My way

​yesterday I was trying to knit the top of the front piece of the project I’m working on. 

The instructions, or as I call them destructions, were not written well at all. 

I was flummoxed and had no idea how or where I was going to get help clarifying it. 

So I’m finally got on chatGPT and asked it. 

It went through it all with me and I kinda understood 

But it just wouldn’t work 

I’m decided to just do it my way 

I cast off both pieces, and set about knitting the shoulders 

I made them using short rows. It should work. We will see. 

And I thought the cables would be the hard part. 

For now I’ll leave it here to get it all nice and flat. The cowl neck is the last part now, and hopefully it will come together and fit. 

I’v packed away all the paraphernalia to do with the knitting into the bag that sits by me chair and I’m back on the EPP. 

Progress is slow but consistent 

I’m trying to make it a square and I don’t know if it’s working. If I can’t I’ll just make it bigger and trim it off into a square or rectangle 

For now I’ll just keep sewing 

The sun has gone away today. It is windy. Hopefully it will dry the backyard enough for hubby to mow it. 

He tried but it was way too wet over the weekend 

Slow progress is annoying but it is still progress, fingers crossed we can get the back organised for the delivery of the new “ item”. 

No I’m still not  telling you until it’s here 

You will just have to wait 

Changes and surprises

​today was our kings birthday holiday. So we had an extra day of getting things done. Yesterday after the girls all went home we headed out back to continue removing the old small flower beds 

I rescued as many bulbs as I could find and a couple of the plants 

They were all planted in these pots 

I had to put all the plastic pots on the red bark so they could drain. They were in the concrete and with all that rain were a little too wet. Hopefully this will solve that problem 

Today hubby got this machine to move the large wicking beds 

Now we have a large empty space. 

We have something that will fill this space, but that’s for another post 

Meanwhile inside I finished cleaning, organising and putting away all the things the girls used. 

Folded dry laundry and put that away. 

Then I did three loads to hang on the newly empty clothes horses 

It’s never ending. 

Bright ideas

​yesterday after the two girls were dropped off, grandma had the big idea to invite Melody and Brianna 

For a sleep over. 

They arrived mid afternoon and the place exploded 

Squeals and laughing and jumping all over themselves 

The soon settled down, kinda of.

Both the girls were absolutely lovely with Georgia 

Melody was trying to get her to crawl.  She is so very close 

Georgia loved melodys hair. She’s a hair puller. 

But the look they gave each other just made my heart melt. 

Melody is so great with her. Watching her for me while I had to leave her to 

Do anything 

Brianna was playing peek a boo with her and the giggles were I infectious 

Everyone ended up sitting on the floor with Georgie 

Giving her all the attention 

Even Trixie. 

Grandma was sitting in the chair having a rest. 

While organising the three older girls, grandpa offered to feed Georgie her 

Bottle 

I think there was a magic sleeping potion in with the milk. They both went to sleep 

After putting the younger two to bed. The place calmed down 

Melody was happy drawing on her iPad and I was feeding Georgia 

Her final bottle before sleep. 

Soon Melody went off to bed, grandpa went off to bed. And grandma,

Well grandma had to organise the little fold out bed on the couch.  The chaise

Lounge. Then she put Georgia in the little bed and slept right next to her. 

I had to have my arm around her all night. If I moved it away, Georgia would open her eyes instantly 

Grumble at me and give me that stare, until I put it back around her. 

 then she promptly went back to sleep. 

So grandma had a night of half sleep, the other half watching her to make sure she was safe. 

But in the end she slept in till quarter to seven. 

She woke happy, which was great. 

Then Melody came into the lounge followed by the other two. 

Then it was changing, feeding and organising for the day 

They have now all gone home 

I’ve started cleaning up all the chaos,  it’s spread all around the house! 

I’ll get to it all eventually.  Even though it was very tiring, I wouldn’t miss it at all 

To see them all having fun and interacting with each other just gives me a feeling of bliss. 

I know these days will soon be over. They will grow up and they won’t want to sleep at grandmas 

House any more. And that’s just fine. They need to grow up and find their own lives. 

But I will have these wonderful memories to cherish. 

Fun day

​this morning the girls arrived very happy. Grandma was ready having all the snacks and toys all set up 

Georgia is so ready to crawl. She gets up but then decides it’s easier to lay down and roll. 

If she crawls here it will be to catch Trixie. Once again Trixie has bonded with the baby. It’s getting hard keeping them apart. I’m actually worried Georgie will pull her ear or tail and then her react to it. Much better to never leave them alone. 

Ana asked if she could do some craft. I saw this on an advertisement that comes up when scrolling through the reels. It’s something she can do with minimal supervision 

It makes flowers. 

She was arranging them in the plastic vase that came in the pack. 

She was very proud of her blossom’s. 

She was sad that they didn’t smell 

Pretty, so I gave them a spritz with some perfume. 

Georgia had a play in this play station. 

The seat actually moves round all the way. So she can reach all the different gadgets. 

She’s got a mouth full of teeth, and it looks like the back molars are coming through. She loves chewing on these. 

Grandpa came over around lunchtime, giving me a chance to rest. 

Mummy is with her sister, the bride tonight. So Georgia stayed here while daddy took Ana to her swimming lesson 

When they came back Ana had her dinner before going home. 

I had fed Georgia her dinner, made sure she had a fresh nappy,(diaper) and was giving her a bottle when they arrived back from swimming. 

He’s got the girls tonight on his own. 

Tomorrow they will come back mid morning and stay  the night. 

I’m a little anxious, but this will be the second time Georgie has a sleepover. That night she slept through until

Five in the morning  

If she does that again I’ll be very happy  

Ana is easy. She falls asleep cuddling me on the couch, and then I put her in bed with me.

Fingers crossed I get some decent sleep tonight 

The unseen

​this morning I woke up feeling a little better. Basically I can’t breathe 

It was a slow start. I wasn’t rushing with anything. 

But I did have to fold the washer that was days past dry. 

I then put a load in the washer. While waiting I pulled out the very bottom of the pantry. I had excess stock in there, it had to go into the cupboard for easy access 

I put everything back, and added two tins of olive oil 

I buy it in a big tin and fill the bottles. It’s way easier for me to use. Normally once one has been decanted, I had one ready to go.

I ordered one on the next door dash. 

Imagine my surprise when they delivered two cans. 

The shaking hands had obviously hit the  the button twice. 

I had them in the laundry, along with a bag of food. Now all that is gone and nicely packed in the pantry 

Then hubby asked for more jam 

So I made jam 

I bought a small bag of frozen mixed berries, added some of my frozen strawberries and fresh blueberries 

Once it was defrosted and smooshy, I added half a teaspoon of this. Just to make sure it sets 

Into jars and then a water bath 

Three new jars of jam. 

It’s very yummy on toast or crumpets 

After all that. Had worked up a sweat. 

I’ve showered, the last lot of laundry is in the machine, and I’ve just had lunch. 

Once that last load is done I plan to sit and sew. 

At least until it’s time to cook dinner 

Stupid germs

​

This is me today. It started last night. Suddenly my nose was blocked and my head and ears felt like they had cotton wool stuffed in them 

You don’t realise how important breathing is, until you can’t. 

So lots of hot beverages, paracetamol and a flannel with Vicks vapour rub on it and rubbed around my neck and chest. 

I woke this morning still feeling pretty ordinary. I cancelled the weekly coffee date and I’ve been sitting by the fire keeping hydrated. 

I am feeling much better now. Hubby went to the pharmacy to get me some cold and flu tablets, and they seem to have worked. 

This germ just doesn’t want to go away. 

As soon as I get busy, and tired it comes back 

I should be fine by tomorrow, either way a bit of luck anyway 

Stay healthy everyone. It’s a real inconvenience and throws a spanner in your plans 

Kitchen day

​today I tackled the kitchen. In needed a deep clean. 

Everything was moved, benches cleaned and put back neatly 

I then removed, cleaned and put back the mugs and glasses in the two overhead cupboards 

I removed the old curtain from my kitchen window cleaned and replaced it with new ones. I’ve had them for many many years. When I purchased the ones that were on the window I also purchased these. But I’ve been washing and just putting it back. I had total forgotten about the second set. I found them looking for something else. 

Neat and tidy 

Then I cooked some chow mein for dinner 

And a banana bread 

I finished vacuuming and I was done 

I’ve had a Long soak and will now settle in and continue sewing. 

I’ve been working on the knitting but my brain is fried and I’ll just have to pull out what I knit up. So mindless sewing for me 

It’s raining outside, it getting dark, the solstice is rapidly approaching.

And the fire is burning nicely 

Who could ask for anything better