Extremes.

It didn't photograph very well but yes, that IS thick ice.

Yuk.

Am extremely tired, haven't been able to sleep all week (literally) so gave in and had a double dose of sleepy tabs last night and slept through until 11am. Have been totally sluggish all day as a result - and most probably won't get any sleep tonight. Hey ho.

I ache quite a bit, am headachey, fed up, cold and - well, fed up.

Betcha glad to be reading this cheery little blog post aren't you!

Thank goodness for friends and Stocking Swapsies! These have really cheered me up - not because I am materialistic (truly!) but because of the thought and fun. Best swaps each year without a doubt.

Keef managed to pinch the Grown Ups scissors but I removed (and hid) them before he could cause too much mayhem. Sadly I wasn't fast enough to remove the pen from him.
Apparently this is Gangsta Keef (innit).

I dread to think what he was about to draw in his nether regions (snow balls?).

I also have a fab colour changing candle:

The sunlight here must be so weak - it won't work on the windowsill, but springs into life as soon as it catches the light from the halogen heater!

I am running behind (I feel like my entire life is running behind) but posted the first 5 gifts to both partners last week, am aiming to get the rest in the post tomorrow or Tuesday. So lots of finishing off has been happening, and finally, finally, things are almost done.

I had Plans to make some rather fab things - and of course hands / head / body refused to play along. But hopefully my partners will like what is en route. Sent with lots of love.

I started tidying the bathroom.
Please tell me this is a perfectly normal amount of hair products to own? Yes?

Dyeing. In a nice way.

This is what's happening chez Sulks at the moment:

pink carnage.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe I have been dyeing my hair for a zillion years - when I STILL manage to make a mess like this:

Yikes!
The grouting over the bath has a definite pinkish glow to it after nine years living here ;-)

I am struggling lately with this pink hair lark - am I waaaay too old to get away with it? One day I might like to meet some blokie, but suspect (ok, am 99% certain) that the pink hair will be a definite put off for many a man. The colour it was at a certain woolly event recently was way too garish for me, but I left it too late to cover it up or try and wash it out a bit.

I don't know - to go darker or lighter? I am blonde under this lot, quite fair blonde but look godawful with bleached white hair. It looks vile black and when my roots come through it looks like my hair is floating on my head, not the best look I have ever managed.

Took a break to rinse the dye out - it looks like it's a damned good match for my bathroom walls which is novel and not the intention! Wilkes fuchsia, rather lovely and very deep. Richer in reality than in this piccy.
Great for walls - hair? Hmmmm....
Have slapped a deep conditioning treatment on, and a facepack - I look stunning.

Being an old fart, I remember when hairdye was incredibly hard to get hold of, especially where I lived - train to York or Darlington to find any. Toyah had her makeup and hair range out in the early 80s (yes I am old) but it was cheap and nasty - even then I knew it was cheap and nasty! As for gel etc - one cheapo type in a tub, one strong type of spray - sugar and water, hairdryer, hairspray = excellent mohican but chased by wasps most sunny days.

Bleached hair then food colouring worked quite well, I had pink streaks when I was 13 and haven't looked back since! I think it's been every colour under the sun, the day I moved to York to go to art college I shaved the sides off and dyed it bright blue, gave my landlady the shock of her life when I came back downstairs.
I got married with it in a green and red mohican thing, with full blown Toyah flames makeup - subtle eh.

But now - let's just say it is rather a long time since I was 13. Or at college. I am feeling very fat (thank you medication and lack of mobility), frumpy, stuck in a rut and OLD. There is definitely one reason for this - apart from the hard to ignore fact that all are TRUE - having lusty thoughts about someone who is younger than one's daughter is a wake up call!

Can you tell I am a bit off kilter with all the rambling?
Thursday is Methotrexate day and I have been feeling as sick as a dog since last weeks injection. Really bad today, yuk - hospital tomorrow for the usual scans then the consultant so have a list of alternative anti-emetics to discuss with them. Throw in a pretty dire stomach upset (also I suspect due to the meths), a very painful neck, flare ups in knees and right hand and you have a pretty miserable Sulkycat.

Thank goodness for my luvverly family and friends, seriously needed at the moment to keep my little pink head above water.

Moan over for now.

On a lighter note - after the evil little red beetles attacked my beloved lilies earlier this year I threw most of the plants away - I left one, stripped all the leaves from it and left it to it. I am thrilled to see it has done this:

Absolutely beautiful - my very favourite flower. Tis the little things that matter and this little thing has made me incredibly happy today.

Brought to you by the colour PIIIIIING!

Today I feel almost awake - had NO sleep for a couple of nights but managed about 4 glorious oblivious hours last night, so I am just on the right side of overtired. I do think  snooze is due soon though, and am at the Drs later this afternoon.

The sun is out, not convinced it will last for long as I have put the washing out and everyone knows that is the signal for the gods of rain to do their funky thang. But it's fab to have some daylight.

The garden - yes I am fraid MORE garden piccies are coming - is a bit bonkersmad. The fleurs are loving it, the veggies not so much, In turn, the SLUUUUGS are loving the veggies. They appear to be mutant cyber slugs as they are oblivious to the slug pellets etc and just keep coming back. Teeny tiny ones, huge ones, snails galore, yuk.

The cabbages are religious cos they are holy. Sowwy.
The mint and cabbages are about the only things thriving, the peas, beans, broad beans all scoffed. Buggerit.

But there is pinkness galore.

Some natural.

Some not so natural.

The pinks I waffled about the other week are thriving thankfully - the 'fakes' and the 'real' ones both look and smell amazing.

Real                                                                                                                                      Fake

When I was a tot both nan and mum's gardens were full of the 'real' ones, all the borders were crammed with them, the smell was so lovely. The older I get (snort) the more I seem to be consciously or subconsciously choosing plants from my childhood. Tis great that such treasured memories can be triggered by something so every day as a plant.

Seeds from mum's garden = yellow poppies galore.
There are even poiple fleurs, which clash wonderfully with my manky door.
Brace yerself -

Pretty.
And FUUUUUGLY:

In my defence, your Honour, it is a rented house. The door and the godawful fekkin carpet are NOT of my choosing. I am still trying to decide what colour to paint that bloody door. Mum suggested red which I said would clash with the red bricks.
Mum's reply:
'But you don't have many red bricks.'
Erm. The ENTIRE HOUSE is red brick, in a street of red brick houses.
If it was my own house I would paint it a deep rich raspberry or a zingy chartreuse.
Daughter says paint it black. Deffo don't want white or blue.
Or grey.
Daughter is sanding it all down tomorrow and if tis dry will undercoat it. So I really need to decide on a colour pretty damned soon!

Hmmmm - any suggestions?
I half like muted greens but a bit dull. Would depress me before I even opened the door I think.

OOh - knitting is happening. Sox. Wool has been bought. Fibre is being spun. Shawls have been finished.
Piccies tomorrow all being well.
Table sold and hopefully collected Thursday.
Sewing machine is in use.
Hurrah!

Stress and my missing mojo

I half plan to make something like this gorgeous jacket, for the spring, If we ever get a spring ...

And this lovely photo (taken from one of the upcoming Louisa Harding pattern books, which I love) is my incentive to keep growing this damned fringe out. It's driving me mad at the moment - doesn't help that a lot of my hair at the front has been falling out (due to stress), can't bear to think about it. (insert sad face here)

And I love this skirt - in black, with big blousy pink and red flowers, lovely! Can you tell I am trying to get my sewing mojo back? I think being off work so long has made me become a bit too lazy ...


I am off work with stress (work related) at the moment, and have been since November - I have not been off work for such a long amount of time in ages (0nly once, after having my wrist broken by one of the lads at work), and it's a very odd space to be mentally.

Had a major meeting at work this morning, and without going into too much personal detail , it went better than expected (I was utterly dreading it, dreading going back through the doors, the whole thing) and people were very kind and supportive. The biggest shock was the assumption and acceptance - by those in the meeting - that I might not return for several months.

So ...