Odds and ends

Thank you for all the lovely comments on the fairy houses - good to know I am not alone in my liking for such fripperies!  Just in case you are thinking of making one yourself, I will just share a tip or two.

In fact, before I made the fairy houses, I had made a couple of elf houses, using the pattern that I printed off from Lauren Brandy's tutorial.  Here they are...

Elves (as I'm sure you know) like greens and reds (perfect for 'the forthcoming season').

Like their fairy friends, they like wonkiness and flowers.  (There's actually a lot of wonk in the walls but you can't see it here - elves clearly like sloping ceilings and floors.)

 As they cannot fly, they do not require a calling bell atop their roof, opting for a simple knocker on the  door.

Anyway, the very observant amongst you will realise that elf cottages are short and squat compared to their fairy equivalents.

I don't know if it is my printer, but the pattern I printed out didn't actually give me the tall, skinny cottage I had originally seen...

To make the fairy cottages I made a new pattern, deciding on a height, drawing a circle with a radius of that height and then using quarter of the circle as the main pattern to which I added a small seam allowance.  I then had to estimate the size for the base - as fairies like 'wonk' it didn't matter too much if it was a wee bit wrong.

I then cut a matching quarter circle  and lopped the bottom half off for the roof pattern.  Hope this helps!

Aside from such stitching nonsense, we had the delight of little Sophia yesterday (she spends the day with us 

each Wednesday - neither Mr U-t-B nor I work that day so we spend the morning going for a walk and playing, then when I go to do my charity shop sorting, Mr U-t-B has the pleasure of his grand-daughter's company all to himself).

 At sixteen months she is into everything!  

Computers...

(just like her Daddy!)

...handbags...

(just like her Mummy?)

...and my glasses!

She's a wise one who has a grasp on the important things in life beyond her years.  Taking her back home at the end of the day, her Dad arrived outside the house just after us, clutching a paperback in his hands.

'Ooh - what's that you're reading?' asks Mr U-t-B of his son.

'The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment,' replies son.

Sophia beams and says, 'Cheeeese!'

If only!

My hearing is not what it used to be.   Sometimes this is just a bit of a nuisance (mostly to others) whilst at other times it can result in giggles.

(See this post for example.)

Did you hear about this?

Coming to the day before yesterday, I awoke to either John Humphrys or James Naughtie talking about the genetically modified mice who are being trained to sniff out TNT.

Only I didn't quite hear it right.

I heard that mice were being trained to sniff out PMT.

It didn't even seem like a strange idea.

I think there are those who'd be keen to have one of these mice themselves...

Lastly, if you were following the Primark Shrunken Jumper Challenge, you may be interested to know I managed to squeeze two more things out of it.

One more elf boot...

And another (smaller) owl...

Daddy and daughter...

Right, better get organised for work now!

I'm down to just afternoons for the next two weeks and two days (with half-term in the middle) which is great, except when I get carried away sewing, blogging or doing the chores, and have to rush off without having eaten a proper lunch!