A great day:)

A most wonderful time, celebrating this auspicious day . Breakfast with good friends then a trip to Furness  with Mr Mog for a trip down memory lane to the school I boarded for 2 years from age 7-9. Sadly now owned by wealthy man and large private sign so no access:(
But the day was lovely and the Cumbrian hills stunning and the friends such good company so that's all you need isn't it?
I received 42 cards ,numerous gifts and I spent the day with the man I love.
Thanks to the Goddess for that.

Almost

On the eve of my birthday, a major one this time and would have been pension age if the government hadn't changed the goalposts. I don't think about my age or worry about it . It is just a number after all. Hadn't planned anything for it as I have been rather distracted organising a special event.
It was MrMog,s birthday last week and I decided to celebrate in a special way.
I organised a mini wool festival - Mogfest. Invited many friends and family to join us and some very special stall holders that MrMog really liked.
I also organised lunch, this was catered by Vintage Village Hall who do afternoon teas served in traditional style with bone china,cake stands and embroidered tablecloths.
I think there were nearly 80 of us all together and it was wonderful. Mr Mog didn't know util we arrived at the venue. He thought we were going to support our friends in their first craft show. True as they were having a stand.
When we arrived at the venue I explained I hadn't been quite truthful and pointed to the large Mogfest banner outside the venue:)
I told him he needed his invite and had to wear the special tshirt my friend had designed for him.

All friends were waiting to welcome him and he was very overwhelmed to say the least.

He had suspected something as w had 3 friends staying for 3 nights but thought that it was just to celebrate at home.It was a wonderful day and well worth the weeks of lack of sleep and stress, I did have fantastic help from good friends though.
The cake was wonderful, a 3d cat, mogfest and Mr Mog on it. Oh and paw prints. it took a week to recover but I am so pleased I did it.
Friends wanted to donate to a charity as the event was free and we raised £675 on the day which was incredible. Half has gone to the air ambulance and half to St Catherine's hospice, both worthy cause
There is probably a lot more to say but that will be another day.
How are you?

A belated happy Lammas

A little late but hope you all had a good Lammas. We spent it at friends in Scotland and the full moon was incredible. They have recently moved to a small holding on the way to Stranraer  and the area was new to me. What gorgeous views from their house, even the isle of man was visible. We had a meander round the area and really enjoyed it. Tomorrow is oncology day for mr Mog , always a worrying time even though his results have been good. I think it is automatic to worry, hard not to. We are getting close to a celebration for his birthday, I don't want to be more specific in case he does stumble on this post. I don't think he will but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say it will involve fibre,friends and fun. More after the weekend on that. I think he may wonder what is going on when friends come to stay for the weekend (3 of them) I have said they want to help celebrate his birthday which is true:)
More later

Sometimes the wild goddess calls you

 You might not be listening at that moment

so she calls a little louder

 Will you listen? Will you ignore her?

 Will your heart sing and your joy spring forth at her call?

 Does she reach the inner you? the child within?

 What will you do with the call and its message?

 The first pictures above are a half of this years lavender crop in the front border, ripe already. I left the rest for the bees:) Then this picture is some part of our tomato and pepper growing in the conservatory. We have had our first tomatoes from them.

 The back border shows some colour and is growing so well with the wet warm weather we have had.

 The lush flowers in the vases were a thank you gift from friends who are moving. We went to lend a hand packing. The flowers are now fully out and truly stunning.

 I have decided to give spindling another go and I love the trindle I got from a friends destash. The batt I am spinning is also from a destash and a change from my usual bright colours. It does however have some sparkle in it.

 Then another friend persuaded me to have a go at knitting a swirl jacket. I had lots of part balls of yarn left over from the Elsewhere jackets I knit so decided to use those. The jackets are an unusual construction, you cast on almost 600 stitches in a circle using long tail cast on. I'd never done that before and that was an exercise in patience. Also made my thumbs exceedingly sore. I knit several rounds and was sure that I'd not twisted the join but I had:(

A  friend who was staying took pity on me and when I had pulled back the many rows I'd done she cast on for me. Thanks Sam:) We did go to the Tynedale Gathering over on the north east  and while speaking to one of the other people there I heard of a great idea for joining circles. This lady pins out the circle on her ironing board, checks it is straight then joins in situ. What do you know it works much better than crossing fingers and hoping.

 The jacket is very bright as you can see and I love it. The sleeves are too long but I'm not worried. I will stitch the cuffs back on it,.

 Then I did mention my sewing ?
This is my little featherweight machine, isn't it lovely?

Did you miss me?

I hadn't realised how long it had been since my last blog post. Sorry. It has been hectic but in a good way . Mr Mog is doing really well on his drug trial and they are very pleased with him at oncology . His numbers are down and apart from a spell of horrendous hot sweats he hasn't had any side effects up to now. This is the 4th month of the trial and we are still on 4 weekly appointments . One month it is ECG ,bloods and consultant and the alternate month is bone scan, ct scan, bloods and consultant. Those months are long appointments because one of the scans has to be 2-3 hours after the injection . But a small price to pay for the results:) what else has been happening? We went to Woolfest and really enjoyed it as usual. We stayed in the Travelodge across from the venue and that helped a lot especially as it was yet another wet festival . Lots of flooding around and about but it didn't stop the fun:) we met up with lots of friends from across the country and across the world. I have unearthed my Bernina and have a fancy to do some machine embroidery and mixed media stuff. I organised a days tuition with one of my favourite tutors and really enjoyed it. We did various techniques and it was a chance to reacquaint myself with stitching. It was also an exceedingly good value day for one to one. I acquired an old singer hand crank machine which Mr Mog cleaned up and serviced and I love it. It only does straight stitch but sometimes that is all you want. But:- We saw an old featherweight singer sewing machine at woolfest on the Yarnyard stand and both fell in love with it. I said I would love one of those and decided to look for one after Woolfest. Imagine my surprise when I got home to a phone message from a local charity shop saying they had a sewing machine for me. I had asked if they ever got old machines in as I wanted a hand crank and had forgotten to get in touch to say I had got one. We went in on the Monday and they couldn't see a machine. The girl rang the manager who told her where it was. We saw a lovely old case, looked like the kind you used to carry Lps around in. When Mr Mog opened it there was a mint 221k featherweight inside. Perfect in every way :) the Goddess must have been listening I think. I found out that the 222k featherweight actually drops its feed dogs and is ideal for FME (free machine embroidery) and has the added advantage of being easy to carry around. Guess what I am looking for now? Mr Mogs birthday is coming up shortly and I am trying to organise something to celebrate. I don't want to put anything on the blog as he sometimes reads it, but if you want to know more message me via comments. There is probably lots more I haven't said but hopefully won't be as long to next post. Thank you for reading

Of this and that

Wow bet you didn't expect another post so soon did you? The sun is shining here and it doesn't half lift the spirits

Following are some pictures from our recent holiday in Wales, wet but still a lovely few days

This tree was just outside our dining room window.

views from the living room

they changed as you watched

 This was a craft centre near Builth Wells , Erwood

 As you can probably tell, a disused railway

This was the Thomas shop near Llandrindod Wells, a marvellous museum and craft centre with a tea room.

 You could actually get amongst the items and have a closer look.

Whilst there our friend picked up a couple of hand cranked sewing machines and when I got back home I thought that wasn't a bad idea for the days when I can't use my legs or feet to press the foot pedal on my Bernina.I am by no means a proper machinist, I do however like doing freeform ,no straight lines for me as I am challenged when it comes to sewing or cutting straight.

I was getting rid of some surplus furniture on one of our local boards, it isn't freegle, you can actually ask for small amounts of cash or typically chocolate wine etc. I asked for a sewing machine. I thought it was worth an ask. A lady contacted me from a local charity they had been given a machine to sell for funds. This little beauty cost me the sum of £25. No rust, well oiled and not much dirt as you can see.

It stitches beautifully and will be ideal on the days I just want to do a little slow stitching.
Well tomorrow is hospital, first checkup on Mr Mogs drug trial and I think a long appointment. He is doing well up to now with no outward side effects. Maybe a little more hungry from the steroids and a little more tired. But in the scheme of things that isn't much at all.

Who knows where the time goes?

Warning this post contains a picture of a Sheila Na Gig and is sexually explicit.

 A song I love:)

So where has the time gone? It has been a strange time to say the least but with good parts. A little like the curate's egg:)
We went to Wonderwool and it was freezing and very very cold but good to meet up with friends from around the world. Coldest ,wettest Wonderwool I've ever attended. The interactive area raised £850 for the air ambulance which was good. Lots of volunteers and also lots of people willing to donate.
We stayed in a cottage with good friends for the week and despite the constant daily rain it was good and a break. A chance to recoup our energies and our peace of mind.
My head has not been good. I thinkit has been a mix of worries , firstly over Mr Mog and then my son had problems, plus the ever constant pain just got a wee bit too much.
I went to see the doctor and just that simple act helped. It made me focus on me and what was going on.
The consensus was that I try stronger pills for the pain, try and lose a little weight to help with the joint problems and more meditation. If that didn't help then there was always the option of drugs or councillor.
To be honest just talking about it all helped and with a neutral person even more so.

I feel more myself now, yes I still have the stress and the pain but it is just a part of who and what I am.

We decided to shift the craft room around and put a new unit in with more space removing a desk I had. It puts all the yarn and fibre together where I can  see them easily instead of having stashes here there and everywhere.

Part of doing this meant I had to move my altar.. It seemed the right time to change the cards I always have there and these are what I pulled out today.

Normally I have one Attuned card and 1 Goddess oracle card there but this time 2 Attuned ones fell out.
So what do the cards tell me about where I am right now?
The first one from the Attuned deck is Windsong. This is all about finding your place of being, in harmony with the earth. Rediscovering ones true song.
The second card from the Goddess oracle is Sheila Na Gig, a disturbing card to some with the sexual aspects. She is portrayed as a hag, an aspect of the Goddess Morrigan. She guards the doorway between life and death. Her card for me reflects new beginning, leaving something behind and starting anew.Her open vulva to me means open up to a new life a new way of thinking.
The third card is from the Attuned deck and is Angel. She is glancing backwards, leaving the dark behind, moving into the light. Starting again, moving onwards .
So the message seems clear to me, just be in the moment, no worrying about what has gone on and what might happen. Just live the day as it comes.
Your thoughts as always are welcome, thank you

Mr Mog BTW is doing well, the drug trial appears to be progressing as it should and up to now no unwanted side effects. We go back to the hospital Tuesday for his first appointment since starting the trial. More tests then and a chance to see how it works or doesn't. Lets face it it isn't a cure, that really doesn't matter. It is more about enjoying his life and slowing down the inevitable.
But we could all be run over by a bus tomorrow so in the scheme of things it is good:))

Clinical trials day 2

A long day yesterday not home until teatime. First dose of drugs given at hospital at 2-30 the  second at home at 9.15pm. Supposed to be 12 hours between and not too near bedtime as it may keep Mr Mog awake. However on reading the bumph that came with it it said leave least 6 hours between doses so we compromised at 9.15 Good nights sleep except that Mr M kept getting hot sweats, very hot sweats.
New regime started of drugs 7am and 7pm which hopefully will not impact on sleep. He has been fine today thankfully.

Day one drug trial

Been at hospital almost all day. Lots of blood taken, bp etc. forms filled in and now ,late afternoon ,first drug dose taken. Now a wait for half an hour for more bloods to be taken then we can go home. A long day for mr Mog and despite books, knitting and iPads the time has dragged. It will be good to go home and I suppose to know that the next stage of cancer treatment has been started. We have another appointment in 4 weeks time for progress report.

drug trials

Hi BW, I am not sure why it is called a millennium trial I must check and see how long the trial has been going. Yes we do have a dedicated nurse and we were given her direct number to use.  Mr Mog will be seen each month and have scans every 2 months while on this trial. A friend on Ravelry informed me that they can work round stuff such as the infection so it wouldn't necessarily preclude Mr Mog from going on the trial. My trouble now is that I've been googling(as you do) and some earlier trial results are in. It seems that of 26 on an earlier trial, 23 experienced side effects. I haven't told Mr M yet, I need to do more research and at this stage I don't want to be giving him possibly false information if for example they have altered dosage or something similar. He is worried enough over going into the trial. But as I wrote earlier they really haven't given us any feasible alternatives.

Rheged WOW

Wonder of wool and the art of stitch if you wondered what the title meant. But also Wow  as in what a great day we had. We very nearly didn't go because of  Mr Mog being quite ill yesterday.  A dreadful night was had by both as he really couldn't keep a settled temperature and varied from freezing with shivers to red hot with shivers.
However this morning he was insistent that he wanted to go to Penrith to meet up with many friends who were also going to the fair.
I drove, the first time in quite a while and although it was quite a nervy journey I managed it ok:)
This was the first time we had been to Rheged and what a surprise it was, far bigger than I expected. From the minute we arrived we were surrounded by friends and fellow yarn addicts. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces, some of the people I had only spoken to online and putting faces to names was fun.
We didn't go into the exhibition . To be honest the fair itself was more than enough and poor Mr M was very shaky and tired with it all. He assures me that it did him the world of good being among friends though so that is good.
What did we see?
we saw these:-

We also saw plenty of yarn and fibre. The hall was full of colour and very inspiring.
What did I buy?
A lucet, never tried one of these before but Graham on Coastal colours stand was playing with one when we went by and I was intrigued. It is easy to use one and a great way to use up oddments of yarn as well. Coastal colours were new to me but the yarns were lovely, he has a great eye for colour and I am sure they will do well. They were both chatty and very friendly and this was their first fair. I'm certain it won't be their last.
I found a lovely oak shawl pin on Ripples crafts stand. Helen always has interesting things to see, not just yarn and fibre. I managed to resist the fibre as I am waiting for when she goes to Wonderwool Wales.
That would have been it on purchases if we hadn't spotted some braids of fibre at the corner of Krafty Koalas stand. Mr Mog  chose some Wensleydale and I found some BFL.

While eating lunch we caught up with Angela and her husband,  Rebs, Tattyknits, Lob and many many more. Angela and her husband Paul gave us all pens which Paul had made and mine is oak:) He also makes the most fabulous buttons and I had to buy 2 of them. A large one for a hat I think and a smaller one for a bag.
There were friends from both guilds we now go to and the one we used to attend. Just a wealth of lovely people and so much positive energy forthcoming.
I loved the mix of stands, there was something for everyone. Lots of felting and information on courses if you wanted to make the things you saw.. Fibre and fleece for those who spin and felt, then yarn of every colour and fibre from merino through to stainless steel. I was tempted to try some stainless steel Habu but didn't. Maybe another time. There was a bookseller with old books and magazines including old vogue magazines from the 1930s. It is always nice to go to these events and to chat with the friendly stall holders. They never push you to buy but are very knowledgeable if you just want to ask about something. I think when you see them working on craft items and smiling you want to go over and ask what they are making or just say hello. If Rheged put this event on again I'd recommend a visit.