What’s On Your Workdesk this Wednesday?
Tiny Carpet #6
Good progress has been made this week, despite having to unpick a few errors.
Mapping out the design with the dark red thread.
I had to unpick and redo a bit at the top because I mis-counted. When I added the top diamond, the error stuck out a mile! You can’t fudge these things!
The dark blue completed.
The black completed.
Adding some more red. I wanted to add some randomness as before, by including some different shades of red. This time I began with the main colour.
I had not added any of the cream because it’s virtually the same colour as the fabric and rather difficult to see, but this led to difficulties because adding a random background when the foreground isn’t all in place soon leads to errors. I also discovered a small mistake in the border at the top and remedied that. Here is a detail shot showing where I have added some of the cream. It’s quite hard to see.
Giveaway
When I started this needle book project, I had been asked by two people if I would make them a needle book. I cut the “pages” and assembled them, 2 lots of 3 folded pages , but I discovered that this made the books too thick and they wouldn’t have closed properly, so I divided them into 3 lots of 2 folded pages. This meant I had a redundant set of pages, which is when I decided to make a total of three needle books, and six different tiny carpets, for the front and back covers of each book.
Right from the start, I decided that I would give away the third one to one of our WOYWW group. This is partly to celebrate our upcoming 600th post (quite a milestone!) – not that I have been involved from the very beginning but I’ve been around for a good number of years now – and partly as a thank you to everyone for all the fun, inspiration, love and support I have enjoyed through knowing you all online, especially when I was so ill – I knew you were all rooting for me and I could really feel your love and support at that time, and I shall never forget your kindness.
I am hoping to have finished this final needle book by the time we have our Zoom meeting to celebrate the 600th post. I am announcing it now, and will repeat this until the meeting to give everyone a chance to know about it. If anyone is interested in receiving this needle book, could you please indicate in the comments that you’d like to be included, and hopefully on the day of the meeting I’ll draw one of the names out of the proverbial hat and announce the happy winner!
Sad news
On Monday morning we heard that my hubby’s elder brother had died. He had been going down hill for some time and had recently had two stays in hospital with his heart, but we were glad he was at home when it happened, so he could slip away quietly in his own bed. He had a heart attack five years ago and underwent triple bypass surgery, which gave him a few more years, but he did not enjoy good health during this time. Latterly he had gone into heart failure.
The funeral is going to have to be another really quiet affair because of the lockdown, with hardly anybody in attendance. We’ve had too much of this lately and it’s really miserable, not being able to come together as an extended family and show our appreciation for our loved ones in the way we would like. We had a couple of family deaths back in the spring and watching the funerals on the computer just wasn’t the same. I am glad that at least we were able to give my mum and dad a good send-off a few years ago, with everyone in attendance.
We are really going to miss him because he was such a sweet man, so gentle and kind, and very well-read and knowledgeable too; he was stimulating company, and you could always guarantee good conversations with him.
My hubby said yesterday that he is very fortunate – he is the only one in his family who is healthy. His twin brother has vascular dementia and all the rest have died from obesity-related cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. At least the younger generation are healthy, although one of our nephews is quite overweight.
Food
I’ve been busy in the kitchen this week, trying 3 new recipes. I shared the new Thai green curry recipe with you last week, and since then I have also made a new veg casserole to make a change from our usual one, and a middle eastern dish. Finally, I found a new recipe for wraps which was very good, and this is the one I’ll share with you first.
Recipe of the week
I have a couple of other wraps recipes described as “Mediterranean” but this one is a bit different – it has a yoghurt based sauce called Tzatziki which I have discovered is Greek. It’s slightly reminiscent of Indian raita, a yoghurt-based accompaniment to spicy foods. These wraps have a lovely fresh summery taste to them – just the thing as we enter the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, or more literally, cold, wet, windy and miserable weather here in Devon!
My wraps recipes all serve 4, so I make enough for 2 meals. We usually have wraps for supper on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I store the second half of the filling in a container in the fridge and get wraps out of the freezer on the day we want them. If you assemble them too much in advance, the wraps go soggy. Once assembled, I like to heat them up in the oven, and then add the salad just before serving.
As with the other wraps I make, I added a bit of harissa paste to this recipe, spreading it thinly on each wrap before adding the filling. This gives it a nice spicy kick. I don’t add sufficient for it to be overwhelming.
Roots and branches
A few weeks ago we noticed that there was a plant growing out of the top of one of the downpipes on the front of our house. My hubby said he would pull it out, because we didn’t want the gutters getting blocked and overflowing and potentially causing damp problems. He tried to pull it out but it was pretty firmly lodged. I don’t know all the details of how he eventually did it but I know he had to replace some of the old metal pipe and he worked at it for two or three days. He did manage to get the plant out, and he showed me the result – he thought the roots would only be about a couple of feet long, but given how long they turned out to be, I’m surprised he managed to get it out at all! It’s pretty impressive. I’m also rather surprised that any water could flow down the pipe at all! The power of plants.
Better out than in, as they say.
Health Update
Eye test
As I mentioned last time, I had my regular 2-yearly eye test on Thursday. As this was the first day of the current lockdown, I was a bit worried that they would cancel it, but they said it was still on. My hubby had to drop me at the door and go off and amuse himself while I was in there. Only a few shops were open, and it was a pretty cold day but at least it wasn’t raining. He walked around for a while and then sat on a bench outside the shop and read his book till I had finished.
We went through the usual stuff and while I knew that my eyesight wasn’t as good as previously, especially in the right eye, I was amazed at just how bad it was! She said I definitely needed new glasses this time – it’s four years since they were renewed. We talked about my cataracts and she said that they were still far too underdeveloped to warrant removal at this stage. I described how I found the scattering of light especially in the evenings to be particularly troublesome, and that I was finding it much more difficult to read. She said that under normal circumstances they would often consider removing them on the basis of symptoms alone, but living in an area where there are a lot of retired people (cataracts affecting mainly older people), there is quite a waiting list, and because of Covid and most elective surgery being cancelled altogether, there was no way I’d be considered at this stage. She thought that in two years’ time, they might still not be bad enough, but things may have changed by then and it’s a while off. She said that with the new glasses my vision would be considerably improved in any case. She made out the prescription and I went back into the showroom to discuss options with the lady there.
I said I would like her to put new lenses in my existing frames. She said that was fine, as long as I accepted that they might get broken in the process. I said they always said that, but it had always been fine! She had a good look at them, and pointed out a few signs of wear and tear – one of the arms is slightly bent, and she said if they attempted to straighten it, it might break. Also, with repeated replacement of lenses over the years, the frame itself was slightly distorted and there was more risk of the lenses falling out. Finally, the plastic of the ear pieces was likely to have become quite brittle. I asked if she was really recommending that I had new frames this time, and she said that it was probably time now, although it was entirely up to me, if I was fond of them. The lenses I have are pretty expensive (all singing, all dancing – varifocals, photo-reactive, and also a fairly complex prescription, factoring in the astigmatic correction) and it seemed shortsighted (sorry!) to take the risk of the existing frames breaking, and having to start again with a new pair. So I agreed to have new frames.
I am pleased that the fashion has moved on a bit from the years when all that was available was small rectangular frames! I never really liked those. There is more variety now, and lenses are getting bigger again. I tried on several, and the bigger ones looked totally awful on me, so I’ve opted for something smaller, and not too dissimilar to my old ones. As the new ones are more of a bronzy colour than silver, I am opting for brown photo-reactive lenses instead of grey. I narrowed the choice of frames down to two, and of course opted for the more expensive ones – titanium designer frames by Jaeger! Oh well, since I haven’t had new frames for over 20 years, I think I can splash out a bit now! The old ones have done pretty well, haven’t they. They should take about two weeks. She said they were such good quality that they should stand me in good stead for another 20 years! (Goodness, I shall be 87 then…) Another advantage of having entirely new ones is that I do not have to be without my existing ones, and they will serve as a spare pair – not perfect for my current state of vision but adequate in an emergency. I’m quite happy with my decision now, and looking forward to receiving my new glasses, and most of all, an improvement in my eyesight.
With my new glasses on for the 600th WOYWW celebration, perhaps I’d better wear a red rose so you can all recognise me.
Dentist
I had to wait a few weeks for the dental appointment for my broken tooth, and went on Monday morning. I had to have an anaesthetic because there was a bit of decay, but it wasn’t too bad – but I really hate going!! All is now well and it’s repaired and smooth again. Fortunately the broken tooth didn’t cause any pain; it was just a bit rough.
Kitties
Not a great deal of feline activity this week, apart from a lot of sleeping (lazy lumpism) and a couple of play times in the garden. The weather hasn’t been that good and my hubby has been out quite a bit so we haven’t let them out.
Ruby in a bundle again – it’s amazing how she puts up with this!
Ruby has been educating herself with computer skills.
However, I don’t think she’ll ever match our old Beatrice, who won all the Computer Queen awards for her skills. She was always on our laptops. She wrote articles on Word, did spell checking, had her own password, did file sharing and even played videos. Since I haven’t got much in the way of photos of our current pair, I’ll re-acquaint you with Beatrice and her talents through some of her screenshots.
Logging onto Windows.
She never revealed what her password was.
She obviously didn’t like the current settings on this laptop and was trying to adjust the appearance to suit her feline vision.
Running programs
She was quite adept in Word. In this example she is helping me with my Bible study group preparation, but obviously needed a little assistance from the Help menu, inserting her own keyword to search, but not before she’d made some interesting additions to the chart I was creating.
Here, she is helping my hubby. She was humble enough to admit that her spelling didn’t always measure up. Thank goodness for the Windows spell checker.
She was keen to share her achievements with others.
I came home one day to hear music coming from the sitting room, and knew I hadn’t left anything running. Beatrice was bored while we were out, so she decided to play some videos on my laptop.
Surfing the net.
I was always a bit worried about what she and Phoebe would get up to when we were absent, and whether she would teach Phoebe how to use the computer. My biggest fear was that they would hack into my Pawpal account and run up vast bills for exotic holidays in CATmandu, or the CATacombs in Rome, or order expensive items from the many online CATalogues. However, Phoebe showed absolutely no interest in developing any tech skills, as she was just a little Devon dumpling who enjoyed her home comforts (even if she thought she could still fit in the kitten bed).
One of her favourite sleeping places was the compost heap. She was a grubby little tyke and liked slumming it at times.
The two of them died within 3 weeks of each other in the summer of 2017 at a good old age but in poor health at the end. They were not related (each was the surviving sister of a pair, the other two both being killed on the road outside our old house) – they were never close, but after Phoebe died, Beatrice broke her little heart and gave up the will to live. That was a sad time, until we got Lily and Ruby a couple of months later. Our adorable two little babbies soon after their arrival:
Clothes
Last week, the tunic top I ordered several weeks ago from Joe Brown’s arrived. The fabric is quite thin and stretchy, and it has an interesting texture, as well as being a gorgeous mix of colours. It has 3/4 length sleeves. Because it is lighter weight than I expected, I thought I wouldn’t really be ale to wear it until next spring, but with my brilliant new thermals and a couple of extra layers, I feel quite toasty!
I’m wearing maroon leggings over my thermals, and a pair of my new socks over a green pair, and my ancient charity shop/M&S cardigan, and one of the infinity scarves I bought on Ebay. To co-ordinate with the outfit I’m wearing a bead necklace made by someone in the village where we used to live, and a really ancient pair of beaded hoop earrings which I’ve had so long I can’t remember where they came from! I think this new tunic is going to be a really useful addition to my wardrobe because being so multi-coloured, it will go with loads of things.
A close-up of the fabric.
This week, a friend sent us some flowers, and they were so pretty that I thought I’d share a photo with you.
Have a great creative week, everybody.
Love the new tunic, is it the same back and front? I ask because I have one but the back is plain and I would rather have it patterned all over. It suits you well especially with those leggings and the adorable socks. Looking forward to seeing you in your new glasses when they come.
I loved the photo of Ruby tied up and being carried like that – so adorable. Also enjoyed seeing Beatrice and Phoebe again and being reminded of the computer Queen and her antics.
Lovely tiny carpet and yes, I would love to be in the draw, please. That is a lovely and very generous gesture of yours. Whoever wins it will certainly have a beautiful gift for life which they can pass down for years to come.
Hugs & take care, Neet 5 xx
Isn’t it interesting how tricky it is to unpick cross stitch? I’ve had to do it too a couple of times and it takes longer than you’d think. But you’re right, the error would stick out like a sore thumb and I couldn’t have lived with it either, human eyes are very good at picking out if something isn’t symmetrical. I would love to be included in your Giveaway please.
So sorry to hear about your brother in law passing away, sending my sympathies to you both. Funerals are odd affairs these days but I hope his goes as well as these things can.
Hugs LLJ 7 xx
HI Shoshi, hopefully this posts! Lovely memories of Beatrice, how wonderful. So sad to hear of your BIL’s passing, our deepest condolences to you both. Hopefully the funeral will be as meaningful as possible during this time. I’ve enjoyed seeing how the needlecases have come along, they’ve all been so intricate. Smiling at Beatrice in the compost heap- would be nice and warm, wouldn’t it. Lovely fabric for the new top. Stay safe, have a lovely week, Hugs, Shaz #6 X
I hope I won’t miss anything. Kitties first: LOL LOL LOL! That’s hilarious about Beatrice – I was wondering why you’re still using Windows 7 when I realised that was years ago! Lovely to see Beatrice and Phoebe reappear on your blog and remembered with such fondness. It made sad to think that their time was up but Ruby and Lily have definitely filled the cat shaped holes those two had left in your hearts! Clothes: Love that top – I could see myself wear something like that! Eye test: last time I had an eye test was years ago – I know I need to go, but they always, always, always want me to spend hundreds of pounds on frames. Last time, I actually told them that the reason I am reluctant to get my eyes tested is because I know that their sales rep will pounce on me. They were a bit shocked but left me alone after that LOL. We’ve moved since then though so now I’m back to square one and now there’s the pandemic to worry about as well. You don’t get any closer face-to-face than that to someone – not even the dentist, unless you’re kissing them – not that I would obviously! Brave of you to survive the dentist – I still haven’t gone. Roots: That’s a might big root, my goodness! It must have been very satisfying to pull it out – even if it took 2-3 days! BiL: so sorry to hear about your brother-in-law – these things are never easy. Tiny carpet No 6: It’s coming along nicely – of course I would like to be included in your giveaway, although it might seem a sacrilege to give it to someone who only ever sews fallen buttons once in a blue moon LOL! I do have a little sewing kit though but I just use piece of fabric for the needles! I think I’ve covered everything – other than the salad wrap – that looks so appetising – I could just about eat it right now! Have a lovely week Shoshi – and I look forward to meeting you online! xx zsuzsa #21
PS. I knew I was going to leave something out LOL: the flowers are so pretty! Are they sitting on a “not so” tiny carpet?
So sorry to hear about your brother in law, Shoshi, he sounded like a lovely man.
Your stories of feline computer skills made me smile. Our Dino upgraded us to Windows 10 with no trouble at all. They had huge issues with that upgrade at work soI often offered to lend Dino to them!
I love your magic carpets and would love to be entered into your giveaway draw, please.
Bravo your Hubbie for getting that plant out – it would have taken very little to block it entirely with those roots.
So sorry you’re having to wait to have your cataracts done. I remember how nasty driving became in the evening.
Miaow to your cats from our Thea
Take care, stay safe and happy WOYWW
Hugs
Lynnecrafts 10
Lynne
How generous of you Shoshi, all that work to be given away. Such novel work too, it’s a lovely gesture. Condolences over the death of your Brother in Law, very sad. I underesteand your frustration at the inability to attend funerals, but prior to a Covid, if you couldn’t go, you didn’t even have the chance to be there on the computer. I think it’s a helpful innovation in the circumstances.
Worries me slightly that you’re already in thermals and two layers of socks…gosh, you won’t be able to bend or get your shoes on if it gets icy cold and you have to increase your layerednessness!!
took me awhile to find the leave a comment link. Well, I feel royals updated on what’s happening beyond you desk!
robyn 26
Am sorry to hear of your brother in law, you and your husband have my sympathy x Angela #29
the new tunic is gorgeous! glad you got your glasses sorted,and the tooth too! such clever cats you had ! I am really sorry to hear of your brother in law, and send love and hugs (sadly also virtual!) take care and stay safe. Helen #4 ooh, nearly forgot the roots from the guttering!! good grief!!
Hello Shoshi. Thanks for popping by last week, sorry I didn’t return the compliment. The tunic is lovely. Envy your figure. I had to have new lenses, like you all singing all dancing. I kept the same frames as only two years old and cost a fortune. I ‘m not happy with them though. Don’t seem the same.
Sorry re your B. I. L. and yes the funerals are even more difficult. Mum was buried on 24th July. We were allowed on 15 in Chapel. 30 outside, well spaced for the burial. Mum had four children, their spouses, nine grandchildren and their partners and 15 great grandchildren. There were so few at the funeral and we had to all go our separate ways afterwards. So, so sad.
Take care, stay well. Anne x 12
Sorry to hear about the death of your brother in law. It’s been hard. When my father died in April we had an unattended funeral as I just couldn’t risk the families health but they understood. Cats! what are they like! I’m just glad that dogs can’t jump that high. Wishing you a happy woyww, Angela x15x
Really sorry to read about your Brother in Law Shoshi, so difficult during these times to pay our respects in the way we feel we should but he sounded a super character, with happy memories left for you to recall time after time. Nearly finished with the cross stitch I see, looking very nice may I say. I think with them being so small it makes them look even more special.
I adore that tunic, I used to have a zipped jacket in my 20’s very similar to it’s pattern, you wear it all very well and it looks extremely comfy.
How thankful must you be that Hubby tackled that root, my how big was that!!
Happy WoywW Tracey #8
What a great tunic Shoshi. The fabric is gorgeous. So sorry to hear about your brother in law’s death and glad that you are keeping your other half so healthy in comparison. The wraps look delicious. I would love a chance to win the latest needlebook. It looks so beautiful already. Beatrice sounds like a real character (a bit like my brother’s cat Boots). It was good seeing pictures of her and Phoebe. Look forward to seeing the new glasses. Stay safe and happy WOYWW. Sarah #1
HI Shoshi – wooHOO the last carpet. I love the different shades of red, gives an impression of texture and an antique feel. Can’t wait to make some myself! Thank you so much for the chance to maybe win one of your beautiful needle books, I would treasure it, please put me in the virtual hat! Love your new Joe Brown’s top, they’re one of my favourite clothing companies. I will check out the vegan wrap recipe in minute, maybe just in time for lunch …. Have a great week. Annie C
Love the carpets and the tunic, What lovely flowers,
Such lovely mini carpets,
Oh please may I be entered into the giveaway?
Sorry to hear about your loss, sending hugs your way.
Beautiful outfit as usual xx
stay safe
Ellie #27
Love the tunic and the kittie photos! The carpets as usual are looking lovely. Happy Belated WOYWW. Take care and stay safe. With love & God Bless, Caro xxx (#14)
Hi Shoshi! So sorry to hear of your brother in law’s passing. He sounds like he was a great guy, and that you will have lovely memories of him. Glad your hubby is in such good health. My brother’s-in-law are starting to go as well, one died of a heart attack (#3), and one was murdered (#4). The two oldest are still going strong, the one just older than my hubby (who is #5) takes such bad care of himself it’s odd that he’s still around. #7 is gone. 5 more younger siblings are still alive and healthy (I think, we’ve kind of lost track of 2 of them).
Your wraps look delicious! I love wraps, but they never seem to fill me up, I’m always still hungry. And as usual, your outfit is stunning! You look so cozy. It was a nice meander through Beatrice and Phoebe memories, such beauties! And Beatrice was so smart! Give some love to the current two beauties for us! Have a lovely week, stay safe! Lindart #31 PS-I would love to be included in the draw for the needle book!
Hi Shoshi (again!). Yes the murder was something horrendous we all had to deal with, it was terrible. My BIL was protecting his daughter from her ex-boyfriend, it all took place in their kitchen where his daughter’s little boy was (the ex was the boy’s father), my niece was shot and lived, she seems fine now, my BIL was shot first and died right away, then my niece, the little boy ran upstairs to find my SIL, and then the ex shot himself. This happened in the family home where my hubby had lived all his life, my SIL sold it within a few months (i don’t blame her). It really was shocking, not something anyone would wish on anyone else. Anyway, yes I will join the Zoom if it is not taking place in the middle of the night here! I’m looking forward to it! Lindart
Hi Shoshi, what a lovely blog post – the little carpet book is looking gorgeous and it’s really kind and genererous of you to give it away – I would love to be put in the hat please (not literally!!).
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your brother in law, how sad for you and your husband. I hope the funeral goes as well as it can albeit with reduced numbers – it’s a strange experience watching a funeral on the computer isn’t it – it’s a time when you need to hug each other – I felt weird switching the computer off at the end and getting on with other things instead of sharing the grieving process with others.
The kitties are so funny and I loved seeing Phoebe and Beatrice again – what characters they were, and what a grubby place to lounge on the compost heap!
I love the new outfit, the top is gorgeous and I do love Joe Browns clothes. Your socks are sensational, I’m going to ask if you made them as I know how very talented you are in the knitting department and they look like your sort of project – complicated yet stunning!
Sending you a virtual hug and looking forward to seeing your new glasses. Oh and thank you so much for the visit to mine.
Diana xx #22
Sorry to hear about your hubbys brother, never easy and even more so at the moment with the restrictions. However, love the cat interactions on the laptop!! Also re clothing (love the new dress), I get a lot of my clothes from https://www.gudrunsjoden.com/en-gb they have a shop in london (7dials) and do a great mail order service. They are bright, colourful and great ethics too (sorry shameless plus, I am only a customer but some of your gorgeous outfits look like some of their styles hence I thought I would mention it). Thanks for visiting my blog already
kyla
I’m so sorry to hear about your brother-in-law, dear Shoshi. One of our friends died in August and although we were able to attend the cremation (15 inside, 15 outside) it was horrible not being able to comfort his bereaved partner or brother.
Aren’t those girls of yours characters? Lovely photos!
The tiny carpet is a thing of beauty and lunch looks delicious, not so attractive is that triffid your husband liberated from the guttering!
Your Joe Browns tunic is lovely, the colour and shape are perfect on you. xxx
I am sorry to hear about your brother in law, losing someone at the moment must be even worse than usual, it is always horrible and painful but now, in this covid time that is just a tragedy upon tragedy, I am so sorry for you and of course your husband and his family.
Your cats are hilarious – you do have to wonder what animals do when they know we are not there, we had a couple of rabbits that appeared not to get along particularly, but if we chanced upon them we found they werent ignoring each other but would nestle up and sunbathe in each others arms – my heart used to melt, when Theophilus became quite an old codger, Daphne used to nudge him on the bottom to get him up the ladder to bed and used to tuck him in with extra straw… Im enjoying your lunch by the way – it looks delicious and I personally believe we need to up our salad veg (especially dark green leaves of which I am a huge fan anyway) during the colder months, I could happily live on soup and salad with a side foray into hummus and a few others snackerels along the way.
I am always amazed how fast your tiny carpets come along – Id spend endless amounts of time admiring and stroking them and never finish, how DO you stay on track as they are gorgeous. Love the new top and that roof/guttering plant is mighty impressive Have a fabby week xxx
Just popping in to join in the giveaway. Sorry to hear about your brother in law. xx
I would love to be included in the draw, your needlework is exquisite! I think I have about as much expertise as the kitties sometimes!
Chrissie