Wednesday 8 February 2012

Marooned!

Good morning

Have been marooned indoors now since Sunday - the snow started to melt and then refroze - its done this 3 times now and as a consequence the drive and lane are like a skating rink and far too slippery for me to venture out. I watched one neighbour slide sideways down the road this morning in her little car and that made my mind up - another day indoors for me!

The conservatory roof keeps starting to clear and then it freezes again - leaving slabs of snow hanging waiting for someone to stand under there and get covered comedy style. There's also been some lovely icicles hanging from there too;



At least it means I've caught up with domestic stuff and have had a chance to catch up on some making too. Firstly upcycling a skirt I made years ago into a dress with the addition of some fabric I bought many moons ago as I just liked the feel of it. Both parts are a brushed cotton and oh so soft. The skirt part was made from a vintage Laura Ashley dress I bought a sister when she was pregnant 10 years ago. The deal was she got to wear it and when she'd finished I'd get it back as I loved the material. It was made into a skirt for me and other bits of the fabric have appeared in quilts and makes since. The skirt hasn't been worn for a while so I decided to make it into something I would wear - I cut the top part off and made the top of the dress yesterday afternoon. This morning to the 2 parts got put together and the moment of truth dawned - would it fit and would I like it? Yes and yes;

 Now getting a picture of me wearing it was tricky - there's no-one here to take a photo and the light is bad and obviously if you are taking a pic in the mirror you can't use a flash - so here's the best of many attempts;


I've also finished 3 cushions towards next weekends stall;


My sewing space was tidy when I started working - however it doesn't take long to get messed up and won't get another tidy until I've finished making stuff;


I've been rather lucky this last week - I've acquired not one but two new cameras! The first one was a reward sent to MrVV for being the top seller on an auction site he uses. He had no use for it as he's got a rather nice digi-SLR he treated himself to last year - so he gave it to me. Its a Nikon Coolpix S610 and is a better spec than the Pentax Optio I have been using for the past 18 months. So I gave the old camera to little son as he wanted a small point and shoot camera that he can take out and about. In turn it seemed that he had MrVV's old camera and wasn't planning to use that anymore so he gave that one to me - and I am rather taken with it. I'd forgotten how simple it is to use and its been my camera of choice this week;

 One new toy

and another one!!

It meant when the Green Woodpecker visited the garden the other day to trash the snow in search of a good meal, I was able to capture him with no problems at all;

Had to laugh at him throwing snow out of the way so he could find a patch of grass - he spent ages there so I assume he found what he was looking for!!

Right I'd best be off - want to make a cuppa before I have a wander around blogland to see what you've all been up too.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx


22 comments:

Shortbread and Ginger said...

Great photo of the little bird. Love your cushions.
Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

Crafts @ Home said...

Love your new dress, and the cushions, those green woodpeckers are gorgeous aren't they :)
Sue Xxx

**Anne** said...

Poor little woodpecker looking for food in the snow. It must be hard for them in winter. Your cushions a lovely.
Anne xx

knitandmake.blogspot.com said...

I'm very glad the snow has missed us so far, last year I felt like a prisoner in my own home lol. Made it a very long winter. The woodpecker is lovely :)

Unknown said...

aahhh that woodpecker is lovely i have never seen a green one before great shot ;-)) Those crochet cushions are lovely and so is your dress. And it sounds like the best place for you is home right now which is a great excuse for crafting ;-)) dee x

Unknown said...

aahhh that woodpecker is lovely i have never seen a green one before great shot ;-)) Those crochet cushions are lovely and so is your dress. And it sounds like the best place for you is home right now which is a great excuse for crafting ;-)) dee x

Katie said...

A lovely post to read whilst I munch on my lunch! Both your dress and the cushions are lovely. Keep warm, Love Katie xxx

Dawn said...

Similarly icy in my road still - had several near falls on the way to work today. Stupidly, I would have been safer in my car!

Julie said...

How creative you are Vicki! The dress is lovely. I love your sewing area, it looks well loved and used! Stay warm and safe

Estelle Grace Tudor said...

I'm quite glad the snow missed us now - poor you stuck in, but at least you made that fab dress! The green woodpecker is lovely - never seen one before. Hope you manage to get out soon x

Jewel said...

Awe that woodpecker is so cute! I don't think I have ever seen one in the wild! xx

ThePBFamily said...

hi vikki
can i buy the union jack cushion please x

Jacquie said...

Love your dress Vicki, very ingenious :0)
It's very slippery underfoot here at the moment .Love the woodpecker picture .
Jacquie x

liz said...

How lucky are you to capture a woodpecker! Ours come and go very quickly, as does the Kingfisher who fishes in the pond. I am hoping to get a shot of him this summer with my new camera! I just love that dress! It looks fab on, hope you'll be wearing it for GP so I can get a closer look!

Vintage Jane said...

No snow here, just a cold, grey day. Love your cushions and your beautiful upcycled dreww. M x

Lakota [Faith Hope and Charity Shopping] said...

Thank goodness the snow was mostly gone after one day round here, and the roads became slush rather than ice. Mind you, it's been coming down again today so hope we don't get more tonight.

Cushions looking great, and excellent woodpecker shot. I'm not really getting to grips with either of our cameras, especially when I'm trying to do close ups. I may have to do some boring studying of the manual, but I don't have the kind of brain which retains information like that.

Unknown said...

nothing exciting. I love your woodpecker photo and I am very jelous of your sewing space.

Unknown said...

nothing exciting. I love your woodpecker photo and I am very jelous of your sewing space.

Claire said...

it's been bad here too. My road hasnt been gritted and the Ambulance station is opposite my house!!
I walked everywhere yesterday and today and it's lethal out there, stay in!!

Anonymous said...

Lovely dress and cushions. Lucky you having more than one camera! xxx

millefeuilles said...

I love this post! Your little sewing space is so cosy and inspiring looking.

Stephanie

Peg said...

Lovely, lively post, I too am hibernating, had bad falls in the snow and ice the past 2yrs so am giving it a miss this year!
The dress looks great, well done you, how did you manage not to get the flash in the mirror in the end, It never works for me LOL.
I'm looking forward to visiting often.

Peg x