Last of the Summer Whine

So alright, I have been going through the photos & not ALL of the Summer was a wash out.
Here are some of the better things that happened.

 The Prince's brother & his girlfriend came for the weekend & we wandered into the village & had dinner while watching the fun fair. Wandered back along the seafront home again. Nice.

 I remember the part of Harry Potter that described a tinder dry countryside & hosepipe bans etc & thought "well she seems to have lost it there". Turns out she was right. The "Green & Pleasant Land" does indeed dry out to an alarming extent. Who knew??

 Loads of lovely walks along the beautiful seafront. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE where we live??

 Turning one room in the house into a B&B & 2 into accommodation for student leaders turned out to be a great idea. We met some lovely people & I supplemented my income.

 I did some events. This is a Sunday morning on the hills behind Brighton, 10km run. My fave was the guy who turned up last, took off running, finished, jumped back in his car & left. All in under an hour!! Sicko!! LOL

 Morning visits from this little guy. Hard to see but in the middle on the garage roof. Diego is convinced he can catch him. Helped along by the little guy waggling his tail in a "come & get me" motion before scampering off in hysterics. Poor cat has no chance even if he has become an aficionado at catching mice in the neigbours shed.

Discovered an excellent local restaurant. Chef has worked in "hatted" restaurants & now has his own restaurant. Best pork belly I have ever tasted & The Prince said the fish was damn fine. Crescent Road Restaurant in Downtown Worthing. YUMMO!!

The Prince. Not drowning. Waving.

Had loads of swims with the Prince. People think we were a bit weird swimming but the water was warm & definitely inviting. I would rush home, change & off we would go. Lovely. If we had this kind of location in Australia it would be packed! Not that everyone stays out of the water, there are tons of these every week.

Weird fungal growth on tree in the park. Hope the tree survives.

Things to do when you are left with 6 pints of double cream? Make caramel sauce! Recommend you only keep one jar. Thankfully the Prince needed some gift bags for some project participants. Lush Home Made to the rescue. I even made the patriotic bunting.

 Now I need to go finish this baby quilt. Said brother, girlfriend & new baby are arriving at 5pm. So far it is still in rows. Can I give a top then take it back for finishing?? I am sure it's been done before. Right??

 One final tip. Don't quilt tired!! LOL
Loving what I do

Lush x

I know what I did this Summer

OR Farewell my big toenail!! LOL

I will try to put this in chronological order but make no promises.

The Little Red Money Pit should have been working like crazy & making us a mint but first off the brakes failed as I mentioned in this post. Then when I went to get it through the MOT inspection it failed in spectacular fashion due to; wait for it; damaged beyond repair bearing, arm & hub, likely caused by the brake repairers!!! Add the replacement bill to the batteries & that my friends is another £1000!! Boo yah!!

Do you know how much FABRIC that could buy???? Sobbing hysterically!! Actually it could quilt all the outstanding tops & then some!!

So while I was sitting on my duff, tearing my hair out & getting a sun tan (yeah, that was what I was doing)

Weird tan bought to you by Great British Summer & Birkenstocks! LOL

I decided to price up all the stuff lying around here that I could give to friend JB to flog in her new shop "Grand Attic" (it's in Lancing - you should go look, they have great stuff). I have also been sewing stuff to sell. I know, s.e.w.i.n.g. Actual sewing. I was thinking I may have forgotten how but just like riding a bike it all came back to me.

Sewing room is sooooo bright I have to wear sunglasses if sewing around the middle of the day!

Why yes, that is my geriatric second hand Pfaff I am sewing on! We don't talk about the heart attack inducing expensive POC that can't sew a seam without making me want to throw it out the window!!

As an aside, you do not always remember how to ride a bike. After more years than I care to admit 30 odd, I had a go at bike riding this Summer & it was not so much a success, as it was a terror filled few minutes in the back lane that felt like damned HOURS. I like to think that if I had a different bike, like one that was closer to the ground, it might end better. That is my delusion & I am clinging to it for dear life. I really want to be able to ride around this flat town of ours. Thinking of getting training wheels again. :)
Actually, reviewing the photos in your camera is a good exercise. We did do some events & learnt a hell of a lot!! 
Questions to ask when told the footfall will be 5000 & before you go buy 240 litres of milk. "How much advertising have you done?" If the answer is none then you should rapidly adjust your sales forecast & therefore your milk requirements. Either that or buy a bigger freezer. Way bigger. Way.
When told the price of a pitch, "HOW MUCH??? can we negotiate that down to less than the annual debt of a small South American nation please??".  Remember, sometimes it's OK to say no.
When asked why your coffee is not 60p per cup, it's OK to grit your teeth & hold your grounds. No need to explain the complicated business of insurance & other petty business expenses.
When asked "do you have a business plan that I could borrow, it could help my wife/partner/husband/whatever, they are interested in doing this as it seems a really easy way to make a fortune". Just step away from the jug of scalding water. Now!!

We prefer to work in sunshine!

It may not be going quite as well as we planned (seriously, what drugs were we on that day?? LOL) BUT I am still having fun most days, not yet quite bankrupt & am happy with my choices so it's all good. Besides, I have decided I could always get a job in Waitrose.

Loving what I do

Lush x

PS: sewing photos in another post soon.

Choices

Some of the time they can really suck big ones!! I am having a revelation day.

I am no longer going to let the choices control me. I may not be able to control the choices BUT I am going to endeavour to control my REACTION to the choices. I am also going to choose better when I can & if I don't, realise & acknowledge I am choosing not to.

Wish me luck. I'm gunna need it!!

Loving what I do & the opportunity of the choices life throws my way.

Lush xox

PS: Photos of actual sewing when I can figure out how to connect my phone thang to my computer thang :)

Oh I do love to be beside the Seaside!!!

Or Why Brits get into so much trouble when they swim at Bondi (or any other Aussie beach).

So the other day in the continuing saga of "the brakes for the little red truck", I had to go to Hove to pick up the 4 measly missing bolts (how they got to Hove is another story! but I digress) Here was the beach advisory.

 Check that air & water temperature people, this is Summer Brit style!! The sea mist? Just another common feature of a day at the beach here.

Somewhere there is the rusted hulk of the old or west pier. Yup, somewhere in the middle. Trust me, it's there OK?

This is how folks here enjoy the beach. Up on the promenade. Away from the water. Way away. Where they can be surreptitiously photographed by Australians.

Then they have random news reporters from Saudi Arabia come along and film them. 
I shit you not! I would love to have one of these huts. If I didn't live 2 streets back from the beach! LOL I just like the idea of decorating the space & pretending to be far away on a holiday.

The view from the most scenic loo in the world (or maybe just West Sussex??) Marks & Spencer's Worthing. Can you imagine what that view would be worth in Australia? I can assure you it would be too expensive for a loo!

See I really do love what I am doing.

Lush x

Just call me Grumpnuggett!!

OK, I warn you this post is a whiny rant. I do not seek sympathy cause let's face it my life is not that bad & in fact it is generally really good; I have the love of my life by my side, my health (touch wood) is not too bad at present & I live in a spectacularly beautiful part of the world BUT just sometimes the cards don't fall the way we want them, things get annoying & we all need a little rant in our lives.

So you know I have the cutest little truck in the world & am trying to make a living flogging coffee etc to the good burgers of Sussex yes? And you know that it is not the cash cow people think it is yes? As an aside - why do random strangers think it's OK to spend 20 minutes asking you the ins & outs of your personal/business finances, telling you that "you must be making a killing & nudge, nudge, wink, wink pay no tax" then not buy anything!!! I wish I earned enough to pay tax!!! People on benefits earn more than me!!!

See I told you it was a rant.

OK so the little truck has had some bad mojo happening lately. Started with the brakes failing in spectacular style 2 weeks ago when JB was driving to the Rec ( I finally caved & get JB to do a day per week for me, 7 days a week when it is not raining was killing me). Most importantly she is OK but the little red truck ends up in the shop. 

1000 pounds please. I know, heart attack right there yeah?

So it gets better. I asked them to do 3 things. Eat the cake that was in the truck. Remove the milk from the fridge. Charge the fridge/pump/machine batteries every night - a simple matter of plugging in a cable.

Guess which one they did? 300 pounds for new batteries!! and that fridge may never smell right again!!!

Then today, (cause this can only get better yeah??) getting photos of the battery information numbers so I can order new ones & the door to the battery hatch comes off in my hands!!! Boo Yah!!!! That's the hat trick right there!!!

So all this is to get the frustration off my chest & resign myself to the fact that it is impossible for me to justify attendance at Fat Quarter Retreat. I was so looking forward to catching up with my imaginary friends in person again but sadly I just cannot justify the expense!! 

The money for the repairs? That my friends is why they have extended limits on credit cards!!

Here is a video of Daisy in a bone coma. Need to remember to laugh & that life is not that bad, just very bloody annoying sometimes!!

Trying really hard to remember that I am loving what I do (she says through gritted teeth)

Lush x

Just a Quickie!

Almost forgot I had these photos lurking in the phone camera and even though they are old I still want them here for posterity so here we go!
Had a chance some time back to go to a big car boot with friend JB. This was the real deal, up before the birds, off to the wilds & come to a huge airfield. No chance of missing the turnoff then.

 Loads of fun, interesting items (cause why would you not have your vacuum as a coffee table?) 

 and you know you have had fun when you need a trolley to take your things to the car. Yes?

On a recent trip to the hardware store I came around the aisles & was confronted by this wall of toilet seats. 

Is it just me or do we really need this much choice in what is an essentially unseen object?? Really?? Really?? OK just me then??

Loving what I do
Lush x

 

A little sewing, at last!

I have managed to get a little sewing done, not much but a little! I have completed another set of Sew Euro Bee an blocks. Not sure i will ever be caught up but just trying to not drown. Muchos apologies to my fellow members but I am trying, really.

Anyhoo, when I received this fabric I was not convinced of the plan but after cutting & stitching & seeing the original inspiration I am a convert. Just lovely, reminds me of sparkling water or diamond facets, can't wait to see the finished article.

I also needed to spruce up the spare bedroom with some colour so made up these cushions in some hand screen printed fabric from Prints Charming. Couple of hours & a finish, gotta love that!!! Cath & Kirsten from Prints Charming are both lovely, they have a range of fabric out with Free Spirit.

Check out my 50 pence @ car boot cane table, coat of paint works a treat!

 Gives a little pop of colour to an otherwise very white room. Now I am off to do a little baking & then maybe catch up on another set of blocks. Wish me luck!!

Loving what I do.

Lush x