Another column and more English Paper Piecing....

Another week, therefore another column from me for the Eden Valley Messenger  I would love it if you had an extra minute to pop by and have a read and leave a comment.  If you know of anyone else who may be interested forward it onto them as well please?  A couple of other bloggers were kind enough to mention me and my column on their blogs this past week, Expat Mum and Smitten By Britain, so a big thank you to them for that!!  If you have another couple of minutes to spare, pop over to their blogs and say hello, they would love that.

I just finished this table runner, it's around 25 inches by 12 inches.  It's dusty pink, brown and cream.  All the hexagons are hand sewn and hand sewn on the table runner.

This is the back of the table runner.

Below is the material for my next project.  As with the table runner, I have no idea what I am going to make yet.  I will figure it out as I go along.

It was a quiet day around the acreage on Monday.  As predicted it started to snow around lunch time, so much for the Spring like weather on the weekend, back to Winter weather again.

I am not at this point yet.....but could be there shortly!!

The Diary of a Snow Shoveler

December 8


6:00 PM. It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses Print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!



December 9


We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the Whole World? Moving here was the best idea I've ever had. Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life.



December 12


The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbor tells me not to worry, we'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see snow again. I don't think that's possible. Bob is such a nice man, I'm glad he's our neighbor.



December 14


Snow lovely snow! 8" last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life!



The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way.



December 15


20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer.



The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska, after all.



December 16


Ice storm this morning. Fell on my butt on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like heck. The wife laughed for one hour, which I think was very cruel.



December 17


Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere.



Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should've bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to her. God I hate it when she's right. I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room.



December 20


Electricity's back on, but had another 14" of the damn stuff last night. More shoveling. Took all day. Darn snowplow came by twice.



Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey. I think they're lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they're lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he's lying.


December 22


Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white crap fell today, and it's so cold it probably won't melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to poop. By the time I got undressed, pooped and dressed again, I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter; but he says he's too busy. I think the jerk is lying.



December 23


Only 2" of snow today. And it warmed up to 0. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What is she nuts!!! Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did but I think she's lying.



December 24


6". Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the man who drives that snowplow I'll drag him through the snow by his nose and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just been!



Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching for the snowplow.



December 25


Merry -bleeping- Christmas! 20 more inches of the slop tonight. Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she's a fricking idiot. If I have to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" one more time, I'm going to stuff her into the microwave.



December 26


Still snowed in. Why the heck did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She's really getting on my nerves.



December 27


Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze, plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $1400 to replace all my pipes.

December 28


Warmed up to above -20. Still snowed in. THE WITCH is driving me crazy!!!



December 29


10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?

December 30


Roof caved in. I beat up the snow plow driver he is now suing me for a million dollars not only the beating I gave him but also for trying to shove the broken snow shovel up where the sun don't shine. The wife went home to her mother. 9" predicted.



December 31


I set fire to what's left of the house. No more shoveling.


January 8


Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed?

Oh the joys of Winter!!

Did you remember to put your money in your Daily Savings Pot today?
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Today's Money Saving Tip:

Is less better? Perhaps it was due to the booming economy, perhaps "keeping up with the Joneses", maybe its ego, but for many of us, we often seem to insist on the biggest and the best, no matter what the cost. When a $15,000 new car may be more than acceptable, we stretch the seams of our budget to afford a $25,000 vehicle. We buy $25 shirts with $35 designer labels attached. We opt for the $100 dinner at the trendy restaurant when a $20 meal would have been just as delicious. Think about where you are spending the family money--and how--to see if there couldn't be savings found with minor changes in habits.

I give up...............

Poor Molly has now hurt her back leg, on what I have no idea.  I had to carry her upstairs as she can't manage them.  Although she is managing to hobble up the basement stairs?  Those voles and mice outside the patio doors are too big a temptation for her.......LOL

It must be bad as she is not attempting to get on the ottoman, the couch or the chair!!  She is managing the three steps on and off the deck and can walk down the stairs as normal.  So I will keep an eye on her and see how things go.

Then poor dh went and hurt his back on Sunday morning.  He was walking out to his truck to go to work, by the time he got into the truck he was in agony.  His laptop bag is so heavy, it's full of "stuff" and he must have carried it wrong.  It's been a long time since he has been in so much pain with his back.  Backs are funny things though, I first pulled mine out, by bending over to put some clothes in ds chest of drawers.  One minute I was standing, the next thing I am on my knees in sheer agony.  He is talking about going to the chiropractor to has his back cracked, he goes once a month anyhow.  Hell will freeze over before I let a chirpractor touch my back!!

Here is a link to my column on the Eden Valley Messenger.  As always please pop by and have a read of it.  I am talking about how our house disguises itself as a "Wildlife Hotel" on the side.  If you know of anyone else who may be interested in it please forward it onto them.  The Eden Valley is a small area of Britain, which is overlooked, so the more people we tell about it the better!!

It was Shrove/Pancake Tuesday on Tuesday and we were supposed to go to the local fire hall for a pancake supper.  However I wasn't feeling 100% and dh's back was still sore.  So I made our own pancake supper:

Now I have to say although it looks good, I now realize why we don't have pancakes very often I find them very dry, even though we put butter and syrup on them, along with bananas.  Still it made a change.

Did you remember to put your money in your Daily Savings Club pot today?

Today's Money Saving Tip:

Shop with a list and then STICK TO THE LIST! This one tip alone can save you a lot!! Impulse purchases tend to be expensive as well as unnecessary.

Bits and bobs.....

I made fabric softener today using the last recipe from this post  However it looked a bit "thick" to me, so I used 1 cup white vinegar, 1 cup baking soda, and 4 cups of water, plus a few drops of essential lemon oil.  I have made this without the oil and you do NOT have vinegar smelling clothes.  I just happen to love the smell of lemon.  Just a word of warning, make sure you shake the fabric softener bottle up before you use it each time.  I used it last night and it worked really well and everything smelled wonderful.

Molly decided that the newly upholstered ottoman wasn't good enough to sleep on, so she would sleep on the chair.  I didn't have the heart to yell at her to get off it!

Look at her paw behind her ear.....

This weeks column is up on the Eden Valley Messenger.  As always I'd love it if you could pop by for a quick read and forward the link onto anyone who may be interested.  If you twitter I would love you to "tweet" about it,  or have facebook pop the link in your page.........please and thank you!

I rang a couple of local newspapers to follow up with email's I had sent them regarding me writing for them, but no luck.  One guy did say he would keep me in mind if one of his regular columnists decided to quit or take a break???  I thought it was nice of them to accept my call, and as I said to them, if you don't ask you don't get.

Did you remember to put your money in your Daily Savings Pot today?

Today's Money Saving Tip:

Cleaning your natural wood floors. Since no two surfaces are alike, no two surfaces should be cleaned alike. Contrary to popular belief, wood floors hate water, wet mopping or any kind of excessive cleaning. My suggestion is to clean your wood floors with a solution of one-quarter cup of white vinegar (about 2 liquid ounces) mixed in a recycled spray bottle with about 30 ounces of warm water (most commercial spray bottles hold about 32 ounces). Spray a cotton rag or towel with the vinegar and water solution and use it to lightly damp mop your floors. Once soiled, replace each rag with a fresh one. This gentle method will clean your wood floors without destroying them, and ensure years of pleasure from them.


This tip came from this site