Nearly March

So. My last post was at the beginning of February. And now it's nearly March! I can't quite believe that it's been nearly a month since my last post. I seem to have even less spare time since DD moved out than I did when she lived at home - so much for having more time to get things done! All it's done is allow me to fill all my time with different hobbies!!

It's not just the hobbies that have kept me busy. DD stayed over at our house one night while her boyfriend was away, and then the following night I stayed over at her house and we had a lovely girly night once we got in from work (and a very late night too!). The next day we did a bit of shopping and I talked her through making a lasagne for her tea, which she said turned out ok.

 

Then, on the Monday night, I made the decision to go to my first woodturning evening, run by a local woodturning club. I knew one person who was going as it was a man who had been at the craft fair with me. I was a bit nervous, but there were at least three other beginners as well as me. I thought that I would just be watching other people use a lathe as I've never used one before. But oh no, the man who was teaching made sure that we all had a turn using the lathe and using the different tools. I loved it!! The time went by so quickly and before we knew it, it was time for a quick break for a cup of tea, and then back to the lathe. I hadn't intended staying until the end, but it was so addictive, I was sad to leave!  The lovely thing about it was that the man who was teaching us said I was a natural!! ( guess who's been looking at the price of lathes since then………).

 

What else was nice was that we'd all taken turns at making a bowl, and the rest of the group said that I could take it home - woop! 

 

Then there was line dancing on the Tuesday night, followed by trying to catch up with stuff at home before packing to go away with DH for the weekend - our first once away without Oscar this year. We'd booked two night in Haltwhistle - apparently the centre of Britain - very close to Hadrians Wall. We hadn't been to Hadrians Wall before, so although it seemed a bit random for us, it was nice to go somewhere different. The hotel room itself was lovely - bedroom upstairs with sitting area, and bathroom with sauna downstairs. Yes, our very own sauna for the weekend!

We drove to a visitor centre on Saturday morning, and despite the cold, wet weather, we got to walk part of Hadrians Wall. I think we would have enjoyed it more had the weather been nice, but I'm pleased that we did the bit that we did, even though we turned back because of the snow! 

 

 

 

 

I'm so glad we have good waterproof clothes! And after a drive round to see a bit more of the area, a stop for lunch, and a bit more mooching, we headed back to our room and took full advantage of the sauna to warm up - lovely!

 

We didn't go straight home on the Sunday, stopping to walk round Talkin Tarn. The weather wasn't on our side again, with strong winds and rain showers all the way round. A quick brew in the cafe finished the walk off, before heading back down the motorway to home.

 

 

 

Despite the weather it was lovely to have two nights away, just the two of us, no need to worry about Oscar, and nice to have some time together.

Since then I've had some gentle walks by the canal with Oscar .....

 

......and also a few nice runs with both DD and DH. I've also been to another woodturning night (they're every fortnight) but every other one there is a demonstration by an expert, so it was very interesting to sit back and watch somebody explain different techniques. I've also managed to fit in a second line dancing night - a Wednesday class run by the same lady who does the Tuesday class. I went last week and was shocked to see a lady there who used to be part of the youth club of the church where my dad used to be the caretaker!! Talk about bringing back memories. I then found out that two of the other ladies I go dancing with also went to the same church and knew a lot of the people that I knew at the time!! So we spent some of the evening reminiscing. It's a small world!

And then that brings us more or less up to date. Almost. I have acquired another instrument to add to my spoon carving tools. An axe. 

 

And my reason for an axe? I have spent so many hours trying to take out chunks of wood that now take me minutes. How I've managed without the axe for so long I'll never know. But it speeds up the process for me, and allows me to get the basic shape done far easier before starting with the finer detail. Brilliant!

 

I've also finished reading all the books I got for Christmas and my birthday, and have now started on one that DH bought me for Valentines Day. I don't feel so bad about looking for other books now as it won't take me long to get through those two…….

And I think this brings us almost to March, give or take a few hours. We have a holiday coming up very soon, just the two of us (and Oscar), off up to the Highlands. Fingers crossed we can get there as the weather has been pretty changeable over the last week. We're staying in a cottage off the main road. If all else fails, we're going in the van, will have all supplies on board (including a sleeping bag) and if we get stranded then we won't starve! Wish us luck!!

February

Ok. So who took January away so quickly? How can it be February already?! 

Apologies for not blogging, if anyone reading this has read previous blogs of mine. I have had so much to do, including helping DD at her new house, whittling away for the craft fair, returning to line dancing (yes, you read that right!), and losing one of our cats. 

Since my last blog the number of animals in our house had dropped. DDs two kittens are now nicely settled with her, after being neutered and recovering at our house. Instead of having collars after their operation we were given the option of t-shirts. Red t-shirts. How cute did they look! 

 

Minnie, however, decided after a couple of days that she didn't really like it and spent the rest of the time trying to chew her way through it! 

 

Not a good look at all. I ended up patching it up. Twice. In three days. Before thankfully taking them for their ten day check up when we took the tshirt off. But they are now making themselves at home, in their new home. This includes chewing a washing up sponge, pulling a towel downstairs, hiding behind the TV, and climbing in to the coffee table ........

 

I think they'll have fun there! 

We've been for a fabulous walk in the Lake District. One of few walks this year so far. The forecast was good so we set off for Grasmere and the lovely walk up to pretty Easedale Tarn. 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't as cold as we thought it would be - beautiful blue skies and fabulous views. 

We headed away from the main path to have some lunch. 

 

 

 

It started to get cloudy and a bit chilly. 

 

So, back down to Grasmere....

 

We were hoping to have a nice cup of tea in a little cafe we know of. But when we got there it was shut! So, on to the van for a nice cup of tea and a piece of Christmas cake. 

It was a fabulous walk. But this was followed by being concerned about Squid when we got home. She seemed a bit quiet at night, so when she seemed worse on the Sunday I rang the vet to take her in and get her checked. It's still hard for me to say, but we lost Squid that day at the vets. They just couldn't save her. Even now it upsets me to think about it. My beautiful Squid. 

 

The vet ran some tests and it showed that she had a heart problem and her kidneys were failing. It was only a matter of time. But nobody knew as she hid it so well. 

So now we're down to three cats - Freddie, Titch and Aveline .....

 

And after spending a week feeling sad after losing Squid, I had the craft fair to get through. Not a good one for me. I took my spoons for the first time, and the wooden hearts .....

 

And I came home with everything I took. People looked, passed comment, but nobody bought anything. The first one I've ever done and not sold anything. It's knocked my confidence somewhat, despite doing well before Christmas. 

However, I seem to have agreed to go to a wood turning club next week to see if I like it. It's something I really want to try, especially with doing the spoons. I've also looked at lathes and scroll saws. So who knows what I'll be doing in twelve months time! 

I've also started line dancing again. The lady who used to run the Monday class sent me a text to say she was taking over a Tuesday class nearby if I was interested. So I've been for the last three weeks, and realised I missed the dancing. It's good to be doing it again. 

And I've also tried a bit of pyrography on some wooden circles...... 

 

And in my spare time (?!) I still manage to read a few books. Just to add to the bookcases. To fill them up a bit more......