Today I've mostly bin...

[MBH]

He's not chewing on his poor sisters is he?


Yes - guilty of knowing too much uselessness here as well

[Bunnylump]

Well, Easter socks seems an even more bizarre tradition than boiling eggs and rolling them down hills, like we do. Unfortunately the weather today was pants so we constructed a ramp down the steps onto the patio and rolled them down that instead. They were very fancy this year because I found a packet of Bindis in my craft drawer, so they were all sparkly this time. The cat thought we'd lost the plot.

[giraffe]

I'm with the cat on that one!

[Bunnylump]

Would you have tried to chase them down the ramp though??

[giraffe]

No, I'm too lazy for anything that energetic.

[LAT]

What are Bindis?

[giraffe]

I was trying not to show my ignorance by asking that!

[Bunnylump]

Those little marks Hindus have on their foreheads. These are the stick on variety and are like little squirly patterns with "jewels" in them. I bought them about a million years ago for a primary school fete stall I was running, which consisted of things like henna painting, bindis, face painting etc. Blimey, I forgot I used to be able to do all that - once upon a time I could do a proper tiger face for a child with blended face paints, stripes, whiskers, the lot!! As I recall, at the time, most children either wanted to be a teenage mutant turtle or girls always wanted to be butterflies with glitter. I seem to recall my son bucking the trend, as ever, by asking to be painted like a fire engine.

These are bindis

[Bunnylump]

...Going stir crazy. The weather is revolting and I NEED to get out of this house. I tried suggesting going somewhere (Scott's Grotto) with OH but he's a miserable g*t and never wants to go anywhere on a bank holiday in case it's busy. Before long I can feel the kagoul and wellies coming out for a stomp round in the mud...

[LAT]

Well yesterday nobody would come for a walk with me so I ended up going on my own - and it wasn't even raining.
Today it's just miserable outside.

[Bunnylump]

...Buying a new sewing machine. My trusty 70 year old Frister and Rossman finally gave up the ghost. The trouble is that I don't know how to WORK "modern" sewing machines...I haven't tried it yet but it's got an alarming number of knobs and switches and things which I don't understand...

[dramaticat]

...Buying a new sewing machine. My trusty 70 year old Frister and Rossman finally gave up the ghost. The trouble is that I don't know how to WORK "modern" sewing machines...I haven't tried it yet but it's got an alarming number of knobs and switches and things which I don't understand...

I'm sticking to my 30-year-old Bernina for as long as I can!

[clvrlad]

well my last tangle with a sewing machine was the ones at high scool 20 years ago so i think my knowlegde my be out of date too :-p

[tricia]

i HAVE A sINGER ONE STUCK IN A CUPBOARD GATHERING DUST

tRICIA

more to the point ...it was madi in Singer Factory in Clydebank which is now sadly closed

[Bunnylump]

Well, my first attempt at using it was a bit spectacular. I couldn't see the diagrams (too small) so tried to guess which bit I had to take out to get the bobbin case out. Unfortunately I took several other bits out as well and the first thing my long suffering husband had to do when he got in from work was to put it back together again. It is SO different to what I am used to - nothing looks like the things I used to use. This is a John Lewis JL125 (so a middle of the range version, not the cheap and cheerful variety) and I spent ages looking for the bobbins, which turned out to be these short plastic things rather than the lovely long metal ones my old machine had. This has a cheap plastic dust cover, whereas the old one had a lovely curved wooden maple case.

[eirian]

I've a beautiful old singer which came from my Grandma's. It's all black and gold. Apparently it used to be a foot powered one that was made electric. I don't think the wiring has ever been replaced and it's a death-trap! I've used it a few times, but it's currently in the loft awaiting rewiring before I risk using it again...

... coughing and spluttering and hoping I regain my voice before singing 'Happy Birthday' to my dad at the weekend!

[LAT]

I have an old Singer that was second hand when I got it about 30+years ago. I have never liked the idea of an electric machine and am quite happy with my old manual one.

Hope you feel better soon Eirian!

[supersleuth]

I had one of those, given me circa 1970 on the understanding that if/when I got a more up to date machine I would pass it on free to someone. This I duly did a few years later, but still regret it. The additional "functionality" I got was minimal and the old machine seemed to cope with any thickness/length of stitch etc. And, no, I never got electrocuted..

[giraffe]

I have never been electrocuted by mine, but it does occasionally seize up completely. Quite a nuicance when the garment is wedged solid in there. Applying a little oil frees it up eventually, but I don't like to oil it too much in case it gets on the fabric. Mum has two, and electric that is probably 50 years old, and her grandmother's hand machine, that is 100+ years old.

[LAT]

Today we chose a wedding present for the daughter of old friends who is getting married next month. She and husband to be are already living together, and in a flat in Hong Kong where space is at a premium so they didn't really want lots of gifts. Instead they are planning a memorable holiday next year to Australia and Japan and asked for contributions towards that. But what made this different is that they had set up a list of experiences, trips, meals etc that they would love to do on this holiday. Things such as Sumo wrestling, a tea ceremony, a sushi meal, a balloon flight, etc and we chose what we would like them to do. So although we have just given them some money, we know how it will be spent, and we had fun choosing what to give them.
Then next year we will hopefully get a photo of the two of them enjoying our chosen gift.
This struck me as a rather nice way to ask for money.