Total Pageviews

Thursday 5 March 2015

Home and away.

It seems a long while since I posted here, guess it is a case of round to it, I am suffering from a very bad cold, lots of sinus pain, sore eyes, achey bones, no energy so am lounging on the sofa trying to be witty here. 

Two weeks ago we escaped from Pixie Towers to Tenerife for a week, stayed in H10 Las Palmeras hotel. Apart from a few walks around the resort we sat around the pool and gardens. The reason for going was to find warmth and sunshine, I have to take calcium tablets daily because of the inhaled steroids for treating Bronchiectasis and Asthma, am at risk of osteoporosis, hence the need to top up Vitamin D. There was a great variety of food, plenty of fruit, grapes with pips in, vegetables cooked differently from home so it was fun to taste whilst eating very healthily. 



Now you may, or may not wish to know what I did whilst lounging around the pool (didn't swim) so I started the book club choice, The Shining by Stephen King. Started yes, but didn't get very far, depressing, gloomy and a bit scary so went downmarket, read Judy Astley, In the Summer Time, found a copy of Katie Fforde's The Rose Revived and started that. As the cover said, perfect holiday reading and it was so.  

Didn't neglect knitting, am working on a Joseph cardigan for my friend's granddaughter, have allowed for slow progress so making it in 12 to 18 months size, as this little poppet is wearing 3-6months sizes at present. 

On the flight both ways managed to crochet quite a few Attic 24 granny squares, I am using up double knitting yarn for this blanket. It will not be an heirloom, just practical to throw on garden seat, in the car or extra warmth on the futon. 

Of course going away means catching up on TV and radio, it took till yesterday to sort out the soggy goings on in Ambridge, doesn't help that I cannot distinguish the new actors from their colleagues, I think the 'old' Tom was a better actor than his replacement. I keep listening, it is hard to break a halo of nearly thirty four years. 

The Great British Sewing Bee was another catchup, I was fascinated by the use of old Singer machines so have spent time the other evening looking at my Mother's K99 Singer, here with the key tied on with the original piece of string. 



I discovered the machine was Scottish made, registered 25th November 1945, I knew it was made just after the war finished so is older than me, it was my Mother's pride and joy. What I didn't appreciate was that she had the attachments inside the lid, along with an extension for the left hand side. I don't think the attachments were ever used, it will be fun to try, instructions are in the tiny original handbook that lives in a compartment on the right. Martha has asked for a sewing machine once she has settled in her own property, it may be easier for her to have my Singer 747, it does a variety of stitches, can go backwards, embroider and a variety of stitches. At the knitting group yesterday there were discussions about sewing machines - we talked about almost everything except knitting - some one else had a Singer 99, it was agreed the very modern machines have too many dials, controls and buttons. My mantra is increasingly KISS, (Keep It Simple Stupid). I intend to start by making something fairly simple, until the skills I haven't used for thirty years come back. 

I have joined a Ravelry group that posts about antique machines, compared with some my nearly 70 year old is a youngster. Someone in Oklahoma picked up on this so I am in correspondence with her about old sewing machines, I never fail to appreciate the benefits the web has brought.