What I've been up to!

Hello all!

I've been up to so much in the last week, mostly not interesting but one thing I have been working on is my living room. As my dining room get's less and less full of stock from my business I closed in July, I have now managed to move my dinette into that room, I can't work on that yet as there is still lots of stock in there but what I have managed to do is work on my living room, it is transformed and I love it!
First up I've been looking for a 50s sideboard or cupboard to convert to a TV cabinet, my budget is low and 50s stuff seems to be in 'fashion' at the moment so it's taken some looking for find something in my budget! Finally this week, I bid on a 1950s g plan sideboard and because the seller was ending it at a strange time and wanted collection within 24 hrs, I won it for £15! Yes £15! These things can go for silly money so I am very happy. It was very dry to I treated it with some Teak Oil and now it looks fabulous, here you go!

I am so beyond happy with it! It looks so sleek and fabulous and all for £15!!! My only problem is where to put all the bloody wires, I think I'm going to hang the extension leads on the wall as sadly underneath it looks like this

Still I'll resolve it.

Then onto my cocktail area, I'm so happy with this. I was lucky enough to pick up another total bargain in the same week, a 50s record cabinet which actually only holds about 1/4 of our record collection but in reality it's probably all we'll listen too. So now I have a little area in the living room for cocktail cabinets, my fabulous gold glitter cocktail chair, records and everything! I need a little cupboard for the record player and stereo but hey with the way my luck is going it won't be long!

I'm so happy with it!

I've rearranged a couple of shelves and I've put my ugly but very functional Ikea CD cabinet elsewhere in the living room.

Do you like my tiki candle holders?!!

Ah bliss! Anyway, it's my birthday tomorrow, so today I am having a bit of a cocktail afternoon/evening in my lovely new cocktail area whilst watching old movies. Bliss

I'll take pictures along the way, til I get too tipsy he he!

Sew much to do!

As well as so much to do!

Firstly I'd like to tell you mum moved to a rehab ward today, so far she's only walked 6 steps with her new hip but considering what she went through I'm not worried, onwards and upwards now!

So I really have had so much to do. As you know I'm self employed and if I don't work, I don't earn, I already missed 2 weeks of work at the beginning of the month, then it took me a few days to set up my new laptop, god I hate technology sometimes! So now I'm trying desperately to catch up on work without driving myself into the ground, this is hard, I need the money but I think that I will just have to accept I will work much less hours this month and budget accordingly :o(

However onto the subject of Sew much to do!

I'm off to the Rhythm Riot in November as usual and if you follow that link to the site you'll see it's only 29 days away!!

When I started my exercising and cut back I really really wanted to get into certain dresses by then but life doesn't always go to plan. My size has gone down a bit but I haven't lost a pound in weight, then when I went to see Mum, dieting and exercise did not happen at all!! But the biggest aggravating factor now is that I've hurt my knee, I have been told by the gym they think I have runners knee and to avoid the gym until it starts getting better, well I went back swimming yesterday and I limped out of the pool, damn! So I'm off to the docs on Monday about it, so no exercise and the aim of getting into those dresses in reality is not going to happen, so my back up plan is sewing! In fact my house may end up looking like this!

This is the first Rhythm Riot I've been to for 4 years that I'm just going to enjoy myself, so I'm not thinking about clothes I can work on the stall in, I can wear what I damn well please and I damn well please to dress up, but what I had wanted to wear doesn't quite fit and won't even if I starved myself in this short time - which I won't do, I do have a birthday next weekend, no starving on Birthdays!

Now I have been intended to run up a couple of pairs of trousers for a while now and whilst that should not take too long - apart from getting the fit right - I would really like a couple of new dresses, I'm so blumming pie in the sky, I won't have time but I can hope that I might!!

So I was looking through my patterns and I like the following 3 although I would be making them for evening wear so not in day wear cloth as they are illustrated.
I like the bodice of this dress and the fit.

I've made this pattern before with the shorter sleeves and I put a straighter skirt on it, I really liked it!

I've been thinking about making this for a long time, however I don't think the neckline will be very complimentary to me, however I like the style, so we'll see.

Fabric wise I have a few ideas. Ages ago I bought the following fabric, it's a beautiful heavy satin but I also bought a matching organza type material to go with it, perhaps as an overskirt or part of a bodice, you can't really get an idea, but you can see the colour here! I have had it so long I need to use it but it's that age old problem of not want to mess up good fabric!

I've also got some lovely black velvet although I'm not sure I have enough for a dress, though I have to say I've always wanted a black velvet dress!!

I've got this fabulous lace type material which might go well either with the velvet or for something different.

I think I'm going to run out of time but I don't want to! I haven't got the cash to buy new, I just need the time to make new.

Don't worry I haven't forgotten about my Mexican Tourist Jacket, I got the sample of material I thought might be suitable and it was so desperately unsuitable, so I'm back on the search for the right shade of the right fabric, it could take me a while!

I'm back!

Thank you so much for all your well wishes for my mum on my last post.

It has been a really really traumatic time, I won't lie. I arrived on Wednesday last weekend to find out they were surprised she's made it through the night, as you can imagine that was rather shocking. Then the consultant on the Thursday morning had the 'do not resuscitate' conversation with me! I won't go through the symptoms but at first it seemed like either she'd had some type of stroke or brain injury during/after the anaesthetic. Her behaviour was so out of character and she couldn't move either of her arms.

Anyway after days of this, where she was screaming and shouting, I came in last Sunday morning and she was asleep, this fact on it's own was amazing as even with enough medication to fell a horse she'd been wide awake and severely agitated. So I say by her bed with my trusty kindle and read. Then about 45 minutes later she woke up and said, oh your here good!!! It was truly miraculous! She was transformed from a screeching banshee who when she did talk, talked rubbish, back to my mum. I didn't get my hopes up as things had been so bad and for the rest of that day, she pretty much slept but the next day, she was wide awake and chatting again when I arrived in the morning, consultants and nurses alike were amazed, no one knows what has gone on, the MRI and CT scan showed nothing, however don't worry I will be asking for an investigation.

By Tuesday she was giving me instructions on bills that needed paying, giving me passwords, pin numbers etc to get it all done, amazing.

I had to leave on Wednesday, as you know I'm self employed and if I don't work I don't earn. Also I think my mum will improve quicker if I'm not there to depend on. She has lots of friends so she won't be short of visitors and support and I feel good about that. I'm ringing twice a day every day and have even managed to chat to her. The ward staff are all amazing, so I know she is being cared for. She started to move her right arm before I left and the day I left it was so much better and then when I rang today suddenly her left arm is moving much better, even the fingers, truly amazing news. She has a long journey ahead of her, with all the complications and her recovery won't be as quick as most people after a replacement hip but as Paul said she has the constitution of a horse, such fight!

Anyway as you can imagine I'm so behind on everything, I had nearly 600 blog posts to catch up on, I hope you don't mind but I just drew a line under it and said there is no way I can do that! But I do hope to be back on track now.

The only highlight of my 3 times a day visit to the hospital was this beautiful art deco building I passed. I wished I'd taken my own pic so please excuse the watermark but I stole the pic! It's so much better in real life and is now a luxury apartment building, I'd be so happy to live somewhere like this!

I also have a new laptop that I need to set up, none of my files are on it, so no new pics I'm afraid. It will take me all weekend to get it up a running.

Obviously I also haven't done any projects but I have the right knitting needles for my gloves although I am dreading knitting them as Tasha from By Gum By Golly said fingers are really hard and I am nowhere near the champion knitter she is!

Anyway I'm back, mum is on the journey to getting better and life can soon return to normal. I've been catching up on my sleep the last couple of days, I'm only just starting to feel human again.

As for quitting alcohol, that is out the window this weekend, but back to it Monday and back to exercising too!

It's pouring more

On Monday my Mum fell and broke her hip. She had a hip replacement today but tonight she has had problems and is now in a cardiac unit. I'm obviously driving up there tomorrow.

Just wanted to let you all know as you have been so supportive with my bad luck over the weekend.

See you all soon

Fiona
xxxxx

Bah, It never rains but it pours!

Firstly thank you for the lovely feedback about my hair, I'm really happy with it and think I'll be sticking with it for the forseeable future!

However this post is about me probably not being around much for the next few weeks. I had a couple of bad strokes of luck at the weekend. Firstly I got up really early to go swimming Sunday morning, and my car just wouldn't open with the normal clicker thing, mine uses a card not a key, anyway there is a key for emergencies so I tried that and what happened the alarm went off, at 7.45am on a Sunday morning and no matter what I did I just couldn't stop it, it eventually stopped but not before I'm sure I woke the whole neighbourhood. Anyway I went back out later to see if it could be resolved, it couldn't so I had to ring the RAC (roadside assistance for our non UK people!) and it turned out my battery was buggered, yeah cos I need that like a hole in the head, so that cost me a fortune. 

Next my laptop finally died it's final death on Saturday just after I posted my last blog post, literally! I've fixed and fixed this laptop and I know that it is not worth putting any more money into it, it needs replacing. I'm in the process of loading all my stuff onto my OH's laptop but it's not a long term solution, he needs his, and also his is neither quick enough or big enough to store all I need to, so I need a new one, how I don't know! Eating on a budget, not going out for my birthday and a small loan from the bank of mum I think!

So the bottom line is blog posting - which I've only just gotten back to doing regularly! - might be sporadic until I have technology sorted. I guess the good thing is I won't waste time trawling ebay for stuff I can't afford and might do more sewing instead :o)

Might see you around but might not, sorry, oh and sorry the blog commenting won't be so regular either :o(

I had the chop!

So I visited the very lovely Nina today from Nina's Vintage Hair Parlour, although they are no longer at Alfies Market, they are relocating, in the meantime they are in a super secret location, which was quite fun!!

Now that I take the pictures my hair IN the pictures doesn't look a whole heap shorter, but believe me it is a LOT shorter, it's not even sitting on my neck, but for some reason the pictures don't seem to make it look much shorter, I guess even when my hair is short there's a lot of it. Nina set it for me to show that it will set too, but I've got a couple of other options for mid week post swimming, I'll get a picture when I'm looking decent on day with the alternative looks!

Does it look shorter to you? Believe me it is. I just have so much blumming hair even short it looks like i have loads ha ha! Nina said if I want to go any shorter I'll need to go really short, I may do that next time, I'll have a think

In other news it is unbelievably stinking hot today in the UK. I think they said it's going to be the hottest October day on record, it is like the hottest days we get in Summer - none of which we had this year! It certainly was not the day to be stuck in hideous traffic jams in London with air conditioning in the car, I was so hot when I got home. I'm now cooling with the blinds closed and a fan on phew!

Also remember I told you how fabulous the history was in Barnard Castle? I totally forgot I'd taken these pictures of an amazing old house there, it was so fantastic, I took a picture of the plaque too, read it, it's fascinating.

I have nothing much else to report, apart from my exercise regime continues well, I'm at the gym or swimming 6 times a week, I'm actually enjoying it. I've lost some inches here and there, but no weight yet which seems weird but I'm sure it will happen, I hasten to add I've almost completely quit drinking and quit snacking, so really don't know why no weight loss yet, damn.... In the meantime I'm getting fitter & my clothes are fitter better!