critters Churndash. This fabric has been sitting since early July but I just wasn't feeling it and I have learned to not force my sewing. So on Sunday when the urge struck? It was go, go, go!! 

The Cotton & Steel looks good, no? I was originally making a navy quilt and it wasnae looking very navy blue until those feathers went on. I did briefly consider mitred borders but having procrastinated for so long I didn't want to stall my enthusiasm!

Here's a closer look at some of my wee critters. Lots of birdies, some woodland creatures and a foxy.

I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out and I wasn't sure I liked it much. It's 74 inches square so juuuust about big enough for a bed.

Of course I can't finish it til I get backing. And what I fancy isn't out yet but I think worth waiting til December for. Priory Square roses. In gold!!

And I might snag some Wildwood for pillowcases coz it is such a good match.

But really it's stuck in a holding pattern for the next 6 weeks or so. Which is quite nice coz I have such a lot of other things to be getting on with!

Blogtoberfest day 27 - a little scrap

Yuup, this evening the stickin' an' gluein' stuff has come out of the cupboard! As some of you will know, my considerable scrapbooking is largely consigned to Chook's birthdays and Christmases these days. But I like to keep up with it and since there is another Christmas looming (sort of) I thought it was time to get out the paper.

I had a wee shop last time I had a wee splurge of scrapping and hadn't used any of the goodies. Ink and shimmer mist and the like. So these are a weird mix of very new and incredibly old stash. The "happy" Scenic Route paper here came from a Las Vegas store about 10 years ago when my Dad was there on business! Anyways, here's Chook's birthday in July. The present list is behind the photo and that blue border goes the whole way round the layout - my new scanner is not a fan of 12x12 it would seem. 

And here's my wee cool chick last Christmas. I was a bit heavy handed with the cosmic mist here - it's very shimmery! I kinda like it, though. Again, list of gifts is in the pocket behind the photo.

I actually got the borders put on the Critters last night! But it hasn't stopped raining today so photos are a total no-go. Mebbes tomorrow?

Blogtoberfest day 26 - a finish-along tick

I got something finished from my quarter 4 finish-along list. Go me!!

I asked for this checked fabric from Sarah in a "fugly" fabric giveaway a few years ago. She thought it was horrible, I disagreed. She also sent my wee skull tidy that still houses all my Perle cottons and the Single Girl quilt pattern that I still haven't sewn. One day! Sarah's a wee doll, though. Mad Auld Aunty Sarah from Shetland or the Wee Dude as she's known in our house. *g*

I bought the Christmas present fabric almost immediately because it was such a good match. And then they both sat. And sat. Well, my festive table mats finally bit the dust last year to refrains of "if only we knew someone who could sew!" from Spouse. Funny guy! So in the spring I purchased Essex yarn dyed in olive to be the main body of them. (The red and white Christmas bundle were an impulse buy from Hobbycraft a few weeks ago.)

And again they sat. But no more!!! And I made 8 - even though we normally don't exceed 5 for Christmas dinner. Just so I have them, y'know?

I do love how the Essex gives some texture and colour. And, yes, I ran out of fugly check on the last one! I kinda like having one different, though. There's a wee bit of the check pieced in.

The backs are all different. I started collecting holly fabrics when I first found quilting but some of them are a bit yuk! They make awesome backing, though, and I do like them all different.

I also had stitched on the bindings ready for hand doing the backs when I tried Lynne's awesome machine stitched binding. Rats. Or I would actually have done them on the machine. But a few nights hand sewing had them all stitched - it was just like a big quilt, really.

And in light of my handmade table I might go for new napkins, too. These would be cute, I think. Not too trendy but not TOO brown and traditional either.

So a tick on the list! And I have done the quilt maths this morning to get the borders on the Critters Churndash. Hopefully a wee session this afternoon will get that top done. Although I'm waiting til December to get the backing - it's not in shops yet!!

Blogtoberfest day 25 - little makes

I've had a couple of little makes the last few days inbetween fighting with the triangles quilt and procrastinating over knitting.

First up is a wee table square for my Mum. I have 2 metres of that Tula Pink Fox Hollow print and the green is perfect for her. I kept it really simple and bordered it with a low volume organic print and bound it in more Fox Hollow. A little hand "quilting" and job done!

I tried a new-to-me method of machine binding, too. Stitching to the back, folding and stitching to the front. I think this was coined by Lynne but was really shown to me by Claire. I admit it, it looks great, you were right dude!

And this morning I picked up my free drop spindle from the lovely Emma at my local yarn shop. Squeee! So as a wee thank you I whipped up a draw string bag in some precious Anna Maria Horner Echinacea.

She's on holiday this week so I didn't see her but I left the bag and got my spindle! Crafty people are so nice, are they not?

Blogtoberfest day 24 - flashback Friday

I don't watch a lot of telly. Normally maybe an hour in the evening of whatever Spouse is watching. But I do have a history with the old goggle box of watching shows not aimed at children.

My mum assures me this was a favourite when I was about 3! "Man from 'Lantis!!!"


Because children's programming in the 70's was miniscule my other favourites were The Muppet Show and this.


Then my Doctor when I was 6 or 7.


And then Friday nights watching this with my mum - I must have been 12 or 13.


And when I was 16 was anyone NOT  watching this?!


Heh heh. So how 'bout you? Any weird not-really-for-kids programmes you fondly remember?

*editing* I've been browsing YouTube and found 3 more classics from pre and early teenhood.

My great love of P7 when I was 11. We used to play this in the playground. I wanted to be Glynis Barber - that's my maiden name. Heh.


I LOVED St Elsewhere.


And this is the best tv theme ever written. Ever. Stewart Copeland, what a man.


No more. Promise.

Blogtoberfest day 23 - Thankful Thursday

I have a really hard working man. In fact, the only man I have ever met who works more hours than Spouse is my Daddy who had 2 jobs at one point in my childhood - and one of them was full time 12 hour nighshifts!

Anyways, friends will tell you of the things we have missed out on because Spouse was on call at the weekend or working late at night. And for a lot of years on call meant actually out working. Even today he is spending all day in a tattie field on an installation and all evening figuring out electricals and electronics on the computer. He is an industrial refrigeration engineer for those of you wondering - yes, farmers have massive expensive climate controlled sheds for their crops!

But all the hours have their benefits. Well, one benefit - overtime. And I have a canny spouse who has saved his overtime and since we live nicely but modestly (I have never had extravagant tastes) now we reap the rewards.

This is my wee house. We bought it when we first married 15 years ago and have never moved. Conventional wisdom would have had us in a 4 bedroomed detached several years ago but we don't need  the extra space and love the area. So we stayed put.

As of two weeks ago we own our wee house outright. So next month we have no mortgage payment to make. I'm incredibly proud of and yes, thankful for my man and his hard graft and financial foresight to take 8 years off our payment time. And more than a little giddy that we've done it!! I'm pretty sure it won't be our last mortgage (we have plans for a move once Chook is out of school) but to be 40 and paying off a house in full?! That's a bit cool.

Blogtoberfest Day 22 - a day in the life

I saw someone do one of these a few weeks ago and thought "brilliant idea!" I actually have a similar thing done in a scrapbook from Chook's perspective when she was at nursery and it's nice to look back on. It's supposed to be a photo an hour through the day. I'm far too trigger happy for that! Here we go.

7.30am.

Alarm goes off properly - I've already hit snooze twice but this is get up NOW time. Selfie in bed in the dark (I promise I'm in there!), let the cats out start nagging the wain to GET. UP!

8.30am.

Chookie has left for school (15 minutes ago - we are a slick operation in the morning) and I am ready for work and in a mad flurry of bed making, cat exercising and laundry putting on. Except there's nothing in the machine today since I discovered a leak under the kitchen sink at 8.20am. So I was cleaning that up - just a loose trap, I think. But we are running late now!

9.30am.

After a 12 minute walk into work here I am for the next 6 hours - I do 9am-3pm. But at least it's breakfast time! I'm not a brekkie eater until I've been up hours!! 

10.30am, 11.30am.

Yip. Still in the cell. Working, working, working making pretty and not-so-pretty specs. My boss has been very much in attendance this morning. Go 'way, I'm trying to take pictures!

12.30pm.

My colleague has arrived to do 2 of her 4 hours a week. Company!! Nice old man specs too, right?

1.30pm.

Luuuunch!! After I've done a spot of shopping for toothpaste and hair conditioner. I need a haircut. Love my raincoat, though.

2.30pm.

On my own again til I finish at 3. My first duckfaced selfie with my schmexy safety specs. Niiice.

3.30pm.

Made the walk home (both of us) and now it's housework and homework. Blech.

4.30pm.

Thinking about cooking tea. My least favourite job.

5.30pm.

Eating with the fam! Just Chook and I tonight, Spouse is working late. Easy tea and while not especially healthy, a wee treat on a wet, dreich day!

6.30pm.

Post tea clear-up finished and having a cuppa in my new fave hedgehog mug and a biccie. Or three. Nom. That's the lights on and curtains shut, too. Poo.

7.30pm.

Playtime!! Having stalled with the triangles I've moved on to a table square for my wee mum. Accompanied by my shadow.

8.30pm.

A small interlude from the sewing to have a shot of Spouse's new bumpy wee car (brilliant fun, VERY fast and nippy) and ended up in Lidls buying sweeties and other rubbish.

9.30pm.

Finishing off a wee table square with some hand quilting. Wee Temple cat sitting on my feet, Jones cat screaming for his tea!

10.30pm.

Last wee snack watching Monday night's "Gotham" with the spouse. And then off to bed.  

Same again tomorrow! Night night! X

Blogtoberfest Day 21 - triangles

So the past few days I have been playing with the bundle of fabrics I bought in Fiona's destash last month. 

I bought it with some gift cushions in mind but that has all changed now so it was goin' a begging. Well, shame let it go to waste, eh? I added to it with a few (mostly) organic cottons I had since they are around the same hand as the Art Gallery fabrics from Fi. I also bought a couple of new FQ's of Gramercy from the Village Haberdashery. The weather here today is atrocious with the remnants of Hurricane Watsisface so just imagine prettier blues and peach, yeah?

Now I'm really pleased with how it's come together but it's......unfinished feeling. As well as being on the small side - about 42 by 64 inches. I can't get any more triangles from my cuts but have lots of bits left over. Now all the modern versions of this equilateral triangle quilt I have seen go edge to edge like this. So naturally being perverse I'm going to add a border.

I think a skinny solid first or a tone on tone low volume type. And then something pieced. But what? I'm pretty sure I haven't the heart for little triangles all the way round but maybe piano keys? Any thoughts, people of the interwebs?