112/365 - The Movers and The Shakers ....

I went to Somerset yesterday to see my mum 'cos it was her 77th Birthday - Happy Birthday Mum ....

I like going down there because it's calm and quiet and peaceful - so all batteries should be recharged.  Are they hell - I woke up this morning with a streaming cold - and one of my better ones I have to say - with all the cold pouring out of my left eye - tomorrow it will be the right ...

Anyways - there I am 145 odd miles from home with impaired vision and feeleing like the proverbial - lol.  But I am a woman and made of sterner stuff than that and off I set.
Now - I don't have a problem with the A303 - it's quite a nice road  (nice scenery and  what I call the Breakfast Farm just past Stonehenge which always make me smile  - I've never seen so many pigs in one place - lol - there must be hundreds of them).  What makes it not a nice road are the single carriagway sections, the caravans and motorhomes, the sudden drop to 30mph zones, the Stonehenge bottleneck (it never ceases to amaze me how many hundreds of people go there - every day and walk around it.  I've probably said this before - but I remember as a child you could actually sit and climb all over the stones), Winterbourne Stoke and that stupid speed camera near the bottom of a long hill a few miles west of Winterbourne Stoke where, with a car like mine, you have to going at a bit of a lick to get up the damm thing because of the lorries and the caravans - lol.

Anyways I digress - there we are zipping along the A303 (all within the national speed limit  - of course ) when at one of the highest points of Salisbury Plain, a couple of miles west of Stonehenge, there suddenly appears a Police motorcycle outrider who brings everyone to a halt.   This ever increasing line of traffic sat there for about half an hour and then this appeared ......

It was H-U-G-E and a very impressive sight to see; and yes, it did move slowly and yes, the ground was shaking.  Apparently it had come from Middle Wallop and was going all the way to RAF Yeovilton - and that's rather a long way .....

So - I may have a stinking cold, I may feel like the proverbial and I may have to go to work tonight but at least I'm home and not travelling west along the A303 .....
Every cloud and all that ....

104/365 - Ladies That Do Lunch ....

Today I took a long lunch break.  Well deserved I thought - worked very late Monday, left the building late yesterday and a meeting tomorrow night, so another late one.  Anyways, me and a friend (ooops a friend and I - lol) went for lunch in a nearby garden centre - and very nice it was too ....

After lunch we had a browse round the establishment, looking at plants, pots, seeds, tools (I bought a pair of rather nifty diddy hand shears, just right for getting to the parts that the mower can't reach) and then in the china section I saw this ....

How cute is that and very en trende I thought ........

101/365 - A Peaceful Afternoon ....

Well - damn and blast missed Day 100 yesterday - but was busy busy. 

Anyways today was one of those really nice Sundays - pottering around at home and in the garden.  I spent some time messing around on the patio nearest the house (I have three patio areas - how posh am I - lol).  This area has a bit of a micro climate.  If faces south and is very sheltered and I love sitting here when I get home from work and even in the morning on really warm days.  Most of my garden is green planting.  The soil is really thick heavy Wealden clay which is nigh on impossible to grow flowers in.  I have a lot of euoynomous - very low maintenance, fairly quick growing and lovely shades of green.

So - here's a piccie one of my favourite parts of the garden .....

And the day's not over yet - lol .....

97/365 - Take More Water With It ....

Am a poorly person tonight 'cos I fell over today .....

Have you ever done that?  Well, this morning I did and I felt like a right lemon - and to make matters worse, you'll never guess where I fell - out of the front door - lol.

Don't ask me how or why, one minute I was right on up there - the next I was on the floor in a very inelegant heap.

I think what happened was that I took too long a stride over the door threshold and the trainers I was wearing (it was one of those days at the office when I was there but not - so the casual approach) caught the edge of the outside doormat cum foot scraper and bang.  I went to work but as the day wore on, the pain in my foot intensified and I didn't dare take the trainer off, so I came home early, smothered all affected areas with arnica, took some painkillers and had a sleep.

These are the offending trainers ......

These were bought for the NEC trip - all nicely broken in and all that but still quite stiff around the outside.  Not a bit like my other ones which were so sloppy and comfy but  which were destroyed in the washing machine while felting knitted hats - lol.

So here I am - feeling quite poorly and sorry for myself with one bruised foot, right side, right arm and right shoulder. 
Off now for another slathering in arnica, more painkillers and bed.  Sympathy please people ......

95/365 - So Much To Do ....

And so little time - now - lol.  What with the flat pack furniture, sorting out the craft room/office space and decorating this weekend - what happens today - no rain and a really quite nice day - which means one thing - the garden .....

Now although I can multi task along with the best of them, even I'm not that stupid to start something else this late into the Bank Holiday.  So - I contented myself with a quick snap out of the bedroom window (the one being decorated) .....

It looks a bit grey to me but trust me - it's a lovely day here in Sussex ....

By way of an update - no more decorating has been done today - simply couldn't face it.  Mind you might give the coving another coat of paint and do some polyfilling (not very good at that  but hey ho) - and do the walls next weekend.  The craft room/office space is all nice and tidy and craft stuff 'prettily arranged' -  funny how in the midst of all yesterday's chaos one thing was put away and hey presto - a tidy room.  Want to see the new unit - then click here ....

Off for toast and coffee and might have a play in my newly tidied room ....

94/365 - It's What Bank Holiday Weekends Are For - Isn't It?...

Missed yesterday because was too busy 'prettily arranging'  craft stuff in the newly put together flat pack furniture and emptying what was my daughter's room.  Absolute bedlam - there was craft stuff on the floor still waiting patiently for a home; the other bedroom had to be emptied - so more stuff was piled along the landing and at the top of the stairs.  Couldn't get to the loo because I just threw it all out on to the landing - lol.  Health and safety nightmare - lol.  It will be an adventure getting into bed tonight - lol.

Anyways, as the morning progressed, said room got emptier and emptier, wheelie bin got fuller and fuller, car got even more fuller with stuff for the dump.  Honestly, the stuff we accumulate - this has certainly been a down-sizing exercise.  Finally with almost empty room, I started doing that thing that hundreds of men across the land are being nagged to do this weekend - decorating.  First off the ceiling - there I am perched on my sturdy (well almost) step ladder with - would you believe - a 4" brush.  Number one son has obviously been down the single lady's paintbrush box - lol ....  The ceiling is aertex and it's only getting one coat - hence a brush and not a roller - but 4 inches - wait until I see him next ....

This room was last decorated ages ago, I'm ashamed to say.  My daughter did it (well you have to let them have a go, don't you).  I liked her colour scheme but the trouble was she hadn't learnt about cutting in and not going over the lines.  Everytime, I went in there, I just used to shut my eyes - lol.

Doing the walls tomorrow .... It will be good to go back to work for the rest - lol ....

92/365 - Flat Pack Furniture ....

I really don't know what I was thinking of last Monday - flat pack furniture - yikes !!!!!  Anyways I bought this ....

This being a type of cube storage unit on wheels (reminds me of when my kids were at primary school - lol). for my craft room/office.  It stood in the hall all week - partly because I was hoping that someone might just come and put it together for me, partly because I was busy with other things and partly because it was too damn heavy to lug up the stairs.

Today, after having a particularly bad day at work yesterday, I was up really early and as I always do when I am fed up, angry or distressed - I cleaned.  I worked clockwise round downstairs - kitchen, sitting room and hall and thought 'Go For It' - lol.  Said box was dragged upstairs, opened, contents checked - and then I went back downstairs again for coffee and toast. Stop being such a girl I told myself and plodded back up the stairs - here's stage one ....

Note the torn instructions and my single lady tool box

All the screws were put in with an alun key - so not too difficult.  To put the castors  in, there was only one guide hole, so I used a bradawl - aren't you impressed.  I wasn't though because number one son had obviously 'borrowed' my diddy Philips screwdriver and all that was in the box was one that would have been more at home on a North Sea oil rig - lol - and I now have a blister on the palm of my hand - poor me ....

So - here's the finished article ....

At some stage I will stain or varnish it but not today - lol.  I just want to get this room tidy.  Will post a piccie  tomorrow of my new furniture when it's looking all crafty ....