The house that just keeps on giving!

image from Magnific.com

You may remember me telling you in a previous post that we have had a major issue with one of the front garden walls ~ putting it bluntly, the damn thing was in very great danger of falling down if the situation wasn't remedied PDQ but definitely had to be done before next winter 😦  So once again we found ourselves calling on the trusty services of George to come and sort it all out for us, and I'm very pleased (and relieved!) to report that the work is all finished now.

There are a helluva lot of photos to accompany this latest saga, so I'll be dividing them into a few posts over the coming days!  Today's offerings give you an idea of the deterioration issues we were facing with the wall:

With masses of rampant crocosmia at its base, it wasn't until the bloody stuff had died back that it became horribly obvious that the wall was in trouble.

As you can see, it's a long stretch of stonework with no pillars to break it up.  It was also terribly bowed at the end nearest the house due to a sycamore (which we had to have removed when we first moved here) growing so close to it.

The photo above shows the bowing much more clearly!

George examined the wall and told us that it would need to be rebuilt from about where the stone chippings are in this photo all the way back up towards the house, where the greenhouse is.

The rest of the wall had apparently been rebuilt previously and although not in perfect condition, George said that it would be possible to simply do some remedial work along the base and repoint the stonework.  This came as something of a financial relief; as I'm sure you can imagine the rebuilding of just half of this wall has taken an enormous chunk out of our living room renovation budget.  Oh well, we've lived with the living room in its current state for eight years, so another couple won't matter much in the scheme of things I guess!  Some stuff just has to take priority 😏

"Proper" sewists.....

image from Freepik.com

.....may I humbly suggest you look away now 😉

In a previous post, I threatened suggested I might humour the latest whirrings of my little butterfly brain and have a go at sewing myself some clothes.  But Sharon, I hear you ask, in your very-nearly-65 years on this planet have you actually ever sewed a garment???  Not so as you'd notice, nope 😏  Do I then hear you sigh and ask: but presumably you're going to plough on and have a go anyway???  Yup, I most certainly am 😏  No doubt your final question (before closing your eyes and wondering if I've finally taken leave of what little sense I had left) will be: are you going to take sewing classes and do things "properly"???  To which my answer is "have you learned nothing about me at all whilst reading this blog???"  Of course I'm not, my lovelies, I shall just blunder forth making it up as I go along and hope for the best 😏

Having said all that, though, I have found myself going down the proverbial rabbit hole of sewing videos on YouTube and have found some that I think are fab ~ I will share them with you in a future post 😊  I have also come across lots of ideas on Pinterest (many of which I've pinned to my boards, as you will see if you click on the link on the right-hand side of this page 😉), along with various tutorials from blogs that I have stumbled upon in my travels.  So I suppose in all fairness I'm not going into this new adventure totally clueless theory-wise, but it's certainly not something that I've had actual hands-on experience with!

There are a couple of reasons why I'd like to try making myself some clothes.  The first is that I really like the idea of making something from scratch, in a style and fabric that I like, instead of "making do" with what fits me and doesn't cost a small fortune 😉 

I'm finding that I am increasingly drawn to more colourful, perhaps slightly "eccentric" styles.  Mind you, to be fair, I've always had a hankering for the styles that I've saved on my Pinterest boards but haven't had the courage to actually dress in that way.  When I was young I think it was the thought of just fitting in with what everyone else was wearing rather than being confident enough to dress in my own style.  Then as I got older and put on more and more excess weight, it was a case of hoping that no one would notice me if I tried to blend into the background.  Of course that is a ridiculous way of thinking because no amount of dark clothing is going to hide the fact that I am a very big woman ~ albeit one who is currently over two stone lighter than she was 😊  I finally reached the point where I just thought "sod it" ~ hence my upcoming sewing adventures 😁

As I mentioned above, I am still on my weight-loss journey.  I have got clothes in smaller sizes but will definitely need some more in each size as I go down the scale.  I'm thinking that elastic waists on skirts and trousers, and billowy, breezy styles in tops and dresses will be very useful to bridge at least a couple of sizes ~ perhaps even more.  I also like the idea of upcycling clothes so hopefully I won't be having to send too many things off to the charity shop!

I mentioned in that earlier post that I'm going to start by making myself a skirt as I hadn't found anything that appealed to me.  Well, since then I have come across two that I really liked.  I couldn't make up my mind which one to buy though ~ so I've bought them both 😄  One has an elastic waist and the other is a wrapover-style, so I'm hoping that they will see me through some smaller sizes as I shed more weight.  I had also found a skirt from JD Williams (where I get most of my clothes from) that has a shirred waistline.  It's a size smaller than I was wearing and fits really nicely.  I think it will be fine for the next couple of sizes down.  

When I was sorting through my smaller sizes recently, I found a skirt tucked away that I had completely forgotten about.  To be honest I don't know why it was in the next size down pile as it easily fits me now.  In fact I'm going to have to alter it as it's a bit too long now that I'm not quite so "bloated".  It's in a border print fabric, so I'm going to hack it from the top.  It's got an elastic and cord waistband at the moment, so I'm going to cut that off and make a new waistband just with elastic.

This means that instead of just having one skirt, I now have five 😏  Despite this I think I will still start off this sewing lark with a skirt ~ or perhaps to be slightly more accurate, a petticoat to wear beneath my new skirts.  That way I will be more comfortable wearing said skirts once the weather starts to get cooler again in the autumn ~ layers are definitely the way to go, methinks! 

We've got such a lot to do out in the garden this summer that I may not have the energy to start my sewing adventures for a few months, but never fear as soon as I do you will be hearing all about it, my lovelies, so brace yourselves 😉

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)   

Little words of wisdom

 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)  

Little words of wisdom

Reading round-up: April 2026

image from Freepik

The Blitz Detective Investigates - The Custom House Murder: Mike Hollow

The Blitz Detective Investigates - The Stratford Murder: Mike Hollow

The Blitz Detective Investigates - The Dockland Murder: Mike Hollow

Death In Holy Orders (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Book 11): PD James

The Murder Room (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Book 12): PD James

Gardeners' World August 2025

Gardeners' World September 2025

Gardeners' World October 2025

Gardeners' World November 2025

Making Happy Things: Sue-Ching Lascelles

Stay-Stitched: Erin Arsenault

Despite feeling somewhat low and dispirited, I nevertheless managed to read a fair few books during April.  As you've probably realised by now, I do rather enjoy a good detective murder mystery 😉

I have come to the end of catching up with the Gardeners' World subscription I took out last year.  I dropped these last four copies off at our local library this morning, which is where I've been donating all the GW magazines once I've finished reading them.  The librarians are always highly delighted to receive them, as cost-cutting measures has meant that they can no longer buy subscriptions for the library.

My little butterfly mind is also flitting back to the possibility of having a go at making some clothes for myself, hence the sewing books.  I haven't actually done any "dressmaking" since I was in my first year at senior school, and then it was a subject that I really couldn't get the hang of ~ it took me a whole school year to make one simple item, a little skirt in red crimpolene 😄  In recent years though I have come across the concept of sewing without paper patterns, instead just using basic shapes to make simple clothes.  I'm working up the courage to try this idea to make myself a skirt, as I haven't been able to find anything that really appeals to me.  I currently only have one to my name and would really like another couple as a change from always wearing wide-legged jeggings.  I'll be sure to let you know how things go when I actually pluck up the courage to try!

Pulling 'em up...

 

...my big girl knickers, that is 😉

Thankfully I'm not feeling quite so downhearted and gloomy as I did in my previous post.  Perhaps having the odd spell of better weather has helped, who knows 😕  It does feel as if this winter has gone on for a very long time, though ~ and we're still having some pretty cold and wet bouts of weather.  On the "up" side, though, we have recently had a smattering of warmish sunny spells which has definitely lifted my spirits ~ hopefully better days are on the way 🤞

Combined with the seemingly never-ending winter, we had the "delights" of a rat getting into the house walls.  Thankfully it didn't actually get into the body of the house but it was just horrible knowing it was there; mice are bad enough but rats really creep me out *shudder*  Trying to put things into perspective, though, we haven't had any vermin problems for a good five years.  Adrian discovered the spot where he thought it had got in and took steps to block its access.  Unfortunately the bloody thing was inside at the time and couldn't get out.....so it ate the bait up in the roof space and died inside.  Of course we didn't realise this until the unmistakeable smell of decomposition started to appear ~ and we had no idea of where it had died, and frankly even if we had we wouldn't have been able to get to it without ripping up the walls.  This happened before we went south in March and although the smell has lessened quite considerably, it is still noticeable at times.  For some reason ~ and considering we discovered we had mice when we moved into St Abbs ~ this rat episode got to me way more than the previous rodent issues we've had.

We've also had a major issue with a long section of one of the garden walls, such that has required it to be rebuilt.  I will be sharing that little episode in an upcoming post 😏  Suffice to say it has taken a huge chunk out of our living room refurbishment pot, which means we'll be saving for a fair bit longer before we can make any progress there *sigh*

Basically I think I've simply found myself in a perfect storm of what would, individually, be irritating but not really overwhelming little issues.  One thing coming along after another, though, along with my looming 65th birthday next month has just knocked me back a tad.  Mind you the latter has made me pause and take stock of my life, so there may well be a few changes afoot ~ watch this space😉

  

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)  

Little words of wisdom

 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)  

Little words of wisdom