Good will to all men

Recently I started making a dress costume for my friend, after my first few patterned pieces I felt happy to try something a bit harder. But a panelled lined fitted dress from scratch is a bit different from cushion covers and curtains! It was far too complicated for my mediocre dress making skills and I was depressed. I phoned several local tailors but no one was interested, one said he would have a look but decided he didn't have time to do it. BUT he did offer me use of his 2nd industrial sewing machine to use if I had time to do it myself. I tried to be clear that it was too hard for me and didn't know what to do but he still happy to show me.

It could have so easily been uncomfortable or in fact a disaster but it was an easy atmosphere and I did not feel unwelcome at all. After 7 hours of work I had nearly finished Komandei was a brilliant help, giving assistance where needed and gave me the confidence to do it all myself. I made a few mistakes but most were imperfections and a re-did a couple, I could have never done it by myself at home and he showed me a couple of new techniques that with a bit of practice I can now do myself. The zip was the hardest part but I am very happy with the result and hope that Laila is happy with the dress when I see her next week.

My point is that there are kind people where ever you are, even strangers. In this economy its easy to be selfish and only think of yourself, every one is short on pennies but Komandei helped me to finished my dress with no profit to himself and only my gratitude as payment. That kind of thing reminds me that the world hides gems all over the place, you just have to look ; )

Shooting stars

Last night as previously posted, I sat and watched the Persid Meteor Shower. My husband and I headed into the meadow out the back our house with a blanket & Thermos to enjoy the show. We waited a while as the dusk took a long time to leave, it wasn't even completely dark before the moon rose but I got a look at 3 or 4 good ones and about a dozen little ones. Towards the end of the window - which is really the start of the real show - we saw the most awesome shooting star! It burned brightly and strongly for a few fractions of a second but it was so brilliant and bright, with several colours it looked like a rocket or firework.


Its a shame about the moon which is in its last quarter, I would have loved to have seen more but feel grateful for the chance, that rocket-star was unbelievably beautiful. I am still smiling even though it was last night! I love watching the stars and its even better snuggled up with my David on our anniversary, what a fine night it was indeed :)

The Perseid Shower

Every 130 years the comet Swift Tuttle passes through the solar system and obits the our sun, the most recent visit was in 1992 and since then once a year in august we earthlings are lucky to witness the Perseid Meteor Shower; this is when the earth passes through debris left by the comet on its last visit. The shower is a stunning collection of shooting stars!

This year there is a small window because the shower collides with the moon which will be nearly full. The moonshine will brighten the sky and make spotting meteors harder, but the bright one's (and the best for armature star gazers) should still be visible. The shower lasts most of this week but best time is tonight between 9.30pm after dusk and 11pm which is when the moon rises, Tuesday or Wednesday being the peak. I don't know about you but I am sure to be grabbing a blanket & thermos and heading to the meadow : )

Home grown

Apparently carrots are very hard to grow in a small holding, and many allotment holders have tried many times only to fail. I seem to have lucky green fingers despite my inexperience - I have no idea how I am doing it! Maybe its naive of me or the pride of my first crop but my carrots are perfect : )

were pride of place in my now full to bursting vegetable patch. I decided to pull them even though they are still very small, I was worried about the second wave of carrot fly and also the mulch I had mistakenly used last week on the whole veg patch.

So I pull my prized baby carrots: out of 20 I only got one green top and one split carrot, the rest were small and looked knobbly and I grew them from seed, the first edible plants I have ever grown and - in till today - they wonky but they cleaned up wonderfully and tasted perfect : ) I am happy to have pulled them and a bit annoyed at the mulch error, they might have been prize winners; i even got a funny one ; )

I won't be growing root vegetables again, they take too long to grow and take up too much space, and offer little harvest for the investment. After the plants I have tested this year I much prefer peas, beans and fruits that are quick to grow and harvest, which means I can show them to friends and family more often ; )

Marital Bliss

Bit of a diary post again I'm afraid folks, seeing as I can't blog about the political issues that are on my mind at the moment. This weekend Dave and I had some real quality time together, and I thought I'd share it with any one caring to read it.

Often our weekends go one or two ways: rushing around seeing family and friends on a one night trip to our home town in Hampshire, or we get the chance to laze about the house (Me in my PJ's naturally) eating good home cooked food and playing on the XBox and/or watching a movie together. This weekend was different, and I shall tell you why. Saturday morning we went to the builders merchant and bought 3 planks of wood. Once home David measured them up, cut them to size and screwed them all together. Mean while I spent a gruelling hour digging in our "lawn". We washed up for tea happy with our progress : )

Sunday morning Dave disappears at 8am (a non existent time for me on a Sunday) to the tip and comes back with a boot full of hardcore. He unloads and starts smashing up his collection of bricks and paving slabs with a hammer. After finishing with the hard core together we fill up our bed with compost and soil, with the contents of two grow bags on the top as mulch. What follows is 3 hours or more of planting on my part assisted and supervised at times by Dave. The result of a productive weekend spent working together with one another's strengths is now the pride in our home: The vegetable patch.


What more could you ask for in your first year of marriage, than contentment and satisfaction?

Fun things this summer : )

I often spend a lot of time surfing the net. Most of the time it is looking at things I wish I could own, there are so many fun things that you could never warrant worth while buying despite the fact they are practical as well as fun. Well as it is my birthday in August and a few people have asked me what I want so maybe a few of these delightful treats might find there way to me

First up I thought id mention a site that do lovely animals birthday cards with textured paper and bows, perfect for toddlers Panda Birthday Card. If anyone else keeps a diary its important to have a good quality one that wont fall apart halfway through the year and this Black Moroccan Day to a Page Diary is perfect. It has plenty of space each day with out being bulky and is has the reliable and handsome design from Paperblanks.

Stylish and useful pedlers have a lot of nice things including Birds on the Wire Clothes Pegs

Kaboodle is quite famous for its fun and cute gadgets and home wear, I spent a good hour surfing and bookmarking this site last week! The following are a selection of the best (in my view) they have to offer this season. Since from moving to station house I have been in need of a new USB port and this USB tulip hub is spot on : ) I simply love this daisy grass mat it would be a colourful welcome to any home.

I love photography but the past few years have rarely had the chance to print photos of and get them into an album, this neat camera photo album is versatile and useful. I have a lot of costume jewellery and love to mix and match my outfits, I'm not sure this Disney pirate's sword ring would get a daily airing but it sure is awesome.

Any one who has ever received a gift from me will know I like to wrap gifts nicely and often make it a bit special for those I love, so both this Snail Tape Dispenser review at Kaboodle graphic tape review at Kaboodle, graphic tape review at Kaboodle and giraffe kitchen scissors would make it even more fun : D

How cute would these cake roll washcloths look on a long plate in a guest room? early bird alarm clock would be cute too ^_^ I was very sad when my bargin ice cream bowl got smashed at a library in sweden but Ceramic Ice Cream Bowl Favors are pretty damn cool.

On the thread of table wear I also spotted this amazing Silver Honey Bee and these cute Mushroom Salt & Pepper Shakers.