Day 7 of the "No diet, diet" and todays task is to do a good turn for someone. It can be anyone, friend, family stranger, but you just do it without thinking of what maybe in it for you and you don't tell anyone what you have done.
I am back on track now as I did get up an hour early today and I did do my list for yesterday. I have also already had a walk up to the shops for some milk. To complete the week I just need to do one more thing from the weekly list. I have got the whole day so I have plenty of time. I think I am going to attempt to draw something this afternoon! Should be interesting as I am hopeless at drawing.
It's funny because my Dad had never done any drawing in his entire life and when he retired he decided to take up painting as a hobby. He equipped himself with all the necessary materials and set to. He found that he was very good and many members of our family and friends now have one or more of my Dads paintings in their house. I have lots. Here are a few examples:
The pictures all look a bit lopsided as I just photographed them in situ on the walls!
Another story about my Dad was how he came to take up dressmaking. Many years ago a discussion sprung up between my Dad and his brother Derek about the making of clothes. Why they were talking about this I don't know, but I gather my Dad said it was easy and his brother said something along the lines of you show us then....so he did.
Much to my Mums disgust and amazement at the time, he paid out for a brand new sewing machine, got himself a pattern for a lady's dress and some material and got started. That dress turned out to be the first of many. He found that he was very good at it. He made a few mistakes to begin with, but he is a bit of a perfectionist and won't give up until he has it right. I can remember him unpicking seams in the early days!
He went on to make a lot of our clothes when we were younger, including such items as "hot pants" when they were in fashion first time around and I was young enough and small enough to wear them. LOL!! I don't know where that younger smaller self has gone now. He also made the bridesmaids dresses for mine and my sisters weddings. My sister also learnt and is a very accomplished dressmaker, although she doesn't make much now.
Me? I never really learnt. In fact for many years my Mum still had an unfinished apron in her cupboard at home. When I went to secondary school, it was in the days when they still taught cookery and dressmaking. You would alternate each subject each term.
The first term was dressmaking and the first project was to make your apron for the cookery classes. I went through five years of secondary school cookery classes wearing an apron borrowed from a friend who was doing a different lesson. No need to ever finish making mine! I gave up the dressmaking lessons as soon as I was able to choose my subjects. I never did make anything else! Funny how a few years later I got in to embroidery which I still do to this day.
My Mum was a voracious knitter when we were young and she always had her knitting with her. She even used to knit in the car. All our jumpers and cardigans were hand knitted and when her grand children arrived she knitted for them too. Sadly that was a skill that she lost many years ago. Again, Julie learnt from Mum and became an even better knitter. She has knitted some lovely things and although she doesn't make much now she still does things occasionally, like the beautiful cable knitted jacket that Ellie had on the other day.
Me? Once again it didn't hold my interest. I did learn to knit very simple things but only ever made a couple. My list comprises a scarf, a small green teddy, a large grey teddy which we still have, a couple of pairs of bootees and 2 matinee jackets. I also knitted a bonnet for Saskia when she was a baby. I'm sure if I really wanted to I could turn my hand to both these things and make passable efforts but I just don't have the inclination. I'll stick with my embroidery.
Today I am going to get on with chores as normal and also do some online banking. I have a cupboard that I want to get sorted out and then I am going to enter some competitions, have a go at drawing something and maybe do some more of "Bob's" embroidery. I need to get on with that so I can get it done, we haven't got too long to wait now.
Coralie went back to work on Friday and she was counting how many shifts she has left before she goes on maternity leave. She works 3, 12 hour shifts a week and she had 9 more to do although that will now be down to 7. 1 more this week, then 3 next week before the wedding, then she is off for a week anyway, then she has just 3 more the following week and she will be finished. If she gets that far....... watch this space!! I don't think she is going to go full term.
Counting up her shifts reminded me of how when she was small she would count the number of "sleeps" left to an event. IE: "only 5 sleeps until my birthday" and stuff like that. When she was first away at University she would count the number of sleeps until she would be home again! So Coralie, just for you..... there are 11 sleeps left until your wedding!! I was going to count up how many sleeps before "Bob" is due, but it still seems like too many! Just enjoy them while you can, you may not get many once "Bob" is here! LOL!!
I am working my half hour on and half hour off system this morning and I have already left this blog a couple of times to do some jobs. I have finished the ironing except for a small load that is still in the tumble drier. I am now washing doggie bedding. I have cleaned both the kitchen and bathroom and I have hoovered 2 levels of my house. I have just had my plastic laundry basket in the bath and scrubbed it down and showered it off. It's drying now. See I do work!
I haven't too many more chores left to go. I need to finish the hoovering and wash the kitchen floor. Then there will be a tiny bit of ironing. I am going to make some vegetable soup as well from yesterdays left over veg. I deliberately made too much yesterday so I could do soup. I make a pretty good veg soup! Lovely with garlic bread. I also have my online banking to get done and I just might set to on the cupboard that I want to tidy. So, lots of time left for me! I'm going off now to make a coffee, be back later for Tuesday Thirteen.
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