AI is Nuts!

I am tired of people, with little knowledge of crafts and the amount of time they can take, going gaga over images of cute grannies decked out in crocheted garments alongside their car or motorcycle also wearing crocheted stuff, and then suggesting, in all seriousness, that I might like to create such a garment. This type of AI example seemed to flood my now gone social media sites.

Today this find is on Nancy's Notions, once a very reputable place to go for information. While a gem in the AI genre, this statement will likely have the fabulous late Nancy Zieman extremely perplexed, along with concern from health and safety experts.

"Position your fabric under the needle, aligning the starting point of your stitching with the desired location on the fabric. Gently rock the machine back and forth while guiding the fabric, allowing the needle to create the stitches. Maintain a steady rhythm and avoid jerky movements to achieve smooth and even stitches."

This is part of an instruction in a free motion quilting article and clearly the reason I have failed with free motion quilting!!!

And before you know it, it is Saturday again!

During the last 18 months when I was "not working, not retired" then suddenly "retired" (due to illness) the weekdays and weekends melded together.  Sometimes I needed to see the neighbours' rubbish or recycling bins out on Sunday night to realise the next day would be Monday or have the kids organise to come from town to stay, to be in tune with which day it was.

The last two weeks have been quite different with travelling to town for radiation.  It was blissful this morning to wake and realise it is Saturday.  That feeling of knowing there are two days when I can stay home, sew or knit or read or garden, (raining so now unlikely) without interruption.  No radiation for two days, no 2 to 2.5 hours driving (traffic dependent) for a five minute appointment.  (it takes longer to get changed in and out of the gown and the bed adjusted than the 6 zaps of radiation take)

During my working life weekends were often crazy, kids, housework, supermarket, garden, mending, however, they were pretty much in my control and looked forward to. Clearly after treatment I need a scheme to reclaim the specialness of a weekend.

Saturday of Easter

It turned into a crazy day, unexpectedly the kids arrived a day early.  Mad panic to make the bed and extend dinner, bake cookies and generally tidy up.  

Loving the pansies that have replaced the summer petunias in my pots.  Once I was not a fan of the multi coloured pansies but as I have aged so has my appreciation of their cute faces.

Good Friday

What a rainy day!  Autumn rains are a good time to have seeds in the ground and this year I managed to sow a cover crop (oats, mustard and lupins) that will be chopped at ground level and help with conditioning the soil. (sand!)  I sprinkled more generously than the recommended weight.  I must have known the pukekos  and sparrows would be keen for a feed. 

I have other vege seeds that have sprouted but now the nights seem to have cooled their progress may be slow. 

This tray, ghastly plastic that once was once a cherry container, has a lid which is closed at night, becoming a mini hot house. This seed raising mix was like wood chips not a fine mix.  I will not buying that brand again. It has spring onion (the direct sowed ones are thriving not these), broccoli, lettuce and kale. These seeds courtesy of the supermarket promotion last year. They come enclosed in little tissue sections and generally you get six or seven plants.  I think the promotion is aimed at children but as we shop there already I am happy to receive them.

These are clove scented dianthus and I only need one plant for the seeds to have paid for themselves!  They are unfussy and our conditions, sand and gales, do not seem to upset them.

A New Year

The last 25 years of my working life, when I was at the height of my career,  I always thought of 1 April as being the start of the new year.  The time for new budgets, reviews of the previous year's business, accounts and much more. I transferred that to my personal life, less about resolutions more about action!

This year should be no different but it certainly is.  Day four of radiation was completed today, and if anything is going to shock you into thinking about the new year and life it is cancer.  It has been a long journey since the diagnosis last year.

Each day of this journey I have made sure I complete a positive task. It is easy to slip back to too much surfing or phone scrolling.

Today I started the double crochet rows on the small blanket I started last August when I was ill with shingles.  I planned to finish it and store it for a gift, however, I will be a grandmother in a couple of months so it needs to be finished😀  I had been given a Nancy's voucher when I left work and as I really needed no more fabric (Unless I know specifically what I want, I try to restrain myself!) so I bought the most gorgeous fine yarn, 50 percent wool and 50 percent mohair.  It is beautiful to work with and not at all "over" fluffy like the ghastly mohairs I had worked with in the past. (probably in the 1980s!)

It is a long time since I worked with Blogger, hopefully this post works! 

Day 2 of lockdown

Day 2 of lockdown

Snapchat just in from my sister.  Today's delivery to my parents who are in their eighties.  Glad to see she has prioritised brandy and home grown and home made raspberry jam.

Day 1 of lockdown

Day 1 of lockdown 

Life goes on!