Just call me Mario!

He's a plumber, right?

I have to admit I am not quite up to speed on the whole 'video' game thing (I know they're not called that any more, but my involvement with such things started with Space Invaders and ended with Pacman.  All that excitement was too much for me!)

So why Mario?

No, I haven't grown a magnificent moustache (though what with the deteriorating eyesight a) that could be next on the agenda and b) if I had, I probably wouldn't be able to see it anyway, not unless I got out my magnificent LED magnifier I showed you yesterday).

No, I haven't taken up dungaree wearing.  I was a keen wearer of dungarees in my sixth form days but all that faffing with straps and bibs would be far too much of a hold-up these days, if you get what I mean...

No.

What I have been doing is a  little light plumbing!

On Sunday, we had some very lovely friends over for Sunday lunch, and whilst preparing the meal I became aware of the fact that there was water in the cupboard under the sink.  Just a little.  

We were busy.  

I did tell Mr U-t-B, especially in view of the fact that he was heading into the wide blue yonder (well, grey and white actually for he is up a mountain again) for the week, but it was only a few drips and he said he'd look at it when he got back.

Anyway, today the drip turned into basins-full,  a drip of mop-it-up-every-few-minutes proportions, the sort that oozes out of the bottom of the cupboard and threatens to wash you away (okay I am exaggerating here, just slightly).  Bloomin' typical!

I rooted around to try to find the source of said gushing water, and discovered it to be the waste. 

I undid the joint that seemed to be leaking...

...and discovered a black smeary mess and a very perished washer!

 I had two choices - settle into a few days when the dishwasher could not be run and no washing up could be attempted, or use that marvellous invention, the mobile phone, to contact Mr U-t-B and see if he could give me a down-the-mouthpiece tutorial.

I set off down the road to the plumbers' merchant (taking the perished washer with me) and came back with this one...

I could probably have figured it out myself, but I was glad to have my hand metaphorically held via the phone.

Within minutes, the waste was back together, and seems to be drip free!

All for the princely sum of 50p, and a couple of phone calls!!

How's that for a bit of excitement?

I think I'd better go and do some stitching to calm down!

On becoming a Biscuiteer

Brrrr! It's turned a bit chilly here, so here I sit beneath a blanket, in my jim-jams, though it's only a shade after seven in the evening!  Truth be told, I was up very early this morning, after a rather wakeful night, as I had to take Mr U-t-B off to Gatwick airport, so that's my excuse for being ready for bed at such a time.  

If I can stay awake long enough I will once again be using this present...

...which my dear husband persuaded me to let him get me at Lidl on Saturday!  

I was in denial that such a thing could help me with some of the WIPs I have awaiting my attention.  

After all, I've always had 20/20 vision, so even if the presbyopia monster seems to be running close behind me have caught me up and tanned my hide, surely things weren't that bad?  

Well, my goodness they obviously are!

This bit of kit makes such a difference - well worth the £29.99 Mr U-t-B lavished on my pressie!

(I'm only mentioning the price in case anyone out there wants to dash out and buy one, not as an indication of my worth to him!)

 

It took a wee while to get used to using it, but the magnifier makes easy work of my evenweave linen cross-stitch!  This WIP is now properly underway again (AGAIN!  This project has had more stops and starts than a London bus...)  Expect a ta-dah sometime in the not too distant future, because I will most certainly be celebrating when I've finished the last of the eighteen cows!!!

On Saturday afternoon, I decided to take time to enjoy a bit of biscuit-y baking, inspired by one of my recent bargain purchases...

This was definitely not a job for when one was in a rush!  First the biscuit dough was made, rolled out and cut, then chilled, cooked and cooled.  Next, the making of the Royal Icing, the piping of the outlines, the mixing up of different colours, the thinning to make flood icing and the flooding of the shapes, then the polka dotting.  And this was for the simplest of designs, in only three colours!

It was a good practice - next time I will be braver and have a go at something more detailed.

In the end, with the help of my retro-style Tala Icing Bag Set and the squeezy plastic ketchup bottles I bought at the catering shop for next to nothing, I managed to produce a selection of polka-dotted biscuits...

I learnt that a) they look best if the outline is done in the main colour (not white like I did for the pink and blue one) and b) round biscuits are unforgivingly hard to ice neatly.

Miss U-t-B was happy to take the resultant tin-full to school today, where her classmates declared me to be 'adorable' for having made them!

Here's something that made me chuckle today to finish...

Anyway, there seems to be a gentle moo-ing coming from nearby, so as I haven't put myself to the point of sleep with typing, I will switch my magical LEDs on and get stitching!

Going for a song

I have been ever so slightly obsessed with birds of late!  Something to do with St Valentine's Day in the offing, the days lengthening and market time at the Maltings next weekend.  It may also have something to do with this CD, which I was lucky enough to get for Christmas and which I like VERY much...

I digress!

If you were reading yesterday, you will have briefly seen the results of this birdy-obsession in my contorted willow, paper-bunting-bedecked tree, but now I will share them more fully.

First the quirky ones...

These are mostly made with felt from 'Blooming Felt' (quick mail order turnaround!)  I love the colours, though the felt is quite different to the stuff I usually work with.

Beneath the wings, each little tweeter reveals a button-heart...

Then there are some more traditional types...

Vintage fabrics for wings...

And more button hearts...

Some have been left with an opening in case a special gift needs slipping inside.  I'm thinking solitaire.  I'm thinking diamonds.  You get my drift!

And each of these I sell comes with a magnet with a message I dreamed up.  I especially like this one, but I have others too!

And I have finally managed to get round to listing some of my things on Folksy.  So if you want to see the other messages, or what I have put into my shop, do pop along.  I will  be adding more stuff over the next days, and I will very soon be doing a linked giveaway...

Quick and easy paper bunting

The sewing machine has been a-whirring, and some little birds have come to roost in a willowy tree...

More about the birds another day, but here's something I saw on Pinterest (oh, yes I have been sucked into that...) which was fun to do... 

manualidadessanvalentin.com

Gather red and pink paper - I wanted to use magazines, but didn't have enough.  I just MIGHT have visited activityvillage.co.uk and used some of their downloadable scrapbook papers  - Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year would have been useful (but I couldn't admit to it on here in case someone who worries about printer ink was reading...)

Make a template, layer up four of five sheets of scrapbooking paper and cut lots of hearts out nice and easily.

Then simply stitch together, leaving a bit of a gap between each heart, and a tail at either end for attaching to whatever you're going to attach it to.

Pretty!

Catching up...

It's ages since I have done any hand embroidery, but with my little stint at (proper, money-earning) work finished yesterday, I finally got round to making a commission I was asked to do just before Christmas.  

(Don't worry - it wasn't for a present!)

A mini-matchbox cosy was required, and as I never make things in ones, there's now a little row in my sewing room...

Actually, this is a previously made one, made before my latest innovation in felt cottages - the chimney!

 I think this was one of the first ones I made after I learnt to do French Knots properly - hence quite a few roses round the door and delphiniums to boot!

This is the one I need to get in the post today. 

 I used some variegated thread which gives a subtle difference in colour to the roses.

Happy though I am to be able to do proper French Knots (this here is how I learnt), I still love bullion knots too, perfect for wisteria...

Using strands of different coloured thread for some of the knots makes it more lively...

Wisteria or roses...which would you have blooming fragrantly round your front door?

Slow Sunday, shopping and signs of spring

Look what's popped up in the wall we re-planted late last summer...

I'm ashamed to say I don't know what they are - guess I should have kept the labels from the bulbs.  Not to worry - I'm sure I will get a phone call from my own personal gardening oracle (my Mum) as soon as she sees this!  

I know that in reality we've only been in winter for a month, but somehow the appearance of something new in the garden makes you feel that the worst is over and spring is most definitely on the way.

It'll probably snow next week now I've said that!

Last week was my last 'full' week of teaching till after half-term so on Wednesday (which is the day I never work) I zipped up the M3 to Kew to get some supplies for a commission I have been asked to do.  This is where I went...

Source

Oooh I love this shop!  For anyone who loves fabric and sewing (not just patchwork and quilting), this is a veritable den of iniquity - there are so many paths down which temptation can lead you within!  It is light, bright and jammy-packed with oodles of gorgeous fabrics, reels and reels of threads, inspirational books and patterns and other sewing paraphernalia.  

First I looked for some fabric for the job I've been asked to do...

Gathered Over Time by Windham Fabrics

 Then a random fat quarter that I couldn't resist...

Then a pattern I had seen on the Tikki website and would love to make...

Next some pretty 30s style fabric for the main parts of the apron...

And some polka dots for the contrast...

I then completely failed in resisting the charms of these 'Clothes Plasters'...

By Jennie Maizels, they are destined for a bag I have in my mind, though not yet on my cutting mat.  If you like them, just pop over to the Jennie Maizels website.  Unbeknown to me, I have had some of her books for many years...

This one looks like a fab souvenir for any foreign visitors who fall in love with London this year...

Back to Clothes Plasters though, how sweet are these?

There's fabric too...

London Check

Heart Check

And this one, which brings me round to the last bit of my title...

Birdsong

My slow Sunday started with some sewing (which is bird related, and will be appear here soon) and ended with 'Birdsong' on the Beeb and much dabbing of cheeks.  

Actually, cheek dabbing was the theme of the day, as between the two I also went to see 'The Iron Lady' with some friends (Mr U-t-B being away) and was in turn moved, surprised and amazed.  Moved by the portrayal of old age, loneliness and dementia (whatever the truth of Margaret Thatcher's life now), surprised that I enjoyed the film and amazed at the prosthetics that must have been involved in creating the old-lady-neck on Meryl as the octogenarian Lady Thatcher!

And more cheek dabbing (of the happy, moved sort) was done during 'Call the Midwife', which has surprised me by managing to fill the hole that was left in Sunday evening by the demise of 'Lark Rise to Candleford'.  

There were some laughs too, though I do feel guilty that I guffawed out loud at what happened shortly after this shot...

Miranda Hart was great in it - the mark of a good actress when the watcher can forget the character they are used to seeing someone as and believe in a completely different one.


Hope your Sunday was a good one!