Still Sewing, and the Royal Welsh Show

 I laid the Heatwave quilt out on the bed yesterday to see where I was with it.  There are 3 big blocks left to construct.  I constructed 16 9-patch blocks yesterday and paired them up with their plain white counterparts.  I will carry on with it today.  If I can stay awake that is!  I woke at 3.30 a.m. and couldn't settle back to sleep so after an hour I came downstairs.  Tomorrow is a Malvern day so I had better get myself off to bed early tonight, though I don't want to wake at 3.30.  4.30 will be just right.  By the time I have had a quick breakfast and done the litter trays, done my hair and makeup, an hour is soon gone.  I do my rolls to take, the night before.  Plus cool drinks.  Talking of which, I am delighted with the cold water dispenser in my new fridge freezer.  A real boon in this hot weather.

It's the Royal Welsh Show next week, so I took a stroll past the showground.  As you can see it's all set up and pretty well ready to go - they began putting marquees up about 10 days ago. Lots of caravans up on the slopes above the showground and I imagine the Young Farmer's "village" (small town more like) half a mile up the Newbridge-on-Wye road is pretty packed already too. The big field opposite the showground will house 100s of caravans too, for all the people involved in the show - whether with livestock, or selling.  It's about £40 a head to get in now, so I just watch it on tv.

Lots of good podcasts listened to yesterday on Rest is History.  King Arthur, Merlin, Alfred the Great.  I can recommend this podcast.

All sorts of big shiny temptations for well-heeled farmers.  I don't know if they ever sell any in these parts.

Some of the shops in town will shut for the week and board up their premises.  With the population of our small town going up from 2,500 to 250,000 during the week, not all visitors are well-behaved.  The pubs, as you may imagine, do a roaring trade.  I try not to go near town for the week.  If I wanted anything from the main street, parking would be impossible. 

El Nino seems to be causing havoc with the weather this year - terrific storms in France, and the heat too.  One of the doom and gloom weather pictures had clearly run out of colours for how hot it would be and after black, has had to use white to show increased heat . . .  I wonder what the winter will have in store for us?

Nearly forgot . . . GravelandGrace

 The dental check went fine yesterday, and nothing to pay.  They said X-rays on back molars due, but we put them back a year as I was skint!

I was checking out the posts I follow on Instagram, and occasionally it chucks up an old contestent from Britain's Got Talent or America's Got Talent.  The latter threw up the most amazing singer, with a gravelly voice, and it was a chap called Arthur Hayes.  Imagine in his 70s, beard, playing a battered old guitar, and just THE most amazing voice, singing I suppose you might call it Gospel Music - anyway, it had a Christian motif.  After I had "liked" that one, I kept getting lots more clips from Graveland.Grace.  Audiences in tears listening to his heartfelt emotional singing.  Imagine my shock when I discovered he was invented by AI.  Blimey!!  Has anyone else come across him?  This has made me think, how easily we could be bamboozled by news/reports made by Politicians or those in power - we could, indeed, be controlled this way . . .

Then on to see my friend Pam, and finally my patchwork group.  I sewed the 16 patch blocks to make up 32 patch blocks and will sew those all up into the quilt top today.  Just have one last big block to finish and then I can drop in next week to say hello and give Alex the quilt to longarm quilt for me.  I have just ordered the wadding for it from Doughty's (cheaper to have it posted to me than to drive there - and less temptation once I arrived, that's for sure!) 3m deal of super-soft cotton.  I didn't realize that there was some shrinkage on it and you have to wash by hand and dry naturally before using.  The sunshine will help that dry anyway.  

Ed came round last night, as Sam still working away.  We watched the football, but dismayed at the defensive tactics in the 2nd half, which definitely worked against them.  Crazy!  They were NOT in control of the ball and there was no chance of our getting a goal when everyone staked out at the Argentinian end of the pitch. I suspect England will be looking for a new manager now.  Above photo is my "payment" for watering round Ed's polytunnel whilst he was away.    Homegrown organic veg . . . yum :)

I have another really itchy bite - went out to empty compost caddy and some small black shiny beasty hit on me straight away and zapped me.  Like a horse-fly bite but lord knows what the insect was - like a tiny tiny black beetle.  It is really itching still, despite my anti histamine, and After Bite application.

I shall try and finish the quilt top today and then I am going to get back to the little frock for Rosie I started cutting out months ago.  I need to teach myself dress-making pronto!  If I get stuck I will take it along to my quilting group as several very experienced dressmakers there.

Right, off to reclaim my frozen stash from Ed and Pam and get a walk in.  Now reading The Skeleton Room by Kate Ellis. Listening to We Three Ravens podcasts in the car.  If you like Folklore, then this is for you.

It's Malvern Flea on Sunday.  I am hoping that the chap who has a stall selling Bri-wax and other polishes and "stuff" may have the Gorilla Glue Polyurethane I need, otherwise I will have to cough up £20 for it . . . 

Did I mention that I have decided to draw a line under the spinners and weavers group.  I just felt they were far, FAR too passionate about it for me, as I am just interested and would like to improve my skills.  I think I will go on a couple of little courses on the elements I would like to learn, instead.  Sorry, but if you jump on me for just putting my spinning wheel down as I arrived - "that's the wrong way round" - then your group is not for me.  I wasn't even using it, but had just plonked it down quickly on arriving, then going back for the rest of my belongings.  I was using the drop spindle at the time . . .

Fridge innards, for Lizzy D

 

Cleverly done.  Plenty of storage.  Pull down storage for wine bottles too, under the top shelf.

A half-empty room . . .

 

It's arrived.  The lads were very helpful, and took the old one away.  Best £15 I'd ever spent (though the fridge-freezer cost a lot more!)  I had to leave it two hours before plugging in and I have now got the frozen stuff I kept here put away again.  Ed and Pam have a drawer each of my contents, so I will sort that out on Thursday. This has a 2 year guarantee, and then a further 8 on parts.

Now, there's posh!  I am actually impressed with it, as it is a lot better designed internally so I have as much room as the old fridge in some ways, only better configured.  The 3 drawer freezer is better too, as I can have meat, veg and fruit in separate drawers.  It even has a water cooler, which will be welcome in this weather.

Now I am absolutely bushed, having taken all the stock and stuff out of the Utility, and have just been putting it all back again, much more neatly.  I don't have the energy to water round in the yard right now, and don't even have the energy to go upstairs for a shower.  I will just sit and start another book.  

Tomorrow is going to be hectic as I have the dentist in Llandovery, have to go to Carmarthen to get my camera looked at as it still won't turn on, and pop up to see other Pam, and then with any luck, an hour or so at my quilt group.  "Heatwave" quilt is coming on really well and I think I just have another 2 big blocks to do (16 blocks in the big one).  Then in the evening Sam is coming round to watch the football here.  I'm quite looking forward to that.

Anyway, I am glad that is done and dusted and I don't have to try and get rid of the old fridge-freezer.  Btw, that had been a top of the range one when we bought it, and if I had wanted to replace like with like, I would have had to cough up £2,000!!!  This was a darn sight cheaper :)  It's a Haier.

Swings and roundabouts

 I have had to order a new fridge-freezer, as the freezer is now starting to fail.  Well, I have had my money's worth out of it (20, possibly 25, years).  It was a top of the range one at the time too, but to replace like with like now, I would be coughing up £2,000.  I don't think so!  I've had to compromise and spend a quarter of that.  I am grateful I have the savings as a buffer to pay for this, but want to try and replace it when I can.  I had a little windfall from the Electricity Board, my Wayleave payment for having one of their poles on my land.  But that is swallowed up (and more) straight away by having to pay £40 to the plumber and £40 to the Carpenter for repairing the little Windsor chair.  Ah well, such is life.  However, in clearing the top of the fridge-freezer, I found a bag with two knives in.  One was Danny's, which Keith had had made for him, and the other was one I had forgotten all about, one Keith had bought at a Fair and stowed away.  That will go and be offered for sale now.  

Well, the Utility hasn't been this tidy for a long while . . .  A purely temporary state of affairs, as what came out this afternoon will all go back, more neatly, when the new fridge-freezer is installed.

So, a busy day.  I took some meat from the freezer across to Pam's who has space in hers.  Some more stuff will go to my neighbour Ed, and I went out and bought a cool box - having given Tam the old one.  Wrong move!

First thing I sewed up some more 16 block "big blocks", so progress there.  Then when I get back I have to do family history research as Tam has someone in Yorkshire, who will do archive look ups for us.

Off to pick up the little Windsor chair now.

Wartime style rationing?

 

Britons would face wartime-style rationing of meat, dairy, petrol and flying under Green Party plans

As copied and pasted from MSN this morning.  Apparently the Greens are going to introduce this into their manifesto, ahead of the party's autumn annual conference (hah, I nearly wrote bean-feast!)  They propose state-controlled cuts of 50% in the amount of miles driven by each person and a cut of 70% in miles flown.  They plan to introduce a means of implementing a "fair distribution of dairy food and meat, diesel and flights" with each of us entitled to - but limited to - an allowance which would diminish year on year.

I am sure that the more intelligent amongst us can see the shortcomings of such a policy, and also the Communist-style control ethics.  The Government managed to control us by abject fear during the Covid lockdowns, and now it seems the Greens think they can take that control further. . .  I am absolutely gobsmacked at how this country is going to hell in a handcart, in so many ways.  The impact on rural dwellers like me, where NOTHING is local, would be disastrous.  What do they expect Amazon, Evri, Royal Mail and couriers to do with their deliveries?  Of course, expecting farmers do use less and less fuel is blardy ridiculous, but then Labour expects to have a few less of them in future . . . As for controlling meat and dairy purchases, ah, THAT'S how you get rid of farmers . . .  Personally, I can't think of a more guaranteed way to lose voters, left, right and centre . . .

Then The Guardian tells us that a leading expert on food policy is saying that the UK should be stockpiling food as it is not prepared for any climate-induced or war-induced eventualities.  Being that the UK is only 54% food-sufficient (and that will be a LOT less by the time they have covered good agricultural land with solar "farms" and AI monstrosities covering nearly 1,000 acres .  The UK is one of the least food-sufficient countries in Europe and set to put the food-sufficiency bar even lower.  Apparently the nine big retailers account for 3/4 of all retail food.  There are 131 distribution centres servicing them.  In a war setting, that makes food supplies a sitting duck for drone attacks.  A frightening thought.

Sorry to "go off on one" on a sunny but breezy Sunday morning, but I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this . . .

Meanwhile, 40 blocks sewn and joined to white counterparts in the last couple of days.  

How to save £40 and make your own bat-proof window cover . . .

A lucky break yesterday . . .

When your milk turns to yoghurt

 

5.30 a.m. and 15 deg.  I can cope with that temperature. Not so with the high 20s/low 30s of later in the day. I've been up since 3.30 as it was too warm in the guest bedroom, where I ended up last night as a baby bat splatted somewhere behind the table in the bedroom just as I climbed into bed.  

It was a beautiful sunrise this morning and I took some photos through the v. dirty bathroom window.  I must try and clean it off somehow - the hose is leaking mightily in mid-section and I will get very wet I think!!  

The plumber came and sorted out the UV system yesterday.  As he arrived, with the front door left open (I had it shut to keep the flies out), a nasty little black ba*tard of a fly came straight in, landed on my arm and bit me.  It looked like a house fly, but wasn't.  It came back for another go later but I had the door open for a couple of hours then and thought it had departed.  By 3.30 a.m. my morning antihistamine had well and truly worn off, as had the After Bite I put on the bite . . .  Update: b*stard thing still here and bitten my legs 4 times now.  Just put my thin trousers back on . . .

I came downstairs and have finished sewing up the blocks I was piecing yesterday - 27 in all, plus 10 I did on Wednesday.  Will put them with their white halves today and lay them out on the bed to see how many more I need to do.  The quilt will be called, unsurprisingly, Heatwave . . . 

Unfortunately, this latest heatwave has done for my old fridge-freezer, an LG which has done sterling service for over 20 years now.  When I poured milk into my tea yesterday, a lump of yoghurt came with it!   I don't want to spend a fortune on replacing it as I will have to splash the cash.  You used to be able to get Hire Purchase to spread the cost.  Now it is done via a credit card type loan at just under 30% APR.  I don't think so.  Some places charge £15 just to unwrap the blardy thing, and another £35 to take away the old one.  I think we will have to have a family-here DIY job when it's delivered and take the old one to the Tip.  So I will have a proper look at what's on offer today and make my mind up.  It of course costs twice as much or more, to get an energy-efficient one and takes about 10 years to level out savings for running it against increased cost of buying it! A cheaper one it will be then.  (Signed up for a month to Which? now.)

Right, 6.10 now and I shall see if I can get back to sleep for an hour or so.

I did sleep till 8.30, when Pippi announced it was time for breakfast and Hunting.  I bought the Saturday paper, to read about poor Ann Widdicombe, who did not deserve for her life to be taken away by some local murderer.  I liked her, she stood up for what she believed in, called a spade a spade and had total integrity.