CREATING A SHRINE FOR MY MAM

[christine51]

Hi Alison,
Such a shame your Halloween walk wasn’t up to much but I do love the skeleton in the leaves, very effective. It’s like he’s had a bit too much to drink and is lying down laughing. At least you went and were part of it, and it’s lovely that the villagers have gone to much effort with their maps and trails. Sounds very organised. Bet the kids enjoyed it. Did you carve a pumpkin yet? I still have to do that. Going to attempt a massive grin on the big pumpkin and then lots of ooooh on the others I always loved carving the pumpkins with the kids when they were little.
Have you seen Suzanne’s post about her Hallow events? Sounds fab.
I didn’t get my hole drilled yester (the excitement of my life!!) but I was in the loft getting winter curtains, bedding and coats down now the weather has certainly changed. I had created 4 curtains from mams beautiful red and gold curtains (she would not approve!)

so have them hung at the doors in place of doors, all matching in the hallway.

Very festive and traditional for a warm winter colour palette. Goes well with the traditional textile fabrics/ tapestries I have framed

and the fabrics I framed myself, some treasures from charity shops / car booties

and others cherished fabrics mam had saved and passed onto me.

The addition of the lattice screen picks up on pattern and repetition

and ties in well with the beloved prints of Gustav Klimt, my fave artist.

So a day very busy indeed, with batches of soup making thrown in.
It’s sunny again but I’m not dressed. Was reading posts at 5.30 this morn after getting up for the loo. The creep heard me and opened his door! Does he never sleep and why???
Got my order done for my winter pansies (at last!), along with cyclamen, bugle, mums and other evergreen foliage as a backdrop. Check out the bargains at a pound a plant on gardeningexpress.co.uk
Daily bargains and really healthy well established plants. Hope they come soon so I can just get it done and then the garden will be done for winter. We’re meant to have snow.
Created an order too for the themodernmilkman.co.uk
but he hasn’t called for a 30% discount on my first order. Rather pricy but can deliver next day if I run out of milk etc. If anyone is interested let me refer you as a friend for £10 off your first order. I always get carried away shopping online. It’s not like real money in a shop where you are actually handing it over the counter. Always wait and go back again with a shock and have to scale it down.
Got the lovely Monty Don book delivered for my Gardeners World subscription. I did it as a pressie for Mothers Day one year and mam kept it going. You get free seeds with every mag. I couldn’t wait to be given it when she was finished. I use visuals as inspiration for my work.
I’m inspired today by an article on a textile artist who uses language, letters, vintage finds to express the interaction we have in our everyday. So many textile artists write books on their work, inspiration, techniques etc. I was in the process of starting that when mam happened. My articles for mrxstitch would be a foundation on which to build. I really enjoyed doing it and would like to get back to it again. It seems my life really did stop. Everything I am and hold dear, apart from my longing to have mam back. Don’t want to get upset so will go for now. She was always so proud of my creations (not so much the graphic Womanhood series) and would be thrilled if I brought out a book. Not sure my own pics would be good enough though. I have so little natural light in the house because of all the curtains I need.
See ya later hun xxx

[christine51]

Hi Suzanne,
OMG that is so mean. If you don’t get a refund tell them you’ll slate them on social media, trustpilot and whatever other platforms they get reviewed on. If that was me I’d be like ‘just get in there!’ and hurry you along. Glad your other one was extra fab. Very scary stuff with the witchy satan theme. I wouldn’t be doing that myself. Wouldn’t be getting involved in stuff I don’t understand just incase it follows me home!
Just googled Samhain - marked the Celtic New Year, the end of summer, and the end of the harvest season . It also signaled the beginning of winter, which they associated with death. On this day, the Celts believed the veil between the living and the dead was especially thin.
It’s no wonder peeps from olden times went into an absolute fear frenzy with the imposing settings (beautiful church!) and damnation traditions. I’m intrigued by historical films on old England with torture and burning of witches. I’d certainly be on the bonfire with my popularity round here!
Glad you enjoyed your Halloween babe. Seems to have been a wash out for most of us, though I haven’t seen Becki posting. Wondering if she did anything special. Adore that pic of the tunnel. You should think about posting your pics for sale. There’s lots of online photography sites to join. Get an online photo shop to create the print. So atmospheric. Clever girl!
You’ll be getting your car fixed about now. I know that racket when my exhaust had rusted. You will be waking every up, letting them know you’re back. The worst though is a squealing fanbelt and smell of burning rubber. Didn’t actually know it was me though with the music blasting. Hate sorting out car stuff.
I might try to get that hole drilled today and have a couple of sensor lights to get up for the back gate area. If they are done they’ll stop bugging me as a job to do. Garden is soaked though so I’m not looking forward to it and putting off getting ready. Been watching my starlings frightening everyone else away so they can get the butter treats. Such beautiful birds. Would be a fave if they weren’t so vicious! He’s watching me watching him!

I’ve had to create bamboo perches for them as the flapping frenzy was driving me mad. It was special seeing a tiny blue tit getting a bite when no one else was around.
Had to google your man Steve. Here’s a special pic for you. He is rather delicious. Loved the pic of the beautiful owl he was holding but couldn’t copy the image.

Donlt know what is going on with your blacked out screen? Tina was the same. Wonder if it’s the site connection. Mines ok on the laptop.
Still don’t know who your concert was but glad you enjoyed it.
Must crack on and get started as it’s already lunch time and still not dressed. I could stay sitting at my window overlooking the garden all day!
Lots of love xxx

[christine51]

Hi Debbie,
Oh I have enjoyed your holiday pics, fond memories of my own. We camped at Paignton. I was driving down with a boyfriend, meeting my parents there, and it took 9 hours from London. I was nearly crying in the end because we were so lost and they had to meet us somewhere in the middle of the night because I was driving round in circles. No sense of direction and no sat nav then (and still none now).
My fave pics are scones (massive! and making my mouth water), the silver waves crashing, the very dangerous wall I would have most certainly been walking on when the train zoomed by, looking for seaweed on the beach to throw at my sisters (always a fave thing to do), glad you paddled in the sea!, we played the same crazy golf years ago (I remember the dinosaur and shipwreck), wouldn’t want to go for a dip in that chocolate lake, think zoos are cruel but adore the little goat having his/her pic taken!, gorge scenery of the boats (dad worked on the tugs straight out of school and that’s why we have always had a thing about boats and then he got his own so many happy hols), gorge colours on the sunset pics of the beach, inspirational for my seaside textiles, always got excited going crabbing and wanting to find the biggest but really loved the babies most of all, how delightful to find a rainbow on your travels, and going on a ferry with the hard wooden slatted seats is always a joy! Thank you for posting xxx
Lots of love xxx

[christine51]

Hi Tina,
I was awake at 5.20 this morn for the loo and the creep was straight at his door when he heard me (because I can hear him). It’s like he’s waiting for me. Also, when I’m sitting at the back window watching the birds and catching up with you all I’m sure he’s lurking next to the fence but can’t understand how he can see me unless he’s rigged up a camera through a gap or very high up. Why else would I hear his door go when I get up and then when I move away from the window (sometimes hours later) I hear his door again. Too much of a pattern with my movements to not be a thing. Thought I’d blocked him but his lurking continues.
Eventually fell asleep and woke up late. Still waiting for my call for the discount offer on the modern milkman website (a lovely young man who called round last week but I was in the midst of doing something and so he was coming back to me). But I did get my plants order done for my winter tubs (pansies, cyclamen, bugle, mums and some evergreens). Checkout gardeningexpress.co.uk for bargains from a pound a plant!!! (including those violas you love with the faces. I used to plant them round the old pond for mam, so childlike and free). Hope I can get it done before the cats arrive, if my niece ever does my reference. Have chased her with texts and she promised today was the day but still not had a reply from her. She’s very evasive when she wants to be. Her boyfriend’s grandad has passed away so she will be with him sorting things out for the funeral (needs a new passport and it’s all a big rush to get over to Poland). So my reference will be on hold. Might contact them if I don’t hear from her. So annoyed. Might have to see if Suzanne can do it as she very kindly offered.
Glad to see your bro has taken up with an electric saw for the wood chopping. Seems like he’s claimed it as his job. Shame you have to do the finer bits. I will think of you now when I watch my man chopping his firwood on his camping trips. Love seeing him cooking his meals. Always makes me hungry.
Would love to see your indoor sparkle creations! I get regular updates on artists and what they are up to so I’m still in the textile world even if I’m not posting my own bits. Everyone teaches in some capacity and many have their own books out. I was looking into that as an extension of doing my mrxstitch articles but when mam left everything stopped. I have it in my head now so it will sit there for a while until I get to it. When I start my sewing again over the winter (50 new pieces to finish from last winter) I’ll be taking pics as I work for new articles and there are a few unfinished too. I know mam would want me to get into it again. I need to push myself to do it. I loved that you said I should write. I was always making up my own bedtime stories for the children when they were little.
Fingers crossed for your bro with his appt. The GP system is just so stretched and I can’t see it ever improving. I hope he gets the info he needs. I’m waiting for my blood test results so will chase that up today. Will have to wait weeks for a telephone consult because that is their system but all I want is the results online as it’s an ongoing monitoring of my cholesterol.
Hope you do get to the Past Times store. Mam used to love that shop, unless yours is an actual antique place. Be careful not to bang into anything! Looking forward to hearing about it babe.
I’m still not dressed. Been putting off going out into the garden as I know the creep will be lurking. Have an hour window now rain free to drill that hole. My own procrastination is kicking in! The thought of fiddling about again with drills and wiring is not the most exciting thing to do. I’m so very exhausted again.
As you all know I love to fill my day with jobs to fill up the day and get through it. There’s a sense of being more relaxed now on an evening with the sparkling lights to enjoy. I was watching my shaolin monk again and the daily routines they have as a community, where the individual is not important and each one has a role to play withing the working structure of the temple. Freedom is achieved in doing. Filling up my day allows me to focus on that task for that period of time. It’s similar to his teachings. And to look within ourselves, rather than externally, for fulfillment. I would still like to go to a retreat and live within that stripped back setting, focusing on the self. I really have to create a balance in my day with exercise, gardening, home tasks, textiles and relaxation. And the cats will bring me joy!
Going to crack on now or I’ll get nothing done. Hope you are enjoying your trip out.
Lots of love xxx

[warriner21]

Hi Christine,
I enjoyed the walk even though there was not much to see. Felt nice walking alone in the dark, only saw a couple of other people. Was thinking about going for another walk today, but it was raining so couldn’t be bothered. I’m not carving a pumpkin. Going out tomorrow evening with Alan for a pizza and a drink. We have a chap comes once a month with a pizza van/trailer which he parks outside the pub & uses their electric, he used to have a restaurant in York & packed in during Covid, now he goes around all the villages selling pizzas. They are amazing & you can sit in the pub & eat them. So no trick or treating in this house, never do it anyway.
The Halloween events in Edinburgh sound & looked brilliant. Would love to do a Ghost Walk. I am a believer.
The curtains you have created look fabulous, lovely rich, opulent fabric. You were certainly busy yesterday. And they go so well with your fabric/textile pictures.
I made soup this lunch time - parsnip, onion, cabbage, potato, garlic, peas, cheese & a bit of leftover cooked bacon - totally delicious. Will last me all week, along with a mug full for mum. Air fryer cheese on toast for tea.
What the hell is wrong with the creep? Is he not working now? Total weirdo.
I have copied and pasted the link for the gardening website - will have a look tomorrow. I buy 4 pints of milk from the supermarket & it lasts me all week, not a milk lover - I only use it in tea.
You will be enjoying your Monty Don book.
Sounds like you are inspired to work - hope you manage to achieve a lot & get creating. Can you not photograph your work in the garden, depending on the weather?
Hope you have managed to get your hole drilled. Not a great weather forecast for the week.
Got myself a lovely book to peruse today from the charity shop.

The elegant art of living in the French style. Will enjoy looking at the photos & it has recipes in it as well.
Going for a walk to the local Coop now, might pop into the pub for a glass of wine.
Lots of love, Alison xx

[christine51]

Hi Alison,
I love your book! Anything interior design, arts and crafts, textiles, recycling. And I love seeing how things are put together. I didn’t cover the bricks creating my step from the kitchen into the garden so I could see the layers (on the outside, under the stone flags and the extended wall). Makes a great habitat for the little creatures. I photograph my textiles at the side of the house so that the bricks create a visual ratio that everyone knows. I originally used the garden but had a large lawn then. Don’t have the space or the height now.
After a very slow start I managed to get more done that I had hopped for. Extended the kitchen hole so I could get both cables through (a real faff as I have to unscrew the plugs and then screw back together. The wires on the deers are really so and so it allows for the one plug extension to be housed for the sole purpose of the small pond pump.

Means I have control of day (pond pump) and night (two extension plugs for the fence lights and the deers). Had a captive audience, as usual, while out there. They must think I’m deaf. So I’ve taken to chatting out loud as my own commentary on what I’m doing. Managed to get the lights sorted behind the pond using the original box I had set up for the pond lights and was able to coax the lead through the existing hole.

Really delighted with the effect.
I love that my Porscha is bathed in colour. Here is my view from the sitting room window where I sit having my coffee.

After doing the lights I got busy cleaning away the stinking bird food. Everything turns to porridge in the rain.

After scraping it all and bagging up I have to hose the entire area down before replenishing their seeds and feeding the hedgehog / foxes.
The mother and baby remind me of the manger, all lit up at the top of the lawn. Looking forward to getting my xmas tree now.

Just before I came in I noticed a drilled hole that I can expand for my sensor lights. So I’m to get up early enough to get it done before therapy tomorrow.
My niece texted me to say she’d done my reference but still hasn’t sent it to me (as proof!) . I have to get the last of the noisy jobs done before the cats come to me. My little friend Buddha was back again when I was doing my jobs. He enjoyed chasing the twinkling of the lights on the patio. He’s on the kitchen bench now having a snooze (didn’t want to leave).
Just had a bowl of veg soup with melted cheese (heated up in the microwave). So easy to grab when I come in. Your pizza man with the van is a clever bloke, using the pub electric to cook and then the customers sit inside to eat. Love pizza but never think to order it. Was going to do that for the kids but they’d already had some. Might do that Friday when they come over. Halloween will feel very far then, and I’ve eaten so many of the marshmallows! Must get more during the week.
Have a swim booked for tomorrow after therapy (as usual) with a trip to the skip first for my therapist (on the way and easy to do so no biggie). Hope to get a walk in the park again with my niece. Walking is so good for you. Frees the mind and gives a lighter perspective. I always find getting there is the hardest part. If I plan it in my diary I will do it. Do you keep a diary? I use it as a motivational tool more that anything. Be lost without it.
Enjoy your evening tomorrow if I don’t get back before you go. Found my old Halloween pics so will be posting them when I get back. The garden looks so different (about 15 years ago I think judging by the kids). I’d had a big party with everyone in the garden and then we went off trick or treating (not my neighbours but further afield).
Will go now so I can make a cuppa and settle down for the Yorkshire Ripper. Really good series. And I’ll have to see if the lovely Bud wants to leave.
See you tomorrow.
Lots of love xxx

[Tina19]

Hello Christine, Alison and all.

Completely unable to focus on this black background long enough to type anything so I’ll come back tomorrow when it’s daylight for a chit chat!

Bowled over by your lights Christine.

Much love xx

[warriner21]

Hi Christine,
Really impressed with your electrical work, not something I would contemplate taking on myself. I am too clumsy and accident prone to ever dare to tackle any electrical job.
Your garden looks fantastic all lit up, so bright & beautifully multi-coloured. Not at all surprised that you love sitting looking at it. Quite a lot of my solar lights have decided to stop working, think they don’t last long nowadays. Will need to think about replacing some of them, when I have the funds to do so. I love looking at them out of my patio doors.
Glad to hear that your niece has done the reference for you. Hopefully before long you will have a lovely friend to look after and love.
The pizza guy gives them free pizza, not sure if he pays them something for the electric - you would expect to nowadays. But they might just like the benefit of a few more customers coming for pizza. It is a clever business idea on his part, no premises & cheaper overheads than running a restaurant. www.bistroguy.co.uk - not sure that link will work, but attached it for you to look at if it does. I love pizza, but don’t often have it nowadays.
Hope you enjoy your swim today & manage to get a walk in at the park. I don’t diary, too much else going on & to do, selling, selling, selling - trying to empty the loft/garage/sheds.
Would love to see your old Halloween pictures and the difference in your garden.
I have been watching the Yorkshire Ripper series, but I tape it as I usually fall asleep watching TV on a night.
Raining here yet again today. The river levels around us are really high, probably some flooding later this week.
Hope you have a good day & speak later.
Lots of love, Alison xx

[warriner21]

Hi Tina

Any idea what is causing the black background, is it on your tablet? I am not techy so not sure I can help, but I could google it for you, which if it is black I am guessing you can’t.

Hope you are ok and are managing to do things.

Did you have your outing to the antique shop?

Much love, Alison xxx

[christine51]

Hi Alison,
The link worked for the pizza guy. What a fab way to earn a living, doing what you love and mixing it up with locations. Like you say, no sky high rents and building up a customer base through the community /pub means private business through word of mouth. I definitely think pizza for Friday with the kids. Was going to do picky bits with a shop mid week but I have no willpower and will eat all the treats! Will be posting my old Hallo pics tonight.
I think your solar lights might be winding down with the lack of natural light. My garden is so dark with all the trees that I can’t really have solar. Even my ‘window’ in the sunny bit isn’t lighting the flame lights. I was up at 6 and will be starting my drilling at 9 to widen the hole I found so I can get the 2 sensor lights up at the kitchen corner and back gate. When I clean up the bird feed it’s too messy to take through the house so I need access there. So that is my job for this morn before I have therapy later. I have my velvet tracky on (was really cold last night, even with the heating on) so I can get that done before getting ready for the day. I’m sure the neighbours will be out watching but I don’t care. Can’t stop them. It probably annoys the hell out them that I’m doing all of this.
It’s a relief that my niece says she’s done my reference but she didn’t send it to me like she said. So I will just have to keep chasing her for it. Winter is a good time of year to have my furry friends to stay as I’ll not be in the garden faffing about. Will be getting my plants from Gardening Express shortly. They really are quick. I’ve never been planting winter pots this late on in the year. Will be nice to see a bit of colour.
I can hear the creep behind me. He does this when he knows / hears/ listens to where I’m sitting. I’ve had years of it and I’m so attuned now that I expect it. Really freaked me out at first. He would chase me with a drill when I moved from sofa to sofa after I got the hole in the loft repaired. I reckon he’s lost his job. Probably been caught stealing or being a perve to women. Doesn’t have all the gardening tools now, thank goodness. He’s usually making such a racket cutting everything down. His quietness only makes me wonder what he’s doing and if I should be worried. Since putting up the plastic wall at the front he’s started sitting in his van. Don’t know why because he can’t see me through the curtains. But he deliberately sits there when I leave for therapy. He never looks directly at me though. I glare at him now. He wouldn’t dare do / say anything because he knows I will report him. Have never met such a sinister bloke. I’m only saying this because I know he’ll be waiting for me when I leave later. He’s still full of bitchy comments about me to other people, like ‘she’s destroyed her looks’! I’m 53, had breast cancer, doubled in size with the treatment, still going through the menopause. I’m not a young girl. I don’t want any attention from anybody. I just want to be left alone. I’m sure it’s a proper mental disorder he’s got.
My little robin has popped by to see me. Love to see him / her. After mam left it was always around. Less so now. I’ve already been out topping up the bird seed and fat balls for them, taking away 2 large hanging baskets of molding fat balls that were obviously less appealing than the others. I’m sure I’ll be finding my plants scattered everywhere and replaced by fat balls when I do my baskets. So annoying!
Good luck with your being busy. I love having a task. Had a big sort out of old plant pots (loads of them) and because I don’t have the space or light for a greenhouse I can’t really do seeds. I’m always so envious when I see Monty in his potting shed. Got an email for my subscription to unlock extra goodies, tips, etc with my first mag coming soon. Been too busy to really look at my book yet. But I will.
Hope Tina sorts her screen out soon. She’s such a big miss when she’s not here.
Good luck with your selling! I know it’s not the same but I really miss my carbooties, looking for treasures. Might suggest a trip around the charity shops with my niece. Always used to find fab extras for Christmas pressies. Lots of my textile fabrics are clothes and soft furnishings found along the way. My thing is recycling, creating beauty from a life already lived.
The starlings are at it again, frantic that they won’t get all the treats for themselves! The bamboo perch I created for them to get to the futter butter is working.
Must crack on. My drill awaits me!
Lots of love xxx

[christine51]

Hi Tina,
I do hope you get it sorted soon. Have you called them back to sort it out? Suzanne was saying her screen was also going black. Not sure what’s happening. I’ll be posting old Hallo pics tonight when I get back from my therapy / skip / swimming so hope you can see them!
I have a firm plan to get my 2 sensor lights up this morn because I found a ready made hole I can use. Just need to expand it a bit to get the 2 leads through. So I will be drilling at 9am. Sure the neighbours will love that. I’m so unpopular anyway so who cares! Will be great to get to the end of the garden jobs. Still need to empty the gutters (can add it to my pots) and screw the extra layers of decking boards at the raised bed area at the back gate. I have my plants coming too this week so there will be lots of potting up to be done. My niece says she has done my reference (do I believe her? Not sure as she hasn’t sent it to me like she promised!) so I should be getting some little ones to stay soon. I’m sure they’ll be fascinated with the all the birds. Be lovely sitting together on a morn watching them before I start my day.
Still have the pumpkins and gourds to carve before Friday (will make soup) and I’ve settled on having pizza after seeing the link Alison posted of her pizza guy at the pub. Means I don’t have to be fiddling about with bits. I can’t cook so it would be a cold spread, which I love, but means I won’t have to do a big shop.
Mam’s fairy lights have finally stopped working. Such a shame. But I have so many now and I knew they were on their way out. Looking forward to getting the xmas tree for the garden. I’ll wrap the white lights around it and add red and rainbow ribbons. I’ll leave all the glassware out for the candles too, unless it starts freezing (was so cold last night I wore my tracksuit for bed). Still pondering on setting up mams snow scenes around the tree. Can imagine the foxes playing with them. Found mams very heavy stone bird bath tipped over this morn when I went out to top up the bird seed. They jump on everything. And my flags have broken over the lawn. Must have jumped the fence to get in.
Going to get my drill ready now. As soon as the neighbours hear me they’ll be out, lurking, watching, gossiping, ‘oh, she’s so anti social!’ Yes I am!!!
See ya later hun
Lots of love xxx

[warriner21]

Hi Christine,
Back early from the charity shop today. Not feeling brilliant at all today. I suffer with IBS and hoping that is all it is. Going to have a snooze & hope that I feel a bit better later on. Need to be ok for my pizza this evening.
So cold here & damp, fed up of the rain.
Hope you manage to get to get all your jobs done today.
Will catch up later with a longer reply.
Lots of love, Alison xx

[christine51]

Hi Alison,
I do hope you are well for tonight. I worked with a girl who had IBS and it was awful for her. People don’t understand, or make fun of it, until they see it first hand.
I got my jobs done! 2 sensor lights fixed and waiting for tonight to switch on (already tested them). Lots of comments about me as usual. I’m always very vocal when I know they’re there, chatting to myself and then Bud turned up so I was chatting to him too! I am still baffled by the obsessive, intrusive behaviour towards me. I am their entertainment. They are that bored of their own existence that they have to watch me doing very boring jobs in the garden. Will post my pics tonight as just having a sit down before going out.
Quite shattered now but looking forward to my swim. Niece still hasn’t given me the reference she said she did and obviously isn’t coming swimming as she does usually. I’ve already told her to just say no and I will stop trying her. Giving up now.
Still hasn’t rained yet but I’m sure it will later. Bright sunshine but rather cool. Nice getting into a long sleeve for a change.
Will post when I’m back.
Lots of love xxx

[warriner21]

Hi Christine,
Slept for since I messaged you & feel a bit better now. Just eaten some cheese on toast, so will see how tummy responds. Not had IBS for a while, but debilitating when it flares up - just hoping that is what it was.
Glad you managed to get you jobs done. Your neighbours must have very sad lives to invest so much time in to obsessing & commenting about you & what you are doing.
Hope you managed to enjoy your swim. Not really sure what advice to give you regarding your niece, shame she cannot just put your mind at rest re the reference. I get really annoyed when people who I know have their phone in their hands all the time ignore texts. My phone is usually sat in my handbag & I am well know for taking ages to see messages/texts.
I think my digital camera has given up the ghost, they get so much use with me that they do not last long. This one has lasted 19 months. Will have to buy another one, but will have to be in a couple of weeks when I can afford it. On a budget this next month, need to save up for next holiday and got a big credit card bill to pay. I also want to buy some more outdoor lights & some new dining chair covers. Not many Christmas presents to buy, thankfully.
Bev wanted to go out for lunch tomorrow, but having my hair done. I had to cancel my appointment last week to wait for British Gas and don’t want to cancel it again, it is too long. Anyway mum & her are going out. Will see her in the morning.
It has not stopped raining here all day. The forecast for the rest of the week here is equally as gloomy & miserable. Not seen any sunshine for days.
Speak soon.
Lots of love, Alison xx

[Tina19]

Hi Alison.

Wanted to drop by in the daylight in order to write my posts but life got in the way. The type of life that involves a brush and a WC bend and the like, not the glamorous type!!

Just been to the shop and although it wasn’t raining at that point it’s so dreadfully damp and cold. It sounds like it’s raining hard but can’t see anything on the windows so not sure.

I did actually get to the Bygone Times place, never been before so thought it would be on a single floor and was flabbergasted to find it was on 6 levels!! It was like falling down a rabbit hole once inside and we were in for 3 hours! Absolutely packed with over 1000 stalls. All the stalls were unmanned so you could have a good old mooch in your own time and bit feel harassed. Mixed emotions though as I could visualize my Husband’s eyes pop out at some of the things they sold like sheet music of old, very old! And an antiques penny arcade section. Also quite sad as most of these things would probably have come from someones home at one point and would have had stories attached. That’s why I’m always in two minds in charity shops but that’s not to say I never pop in now and again when I’m in town. It would be so easy to get hooked on things though.

Pizza sounds fabulous Alison!! It’s one of those things you can go ages without having or thinking about and then you desperately want one!!

Sorry to hear you aren’t well. My brother was diagnosed with IBS over 20years ago and now has this lower colon diverticular thing but it’s not turned into diverticulitis yet. You’d never believe how many different ailments you’d get in the bowel area would you! Hope you aren’t reading this at tea time lol.

Have a good evening Alison.

Much love xx

[Tina19]

Hi Christine

I was just saying to Alison I was trying to check in earlier for a chat but too many not so lovely household jobs to do.

I think I was telling you about this circular saw my brother had bought and how I was a clumsy beggar so wouldn’t use it, well I only went and smashed the microwave turntable plate on the new microwave instead! The heat underneath the container Id used had caused suction with the glass and as I lifted it out it just came away and smashed on the floor into smithereens unfortunately, but can happen to anyone I guess.

Yes I did get to the Bygone Times place. I meant to take some photos but goodness me I would have been there all day if I had if done! There were 6 floors of over a thousand stalls all in all. Talk about sensory overload. It was antiques but mostly like a million car booties squashed in one place. You’d have been totally mesmerized! There were craft stalls as well selling all new stuff and I picked up a few things intended for Christmas gifts but in the end didn’t buy them as I couldn’t make choices!! The mill also had a sister site called Botany Bay at the end of a motorway locally but that has shut down now. I was looking at Bygone Times on Tripadvisor and someone had said it was like going back to her Grans kitchen of old, stuffed with all kinds of intriguing stuff. We were there for 3 hours. It was like falling down Alison In Wonderland’s Rabbit Hole. My Husband’s eyes would have popped out at all the interesting stuff so that was a bit sad but overall a good time was had. I never intended on buying anything but no way what a load of sparkly jewelry there was! I just bought two jars of glass nuggets as you don’t seem to be able to see them in the shops now.

I’m glad there is hope on the horizon with your Niece and the reference but make sure you know for certain that she has!

It sounds like you don’t find the Creep quite so intimidating now. Good on you. Maybe also he’s not as cocky in himself without a “job” behind him. Who knows what people think in their own minds but so pleased he isn’t stopping you from doing stuff the same as he was before.

I’m going to have to go and do some tea I think, obvs not in the microwave!!

I’ll pop back later.

Much love xc

[Tina19]

This is what my screen looks like when I’m trying to type on the Forum. It’s the same on my tablet. All my other sites are unaffected so whether it’s something specific to Sue Ryder site I don’t know. It may be an Android thing and not a desktop problem but it’s terrible on they eyes !! As soon as you press the send button it turns to normal once it hits the page. How weird.

[Suzanne30]

Happy Halloween Christine

That was defo Steve Backshall lol and very much look forward to seeing him on Monday x
Sorry my concert was Fall Out Boy….best concert I’ve been to in years…even better than when I saw them last year x

Got an email today and the Walking Tour company have apologised but are still not giving us a refund so I think a tripadvisor review will be forthcoming x

Car all fixed and was done very quickly and was so so much cheaper than what the first company quoted x

Creep must have like insomnia or something cause he never seems to sleep right enough x

Are you swimming or that this week? I was reading about you getting new plants…is that right?
I’m waiting on one good dry day so I can do one final weed and then that’s it til next year lol x

Got a message from my friend who said he was bored and had ripped down all his wallpaper and all he now has left is the under paper and it looks so awful x he then says ‘do you think I should just rip down the ceiling too?’ I was like ‘ffs no leave it alone’ but I bet when I see him on Friday he will have already done it lol x

I bought a slow cooker and am now going to try make soup in it so wish me luck lol x

I’m going to love ya and leave ya for tonight as canna keep my eyes open but will check in with in next couple of days…take care x

[Suzanne30]

As you can see Tina mine is exactly the same xx

[christine51]

Hi Alison,
Soz to be so late in posting. I didn’t go swimming after therapy because I felt really cold and tired in the downpour. Didn’t feel like swimming in cold water. So I came home, had a bite to eat and fell asleep for a few hours. Think all my jobs have caught up with me.
So here’s my very old Hallo pics. I’m the blacked out dalek, my nephews costume. The placement of the silver bits is quite amusing.

Garden before the pergola was erected.

And before the fig trees grew.

Blood bath in the old pram.

A spider lair for Debbie.

Pumpkins carved (love the scary cat face and teeth pegs).

It’s taken me all night to post. Just have no energy. Watching The Terrifier, a really good horror. Still freaks me out.
Enjoy your hair appointment babe. Will catch up properly tomorrow.
Lots of love xxx