General Chat

Linda it sounds as if you were too exhausted to sleep. It is horrible when you go all through the night with little sleep. I hope after your daughter is back you can get back into your own routine again.

Joan :-D It comes to something when we actually feel excited at going shopping doesn't it. I am the same if somebody is taking me out.

I did actually spend about half an hour down the garden this morning, I was sorting out the compost bin, putting veg peelings etc in and turning it over and emptying some pots that had old soil in and nothing wlse. It was quite invigorating to be out there. and I was able to see your snowdrops which are spreading nicely now.

Good afternoon to you all.
Another dry & calm day here but cold, if it hadn't been so cold it would have been "nice" weather for the time of year ! I'm so itching to get outside & tackle some long needed garden jobs before they get too difficult for me to deal with.

Linda, well done on making up the pelmet, & I agree with Ann in Glos re looking after your grandaughters, your daughter & son in law are VERY lucky to have such doting & caring grandparents.
Not being able to sleep is awful isn't it, short snatches are no use, I am not sleeping well at all & I usually see daylight coming in before I relax & drop off

Re the ipad, I watch it when sitting in my chair in the bedroom (not when in the bed) but not sure what you mean by the "blue light".
I also need main the bedroom light on when wathing it.
I have to say it has helped pass some time when struggling to get to sleep.

Shopping day tomorrow, looking forward to seeing & chatting to other folk doing the same, LOL.

Hope evryong is well, take care.

Joan.

It is cold here as well Ann.
I had a terrible nights sleep. I didn’t think that I slept at all, but I suppose that I must have been having short naps. I didn’t go into a deep sleep until about six am :-(. I woke up suddenly at 7.45 am worried because the radio wasn’t on, it normally comes on at 7am. I thought that OH hadn’t woken up in time to drive Eve to school, but I realised that her wasn’t there. He had switched the radio off as soon as it came on, so it wouldn’t wake me. The next thing I knew , it was 10.45 am
I don’t feel too bad, all things considered. I just have one more play session with Esme before her mum is back. She has just sent me a photo from Frankfurt airport, so is on her way. If she gets out of Manchester airport quickly, she should be back at 8.35pm. Hopefully she will be on that train, if not, it will be another hour

Good morning all, dry and dark and 3 degrees here. This winter seems to be sooo long. It is so cold out I can't even bring myself to go into town on the bus. Never mind, there is plenty to do at home while it is not gardening weather.
Linda that sounds an interesting way to volunteer. and I am sure it is worthwhile to the people who attend the activities.

Another day of looking after the girls is over. Mummy comes back tomorrow night about 8.30 thank goodness.

I used to do a lot of volunteering, but since I came here I haven’t done anything. I have been looking for things to do, so this afternoon, I went to volunteer at the Memory Cafe. It takes place once a fortnight and is aimed mainly at those with memory impairment. They do a different activity every time. Today they were playing a Valentine bingo game. I could only stay for half of the time because of the girls, but they were very understanding. I helped an old gentleman who kept telling me that he was in the Royal Navy :-S

I think Mummy )and Daddy) are very lucky to have you to look after their children for them.
Pleased that you got the pelmet finished.

I looked on Facebook marketplace and discovered that I could have bought a selection of electric sewing machines locally for between 20 and 30 pounds, but I have now finished the pelmet.

My daughter has gone to Germany for work for a few days. Originally she was going this morning, but she had to go last night because they had arranged an important meeting too early for her to get to. She had to stay overnight at Manchester airport, but get up at 3.30 am. She was in the Radisson which has an inside walkway which opens straight into the terminal.

Esme is not at all pleased that mummy will be away for three sleeps. We went and had dinner with them yesterday afternoon and OH took her to the station at 5.30 pm. We stayed until about 7.30 when Esme was in bed.

OH had to get up early in order to drive Eve to school, we will both go this afternoon for when Esme gets home and stay until bed time. No doubt I will be playing schools, but she can help me make dinner as she likes chopping vegetables.
Roll on Wednesday evening when mummy will be back.

Well - no sooner said than done!
I phoned my daughter, and she and my grand-daughter are coming to pick up the sewing machine later this afternoon.

The cover was filthy, so I've scrubbed it well, and it's now drying out.

My parents had a treadle and I used that, but then bought my own electric machine. It is a shame that is started to jam all of the time, probably an easy fix, but too late now.
When I lived in Thirsk, someone I knew was a very keen quilter. She had about a dozen old hand machines and used to have get togethers where we all joined small squares together , then quilted them to make cot covers for the neonatal unit at the local hospital. We also made quilted shopping bags which she sold in aid of the local hospice. They were all made using the very old hand machines .

I must admit the electric always seemed about to run away with my fingers under the needle. I could never work out how hard or not to put my foot on the pedal. I much preferred my Mums hand singer machine. And yes Joan, made lots of those lovely skirts late 50s. Made a lot of the chidren's clothes as well.

My sewing days began a long time ago using my mams Treadle sewing machine when I was about 12yrs old, I loved using that sewing machine.
By the time I was 16yrs old I was making a lot of things & was never short of those fabulous 1960's flared skirts & hooped petticoats.

Soon after I got married I obtained a Singer hand sewing mahine & it was well used for one thing or another, I was in my 50's before I purchased an electric mahine but it was never used very much & eventually I gave it away.

I much preferred the old treadle to the electric one.

Joan.

I shall have to overcome inertia and get it out of the cupboard and see if anyone wants it. thanks for the nudge. :-D

Ann, I had an electric machine which I used all the time, but it was very heavy and it got to the point where I could no longer lift it on to the table. I no longer made things anyway, and repairs were mostly done by hand, so I offered it on Freegle. It was snapped up and gone within a week - and the person who collected it carried it down the stairs!! :-)

Well done Linda, sounds as if it will soon be hanging up.
AG I am the same as you, I have an electric sewing machine sitting in a cupboard, only been out a couple of times since we moved here 32 years ago. It probably doesn't work now anyway. Not sure what to do with it.

Well done with the pelmet, Linda!

I too used to make all my own curtains, pillowcases, etc, and a lot of the children's clothes before they were old enough to object to having home-made clothes.

At that time I had a hand-operated Singer.
Then I inherited an electric sewing machine about 25 years ago, and sold the Singer - and I WISH I hadn't! The electric machine just sits in a cupboard, and has only seen the light of day a couple of times.

I haven't done any major sewing projects for years, but always do alterations and repairs by hand these days. Even though the actual sewing is slower, it's just easier than getting the machine set up. And I can sit in a comfortable chair with my feet up while I do it!

In fact, now that I think about it, it's probably time to offer the electric machine to family members, or sell it if they don't want it.

Good evening everyone. I have nearly finished the pelmet. I took it to my daughters and we held it up to the window to decide where she wanted it ruching. I had already sewn the tape onto the middle where it is definitely going to be ruched. She decide to just have the ends ruched as well, so I need to sew the tape there. It will only take half an hour , but I will leave it until the morning when the light is better.

In the past, I used to make all my own curtains, valances, cushion covers etc. Now, I just buy them :-D

I won’t buy another machine Ann, as it really wouldn’t get used.

Afternoon all
Lovely sunny day here but it is freezing outside in the easterly breeze.

However daughter did 2 loads of washing and it is out hanging on the line drying nicely. I have been out with 3 towels but certainly didn't hang about as my hands got cold very quickly.

I can see some frost in the shade too!

At least its good to get some fresh air to the clothes and bedding for a change rather than drying in the tumble all the time.

Joan, glad you got the IPad sorted so at least you can use to pass the time in the evenings.

linda, you have your hands full there with all the sewing by hand. Hope you get it finished soon

Hope everyone else is well and ok.

Florence in the hebrides

You are getting on well Linda, well done. will you eventually get another machine?

The pelmet is coming on well, I would have been further on if my daughter had thought to buy a bobbin of red cotton when she bought the bits to make it. I had a small amount in my sewing box, but had to go into town to buy some more. Luckily I found a shop with had some. She had bought the large stiff curtain tape to go across the top, but hadn’t thought how we were going to pull up the ruched parts. I need some of the thin curtain tape for that, but have had to order it from Amazon. I have Prime, so it will arrive tomorrow, that won’t hold me up. I have stopped for tonight because my fingers are aching, pushing a needle through thick curtain header if hard work. I could have done the whole thing in half an hour if I still had my sewing machine. I threw it away before we moved because it wasn’t working properly. I suppose that I could have found a repair shop, but it probably would have cost more to have it mended than it was worth.

I am pleased that you got your IPad fixed Joan, I would be list without mine. I don’t really use it in bed because the blue light from the screen is supposed to stop you from sleeping. I do read every night in bed using my Kindle. It is very light to hold and is easy on the eyes

Hi to all.
A nice bright sunny day for us today, just a pity is so cold, too cold for me at least so no going into the garden yet !

Not doing very much indoors, not in the mood for household tasks really, seem to be just eating a trying to sleep is all I do at the moment !
I did go out yesterday with my daughter to get my weekly shop, it was nice to get out for a while & catch up & have a news with other shoppers & Morrisons assistants but at the same ttime I was needing to get bback home !

I had to call in the cavalry this morning to help sort out my ipad.
Some time ago our youngest daughter gave me an old ipad when I was in hospital & I continued using it when I came home for when i was in bed & unable to sleep !

After a while it packed in & the same daughter bought me another for my recent Birthday/Christmas, I only use it when unable to sleep & was intentdng to use it last night but I could only get the sound out of it, the adverts had pictures but the actual programmes was sound only.

Any way daughter sorted it for me this morning & all is well again thank goodness, I have got used to having it available to help pass the time on the long sleepless dark nights !.

Linda, it sounds like you have got yourself a mammoth task having to hand sewing the pelmet.

Joan.