Nine more blocks

I managed to make NINE more blocks for my Black and White with a dash of Red quilt on Thursday at Poppy Patch.
Twice a month I attend a Sit-n-Sew day at Poppy Patch Gt Doddington near Wellingborough. The same group of people have been meeting there the ages, and it is so nice catching up on all the news, and getting inspiration from each other.
It was the first time I had met the new owners, Sam and Mary, they have lots of new workshops on offer and have made a few changes to the shop but the atmosphere remains the same, happy and friendly.

Had a surprise visit from two members of church in the evening. They had heard I had not been well in Spain and just called to see I was OK or if there was anything they could do. I am feeling fine now, but it was really nice of them to call.

Linus quilt #2 2015

A week ago I made five machine embroidery blocks at BSK Bedford.  Having been in rather a slump as far as sewing crocheting or in fact doing any other craft work I decided to make the five blocks into a Linus quilt to get me back "in the mood". It worked I really enjoyed making this little quilt, using fabric from my stash for the alternate blocks and border, plus wadding and backing also from my stash. Hopefully a child somewhere will get pleasure and comfort from this Koala bear quilt.

Linus quilt #2 of the 4 I have promised myself to make this year.

IAM group 15th Anniversary

15 years ago five of us started meeting once a month to make lace, sew quilts and generally do craft work. We are now up to eight with lots of different crafts taking place and often small workshops.
To celebrate our 15 years together I organised a day out.

Made 16th July 2013!

I made eight bags from a sari to give to everyone.

We started by meeting at Threads and Patches in Fenny Stratford, Milton Keynes, where Sally the owner was kind enough to arrange for us to have drink and cake, plus a nice discount on anything we bought. It was fun looking around all the different rooms and trying not to buy too much!

Threads & Patches Tea room

Cake and a cuppa!

Our next stop was Tudor Rose at Oakley, Bedfordshire where lunch had been pre-ordered in the "O for Coffee" cafe. We all agreed it was delicious. The shop had offered us a small discount that most of took advantage of.

Lunch at the O for Coffee cake

Tudor Rose

A drive back to home where I had arranged a celebration cake, funny how even after all the food we had eaten we could all still manage to slice of cake. We then had a show and tell of the things we had bought in the different shops, plus Shirley had brought along a finished quilted bed cover that had us all gasping! She has offered to teach the members of the group that do not crochet, how to crochet, next week at our regular monthly meeting.

Maureen, Clare, Dorn, Jenny, Penny, Shirley, Ann and me behind the camera.

BSK Day

Oh what joy to be back in the old routine and feeling better.
8.30am saw me picking up friend Penny for our drive to Bedford
Every month six of us spend the day at BSK Bedford "playing" on their embroidery machines.

I decided to make a set of five Koala blocks that I thought would make a nice child or Linus quilt.
It was very restful and just the sort of day I needed to get back into the swing of sewing after all the events in Spain recently. Penny also choose an easy project.

Christine and Clare chose to make bags and they seemed quite frazzled with all the small pieces of fabric and instructions, but the final bags looked really nice. Glad I did not chose to make one.

Jackie was working on a cushion cover and Carol was absent.

Arriving home I was tired but Chris, my Knight in shining armour,  had prepared dinner which was really nice.

Teddy Money Bank

The girls came for the day on Wednesday and it was decided it was time to empty the Teddy.

Whenever we have spare coins they are put into a mug which is then emptied by the girls when they visit into an old Teddy, I think it held Leggo type bricks originally.
The Teddy was so heavy we had to get Grandad to bring it downstairs.

Having emptied it onto the dining room table the girls loaded the money into bags they could carry and the rest went into a bag for Grandad to carry.

Off to the bank with a machine that counts the money for them, great fun emptying all the bags into the chute and watching the totals tick up on the display, just over £82 to share.

After all this exercise we went for lunch at the Toby Inn, the girls restaurant choice. Then back home for a game of French Monopoly. I used to collect monopoly boards from our overseas travels so it was fun playing in French!

Home Sweet Home

What can I say about our month in Spain... the first two weeks were great, lots of sunshine and meeting old friends.. the second two weeks not so great as Chris had his wallet stolen and the hastle of cancelling credit cards, notifying the police, who were most unhelpful, replacing his driving licence and store cards etc was a real headache. Also I was taken ill and spent a day in hospital where the fact I could not speak Spanish was very scary plus the cost of prescription medicines! and feeling really poorly with Bronchitis.
Valentines day we came home, luckily I did not feel too bad and returning the hire car, catching our flight and arriving in England went very smoothly. It was then we realised the ticket to get our car back from Meet and Greet was in the stolen wallet, the EMA airport staff were great and by producing my passport let me have my car back.

Today [Tuesday 17th] is a new day, the sun is shining and for the first time I have been into the garden to see all the new shoots appearing and even the Camellia showing its first flower. There are lots of snowdrops and Spring must be just around the corner.
The unpacking is finished, the insurance claim has been sorted, a new driving licence and credit cards etc. applied for and I am in my Happy Room again.

From bad to worse

Over the weekend Chris took for a little drive along the coast, I had been going stir crazy in the house.

We drove to Torre de la Horadada where the coast road runs along the top of the cliff. There is a pretty yacht club at the end of the coast road.

Then things took a turn for the worse and Monday saw us at San Javier Hospital built only 4 years ago.

My coughing was so bad I was really worried as my chest now hurt. Arriving at 11.20 am we left at 7.30pm. The results of blood tests and X-Rays showed I had Bonquitis aguda. I was given oxygen treatment, a paracetamol drip and injection of something ( anti-biotic I think ) it was all very scary not speaking any of the language and being left alone not really knowing what was happening.

On dismissal I was given a prescription for three items that cost me €77 (I'll never say anything about the NHS in England again! Where at my age all prescriptions are free). To make sure I understood the instructions for taking the stuff I had been given, which of course we're all in Spanish, I googled them when we got home. Three cheers for the Internet.

It is now Tuesday morning and I had a sleepless night, mostly due to living the ordeal in a foreign land not speaking their language, but I feel a bit better and hope to meet friends for a late lunch.

 

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Where have I been?

Where have I been since my last post a week ago?

The answer is mostly in bed or asleep. The flu bug that seems to be going around decided it would like me for dinner! Two days I had a terrible high temperature and thought I was on fire. Chris managed to get me medicine from the pharmacy, not easy when you do not speak the language, but a phase book helped.

The one containing paracetamol, and goodness knows what else seemed to work on the temperature but it tastes vile, the cough medicine is sticky and I hope helping.

I am still feeling weak and have a chesty cough but have decided I am going to live!

 

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