Handmade Mother's Day

Last summer, when we visited my mother-in-law in the nursing home in Bridgend, she was kind enough to inform us that she didn't want us to send her flowers for birthdays, Mother's Day etc. because they are a waste of money.

With that announcement I'm having to come up with alternatives presents for special occasions. That's not an easy task for a 93 year old lady who doesn't get out, who has no real hobbies or interests and doesn't even do much reading.

DH suggested she might like a pair of bed socks as she suffers from swollen feet and finds it hard to get socks to fit. So I made her these:-

I had also intended making her a special bag to fit over her invalid walker and even got a pattern from Ebay for it...until I remembered she has a folding walker and none of the bags were suitable. So, I had to come up with something else. In the end I found a tutorial online for a tissue holder, and also remembered I had a pack of dried lavender, perfect for lavender sachets for her clothes' drawers.

And then I made a card:-

Combined with a box of Terry's All Gold milk chocolates on offer for £1.50 in Morrisons I put together this little selection to send off to her:-

I managed to pack them tightly by reusing a cardboard wrapper from Amazon and the whole lot went as a 'small parcel' for £3.

I hope she likes everything, and she certainly shouldn't have cause to complain I've wasted money since nearly everything (except the chocs) was made with supplies I already had. And that pattern I bought will still be used as I intend making some bags for my local Age UK centre.

My own Mother's Day will be spent at a Wedding Fair in Broadstairs with DD2, and I will be meeting her future mother-in-law (also called Helen) for the first time.

Anyone else have plans for Mothering Sunday, or made anything lovely for their mum?

Meet Oscar

I collect dolls.

There I've admitted it.

I also have quite a collection of inexpensive teddy bears, although I do have a huge replica Steiff bear that was bought for me for my 50th birthday. I have some very expensive, very lifelike dolls and I have some cheap and cheerful vinyl dolls, including Cabbage Patch Kids and play dolls. I suppose they are my substitute children now all mine are grown and, just like I used to do for my kids, I sometimes knit for my dolls.

This is Oscar. He's a 15inch, all vinyl, anatomically correct African boy. He cost me £20 from Ebay and I also got an Asian girl doll at the same time. Unusually for this type of doll he and the girl both have a full head of lifelike hair which is why I bought them as I don't care for bald-headed dolls.

 As you can see Oscar is now sporting a nifty hand-knitted, all-in-one with a pointed pixie hood. Oscar is very pleased to be finally wearing this garment since he's been lying around in my bedroom stark naked since before Christmas waiting for me to finish off his clothes. I finally sewed it all together and knitted the front bands a week ago, and then it got left again while I hunted for suitable buttons that wouldn't cost the Earth. Why, oh, why do I never have just the right sized buttons in the correct colour in my button tin? Anyway, my local wool shop came up trumps and I paid just 48p for the 4 buttons; the wool for the all-in-one was from my stash. 

Oscar is very cosy in his new clothes and now his adopted Asian sister would also like something warm to wear as well. I'm currently working on the second of a pair of socks for my mother-in-law as Mother's Day gift, and when they're finished I'll look through my collection of  vintage doll's clothes patterns and make her something pretty.

I do have pangs of guilt about spending money and time on making things for dolls when there are real kiddies out there who need clothing, but I do also make things for charity although the cost of postage makes it very expensive to mail things off nowadays. It cost me over £9 to mail a few bits last year for KAS (Knit a Square) and nearly £6 to send some teddies and cloth bags for the Teds to Zimbabwe Challenge. It makes me wonder if its worthwhile when that money could simply be donated instead.

I wonder if anyone else on here collects dolls or teddies/soft toys or am I the only one who has never grown up?

Birthday Card and Baking

Firstly I want to say thank you so much to Attila for her kind, encouraging words about my weight issues. She really helped and I'm intending on trying to keep my weight steady for a while rather than fret myself silly over losing the last stone. If I lose a few more lbs then that will be a bonus, but otherwise I'm pretty happy the way I am and I'd rather stay here than regain because I'm stressed about losing more and bingeing because of it.

I slept well last night and I'm in a much better mood today. I've made the most of the energy I have by keeping busy. Another load of laundry hung outside and there was a good breeze so it all came in dry. Nipped round to Aldi for coffee. Now that DH takes coffee to work we get through so much more instant and we like Aldi's decaf. I vacuumed through the downstairs and I also made DS2's birthday card. I heard from him this morning and he's spending the weekend of his birthday with his girlfriend who lives near Rochester, but will be over for his pressies on Monday, so I'll bake him a cake then. I'd already suspected it was wanting to spend his brithday with his GF that was the issue over the family dinner; I just wish he'd made the decision earlier before everyone else rearranged their lives on that day.

Anyway, here's his card. No prizes for guessing what his favourite tipple is.

The images were found on Google, and then I manipulated them to create an insert and also sheets of paper to line the envelope. I think a lined envelope adds a nice finishing touch.

DD3 called earlier asking if she and BF could come for dinner tonight before going to rehearsals. Of course, I had to say 'yes' especially as she has the money to return that she borrowed towards her new car. LOL!!! Fortunately I'd already got a large steak pie out of the freezer intending it to make two meals for 3 of us, so instead it did 5 of us (2 girls and 3 guys) one dinner served up with mash, cabbage, carrots and sweetcorn. As DD3 is still cutting out dairy the pastry was made with vegetable fat and she had a jacket potato instead of the mash which had milk in it. Tinned steak and pastry mix were both from Approved Foods, cabbage and potatoes were yellow-stickered (no point buying a sack of potatoes now for just 3 of us), the sweetcorn and carrots were 3 packs for £2 from FarmFoods. I've estimated the meal cost around £1 per serving. 

I also made coconut flapjack to a new Vegan recipe so that DD3 could have some. It had a lot more golden syrup in it than I would normally use, but it was lovely and squidgy in the middle and a bit chewy around the edges, though that might be because I cooked it a bit too long. Here's the recipe if anyone's interested.

Gooey Vegan Flapjacks

200g Dairy Free Margarine (I used Vitalite)
200g Demerera Sugar
200g Golden Syrup
300g Porridge Oats 
75g Dessicated Coconut
1/2 tsp salt

Melt the marg, sugar, salt and syrup together in a pan over a low heat or in a bowl in the microwave. Stir in the oats and coconut. Spread in a 10 x 6 inch well-greased tin and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 C or Gas 4. Cool in the tin, but while still warm ease away from the edges of the tin and slice into bars or squares.

Tomorrow is my volunteering day so once again I'll be busy, and as DS1 will be at his Anime club for the evening we're having a sandwich night instead of a full cooked dinner. 

That's all I have for today. I hope everyone is well and enjoying better weather.

Mistaken Identity

Hello, Shirley, nice to have you on board.

Another dry day, so I got the bedding washed and out on the line early this morning before my Slimming World Meeting. 

I shouldn't have bothered going to the slimming club; another 1/2 lb on. I was gutted since I've mostly been good this week and we've had a couple of longer walks. I felt I'd at least lost a pound. My reaction? I came home and ate two big bowls of crunchy muesli followed by 2 bags of crisps (they were squares which are only 99 calories a bag). I really have lost the plot lately and can't seem to get back on plan for longer than a few days at a time. I'm doubly gutted because I checked my progress graph and it seems I was this weight back in October, so despite having lost in the interim that's all been wiped out by recent gains. I'm so worried I'm on the slippery road to regaining it all; I just can't seem to stop eating some days.

Other news is we got a call from Admiral (our car insurer)  about an incident that was reported to them. They wouldn't talk to me since the policy's in DH's name so I gave them his mobile number. He just called me and apparently there was an incident in a car park in High Wickham on 2nd March. Well, for a start neither of us has ever been to High Wickham and I don't even know where it is, and DH certainly wasn't there on 2nd March. Apparently our car was picked out by the number plate on CCTV but the guy from Admiral said it must've been read wrongly. Too right. I hope it gets sorted out soon and then gets erased from our insurance record so we don't lose our no claims for this year. I was already in a dark mood over the weight issue, so this is another one of those annoying things I didn't feel like dealing with today.

On a lighter subject I'm knitting yet another pair of socks, this time for Mother's Day for DH's 93 year old mum, the one in the nursing home in Bridgend. I'm doing a different design with a ribbed turnover but stocking stitch foot. The turnover will be a dark purple and the foot mauve; her favourite colours. I'm also hoping to make her a hanging fabric caddy bag for her wheeled walker. I saw some patterns online, but decided to buy this one from Ebay as it will have been tested.

I'll be making one of the two bottom right hand designs and hoping it will suit her particular walker. I'm sure she'll find it useful, and the socks will be nice and stretchy to go over her puffy feet. As I already had the wool and pattern for the socks, the pattern for the caddy cost under £6, and I'll be making her card from supplies I already have, her presents this year will be very cheap, that's if the postage isn't astronomical.

Dinner tonight is leftover quorn bolognaise sauce redesigned as chilli con carne with the addition of red kidney beans from the freezer, tinned creamed corn (Approved Foods) and a part pack of chilli sauce mix bought from AF ages ago. It will be served with rice also from AF. 

The definite plans we had for a celebratory meal out for DS2's 21st birthday next Sunday have been shelved because he changed his mind this Sunday. He'd been umming and aahing for about a week on whether he wanted it that day, even though we'd already agreed it with him a few weeks ago and had let everyone know so that they could keep it clear. I'd been trying to get him to finally confirm it all last week. At present I'm not even sure whether he's coming over at the weekend so don't know whether I need to make a cake, or if I'll have to post his card to him. He's in the mire with his siblings for leaving his decision so near the event as they'd already rearranged prior plans, changed work shifts etc, and DD3's BF had even booked a day's holiday. It is his birthday, but it's so difficult to get everyone together these days, so he's not the most loved brother at the moment.

Anyway, that's my little bit of news for now. Not very exciting and a bit gloomy (like my mood), but there's far worse that could have happened so I'll count my blessings and I know I'll feel better about things tomorrow. Hope all is right in the world with you and yours. Hugs, Helen X

Proud Mummy

If you don't like loud rock music please ignore the links to YouTube videos, but I couldn't resist posting the video footage taken on my phone last night of my son singing at the Canterbury Christchurch Uni bar. They perfomed some excellent cover versions. Pity the microphone connection was a little shaky and my videoing even more so.

The River part 1

Wings Of A Butterfly