Picture of the day...... ♫ "... We talked and talked ... " ♫

Bob and I went over to Barry this morning so that he could do a fairly quick PAT testing job.

From there we went up to Cardiff to meet Jane, one of my dearest friends, who I've known since high school, and who now lives in Australia. Jane is over here for a few weeks, and I was supposed to have been catching up with her (and lots of others) at a school reunion a month ago, but Bob and I had Covid and weren't able to go.

It was so lovely to see Jane, and for her to at last meet my Lovely Man! They seemed to hit it off well, which is great. We spent quite a lot of time at Jane's rented flat chatting with a cuppa (or two) and catching up, and then we went off into Whitchurch to get some food and have a look around the charity shops!

We had food and drink at Coffee#1, where I had a lovely vegan meatball wrap. Then the charity shops beckoned. I managed to pick up some lovely bargains. Then we went back to the flat for more tea and chatting, before Bob and I needed to set off back home.

It wasn't until we were on our way back home, that I realised we hadn't taken any photographs! I'd intended to get Bob to take one of Jane and I, and to grab a random person and ask them to take one of the three of us, but I just forgot. I think we were so busy chatting, that it just didn't occur to any of us! Ha, we really did talk and talk!

So you'll have to make do with a photograph of my charity shop haul - some vintage patterns, a few pieces of lovely china, some reels of thread on old wooden spools and a roll of pretty ribbon!

Today was a lovely day and I'm really looking forward to 6th August, when I'll see Jane again, because there are a few of us who were in school together, going off on an outing to Weston Super Mare! But that's for another blog day.

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... I know you and you know me ... " ♫

I love a list, and it's been a while since I've done one. Well, this kind of one anyway.

I'm looking forward to doing some lovely things this week - both for work and pleasure.

One of the things on this list is 'Meet up with a lovely friend', but although it's the last thing listed, it's actually one of the first things I'll be doing this week. Jane, who I've known for over forty years (we were at school together), and is one of my dearest friends, is over here visiting from Australia and Bob and I are meeting up with her in Cardiff tomorrow. I haven't seen her for four years, and Bob hasn't met her at all yet, so I am really, really looking forward to tomorrow. Yaaay!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... A game of hide and seek ... " ♫

I had a busy day leading the crochet workshop up at Craig-y-Nos Country Park today. It went well, and I had some lovely feedback.

I love teaching, but I do find it really tiring, so after I'd packed everything away and put it all back into Bob's van to take home, I needed a sit down, a cuppa, and a bit of a ponder.

I'm a bit of a pluviophile and I love to sit and watch and listen to the rain, so I sat outside Bob's studio with a cuppa and enjoyed the lovely rain, which has been coming down all day. Not heavy, just drizzle, and because it's still warm, and I was hot and tired, it was actually quite refreshing.

Whilst sitting there, I had a little visitor - a beautiful little bullfinch, which kept flying down from somewhere (I don't know where), sitting and looking at me, then flying off again to somewhere! A proper little game of hide and seek.

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Many things I've done ... " ♫

Today has been really busy, with lots of different things going on. It's also been rather frustrating.

First a trip to the hospital to see the consultant about the lump at the bottom of my spine (the saga continues). Nothing serious, just a chat and to tell me that he's asked a colleague in a different hospital about this particular lump. We know it's a cyst, but apparently it's a rare type and the other consultant knows lots about them, so will be able to advise better about what to do next.

This afternoon I had to take Lovely Lucia to Carmarthen to a garage there. They fitted four new tyres for me back in May, and at the same time put new brake pads and discs on the front. The two front wheels have been squeaking more-or-less since, and the wheels are getting very hot. I'm not happy with this, and I took it for them to have a look. I won't go into details, but it looks like that is going to be another ongoing saga!

In between all of this, I am trying to get some work done, and get stuff ready for tomorrow's crochet workshop. I'm almost there, just a few bits and pieces to do and put everything ready to go into Bob's van, as we're going up together to the park in that tomorrow.

In spite of the busy day, I only managed to take one picture - the set of lovely granny square samples which I've made ready for tomorrow.

Off to bed now to get some very much needed rest!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... satin and lace ... " ♫

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to tidy up the craft room each day, and it's been a bit chaotic.

I really don't like working in a mess, and it's definitely not good for creative vibes to flow, so today I spent a few hours sorting it out and getting some sort of order back

I filled this little basket with bits and pieces of offcuts - fabrics, ribbons, lace and other bits and pieces - and I'll use them on some smaller projects.

This is the pile of fabrics which are still to be washed.

It's quite a large pile!

I hope I can reduce it significantly over the next week or so.

Finally, the art area of my craft room was probably the most unruly area of all!

I really want to have a little dabble in some more watercolour painting, so I really needed to sort this area out.

An hour later, I have a lovely clear desk to be creative!

All in all I'm pretty happy with my tidying and sorting splurge, so now I need to get some creative juices flowing!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Driving on my way home ... " ♫

Today has been a really busy day.

I've been working on stuff for Fairy Cwtch - some admin and then sewing some new bunting samples.

Bob's been over in Swansea PAT testing, which means that JoeCat and me have been on Ollie sitting duties all day!

This means that poor Ollie has been stuck in the house (apart from popping out for the odd wee here and there in the garden) and hasn't had his usual day up at Craig-y-Nos Country Park, with all his 'fans' turning up to take him for a walk!

When Bob got home, and after a cuppa, we went out to drop a birthday present off to my lovely Knorty Knitwit friend Angela, and we decided to take Ollie too, so that we could call off on the way home to a nearby green space, for him to have a run around and some ball-chasing fun! Ollie definitely approved of that. As you can see from the picture, Ollie loves a ball!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... What's Changed? ... " ♫

I went for my six-weekly appointment at Rockstar, Gorseinon today for my usual cut, wash and blow dry.

I used to hate going to the hairdressers, and in fact avoided them for a long time, and just trimmed my own hair. I used to find that hairdressers generally didn't listen to me, and the problems I have with my hair, and I never left feeling good.

That's all changed since I started going to Colleen at Rockstar. Colleen is fab. She's very knowledgeable and takes on board what I tell her about the problems I have because my hair is naturally very fine, and because Lupus makes it fall out, and causes it to be dry, flyaway and sometimes completely unmanageable.

I've been going to Colleen since last October and when I leave her salon I can look in the mirror and actually like the hair that I see!

Florisene is another product which I use. It's a supplement, especially formulated for hair loss in women.

I find Florisene really helpful, but even that didn't seem to be making much difference earlier in the year.

However, when I started using Olaplex, I upped the dose of Florisene back to 3 a day, and I now have new growth in my hair, in one particular spot where it was falling out.

I really hope that my hair is on its way to being much better than it has been of late.

I'm not sure whether it's the Olaplex, the fact that Lupus has calmed down a bit, the Florisene, a fab hairdresser, or a combination of all of those things.

I do know, that I'm always amazed that Colleen manages to get sooooo much body and curl out of my 'six hairs and a piece of cotton'!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Working behind the scenes ... " ♫

Pinched from t'interweb quite a few years ago, I've used this picture lots of times.

Today has been very much a 'collecting thoughts' sort of day.

I have all sorts of ideas running around in my head of things I want to do, and stuff I want to make.

This afternoon Bob and I went to visit a friend. She's having a de-stash of her fabrics, and invited us over to see if I'd like to have the fabrics she's de-stashing, and of course that was met with a resounding 'Yes please!'

Our friend gave me some absolutely lovely fabrics, and refused to take any payment for them. So we agreed that I will donate to charity, and there are three charities that I'd like to support, so I shall share it between them. I'll get on to that in the morning.

It was a lovely afternoon in good company and with great conversation, accompanied by tea and home-made scones.

We left her house with four large bags of lovely fabrics, plus some books and other bits and pieces. I also left her house with lots more ideas to add to the ones I already have. I think I'm going to be busy.

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... R U Ready ... " ♫

Today has been the sort of pace which I'd like the next week to be. A gentle, quiet, refreshing pace, which at the same time was quite productive.

I've done some sewing and some crochet for Fairy Cwtch, and got through some admin stuff, and some things around the house. I've also been washing fabrics to test for shrinkage before I make them up into lovely things to sell.

Tomorrow Bob and I are together for Day Off and in the afternoon we're off to see a friend.

Not much else is planned for the week, other than getting some things made for my Etsy shop and hopefully some stuff around the house done, oh and of course the final preparation for my crochet workshop on Saturday.

Next on my list this evening is to go and have a lovely hot, bubbly soak in the bath and then cwtch up on the sofa for some T.V. with my Lovely Man. A good night's sleep then will nicely set the pace for the coming week, for which I am most definitely ready! Are you ready?

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Getting close to you ... " ♫

Joe Cat loves to be close to me, especially when I'm in the craft room working. He sits as close as he can. He knows he's not allowed on or too near the sewing machine, and he knows he's not allowed to sit on things that I'm working on, so he just gets as close as he's allowed. It's so cute!

Today was no exception. I was working on some new products and he was sitting to the side of me, purring away, and gazing as if I am the most wonderful thing in the world! Awwww.

I've been working on a few things today, including a couple of new products to build up my stock, some crochet granny square samples for next weekend's crochet workshop, and my 'Made By Anita' 'Vintage Hexies' throw.

All in all it was a productive day.

After a while though, Joe did get quite tired......

......and this evening, I finished setting up an Etsy shop! Yaay, I'm so excited to have joined the ever-growing group of crafters who sell online.

I don't have huge amounts in it at the moment, but I shall add to it as and when I make things.

If you would like to visit my Etsy shop, please click here , and maybe give me a follow if you feel inclined! (opens in a new window)

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... The Key To My Heart ... " ♫

There are a few keys to my heart actually, and two of them are in this picture! Yarn and colours.

I love colours and I get a feeling of deep joy when surrounded by them. For example, I love going into shops where there are groups of colours - paints, crayons, fabrics, yarns, etc. I love to look at pictures on Pinterest of colourful things and groups of colours.

I also love yarns, and making things from yarns.

These particular bags of yarns in all their glorious colours are what I've been sorting ready for the crochet workshop which I'm running next weekend for Fairy Cwtch. I'll be teaching people how to make granny squares and I want to give them lots of colour choices, so I've been going through all my spare bits and pieces of yarn for this. Bob also gave me his boxes of weaving yarns to have a rummage through and pillage!

I think I have enough variety now, so I shall put them ready and look for suitable containers (maybe some lovely baskets) to display them on the day, so that I can make them as enticing as possible. I'm always happy to share the colourful yarny love!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... 2 steps back ... " ♫

Do you ever do the Dance Of Life that is one step forwards and two steps back? Yes, me too!

The last couple of days have been a little bit like that. Nothing major - just things plod along nicely and then something irritating/inconvenient comes along to chuck a spanner in the works.

In my case, one of those inconveniences was my iron deciding to be temperamental and sometimes steam, sometimes not steam! Not the best when you're working on something for a customer which needs to be done, and a seamstress without a decent iron is definitely not a good look!

So, I popped on to t'interweb and ordered a new one and in the meantime, my Lovely Man came to the rescue by loaning me his iron so that I could finish the job.

My lovely new iron turned up late this morning. Next day delivery at no extra cost - that's pretty fab! Anyway, New Iron is still in the box (as you can see from the picture) and I'm looking forward to playing with it tomorrow! For tonight though, it's all about the cwtching on the sofa for some T.V., and a good night's sleep in readiness for tomorrows Dance Of Life!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... move the clouds ... " ♫

Clouds! I love them.

I love how there are so many different clouds and the lovely patterns they make. One of my favourite things to do is to spot pictures/objects/people/animals/whatever I can spot in the clouds, and then watch whilst they change to something else right in front of me. Amazing.

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... The life I'm living now ... " ♫

Today has been another scorcher, and I've been home most of the day, hiding from the sun!

I haven't taken any photographs today, so I've decided to pinch one from t'interweb and use it for a Thankful Tuesday blog.

Not a very long blog as it happens, because I am thankful for the simplicity of being able to stay home today in this heat and - gently, quietly, and without rushing about - get things done which needed doing.

It really is that simple!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... so hot ... " ♫

Today has been a bit of a scorcher! Just in case you hadn't noticed, haha.

I've been leading a free "Patchwork For Beginners" workshop today, in association with "The Big Skill".

I had four lovely participants. Six had booked, but two ladies decided that the heat was just too much.

Anyway, we had a lovely relaxed day. It was very hot, but not so bad in The Big Skill gazebo, and we had lots of drinks on hand, opportunities to go and find a bit shade for some respite, and because we took it easy, we weren't rushing around in the heat.

I'll be putting more pictures up on my Fairy Cwtch page, but in the meantime, I thought I would use this one of the lovely hot colours used on a hot day!

Thank you to Michelle, Dean, Sue, and Mary for coming along, and you've already told me how much you enjoyed, as did I! What a lovely day.

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Rewind ... " ♫

Today Bob and I met up with two friends for lunch.

Jackie and I have known each other for over forty years. We were pen pals as teenagers. Then we lost touch, and then got back in touch via Facebook a couple of years ago.

Jackie and her husband Claus live in Gibraltar, and are visiting the UK, so Jackie contacted me and asked if Bob and I would like a lunch date whilst they are here.

We met up at Rasoi Indian Kitchen in Pontlliw, where we shared yummy food and great conversation.

It was so lovely to meet Jackie after all these years, and also to meet Claus. Bob and I had a fab time and I really hope we'll have the opportunity to do this again.

Thank you Jackie and Claus for your lovely company, for a fab few hours, and also for the lovely gift - which I will most definitely enjoy!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Of flesh and blood I'm made ... " ♫

I am only human, and sometimes I need to do something for me, and feel a bit pampered.

Part of today was about that, starting with picking up something really easy for dinner.

Post-Covid/Lupus fatigue is turning me into a proper lazy cook, although I should add that I did cook some fresh green beans with this.....and yes, it is Marks & Spencers food - damn, there's posh!

Finally, I treated myself to a selection of lovely new bras, so that my boobies can feel loved too!

Having had the lovely food for dinner (and it was indeed very yummy), I'm now off for a rose-scented bath, and then I'll be cwtching on the sofa with Bob for some T.V.

Bob and I are having a Day Off together tomorrow, and we're meeting a lady (and her husband) who I was pen pals with when we were teenagers. We wrote to each other for a few years and then lost touch for about twenty-odd years, then got in touch again a couple of years ago via Facebook. She and her husband are visiting this country and she asked if we could meet up! I am so looking forward to meeting her after all these years.

Anyway, toodlepip for now!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... It's the start of the weekend ... " ♫

It's Friday evening, so it is the start of the weekend!

Although I have to say, that now I'm no longer doing a '9 to 5' and I'm working for myself from home, weekends don't feel the same as they used to! I don't mean that in a bad way, they're just different.

Today has been a fairly good day. I've had more energy and I've managed to be quite productive......

Also today I booked a train ticket, because in a few weeks' time I'm going somewhere lovely with five lovely friends, and I'm so looking forward to it!

Right now though, I'm quite tired after a busy day, and I'm looking forward to getting into my pyjamas, cwtching up with my Lovely Man on the sofa to watch some T.V., and then falling into bed for hopefully a good night's sleep!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... finally made it ... " ♫

You know how sometimes you struggle with something, and you know the answer is going to be simple, but you just can't work it out anyway?

Well that's how I've been with the background of this blog page for a while. I've been trying to change the daffodils to sunflowers and just could not remember how to do it. Or at least I thought I'd done it properly, but it just wasn't working.

Well this afternoon I had another fiddle with it, and there was the answer staring me in the face. It really was something simple that I hadn't done with the coding on the page. I've done it now, and we have sunflowers! Yaay!

It's the little things!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... give myself some space ... " ♫

Today hasn't been a great day.

I've had extreme fatigue, brain fog and achy joints. I've really felt as if my head is somewhere else, and I've struggled to find common words for things. Typical brain fog, hence the foggy picture for picture of the day!

I'm not sure whether it's post-Covid, or Lupus, or a combination of both, but I've been very gentle with myself today, and only done what I could cope with. After Bob left for work this morning, I went back to bed and slept for most of the morning, but even that didn't really help.

Anyway, more of the gentle-with-myself treatment this evening, and hopefully tomorrow will bring a change!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Flowing down like a waterfall ... " ♫

Rain on Lovely Lucia's windscreen today.

Sweet, beautiful, refreshing rain - so welcome after the last few hot, dry days.

Oh, and that delicious smell of petrichor.

I am definitely a pluviophile!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... Such a surprise ... " ♫

I had a lovely surprise today.

Bob brought home some yarn which has been gifted to me from one of our friends. She says it was her mum's and her mum says she hopes it will be useful for me.

It most definitely will! I love the colours, and if you look carefully at the picture, you may be able to see that the lighter pink has a sparkle in it.

I shall look forward to making something yummy with these yarns. Thank you Helen's mum!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... So addictive ... " ♫

Today has been quite a productive day, when I've been doing all sorts of things for Fairy Cwtch - my business.

I've been doing some admin, some tacking up of bridesmaid dresses ready for fittings next week, and some crochet.

The crochet in the picture is the first of a set of sample granny squares I am making in readiness for a crochet workshop which I'm running at Craig-y-Nos Country Park on Saturday 30th July, as part of the The Big Skill.

I'll be teaching the basics of crochet through the humble granny square and I want to make lots of samples of different ones.

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... In the heat of the night ... " ♫

I went for an art lesson for the first time in weeks today.

Julia wanted to bring out our inner Van Goghs, by painting our interpretation of his famous painting "Starry Night".

So this is what we did! We first prepared a canvas for our final paintings, by painting a blue background in acrylics, and whilst this was drying, we used wax crayons and lots of little lines to fill in the colours on the practice pictures.

The other lovely thing I did today was some crochet in the sunshine up at Craig-y-Nos Country Park.

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... All Friday ... " ♫

It's been quite a lot of Fridays since I took a looking-at-the-sky-through-the-trees kind of picture!

Today I had the perfect opportunity to do so up at Parc Howard, where we went for a late afternoon walk.

The other thing which happened today was the arrival of squishy post, containing this delicious yarn which was in a sale online. I'm not sure yet, whether it's for Fairy Cwtch to make things to sell, or for me to just enjoy. I shall give that some thought!

Picture of the day...... ♫ "... 7 Days ... " ♫

July has got off to a mixed start.

Bob and I have been poorly with Covid over the last couple of weeks. It hit Bob much worse than me - he was much more ill and the virus hung around longer with him than it did with me. We're both testing negative now though, which is fab.

I'm feeling much better, although I'm really tired and have hurty joints. Bob didn't start feeling (or looking) any better until a couple of days ago, but he is on the mend now.

In spite of feeling not up to par, I have been managing to get a bit of sewing done for Fairy Cwtch, as you can see from this picture which shows some lovely daisy-themed bunting in progress......

I've also, for the first time in quite a while, picked up my crochet hook, and worked on some solid granny squares to add to my corner-to-corner crochet.

Now that I've found my crochet mojo, I'd quite like it to stay around - especially as I'll be running a crochet workshop on 30th July up at Craig-y-Nos Country Park, and I have a few samples to make to demonstrate to those taking part.

Once I'd tested negative, it was nice to be able to go out again, and I paid a visit to Lee Mill Fabrics in Swansea, to pick up some lovely fabrics for bunting and other projects.

4th July was "Alice In Wonderland Day". Alice In Wonderland is one of my favourite books ever, and it's nice to know there's an actual day dedicated to it......

7th July saw some lovely post come my way - this beautiful sunflower field fabric and some buttons in yummy yellow and green colours.

I am looking forward to using these!