Back in business

You'll be pleased to know the Marmadaisy shop is back online!

Hurrah!

Moving

I have spent all day looking on t'interweb for a new house closer to work.

I can't afford the nice areas, so to cheer myself up I played in Youtube for a while.

This Blur video from 1999 is beautiful. Enjoy.

She's baaaaaack!

Hello hello hello I've missed you!


Right, I knew I would be moving again (thanks for the roof John!) so I hadn't unpacked any of my stuff. I have now sorted it all out and will be moving house on Saturday - just under one week. I will hopefully get some time to bloggidy blog then. Unfortunately, I left my camera at my sister's over Christmas like a dunce, so I've been having to use my phone to take pictures and they're not really good enough to blog. I haven't even managed to get any crafty stuff done (on account of it all being boxed up)

But, here's what I have been up to ...

These are my OLD teeth:
... these are my shiny NEW teeth.
Technically, they're not new. They are my own teeth that I had filed and shaped to even them out. The worst bit was the 5 - count 'em - injections I had to have first. I didn't even faint or anything!

Also, I got together with some good friends for much silliness:

And drank expensive cocktails in the big smoke:

Met some new friends:

Behaved very badly on the tube:

Lived it up at the dogs:

Found out who my REAL friends are:

And changed my blog name!

It's a quote from Virginia Woolf, she claimed that a woman ought to have a room of her own in which to create. Ironically, I did have that in Wales in that massive house and it was wonderful, and now effectively it's ALL I have. But hey ho - when life hands you lemons ... you get some tequila and salt to go with it!

MIA

Apologies bloggers! I know I have been crap.

I won't bore you all with the details, but I have have had a major change in circumstances and have relocated to England from Wales. I know you'll understand that I have other things going on at the moment and I just don't have time to devote to Marmadaisy this side of Christmas.
I'll be back to blogging in the New Year, with a new layout and shiny new tutorials and craft stuff (hopefully).
In the meantime, I'm still loving reading all your blogs and feel free to comment or email me directly for a little chat.
Take care all
xxxx

What's wrong with this picture?

This is my fabulous, shiny, new, state of the art guest bathroom.
Except it isn't.
This isn't what it should look like, two weeks before the house guests arrive.

This is half of the brand new bath-cum-steam room ensemble thing. In the kitchen. In the place where the new sofa should be. Which hasn't arrived.

And this is the dining room which should by now be half-full of wonderful, thoughtful, beautifully hand-crafted Christmas presents. We can't currently get in the for all the shower equipment.

I didn't take one of the tiles, sink, toilet and various other "oddments" in the bedroom.

Things are never that easy, are they?

Senior moments

Senior moment #1
Half way to my destination, suddenly panicking because I hadn't put my car keys in my bag (I was driving the car at the time)

Senior moment #2
Hunting high and low for sunglasses, which were sitting atop of my head

Senior moment #3
Talking on the phone, suddenly exclaiming "oh no! I've lost my phone"

Senior moment #4
Posting a link to a technical wiring diagram for Mr Marmadaisy's car, instead of a link to April's site (thanks Marie for pointing that out)

Senior moment #5
Sending the same link to my reporter contact at the local paper instead of Mr Marmadaisy, then telling him off for saying he hadn't got it

Senior moment #6
Turning up half an hour late for an event, going into the room, thinking it was the wrong room, and waiting outside until people came out only to realise I had missed the entire thing

These are all in the last week!

And worst of all, Senior moment #7 I caught myself today saying "it's only 11 weeks until Christmas"

I ...

I got this from April.

I am: kind
I think: of others
I know: tomorrow's another day
I have: love
I wish: I hadn't wanted all the wrong things - and got them
I hate: waste
I miss: the naivety of youth
I fear: making the same mistake twice
I hear: a dog whining and the beach boys
I smell: wet dogs
I crave: sleep
I search: for latent talent
I wonder: if I'll ever get married
I regret: rien
I love: all the important people
I ache: too much for my age
I am not: stupid
I believe: in karma
I dance: badly (but with gusto)
I sing: ditto
I cry: at the slightest thing
I fight: for my beliefs
I win: some
I lose: some
I never: eat meat
I always: mean it
I confuse: most people
I listen: actively
I can usually be found: under two or three dogs
I am scared: too often
I need: validation
I am happy about: how things turned out
I imagine: the possibilties

Let's hear all about YOU!

** Sorry April about the wrong link. I blame the red wine.

Why I love Freecycle

Before Mr Marmadaisy hurt his ankle, he had arranged to go to London for the week. Being extra organised, he had booked his train tickets in advance (first class, because they cost a fraction of the price if you book ahead). Anyway, after buggering his ankle he obviosuly couldn't go. The tickets are non-refundable so he thought he might as well give them away on Freecycle. A man came to collect them on Monday night and mentioned that he was using them to visit his elderly mother.

Yesterday, we got a hand written letter:

"Thank you for giving the rail ticket, and giving my son the opportunity to see me in London. He doesn't come very often because he can ill afford it ... and I am no longer able to travel. Thank you again for your generosity."

Awwww.

Being very brave

Thank you for all the kind comments about Mr Marmadaisy.
Because of wearing a cast (which **fingers crossed** comes off on Friday), he can't do all the usual "man-jobs" around the place. Which means I had to conquer my fear of ladders this week to mend a crack in the outside wall.
I mean, I'm fine with heights, it's just being at a great height on a wobbly thing that I'm not too happy about.

Anyway.
Here I am getting stuck half-way.

Here I am getting stuck three quarters of the way up.

And here I am letting go of the rungs long enough to actually fill the crack.

Phew!

All About Mr Marmadaisy

(Lots of pictures)

Mr Marmadaisy has been very busy this weekend.

The weather was glorious so he took the opportunity to get out his new scaffolding and paint the back of the house.

It's a big job!
And some bits were a bit tricky ...

Mr Marmadaisy also made some yummy (healthy) juice for breakfast.

1 orange, 2 carrots and about 1 inch of ginger:

(Mrs Marmadaisy's tip: use a biodegradable bag (or piece of newspaper) to tip the solid bits into then just throw in the compost.

And then THIS happened.

It's either fractured or badly sprained. He has fractured it so many times that the doctors don't *think* it has broken this time but aren't sure. It certainly wasn't fun to hear him screeching in the garden and running out to find him on the floor. I was expecting to see the bone poking out when we took his shoe off. Oh! The perils of walking on your own lawn!! He tripped over a small hole (probably done by one of the diggy dogs).

He's fine, by the way. This was just the temporary cast, we went to hospital again today and he chose a hot pink one (Manly!!) which he will keep for 2-3 weeks.

So I'm on 24 hour tea duty (and get my slippers, get my glasses, carry my laptop ...... ad nauseum)

Going wild

I just read this very interesting article about reintroducing several species of wild animal which are now extinct in Britain, including beavers, wild boar and wolves.

Personally, I think a lot more thought needs to go into it before letting these creatures loose on modern Britain, although I'm in favour "in theory". I know there's a lot of controversy locally over the culling of wild goats on Snowdon (if left unchecked they over populate and cause massive damage to the eco-system). Although I certainly see the need to control numbers, the idea of an annual cull doesn't sit very comfortably with me at all. It might be a more natural way to control numbers. But then, that's easy for me to say as I'm not a farmer who might have his flock decimated by a pack of wolves.

In case you're interested, the largest native carnivore in modern Britain is the badger.

Unfortunately, when searching for a picture to illustrate this post I was directed to some rather ghastly pro-hunting sites. Blech. The picture is from here.

Sorry about the lack of blogging activity. There is (as always) a story involved, and I have pictures on the camera which I haven't moved over yet.

Exactly what it says on the button

From here.

Thanks Julia for the tip.

Tree Fella

As seems to be the common theme in blogland this week (at least in the UK) we have been making to most of the break in the rain and tidying up the garden a bit. That's a "Royal" we, of course. I've mainly just been supervising.
The extent of my participation was when I had to drive the tractor with the trailer on while Mr Marmadaisy carried the other end of a 21ft tree.
Anyone who knew me when I was learning to drive will have an idea of what this was like.

What I should have done was take a picture of the original location (the bottom field) so you could appreciate how difficult it was to get this tree from there, across 2 fields, round the back of the house and into position at the end of the garden. After getting it off the tractor we had to carry it between us (6 inches at a time) another 30 feet to position. It's going to form the side of a path that Mr Marmadaisy is making to link two sections of garden.

Watching all that hard work is exhausting!

And here is the "so far" picture of our bonfire. We're having our first bonfire party (get set for your history lesson and Guy pictures)* this year, so it needs to be a goodie.
* My friend April doesn't need the history lesson. I know this because we sat next to each other for 2 years of GCSE history where we learned all about Guy Fawkes.

The sewing machine ... A girl's best friend

Take a look at this, which has really made me giggle today.

Nerd, Geek or Dork?

You might have seen this bit of fun over at Moogsmum.* Now, she says that we can earn "geek points" but I don't think it's open JUST to geeks. I think nerds and dorks can join in too.

If you're also a pedant, like me, you might already know which category you fall in to. If not, drag yourself away from Buffy/ Linux/ learning Klingon and take this test.

I am a:

Pure Nerd
91 % Nerd, 48% Geek, 48% Dork (I don't know how that is possible! But that's what it says)

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

* Which, strictly speaking, should be apostrophed, but we let her off because I'm sure she did it on purpose and we love her blog. And it's rude to be pedantic. Apparently.

The great recycling scandal

Image from here.

Like many of us, I spend quite a lot of time each week making sure that our rubbish (or "trash" if you're in the US) gets sorted properly to be recycled. In many areas of the UK you now get a hefty fine if you inadvertently put a bit of plastic in with your paper. Anyway, I was shocked to see this report this week.

This kind of apathy and "well I've done my bit" attitude quite literally stinks.

I guess the only way is to try to avoid producing so much waste in the first place.

Can I borrow your laptop?

My friend Sylvie just blogged this.



"Scientists from RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "home computer" could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use."

I wouldn't fancy trying to make the bag for that to go in!

Thank you

I have been nominated by Julia for the Art y Pico award. I have already had this and passed it on so I won't repeat the process, but just wanted to acknowledge the honour.

Thank you!

I know I haven't been on much lately, and I keep saying "I'll be back soon". But I'm just under so much pressure to finish off university work, I really need to concentrate on that.

I HAVE made some hair clips, but my camera won't play nicely with the laptop for some reason so I can't post pictures.

And I have done most of the quilt top. Again, no pics - you'll just have to believe me :)

How to fold a fitted sheet

Last year, by strange co-incidence, my two sisters and I all found ourselves visiting my parents in the same weekend. After much wine had been consumed (and Dad had vacated to his room), I showed my mum and sisters some of my "party pieces". Namely, my ability to fold a T-shirt in under 4 seconds, and knickers and fitted sheets into small squares.

Two of them were really impressed. The eldest sister was rather alarmed that I put so much thought and effort into folding. Anyway, each time I do my laundry I think "I should blog this" so I am.

Obviously, I realise that there are far more important things in life and this is another one of those "things you never knew you needed to know". But someone might just enjoy having tidy cupboards as much as I . So...

Step One:
Gather all the elasticated corners over one fist. Get them all facing the same way and evenly placed. I should point out here that this method works best with ironed sheets but frankly I didn't want you all to think I was the kind of woman who irons her sheets when there's wine to be drunk and fun things to make.

Step Two:

Lay the sheet (which is now folded roughly up into 4) on a bed, floor or table. Put your corner ruched bit in the top right. Spend a minute smoothing out the edges, and making sure that the sides are matched together.

Step Three: Outside view

Inside the corner should look like this.

Fold the right edge in until it makes a right angle with the stitched bit of the gathered corner. Fold the corner in on itself, and do the same with the top section. You should now have two sides folded inwards with the gathered corner piece now in a neat right angle.

Step Four:

Now the sheet is square(ish), you can fold in half, and half again, making a neat rectangle to be stored. If you have ironed your sheet like I always do (a-hem!), it will be crisp and lovely next time you put it on your bed.

Hurrah for being a perfect housewife!

The choice is made!

Thanks for the comments/ emails about the overlocker.

In the end, I went for this one.

(picture from sewingmachine.co.uk)

I picked the Janome because:
I have a Janome sewing machine that I really like, so I trust the quality
It can be used as a 2,3 or 4 thread machine
It has an easy thread lower loop
It has a built in rolled hem
It comes with an instructional DVD (very handy when you don't know what you're doing)
It comes with a project book (as above)
It didn't come with extra feet, but I was able to buy £190 worth for £50, and the machine was £30 off anyway so effectively I got twice as many feet for the same price as the Babylock
It has a retractable knife (I imagine I might sometimes want to produce an overlock stitch without trimming??? maybe??)
It has an adjustable cutting width

I can't recommend that particular website enough, by the way. I bought my sewing machine there last year and they do the best freebies I have ever seen, and it's free next day delivery, and they are extemely competitively priced anyway! What's more, within 10 minutes of getting the confirmation email (at 15.04 today), I received another email from them with the courier number confirming that it had been dispatched.

The even better thing, it didn't cost me anything. After watching me mooning over these for the past few days, Mr M said to me today "why don't you use my credit card to buy your interlocker?". Bless.