The year is going, let him go

I was reminded of the Tennyson poem when I was listening to ‘The Armed Man’ the other day.

As far as I am concerned this year can’t ‘go’ quickly enough. It hasn’t been a good one to live though, although it is ending on a high – hence the rainbow.

This year I was diagnosed with a very nasty sounding disease (PBC – anyone else out there have it? I’d love to hear from you!) which has proved to be most benign at the moment – and I have learned to live for the moment.

My grandson and his fiancée were delighted to be pregnant but were told at the twenty-week scan that things were not looking good. Subsequent scans were closer to normal but there was careful monitoring and a great deal of anxiety for us all. Harley was born mid-November and is a bright, alert and absolutely gorgeous baby. I’ve had lots of ‘Harley hugs’ over Christmas and ‘Finn fixes’ and cuddles from Jack and I consider myself a most fortunate Mother, Grandmother and now Great-Grandmother. I must sound like ‘the old woman who lived in a shoe’?

And as I had a wonderful 70th birthday party in November that is probably quite true. bring it on!

Roll on 2010!

Getting there!

This is just a vey quick progress report. I now have walls (painted) and floors. Everything is very white and stark, just waiting for some colour to be introduced. A blank canvas, you might say?

I seem to have been walking aimlessly around, tape measure in hand, mumbling "105 centimetres, tea with two sugars and coffee with one sugar ... , etc ..."

All that is going to change this weekend as I take a break from the cleaning and refresh myself ready for the week ahead. The exciting bit is yet to come!

Well and truly plastered!

I've just spent a delightful afternoon in the company of my lovely daughter-in-law (I much prefer the French 'belle-fille'?) and my youngest grandson, Finn, as he chatted and giggled his way along his first train ride on the 'Docks' railway at Preston. The trains had 'Thomas' faces on several of them, which made it very exciting, and he got the chance to climb aboard some of the engines. It's definitely a 'boy' thing!

What a welcome break from the last week! I seem to have spent the week charging around IKEA or B&Q with a tape measure and trying to work out 'what' will eventually go 'where'. So many decisions to be made!

On Saturday, the plasterers came. Despite having to listen to the dulcet strains of 'Rock FM', the lads worked hard and now - I'm plastered!

I'm well aware that the pictures are pretty boring but they're all I've got so far. Hang on in there!

Whilst all this is going on I'm being very industrious. I'm clearing out drawers and cupboards so that when I can get at my fabrics and fibres again I will have the time to be creative. All the boring housework will be done? That's the plan anyway.

Hitting a brick wall

Well ... I should have known. It was all going so well. That just doesn't happen to me. On Friday, Alan started to take down what he and the building inspector had both decided was a 'studded wall' (no, it doesn't mean anything to me either) only to find this ... breeze block. Literally hitting a brick wall?

Cue another visit from building inspector on Monday. There will probably have to be some kind of support for the walls above. (My worst nightmare was a sudden collapse from above - don't anyone even dare to hum " ... and the walls came tumbling down ...")

Then when I plugged in the kettle - a very necessary piece of equipment at the moment? - no electricity in the utility room. The electrician was due and we had power in the kitchen. Tea problem solved. (I have to tell you that Alan likes the weakest of tea - it's me that has the 'builder's tea'!!!)

I went off to order the laminate floor to match the existing floor (this is now a 'special order', which may delay things? But, thankfully, still available). And another ex-pupil in 'Floors 2 Go. They're all over the place!

Returned to find this ...

... the source of the electricity problem. A nail - which had been hammered through the electricity cable by the original builders!!! - had moved when the plasterboard was removed and touched the wire.

And, yes, a leak in a pipe...

Cue buckets and a boiler that needs 'topping up' at regular intervals because the water pressure keeps falling.

And then, when everyone had gone, no Internet access!!! Quelle tragedie!

It has taken me till now to work out that the 'computer' sockets had also died on me. Ran an extension lead from the utility room and we have lift-off!

So - picture this - trailing leads, buckets of water and a boiler that needs more attention than a baby (will I have to get up in the night to 'feed' it?) Not exactly a picture of domestic bliss, is it?

It all makes me feel very 'ditsy' and silly and well ... 'girlie'? In my defence, I do have my own drill and screwdriver. It's just knowing what to do with them that's the problem ...

Still, I have enjoyed a lovely visit with my friend Elaine to 'Art in the Pen' at Skipton this afternoon. So nice to see her again now that she has returned from New Zealand.

Oh ... and the ladies at the Platform Gallery didn't reject my piece. But I think they were only concerned with the back - and, yes, it did have mirror plates and a label .... So far, so good.

'B' day + 1

Yesterday I had a garage door - and today I have a wall and a window! Magic!

And this is the view from inside. It's beginning to look like a room?

'B-day' - at last!

It may not look as if a great deal has been done but the foundation for the front wall has been dug and the concrete poured. Bricks have been removed from the sides so that the new bricks can be 'eased in'. This is Alan boxing in a pipe in what will be my new office.

Tomorrow - weather permitting - the wall will be built and the window put in what will be my office. Then it will begin to look like something other than a garage.

So far the noise and dust are making me excited - wonder how long that will last?

As this is supposed to be a textile blog - and textiles are very thin on the ground at the moment - and, as I always need to have something to worry about, I am now imagining the scenario when I take my felt piece ...

... into the Platform Gallery for the Open Exhibition. As it was selection by photograph, what happens when they see it in the flesh and decide they've made a big mistake?

Don't I have enough to keep me awake at night?

'B' (for build) Day minus 1

A very short post today just to say that it’s ‘B-day minus 1’. 'B' is for 'build'. The bricks are here – and appear to be the right ones. It was a very tense moment as the lorry arrived – what if they weren’t the right ones and had to be sent all the way back to Durham?

Because this is supposed to be a ‘textiles’ blog I will show you the results of my session today at ‘Fell-Side Felters’ – the lovely felt group that I belong to. I’ve got very ‘achey’ shoulders tonight because I was determined to make a nuno piece out of some fabric that just didn’t want to let the fibres through. I won in the end because I’m very stubborn but now I’m wondering if it was worth it?

Pretty rubbish really ...

The nice thing about our group is that there is always someone willing to give you advice, which is always appreciated. The fact that we laugh a lot - and have cake – helps as well!