DizzyRu

Laying the floor of the studio

2008-05-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is where the hard work for all of the studio was done - in the garden. It looked beautiful today in the bright sunshine and there was a cooling breeze. Before starting the measuring and sawing the lovely and very hard-working man-in-my-life needed to go on a photo-shoot. Relaxing!

He then went on to exceed all expectations! We thought we would 'have a look' at the floor and see what we ought to do. We were only going to make plans for laying it 'soon', after all, we were still feeling the after-effects of last week and the hardboard escapade!

But things moved on rather quickly. No sooner had we tried the insulation on the floor and positioned a couple of boards from the laminate pack on top, than we realised it looked fine and we should actually try laying a couple of strips.

The boards actually clicked together rather well and looked great. They had to be cut to the right length but that was all there was to it. No glue, no nails no problems!!!! What could have gone wrong? After the hardboard we expected grief all the way.

It actually took us about three hours to do the whole floor and the end result is shown in the picture below. Amazing! Our daughter was over the moon!

The new studio/shed - latest!

2008-05-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday my wonderful husband, my very patient daughter and I all set about fixing the four remaining pieces of hardboard needed to complete the insulation to the roof.

We spent all day from about 9.20am until just after five in the blazing sunshine measuring and re-measuring and then sawing, only to find that small gaps had appeared from nowhere!

This picture shows my daughter picking up all the screws which I accidentally scattered far and wide when I kicked the box of screws across the floor.

We all felt exceedingly weary with creaking knees and backs and wanted only to lie down and sleep through this unusually hot weather.

Very hardworking husband is shown putting in the last screw. The whole of the inside can now be painted.

Below is one of the chairs we used in order to reach the roof. It was lovely to sit on it, inside the studio, with the insulated roof shielding us from the heat of the sun.

My present to the wonderful man in my life

2008-05-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my lovely husband announced what he would like for his birthday. It's always difficult to know what to give him as he seems to have everything he could ever wish for. A laptop, he suggested. Not an expensive one. Just enough for using with the telescope outside on starry nights (when it's cold with the door open) so that he doesn't have to keep dodging in and out of the drawing room.

But which one? After looking through several websites we decided that we should really ask our brilliant, computer-whizz son-in-law who knows everything there is to know about PCs. He pointed us in the direction of HP and suggested a particular model which was at a reasonable price. Excellent! Apart from the fact that, as far as the m-i-m-l was concerned, it had a processor which was not made by Intel but by a company with which we had had bad experiences in the past. However, everything else about it was fine so we just had to get the right one - more expensive, of course, and, I have been told, with not such good screen definition.

It duly arrived and was set up as quickly as possible. Alas, even after days of fiddling and brain aching, it would not connect with the internet. So, after admitting defeat, the only course of action was to ask our s-i-l for his help which was so willingly and excellently given. Within about 20 minutes of discussion and advice the laptop was talking to the router which enabled it to connect with the internet!! Voila! You just need a few of the right brain cells!!!

Thank you to our lovely son-in-law for your skillful advice! Where would we be without the generosity of our family? Of course, my darling husband is really pleased but we haven't had starry nights yet to try it out in situ. Soon .......

Birthday boy!!!

2008-05-03T01:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the lovely Man-in-my-life's birthday.

But the day started in a funny way. The phone rang while I was still asleep - I find it difficult to sleep past 6.30am so finding out that it was 8.50am was quite a shock! In my dazed state I found the phone which I can hear (downstairs) and got my hearing aids in and managed to conduct a couvert conversation about the size of men's handkerchiefs!

As I put down the phone the door bell rang and I had to find my dressing gown and stumble downstairs only to find the window cleaner asking if I wanted the windows cleaned. Yes please!!

That was our cue to get dressed as quickly as possible but it was quite an art dodging the faces in the windows whilst rushing from bedroom to bathroom starkers!

As we were getting breakfast my smashing and superbly artistic daughter arrived bearing parcels and cards. The beautiful picture above of a path near St Catherine's Hill, Winchester is the present she had painted for her Dad. He loved it and couldn't actually believe she had painted it for him.

The cards were from grandsons number one and three with lots of candles on an amazing cake and love and kisses from them both. What lovely thoughts. My talented daughter had also painted a card with all the tools used recently on her shed. It's so precious that it is going to be framed and displayed too!

We went to the Red Lion in Overton for lunch and had great food. The picture above shows the creme brulee pudding which was delicious.

This bowl of ice cream was for grandson number four who accompanied us. He loved the pretty coulis decoration around the dish.

The picture above is of the bread and butter pudding which my fantastically clever and imaginative son ordered. He had made an amazing card using images of the galaxies with my lovely m-i-m-l in the middle, gazing up!

My daughter ordered the cheese option and you can see how appetising that looked.

The picture above shows the chocolate pudding which I ordered. It was a joy to behold and tasted terrific. I didn't really want to spoil the whole creation.

After school my super-duper creative daughter-in-law brought the rest of the family here for a slice of birthday cake. Grandson number two gave him a card with a picture of a cat 'which looks like Baggy' and a brilliant red mouse mat! Lovely husband needed a mouse mat so he was very pleased. Grandson number four had cut out a fantastic guitar-shaped card and made a beautiful red envelope. He also had a present - a lovely mug which grandad was very pleased with.

My artistic family

2008-05-03T01:05:00.000-07:00

I am very proud to put up some of the cards and drawings done by various members of my fantastic family especially created for Grandad's birthday, yesterday. The first one is of Grandad himself. He's waiting to be given a shirt exactly like this one!! (And he told me he's got his hands in his pockets.)

This is an amazing birthday cake picture by grandson number three - the cake had to be big enough to hold all the 66 candles! And it's been cleverly designed to look like an ocean-going liner.

The lovely landscape below was painted for me to use on a card as I had run out of time to do one myself! What a lovely, kind thought and lots of help from grandson number four.

The ever-lovely m-i-m-l was so pleased with this beautiful watercolour of all the tools he's using at present on the studio for our daughter. He couldn't believe this had just been created for him.

And this card is just unbelievable! What a super idea and carried out with such panache!! I think Jim is dazed with his head amongst the stars and galaxies in the night sky. What he would give to get a photograph a tiny bit like this!

This wonderful, 3-d effect guitar was presented inside a handmade red envelope. Wonderful!!

I haven't yet taken photos of the four handmade handkerchiefs which were specially made by my sewing-genius daughter-in-law. But I will very soon.

Thank you to you all for making yesterday a special day.

And, as promised, I have a couple of pictures of the perfect, man-sized handkerchiefs which were so carefully made by my sewing-genius daughter-in-law. They are in cotton lawn and pale blue.

Dad was so pleased to receive them - he'd given up hope of ever finding some decent-sized handkerchiefs and in a plain material. Fancy having some especially made for you! Bespoke indeed!!!!

Again thank you to all the family for such attention and love! It is really appreciated.

This and that

2008-04-12T11:34:00.001-07:00

The cold, icy weather we had during the beginning of April brought fantastic snow showers. Our garden took on a winter wonderland appearance early on last Sunday morning.

The picture to the right shows our patio and the picture on the left was taken through the window looking at the shed.

Below and on the right is a shot from our bedroom window showing the garden. We were woken up on Sunday morning by a very loud explosion and a huge flash of red and orange which I thought was in the back garden. Why on earth was a bomb going off out the back?

When we looked out to see the devastation caused
this was what we saw!!!! Not blackened rubble but a beautiful snowy scene.

We read in the local press that a lamp post about 100yds from our back garden had been struck by lightning at 7am on Sunday morning. Houses had had their sockets blown out and many telephones had been put out of action. So it was a lightning strike and not a bomb!

Below is a picture of a 'bee-fly', as I am reliably informed.
My daughter found it in her front garden in Winchester several days ago. I have never seen anything like it before and actually
thought it was an exotic moth!

On Monday my daughter and I waited in all day for the delivery of the insulation for her studio recently erected in her back garden. On Tuesday at 1pm and after lots of telephone calls and worthless promises, it actually arrived. BUT the hardboard was so badly warped it was frilled!!!!
You can see the edges in the photograph above as it was unloaded from the open-backed lorry.

This week has been the first week of the Easter holidays (although it hasn't been Easter!) and on Thursday my daughter and my four fantastic and very special grandsons went out for a picnic and a walk in the woods. It was freezing. The wind was blowing and the sky was leaden. However, we braved it and sat on blankets eating our rolls, crisps and grapes. As the cold seeped into our limbs the boys got up and started moving around. We went down into the woods and they had a great time climbing on the tree trunks and playing in the shelters already built.

I have only got one grandson in this picture. The others were milling around pretending to be warriors or spacemen!

And here is a picture of the inside of my daughter's studio with the insulation in place. The lovely and very special m-i-m-l spent several hours on his knees measuring and cutting the foam so that it would be a nice, tight fit. The whole studio has been lined with it so it should be nice and cosy both in summer and winter. In fact, whilst he was working inside the heaviest downfall of hail occurred and the garden was completely white, yet, inside, it was snug and warm.
It only needs some flat hardboard put up to cover the insulation and it can be painted. But that will be the problem - getting the company to collect the wavy hardboard and deliver flat stuff. I don't suppose they will be falling over themselves to deliver more. However, the end is in sight!! I know my daughter can't wait for the moment when she can move in.

I would like to see her sitting at her bench with the lamp alight and the kiln in place designing and creating new and exciting beads and silver jewelry.

Easter

2008-03-24T12:53:00.003-07:00

Over the week-end our study was transformed! After 20 years it was very tired and dull-looking, but now, it is beautifully fresh and sparkly thanks to my great daughter-in-law. My son also did some rollering and the end result is superb. Thank you. There are two pictures further down which shows them hard at work.

Two of my grandsons decided to make chocolate eggs from the kits they had received. They turned out fantastically well as you can see.

This is the door to the study with blue masking tape around the small panes - we realised that this door has spent the last 20 years with just the undercoat of paint!

Here is my son putting another coat on the walls. Looks lovely now.

This is the end result of grandson number 4's egg. I think you'll agree that it looks smashing.

And this is the finished work of art for grandson number 2. He has done a great job!

Hope they taste as good as they look!

The on-going saga of the kitchen floor part 4

2008-03-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

My lovely orchids

I thought I'd start by including a couple of pictures of the orchids which are sitting on my kitchen window sill. They look really lovely and have been giving me pleasure for weeks on end.

I took them into the garden to photograph them.

And now the floor. The new flooring company did a grand job and took such care with laying the tiles. They look smashing and there is a picture of the study floor further down the page.

However, it was 5.45pm and the last strip was being placed over the tiles in the cloakroom and the woodblock floor in the hall when there was a shout - "FLOOD!' The fitter had drilled into the mains pipe and the water was shooting straight upwards to the ceiling and flooding the floor. You can see the hole he had drilled in the picture.

After a night when we couldn't flush the loos we managed to get a lovely plumber through our house insurance. The insurance company wouldn't pay up but they gave us the number to call. It took 3 and 1/2 hours to mend but this is what the result was. And we could flush the loos again!

A neat job I think you'll agree.

The flooring company came six days later when the floor had dried out and finished the job. The tiles were replaced and the woodblocks glued down. So this is the finished floor.

The picture below shows the study floor finished. It looks good and is waiting now for all the furniture to be put back again. Unfortunately, the walls and woodwork look awful, after 20 years it needs some facelifting. My lovely, and hugely talented daughter-in-law offered to re-decorate the room. She has started and has filled the holes and cracks and has washed down with sugar soap, and has started to paint the ceiling. It will make such a difference to the room.

What lovely people we have in our family!! Thank you for doing such a tedious job.

The on-going saga of the kitchen floor part 3

2008-02-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

We have been rather cramped over the past week with bits and pieces of furniture from the study and kitchen having pride of place in our lounge. The picture above also shows the tiles in their boxes getting acclimatised. Actually, we have had stuff all around the house since last October waiting for some resolution in the flooring issue.

Hopefully, we shall have everything back in their right places very soon now as the new tile fitters have been working all day. There were 3 in all. Two came on Monday and succeeded in screeding the awful mess of the floors.

The screeded floors looked sleek and smooth - a far more professional finish than the last ones! The picture below shows part of the study.

Here is a close up of the floor with lots of little bubbles on the top - resembling the surface of the moon perhaps! They didn't seem at all worried by this.

After working non-stop all day and with several hair-dryers blasting away, they have almost finished the job, and, from what I have already seen it looks lovely. I shall put up some more pictures when it is completed and when we are not shivering with the cold - all windows have been open all day and also the back door!

The new studio/shed

2008-02-28T02:05:00.000-08:00

My lovely, talented and very artistic daughter had her super studio/shed delivered yesterday.

The 3 men arrived about 10.15am and decided to pass all the pieces over the fence! The lorry was parked in the narrow road outside and they just lifted them over.

It took no time at all to get it all up on the concrete base but as the front was being finished we realised that the door hinges were on the wrong side. She wanted the door to hang from the right side as you look at the front and had asked for this. The hinges were on the left! So after many phone conversations with the supplier, (where the men had suggested that she should "give them hell"), they agreed to put a whole new front on it next Thursday. I don't think the supplier was very happy about this and didn't make it easy for my daughter. But, when you pay out good money, you do expect it to be right! They left at about 11.15am - just an hour to put it up.

The inside of the shed looks like the above and the finished studio looks like this:-

It measures 10ft x 8ft and gives lots of room inside for benches and display shelves. I think she is going to put insulation on the inside of the walls too and, of course, lighting.

The on-going saga of the kitchen floor

2008-02-24T02:11:00.000-08:00

On Friday the 'Karndean floor laying experts' came to undo the job they had done at the start of last October.

It has taken all this time to resolve the matter of the non-stuck tiles in the kitchen, study and cloakroom. They arrived just after 9am and left at 10.40am and managed to have a 15 min break in between! The picture above shows the cloakroom and the screed intact with the adhesive on top. It also shows dark patches of dampness where it hasn't dried out over all this time!

They had trouble trying to get some of them up, as the picture above shows. So they didn't bother to do so. This tile was just left and shows signs of they way they tried to rip it up.

In other places the underlying screed was pulled up too, so I imagine that those tiles were stuck firmly. This picture shows the edge of the screed and the base concrete floor.

In other places the screed was left intact and the adhesive can be seen clearly on the top.

This last picture shows the state of the study floor where many tiles kept curling up their edges and corners even after they had been heated and rollered down.

I'm glad the tiles have gone but I am shocked at the way the floor has been left. We had agreed that the tiles and adhesive should be taken away but, as you can see, there has been no attempt at removing the adhesive where it is still on the screed. I think the next tile fitters will have more to do than they had thought - trying to get the floor level and in a state where tiles CAN be put down successfully.

And another thought, we had also asked for one step of faulty carpet on our stairs to be replaced, but that hasn't happened. So we are left with the feeling that they do not really care about making sure that their customers are happy.

We did get a refund of the amount we had already paid towards the tiles. So that's one good point.

Grandson number 3's birthday bash

2008-02-24T01:17:00.000-08:00

Grandson number 3 turned 7 last week and on Wednesday we had a get-together with all four grandsons here for lunch/tea and, of course, the birthday cake.

He had asked me for a chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream filling, so this is the result. As you can see, it also has jelly bears and giant chocolate drops too! They loved it and had two slices each!!! That surprised me. It did taste good though, although I say it myself.

There was much playing in a camp upstairs with socks off and then in the garden, using pipework and watering cans, to water the plants in pots. I think they enjoyed themselves.

Stratocasters

2008-02-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is what the inside of our shed looks like at the moment. Just thought you might like to see.

Last Friday Citilink delivered a brand new Japanese-made Fender Stratocaster in fiesta red (left-handed, of course) to my darling other half. He had been so excited about it and couldn't wait to try it out.Excitement was short-lived, unfortunately, as it wasn't up to expectations! It even looked different in several ways from the pictures the vendor had up in his on-line shop.

The reason for buying a new one was to improve the quality of sound from the top string, which, on his old, black, American-made guitar, seemed a bit thin. On this new one the sound was even thinner!!! So it has to go back. Looking up the serial number on the neck of this guitar we find that it isn't even a newly-built instrument, but was made between 2000 and 2002!! No wonder the strings and some of the chromium bits look a bit rusty! I think it must have been hanging around in the warehouse for a few years not, as the man-in-my-life had been told, just come in. So we are now awaiting the courier to return tomorrow to pick it up and take it back to Edinburgh. Sad.

We even went to Guitar Village in Farnham last Friday afternoon to see what they had to offer in left-handed Strats. There seems to be one which boosts the volume and sound quality but it is hard to find in a left-handed version. It is model S1 HSS and it has a Humbucker pick-up on the bridge and so boosts the sound. They did say they would ring us on Monday to give us a price but so far we have had no call.

Anyway, here is a photograph of three Strats together. The real red one is my brain-box son's, the black one is loved by the one and only m-i-m-l and the sort of coral pink is the new re-issue '57 one which is useless.

A Great Weekend at Center Parcs - Longleat

2008-01-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

Last Friday the lovely man in my life and I picked up grandson number 2 from school and drove on to Longleat. It didn't take long to get there and for the last few minutes we drove through thick snow before we joined a queue of cars waiting to check in. The fir trees looked quite exquisite as their branches became covered in huge snowflakes.

It was very difficult finding our villa trying to avoid all the people who were walking all over the roads holding umbrellas over their heads and not looking where they were going. We couldn't see the signs as they were covered by falling snow and the roads were steep and slippery. But we got there in the end.

Villa 907 was in a good position half way between the Plaza and the village square so it was fairly easy to get to the main places quickly. The door you can see in the picture was our front entrance. We had a lovely view through the huge redwoods.

The grandsons, son and daughter-in-law went swimming twice a day and they loved it. We all enjoyed the jazz brunch and helped ourselves to lots of lovely things to eat. I only wish we had been able to do what I saw many others doing, that is, eat a big, cooked breakfast and then, a little later, continue with a cooked lunch with puddings and endless drinks! There was a great and extensive climbing play area which was hugely enjoyed by the younger members of our group.

We were greatly excited by the falconer who entertained us for an hour in the freezing cold, rainy Sunday evening in the middle of dark woods sitting inside a wooden shelter. He showed us several owls and flew them, although not for long in the rain as it is not easy to fly when your wing feathers are wet! We all enjoyed his talk and the children were riveted to the antics of the owls. The high point was when all the children held out their gloved hands and Eddie, the tiny owl, flew from one to the other all along the line. Grandson number 4 was so excited he couldn't keep still and wanted to ask lots of questions.

Darling husband was very proud to be picked by the falconer to help - even though he looked a little startling in his hat pulled down over his head. I think he had one of the longest helping jobs of the whole session and he did it beautifully.

We were all exhausted when Monday morning dawned and yet the swimming party still braved the Rapids after their delicious breakfast in Cafe Rouge. I'm ashamed to say the my lovely m-i-m-l and I just spent the time sitting watching the new guests arrive.

Surprise present

2007-12-31T14:23:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the ever-lovely man in my life gave me a belated Christmas present. It was a cardboard box with a handle. When I opened it I was so surprised I couldn't speak. It was a Macbook laptop computer!!!! Wow! And wow! again! I have always dreamt of owning a laptop and I must say I do fancy the apples - ever since I first put my fingers on a Mac keyboard many moons ago when dreary old, stick-in-the-mud teachers were pushed into the new, technological age of computers. I loved dragging the icons across the screen to move them about and especially to dump them in the wastepaper basket.

Well, I now own one! I feel a bit frightened of it though. I really do not know how to put things onto the screen so that I can use them later. I suppose it's because I have never needed to (lovely man-in-my-life again). Anyway, my super duper brain box son (who knows everything there is to know about apples), was really great and sorted it out to get it up and running. Then, his fantastically organised and clever wife offered to put things onto the desktop and show me how to operate the things I want. They have both spent hours helping me and I am eternally grateful. Thank you both. I know I shall still need more help in the future, so don't go away, please.

Of course, my lovely m-i-m-l has shown and guided me through everything too. He is still getting acquainted with apples though after a lifetime of PCs - which he's crazy about. How kind it was of him to get me something which is more difficult for him to use.

If I find out how to get pics onto this site from my new computer I shall add some asap.

Christmas this and that

2007-12-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd post a brilliant card which one of my grandsons gave us. I believe that it captures the essence of Christmas. He was so pleased with the result he couldn't wait to see our faces when we opened it.

My daughter and family gave me a lovely lampwork focal bead pendant which she had made and silver chain. I think it's beautiful and shows her considerable skill. The photograph has been taken indoors and under tungsten lighting so it isn't true to its colours but I wanted to show it.

These are the covers of DVDs which the man in my life was given for Christmas. As you can see he is more than a little interested in Astronomy and has recently spent several freezing evenings nipping outside with the telescope trying to capture images of Mars. Apparently the lens has become misted over and the images have been blurry but he is hoping to overcome this obstacle. Watch this space!!!

He also acquired a slide guitar which he is finding more of a challenge than he expected. This Michael Messer DVD may help but unfortunately it appears to be scratched so we have to 'have a chat' to the supplier tomorrow!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

I've just had two lovely days with my family. I think it would be very lonely if I didn't have children and grandchildren to enjoy. Everyone has been so kind and generous with their time and thoughtful presents - we have so many I feel quite embarrassed. Thank you everyone.

We had two grandsons here for Christmas dinner yesterday and everyone had a great time opening presents. The tree looked healthy after a year outside and we didn't overdo the decorations and weigh it down too much. I have put up a picture of the tree and another of the puddings which the grandsons had.

Today we went to see the other two grandsons and had another great time opening more presents! We don't really deserve all this love and attention. The silver pendant was made by grandson number 1 and he had a little bit of help from Mummy. It's really beautifully made and I love the design!

This old English yew turned bowl is quite amazing with all the imperfections of natural wood. When you hold it you HAVE to stroke it - it's so soft and smooth. Thank you for this lovely present.

The pair of earrings below are a present from my lovely best man. They match exactly the bracelet which he gave me a little while ago. I love them.

Christmas Fair

2007-12-10T11:28:00.001-08:00

On Saturday I took dizzydesigns' beautiful handmade beads and jewellery to the fair at Overton. It took ages to set up but I had a good spot and the table was lovely and big. I was next to an amateur artist from Kingsclere who had some great water colours of boats old and new.

It was raining though - you may remember that it was forecast as being a really bad day weather-wise. It was also rather cold. The venue was lovely and the caretaking staff and tea makers were so helpful and friendly. But the public stayed away.

Well, some ventured out and dripped into the hall. Those who came were chatty and happy to wander around in the warm. I did sell several items but nowhere near as much as I'd hoped.

A shame, as the lampwork beads really sparkled.

Next to me was, Raspberry, my daughter-in-law with her gorgeous array of corsages and really fab handmade bags! Those who appreciated quality realised that they were beautifully made and finished off. The picture above shows her table. The bags are all unique and show her expert skills in needlework and design.

On the table you can also see some superb photographs taken by my hugely talented son. I am very proud of him and his works of art. I love every one.

I think I did pretty well on the whole considering the quiet pace. I'm sure another time, and with better weather I would do very well.

Thank you Overton for your warm welcome and also to those who came to have a look. I'll be back, I hope, next year!

New hearing aids

2007-11-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

A fortnight ago we went to The Hearing Centre in Lymington to have my hearing tested again. Apparently it has deteriorated a little and my present aids had to be tweaked a bit. However, we were told that some new Oticon aids were on the market now with the latest technology and I could try them if I liked. What an invitation! They cost about £4500 though - a lot of money.

A week later I went down to have them fitted with my own shells. I could try them for 2 weeks to see if they are a big improvement on the old ones.

That evening we did the Christmas Fair in Winchester and I did find it difficult to cope with all the loud noises. It was difficult to hear individuals speaking against the loud background noise.

On the Friday we went to Marwell Zoo and they were ok - although I had to turn down the volume I could hear individual speech much better but that was not against background noise.

On Sunday we went to the Anvil to hear the RAF band. I was terribly disappointed. I couldn't hear the compere really, and the aids just carried on the ringing sound after the instrument had finished!

Yesterday we went back to The Hearing Centre and Martyn Bowles changed the setting of the aids making them much more comfortable to use. It made a huge difference. My dear husband has now complained that he can't swear quietly under his breath without my hearing it! He says he can't get away with anything! So I'm very pleased. But it is going to cost me.....

Christmas Fair

2007-11-25T01:34:00.000-08:00

Tuesday evening was a very good evening for both dizzydesigns and Raspberry - my daughter and my daughter-in-law. They each had a table for selling their hand-made treasures, lovely hand-made beads and silver jewellery and beautiful, artistic, appliqued bags. It was very, very busy and they both sold quite a few items. I think it would have been a little better if there had been more room for the buyers to move around and be able to stop and browse without holding up the through traffic. The picture above is of their tables in quite dim lighting.

Marwell Zoo

On Thursday we went to Marwell Zoo at the invitation of my sister-in-law and brother. It was a Christmas present from last year to my husband and me and we have waited all year. What a great idea! It was quiet, cold but beautifully sunny. It wa a good time to see the animals in their fantastic winter coats, all glossy and bright. There were a few animals, eg the monkeys and gibbons which were warmly tucked away for the winter but most were on show and we had lots of room to see them.

We didn't take the land train but hoofed it all the way round - good exercise in the lovely weather.

Afterwards we drove along to Fishers Pond to have a hot meal and it was very nice. The place has been taken over by a company which has made it much better than it was.

Intech

2007-11-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to Intech in Winchester. The two grandsons had a great time playing on all the interactive scientific stations there. It was quite quiet when we arrived at 10.30am although there was a class of young children having a lesson with a noisy teacher so we had plenty of opportunity to try everything out.

This is the tornado making machine.

The mobile phone mast arrangement was rather good with a mobile phone going around the tracks like a train. Both boys liked the letters you feel through holes in a box and you try to work out what it says by touch.

And, of course, they enjoyed the black and white ball sorting machine which sends messages in binary form. Lots to pull, push, turn and try out. Great fun was had by all - not only the children!

Grandson's birthday.

2007-11-11T04:18:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday was grandson number 2's 9th birthday. He was so excited. Apparently they sang 'Happy Birthday to you' to him at school and he had a cake with candles when he got home. You can see it in the picture. He and his brother were given a Wii system for their birthdays and they have had a super time playing on that ever since.

Hillier's

2007-10-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Although the weather didn't look very promising, we decided to take a chance and go to Hillier's. It was great! We took two of my grandsons, put on their wellies and made our way through all the wet grass - trouser legs becoming very wet, but no-one cared. The trees have all taken on their autumn foliage and, where many of them have already dropped them, the boys enjoyed kicking up clouds of the crunchy leaves as they ran around.

The sun came out as we enjoyed all the pieces of 'art in the garden', from grassy sheep to chicken-wire dragon.

There were baskets of berries and fruit in the pavillion and they looked fantastic - gorgeous shiny reds, yellows, oranges, purples, black, white and greens. In fact they didn't look real. There were some medlars too - fruits which my father used to forage from the countryside. Not heard of much nowadays.

Unfortunately, the machine for making hot chocolate had broken down so the older grandson was disappointed. It's usually one of the highlights of coming to Hillier's! Never mind. They had fizzy Fantas instead. A great time was had by all!

My hairdryer ......

2007-10-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband read what I had written about the hairdryer now only working on slow speed and he decided to see if he could fix it. The result is that everything was taken out of the casing and, after measuring all sorts of things, he found that the rectifier (shown as the black spider-looking thing in the foreground with 4 legs of wire) has shorted out causing the faster speed to be unavailable.

He found a new rectifier and fitted it and - hey presto! It now works perfectly. Wow! Just like new. And there I was thinking that I'd have to buy a new one.

Went for a short walk this afternoon alongside the River Test. The sun was shining and the air was calm. In the clear water of the river we could see the trout just resting facing upstream, gently swaying with the current. It was really lovely. The gravel on the river bed looked golden in the sunlight. Some of the houses have the river running through their gardens. How lovely to be able to enjoy it at any time.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness ...

2007-10-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

What fantastic weather we've been having over the last few days! Really frosty, windscreen-scraping mornings and warm, clear, sunny afternoons.

I have been out in the garden cutting back and pruning the plants and shrubs which have enjoyed their best ever weather this year! They have grown extraordinarily large - all thanks to the rainfall this summer. What we didn't appreciate, they loved.

I went to the 'Walled Garden' last weekend and expected to see lots of homespun crafts on sale, but the only things I could see which could possibly come into that category were honey, and jam. Rather disappointing. However, we did listen to a rather nice jazz band - sitting in amongst the fruit and veg beds we enjoyed a pleasant 20 minutes or so.

There were plants on sale too, and I rather fancied the intense blue gentian which is shown in the picture above. I haven't planted it yet - will have to cut back something else to squeeze it in! And so far the snails and slugs have left it alone - a miracle!

The grasses have seeded and look so light and fairy-like in the autumn sunshine that I just had to take some photos.

The colours are super at the moment.

I must just add something which surprised me somewhat this week. At the table when two of my grandsons were having a meal with us, the older one, (nearly nine years), asked, 'Do you know what reverse psychology is Nana?' I nearly choked on my food. Then he proceded to tell me what it is!! I just wonder what is going on in his head?

An update on the kettle: The lid works fine with the new knob but I have to use both hands to open it as you have to press in a button on the handle to release it at the same time as pulling the knob back.

Now my hair dryer has given up working on the faster speed and the lovely bread making machine has decided to play up. The dough I made the other evening just hadn't risen when the bleeper went off to tell me it was ready to made into rolls. I had to decant it into a bowl and leave it in the airing cupboard for another 30 minutes or so. It seems that the heating part of the programme is playing up.

Lovely husband has looked at both appliances and it now seems that the fault with the bread machine is intermittant but the hairdryer will now only work on slow speed. Ah well ...

A great baking day!

2007-10-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

Two of my grandsons arrived in time to help with baking today. The dough was shaped, pulled and poked into hedgehogs and pizza bases and then left to rise (in the airing cupboard again).

They each made a great pizza which was eagerly eaten for lunch. These are the results

They also made hedgehogs which looked and smelt delicious. I am so so glad that I didn't get rid of the baking machine! Wonderful smells of baking bread waft through the rooms. Can you imagine anything better.

This is one

and this is the other. Don't they look good?

Early autumn and Harvest Festival

2007-10-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful sunny day now after a very foggy beginning! The lovely acer which stands in a pot on my patio has turned a vibrant shade of red and will be losing its leaves quite soon.

This morning I went with my daughter in law to school to see my grandson's Harvest Festival celebration. He has been in this school for just 6 weeks and we were hoping that all would be well and that he would actually enjoy taking part. It was crowded with parents and grandparents of the 50 pupils and we all listened to a speaker who had come from the Salvation Army with the aid of her hand puppet to explain the pleasure of sharing. As time went on my grandson started to relax and eventually he appeared to enjoy singing with the rest. It was lovely to see.

Whilst waiting for the tile fitter to come and inspect the tiles which are not quite firmly stuck down, I have started another batch of dough which I shall make into rolls. This time it is Doves' organic white flour, which I know isn't as nutritious as wholemeal! I hope not to surprise my husband this time by forgetting that they are rising in the airing cupboard!

My kettle has been difficult to use recently as the spring in the lid has broken. My husband had already installed a new spring some time ago but, since the lid has become difficult again, today was time for drastic action. The offending spring has now been removed and a small knob has been added to help lift the lid. I have included a picture of it. We'll see how this arrangement pans out over the next few boilings!!!

The day after I started my blog!

2007-10-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

I spent a long time this morning with my daughter putting up photos of her beautiful hand-made glass beads onto Etsy. She only started this particular strand of artwork earlier on this year and I think some of her results are quite stunning. (You can see them if you click on the link to dizzydesigns on Etsy.) During the past couple of weeks we have spent literally hours trying out different lighting and backgrounds to find a way of getting the best picture and I now appreciate how difficult it is to get everything just right.

We managed only 5!! But they are eye-catching I think. I really must organize the whole procedure more carefully. Hats off to all those millions of people who have managed it successfully and effortlessly!!!

Last week we had new carpet laid on the stairs and on the landing. It's very pale in colour and I'm hoping it won't show the dirt too quickly. It was such a contrast to the old, green carpet that, when he first saw it, my grandson number 4 aged nearly 6, said, 'Wow! It looks like it's been snowing on the stairs!' A good description I thought.

We also had Karndean flooring put in the kitchen, the study and in the cloakroom. What a chaotic mess! All furniture had to be stacked in the lounge, the garage and in the bedrooms. The floors had to be screeded and left to dry overnight. The smell was awful and, although I had bought some 'ready meals', we couldn't get to the fridge or the cooker, so it was a good excuse to go out for a meal.

The limestone tiles were put down over the next two days and they look really good. However, ever since we have been finding that the edges and corners have lifted slightly. The experts at the shop have told us to put 'something heavy' on the areas since pressure will stick them back down. So there have been all sorts of heavy objects scattered around the floor since last Thursday and the furniture remains in the lounge etc. Some of the tiles have stuck themselves down but some have been very stubborn and so the very nice man from the shop is coming back on Thursday to have a look. I'm hoping that he'll put it right. I don't know of anyone else who has this stuff on their floor so I have no idea if this is normal ...

This picture shows the tiles

Hello!

2007-10-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

I have just re-discovered my bread baking machine and now I have found the best use for it ever.

I remembered why I had put it to one side when I tried it out again last week after months of retirement. The loaf rose fantastically well, in fact too well but it ended up stuck to the glass window lid and then sank into the biggest crater you can imagine! All the loaves I have made in the past finished with a soggy crater which made slicing the loaf well nigh impossible.

With my new organic buckwheat flour I decided I would try making rolls. The machine could do the hard work and I could just finish it off.

However, last night my husband was completely shocked when he opened the airing cupboard door to put in some newly washed towels only to find a tray of rising rolls in front of his eyes! It was late - after midnight and I had forgotten them. So the oven was switched on and they were baked. The results are shown in the picture and today they tasted delicious. Quite the best bread I have ever made.