I am naturally untidy and always have a pile of knitting projects, notebooks, novels, magazines and various other bits of stuff in piles around whichever chair I am sitting in, but I absolutely hate mess! I am a compete contradiction, I crave being organised but in my attempts to be so I end up creating so much chaos, I don't know why.
Prior to writing this I read back my last post and all I have to say to that is hahaha! We are now in November and I am finally almost there with my craftroom. That means I now need to go back and find homes for all the stuff that is now in a pile of bags in each room having been removed from the craftroom. I am aiming to be done with the rehoming, have the very last box unpacked and out the coloured film on my front door and glass surrounds.
The coloured film and the last box have been left untouched as I want to be completely done before I tackle them. I have hardly had the cameo on since the last post so no money is being made, unfortunately. In my defence I had a really rotten summer including 2 cellulitis infections, a 10 day stomach bug and I topped it all off by writing my car off! As well as all of that I have had several long periods of quite severe depression. It seems to sneak up out of nowhere and suddenly I can barely get myself dressed, let alone out of the house. There is no obvious trigger and no pattern that I can see, I suppose this is just something else that is going to be part of this stage in my life.
I tried going to a psychic medium show and the first time I felt that she was going to speak to me but I wasn't ready to hear anything and I think the look of terror on my face was enough to pout her off. The 2nd time I was simply unlucky enough to be sitting at a table with a mum and 3 daughters whose need for comfort was far greater than mine. I have decided not to go back for a while and see how I go. It isn't terribly expensive, unless you want a 1-1 which is £100 for 30 minutes, which I simply can't justify.
My friends have been brilliant and my children and grandchildren have all been amazing. Luckily for us Mark's partner is part of our family so we have no worries about seeing his boys and talking to them about their dad. His daughter I see every week as she comes to do her homework and have a catch up. It's hard to believe she is now in 6th year and is hurtling towards 18 but she is such a fantastic young lady in so many ways.
For now, I am going to try and post at least monthly, just to get me back into the habit of it. Hopefully there will be some crafty makes to share as well but I'm not putting any pressure on myself regarding that. If I can I will. It will be nice to find out what I have and don't have again, perhaps I will find I have stuff I won't use and can sell it off to make a few pennies towards something new that's caught my eye.
Sunday, 5 November 2017
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Here's to new beginnings
When I was younger I often heard people older than me complain about time going faster the older you got and I thought I knew all about that. I was in my 20's and knew time moved so much faster than it had when I was a child. Looking back now I realise that even in my 20's I was still very much a child by today's standards. Now here I am in the back half of my 50's and I'm hanging on for grim death time is going by so fast.
I remember the shock and horror I felt when Mark came home to tell me that his girlfriend was pregnant. I was 39 and felt way, way too young to be a grandmother! So much so that Dawn was at least 6 months pregnant before I told any of my friends, I just couldn't adjust to it. Now that young lady is hurtling towards 17 and is so confident and together and everything I wasn't till I was at least 30, she is amazing. She works so hard at her studies despite being diagnosed, finally, at 15 as dyslexic, after years of fighting with different schools to have her assessed. Now here we are into the 2nd year after her dad died and she is doing brilliantly and is very, very like him in so many ways.
I have managed to pull myself out of the big black hole that I spent most of last year in. My kids aren't there yet, but they are both doing better than they were. Mark's partner isn't as it seems to have finally hit her, which is no small wonder, though her GP isn't really being very helpful.
19 months after moving in and I almost have this house sorted. I am back rearranging the things I put away first as I had no memory of what was where and could hardly find things. My kitchen just needs a few wee tweaks such as the making and putting up of a pin board and a final sort and tidy and it will be done. The lounge is much the same, only a few tweaks needed. Even my craft room is almost a workable space, and that has been the biggest hurdle. I'm hoping to be making scrapbook pages and cards at some point soon.
My main way forward is going to be with my cameo cutting machine. I want to begin to make some things to sell, just to have a little bit of give in my budget. I have been pinning things and rooting around shops for a while now but it's almost time for me to sit down and really learn how to use my machine to it's best and then see where things take me.
Over the past 4 years my life has changed so, so much and in so many ways. I have realised that the best time to do something is now, I cannot keep putting things off because time may just run out completely before I get to the end of what I want to do. So, here's to new beginnings.
I remember the shock and horror I felt when Mark came home to tell me that his girlfriend was pregnant. I was 39 and felt way, way too young to be a grandmother! So much so that Dawn was at least 6 months pregnant before I told any of my friends, I just couldn't adjust to it. Now that young lady is hurtling towards 17 and is so confident and together and everything I wasn't till I was at least 30, she is amazing. She works so hard at her studies despite being diagnosed, finally, at 15 as dyslexic, after years of fighting with different schools to have her assessed. Now here we are into the 2nd year after her dad died and she is doing brilliantly and is very, very like him in so many ways.
I have managed to pull myself out of the big black hole that I spent most of last year in. My kids aren't there yet, but they are both doing better than they were. Mark's partner isn't as it seems to have finally hit her, which is no small wonder, though her GP isn't really being very helpful.
19 months after moving in and I almost have this house sorted. I am back rearranging the things I put away first as I had no memory of what was where and could hardly find things. My kitchen just needs a few wee tweaks such as the making and putting up of a pin board and a final sort and tidy and it will be done. The lounge is much the same, only a few tweaks needed. Even my craft room is almost a workable space, and that has been the biggest hurdle. I'm hoping to be making scrapbook pages and cards at some point soon.
My main way forward is going to be with my cameo cutting machine. I want to begin to make some things to sell, just to have a little bit of give in my budget. I have been pinning things and rooting around shops for a while now but it's almost time for me to sit down and really learn how to use my machine to it's best and then see where things take me.
Over the past 4 years my life has changed so, so much and in so many ways. I have realised that the best time to do something is now, I cannot keep putting things off because time may just run out completely before I get to the end of what I want to do. So, here's to new beginnings.
Sunday, 8 January 2017
Happy New Year?
I have never been a huge fan of new year celebrations. The only time I ever got tickets for the Edinburgh celebrations was the first time they ever cancelled it due to high winds and when the bells rang in the new year I was sitting on the A71 heading home in a traffic jam of folk who had just left Edinburgh.
The one thing I do stick by every hogmanay is that my house is cleaned from top to bottom, I have money in my purse, food in my kitchen and fuel in my car. Start the year the way you mean to go one is something that has stuck with me and been drummed into my own kids. The food and money thing is to ensure your pocket is never empty and you always have food. I break tradition by not opening my window and door to let the old year out and the new year in but I figured that's ok.
What worries me about the new year is the firsts. Somehow we got through the first Christmas and new year, by supporting each other and trying to do what we could to make everything happy for the kids. Its the first anniversary next month which I'm dreading. We have decided amongst ourselves on a low key tribute to Mark involving the kids followed by a snack at my house. We also decided that an online tribute to mark would be good and would be something that others could post on and would be there for his children in the years to come. That is still a work in progress but will be released or unveiled or something like that, on the anniversary of Mark's death. He didn't have an online presence, despite spending as much time as life allowed playing video games esp champ manager. He detested Facebook or shitebook as he called it but I felt somewhere that others can contribute to would be nice as it would also show a different side to him.
Apart from that we are all muddling through, sometimes it is so painful that it overrides everything else, other times it doesn't feel real at all and there are times when he isn't at the forefront of my mind, but that isn't too often. Mark was a flawed person with a lot of significant mental health issues but he was also the sweetest, kindest and most helpful person there was and he was my son.
The one thing I do stick by every hogmanay is that my house is cleaned from top to bottom, I have money in my purse, food in my kitchen and fuel in my car. Start the year the way you mean to go one is something that has stuck with me and been drummed into my own kids. The food and money thing is to ensure your pocket is never empty and you always have food. I break tradition by not opening my window and door to let the old year out and the new year in but I figured that's ok.
What worries me about the new year is the firsts. Somehow we got through the first Christmas and new year, by supporting each other and trying to do what we could to make everything happy for the kids. Its the first anniversary next month which I'm dreading. We have decided amongst ourselves on a low key tribute to Mark involving the kids followed by a snack at my house. We also decided that an online tribute to mark would be good and would be something that others could post on and would be there for his children in the years to come. That is still a work in progress but will be released or unveiled or something like that, on the anniversary of Mark's death. He didn't have an online presence, despite spending as much time as life allowed playing video games esp champ manager. He detested Facebook or shitebook as he called it but I felt somewhere that others can contribute to would be nice as it would also show a different side to him.
Apart from that we are all muddling through, sometimes it is so painful that it overrides everything else, other times it doesn't feel real at all and there are times when he isn't at the forefront of my mind, but that isn't too often. Mark was a flawed person with a lot of significant mental health issues but he was also the sweetest, kindest and most helpful person there was and he was my son.
Saturday, 5 November 2016
A whole lotta hole!
One of the hardest things about losing someone close to you is trying to fill the hole they left behind. My son's partner is coping fantastically well with their three, rather demanding boys. I, along with my children, am trying to help and support her as much as we can and with what we can but at times it is so, so hard.
Mark was a somewhat flawed character and he had a lot of mental health issues combined with some significant physical health issues, however he was a big personality and a huge part of his children's lives and he has left an enormous hole to fill. I am very bitter about his lack of treatment by his GP and the many other health professionals he has in contact with. I feel very strongly that if they had all done their very best I would not be grieving for my son.
Recently it's like the weight of grief that I have been trying to avoid, by keeping myself super busy, has come crashing down on my head and I feel like I am living in a bubble, safe here in my home. Going out, even for essentials like food shopping, is hard and something that I avoid as long as I possibly can. I still do things with my grandchildren and my children because I would never let them down or disappoint them, but other than that I have retreated into my safe home/haven.
I have been to my GP and I do need to contact Cruse because I am aware that I need outside help, I can't move this weight on my own. Both of my children are feeling very similar and are struggling with their grief. I don't think mark's partner gets much more than 5 minutes in any one day to grieve, but I do know she is grieving and I worry that as the children grow, her grief will worsen.
Recently I had a computer breakdown and the extra hard drive, that I stored all my photos and my vast collection of knitting and sewing patterns, became corrupted. The very nice man who fixes these things for me said he had managed to salvage some of my stuff and put the machine back together and off I went, until I had yet another problem and discovered that both hard drives were in fact corrupt and the motherboard needs upgrading and ... Bummer!
This on top of a defunct fridge freezer that was 12 months and 2 weeks old when it broke, costing me a fortune in wasted food and October wasn't the happiest of months for me. I think it was these not so big things that tipped the balance on my ability to cope, day to day.
One of the worst things when someone dies is the knowing that all opportunities to engage with that person are gone. You can't tell them how you feel, how much you love them, there are no more photos to be taken or memories to be made. All the silly questions that the kids ask or are simply floating through your mind will remain ever that, questions with no one to answer them. It is these things that sort of catch you unawares.
Christmas is fast approaching and I am nowhere near as organised as I should be. I have very few presents bought and I'm sort of hiding from the fact it is drawing near. Mark's partner and the children are all joining us on Boxing Day, Christmas Day will be spent at home enjoying the goodies that santa brings. One of our family Christmas traditions is that for a baby's first Christmas 2 ornaments are bought for the family tree and when that baby has their own tree they get one of them and the other stays with me.
When Mark was born I bought a ceramic Snoopy in a santa suit and a ceramic Woodstock sitting on a Christmas present to hang on my tree. When mark left home he took the Snoopy with him and this year it will hang on the tree in the house where his boys live. I'm hoping to make and buy a few special ornaments for the boys and Mark's daughter as memorial things for their own trees when they are older. Its only a little thing but when I spoke to Mark's partner I was so relieved when she said she had packed all the Christmas decorations when she moved. She knew exactly what I meant when I asked about them, which was good. Her house move was so rushed and haphazard that stuff did get left behind that wasn't meant to but under the circumstances it wasn't surprising.
Mark was a somewhat flawed character and he had a lot of mental health issues combined with some significant physical health issues, however he was a big personality and a huge part of his children's lives and he has left an enormous hole to fill. I am very bitter about his lack of treatment by his GP and the many other health professionals he has in contact with. I feel very strongly that if they had all done their very best I would not be grieving for my son.
Recently it's like the weight of grief that I have been trying to avoid, by keeping myself super busy, has come crashing down on my head and I feel like I am living in a bubble, safe here in my home. Going out, even for essentials like food shopping, is hard and something that I avoid as long as I possibly can. I still do things with my grandchildren and my children because I would never let them down or disappoint them, but other than that I have retreated into my safe home/haven.
I have been to my GP and I do need to contact Cruse because I am aware that I need outside help, I can't move this weight on my own. Both of my children are feeling very similar and are struggling with their grief. I don't think mark's partner gets much more than 5 minutes in any one day to grieve, but I do know she is grieving and I worry that as the children grow, her grief will worsen.
Recently I had a computer breakdown and the extra hard drive, that I stored all my photos and my vast collection of knitting and sewing patterns, became corrupted. The very nice man who fixes these things for me said he had managed to salvage some of my stuff and put the machine back together and off I went, until I had yet another problem and discovered that both hard drives were in fact corrupt and the motherboard needs upgrading and ... Bummer!
This on top of a defunct fridge freezer that was 12 months and 2 weeks old when it broke, costing me a fortune in wasted food and October wasn't the happiest of months for me. I think it was these not so big things that tipped the balance on my ability to cope, day to day.
One of the worst things when someone dies is the knowing that all opportunities to engage with that person are gone. You can't tell them how you feel, how much you love them, there are no more photos to be taken or memories to be made. All the silly questions that the kids ask or are simply floating through your mind will remain ever that, questions with no one to answer them. It is these things that sort of catch you unawares.
Christmas is fast approaching and I am nowhere near as organised as I should be. I have very few presents bought and I'm sort of hiding from the fact it is drawing near. Mark's partner and the children are all joining us on Boxing Day, Christmas Day will be spent at home enjoying the goodies that santa brings. One of our family Christmas traditions is that for a baby's first Christmas 2 ornaments are bought for the family tree and when that baby has their own tree they get one of them and the other stays with me.
When Mark was born I bought a ceramic Snoopy in a santa suit and a ceramic Woodstock sitting on a Christmas present to hang on my tree. When mark left home he took the Snoopy with him and this year it will hang on the tree in the house where his boys live. I'm hoping to make and buy a few special ornaments for the boys and Mark's daughter as memorial things for their own trees when they are older. Its only a little thing but when I spoke to Mark's partner I was so relieved when she said she had packed all the Christmas decorations when she moved. She knew exactly what I meant when I asked about them, which was good. Her house move was so rushed and haphazard that stuff did get left behind that wasn't meant to but under the circumstances it wasn't surprising.
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Too much stuff!
When I first start a blog, way back in the mists of time, it was for myself as a way of emptying my head of all the worries and woes. A lady who I was friendly with at the time had suggested it as a useful mental health tool, and it worked. I found myself writing down all the things that were good, not so good and downright awful, then trying to forget them.
Then blogging became almost a competitive sport among paper crafters and I felt pressured to have something new to show in every post. For the most part that was ok but then, as now, I would sometimes give myself a break from it and the requirement to have something new to show.
In the past 2 years I have barely scrapped, I have only made a handful of pages, some of which I was happy with, others not so much. Throughout this time I have also knitted and crocheted, completed some sewing projects, baked a few cakes and then I was forced to retire from a job I loved, ended a long term relationship, moved house and lost a son.
These last 3 things have really taken their toll. Being forced to retire was inevitable as I was, and still am, physically unable to work. I am in constant pain despite the bucket load of pills I have to take each day but that pales into insignificance compared to the others. My granddaughter told me yesterday that I live in a big house for just one person. It really isn't, it is only 2 bedrooms and the living room is very small but the kitchen/diner is quite large so it seems big. She also told me i had too much stuff, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Too much papercrafting stuff; way, way too many stamps; too much yarn and fabric and too many things I have held onto for sentimental reasons.
I have been in my new house just over a year and when I moved I didn't bring everything with me as I was actually embarrassed by how much stuff I had accumulated. There was space in the house I was leaving so an agreement was made that I would leave some stuff until I had unpacked and sorted what I had. Then the lady I thought of as my mother in law was diagnosed with cancer and just 5 short weeks later she died. All she was worried about was her stuff and what would happen to it. Her son and I emptied her house and moved all the things that were being kept to his house and she died about a week after that. Nothing that came from her house was worth a lot of money but she needed to know it was safe before she could let go.
3 years ago one of my best friends, a wonderful lady called Heather Cuthbert, died of cancer. Like me, she was a scrapbooker but she also made cards, wedding stationary and the most amazing mini books. Myself and another friend, Janie, volunteered to help Heather's husband clear her craft room. It was a day of tears and laughter as we shared memories and packed boxes. Much of Heather's stash had already been taken by various family members who also crafted but there was still an awful lot left. As Janie and I laughed at some of Heather's more colourful papers we both promised ourselves that we would not leave as much stuff as Heather. The contents of Heather's craft room were sold off and several hundreds of pounds were raised for her chosen cancer charities.
Last month saw me finally have all of my stuff under one roof and the little bit of space I had created upstairs was once again full of boxes of stuff waiting to be found a home. I have about 8-10 still to unpack and find homes for. I have several boxes of stuff waiting to be sold as I won't use it but, most of all, it will be less for my family to deal with when my time comes. I need to be creating again on a regular basis and start using up what I have. As I'm no longer working funds are tight as my pension isn't great and I don't qualify for a government pension for another 10 years at least.
As best I can I am going to sort and organise my stuff and get rid of things I know I won't use. Hopefully one day my grandchildren will wonder where all my stuff went, not where is all my stuff going to go.
Then blogging became almost a competitive sport among paper crafters and I felt pressured to have something new to show in every post. For the most part that was ok but then, as now, I would sometimes give myself a break from it and the requirement to have something new to show.
In the past 2 years I have barely scrapped, I have only made a handful of pages, some of which I was happy with, others not so much. Throughout this time I have also knitted and crocheted, completed some sewing projects, baked a few cakes and then I was forced to retire from a job I loved, ended a long term relationship, moved house and lost a son.
These last 3 things have really taken their toll. Being forced to retire was inevitable as I was, and still am, physically unable to work. I am in constant pain despite the bucket load of pills I have to take each day but that pales into insignificance compared to the others. My granddaughter told me yesterday that I live in a big house for just one person. It really isn't, it is only 2 bedrooms and the living room is very small but the kitchen/diner is quite large so it seems big. She also told me i had too much stuff, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Too much papercrafting stuff; way, way too many stamps; too much yarn and fabric and too many things I have held onto for sentimental reasons.
I have been in my new house just over a year and when I moved I didn't bring everything with me as I was actually embarrassed by how much stuff I had accumulated. There was space in the house I was leaving so an agreement was made that I would leave some stuff until I had unpacked and sorted what I had. Then the lady I thought of as my mother in law was diagnosed with cancer and just 5 short weeks later she died. All she was worried about was her stuff and what would happen to it. Her son and I emptied her house and moved all the things that were being kept to his house and she died about a week after that. Nothing that came from her house was worth a lot of money but she needed to know it was safe before she could let go.
3 years ago one of my best friends, a wonderful lady called Heather Cuthbert, died of cancer. Like me, she was a scrapbooker but she also made cards, wedding stationary and the most amazing mini books. Myself and another friend, Janie, volunteered to help Heather's husband clear her craft room. It was a day of tears and laughter as we shared memories and packed boxes. Much of Heather's stash had already been taken by various family members who also crafted but there was still an awful lot left. As Janie and I laughed at some of Heather's more colourful papers we both promised ourselves that we would not leave as much stuff as Heather. The contents of Heather's craft room were sold off and several hundreds of pounds were raised for her chosen cancer charities.
Last month saw me finally have all of my stuff under one roof and the little bit of space I had created upstairs was once again full of boxes of stuff waiting to be found a home. I have about 8-10 still to unpack and find homes for. I have several boxes of stuff waiting to be sold as I won't use it but, most of all, it will be less for my family to deal with when my time comes. I need to be creating again on a regular basis and start using up what I have. As I'm no longer working funds are tight as my pension isn't great and I don't qualify for a government pension for another 10 years at least.
As best I can I am going to sort and organise my stuff and get rid of things I know I won't use. Hopefully one day my grandchildren will wonder where all my stuff went, not where is all my stuff going to go.
Tuesday, 29 March 2016
Enough with the bad luck already
Here we are, March 2016 and only 6 months since my last blog post. 6 small, short months and so much is different.
My long term relationship with the man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with ended, mainly due to how I have changed since my health problems and losing my job. As a result I had to start all over again. I am now back in a rented property and I moved with only a bed, a chair and a room full of craft stuff. I now have a nice home, but it has taken time and what money I had left from the lump sum I got when I stopped working.
4 weeks after I moved in and his mother was told she had lung cancer and she was given 3 months to live. 2 weeks later she was in a long term hospital, where she died 5 weeks later. I thought of her as my mother in law and visited her 4-6 times a week while she was in hospital.
During this time I helped pack up her flat and move it to my former home, all the while trying to unpack my house in my spare time. Alma died in November 2015. Then came the December birthdays and Christmas. My oldest son stayed with me over Christmas and until late January when we had a row about some of his lifestyle choices.
On 21st February 2016 he was found unconscious in a garden not far from where I live. He died later that day. His death was treated as suspicious as he was a witness in a murder case. The worst day of my life was when I had to travel to Edinburgh to identify my son. The post mortem could not identify the cause of death and further tests were carried out. As his death was suspicious we were not allowed to touch him, which was absolutely heartbreaking.
Apparently he had been walking from his partner's house to mine and had taken off his coat and hoodie along the way. He then became disorientated due to the cold, fell and went to sleep. We will get the final test results some time in May, hopefully. It is likely that his medication has disorientated him as he walked and as it made him drowsy he simply went to sleep and became too cold to survive. We buried him on March 8th 2016. I feel as though my heart has been ripped in two and will never be whole again.
I am so grateful for my crafting friends who, although they live some miles away, have been very supportive in a non intrusive way. I now have the job of sorting my crafting supplies of paper, yarn and fabric into a system that is easily accessible. I am trying to keep myself busy and force myself to do things, while supporting my sons partner and his children as they begin a new life without him.
I am hoping to be a more regular blogger as I try and build a life on my own, one so far removed from how I thought it would be this time last year.
My long term relationship with the man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with ended, mainly due to how I have changed since my health problems and losing my job. As a result I had to start all over again. I am now back in a rented property and I moved with only a bed, a chair and a room full of craft stuff. I now have a nice home, but it has taken time and what money I had left from the lump sum I got when I stopped working.
4 weeks after I moved in and his mother was told she had lung cancer and she was given 3 months to live. 2 weeks later she was in a long term hospital, where she died 5 weeks later. I thought of her as my mother in law and visited her 4-6 times a week while she was in hospital.
During this time I helped pack up her flat and move it to my former home, all the while trying to unpack my house in my spare time. Alma died in November 2015. Then came the December birthdays and Christmas. My oldest son stayed with me over Christmas and until late January when we had a row about some of his lifestyle choices.
On 21st February 2016 he was found unconscious in a garden not far from where I live. He died later that day. His death was treated as suspicious as he was a witness in a murder case. The worst day of my life was when I had to travel to Edinburgh to identify my son. The post mortem could not identify the cause of death and further tests were carried out. As his death was suspicious we were not allowed to touch him, which was absolutely heartbreaking.
Apparently he had been walking from his partner's house to mine and had taken off his coat and hoodie along the way. He then became disorientated due to the cold, fell and went to sleep. We will get the final test results some time in May, hopefully. It is likely that his medication has disorientated him as he walked and as it made him drowsy he simply went to sleep and became too cold to survive. We buried him on March 8th 2016. I feel as though my heart has been ripped in two and will never be whole again.
I am so grateful for my crafting friends who, although they live some miles away, have been very supportive in a non intrusive way. I now have the job of sorting my crafting supplies of paper, yarn and fabric into a system that is easily accessible. I am trying to keep myself busy and force myself to do things, while supporting my sons partner and his children as they begin a new life without him.
I am hoping to be a more regular blogger as I try and build a life on my own, one so far removed from how I thought it would be this time last year.
Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Just the boost I need ...
Blogging is something I started many years ago. I first started after being encouraged by a friend, who also blogged, to use it as a self help tool to try and get my depression and anxiety under control a little. I found it very therapeutic and blogged several times a week, though I kept my blog private. In time I let it get out there and several people became regular readers and my posts became less introspective and more about a showcase for my scrapbook pages.
In time I felt I could only write a post when I had something to show and as I was scrapping less and less I blogged less and less. Eventually I stopped altogether but, I have to confess to having missed it. Then I started again, mainly as a way of cataloguing my health and what I achieved in spite of it. Then I stopped, although it is still private and not seen by anyone else.
Over the past 2 years so much has changed. My health has worsened and I can no longer work. I was dismissed as medically unfit to teach in June 2014. I knew it was coming but it was still a very hard pill to swallow and it has taken me until fairly recently to adjust to the fact I can no longer teach, or indeed work.
One good thing that came from all of this was the fact that I had time to finally start patchwork and quilting. Something I had wanted to learn how to do for many years but I kept putting it off because I knew I didn't have the time to commit to it. Since August 2014 I have gone to a patchwork and quilting class every Thursday morning at Keltra Crafts in Bathgate.
My first project was a cushion and then it was onto a small lap quilt using a variety of different blocks to learn a range of techniques. After that it was a few bags, one to replace a knitting bag I had got free with a magazine many years ago and which had finally worn through on the bottom. (I will post photos once I take them!)
Now I am making a quilt using foundation piecing which will be slightly smaller than single bed size for when I am too ill/sore to go to bed and sleep in my chair. After that I think I will try something more adventurous, but time will tell. In the mean time I am collecting quilt patterns and ideas, fat quarters of fabric and a few quilting books. One of the books I picked up was The New Hexagon which, along with All Points Patchwork have inspired me to have a go at hand sewing a quilt like this.
When I first started I had a colour scheme in mind of pink, yellow and teal and while I am kind of sticking to that the hexagons seem to have a life of their own when it comes to fabric and I find myself choosing things I would possibly not have looked at otherwise. I am still working on the first rosette and sewing it all by hand, in between knitting projects. Again I will add photos once I have taken them.
For now it's off to knit or sew with my feet up.
In time I felt I could only write a post when I had something to show and as I was scrapping less and less I blogged less and less. Eventually I stopped altogether but, I have to confess to having missed it. Then I started again, mainly as a way of cataloguing my health and what I achieved in spite of it. Then I stopped, although it is still private and not seen by anyone else.
Over the past 2 years so much has changed. My health has worsened and I can no longer work. I was dismissed as medically unfit to teach in June 2014. I knew it was coming but it was still a very hard pill to swallow and it has taken me until fairly recently to adjust to the fact I can no longer teach, or indeed work.
One good thing that came from all of this was the fact that I had time to finally start patchwork and quilting. Something I had wanted to learn how to do for many years but I kept putting it off because I knew I didn't have the time to commit to it. Since August 2014 I have gone to a patchwork and quilting class every Thursday morning at Keltra Crafts in Bathgate.
My first project was a cushion and then it was onto a small lap quilt using a variety of different blocks to learn a range of techniques. After that it was a few bags, one to replace a knitting bag I had got free with a magazine many years ago and which had finally worn through on the bottom. (I will post photos once I take them!)
Now I am making a quilt using foundation piecing which will be slightly smaller than single bed size for when I am too ill/sore to go to bed and sleep in my chair. After that I think I will try something more adventurous, but time will tell. In the mean time I am collecting quilt patterns and ideas, fat quarters of fabric and a few quilting books. One of the books I picked up was The New Hexagon which, along with All Points Patchwork have inspired me to have a go at hand sewing a quilt like this.
When I first started I had a colour scheme in mind of pink, yellow and teal and while I am kind of sticking to that the hexagons seem to have a life of their own when it comes to fabric and I find myself choosing things I would possibly not have looked at otherwise. I am still working on the first rosette and sewing it all by hand, in between knitting projects. Again I will add photos once I have taken them.
For now it's off to knit or sew with my feet up.
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