Killing dead things

Nine times out of ten if you hear me say that I've been killing dead things all day, what I really mean is that I've been doing all those stupidly annoying little jobs that build up over time, keep me out of my mind busy for an entire day working through them and leave me shattered and worth tuppence, slouched in a chair come 10pm and someone else could scour the house for hours on end and not be able to tell what I'd been up to all day. The things that need to be done and are a nightmare to do but make no visible difference whatsoever. Think renewing car insurance!

Every now and again though, I'm talking about the little jobs that matter to me and only me. At the end of the day I feel completely satisfied knowing they're done but they make no difference whatsoever to anyone else.

Like I finally sat down and recycled all this year's Christmas cards into tags for birthdays and Christmas this year. It might not be much but it makes me happy.



And I finished two more circle skirts and a little dress for Chloe to wear when we're on holiday in June. It's a bit dark and miserable to take photos of the skirts now, but I managed the dress earlier.


Besides a circle skirt is a circle skirt is a circle skirt, if you've seen one ...

And not only that, but the repair basket is only half filled now instead of overflowing! The hubster's work trousers are sorted, I've finally taken up two pairs of my own trousers (they've only been waiting a year or so) and I've let the hems down on Chloe's school trousers too. She's grown 6 feet since the start of the school year (she has, I swear she has judging by the number of hems I've let down since Christmas) and we still really need those trousers. It's just a wee bit too cold for a skirt just yet and Chloe hates tights with the venom only a five year old at the head of the bathroom line with 30 kids waiting impatiently in line behind her can muster.

So I'm done for the day and it's high time I treated myself to a nice hot brew and a curl up on the sofa with a good book for a while.

Remember me

It feels like it's been so long since I've written anything, but it's really only been a few days. I've no real concept of time passing at the minute to be honest, any routine we had is long gone what the school holidays and what have you.

I have no more news about my dad at the minute. We're still waiting for his assessment appointment, which should have been today but wasn't so it may now be next Tuesday. He needs to have the assessment before the operation and although he seems to be fine his doctor is concerned at the length of time he's having to wait because he's still losing quite a bit of blood.

We've been very patient so far but unfortunately it seems that rather than patients being seen in order of most urgent, it seems to be more a case of who pisses off the hospital staff the most and causes them the most headaches, so we'll try that for a bit and see how it goes.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy as usual between mucking about with Chloe and work, I've had a few commissions in the past week or so, though I'm fairly up to date in that I'm down to one remaining current commission and I've just taken a new one as well, so that will keep me occupied for a while.

My lovely husband who claims that he is not influenced by anything he watches on tv, saw a report on said goggle box yesterday stating the incredibly concerning fact that 1 in 10 children don't know that a conker comes from a horse-chestnut tree. When I was a kid conkers came from conker trees and were promptly hung on the end of the sturdiest shoe lace to be found in the house, usually from one of dad's work boots and I turned out all right.

For the record our primary school was also surrounded by "helicopter trees" and were referred to as such by the pupils and the teachers!

Anyway, long story short is that I now have a bowl full of conkers in the kitchen, kindly brought home by the husband for no reason whatsoever!



This is what I'm currently working on. It's a bag and fascinator (my first eep) for a gala at the end of the month. I'm glad that it's being delivered in person, because it's an absolute mare to photograph. It's actually a blueish green and what looks like handfuls of dust in the photo are actually tiny silver sequins, the quilting is silver embroidery thread too. It isn't finished yet, well I suppose it is in the sense that it functions as a bag but I'm still waiting for peacock feathers to arrive. I'll hopefully have this one complete and delivered by the weekend.



I'll be making a start on the new commission for a wall plaque this evening and I'm looking forward to that.

I also have a sale on my Folksy shop at the minute from page five onwards. A lot of things are up to half price as I desperately need to make some room in the stock room (read two stock boxes which fell in love, mated and spawned half a dozen ickle stock boxes which are fast growing into half a dozen strapping lads and I don't really have a room specially for them).

Of course the husband occasionally complains about the amount of space I take up around the house, at which point I offer that we do in fact have a spare room which I could move everything into (you remember the man room right?) and he shuts up.

So that's basically what I've been up to or at least plan on being up to over the next few days. That and making sure I have everything ready for Chloe's return to school next week. I can't believe the Summer holidays are gone already, I feel a bit like Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh when he lost all the calender pages!

One of those weeks

It really has been.

I've been hopping back and forth to the pooter when I get a few minutes to myself, but just don't seem to have found the time to blog. I've tried and have half a dozen barely started unfinished posts waiting for just a few more minutes.

Robert seems to have been working constantly lately which means that I've taken the role of the two income single parent.

I'm honestly not complaining, just trying to keep the house below the chaos barrier for him arriving home and at least I know that it's just because the company he works has a pile of new contracts and it's just been a matter of "all hands on deck" until everything is up to scratch, then things will settle back down again.

I did find time to chop off most of my hair though, so that's good:)

Edit to include a blurry blackberry photo of the new do because ask and ye shall receive:)


And now if you'll excuse me I have to change the water in the fish tank before the fish start making a bid for freedom.

I do hope you're having a lovely, more relaxing weekend. But can I ask that when you're doing something really nice like curled up on the sofa with a huge coffee and the papers or taking a walk somewhere (because the sun has even come out today), can you spare a thought for muggins here, scraping the green gunk of the glass of the fish tank?

Out with the old

Bob gave his notice at work this morning.

He was offered a new position with a different company and in a slightly different field last week and we've just been waiting for all the loose ends to be tied up and contracts signed before he handed in his notice.

Astonishingly, they were actually surprised ever though you'll remember that he threw the head up a few weeks ago and told them he was planning on leaving. Though employers often do suffer a selective memory so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that they are surprised.

This new position will be enough of a change that he won't automatically be labelled the "fixer" as he so often has been in the past. The new place have told him that they already have a bunch of completely new sites for him to get stuck into in the New Year which means that for the first time, in a long time he'll actually have the chance to see a job completed from start to finish rather than just spending his days fixing everyone else's dumb mistakes. He can't wait. Neither can I!!

This is the point were I'll be completely honest and you can call me a selfish cow if you like, but these past few months have been exhausting.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and I'd do anything for him (scratch that, almost anything - you can never put a thing like that down in writing) but there really are only so many of another person's bad days that I can deal with. Now I know you're not supposed to say that, but sometimes I've had a bad day myself and I'm tired and can't be bothered but because I know he'll have had a bad day, I have to brush my day under the carpet, swallow it or just not think about it because we can't both have had bad days. One has to be there for the other and all that.

Hopefully though, a fair amount of that will be put behind us now. I've sat him down and given him a good talking to and reminded him that this job may not be the answer to all his prayers, that mythical company that only exists in rumours, whispered in office corridors and cubicles. "They only work a half day on Friday you know!" "I heard they give their staff huge Christmas bonuses", "I know a woman, and her friend's sister works there and apparently they're brilliant to work for if you have kids, so understanding!"

That company isn't real and he's been told that, but I have to admit that this weekend has seen him in the best mood he's been in, in a very long time.

Long may it continue!!

Well.....(deep breath and begin)

I'm back to work now, kind of. I worked two days, then Chloe got sick and I was off for three, then I managed a whole week, then Chloe got sick and I was off another day, but I'm back in work again and it has been a whole three days and counting.

I'm enjoying it, it's nice to be back working with real live adults again on a regular basis although the rest of life in general has taken somewhat of a battering though I'm slowly clawing back some semblance of a routine. Very slowly, mind you.

Going back to work hasn't had any effect on Chloe which I'm glad for. As far as she's concerned I still take her to school every morning and collect her again at the end of the day and I'm never late so she's happy. Though she's wanted to make doughnuts all week and dear love her I just haven't been able to fit it in, definitely at the weekend, I've promised her.

The last few days have been a little rough here though. We've had a handful of things which needed to be replaced and repaired, first the washing machine sprang a leak which wasn't that bad, then a radiator needed replaced and that really had to be done as it's getting colder by the day (why do these things never break in Summer), the garage roof was leaking pretty badly and we've managed to cobble together a pretty decent patch job but we absolutely have to replace that roof this Summer, there's no putting it off again this year, plus a handful of other smaller things which while they aren't much on their own they all added up to put a fairly substantial dent in any money we had set aside for things like that. I mean you expect repairs, just not all at once!

I've been soaked to the skin twice today and I'm started to feeling a bit frayed around the edges.

My mum had to go to London on Tuesday with my aunt for some legal bits and bobs and even though I spent the weekend printing off little maps for her to prove that Oxford Street is a mere five minute dander from Harley Street and they could spend a bit of time window shopping and ogling the pretty but very expensive things, the two of them still spent all 10 hours bar 90 minutes in the middle in Liverpool Street Station. Honestly, only my mum could do that.

And then, wait for it this is the cherry on top, the husband's boss has been pestering him to go on yet another training course at a week's notice which will have him away over night, for yet another system that he doesn't even use on yet another site that he's never even been to. We're talking about a company that does pigeon hole staff so if he hasn't seen the system to date, chances are he never will!

Obviously he didn't want to go, for various reasons. His passport's out of date and while you can travel on a driver's license on some flights you can't on others and the lack of a passport makes travelling a pain in the backside and a much longer experience seeing as you can't check in online without one. Also, he's been feeling really rough himself the last couple of weeks and he and Chloe seem to be just passing coughs and boogeritis back and forth between them and if our luck lately is anything to go by, he would say he could go and then get taken down by something really bad and have to cancel. Let me tell you, those courses don't come cheap. Plus, I've mentioned the cash flow took a hard hit and the way the trips usually work is that you cover yourself while away and then claim it back on your return and we just can't afford that this month.

Anyway, they pushed it and pushed it and pushed it some more and then called him to the office to chat to the boss about why he didn't want to go and after a particularly sticking day he lost the rag and said he was looking for another job and didn't want them to waste their money on him when plenty of the guys would be grateful for the chance to go on the course.

Nope, not a good move.

Even though he's the guy that spends the vast majority of his time fixing everyone's stupid mistakes (reason 1 why some of the other guys could do with training!) we're also talking about a company that have been perfectly happy to cut their noses off to spite their face in the past so he's basically waiting now for them to tell him he's sacked.

Merry Christmas eh?

I've mentioned it to a couple of people and now have about half a dozen solicitor's ready to sink their teeth in if anything does happen. In all fairness, the last year or so has been very quiet for them! But still even the thought of it is, quite honestly, scaring the crap out of me.

I could do without this. I could really do without this. I could completely and utterly do without this.

The rarely shakeable Leanne, is quaking in her boots.

My Last Weekend

I go back to work on Monday. This Monday. As in not tomorrow but the next day. Two more sleeps.

Whose bright idea was this anyway!

I only realised this morning that all of my work clothes, suits, shirts and stuff are in vac bags in the loft. They were dry cleaned before I packed them away and they're airing upstairs now (thanks to Robert).

I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that I'll not be able to cope with the amount of things I've been doing once I'm back at work. The zine will probably be shelved for a while at least until I sort myself in to some semblance of a routine and work out exactly how much time I have to spare. I'll be finishing an issue this weekend for Christmas. In truth I should have had it finished a week ago but I've been inundated with unexpected orders in the last two weeks. A few smaller versions of my daisies have been sold through a local shop. The first one sold very quickly and then the shop owner received a call from a customer who ordered the next two sets which the shop owner had asked me to make so they won't make it onto the shelves either!

At the last count my mum has now sold 22 sets of my prim style Christmas trees. The woman just keeps taking more and more orders without any regard for when I'm going to make them:)

I can't complain though. Typically I'm now so busy I could actually do with not having to go back to work, but it will still be nice to have some extra cash to throw aside for those just in case moments. You know the ones, washing machine giving up the ghost or my good self managing to knacker yet another iron or kettle!

Chloe's been asking more and more about when I'm going back to work. Specifically she asks if she'll know when I go back to work. I think she's a bit worried that there'll be changes but I'm trying to put her mind at rest that everything for her will remain the same.

I've explained to her that she will be staying in school for lunch from Monday on and that she would be doing that anyway even if I weren't going back to work. She's fine with the lunch thing and I think after a few days of still being dropped off and collected from school by me she'll realise that it will all be fine.

If anything she'll actually arrive home to a clean and tidy home instead of the bomb site I only realise I've created each day at noon leaving myself absolutely no time to pack everything away before collecting her.

I've a freezer full of meals and other bits and pieces like cookies. I'll still try and cook fresh everyday but at least I know they're there in case time gets away from me. I feel a bit better knowing that I have a fall back.

Robert's going to have to figure out something else to do during the day because he won't have me at home to ping IPs for him. Poor soul, he'll just have to think of something else.

Now if you'll excuse me there are a half finished pair of gloves calling out to me and I need to get back to them before second glove syndrome kicks in.

The Rat Race

Well, it's official. After a record breakingly short interview consisting off "Is the 2nd good for you?" and "Aye, go on then!", I'll be heading back to work on 2 November. Although the interview was only marginally shorter than my previous record of about 2 minutes which consisted of "Is a window desk ok for you?" and "How much money do you want?".

I'm not saying that I'm good at my job, but I've built a bit of reputation over the years and recommendations from people like past Chief Executives of the Law Society of Northern Ireland don't do me any harm either. Still, I'm not complaining, I hate those interviews where you feel like you're being tested and have to justify your very existence. Thankfully only had one of those in all my years.

Not that being really good at your job serves you well in the UK, in fact it can do a hell of a lot to hold you back. My mum always used to spout little wisdom's like "If your boss had been any good at your job, he'd still be doing it". Funny at the time, but rather depressing once you think about it.

Even the poor husband is finally starting to realise in his industry that the good guys really do finish last. His problem is that he really is brilliant at his job and he's proud of his work, something that's hard to find these days. Have you ever heard your boss makes a wise ass comment about nobody being irreplaceable. Nobody ever made that comment about Robert, they know full well he's irreplaceable so unfortunately the powers that be will never wilfully put themselves in the awkward situation of having to replace him. Which means that because nobody else can manage to clean up as many OPMs (other people's mistakes) in any given day, the guys that regularly make the mistakes my husband spends him time fixing will be promoted past him just to get them off the tools.

I feel for him, I really do and because his reputation also precedes him it really wouldn't make any difference if he were to move to another company, they'd all want him to be the fixer.

But anyway, enough of the grumbling. I'm kind of glad I'll not be heading back to work straight away and waiting until the 2nd November means I have another blissful six or so weeks to myself to just kick back and relax.

Yeah, right!

Of course, now is the time that things are picking up, I'm currently working on six custom orders and I have a couple more on hold for December but I'll be starting those sooner rather than later to get a wiggle on. There's a possibility that one of my pieces may be featured in a magazine at the end of October and I figure it's probably a good idea to have at least one in stock rather than it be listed as custom made, although I may change my mind about that later depending on how hectic it gets around here.

But I'll still have all of those lovely school holidays away from work and home with the family to look forward to which for me is the most important thing.

No kids sent to childcare in this house, no sir!

Also I was very pleased to log into Folksy yesterday morning only to find that I'm a featured seller, so I'm very excited about that and just want to say a quick thank you to Anne for featuring me. In case you don't know, Anne is our extremely hard working and very irreplaceable admin over at Folksy.

The child's off to school, finally time for me. Or is it?

Chloe is in bed fast asleep. Her uniform is labelled, ironed and hanging in her room right above her new shoes and she has planned to the last strawberry what she will have for her breakfast tomorrow morning.

Once she's safely off to school, I will rush home with Robert, grab a quick coffee and a cinnamon bagel before jumping in the car and heading to Ikea, who I am told are having a fabric sale (but lets face it even if they'd doubled the price I'd likely still go just to look).

After eight months of spending 24 hours a day with Chloe I have to admit, I'm ready for a little bit of me time. Don't get me wrong the last eight months have been brilliant, a bit of a steep learning curve to begin with and we've hit a rough patches but I've really enjoyed all of my time at home with her every day. But still those couple of hours a day are going to be really appreciated.

Or perhaps I should say were going to be really appreciated because on Friday I have a meeting about a job.

A job I didn't go looking for, apply for or even want. I just received a "we need you" call out of the blue this morning.

Like I said, I wasn't really looking to go back to work, at least not straight away but it's kind of hard to look a gift horse in the mouth.

My shop on Folksy is going quite well, but it would still be nice to have a bit of guaranteed money in the bank every month, you know?

Plus with so many people out of work and looking at the minute, do I really want to turn down a great offer only to find that I may need it in a couple of months.

It really is a great offer too. I'll only have to work an hour or two a day at whichever times suit me which will obviously be while Chloe is at school. I won't need to work any of the school holidays either, so I don't even have to consider childcare fees. I wouldn't even consider the job if it meant Chloe going back to childcare because neither of us wants that.

Oh and did I mention that the company is a five minute walk from home.

Hmm, still thinking though...