Punctures and pictures

Now that the weather is improving and the days are so much longer, I have been cycling more - no big trips yet this year, just mainly to go shopping, although I often go a long way round. I'm not, frankly, the type to go cycling just for the sake of it, or for "training" purposes. I just like cycling because it gets me places and keeps me fit in a cheap, environmentally friendly and highly enjoyable fashion.

I had a puncture a while ago and had to do the call of shame to my husband, who fortunately was on his way home from work (by car) and would be almost passing where I was. Last year I had watched Husband mend a puncture for me, as I knew I ought to learn how to do it, so now was the moment to do it myself. I did it outside on a sunny day, with help from said Husband. Then lo and behold the same tyre went flat after the next journey. This time the day was not sunny so I got the bike into the kitchen. Kitchens are not just for cooking! They are most definitely for sewing as well (see the fabric slung over the chair) and fixing bikes.

I though that maybe my previous puncture repair would prove to be the reason for the flat i.e. the patch had come unstuck, but it had remained perfectly in place - on the left, and by the way it was a self-adhesive job from Wilkinson's (shall buy some more when I am near a Wilkinson's again) that I had bought Husband for his birthday. But in fact there was a massive split, and it wasn't even on a seam. There is a slight right angle at the left hand end. So I put a new tube in, and did it all by myself.  I didn't get the tyre back on quite properly so Husband re-did it (I'm learning from my mistakes). I have since bought two new inner tubes, which necessitated a small crisis of conscience regarding where to buy them. Buy Bontrager brand from local bike shop at a cost (last time) of £10 for two (£5.50 each) or send off to, in this case Wiggle, and get two, delivered, for just under £6? I don't think, but can't be certain, not being an expert, that there's much difference in quality. I really really like to support local shops, but when money is tight sometimes financial considerations have to come first.

I recently booked my bike in for a service locally, but then discovered that  this chap is doing a bike workshop locally, 6 hours for the princely sum of £10! So I have cancelled the service and booked myself in for the workshop. I think that with doing stuff to bikes I don't quite trust myself to do it properly and safely, but I know that the more I do it the more able and confident I'll get, just like I have done over recent years with sewing machines. (I can't believe how I treated my sewing machine in the past........hardly ever changed the needle, never oiled it......).

I got this wonderful bell for my birthday recently! My son (the one who has the pfaffing problem!! Read all about that here) got it in Germany. It is much louder than the last one I had, which definitely pinged rather than dinged, and sounds rather like a shop bell and now when I go out I look forward to dinging it at pedestrians.

Talking of sewing machines, as I was a minute ago, I found this in a charity shop, going for a song, so I snapped it up. It was in very good condition, and all I needed to do was clean it, oil it, check that all the stitches were working, and then sell it at a vast profit...... Well it wasn't vast but I did indeed sell it at a profit a few days later. It was a really good machine and like new. I'm not sure of the exact date as it seems you can't find the dates of manufacture of New Home machines except the really old ones, but from the style of it (and the manual) I'm guessing it must be 1970s or early 1980s. The model is a 641. 

And now for some sewing.

I am taking part in Stitch Wantage, which you can read about here. I didn't manage to get to the first meeting so I think the fact that I got lumbered with probably the most boring building in Wantage - the Leisure Centre - is due to the fact that everyone else had already picked out the nice old interesting ones! But I didn't actually mind as in a way it's presented more of a challenge.

Most of the other ladies are doing their buildings in traditional embroidery, but I am using applique and machine stitching, which perhaps is appropriate given that it's a modern building). In the pictures above and below I have appliqued the roof on (right hand side and small bit on left hand side, brown),  and in the picture below I have appliqued the wall on the left. However, I just wasn't happy with the wall, so I unpicked it - hand and machine stitching.......took ages - but I'm glad I did.

 This is the completed picture, although I have still got to add the title and my name.

Some applique, and a little hand embroidery, on the bits above the wall, with machine stitching over it.  There are bike racks at the front of the building, so I used a bit of artistic licence and put my own bike in! I hadn't got any suitable fabric (others used organza) for the glass in the doors so I put some glue on the sections to make them shiny and it worked quite well.

I appliqued the white wall, the roof, and the doors, and machine stitched over. There's also a bit of hand stitching on the grey grill thing.

I've never done this sort of thing before, but really enjoyed doing it. Two of the other ladies both cycle and sew! What is it with cycling and sewing??!! The panels are going to be exhibited between 1st June and 16th July in the Vale and Downland museum in Wantage. 

A bit more cycling

On both days this last weekend I cycled to some of the studios opening for Oxfordshire Art Weeks. The weather was very good for it, nice and warm, windy but not too bad. On Saturday I went to Shrivenham and then on to Bourton (the latter a very picturesque village but I wouldn't want to live there - probably one of those villages that's dead during the week when everybody's at work). Then home, and was pleased to find I could still get up a local steep hill. 

On approaching Shrivenham I got talking to a young German cyclist, who had come over to Harwich, and was making her way down to Cornwall, hoping to find work for the summer. I could see she was looking for somewhere, and it turned out that she had a noise on her bike and someone had told her about the chap I mentioned earlier who is doing the bike workshop, so she was trying to find his house. Good job I'd looked up where he lived as I was able to direct her. I also gave her one of my sewing fliers and said - if you get into difficulties and need somewhere to stay then ring me.

About 22 miles. 

On Sunday I went to Great Coxwell, via Little Coxwell as I was hoping to find that going this way would take me to an easier place to get across the horrible A420, which indeed it did. I have previously crossed it nearer to Faringdon, and that can be a nightmare particularly during rush hour. The only other safe place to cross it locally is further east at Buckland, where there is an island in the middle of the road. I hate the fact that this major road chops up the countryside making it very difficult to get from south of it to north of it in anything but a car! Great Coxwell had several artists exhibiting. Again a very pretty village but I wouldn't want to live there! 

I then cycled on and and called on some friends who have recently moved to Faringdon (don't get me started on the terrible state of the "cycle path" at the side of the road.....) and later attempted to get to Littleworth where there was another studio open, but I gave up in the end as it meant too much travel on the A420. The only way to get to this village without going on the A420 (though I'd still have to cross it) would be a much longer route going further north from Faringdon and then east and south - I might try it if I get time. Then unfortunately I had to cycle back along the A420 to get to my turning off. Boy was I glad to turn off!!! 

About 20 miles. 

I got home to be told that our younger son (25) had had a motocross accident near Aylesbury, and was in hospital with both wrists broken......I am thanking God that it was no worse. He is being operated on this morning and we shall visit later today.

And now back to some earning-me-money-sewing (a dress alteration), so bye for now.

Lizzie

Eldest son's health problem

When I started this blog I did not intend to put anything particularly personal in it - it was just going to be about sewing, cycling, making preserves and probably quite a lot of stuff along the lines of make do and mend. But I felt that if I could get this problem out into the blogosphere, then there might just be someone else out there that could be helped by discovering that other people suffer from it too. And maybe someone could help my son too.

As the post title says, our eldest son (I'll call him Jake though that's not his real name) has a severe health problem. He lives in Germany so we don't see him all that often, and it has only really become apparent through bits and pieces that we have gleaned from social media. Facebook sometimes, and also Strava (which I've mentioned in other posts) - a site that a lot of runners and cyclists use. I began to notice that his friends (and followers on Strava) were making comments about his behaviour. His fiancee would write jokey things such as "Man flu's got my man again", or "Any ideas on what's good for constantly feeling under the weather?". Eventually I realized that these comments were code-speak for the problem.

We began to think that there must be something seriously wrong. Jake's a very keen cyclist and these "attacks" of his would always happen just prior to an event, or even immediately before some sporting leisure activity with friends. We began to think he should take things easy for a while and see if that helped, but he just wouldn't listen to anyone when they tried to give advice.

Before I name the problem, what makes it even more worrying is that one of our sons-in-law has said, in a very roundabout way, that he thinks the problem affects the whole family. We are obviously very worried and are thinking about having genetic testing done. That son-in law is finding more and more that he is looking out for signs of the problem in his wife, and baby daughter.

Anyway, here goes (should I be writing about this, or not?) - the problem I hardly dare name is

Oh gosh this is really hard to admit, especially when it could be genetic........the problem is......

PFAFFING

Wow - there, I've said it, and already I'm feeling some relief at finally getting it off my chest.

He basically pfaffs around with his bike prior to any event, as I said. He will pfaff around with any bit of his bike that looks as if it might benefit from some pfaffing. You just can't tell him "It's OK, Jake, you pfaffed with it last night, the whole bike's perfect, ready to go" - he just won't listen. I've had his fiancee sobbing down the phone to me, or worse still Skype sobbing, asking what she can do to help him and was he like this as a child? To be honest, I think as I look back that I could see the signs at quite an early age - at least 10 or so, when he used to do mountain bike races. Sometimes though,  if he was unable to pfaff for some reason, he would behave in some other strange way to compensate. Once he drew cartoons at the side of his GCSE English exam paper - his teacher was very angry, but I realized that it was because he hadn't been able to pfaff before the exam; he'd ridden to  school that day but as he was late he hadn't been able to carry out his usual post-ride pfaffing. His frustration had manifested itself in this stupid form on the exam paper. Actually the cartoons were really good and I thought her reaction was way over the top.

On a recent bike holiday in Spain with a friend, I spotted the signs in the Facebook photos. They looked innocent enough - the bike in the bedroom (obviously for security reasons), the bike in the shower (obviously for cleaning reasons), Jake kneeling down beside the bike, Jake pointing to his bike with a big grin on his face  - and an awful lot of oil on his hands. I could tell that there had clearly been a lot of pfaffing going on behind the scenes. I think the fact that his friend put these photos on Facebook was in truth a desperate cry for someone to notice and do something.

So - what to do? I had to try and come up with something. It seemed more than just coincidence that last week I bought this book in a charity shop for 20p -

There was nothing listed specifically for pfaffing but I did find something along similar lines, and so I added a few ingredients from here and there (the garden, the ash heap, the "food for recycling" jar) and made it up. Here it is:

The instructions I wrote - 

Apparently James Wong's recipes improve with time, especially if left out in the warm sun, so I'm hoping that the few days' journey by post to Germany will make the agent more effective. I'm addressing it to his fiancee (wedding's in October, hope she doesn't give up on him before then....); she is a dietitian by training so she's probably got some medical know-how and will administer it properly, albeit to the bike.

The idea is that if it is spread on bits of the bike that Jake would normally pfaff with, then it will stink so much that he won't go near those bits, and therefore won't pfaff with them. If he's in a really bad way and simply is not fit for cycling, then by applying it to the saddle he won't even be able to get on it without sliding off, or without someone looking at his behind and thinking he's bricked himself.

I honestly don't know if this will help, and if other members of the family do turn out to be affected, then other solutions will be called for as apparently the problem manifests itself in a variety of ways - not always pfaffing with bikes, but sometimes something as simple as just pfaffing around prior to going out of the house - you can imagine the sort of thing "Where are my shoes/keys/mobile/bag/is my coat free of cat's hairs/is there dandruff on my shoulders/are my eyebrows tidy/do my armpits smell?"

If you have been affected by this article, then I'm sorry but no, there isn't a hotline you can ring, but please please leave a comment and maybe we can help each other get through this pfaffing thing (I'm beginning to wonder about myself actually....it took me half an hour to get out of the house this afternoon). And if you are in any doubt as to the genuineness of this complaint, then I can assure you 

PFAFFING IS REAL

THERE IS NO KNOWN MEDICAL CURE

DONATIONS TO MY PFAFFING AWARENESS CHARITY GRATEFULLY RECEIVED. JUST SEND THE MONEY TO LIZZIE, PFAFFING AWARENESS CHARITY, OXFORDSHIRE,UK. It will reach me.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

Lizzie, mother of Jake.

Making sleeved bibs, eating pizza left on the train and cleaning the bike.

Another bits and pieces post, but hopefully with some useful and interesting stuff. I say that because I spoke to someone recently who thought that bloggers wrote in order to brag about what they did (I don't think she actually read blogs - just got this idea from somewhere). It was always my intention in writing a blog in order to share things with other people that might be useful, because I had learnt so much that way myself.

It always takes me ages to write a post and so I am going to try my best to write this one a bit quicker! (Slow internet doesn't help.) I should add that I will be going back and forth between my sewing room and this sitting room and making shopping bags while photos are uploading. So for the record it is now 10.43 (GMT) on Saturday 19th March. Hopefully I will get it finished before we change to BST - next weekend!


So, on to a current and ongoing project. Bibs.

I was asked my a customer if I could make some towelling, sleeved bibs for her grandchild, and she brought one to show me. From this I made a pattern, although it was a bit tricky as I couldn't cut it up - I just had to draw round it and hope it was roughly right. I then made one up using old towelling, and bound the edges with strips of old t-shirt. I gave it to my customer to see if it fitted the grandchild. It was too big round the neck, but I was a bit flummoxed as to where to take the excess from, so I decided to download this bib pattern and make that. I made it out of old flannelette sheets, using a double layer for the front, and bias binding for the edges, and a Kam Snap (brilliant things, have used them a lot, see here) for the fastening at the back. This was the result -

and the back

Well this was good. It was too big but making it had given me a better idea of how to alter the pattern I had made, which I duly did. Again I made it up in old sheet, and used some bits of cotton ribbing from an already-chopped-up long sleeved t-shirt to make cuffs. This is it -

Front

Back

This one's quite good and I have now given it to my customer to see if it fits. If it does I will then make however many she wants using towelling for the front, and something else for the sleeves.


Now, on to a recent trip. I fancied a day out - they don't happen very often and I needed a change! So I thought, well, London? I had a few places in mind to visit, which were -

  Goldhawk Road, for the fabric shops, but when I googled it for up to date information I saw that   there was building stuff going on and that some of the shops had gone.

  V and A Museum

  In-ku shop - where designer Carin Mansfield sells the clothes that she makes (to last!). I came across her recently via the Facebook Make do and Mend group I'm in, and thought "Ooh this is my sort of thing!"

  The Cloth House - beautiful fabrics and haberdashery

  MacCulloch and Wallis - ditto

 which would all have been within walking distance of Paddington station, so it would only have cost me the train fare - £25 - from Didcot which I would have got to with Husband early in the morning as he works there. But the trouble is that once there I would have wanted to spend some money (though definitely would not have in In-ku!) and the train fare wouldn't have left much to spend.....

So I thought - Trowbridge? How did I get from London to Trowbridge in my head you ask? Well, I knew there was a good fabric shop there, plus there are the limitations of where one can get to from here, and I could get there by bus and train. Plus I don't think I've ever been to Trowbridge so why not? And the town's wool and weaving history looked interesting. Husband was off paragliding so I couldn't have the car and I don't much like driving long distances anyway - I much prefer buses and trains (from an environmental point of view and from many other points of view e.g. it's more interesting!). So he took me early in the morning to get the bus (4 miles away) to Swindon station to get the one-carriage train to Trowbridge. Return fare £10.20, at 8.49 am - could have got it for £7.20 if I'd got a later train. I was amazed that for pretty much the whole journey of 35 miles or so the land on the east side of the line was flooded to some extent. (I know it was 35 miles because I had my Garmin on on the return journey! I watched the train speed up to just over 70 mph.)

This was the shop - Fabric Magic. And very good it was too, with a big selection of fabrics (dressmaking and furnishing), haberdashery, and yarns. I didn't buy anything there but asked if there was another fabric shop in the town and the very nice assistant told me that there was a stall in the indoor market, which I duly found. And very good that was too!!! It was called Ann's Trimmings and you can find it in the Castle Place Market. And yes I bought something. I don't often buy new fabric except for specific projects (usually clothing) but I treated myself to this lovely furnishing fabric - £6.99/metre. I did find a bit of a flaw when I ironed it (after washing, to pre-shrink, which it hardly did at all) which was a faint blue line, but I can easily avoid it. For that price I wasn't going to complain (and wasn't going to make a return journey to Trowbridge to do so either!).The tape was also a great find - it is cotton/hemp and was about 85p/metre. I might use it for making some labels.

I had a look round the town and was rather disappointed to find that it was so typical of so many towns in that despite having some lovely old buildings and being quite large it only seemed to have the same old shops that you find anywhere. Hardly any independents. And there was the usual newly built shopping mall which had the usual big cheap chain stores in it. Nearer the station there were a few more newly built shops - Argos, Next and something else. How dull..... There was however a good museum, which had displays about the town's wool and weaving history that I mentioned earlier, and the kind assistant gave me a run down on the local coffee shops.

Now, on the way home, the two girls opposite me left this on the table!!!

It didn't take me long to decide that it would be a waste just to leave it there......either someone else would take it or a member of staff would take it and throw it away. The girls certainly wouldn't be back for it any time soon, or ring up Lost Property and say "Have you found a pizza?" Nevertheless when I put it in my shopping bag I did do so in a slightly surreptitious manner.....

We have a thing called a Remoska (a sort of mini oven that uses very little electricity) so when I got home I cooked it in there and had it for my tea. It was yummy! When I told my daughter that I had found a pizza on the train and eaten it she was a bit worried that it was a half eaten one that someone had left behind. I don't know why my children think these weird things about me.......

This is something else I've been doing, which I tend to put off as I don't exactly enjoy doing it but it's a job that must be done now and then - cleaning my bike. It's great to get and do more cycling again now that the days are getting longer. It's the short days rather than the cold weather that stops me cycling so much in the winter.

Spotless rear cassette and chain before oiling. And the book I got to try to help me do bike stuff myself without having to ask the male experts in the family......

Well, it is now Wednesday and the time is 11.15 GMT, so that's taken me about 4 days! But, in my defence, I have written another post (this one) and published it between then and now.

Hope you've enjoyed reading!

Lizzie