Daily Drivel

Told you it was funky purple...

I just had a much appreciated visit from a friend - she brought lunch and some lovely flowers and made me a nice hot drink. I also got her to get the memory card for my little snappy camera so I could share my colourful cast with you on my less than attractive leg ;-)  

Warning - Motorsport can be Dangerous!

So - what I should be sharing with you here are some nice photos of various cars driving up Prescott Hill Climb at speed. Unfortunately our day out yesterday didn't go as planned. We had a nice couple of hours before I managed to trip over and fall down a small slope and break my leg :-(

Trip to the local hospital in an ambulance (lovely paramedic - he did A level textiles and preferred crochet to knitting!) and xray confirmed what I thought (it's not usually good when you hear a crack - I looked down and my camera seemed ok and my leg felt NOT ok!). They put me in a temporary plaster. This morning I went to my local hospital and had a proper cast put on - sexy purple fibreglass one. Will get a photo soon. They then xrayed me again and say that so far it looks ok and hopefully I won't need an op. Mind you - given how crap I am at using crutches I seriously need to stick to the sofa as much as possible. Recent trip to the bathroom was not fun as I lost my balance negotiating a TINY difference in height between hall and bathroom - I mean - like maybe 2cm. Nothing. I got it wrong and wobbled backwards and had no choice but to put my poor bad leg on the ground. Hope I haven't done any more damage. Will be using lovely walking frame for all moving around from now on. Trouble is - it doesn't fit down the side of our bed (tiny bedroom!). I'm seriously thinking of sleeping on the sofa - it's further to walk but it's an easier route.

Have to go back to hospital next week for another xray so please keep your fingers crossed for me (which reminds me - wiggle toes. That's better.).

Now - where did I put my knitting?!

Alpaca babies!

I went to visit a friend this morning who keeps alpacas - 2 of them have just had babies and they are very cute! Not the best photos I've ever taken but these chaps don't like to keep still and pose nicely for you ;-) and it was really windy too. Hopefully I'll be able to visit again for another photo session. I took 99 photos and it's going to be hard to pick just a few to share.

The promise of some food got them moving!

The babies:

Funky fringes!

What is this thing?!

Sorry - is that too many Alpacas for one day?! I'll end with a nice dog photo :-)

Caen Hill Locks

On Sunday we drove down to Devizes and had pleasant walk by the canal at Caen Hill. The flight of locks is an impressive sight - although I struggled to really capture them in any of my photos. Will have to go back and try again! Here are some photos from the day.

We stopped at the Caen Hill Cafe and enjoyed a lovely scone and cup of tea while we waited for the weather to improve :-)

Then we took a gentle stroll down to the bottom

 

and back up again!

I love the blue sky and fluffy clouds in this last one

This might take some time!

My dad used to take a lot of photos. Many of them are slides and I remember sitting through many 'slide shows' in our front room! I've been meaning to have a proper look at them for ages. I want to scan some and make some photobooks.

I remember making this 'snow monster'. I must have been about 8 years old.

 

I dread to think how long it is going to take me to go through all the old slides, nevermind the prints. I really wish someone had bothered to write on the back of the photos and index the slides. Unfortunately there are lots of photos of people who I don't know and there's nobody I can ask :-( but lots of the photos, like my snow monster above, really bring back memories!

Success!

Well, after a bit of a disasterous start to doing some silver jewellery making at home yesterday I have had better luck today! I've finally got round to setting up my little barrel polisher and gave it a bit of a test today polishing up a couple of pairs of little bird earrings I've been making. I cut them out of some silver sheet which I was going to use for something else. The sheet had been acid etched which is why it has a bumpy texture.

After polishing, I then had a go at using a boiled egg to oxidise the silver. I boiled an egg (past it's use by date - I always manage to waste a few eggs each month!), then while it was still steaming hot, quickly cut it into 4 (left the shell on) and put it into a re-sealable bag with the earrings and sealed it up. I checked it after 30 mins and the silver was quite dark, apart from the areas which were sitting on the plastic bag. I moved them and re-sealed and left a little longer.

This is what they looked like straight out of the bag (click for full size photo - they are slightly cropped here):

And after a bit of work with some polishing papers to remove some of the oxidisation:

The colours on this pair are really pretty - not sure how long they will stay that way! It's almost gold coloured in places. Time I bought some Renaissance wax polish - I believe it helps seal the surface and stops the oxidisation process.

These came out rather plain - not sure why there is such a difference but there are plenty more eggs in the cupboard! I think next time I will use a small air tight container as it was tricky to put the items in the bag so that the surface I wanted to oxidise stayed in the right place!

And lastly, photographed on a 5p piece so you can get an idea of their size!

Finished my quilt!

I finished this a week or so ago. It's not particularly big (about 42" square) as it's my first quilt and I was quite worried I might not finish it if I tried to make a massive one! I decided to do the quilting in straight lines,black thread on black, cream on cream, using my walking foot and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. It was difficult keeping the quilting accurate at the points of each square and I did miss a few times but I don't think it is too bad! Can't wait to start on another one as I have some lovely jelly rolls to try out (click on photo for full image)

 

Last photo from our break in Wales - I promise!

On our way back from Portmeirion we stopped to see if I could get a photo of a steam train going over the bridge by Aberglaslyn pass. After settling myself on top of some rocks and planning my shots we sat and waited for the next train. Not long before it was due a nice lady decided to stand in front of me so I decided to move and ended up almost in the river. I only got my feet slightly wet taking this!

Portmeirion

On Monday we had a leisurely breakfast and then went to Portmeirion for the day. The weather was amazing again although it was quite breezy at times. It's a lovely place with loads of photo opportunities. I'd like to go back again next time we are in the area. It's definitely worth a visit. Lots of photos with this post even though I've been quite restrained! I took loads ;-)

The sky was ridiculously blue - no polariser required!

I even ate blue ice cream - the colour matched a lot of the paintwork very nicely!

We went for a walk along the coast and through the woods - where they have these money trees! Haha. We couldn't quite work out how people got the coins stuck so firmly into these trunks.

The little lake area was very pretty

After our walk we stopped off in one of the cafes and A was very happy to find they sold his favourite double-decker custard slices. Yum!

We then had another wander round before heading back to the campsite.

Porthmadog to Caernarfon...

On Sunday we got up early to get to Porthmadog in time for the 9.30am train to Caernarfon (the Welsh Highland Railway). We arrived in plenty of time and enjoyed an excellent breakfast in the station cafe (erm, did someone day 'what diet?'). I had the vegetarian option and it was very tasty!

The weather was amazing and we managed to get a seat on the open carriage. It was a bit breezy at times but well worth it. This dog seemed to be enjoying the views too!

There was some rather unusual cargo on board - a large canoe. Unloading it was interesting to say the least!

The route is rather bendy in places which makes for some interesting photo opportunities!

We had about 2 hours in caernarfon before our return train so we had some lunch and then visited the castle. I've not been before and I have to say it is very impressive!

I loved all the long dark passages - very spooky!

You need substantial security for a castle like this ;-)