Junk and a SAL Sign Up

Thought I'd better check into my blog and post something to prove I'm still around. :0)

Hope all those in the UK had a good Bank Holiday weekend and that you all had as good a bout of weather as we did - yes, a BH weekend and the big yellow thing in the sky actually shone! Whooo Hooo! LOL

Ours was a busy but very liberating one. Nope, no sky clad dancing in the garden (with these wobbly bits? Purlease!) but a major clearing out of junk session. I know I've had these sessions before but they always seem to have fizzled out, as I felt I was fighting a losing battle.... against the two fellas in the house, who seemed to fish stuff out of the bins as fast as I put it all in there, and because it's such a monumental task. Well, feeling refreshed after my holiday and a lovely Reiki session last Saturday (see my other blog for more about that) I was well ready to start tackling the mountainous junk heaps once again. This time DS was onside, having already had a big sorting session and throw out in his bedroom....... funny how once you start these things they just seem to build up their own momentum. :0)

Firstly there was a ferret round in the loft and all the empty boxes that were up there got ousted to the skip at the amenities site, along with a few more dead electrical items (although after DH chopped off the flippin' plugs to keep!), a few more boxes from the back room (for more recently bought items) went up into the loft. Next: off came the doors from the fitted wardrobe in DS's room and DS disappeared into the workshop to varnish the new doors, had a trip to B&Q for new hinges and actually got ready to fit them...... only to find that they are a bit too wide and will need trimming slightly to fit - nope, no job in this house is ever straightforward and that put the kybosh on getting that job finished. Still, no doors meant that all the stuff piled in there was on view...... and it showed how desperate it was for a sort out. One of my jobs has been going through what's in there: charts have been filed away (though there's more to do); old magazines (non-stitching) and various leaflets and the like went in the recycling box; old paperwork shredded and a few really old bits were binned. As this is getting done now I won't have to do it when the little bedroom is turned into my craft room - everything will be in a state to be moved in there as soon as it's ready. Yay!

I've also shredded some stuff that was cluttering up the back room (which will be a proper dining room one day soon!) and a bag of books went to the Hospice Bookshop and a bag full of unwanted items to the other Hospice shop on the Saturday. Then a crate full of DS's old books from the little bedroom got sorted: a few bits I have in a bag to go to my DBro for my niece and nephew, the bulk of the rest Alex took for her school's library and a couple more, along with some videos, went to the Hospice Bookshop today. A charity bag full of clothes went outside with the recycling boxes this morning and has now been collected. A bag of toiletries (some bits we tried and didn't like or I've reacted to) and an old child's desk (that was taking up room in the workshop) were collected by fellow Freecyclers this week. Five black bin bags full of shredded paper will be going to the local animal sanctuary next time we're out that way, for them to use as insulating layers under animal bedding. I've finally sorted through an old jewellery box and my new one and have ousted all the stuff I no longer want into the old one and it and its contents will be going down to the Hospice shop in the morning. In the meantime my Dad's old bedroom TV has been put up for re-homing on Freecycle (am finally ready to let it go) and I've unearthed my old sewing machine and that'll be advertised once it's had a dust off and DH has checked the wiring. Every time an area was sorted and the attendant junk ousted I felt lighter - more links in my Marley's chain dropping away...... it's made such a difference Jan, my Herbalist, noticed and commented on it today (will post about that good news on my other blog another time). :0)

There's still a long way to go before things are properly straight but it finally feels like we're getting somewhere. Yay! *big cheesy grin*

It hasn't all been sorting and chucking out though, as DH and I did get time for some other fun stuff. DH went off for a relaxing days fishing with some work colleagues on Tuesday (always gets 2 days off for this BH) and I had some quiet time, as well as doing a few more jobs and having a visit from Alex. I finished my last book, The Warrior's Princess by Barbara Erskine, and started the next: The Last Templar by Michael Jecks. The Challenge For A Finish needleroll got to the half way point, though that seems to have ground to a halt at the moment. The last of the small ornies I was stitching got the last bit of finishing done...... and they were finally packaged up and sent off in the post today - Clare, watch out for a package arriving shortly. :0) I'll post pics once they've been received.

No JA/S&S Monthly Challenge biscornu as I ran out of time (hope to maybe do that this month though). The next Challenge is to stitch the Flowers of Olde freebie from With My Needle, using whatever colours we want and finishing however we want. There was no stitching on Night Watchman this week (Shhhh, don't tell Mr Stick!) mainly because all that sorting out had me falling asleep in my chair when I should have been stitching! Hopefully I'll make up for it soon.

Despite the fact that I didn't get all the Challenges completed this month (well, I was away on holiday for a week as well), and as if I haven't got enough to do already, I still signed up for a SAL. There's a LoopyLou Designs Christmas SAL over at JA/S&S Forum and the two pieces are Christmas Tidings and Christmas Wishes. I tried to resist but it was no good...... Christmas Wishes was shouting too loud. Here are the goodies for it:

Isn't it a lovely mix of colours? I ordered the chart from Polstitches as there were a couple of other bits I wanted from Jo's site..... having discovered that Mummies Curse fabric isn't discontinued, as I'd been led to believe, getting hold of more was a must - it's one of my favourite colours and I've only got a couple of scraps left in my stash. The SAL starts on 1st June and as Jo has emailed to say that the goodies were posted yesterday I should be all set to go........ let's just hope I can keep up! LOL

After my monthly trip to the Herbalist today I had a wander down the street afterwards, to post some packages, including the one to Clare. Whilst in the newsagents (the PO is in the back of the same shop) I had a look at the stitchy magazines - as I'd had some good news I felt a treat was in order and chose this one:

I think the embellishments pack is supposed to be used for stitching but it will do as well for cardmaking too. :0) I chose this specifically for the peacock design, the first one that has ever appealed to me - after Aureen's comments last Saturday I thought stitching and hanging this in my home would act as a lovely reminder. :0)

Of course a trip down the High Street wouldn't be complete without a book or two, would it? Help the Aged had the custom this time and here's what came home with me:

The MH one is hardback and I got it for a grand total of........ £1.00. That was a little something for DH - the other one is from the fantasy genre and will appeal to DS, as well as me. Now need to keep an eye open for the other books from the same series and the ones from the prior series. Yes, I know adding more books to the pile isn't sorting out........ but books are different. ;0)

Speaking of books: Rachael, The Warrior's Princess is on the way. Hope you like. :0)

Tomorrow (Saturday) I'm off to the clinic for the Introduction to Angels workshop. It's from 10am to 3pm and I have to take a packed lunch and drinks along...... will probably take my Archangel cards and rose quartz angel with me too. Have so been looking forward to this! On Sunday it's the Mind, Body and Spirit event at the Lincolnshire Showground, so guess what we'll be doing that day. LOL

Whatever you are all doing this weekend hope you have a lovely time. Thank you for visiting. :0)