March and still not walking

My feet are still bad with eczema so I can't walk far. We managed to go to Tidworth to see the new arrival, did I mention that Matthew James has arrived weighing 8lb 14oz so he is keeping up the tradition. D-i-L is just fine although tired.

January! how did that happen?

So there I was setting myself up to Journal my Christmas with Shimelle and all the other scrappers and then we all fell before the onslaught of a virus. It started with the youngest who had a sniffle for a day or two and then a real cough and cold that kept her at home for a week.
She was generous enough to share this, giving it first to her Mummy and then to Grandpa. They both spent several days dragging themselves around before they admitted that they needed to stay in bed for a day or two. In the meantime the youngest was recovering fast so it was just as well that grandma and daddy were avoiding infection - so far. As the first two began a slow recovery Grandma succombed and spent a day wrapped up in the Better-maker blanket on the settee. Mummy and Grandpa confused things by getting a secondary chest infection and these both required antibiotics and vitamin C. Grandma was pretty soon on the road to recovery when Daddy decided that he could join in and he sank into infectious misery and lay on the settee for far longer than anyone else before he too was on the mend.
Then it was Christmas Eve, the countdown was on zero and the man in red was due to arrive. We had been tracking him with NORAD all day. The youngest went off to bed with her sack and after a long think she handed the sack to her mother and said
"You can put this downstairs mummy, I don't want a strange man in my bedroom - I do like Santa though mummy."
Christmas was lovely. Very relaxed, even though people popped in to see us unexpectedly the day was happy and carefree. Dinner was successful inspite of the turkey being reluctant to cook. I remembered that it was Scrap your day and so I kept taking photographs.
Boxing day was sheer delight. Eldest son and D-i-L came for lunch and we had such a marvellous time. They went on to visit with his dad and we sank into a relaxed stupor in front of the TV. The rest of the holidays passed in a happy blur and now we are into January and the weather is cold and wet and for some reason people in UK seem to think that this is a wrong thing. They seem to think that because they have California weather on the TV all the time that we should not have Winter. They use water like it is going out of fashion and then complain when it rains.
People say "Goodness it's cold!" I say "It's Winter, that should always be cold" and they look at me as if I am sprouting a second head.
These are the same people that cried in the street when Princess Diana died, even though they didn't know her they behaved as though she was the love of their life and wept with beating of breast and tearing of hair - and I think all of this is because we are told that we should express our feelings. So if you don't really feel anything except sympathy for the nearest relatives you feel guilty because all those around you are so obviously profoundly distressed at their loss.
It happens when someone is killed in a road accident. Suddenly there are teddybears encased in polythene bags strapped to the nearest lampost and bunches of flowers tied to railings. The fact that they placed by people who probably had only a tenuous link to the victim is irrelevant. Visible mourning is the fashion of the moment with all its vulgarity.
My cousin Michelle came to visit last week and we spent a happy couple of hours making Christmas Tags and cutting bits off used cards to make new ones. She is coming again and we will make more for charity and then we intend scrapbooking together. I am really looking forward to that.

Down in the Dumps

I am not having a good November even though nice things have happened. For some reason the hard skin on my feet has been getting worse over the last few months and nothing I have done has made it easier. Now it is like a concrete casing on the soles of my feet that pumice stone and abrasive scrubbers doesn't diminish. This month it has begun to crack and it is too painful to walk some days. Add to this the ezcema on my thumbs and forefingers so it is extremely painful to knit, sew or type and you can have some little idea how frustrated I feel. I have spent my time reading (you can only read for so long before your head falls off) and watching TV. This is great for a while and then it gets so dull that I either sleep or eat - I try not to do the latter.
Oh and there's another thing, try chopping onions when you have open wounds on your fingers. Poor Mr M has had to do that for me and then do the potato peeling. I tried wearing latex gloves but I managed to cut them and onion juice in the wounds when you hands are trapped in gloves is even worse! so there you are. Frustrated and miserable and not looking forward to more of the same.

We have a Wii now. We have had it for a while and I love it. I try to use it every day and I am saving up for the WiiFit. I have a game of tennis every day and I also bowl a bit and do the boxing. It certainly gets those muscles moving and it makes me laugh.
Sometimes I laugh too much to do anything but the little people are so funny that I just can't help myself.
It is good gentle exercise though and even Mr M goes into the front room and turns it on to have a bit of a play.
I like the fact that you have to get off your bottom to play the games even if it keeps giving my golf and baseball when I am doing the daily fitness age test. We play together sometimes but we like different things so I can't do the golf while Mr M gets quite cross with the bowling and tennis and the boxing! well we haven't tried that one together only in the training sessions.
My favourite game is the cow racing. Miss Em loves it too so she sits on my lap and we race together with the same cow. I start to laugh and soon we are both howling with laughter and losing the race. I can think of no better way to spend my time thatn sharing laughter with my granddaughter.

Things to do in Autumn

Go to Cornwall for a week right at the end of the season when all the cafes are winding down and the souvenir shops are eyeing the shutters and longing for the end of the month.
We had several days of really good weather which was good for us AND for cornish farmers who have had such a dreadful summer they still had not managed to get the hay cut. A few more weeks and there would be no point because any last goodness would be gone from the grass. We arrived and four days later they were beginning to cut - we did good!
We stayed in DS1 timeshare apartment which was luxurious and perfectly placed for doing all the touristy things in the lobster claw end of Cornwall - Goonhilly, Land's End, The Lizard, Helston, Penzance, Mousehole. We went to Praa Sands. No big deal I hear you say but I haven't been back there since I was about seven so it was really strange to not find anything familiar on the road down there but to instantly recognise the shape of the cliffs and the rocks on the beach. I so wanted to ring my mum and tell her about it but of course she has passed over so I got a bit teary. DH cwtched my until the tears were dry and that somehow made it a perfect day.
Then we visited some special friends and saw the progress the builders are not making on their alterations to the house.
It was good to be able to make them laugh a little. We didn't stay late because they are working so hard and have to get up early for the animals.
We came home and the surgery sent us notes to say we could have the flu jab. I was a little reluctant, given my propensity for allergy and reaction but after discussion with the nurse I let her jab me. She said I might experience "mild, flu-like symptoms" and I did. I spent three days in bed coughing sniffing sneezing and sweating and then three more lying like a limp lettuce on the settee also coughing, sniffing, sneezing and sweating. I think I'll give it a miss next year.
I managed to photograph some of the autumn colours of the Virginia Creeper in my garden and I hoped to catch it through all its changes. I might venture out tomorrow and take a look.

Sleeps until Santa - my way

I thought I would try to creat something in fabric as this is the way I usually think and here is the result.

The numbers are held by velcro so they are easy to change every day. the pocket suspended at the bottom holds the numbers that are not in use.

I have just realised that I cut off the top of the picture so you can't see the ribbon loops I put there so that it can be hung using drawing pins (pushpins) or a wooden rod could be put through them and then a red ribbon or cord used to hang it.

This has quite restored my joy in sewing.

If anyone wants to try this I can send you the measurements and amounts for fabric.

sleeps.jpg (image)

sleeps.jpg (image)

I just love this idea - this one was done by gingerbreadgirl. I am going to make one for my granddaughter who will be nearly four at Christmas time.