Hello there all you kind folks. Your lovely comments and advice last week have been duly noted – and acted upon! I have indeed spent the week relaxing to recover from the op – can’t quite believe a simple hernia repair takes so long to recover from… but I’m continuing to milk it, as you suggested! I have spent much time snoozing, watching tv, sitting on the sofa, having good long lie-ins… in other words, I have been decadently lazy – and enjoying it!

The only vaguely crafty thing I have done is to continue with those crochet squares – they show distinct signs of growth…

Having made 12 small starter squares with that gorgeous yarn, and adding to each one with a delicate pale lemon, I then chose to add two more of the colours in that yarn around each square. Now each one is getting a round of the multi-coloured yarn, then I will crochet them all together and see where I get to. I’m sure I shall need some more to make a reasonable sized blanket, but we will see. Each square is currently around 11 inches in size.

Also on my desk this week are my two free tickets to the Manchester craft show, and my WOYWW badge ready for the occasion.  A group of us are all going over on Friday. Is anyone from WOYWW going? It would be good to meet up if so. I confess I like this show – it’s not too large, a good variety of stalls, and not as crowded as the NEC. It’s also a considerably shorter journey from the North Wales Coast.

So that’s me this week. Nothing much doing at all. I did manage to visit everyone this last week – but I can’t find any way of leaving you a message Kathryn – I’m so sorry. A few of the google+ folks I actually email each week as I can’t leave them a message either – but they do at least get a comment from me. Can’t do anything for poor Kathryn…

So, take care, everyone. God bless.

Margaret

Hello my friends. Yes – a gap of three weeks – totally unexpected – but, in the end, most welcome. I made it to the grand 500, then , when I had visited everyone, had to go get my blood pressure checked. Apparently it was a little raised when I was called for a pre-op by the local hospital. The doctor’s surgery were happy with the result, I called the hospital, and within 30minutes had been asked if I was able to take a cancellation on Jan 11th. Well, you don’t hesitate! I sorted house, contents, house guests, a friend to take me in on the day, a daughter to come look after me… and within a week was in the recovery room waking up! Both daughters took turns to come up and pamper me, then I went to Nottingham to be pampered for a bit longer. Now I’m home alone, coping (but VERY slowly), and well into the recovery time of six weeks. Yay!

Consequently, my time at my desk has been virtually nil – until I woke this morning (Tuesday) and felt like playing with brushos. So, I got them out, lined them up, took the lids off…

I tried a few bits, then hit a total brick wall of exhaustion!!! I’m happy with a few, but not all by any means. Oh well, it was my first crafty excursion since Christmas! And that was it – the lids went back on, the tubs were put away.

One of my church friends called in the other day to see how I was doing – and brought me this…

… not as big as I usually tackle, but quite big enough for now. The friend wondered whether we should be giving step inside a make-over??!! It wasn’t until I had finished the puzzle that I realised the young man with the black jacket was pouring his drink… into a non-existent glass:-)

As you can imagine, I’m doing a lot of tv watching at the moment – and so I put together a few balls of yarn to see what I could do…

Mrs D gave me two of these gorgeous balls of yarn with my Christmas present – they have an amazing array of colours within them… so I felt a blanket coming on – as you see, I haven’t got very far yet – but that’s ok. I’m just plodding slowly, sleeping in the settee when I need to, swapping activity when my brain fades, and simply making sure I get sufficient to eat and drink.

Don’t know what the weather is like with you – but here’s a North Wales picture from Tuesday morning – we had just had a 20minute blizzard – and this was the result. As I only live around 40feet above sea level, we don’t often have snow that settles, but this was the view from my landing window…

I just love it when the snow settles on the mountains as it picks out all the shapes of the landscape.

So that’s me today, folks – recovering well – milking it to the nth degree (and why not I ask myself?) – just taking my time, doing a little of what I fancy each day – and thoroughly enjoying the fact that falling asleep at the drop of a hat is perfectly acceptable. I will get round to visiting everyone – but with all these naps it may take a few days.

Take care. God bless.

Margaret

WOYWW500

I wish you a very happy new year – welcome to 2019 – and, to…

WOYWW500

… the 500th edition of the round the world blog group of art and craft addicts hosted by the delectable Julia of http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/   A wonderful group of people who bare their workdesks each Wednesday for the world to see. Congratulations, Julia – this must surely be one of the longest running blog groups on the web!!! So, in honour of the occasion – some photos of my desk and my recent work…

I’m still struggling with these changes which have recently happened here, so I have no idea how many titles this post will have!! – sorry

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Some of my Christmas presents, not yet tried or put away, and also some sale items from a little retail therapy – “all Christmas items half price” – well, I mean, they just fall into your basket, don’t they???

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A little further along the desk – specs case, hand cream, some techniques I watched on you tube and wrote down the instructions, 3 (yes – three!) diaries, the Caravan Club handbook listing all their large and small sites – thinking about going away in the caravan as soon as April appears, so am thinking ahead – the master list of rotas for church – ready for this week’s notice sheet, and a copy of the previous sheet, now out of date. Not a lot of action! But the desk did see action leading right up to Christmas…

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A couple of birthday cards – now sent and received – one fairly simple, made by colouring a preformed tag shape with metallic pencils. The other more complex – lots of layers and pockets!

My house guests are currently staying with family in Cheshire over Christmas and the new Year, so I’m on my own now I am back from Nottingham. Time for the obligatory jigsaw!

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Let’s just say it wasn’t easy, shall we? The pieces didn’t fit together very well and the sky nearly defeated me!

So that’s me here on the North Wales coast – having had a wonderful Christmas with my family. I wish you every blessing for 2019. As we walk into a new year I am reminded of part of the poem “Gate of the year” by Minnie Louise Haskins.

“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” “

Take care. God bless.

Margaret