Birthday surprises!

Really, where does time go? I thought I had been slow in writing last time, but now even more time has passed and I have not written anything. This was not how I planned it, but never mind, a post a month is better than nothing, but it doesn't keep everything in mind that I wanted to write. Oh well!

So I had a birthday earlier this month and an anniversary. My birthday was a Monday and we had 10 inches of snow that day, so plans by my friend to take me to lunch were cancelled and I spent the day sewing and trying to get some fabric samples pleated for a project I am involved in (more on that later or another time). Anyway, it was not a bad day, even if it was not the one planned. I had lots of cards that had been delivered already (the postman did not come that day-another myth destroyed as they say they always get through, 'no wind, no rain, no hail, no snow' or whatever their motto is was not true on that day) and a couple of presents from friends in the UK. I also got phone calls from various friends, so I was not forgotten. My parents and I had had a video link via the computer the day before so I was not woken up with a phone call from my Mum singing to me (a tradition that it is fine to end as neither my mother nor I can actually carry a tune).

The day following my birthday is our wedding anniversary and this year we made number 30, which is the pearl anniversary. We had said no presents as I have pearl earrings, necklaces and rings, but I came down to a present at breakfast- a pearl and silver bracelet that is really nice. What can I say, my husband is a keeper!

I had a meeting of my chapter of the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA)that morning and had signed up to take snack, so left to get things set up at the church where we meet. I was first there as usual and got my snack laid out and coffee started. My sewing friends began to arrive, slowly as the roads were still covered in snow in places and schools had a late start. A friend from NY state arrived and totally surprised me as she had another friend from Pennsylvania with her! They had been planning the surprise and thought all was lost with the snow storm, but Wanda left PA when the snow ended and said she had a good drive as the main roads were well cleared. I was speechless to see her there as we had talked on my birthday for half and hour and I had no clue! Then, there was another surprise as Wanda had made a cake for me and it was decorated with fondant icing sewing tools! It was a work of art she had put a lot of thought into every detail. She had made a mould of her sewing scissors and thimble so they were life size on the cake and the embroidery in the sewing hoop was not complete, but had blue marking where the next piece of stitching was to be (we use a washable blue pen to mark our embroidery lines with). Needless to say I was totally blown away by it all and could not believe it was all for me! It was a shame to cut it and eat it.

Once I got over that, we continued with our usual programme of business meeting and Show and Share, we took our break for coffee and some of my cake before we did our programme and then those that were free and able went to lunch, which of course included Wanda and Kim (from NY state who was hosting Wanda) and another couple of good sewing friends.

It took me ages to tell my husband about my morning and we enjoyed a piece of cake with our cup of tea that afternoon and I was able to take some to my art class the next day for the ladies there to enjoy as well as freeze some.

So, what can I say but I am truly amazed at the fact that people think I am special enough to travel two and half hours after a snow storm to surprise me and that I deserve the time and effort it took to make that cake! I have such a great circle of freinds, not just in the sewing world and although I am an only child, have never been lonely as there is always someone I can call on.

Long time, no post...

Long time no post. I guess I lead a busy life? Well either that or I have just been lazy or not in the mood to write something.

Well, the desktop computer went away and came back and so far so good. Bonus was they did not take it back to factory settings so some of the things I had not had a chance to back up were safe and have since been backed up. I am trying to be good and save everything straight to the external hard drive, but sometimes forget. Anyway, we are up and running with a desktop computer and the laptop (which I am currently using as I am transferring books on CD to the iTunes programme to transfer to my iPod. Long story short, I can listen to them while I work out at the gym).

So, have I been up to that kept me from my blog? Well, we had visitors from England for a week. They came out and had a two week cruise to the Caribbean and we met them at the dock in Bayonne, New Jersey. That wasn't a bad drive as it is the same as going to Newark airport (a place we have been many, many, many times), except you turn left off the thruway instead of right. It would seem like the longest exit in the world and you head off towards the water. The road to the actual dock is like a bomb sight as they are developing the area and it is only one lane in each direction. Then you have to join the throng of cars, limos and buses picking up and dropping off at a plastic tented area. Luckily for us our friends had arranged a late time to disembark and much of the chaos had ceased and we were able to park and wait for them.

I have known these friends for many years as they were friends with Bill before I met him. The husband lived in the same street as Bill when they were growing up and so goes way back. I met them shortly after Bill and i started dating and we have been through a lot together. When we get together it is like we only saw each other a week ago instead of a year (or in the case of their visit last year, 10 years!!). Last year they went on a cruise on the Queen Mary and found that this cruise with Royal Caribbean was definitely less formal. It was more geared to the casual American lifestyle and even meals and occasions that were stated to be formal found other passengers in jeans and the like which disappointed our friends. Service was also bad and they are going to write a letter to the cruise line, so it must have been bad!

Anyway, I digress. We spent the week enjoying each others company and visiting a few places such as an outlet mall in New York state: a scenic drive into the northwest corner of CT for lunch at a hotel called the White Hart in Salisbury, with a bar very much like an English pub. We also went antiquing to Sturbridge, MA. we have had quite a bit of snow and while they were here we even had a snow day which made us home bound and so we played a board game. It was our Christmas present from them and involves questions from the 60's to the 00's and proved fun to play at the kitchen table. It is called Reminiscing and also involves the players telling stories and we all learned things about each other we didn't already know.

It was sad to see them leave and we took them to JFK for their flight home. They flew Club Class this year and so had sleeper seats and enjoyed some sleep on the night flight. They got back in time to experience a snow day or two in the UK as they had the worst snow in 18 years. It was only about 4 inches in Essex where we came from and our friends live, but as they are not geared up for snow, it caused havoc and even closed the schools. Now I remember snow as a kid and school was never canceled as every one walked there, but these days it seems they drive, even if it is just a few hundred yards. Plus the teachers and staff live further away, so close they do. Of course the trains and buses didn't run either, so no one went anywhere.

Anyway, other things that have kept me busy are a meeting of my chapter of the Smocking Arts Guild of America (http://www.smockin.org/). we meet the first Tuesday of the month September through to June. We try and have a class after the business meeting and everyone takes turns in teaching or reviewing a technique to do with smocking, embroidery or such. We would love to have a national teacher more often but we don't live close to any and it costs money to bring them to us, so we don't do that too regularly. We do host a seminar every two years at least and is always fun. Anyway this month we began an on-going project which can be made into a needle case and involves reviewing lots of embroidery stitches. we are going to review a couple of stitches each month before our regular programme now that we have all get the project started.

I also had a meeting of the Daughters of the British Empire (DBE). This is a group of women with British connections (born, married too come from a commonwealth country) and it formed to raise money for a retirement home for ex-pats. Now they raise money to support the original home which is now a nursing home open to everyone. Our chapter have their meeting the first Wednesday of the month (September through to June) and we meet in members homes for a business meeting, followed by lunch and a social hour. I have been a member for just over a year and would have joined many years ago had I known about the organisation. I only found out through a round about way and that was a teacher SAGA I met at convention in 2007 in Dallas. She is English and we got talking and on to the subject of food and such and then she mentioned the DBE and when i returned home I looked them up on the Internet and found the local chapter and the rest as they say is history. I am the youngest member of our chapter and am already secretary, but don't mind as I can't host a meeting as our house is too small, so am doing my bit in another way. I did co-host the meeting this week though. The member who hosts the meeting makes a main lunch dish and then two other members co-host and bring salad/bread and dessert. I took the salad and bread as the lady who was going to do so called me as she had jury duty (poor thing!).

Well, I have finished transferring the book-on-CD to this machine and now need to get it on the iPod and then shower as it is getting late and then we are off into NYC for lunch with friends, one of whom is having a birthday today. So I guess my blog for today is over!

Catch 22

Yes, time does fly when you are busy with trying to sort out a computer that doesn't want to work. Our desk top had a problem shortly after we bought it whereby it was just turning itself off and would not turn back on for a while. We worked out it was overheating as the problem increased the warmer the weather got! So we contacted the manufacturer (via email as I hate long boring phone conversations with someone in India. It's not that I can't understand them, or them me, but it does take time and often doesn't solve the issue) and of course, as we had tried all the ways they said to solve it, the computer had to go away for repair. That it did (while we were in CA on holiday) and came back repaired but back to factory settings. Luckily I had been able to back everything up to the external hard drive I have, so no big deal.

Anyway, now it is having a power problem in as much as it won't switch on. There is power to the unit but the on/off switch will not power up the unit. Of course, there are solutions to try listed on the website (don't you love that, you have a computer problem, but need a computer to get to a website to see how to cure it? Is that a Catch 22 or what?) The computer will power up sometimes and stay working correctly for days and then from nowhere the problem starts again. Which is what happened Monday, so I contacted the maker and of course it has to go away again and, of course, they say to back up anything before you send it as they may have to set it back to factory settings-all very well if I could get it turned on!

Luckily I have actually been backing everything important to the external hard drive and saving very little on the computer, but there were a couple of things I hadn't backed up, like the magazine text I am working on with a January 15 deadline! Most of it was on the backed up version, thank goodness, but it was little things that I had corrected, added that were missing. This is what has been taking my time as I have been reconstructing the information I needed from emails and memory. I think I am where I was and I know that if I try and power up the main computer that it will now mysteriously work, seeing I have spent two days working on things I have already completed.

It has been a good thing to have a laptop to work with and a new one at that. We got the new laptop when the other computer was playing up the first time. My husband wanted to use the old laptop to do something and could not believe how long it took to do it, so we went shopping for a nice new one which is fast and light weight and I love it! It is a touch screen model and once I find more time (!) I can teach it to recognise my handwriting, so I can write on the screen and it will convert it to text!

Not that my older laptop has been discarded, no far from it. I have that upstairs hooked up to my embroidery machine. It means I can download the embroidery designs from purchased discs and transfer them from the computer straight to the sewing machine and then the machine stitches them out. I can also play with the design on the computer and save it, then transfer it to the machine. So I don't have to take the new laptop up there and it doesn't matter that the old one is a bit slower, as it does the job just as well. I can also surf the Internet up there when the machine is stitching as we have wireless and it works all over the house and garden.

Modern technology can't live with out it, can't always live with it!

How I spend my time....

Okay, so it has taken me a few days to get back to my blog. I think I have time to write something and then I get busy doing something else on the computer and the mood for adding to the blog has left me.

So what do I do on the computer that keeps me busy? Well, apart from everyday boring things like on-line bill paying, banking and such, I edit a quarterly 24 page membership magazine for a national sewing organisation the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA). Basically I solicit articles, designs and such from the members, add items from the chapter newsletters I receive, take photos, collate it all and send it to a graphic artist to layout. Then I proof the printers version and okay that. I also answer questions from members and answer to our board. All of this is voluntary and can take from 10-20 hours a week of my time depending on what part of the quarterly cycle I am in. We also have a national convention and I attend with camera in hand to take photos of events, daily classes, people and such. Thank goodness for digital photography, as I would not take so many photos if I used film and at least with digital I get to review them straight away and delete the bad ones!

Another time consuming computer occupation is originally coming from England, we still have friends and family there, so we are able to keep in touch via emails. This also applies to our many friends over here. So much easier to send an email as there is often a time difference to consider.

Anyway, that explains some of where my time goes each day on the computer, but then there is the life away from the computer doing the boring household things like washing, drying, cooking. My hobbies such as sewing take up time too. I like to do handwork when I sit down in the evenings to watch TV and I do any machine work during the day. I always have several projects on the go from smocking and embroidery, to knitting and crochet. I have more ideas of things I want to make than I will ever have time to complete. Like many people who sew I have a stash that never seems to get any smaller, even though I really have been very good and not added to it for many months. I have been trying to make things using everything from my stash (and that includes buttons, trim and threads). It makes it so much more satisfying to know that I didn't have to buy anything. The things I like to make are varied, but since learning about smocking and heirloom sewing some 12 years ago, I make quite a few children's items. Not having any children ourselves, most of the things I make get given away (but I photograph them and keep a record). I always have something on hand for a new baby and make friends little girls dresses and such. I am sure I will cover this area of my life and interests in more detail ad infinitum.


I also attend a watercolour art class each week and although I rarely find time to paint at home, do enjoy my three hours in class. Depending on the time of year, I also have the small front and back gardens to attend too, which are planted with perennials, so not too difficult to maintain. Then there are organizations I belong to with meetings to attend, such as the local chapter of SAGA and a group for woman with British connections, called the Daughter's of the British Empire (DBE), which sounds very pompous, but isn't. Plus the all important lunches with friends here and there. Some weeks I hardly find time to be at home during the day!

All that having been said, time waits for no man and it's dinner time. So I end today's blog and get on with my other life.

New Year, New Blog

I finally set up my Blog page. I have wanted to get one started for ages, but always found something else to do. It's not like I need another way to 'waste time' on the computer or anything, just thought it was a good way to start a diary come journal. Who knows, it may make me famous!

I will most likely jump from subject to subject, just as I do when I am talking with people, but then that is me-too much going on in my brain and not all of it relevant.

Hopefully I can add to this on a regular basis, if not I'll let our computer cat, Catsby, add to it for me. We have two tabby cats, Paris and Catsby (litter mates and 14 years old now). Catsby loves to sit next to or on top of the computer mouse (where else?) and also tries to influence what keys are pushed on the keyboard-dangerous when I am doing the on-line banking! He also likes to see what is going on in the world, but only from the BBC website, of course. He is right here with me now, and feigning sleep. He is ever hopeful that I'll stop typing and tickle him.

So, it's the first day of 2009, and here where we live in Connecticut we have snow. It snowed New Year's Eve during the day and although it melted quite a bit as the sun was out, we still have a white layer in the garden. The temperature hasn't been much above 25 today, so no doubt it will all freeze again tonight. The birds emptied the big feeder with help from the local squirrel population so that needs a refill, along with the two samll feeders. That's another of Catsby's interests, watching the birds on the feeders from the computer desk. His brother, Paris, just likes to sleep, eat and sit on my lap just as I pick up my sewing or knitting.

Spent this morning putting away the Christmas decorations. We have no room for a tree, so I put out my collection of Father Christmases, on bookcases, shelves etc. Not one of them is the same and they all shapes and sizes. The cards we get go in a wire wreath on a door. It all looks bare when they all get taken down. Still, need to do that before Twelth Night and as it's housework tomorrow, it got done today.

Housework-there's something I really don't like doing, but it has to be done as I don't like the place looking dirty and untidy! We only live in a small house, so it doesn't take too long and as we pick up and put things away everyday, it helps a lot. Our house is very unusal for the area as it is made of brick and in a row of four houses joined together. That's called terraced in England, here they call them townhouses. We have a small front and back garden which help make it look very English. It has just two bedrooms, one bathroom, living room and eat in kitchen, but also has a basement, which is great for storage and also where the washing machine and tumble drier are.

Well, I guess that's enough for today. Who knows what I will ramble on about the next time? I am stopping now as it is dinner time and I am hungry (fish sticks, oven chips and and baked beans tonight-yummy!).