A Little About Me

Its been a quiet week this week, things are ticking along quite nicely, so as I dont have much to update you on, I thought Id copy the 'about me' list from the lovely Suki over at the owl club and give you an insight as to whats going on in my little world......

Making – working on my napkin for The napkin project

Cooking – Roast Pork with all the trimmings for our Sunday tea

Drinking – Pukka Licorice and Cinnamon Tea (my new fave)

Reading – Relics by Pip Vaughan-Hughes (historical fiction)

Wanting – a houseful of new windows before the onset of Winter

Watching – Castle, The Walking Dead and Scott & Bailey

Playing – too much Candy Crush and Farmville 2

Wasting – as little as I can

Sewing – (soon) dressee for the dress a girl around the world project

Wishing/ Dreaming – about a move to New Zealand

Enjoying – the new flowers and buds on the orchid which I thought was dead

Waiting – for the Accountants in Holland to get their act together (!)

Liking – my new job and losing weight (16lb so far)

Loving – my OH :o)

Hoping – the NZ move will come to fruition

Needing – some smaller work trousers

Smelling – Germoline and tea tree oil (currently covered in bites)

Wearing – comfy old slobbing about clothes

Following – some really cool blogs

Noticing – that the Autumn is fast approaching

Knowing – that replacing the windows and roof on the house and finishing the kitchen is now within reach

Hoping – that we will be able to find the funds to replace the car

Feeling – that life is quite good at the moment

Bookmarking – not looking at much new stuff, sticking to the sites and blogs I know

Opening – snail mail through The Correspondence Club and Post Circle

Laughing – with my OH (weve not stopped for nearly 23 years!)

So, thats how things are with me at the moment, not half bad I reckon. Im gonna nip out and pull up the first of my potato plants while we still have some sun, but thought Id just leave you with a pic of the lovely orchid I have managed to revive. Im quite proud of this. 

Have a great week, see you again soon,

Jojo

August Begins

Well, here we are in August already, seems the year is flying by. Ive noticed its getting darker earlier a sure sign that Autumn is on its way. Hopefully we still have more lovely sunny days to come.
Im pleased to say that Im settling in to my new assignment nicely. The people in the office are a mixed bunch of ages and genders, and all seem to have a good sense of humour (phew!). The job is much more me and Im much happier than Ive been in a while. The hours are good, and its not a bad walk home (have only done it once but am intending to do it more often - its about 4.5k), so all in all it was a good move.
Ive not really been up to much in the last couple of weeks, the gardening and crafting are a continuation of what Ive been previously been working on.

I have been experimenting with making shampoo from soapnuts as per Janey Lee Graces book Look Great Naturally - without ditching the lipstick.  You can read all about soapnuts here . My first attempt was a bit watery (looked like horse wee to put it mildly).

My second attempt ended up burning (should have watched over them instead of going out in the garden I guess). I shall be trying again, but in the meantime I used the soap liquid from attempt number 1 and it did ok. There was no foam, but it cleaned quite well.Ive also used the soapnuts in the washing machine on our towels and they clean as well as our detergent does, so I am quite impressed.

I got a lovely surprise during the week from the lovely Sara over at sewlittletosay , she contacted me to say that I have won her giveaway, and it arrived in the post on Saturday morning. I dont win much (seems my Big Sis has all the family luck with competitions, raffles etc), so it was really nice. Heres what I won.....

some lovely fabric, a Liberty print shopping bag and some thread.

I also read about the Food Bank crisis which is quitely happening all over the UK over on Sues brilliant blog ournewlifeinthecountry - she linked up to agirlcalledjack and her brilliant post. As Sue mentioned Asda were hosting a nationwide collection over the weekend, so I popped into my local branch and spend an extra £5.39 on their basic range and donated the following........

A pack of spagetti, a tin of peaches, 2 tins of baked beans and sausage, a tin of ravioli, a loaf of white bread, a jar of sweet and sour sauce, 2 tins of plum tomatoes,2 tins of soup, a tin of meatballs, a tin of sweetcorn and a tin of meat paste.

I was quite impressed at how many tins were already in the trolley that Asda had put out for the collection, the notice on it said it was heading to a very local foodbank, so if it helps out a family in dire need, then Im all for it.

Well, thats really about it for now, and Id best go and get my stuff organised for the new working week (as I get up @ 7am and the bus comes about 25 past Ive not got much time in the morning at the moment).

I hope all is well with you and your loved ones, will catch up again soon, in the meantime have a good week.

Jojo
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