A tale of three mugs

Once upon a time I went shopping. I found three big coffee mugs, beautiful, restful, comforting mugs with great big handles. I used these mugs as inspiration for my kitchen re-vamp, choosing cupboards and worktops and tiles which matched the mugs (didn't realise that until later, when I unpacked the mugs after redecorating).

Each mug has a word written on it. Hope, Dream, and Imagine.

My Imagine mug shattered a year ago. Maybe just as well, since I'd never have imagined everything the past twelve months would bring.

This morning I made coffee in my Dream mug, and watched as the contents dribbled through a large crack in the side and covered the work surface in hot coffee. Quite symbolic too actually; my dreams for this past year have not included quite a bit of the reality we've face.

But I still have my third mug. Imagination has been shattered and Dream has been chipped away, but Hope lingers on. My Hope is on the Rock, my eyes on the Cross. Tia

So tired

I just typed out a long, whinging, rambling, self-pitying rant. And read it back, and it bored me reading it. So I have deleted it.

Suffice it to say,
I am tired.

Mog has finished the year more disabled, more fragile than she was last year.

Goldy has finished the year more dead than she was last year. I keep seeing little unexpected reminders of her. Not the photos, I'm used to them and I like them. Not the cards (which I must put into an album somewhen, somehow), but smaller things. - a hairband she used to wear, a piece of equipment she used to use A phrase which was one of her favourites, now being spoken by Little Fish. Speaking to people I don't see very often, and having to break the news all over again. Speaking to people offended because they weren't invited to the funeral. Speaking to people afraid to talk to me incase I mention her. Speaking to people who want me to mourn their way. Speaking to people who think I should be over it by now, and to other people who think I'll never get over it and seem to think any kind of normality is irreverent.

Little Fish has surgery in two weeks' time.

I am tired. And sad. And ache. And am going to bed.
Tia

You can't have your cloth and cut it.

But I really wish you could.

I have a love affair with fabric. Until a couple of years ago I believed that the right way to purchase fabric was to identify a need, find a pattern, and then buy the right cloth for the job. I had the odd stash builder when remnants were too good to miss, and when projects changed halfway through leaving me with tatty remains opportunities for patchwork.

And then one day it all changed. I discovered the joys of fabric shopping on Ebay and found Wazoodle. And then our local fabric shop had a sale. Not just any sale, a mammoth sale with everything in the shop reduced by at least 50%. Everything. Patterns (really wish I'd stocked up on more of them at the time), fabric, notions. I think it's safe to say I went a little overboard.[a small selection]

Thankfully this fabric explosion awareness of the joy of stash building happened at the right time, and Bob was able to build around it.
These cupboards take up the back wall of the new sunroom. Deeper than the average cupboard, the side cupboards now store all that fabric, patterns, notions, books, everything else I didn't have space to dump anywhere else vaguely sewing related. The middle doors fold right back and hold my machines
Those shelves underneath are extra narrow and will eventually take all my threads and serger cones. One day. When Bob has finished using the sunroom as his own private workroom and finished tiling the kitchen.

It's a lovely room. Or will be. Just now, it's housing a collection of large and heavy tools, as well as doubling up as a drying room. But there's a spot all set aside for my rocking chair, there's a long deep bookcase for all my crafty books and knitting patterns, there are sockets galore for ironing board and inspirational music and general grown-up playtime activities. The long term plan is that this room will be both my sewing room and my sitting room; it opens off the playroom so the girls and their friends can create mayhem enjoy themselves in a way only children can, whilst my own friends and I sit in relative peace next door, in touch with the children but able to enjoy coffee safely. I can't wait.

Meanwhile just for now it is mostly draped in dustsheets, and I creep in in the evenings to think about all the things I'll be able to do in there when Bob has moved on. And look at all the fabric, and try to decide what to do with it all. Lots of it is easy - I have a large bolt of denim which gets used whenever we need emergency trousers (happens more often than you might think), pre-quilted batik which ends up as sleep sacks, yards of brushed cotton for bibs, and oodles of fabric I liked well enough to buy but am equally happy to see disappear made up into clothes or gifts for friends. Some of it is harder - what do you do with ten yards of bright red sweatshirt fleece if you don't want to make sweatshirts or jogging bottoms? But some of it I can't bear to chop up - what do I do with this? Just stored it takes up space and will gradually deteriorate. I have 8 yards of this
It is beautiful. Suedey - I think it's moleskin. Those leaves are each about an inch across and loose. Originally I thought I'd make myself a Christmas pinafore out of it, but I think I'd end up looking like an overstuffed sofa. It's not suitable for children's clothing (pattern too large), not strong enough for upholstery. I like to pull it out and stroke it, then put it away again. But that's not really what it's for. Any ideas?

Tia

And the rain it raineth every day

Poor Tom's a-cold.
Poor Tia has a cold, as does Little Fish, after our flooded out trip to Tesco yesterday. A happy discovery for us though; it is indeed possible to run a Tesco trolley up the ramps into our WAV (Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle); made for a much drier unloading. We did get the occasional odd look though.
Yes, we returned the trolley - or I did; Little Fish sat in her chair and guarded the shopping.

Home James and Little Fish continued to perfect the art of unloading the dishwasher.
Now if I could just get her to reach a little further, to unshuffle the drawer.
But I'll take what help I can get; and she's certainly very keen!


Meanwhile I took advantage of the fact that it was cold and wet and we had done our duty by leaving the house to go shopping and decided I deserved thisTrina, this is a genuine Pork Pie. And here's the insideYum. Seriously delicious! And just right to chase the chills away. Little Fish however preferred the apple sauce. She's eating it by the bucketload at the moment - wonder how much counts as an overdose?

More rain today. A very lazy day today in fact; Mog trundled off to school and Little Fish and I pootled about inside - she didn't get dressed until 11.30 and was very happy just playing with her toys. I'm working on persuading her to put them away as well as take them out; this is a frustrating process because as soon as she sees something, that's what she wants to have, now, immediately, without any kind of discussion or argument. So I pass her whatever I was attempting to put back in the box and move to the next toy on the floor, at which point she scatters the original one and grabs that instead. Repeat ad nauseum.
Tia

I've been tagged!

Seven things you might not know about me.

1. I used to be able to play the viola. Don't think I could do it now - I borrowed my uncle's viola to learn and he later sold it to buy a piano for my cousins. I do regret not finding the money to buy it from him when he was selling it - it was a beautiful instrument with a lovely tone. I suspect my neighbours are grateful though!

2. As a child, I organised my books into a library, had a book recording them all, and used to lend them out to friends. These days my shelves look more like this:

3. When I went to college age 18, people thought I was 30. I only lasted 6 months of a 4 year course. I am therefore the only child of my parents not to have an undergraduate degree; I am additionally the only cousin and the first in two generations not to have one. I do however have post-grad qualifications, which nearly make up for this in the eyes of those to whom it matters (not me!).

4. When I was 9, my family moved to California for a year. This gave me a lasting love for blueberry syrup (not available here), peaches and cream instant porridge (also not available here), peanut butter and jelly (again, unavailable here), and thick american pancakes (which I can make here, phew!). I guess I'm a breakfast girl!

5. We spent the last three months of that year camping, and camped our way up to Canada, down to Mexico and back. Good times.

6. I have been Baptised twice, once as an infant and once as an adult. Does this mean I get two places in heaven reserved for me?

7. I cannot tie shoelaces properly. I use a funny kind of double thumb knot which works but isn't correct, and I didn't learn how to do that until I was ten or so. I still can't tie a bow the "proper" way.

OK I tag Trina and Tina, Lauren and Laura. Mainly because I like the way their names sound together!

Why those tins will stay empty

She thinks they're great. I'm still thinking there must be something I can use them for.
Noises off as I post this: Little Fish has emptied the cutlery rack from the dishwasher into the spoons drawer. She has decided that completion of this task gives her ownership of the spoons drawer (I thought it was a cutlery drawer, and had more than spoons in it, but what do I know?) and is busy shuffling the spoons (some of which look remarkably like forks and knives (no not sharp ones) to me) around. Periodic silences as she pootles away from the drawer to find me, then heads back to the drawer to shuffle some more.


Remember the picture at the bottom of yesterday's post? The one with the swingseat on its own piece of decking? Here's how it looks after Bob and Mate have spent the day improving thingsI told you he was a perfectionist. It's not just the extra step, look closely at the edges and compare them with the ones which I thought were ok yesterday.

Today's appointment was rather more successful than yesterday's. They were expecting us, which is always a good start. First job at this appointment is always a weigh-in. I have been complaining about this for years. As Mog cannot sit or stand independently the only way to weigh her has been for me to stand on the scales and be weighed myself, then to stand there again holding her, and subtract my weight from our combined weight. A process which has me holding a wriggling child and involves my weight being shouted about the room as the nurses double check their mental arithmetic. Not dignified. Every appointment, I start my little spiel about how inappropriate this is. This time, as I started, they listened, and then grinned and brought out their new mobile hoist with built in scales. Hurrah!

The Dr was waiting for us and collected her notes from the nurse as we were hoisting Mog about - a huge change as normally we wait for hours - if I tell you that our appointment was at 10 and that I packed a lunch for the girls then that should give you an idea of our usual wait.

On through to the appointment and we have decided to try to withdraw one, possibly two, of Mog's many medications (the many medications of Mog might make an amusingly alliterative blog entry one day, failing that I'll just try to say it three times quickly). So now we're on seizure watch for the next few months. It'll be a very slow withdrawal; the aim is to have Mog off the medication by the time we next see her neurologist which will be in six month's time.

All this and only an hour's parking to pay for. A good day.
Tia

IKEA in pictures for Alesha

These boxes are BARNSLIGThe pink ones are fabric covered card, and are STRIKT. We went for pink for our princess, but they also come in beige, chocolate, and lilac.

The 50ml syringes are in the tin Mog's new boots came in (no photo of the boots as she's in school and I'm not!).The princess box on the right has Mog's incontinence supplies in - it didn't come from IKEA but was a gift last Christmas. Mog's special formula milk now fits into the bottom of her wardrobe, because everything which didn't belong to her is now in one of these boxeswhich are SAMLA and have rather handy castors on the bottom. They will be dumped stored in the garage on the new shelving Bob built last week, and I have enough of them to store all the spare feed and incontinence supplies too, just bringing out one pack at a time instead of having a months' worth or more kicking about the house.

This is Mog's new lampshade, or will be when I have managed to get it installed.It is a KAXIG pendant lamp. And will go beautifully with her overall princess theme and castle. The one thing we failed to get was a CD rack to go under her new CD playerwhich looks pretty good at the edge of her mural. Note to self: get those cables tidied up properly. The rack will ideally fit down the right hand side of the wall and cover the gap.

Then we also bought these smaller GLIS boxesand these magnetic tins
which I'm not entirely sure what to do with! Sorry, can't find the tins online.

Finally, a pic for Trina tooHere is the newest section of fencing Bob has built.

In less pictorial news, having confirmed our appointment yesterday, I got up long before dawn to get Little Fish ready to go. Mum took time off work to wait for the school bus with Mog, Little Fish had a little weep at the earliness of the hour, but we did nevertheless manage to leave on time, find the perfect parking space, and get to the outpatient's department in plenty of time to grab an Xray before our appointment.

So I suppose it was inevitable that the secretary could find no record whatsoever of Little Fish's appointment, telling us instead that we had an appointment on the 15th. Now this is when Mog has an appointment with the same Dr, so I suspect someone has helpfully combined both appointments for us. That much makes sense. What does not make sense is not bothering to inform us (or the appointments department) of the change in plan.

We drive home, steaming. However as we get towards home I realise I can now drop Little Fish off at school for the morning, and therefore have two hours to myself a whole week earlier than I thought I would. What will I do with all this free time? The laundry? The rest of the tidying up from yesterday? Or pour a nice cup of coffee and catch up online for a bit? I'm guessing the appearance of this posting will answer that for you all!

If anyone has suggestions for what to do with the magnetic tins and GLIS boxes I'll be interested. We're now looking for a nice shallow CD rack still, and some sort of storage solution for the bathroom. Mission organise has begun, one room at a time.
Tia