WOYWW 537

WE ARE SAILING STORMY WATERS

TO BE NEAR YOU, TO BE FREE.

Firstly, I must apologise for the complete lack of commenting last week - it was just mad with too much in the diary and other things came first. I'll do better this time!

The desk:

This was the desk on Sunday when I just had to sit down and have 30 mins to myself. Elizabeth (Silverscrapper) had very kindly sent me this lovely nautical fabric and I knew that I had just the lining for it. It seemed a shame to cut it up for glasses cases, the dimensions were perfect to make a tote (which I haven't done for some time).

Happy sewing ensued - it was one of the projects that almost made itself, if you know what I mean, rather than cursing and muttering and unpicking seams!

I shared the finished article on FB to show Elizabeth what I'd done and the gorgeous Debbie Rock asked if she could buy it! Brilliant, said I, it was in the post on Monday and all the money will go towards RNLI funds.  Thank you both, wonderful ladies, I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness.

I also had a play with some of my new fabric, just seeing which lining I preferred:

They all looked good but the purple wins by a head for me!

Saturday was a very special day when I was invited with 200 other folk to attend the dedication,naming and handing over of the new Atlantic 85 boat and the official opening of the new boathouse. It was the most glorious warm day and was a wonderful way to celebrate the achievements of the crew and fundraisers.

It was looking very festive down the harbour...

The boats were both outside so that the ceremony could be held in the boat hall.

Both boats, their trailers and tractor units can all be stored safely in there, whereas previously, they'd been in a few sheds.

We were entertained by the Burry Port Male Voice Choir - the National Anthems were astounding, the acoustics in there were brilliant. I know several of these gentlemen as my dad sang for 35 years with them before he passed away. I did shed a tear.....

The speeches were good, it was marvellous to see so many people appreciating what is done in the community. Even though the boat was being officially named, it had already been out on 17 shouts (or missions) and saved 19 people. Altogether this year, there have been 63 shouts with a total of 72 rescued. That is some achievement.

Then there was a parade of the two inshore boats from Burry Port with the Trent class boats (the big ones!) from Mumbles and Tenby. Even the Air/Sea Rescue helicopter got in on the act as well!

The Mumbles boat came into the harbour, having waited for a sufficient depth of water - it was massive and very impressive. If you were in trouble stuck out in the Bristol Channel you'd be happy to see one of these coming into view!  You can see that the weather was beautiful here but the true bravery of those volunteers is heading out whatever the conditions.

I'm very proud to be helping in my own small way xx

Ok, off for a haircut and then we've got a kitchen designer coming this afternoon - as if the mayhem of the bathroom wasn't enough, lol!! 

Have a great week xx

WOYWW 536

IF YOU LIVE ANOTHER DAY IN THIS HAPPY LITTLE HOUSE....

Thank you for all the lovely comments last week, I know we're a supportive bunch but sometimes it really hits you what a great community we have online! As you may know, I'm a great one for reading my blog stats page and it shows which blogs have read yours. There was one address that at first I thought was spam but it carried on for a while so I had a look and found that it is the blog of a lady from Turkey! It tickles me that I have a follower there so a special mention and wave to pelinpembesi-buket.blogspot

Talking of lovely folk, I've had two lots of happy mail recently. Shaz sent me some cards to colour and as it happened, I needed a New Home card for my niece.

I got my Arteza pens out - I like them as they have a brush tip - they're things I use fairly regularly.

And then I dug out some paper and bits - et voila. Not exactly the most complicated card but I enjoyed doing it and hopefully my niece will like it.  I'll enjoy colouring in the other houses another time.

Then Elizabeth sent me these!

Lovely happy fabrics, perfect for making stuff to sell for the RNLI - thank you so much, you wonderful gal, it's much appreciated xxx  The card and postcard made me happy too, they're on the shelves in the JanCave at the moment!

Short and sweet this week - I may be late in returning comments as Son No 1 has come to stay and we're off out.  I shall leave you with some pics we took in the garden:

I know it's been a Painted Lady year as swarms of them migrated here but it still gladdens my heart to see them. That purple flower is a perennial wallflower, it has bloomed solidly for four months! What good value and it's brilliant for pollinators too.

I like the colours in this one too - that Rudbeckia has been amazing. In fact all the plants in my garden were chosen as they're good for all sorts of pollinators and it's really paid off. Simple things but it makes me happy.

Talking of which, G and I have been married 37 years today - I don't know who deserves the gold medal more...... ;-)

Have a great week!!

WOYWW 535

ALL YOU CAN DO IS STEP BACK IN TIME..

I spent a very happy morning having a big sort-out this week...before the JanCave could be reassembled, there needed to be some hole filling, painting and a good deal of hoovering.

And sorting.....

And did I have a good clear out! All those bits and pieces I kept just-in-case, they've all gone to recycling and did that feel great!

Two hours later....

Back and ready to play nicely - woohoo!!

I enjoyed putting my bits and bobs back on the shelves, tidying up the boxes, folding all the lining fabrics so I can see them and just generally faffing!!

I may have succumbed to some new fabric - it was in the sale, honest.

I've set the ironing board up to its highest position and it's fab for cutting out, no bending over at an awkward angle (I don't find cutting out whilst sitting down comfy at all)

And I've got a pile of bits ready for fusing the fleece onto - all the items I've made to sell in the cafe are going like hotcakes, so I need to make some to have in reserve. The bank holiday weekend was mad apparently, so Laura the cafe owner was telling me, and I've broken £200 with my RNLI sales. *happy dance*

The importance of funding the RNLI was emphasised to me when last Saturday, I had to make a 999 call to the coastguard as G and I saw a kayaker in distress just outside the harbour. It was a ferocious 9.3m tide and the guy was in the water, just hanging onto his boat. 8 minutes after my call, he was being hauled out of the sea by the lifeboat crew - I understand that he was hypothermic, in shock and the crew called an ambulance.  I'm not telling you this to big myself up, please understand this, it's just that it could happen to anyone and it's made my fundraising even more important to me.

And Finally.....thanks must go to the And Finally girl herself, Shaz Silverwolf! I'd commented on her blog about some really fab cottage/house stamps and look what the lovely lady sent me:

Complete with sentiments to run up some cards! I love 'em Shaz, thank you so much and will have an awesome time colouring/painting them xxx

Hope you have a wonderful week - enjoy your crafting!

WOYWW 534

ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING.....

Blimey, it's been a hot one this week - to be honest, we've had the quietest of times, strolling out in the evenings when the temps have been less and enjoying the sea breezes. The bathroom is nearly finished and I've tidied away the JanCave Mk2 (aka dining table) but it's going to be a couple more days before I have a good clean and reinstate all my stuff back into the JanCave Mk1!

This is how things stand at the moment upstairs:

The bathroom is looking super smart - my workroom less so! But it was the right thing to do as the guys have been able to keep all their stuff out of the way.  What do you think of your en suite Julia? At least you won't have to mountaineer into the shower cubicle when you're next down, lol!!

It's been too hot to crochet the blanket I'm working on so instead I've been using up odds and sods of yarn to make squares for the blankets that WI put together for charity. The next project are beanie hats ready for the Commit to Knit month in September - hence the knitting needles stabbed into the ball there!

Here are all the squares laid out:

There's a few more so a good amount to hand over to the volunteer who's going to crochet them all together - what a good lass, I detest doing that job. This is why I always crochet stripey blankets for my projects, no sewing up at all ;-)

Talking of crochet - a week or so back, I went to Llandeilo and popped into Deb's, my favourite wool shop ever. I hadn't realised that Deb had been through the mill, healthwise, and while she still has treatment to undergo, she's in the shop, being her normal feisty, take-on-the-world self. Anyhow, her friend sent her a blanket she'd made, called The Phoenix. I've seen these Mandala type patterns online but never in the flesh.  All I can say is...

WOW!!

The photo doesn't do it justice actually, the colours sing out, it was like a Persian tile -the amount of work that went into this is astounding. Deb is going to do a CAL with the pattern at her shop over the next year. I wish I lived closer as I would definitely have given it a go. And if that doesn't help her on the road to recovery, nothing will. Love ya, Deb - keep fighting xx

G is continuing his foray into our past travels and guess what? Another LLJ and fabric shot surfaced!

I think it was later the same day from last week's shot. Look at those amazing piles of fruit, that's the thing I remember most about Indonesia actually, the beautiful displayed market stalls....with the exception of the fish market in Jakarta, you needed a strong stomach to cope with that pong!!  Happy days - we'll probably bore you more with future pics from our ancient holiday snaps....

Hope you have a marvellous week!

WOYWW 533

AH YES, I REMEMBER IT WELL.....

Shaz in Oz, thank you for the ATC and Twiglet for very kindly forwarding it to me - I think it came the circuitous route from Australia to GB!

In between making cups of tea for our builders (HOW many sugars???), dodging the showers trying to garden etc etc, there has been a fair bit of sewing done!

You see before you the end of the bunting! That's 200m made - I never want to see another triangle of fabric again..... It'll look good when it's decorating the hall so it'll be worth it. And no, I'm not going into the bikini/thong making business as some deskers suggested last week!!

My mate Helen was a star, she came and snipped threads and cut out smaller triangles from the scraps...what a true friend eh?

A couple of answers to some questions raised last week:

Stacy (hope you're feeling better by the way), these are the poppers or press studs I was talking about - aren't they lovely colours? I love using them and would put them on everything if I could!

And Neet, in answer to your query:

This is my gorgeous blue glass bowl that was a birthday prezzy from my menfolk a couple of years ago. I absolutely adore it - it looks especially wonderful with Christmas baubles in but also oranges. It was made by a local artist in Wiltshire - apparently she made strips of glass and then draped them over an upturned wooden form.

G has been doing a project over the past couple of years scanning our old 35mm slides into the computer. He's just started on our Indonesia trip from 1991 and found this:

The first recorded pic of LLJ in a fabric stall somewhere in Java!! I'd forgotten that skirt, a Monsoon special, I loved it so much and was sad when it gave up the ghost. Nowadays I'd cut it up to recycle but I didn't sew in those days... I do believe I bought a couple of batik tablecloths as presents from that shop - in fact, my brother Steve still has his, I'm fairly sure. What strikes me is how red my hair was then - ah yes, I remember it well.......

Before the Indonesia slides, Gordon did our Greek trip and found this:

Me reading in our hotel room on Hydra - the only arty photo of me ever! That was a happy holiday, seeing the pics again brought back great memories :-D

Enough reminiscing for today - have a great week everyone and keep crafting!  xxxxx

WOYWW 532

SO SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY, BUTTERFLY...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES TO SHAZ AND DOUG BROOKS - HOPE YOU HAVE A FAB DAY!

It has been a quieter week, thank goodness, but we still seem to have packed a lot in. The bathroom is in that scary place where it's looking dreadful before all the new stuff has to go in, the garden was flattened by the high winds but we also had the chance to meet up for Sunday lunch with old friends from Wiltshire who were holidaying locally - that was lovely to catch up with all the news!

I'm still in the JanCave Mk2 therefore!

I've been having a sort out and seeing what stash I have.

And have been making more bunting for the WI Barn dance, glasses cases and purses to have in reserve. That popper kit is one of my favourite things, I'd put them on everything if I could :-D

A Pinterest email showed me a link to make a fabric butterfly - so I had a go as I like doing paper origami. It was very simple but had a nice outcome. Ironing the creases as you go along made a big difference.

I think I need to sew on some beads along the abdomen and then stick a brooch back or something. It takes very little fabric too so is good for using up scraps.

I was given a Hobbycraft voucher for my birthday so had great fun yesterday choosing some lovely new stash!

Isn't that a picture of pastel prettiness?!  I was obviously attracted by those colours - a good amount of lining fabric for my various projects as kind people keep sending me material which is good for 'outers'. Also some lovely yarn, ribbon and a 1000 metres of thread.

That'll keep me quiet for a while......

As will this for my crochet blanket projects. This WI Brand yarn is really great for that. 100% acrylic but nice and soft to work with. They were 3 for 2 as well, so that made me even happier.

And another pastel pic to finish on:

My Old English rose survived the 60mph winds over the weekend - woohoo. I wish we had smello-blog as the scent is glorious. I need to do some dead heading though, lol!!

Have a great week xxxxxxx

WOYWW 531

GWLAD, GWLAD, PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD

TRA MOR YN FUR I'R BUR HOFF BAU

O BYDDED I'R HENIAITH BARHAU

(Welsh National Anthem)

click on the link above to listen!

Blimey, that was the week that was! It included a birthday (mine!), a trip to North Wales to compete in the National Eisteddfod, dismantling the JanCave and having our bathroom ripped out. Nothing like packing everything in eh?!

So the JanCave looks like this at the moment:

It's just handy for the guys to keep their tools and all the new bathroom fitments!  All my stuff is now either in my bedroom or here:

It's been quite nice sitting by the open patio doors sewing away...good exercise too as I keep having to fetch bits and pieces from upstairs, lol!

I'm in the process of making a pegbag for an RNLI shop buddy and have cut all the fabric that Lynne sent me ready for some more cases for the cafe.

The peg bag turned out quite well.

And the cases too - thanks for the fabric Lynne, it's gone really well with the red spot I already had!!

We went on an early birthday trip last Wednesday and the weather was glorious again. A walk (well, climb actually!) to a castle and lunch at The Mansion House Country Hotel, whose grounds had this view...stunning eh?!

And Saturday was the day that Seindorf Arian Crwbin (Crwbin Silver Band) made the long but extremely beautiful trip from the bottom to the top of Wales to compete in the National Eisteddfod. Apologies to FB friends who have seen these pics already...

We started off at the crack of dawn:

They're a good bunch!

Waiting Backstage with some of the crew:

And then we were in action:

Here we are on the Main Pavilion Stage. We played Day of the Dragon, a piece in five movements based on Welsh folk songs...a really good bit of music, I loved it. These pics are taken from the TV coverage as we played live on S4C, the National broadcaster.  The girl on the left is one of our percussionists, a brilliant musician and Champion Welsh Clog dancer, which was good as we're playing Welsh Clog Dance at this moment. She was fantastic and we raised the roof! You can just see me second from the right of the tubas in the back row.

It was amazing to be part of this experience - I wasn't nervous at all, just enjoyed every second!

And the best thing? Crwbin won our section so we're now National Eisteddfod Second Section Champions! Woohoo :-)

And got a very handsome trophy for our efforts. This may have been filled with Prosecco and passed around the band members but I'm not confirming anything......

Needless to say, I had a VERY quiet Sunday!

Have a great week!