nothing in particular

i've got nothing of much interest to report, just stuff.  i've been pottering around in the garden.  the handy man has mostly finished the shadecloth and it doesn't look bad.  he put a big blind up at one end to, hopefully, block out the summer sun.  it's horrible having a westerly facing back of the house. never mind.  he fixed my hose reel which broke again today when i turned on the water.  a build up of pressure i expect.  i've tried to fix it and he's coming back tomorrow to look at it.  he took my old washing machine out of the shed (rat house) and will fix up the floor.  my son came over the other day to help me put out some hard rubbish.  there wasn't much and i found the piece of hose with fittings on it i needed for the hose reel.  i thought i'd thrown it out.  it was buried under the bamboo litter.  no wonder i couldn't find it.  it's suppose to rain again over the weekend so the garden will be happy :)

a very fancy hose reel.  mine is nothing like this 

Happy Mother's Day

another not so good day

but i survived and let's face it most of the issues were first world problems and not important in the long run.  firstly, i went to quilting class and it did not go well.  i wanted to chuck the quilt in the bin and just go home and go to bed, everything that could go wrong did.  this tiny quilt has been frought with problems, all of them human error.  mine.  ahhhh. after all of that i got my corners done with the binding and packed up.  my sewing machine is extra heavy and hurts my back to carry it around.  i use the wheely thing sometimes but it's so hard to get in down the stairs and into the car and then into venue.  so the binding is machined on, i finished it last night, and i'm going to hand finish the back.  that should go smoothly.  i hope.  then after several other problems i started the dishes and my knife dropped to the floor.  i was amazed when i went to pick it up and it was broken in half.  my favourite knife Maz gave me years ago.  it never needed sharpening, it was nicely balanced and i don't think i'll be able to buy another.  oh well.  i do have another knife to use.  it's not the end of the world.  Kevin came and finished the shadecloth and the outside blind so that's good.  i made miss Lan two pillowcases today.  i'm afraid one might be a bit small.  i did french seams and that might have taken up more seam allowance that i allowed for.  they are not too bad.  and someone from my past smsed me to meet for coffee.  it didn't end well and i've been so undecided about going or not.  i will see.

what a mess!

i went to ikea yesterday for my twice yearly visit.  i didn't need anything (that i remembered) but i bought stuff.  of course.  i remembered when i got to the lighting department that i needed a shade for the kitchen.  i got the same one as my bedroom and that's been fine.  very simple.  the existing one in the kitchen has been looking a bit sad.  i got the shade home and it looked different inside so i was going to take it back today.  i noticed this morning that the extra bit inside is removable.  so, before my morning coffee, i got a chair and started to take down the old shade.  it disintegrated before my very eyes.  made a heck of a mess.  and ... the new shade wouldn't go on.  it was crooked so i attempted to straighten the rod things inside and got my finger nail stuck.  really stuck.  i couldn't drive to my son's for help.  none of my neighbours were home.  oh dear!  i got a screw driver and forced it down (or up, i'm not sure) and removed my fingernail.  it had started to hurt.  not good.  so i vacuumed up the mess and decided to start again after coffee.  i'll let you know how it goes.  lol  

ps. it didn't work.  i'll wait for my son to come over :(