Periwinkle Growing Wild

Hello Everyone

Its me again with another brief post. 

I just wanted to show you this bank of periwinkles spotted yesterday just by the bridge I have to cross on my way to the nearest corner shop.

It's growing wild on an embankment on what is our local community nature reserve. I suspect that we have to thank local gardeners for tipping their garden waste for this pretty sight. 

Yes, I live just a few yards from a nature reserve! How lucky is that? 

It was established some years ago by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) in the old Caledonian Railway cutting at Ardrossan. No longer run by SWT it has become quite neglected and the old line is too overgrown to be accessible to walkers. Fortunately, that doesn't stop me enjoying the view from the bridge. 

Elizabeth

What Was On My Desk

Hello Everyone

As has become my usual I'm once again too late for Julia's weekly desk fest over on the Stamping Ground. Things here at Casa Worthington are still very unsettled, difficult even, so this will be a very brief post but one that's well overdue. 

And it's to thank Julia for this lovely ATC and card received after the 14th WOYWW Anniversary. I wasn't able to join in this year but I appreciate the thought. It arrived on a day when I was feeling particularly down and it cheered me up to feel I'm still part of this wonderful community.

Thank you Julia. 

And thank you ladies for allowing me to stay involved despite not turning up weekly for now. 

Elizabeth

WOYWW - Week 728 - The 14th Anniversary One

Hello Everyone

It's such a special week for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, the brainchild of of our Head Desker, Julia. I imagine when she posted the first WOYWW fourteen years she didn't foresee just how popular we would find the opportunity to be nosy and enjoy taking a peek at each others desks. But the fun hasn't stopped there - there's been the almost yearly crops where many of us got to actually meet other WOYWWers in person. 

ATCs received from Wipso, Twiglet & LLJ today.

And there's the friendships made that have perhaps been unexpected but very much appreciated! Friends like the three lovely ladies who made and sent their fabulous 14th Anniversary ATCs pictured above - including me in the celebrations despite knowing that I'm not able to reciprocate this year. 

I've peeked at Julia's post today and she puts into words the value of WOYWW so much better than I am able, especially for those of us who, like me, can only participate occasionally at the moment.

There's been no scrapping again this week. Mainly because I had to clear the decks to enable an electrician access to my room. He has put a source of power in Alan's scooter hut so the battery can be charged in situ and that necessitated boring a hole through the wall of the house into the wall of the hut. That battery weighs a ton so I'm glad I don't have to bring it into the house to be charged now! 

Instead of scrapping I've taken up crochet again. I've realised that, as I was spending a lot of time sitting and chatting with Alan, I could be exercising my arthritic hands at the same time. It's just a big granny square like the one below. 

Nothing complicated and no deadline either. 

Here's the Silver pic of the week. 

Not napping this time but chasing a red light, her new favourite game. 

And finally a photo from the Saltcoats, the neighbouring town to Ardrossan. 

That's my SIL 'walking on water'! There's an old neglected swimming pool, the wall of which makes for fun photos when the tide is in. 

I planned a much shorter post to mark What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday's fourteenth anniversary but got a bit carried away. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I hope you all have a fabulous day/week celebrating. 

Hugs to you all,
Elizabeth 

What's On Your Workdesk - Week 727

Hello Everyone,

Goodness! I'm here for another WOYWW, hosted as ever by our wonderful Head Desker, Julia over on her blog, the Stamping Ground. And it's lovely to be able to join in again so soon after the last time a couple of weeks ago.

Many thanks to all who commented on my last WOYWW post - I can't begin to tell you how much your comment help me feel as though I still belong, in a very small way, to this wonderful crafting community.

Apologies to those of you I didn't leave a comment. Life just got in the way but I won't bore you with the gory details. 

Happily, I do have something on my desk today. 

Not, as you might hope, anything scrappy or crafty related but something I am hoping to work on over the summer months, when time permits. I love primula auriculas and did have several in my last garden. I only managed to bring these two with me. 

Lovely, aren't they?

I didn't envisage how much I'd miss them so I'm going to attempt to grow some from seed. Hopefully, the Wisely Handbook will help me succeed. Wish me luck!

Silver, as ever, finds the most comfortable spot to snooze in, this time she's as snug as a bug on a blanket crocheted by my late mum. 

To bring you up to date on what's going on with hubby. Today we ordered a wheelchair - the kind that folds up for traveling. He already has a walker which is great for him getting about the flat but not so good for getting around hospitals and supermarkets, etc. The wheelchair should make it possible for him to get out and about a bit more. 

I'm off, with my daughter, to get my hair done later today and not before time! As usual I will do my best to visit and comment on your posts but just in case I don't have a wonderful week everyone. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth 

In a Vase on May Day Monday

Hello Everyone, 

I hope you've all had a lovely May Day. It's been beautiful here. So nice in fact it got me out into the garden to see what, if anything, is in flower. 

Not a lot but enough to display in a tiny jug. It's been many a month since I last participated in Kathy's meme, In A Vase On Monday, but for good reason. We moved house in October last year and the garden has been very low on my list of priorities. 

I was prompted by the image on the front of my May issue of The Simple Things to create this layout of my finds. I believe this is what is called a flatlay by those in the know. 

I hope to be able to contribute more often but that's rather dependent on what, if any, other plants are hiding in our very neglected garden, or in the few pots brought with us.  

There's weeds and where there are weeds there's hope!

Until next time,

Elizabeth

What's (Not) On My Desk Wednesday - Week 725

Hello Everyone,

I've as good as missed Julia's WOYWW this week, just as I have for the last goodness knows how many weeks. Truth is I've hit a crafting low and I'd say there's no hope of it improving any time soon. After almost three years of caring for my disabled hubby things haven't improved for him, in fact, if anything, they've got worse, and I'm just about coping with all the demands of the job. A job that I was clearly unprepared, and sadly unqualified, for, that is as a full-time carer.

So for the foreseeable future I've decided that rather than leave this blog empty and unloved I'd use it to record life as it is for me now with all it's ups and maybe a few of the downs. That being the case I'd completely understand if you skipped reading further and ignored my blog until I get back to crafting again.

Now the challenges and issues we face daily are such a contrast from the seemingly charmed life Alan and I had for 26 years. For those years I'm so grateful - the memories keep me/us going through the tough times. 

One thing I've been encouraged to do recently is to walk. Ideally a daily walk but I've yet to manage that. Happily there's lots to see in and around the town I now live in. Like the Marina pictured above.

There's the North Beach and ,,,

the South Beach.

A recent happy discovery is this Italian cafe close to home which we can both visit on days when Alan feels up to trips out on his trusty mobility scooter.

And from his point of view the real bonus is there's an old-fashioned sweet shop inside the cafe. He will never have to go short of the lemon sherbet sweets he loves so much. 

As for the downs, Alan has more bad days than good. I've had to call out an ambulance, during the night, twice in the last few weeks. I can't thank our local ambulance service enough. They are amazing.

It is what it is.

I'll leave you with this shot of Silver. She really knows how to relax. 

Bye for now

Elizabeth

 

WOYWW - WEEK 718

Hello Everyone,

Happy International Women's Day to you all. Thanks for visiting and I hope this finds you well and enjoying lots of crafting time. 

So another three weeks has sped by and I've been missing in action again! Still trying to get my new craftroom sorted but I'm getting there, slowly but surely. A new desk and shelving has been added. 

With thanks to my daughter and her hubby for assembling it all for me. Silver approves too. 

I'm still unpacking but taking my time to finding a home for everything. The labeling of the boxes is essential or I won't be able to find a thing. 

There's someone coming tomorrow to mount the TV up out of the way on the wall above the desk. Then the next big job I have lined up is to set up my PC and all its attachments on my desk in such a way it's taking up the least possible space. Such fun!

I've had very little time, or inclination if I'm honest, to scrap for several weeks but I did join in with the Mind The Scrap Cyber Crop recently and manage to create these four layouts. 

Not great but every little helps. 

It's still cold up here though we've not seen so much as a flake of the promised snow. Not that I'm complaining as it would put a stop to my occasional walkabouts. Here's a couple of pics from a recent walk to the beach. 

In a garden a few doors down. 

And this is a rare site - a post box! This one was tucked inside a privet hedge, almost in hiding. 

And, of course, the beach. 

The vessel that can be seen in the distance is the ferry to the Isle of Arran. 

That's it from me today. I'm late again but, as it's still Wednesday, I hope I'll be forgiven by not only our Head Desker, Julia, over on the Stamping Ground but by all you lovely WOYWWers! 

Before I go here's a wonderful photo taken of the Aurora borealis (also known as the Northern Lights) seen here in Ardrossan one night last week. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth 

WOYWW - Week 714

Hello Everyone,

Goodness, it's been quite a while! Lots of reasons most of which I will resist boring you with here. Instead here's a shot of my workdesk, such as it is, today. 

As you can see I'm still working on a makeshift desk, actually a camping table,  but it's at least in what will be the new craftroom. I'll not deny there's lots to do yet. The old craft desk had served me well for something like sixteen years.

Beautiful but far too big. So, regretfully, it had to go. It's now in a local primary school and I hope the children there get as much pleasure using it as I have. It certainly took the sting out of parting with it to know it was going to a very good cause.

A new, smaller, desk has been ordered and delivered. It's flatpack so I await the help of a handyman to put it together. I look forward to posting a photo very soon. 

 

Time for scrapping is short but I've managed a few (13 so far) pages by working in short bursts. Here's just a few. 

That's Christmas and winter done with for now. The days are warming, sunshine has even been spotted hereabouts and I can feel that Spring is just around the corner. Happy days ahead!

Have a wonderful WOYWW and a fabulously crafty week ahead. 

Bye for now,
Elizabeth

Happy New Year - 2023

 

Wishing you all you wish for you and yours for the coming year. 

Elizabeth