Tada! "Crazy Daisy" Quilted Bag

The internet is a wonderful thing.   Just type in exactly what you're looking for, and you get exactly that.   "Free sewing patterns for quilted bags" is what I typed and, hey presto, instructions to make Shannon's birthday present!   I had bought some lovely fabric with the intention of making some pyjama bottoms for Shannon, but, on finding out that she had just booked a holiday to Morocco, I decided, instead, to make a quilted bag to take to the pool, to carry kindle, towel, ipod, etc.   This fabric was perfect for a beach bag.

The bag was sewn with three layers of fabric - the outer flowery material, some "bump" which I later discovered is curtain lining, and the lining was made with remnants of my green polka dot dress fabric.  It's, sadly, not the neatest of bags, but, as a prototype, it's pretty good and Shannon really likes it, which is the main thing.

I'm really thrilled with the way it's turned out - and, on the basis that my second dress turned out much neater than my first, and the second pair of jimjam bottoms I've made (blog post to come soon!) were much more professional than the first pair, I've got high hopes for this bag.   And, given the amount of fabric people have been giving me as they've been clearing out their material stash, I can make hundreds without buying anything more than the "bump" and sewing cotton.   Lovely job!

View from my Sofa

I spend a lot of time on my sofa - I'm basically lazy.  I read (only very occasionally nowadays);  I knit (also not very much at the moment);  I do my cross stitch (I am fed up with one of the pictures on my living room wall, so have started quite a big project to hang in its place instead);  I watch a LOT of TV;  I watch Finn and the birds in the garden; and I spend a lot of time daydreaming.   So it's really important to have a good view!

I'm very lucky to have the french windows so that I can gaze outside at the garden in all weathers.   The garden changes so quickly that it's really important - for me - to be able to see it all the time.   I quite often think it would be lovely to have a Victorian terrace house, but the downside of that would be not seeing my garden all the time.  This house is perfect for my garden-viewing.   

Sadly, the view inside the house is not so gorgeous - my wool stash is growing ridiculously out of control and I really should put more of it up in the loft.  I really do need to better manage my instinct to nest and build piles around me! 

Staines Moor

I'm always surprised at the wide open spaces around Heathrow.  Andy has lived at Stanwell Moor now for about three years and there are plenty of footpaths around - but we tend to follow the same ones every time we walk Finn - simply because we know where we're going and we won't be disappointed.   However, a few weeks ago, we tried a new footpath which veered off from our favourite path - just for a bit of variety. And we have now found our new favourite!   Less than ten minutes' walk from Andy's caravan, we have found Staines Moor.

Finn loved it immediately of course as he was in the river from the start.  And he got to play with lots of other new doggy friends.  The only downside to this beautiful wide open space was that cattle had been grazed here recently so we needed to try and keep Finn away from the cow shit.   Easier said than done of course.   Which is why we positively encouraged him to keep swimming to try and get his coat clean.

As we headed towards Staines, we had to walk through a tunnel under the A30 where we found these murals, and discovered what this wide open space was called at the same time!

So the general verdict was that it was great for Finn and would make a lovely picnic spot for us, if only it wasn't for the grazing cattle and what they'd left behind!   We'll keep going back over there and monitor the cattle situation and one day, hopefully, we may get to have our picnic by the river, safe in the knowledge that Finn will remain relatively clean and sweet smelling and we'll get to eat in peace and quiet!  

Folksy Sale #4

I love it when a "Congratulations, you have a new sale" email hits my inbox - mainly because it's such a surprise!   Not that people love our things - although that's really thrilling to us - but the fact that I almost forget we have our stuff on Folksy!  The process goes something like this:

1.  Knit something;

2.  Sew it up (eventually!);

3.  Photograph it and put it on the Folksy site;

4.  Pack item up carefully in plastic packaging and put it in the loft with everything else;

5.  Promptly forget about item and then repeat stages 1. to 5. again.  Repeatedly.

And because everything's up in the loft - out of sight, out of mind - and I'm already concentrating on what to make next, I forget about it - and am then reminded when the email notification comes though - which means a panic filled half hour or so trying to retrieve sold item and find suitable packaging material to get it to the post office as quickly as possible.   I really need to be more organised.

Our latest sale is one of my favourites actually - the grey bling shawl I made which was so enormous I could probably fashion a marquee from it.  I hope the recipient loves it as much as I do!

London to Brighton 2014

So the weekend of the walk finally came round and the weather was shocking!   I stayed with Ann and Richard the night before while Amanda and Shannon were booked into a Travelodge to try and get a good night's sleep beforehand.   When I picked them up early on the Saturday morning, it was really miserable and gloomy, but the girls seemed in very good spirits ..... considering!

The rain hadn't cleared up by the time we got to Richmond Park although spirits were very high generally - there were all sorts of activities going on, including Zumba classes to warm the competitors up and get them doing some stretching exercises.  

As the girls were called forward to their own Zumba class - rather than larking about at the back - Finn and I went for a little walk around Richmond Park, making sure we were back in plenty of time to do the count down and cheer them on.

I even managed to photograph Shannon on the big screen as they set off!

And then they were off.   It would be a few hours before Finn and I saw them again - very near Worcester Park, our first unofficial check point.

While waiting for them, there were some very strange sights that passed me, including this pink bear - he must have been very hot!

When the girls arrived, they were in very high spirits - the sun had come out and they were gently steaming while drying off from the rain.  Apparently the walk was incredibly well organised and they'd had food and water and snacks at an official check point, so didn't really need me at all!   Finn and I soon waved them off again and arranged to meet at Oaks Park - an old stomping ground from when we were growing up.   It was mad to think that the walk was passing through all our old haunts from when we lived and went to school in Wallington, in Surrey.

Sadly, we got a call to say that Amanda was having to pull out with a back injury - Amanda had omitted to tell us that both her GP and her physio had advised her against doing the walk in the first place.  By the time we reached her, she was in a bus shelter and soaked through - the rain had started back up with a vengeance.   So we bundled her in the car and covered her in coats, sweatshirts, towels, dog blankets, etc, as she was freezing.   We stopped just short of letting Finn get in the back with her to warm her up - we were more worried that he'd snaffle the shortbread biscuit supply than anything else!   And then the four of us - me, Ann, Amanda and Finn - headed off to Oaks Park to meet Shannon with her lunch.

After a short lunch break, Shannon was off again, but not before we'd worked out where to meet her next - at Chaldon, the other side of Happy Valley/ Farthing Downs.   As we waited at Chaldon, there were a steady stream of walkers retiring from the event - the rain had really churned up all the footpaths and had made it really unpleasant walking.  I left Ann with Amanda and Finn and headed off back down the track to try and find Shannon and walk her back to the car - I only had to walk a mile or so before I found her and I grabbed her bag and walked back up with her.   The atmosphere was lovely - all the competitors were in good spirits - mostly! - and encouraged each other along.   The lane back to the car, though, smelt overwhelmingly of Deep Heat!  

After a quick footbath and a water top up, Shannon got into warmer clothes and headed off on the next stage after we had worked out where next to meet her.  

Amanda and I then dropped Auntie Ann back to Richard and we headed off to the next stage - a farm - where food and water was being laid on.  This was an official checkpoint, but not one that we could park at.  However, we chatted up the marshall and he let us pull in to the farmyard and I left Amanda with Finn, while I went to try and find Shannon to make sure she was ok.  Sadly, she wasn't and I received a 'phone call asking to be rescued - so I headed back to the farmyard to collect the entourage and we headed a couple of miles back to pick Shannon up.   Heartbreakingly, Shannon had slipped over on the mud - and God, was it awful - and had twisted her back and felt something ping.   So sad as there wasn't anything that we could do except retire her from the event.

So very proud of both the girls - Amanda managed fifteen miles and Shannon walked twenty-five miles.   But that doesn't take account of the six hundred miles both of them had done in training; or the sponsorship raised for Beating Bowel Cancer; the entertainment this walk has provided all of us with; the daft conversations we've all had over the course of the training walks; the massive improvement in fitness of both of them; and the joy they've both found.  I know this won't be the last walking they do - just need to sort out the back injuries and I'm sure they'll be back.  And no doubt I'll be involved in some small way too!