Sybil Witters On
Continuing from Wannabe Sybil's Witterings, where I just chat about my life.
Thursday 28 March 2024
Partial Miracle
Wednesday 27 March 2024
All Going Well
Thank you for all your good wishes. I don't deserve them but my relative definitely does. They are awesome and finally picking up. I've not been on the front line for this. Other people have taken the burden, but I've been worried and I'm glad things are picking up.
I've not really been keeping up with anything at all for the last month or so. I've decided, and I'm risking putting it here, I'm going to make a start in April. I don't care how I'm going to do it, I just am!
I haven't hemmed the curtains yet. I'm going to wait until the men are around, then take down one curtain at a time, trim as necessary, turn up a double hem and hand hemstitch. I know that I will effectively be hemstitching 460cm each curtain (181 inches, or 15 feet, or five yards), but I've done that sort of thing in the past and it's surprisingly quick. Until then, the curtains are bunched up to keep the heat from the radiator in the room.
By the way, that's full sunlight in the middle of the day. They're not bad at blocking light and I think that they'll do well. If push comes to shove, I'll pin a fleece blanket on the back.
The magpie's nest is still there and it's huge. I managed this pic.
but it doesn't do justice. Either they're planning a big family or want to rent out a room - it looks massive.
Bear is being very bear. He was on his way to bed and then paused and said, 'oh, by the way, I got my results back and I got A+ in pure maths and statistics'. I'm sure I don't know all of the good stuff he's done. Apparently tomorrow is some sort of award day and bear said he wasn't looking forward to it. Sigh. From what he let slip, he may get some sort of 'this lad done well' recognition but the chances of me finding out are very small.
Ruth - I've been looking into the reasons why thread snaps and I suspect that the tension is wrong. I've been a bit concerned and I dialled the tension down to 0. I've been thinking, and I think it's worth persevering.
Hugs and good health to all.
Monday 25 March 2024
That Monday Feeling
I'm feeling less organised than usual, which is epically unorganised. Worries about relative continue.
There is nothing so helpless as sitting on the sidelines when someone who you love dearly is poorly when you are really only a connection. Their family is awesome and navigating tricky waters so all I can do is add prayers and worry.
When I first moved to Yorkshire in 1988, I found it very hard to make connections. It took me years to feel at home here. Yorkshire isn't your average English county. It has an international football (or soccer) team - the sort of team that is part of a region that has a strong identity, like Tibet or Cascadia. The rules are here if you are interested. The point is, Yorkshire is very much its own place and there is even a (fairly small) Yorkshire Independence movement. Moving a hundred miles to be here felt almost like moving to another country. I'm sitting and waiting on news of someone who made me welcome, like a stranger in a strange land. That wonderful human being that talked to me like I was worthy of conversation is in hospital and I'm still worried.
In other news, here is a poor pic of the magpie nest.
DH spotted two magpies working together to pluck the poor rabbit. The tail is now completely detached.Hugs and good health to all.
Friday 22 March 2024
A Little More Distracted Than Usual
It's not really mine to tell, but someone in DH's family is now in hospital, so I'm worrying about them at the moment.
I try and limit what I write about others on here, and that relative, who is awesome and who has always been incredibly kind to me, deserves privacy. But I'm thinking about them and I know I'll want to do some more running around over the next few days.
And I haven't finished the conversion from pillow cases to bags. The thread on the sewing machine keeps breaking. I think that there's a problem with the tension but the thread may also be weak. I don't feel like pushing a sharp needle through stiff ribbon on half a dozen pillow cases. I haven't shortened the curtains either. I have been prodding around them, and the only solution that I think I could plausibly manage is to take the curtains down, trim the bottom and then fold over a double hem and hemstitch by hand. I've done that before, but it's a daunting task.
On the bright side, we've spotted a nest where a lot of the fibre may be going - it's a magpie nest, it's large and it's at the top of the laurels across the way. I'll try and get a pic.
Hugs and good health to all.
Tuesday 19 March 2024
Sew Far, Sew Good
Saturday 16 March 2024
The Sewing Machine is Winning
Ages and ages ago, I bought a sewing machine. It was one of those bargains where it was a return, and there was a voucher, and another offer stacked on top. I think that it cost around £20. I wrote about it ages ago, but I can't remember when so I can't check. I know that it wasn't a lot, which is fair enough for a discontinued Amazon own brand discount machine.
By the time I'd messed around, I managed to get one double duvet attached to heading tape. I did not do a good job but I'm hoping that 'crushed' fabric, fullness and gathers will be kind to my skill.
I would also mention that I'm glad that I'm using these for curtains as the fabric is quite scratchy and I wouldn't like them on my bed. I was going to use the pillow cases that came with the duvets as cushion covers for the study and living room but I really don't fancy them now. I'll see if I can think of other uses as I don't feel it's fair to donate such uncomfortable things...
...but I could use some bags for yarn...
Anyway, I'll share how I survive with the sewing machine tomorrow.
(and thinking about it, I don't think that I've bought enough lining...)
Hugs and good health to all.
Tuesday 12 March 2024
I Was Tempted and Did Not Resist
I'm just passing through quickly before I forget to post again. I called in at Aldi and saw this...
So I spent £10.32 and came home with this...
I need an intervention. Though I think it will make a cute blanket. As it was, when I was rearranging some of the yarn from the current blanket that I'm working on, I found that the extension lead to my laptop and the fire was red hot, as was the lead to the electric fire. I've replaced it and got a new extension now, but it was worrying.
I was thinking on Sunday night about Across a Misty Bridge. It's a series of stories from some writing prompts around 2013 which laid the foundations for Tales from the White Hart. It's been tacked onto the White Hart books in the past and has even been around on Story Origin at one point, but I felt that it could do with a brush up and a little extra care to make it's own story. It's been at the back of my mind for a while and I have been tinkering around with the punctuation and spacing but hasn't really got anywhere. On Sunday I decided to forget the fancy stuff and just put it back on the blog as I was never going to get around to it. Today I'm over 18,500 words into the re-write and still going. I think that not only do I need an intervention but also possibly a diagnosis.
Hopefully back tomorrow with something sensible. Hugs and good health to all.