Friday Chat Day

Hello friends

Welcome to another Friday Chat Day, a roundup of my week.

Hasn't the weather been crazy again, we are definitely feeling

the climate change. 

I read that 2020 was the third warmest, 

fifth wettest and eighth sunniest on record and 

I fear 2021 will make similar if not, scarier reading.

Garden:

But on a lighter note - here's a strawberry!

We have just this one ripe at the moment and we are trying to think

of a fitting way to share this beauty.

Personally I'm against the 'sharing' so I may just pop outside when

no-one is looking and eat it! 

My rescued Hydrangea is just showing off now.

Predominantly white with just a hint of pink, so pretty.

I believe this is a Lacecap variety as opposed to a Mophead,

just love the descriptions.

I've been buying... slug traps!

I am a woman possessed.

Every morning I go hunting slugs and snails. 

I know they are important to the eco system whotsit 

but seriously, they eat everything! 

I can absolutely confirm they are not on the endangered list,

they just seem to breed overnight.

These traps are planted with the 'entrance' above soil.

You put a layer of salt in the bottom and then fill with beer.

I am using out of date shandy so I hope my slugs are lightweights

and not expecting Special Brew!

Last week I mentioned taking a wooden pallet to the tip.

I loved all the suggestions to make it into planters, coffee tables etc

but I just do not have the room to (a) make it and (b) display it.

I've filled up the garden VT with so many plants!

But following Hazel's suggestion, I did put it on Freecyle and it was 

snapped up quickly.  In fact it was a bit of a coincidence as the lady 

who collected it said her daughter was moving into the house across the road, 

funny how these things happen sometimes.  

It has gone to be used as a planter so that's nice.

And my Sweet Peas - all the ones I planted from seed did nothing

once I planted them outside... except the seeds that Hazel sent.

They are growing but no flowers yet. 

I've been a bit unlucky with Sweet Peas.

Crochet:

My Sweetheart Granny Blanket is finished.

I only chose to do one round of bobbles for the border.

I'm not sure my camera has captured the pretty colours.

This one is now available in my Folksy shop.

I'm thinking it would make a lovely baby blanket.

I'm now starting another Harmony Blanket - 126 squares

in coastal colours.  I'll show you more next week 

when it looks more interesting that 126 little round ones.

Telly:

Florence Foster Jenkins - Netflix

Based on a true story...

In 1940s, a New York socialite Florence Foster Jenkins  

dreams of becoming a great opera singer. 

Unfortunately, her ambition far exceeds her talent. 

The voice Florence hears in her head is beautiful, but to everyone else it is quite lousy.

Oh this is such a touching film, Meryl Streep plays the part magnificently even

though you do consider wearing ear plugs half way through.

It feels even more poignant knowing it is based on a true story.

I subsequently looked up Florence Foster Jenkins online and there 

is a YouTube video recording of her 'singing'.

Watch this film if you can - watch the YouTube video below

when you feel audibly strong!

Other Stuff:

Mum and Dad were having a sort through of items and came across

this publication, it's a little bit dated - 6d!

And we all marvelled at this feeding advice:

Charity Kit:

Yes it is that time again, goodness where do the months go?

I'll be announcing August's Charity Kit on Sunday at 7am.

The charity this month is Prostate Cancer UK.

And here's a little sneak peek of the kit.

And that's another lot of natter done and dusted.

This weekend, I'll be finalising the kits and catching up with family.

Still nothing on the conservatory roof - my lounge-diner is still a dumping 

ground (or Dell Boy's flat as I call it) - so many boxes.

Take care friends - wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Friday Chat Day

Hello friends

Happy Friday!

Are we melting or enjoying this heatwave? 

I quite like it if I could lay down and be fanned all day! 

We did have a heavy storm on Tuesday which cleared the air for

about thirty minutes, the plants were definitely pleased.

I walked Bella straight afterwards and the air smelled wonderful.

I hope you are all managing OK and finding cool spots.

Garden:

I have one strawberry plant in a hanging basket,

Elliott requested I buy it because it is a 'useful plant' as opposed 

to 'all these flowers'.

And it looks like we may have a teeny tiny crop of strawberries.

I love my hosta as much as the snails do! 

This one must be 20 years old plus, when I bought the VT

the back garden was a concrete jungle with just a few decent plants

and this was one of them. 

Each day I extract the snails but they are smarter than me

and return the minute my back is turned. 

Crochet:

Karen - I do feel a little guilty encouraging you to buy a CAL blanket kit..

but only just a tiny bit! 

I still haven't quite finished the border on this Sweetheart Granny -

Rose Garden Blanket - it has felt too warm to crochet for long in the evenings.

Just a couple more rows and then some bobbles.

Next on my list is another granny square blanket in blues.

Crocheting squares is easier when warm and also I'm hoping the 

coolness of blue colours may hoodwink my brain into thinking it is Winter!

Telly:

The Watch - BBCiPlayer

Based on the characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.

A group of misfit cops rise up from decades of helplessness to save 

their corrupt city from catastrophe.

I'm certain if I had read Terry Pratchett's novels I could get my head around this.

It's odd, I'm not saying I don't like it because I'm now on episode 4

but I have struggled a little.  I am now invested so I will

continue and attempt to rewind less frequently! 

Very interesting characters with famous actors and

 occasional humour but odd - very odd.

Other stuff:

What is it?  

You may ask.

Welcome to Mitchell's world of amazing technology.

This is his new computer that comes in a case which is glass on one side -

so you can see all the fancy gubins inside.

The circles are all fans which are cooled by a water tank on the right.

You can select what colours to look at which was honestly,

the only bit I really understood.

It is huge!  

It arrived in an even huger (not sure if that is a word?) box

on a wooden pallet on the back of a humungous lorry. 

We now have a trip to the tip booked to dispose of said box and pallet.  

He is very happy, I'm still just admiring the colours!

And how about this...

do you recognise the paper bags?

Michele saves all the paper bags from the monthly charity kits and has 

repurposed them in a brilliant way.

She has used them instead of wrapping paper for a friend’s birthday presents.

Each gift has a handmade tag with a cryptic clue relating to the gift.

Now isn't that recycling at its best.

And that was my week, I'm truly not doing a great deal

with this full time working lark so I hope you don't mind my ramblings.

This weekend I have the excitement (?) of a new dishwasher arriving.

Ours has been going wrong for some time now and has now started to 

melt items, we've had moments of 'oh no, look at that!' 

I've bitten the bullet and ordered a new one.

Think of me learning how to stack it - you just get used to something...

Take care friends, have a lovely weekend, 

continue to keep safe and diligent,

I honestly think that's the best plan right now.

Friday Chat Day

 Hello friends

Welcome to Friday and another chat day.

I hope all my waffle finds you well.
The sun is here, I think we are in for a scorcher of a weekend.

Thank you for the lovely birthday wishes for my Mum,

we had a nice afternoon last Saturday and certainly indulged in a lot of cake.

Things here continue as normal - I awoke to this view...

Pet wars- there is serious jealousy going on.

Bella can normally chase away any of the cats except Pixel -

not only does he stand (lay) his ground but manages to look very conceited about it! 

Crochet:

I've started something new and it is very rythmic and easy,

well apart from the heart in the middle, I had to concentrate on that bit.

The pattern is from Sue at Sweet Pea Family Crochet - 

it is called the Sweetheart Granny - Rose Garden Blanket.

Pattern is available from Lovecrafts here. 

It lists two colourways, I went with the pinks, silver and green combo.

It has a nice border which I hope to start at the weekend.

Garden:

 When I'm not moaning about slugs and snails (I do that a lot!)

I am in awe of nature and how plants grow.  

I acquired this hydrangea last year through Freecycle, 

a lady was having her driveway paved and the builders had wrenched

it out of the ground. I retrieved it and it was a bit sorry for itself for some

time but amazingly it has grown and flowered.

And the Clematis I mentioned last week - Florida Sieboldiana

has developed into such colour contrasting blooms.

And...not the best photo as taken in haste.

This is my tomato plant growing area at the front of my home

among the wheelie bins!

Can you spot the Marigolds??

(Monty said to grow them with tomatoes as perfect companion plants).

No - neither can I!  

Pesky slugs and snails, they demolished the Marigolds in one night.

I did take note of YouTube tip that if your grow bags are not particularly thick,

keep the tomato plants in their pots but cut out the pot bottoms so 

the roots can spread. Seems to be working...

OK returning to more impressive plants - Agapanthus, again a rescue plant

 from the same lady as the Hydrangea.

And this Clematis beauty is flowering for the second time this year.

I manage to maintain my garden by dashing out in my lunch hour

and doing a little bit each day - there are some perks for having

a titchy garden.

Telly:

Clarkson's Farm - Amazon Prime

Follow Jeremy Clarkson as he attempts to run a farm in the countryside. 

With no previous farming experience, Jeremy contends with the worst 

farming weather in decades, disobedient animals, 

unresponsive crops, and an unexpected pandemic.

I confess I'm not a huge fan of Jeremy Clarkson but you see him in a 

whole new light in this series.  With his very funny and brutally honest sidekick - 

Kaleb, the series is a mix of  humour, harsh farming realities, informative

and occasionally a little bit sad.  I'm hooked and so is Elliott -

it is one of our joint watching programmes right now.

Charity Kit:

I love it when this happens...

Michele has used two of this month's charity kits and adapted them 

to her choice/style and...even better - sent me the photos.

Version 1.

Version 2.

So pretty and thank you Michele for sharing them.

I still have a few remaining kits available - please click here.

And talking of the kits, I did receive a few messages and the 

preference going forward seems to be to remain with cards, fine with me.

This weekend: hopefully catching up with family,

catching up with housework, washing etc.

The conservatory ... still the same, work hasn't started,

when they first quoted they said 6-8 weeks start to finish.

I sense they are a little ambitious as it is now 10 weeks and nothing has happened.

I'm not overly concerned, I didn't really want the work done in all that rain

and as long as it is done by Christmas! 

Take care friends, wishing you a lovely weekend,

pop those sun hats on.

Friday Chat Day

 Hello friends

Happy Friday to you all and thank you for stopping by.
I know it is very typical and British to talk about the weather but seriously,
shall we just assume Spring was our Summer?

There's been a few glimpses of sunshine but mainly cloud and rain.

Garden:

The plants are thriving, the titchy garden is bordering on a titchy jungle.

It is truly nice to see all the plants growing but I would rather see them

basking in sunshine right now.

On the upside I've barely had to water anything.

Flowers have given me joy this week.

It is Clematis Florida Sieboldiana.

Bought as a very small sickly plant, I nursed it over last Winter.

Even though it hasn't got a great deal of foilage it has rewarded me

with two of these flowers.

Crochet:

Drum roll please....I have finished all my WIPs!

This was the final one that needed ends sewing in and a border -

Coastal Crochet - Seaside Stashbusting Blanket.

I went with some eyelash yarn for the border as the pattern suggests,

I wasn't sure at first but yes, I like it and it is so useful for covering up wobbly edges.

This blanket feels significant to me as I started it in the first lockdown 

to keep my mind focused on other things.

I am now starting a new project which I guess means it will be a WIP...

Home:

What's that saying? 

Things get worse before they get better.

So removing the tiles from the conservatory wall wasn't plain sailing.

I was wondering at one point if they used superglue!

Thankfully this badly damaged wall is being replaced - new plasterboard and plaster,

so all this hideousness will be out of sight.

Two trips to the tip (via booked appointments) and my old cupboards have gone.

The solid wood worktop is going to my Dad to use for his projects -

that's a lot of bird boxes.

I'm fighting a losing battle with pawprints!

My plan eventually is to have the fridge freezer, washing machine etc

behind cupboards/built in and then the remaining space can be used

as a little dining area and perhaps a chair to sit and look out on

the titchy garden.  It will be so nice to be able to use the 

conservatory as an actual room and not a walk-in fridge.

Telly:

 The Mauritanian - Amazon Prime Video

A defence attorney uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy while investigating 

the case of a suspected 9/11 terrorist imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 

This film throws a punch and even more so when you realise it is

a true story.  Some uncomfortable scenes at times but goodness, it is

worth every viewing minute.

Tahir Rahim portrays Mohamedou Ould Slahi.

(You may recognise him if you watched The Serpent as he 

played the main character in that - Charles Sobhraj).

 The Mauritanian also has the acting delights of  

Jodie Foster and  Benedict Cumberbatch.

Charity Kit:

This month's kit was a quick-make mini card,

one of those handy to have in the drawer at home.

There's just a few left, if you missed it please visit the

blog post here.

And talking of Charity Kits, this memory popped up on my 

Facebook...6 years ago!

Some of you may remember it was a kit that started with making

book covers and subsequent kits were pages and pockets to go inside.

It got me thinking - what do you prefer?

An ongoing project or separate projects (predominantly cards) each month?

Please let me know.

And that wraps up my week again.

This weekend celebrating my Mum's birthday.

It's sandwiches and lots of cake.

Take care friends, have a lovely weekend.

Charity Kit Day - July 2021

  Hello friends

Happy Charity Kit Day.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look at this month's kit. 

Each month a donation is made to a different charity and this month it is 

Silver Fox Dog Rescue who rescue and rehabilitate

dogs from the streets of Romania and the meat trade in China

www.silverfoxdogrescue.com

To keep track of charities there is a tab at the top of my blog here.  

It details the 2021 chosen charities, clickable links and 

there's general kit info over there too

And here is this month's kit:

It's a simple quick-make mini kraft card.

There's something nice about a white and kraft combo 

and with the simplicity of adding white dots (optional) - it creates a cute little card.

Included in your kit:

Kraft Mini square card blank

Kraft envelope

Die cuts - leaves x 2, flowers x 4, butterflies x 3, 'love' sentiment

Full instructions

(Items you will need: adhesives, white pen (optional))

The kits are packed in recyclable paper bags and sent in a 'do not bend' 

envelope so they arrive in pristine condition. 

To make up the kits you just need a basic craft kit, all pieces are pre-cut.

The kit cost this month is £3.85

that's the total payment - inclusive of postage and packing.

Payment is via the PayPal link below.

£3.85 now £2.50!

If you wish to purchase but would prefer not to use PayPal, please email me:

hope-chances@live.co.uk

I'm happy to help with alternative payment arrangements.

It is possible to purchase multiple kits,

there's an option with PayPal for that too.

If you would like to support the kits but do not need one right now,

there is a 'Ko-fi' button', at the top of the blog, it's not really for coffee...

all donations enable me to purchase card blanks, envelopes, the paper bags,

sticky labels etc used each month.

It is truly a great help each month with Ko-fi donations,

so lots of thanks to those who donate.

Take care friends, as always - huge thanks for your support

and have a wonderful Sunday.

Friday Chat Day

 Hello friends

Happy Friday!

I think I saw the sun yesterday, it was a shock after so many dull days,
I didn't know what to do first, take photos of blankets or attempt to smarten 
my soggy garden.  It really has been bleak here in Kent and I think

for most of the country - we've got a few more days 

of clouds and rain before Summer truly arrives.

My week has been heavily dominated by work and two new words

now appear in my everyday vocobulary "month end" - oh goodness,

doing billing for a new department is a learning curve.

And can I just point out my 'office colleagues' are incredibly lazy!

Crochet:

I am actually working on my very last WIP - hurrah - celebrations!

I may have cheated a little as I chose to finish before all the pattern rows,

it was already big enough so I wonder... is that cheating?

Here it is...

the old me was clearly not think about the 'today me' 

as I packed this WIP away without sewing in ends! 

It's the Coastal Crochet - Seaside Stashbusting Blanket,

entire pattern available as a CAL here.

I learned so many new stitches following this pattern.

I've got to tackle those ends and then work on the border.

I will then be free to start something new or more projects and 

create another round of WIPs I guess.

I also managed to finish the Cupcake Stripe Blanket, turns out

I just need a few more rows and the border.

This is a nice simple pattern but keeping a check on the edges and counting

drove me a little bit bonkers.

So this is the corner of my lounge right now...

The top two (Meadow and Cupcake) are in my Folksy shop 

along with some other items, you can view here.

Home:

Conservatory roof update.

For those who may have missed this thrilling content,

I'm having the roof removed and replaced with a solid tiled roof.

They are special lightweight tiles and inside it will be a plastered ceiling

with spotlights.  It was this or have an extension and this was way cheaper.

Although our conservatory doesn't get too hot it definitely gets cold.

Because it is open to the kitchen it makes the whole downstairs 

very chilly.

The surveyor has been which means everything is going into production now

and any minute I should get a call saying they are starting.

At that point I will PANIC! 

I am behind with sorting and emptying. 

The wall cupboards have gone.

Those tiles have to come off as that wall is being insulated and plastered -

it is an an attempt to make it as cosy as possible.

Here's another angle of muddleness.

There's a cat in that washing basket and one on the seat in the titchy garden,

they are clearly not phased by the going-ons.

I also need to clear an accessway to the rear of my property.

I'm going to approach the neighbours with that one,

and move all my garden pots.

I'm going to entice Elliott to visit on Sunday with the 

promise of a roast dinner and rope him into helping! 

Telly:

I've gone from watching so much telly to selecting the occasional

film at the moment.

Telstar - Amazon Prime

Set against a backdrop of early 60's London, it's the story of the world's 

first independent record producer, Joe Meek. 

A maverick genius who was flamboyantly gay and tone deaf.

Plenty of stars to point out in this film: 

James Corden, Pam Ferris, Ralf Little, Kevin Spacey, Tom Burke and more.

So I did not know about Joe Meek but I certainly recognised 

the songs he produced "Johnny Remember Me", "Just Like Eddie".

He pioneered experimental pop music from a flat above a shop.

The film is fast pace, funny and very moving,

definitely worth a watch.

Charity Kit:

It's Charity Kit Day on Sunday so it is time to show you a little

sneak peek.

Kraft and white - always a nice combo.

Post will go live on Sunday at 7am and my usual splashing across

social media. 

And that my friends wraps up another week in my little world.

This weekend I will be finalising the charity kits and, as mentioned,

working on emptying out the conservatory with some bribed help.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and may the sun shine where you are.

Take care.