Room – The Art of Cobwebs

I’m baa-a-ack!

Hello! 😀

The missing crafter known as Cobs has been found!

Most of you know, but just in case you, dear reader, don’t: I’ve been having my craft room painted, and having new shelving and storage in there so that I could get myself more organised. Ha! More ORGANISED. That’s a joke.

I don’t know where anything is any more! Things had a place where they lived and I could (kind of, mostly) find them. But now . . . I can’t find anything. Everything is in a new place! So to help the situation I’ve put little sticky notes with various things written on them and fix them on door cupboards and drawers, and on various different bits of papers/acetate/card, etc, so that I give myself a fighting chance to find things again. There’s still some stuff under my sewing desk – but it’s nothing of major importance so it can wait a little while. But there are some boxes stuff on the sewing desk, and I need to finish doing those over the weekend…. in between real life getting in the way – like it does. tsk tsk.

Well … while I’ve been getting on with getting on …. Spring jumped into the mix and ohhh how wondrous it’s made everything here where I am in the South of England. There are now Bluebells flowering in my garden, along with Primulas, Grape Hyacinth, and even my mums Poppies have pushed through the soil and are warming their new leaves and little stems in the wonderful sunshine we’ve had going on. Everything has felt so happy and sea-sidey.

I’ve driven past the bay and along the Harbour side many times over the past couple of weeks, and as I gazed out over the ocean, I swear that someone had sprinkled diamond dust over it for it was twinkling and sparkling like no diamond ring could ever achieve. I so wanted to stop and park, just so that I could enjoy the feeling of deep peace which comes over me when I sit and keep the ocean company. I’ve booked myself an appointment to keep the Ocean company over this weekend. I’ll take some coffee and just sit quietly with it, while it talks to me, in its low, gentle shhhhushing sounds, and I listen to its wisdom and calming voice. It’s the most incredible, peace giving feeling, and I highly recommend it.

Anyhoo . . . I couldn’t come to chat and then leave without sharing a smile or two with you, so … get your chuckle muscle ready – we’re going to give it a workout!

These are the Jokes Folks!

A lorry-load of tortoises crashed into a trainload of terrapins, and I thought, ‘That’s a turtle disaster.’

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

I stopped buying women’s magazines. The only time I ever see someone who looks like me is under the word ‘Before’.

My New Year’s resolution was to get in shape. I choose round. So far it’s going really well!

I found a new way to know if you’ve put weight on. There’s a car park near me which has a barrier that goes up when it senses a car is near. I was carrying two bags of shopping, and …

Old ladies in wheelchairs with blankets over their legs? I don’t think so! … I believe they’re retired mermaids.

The worst job I ever had was as a forensicologist for the United Nations. One time I thought I’d come across the mass grave of a thousand snowmen, but it turns out it was just a field of carrots.

I was walking along the other day and on the pavement I saw a white baby ghost; however, come to think of it, it may have been a tissue.

A lot of people like cats. Take the Pope, for example: I read that he was a cat-oholic!

My mother made us eat all sorts of vitamins and supplements, until one day I nearly choked on part of The Sunday Times.

As a child I watched Mary Poppins so many times I suffered from a condition with my sight. Umdiddleiddleiddleumdiddle Eye.

. . . and finally . . .

I had a dream last night that I was cutting carrots with the Grim Reaper. Dicing with death.

Before I go .. I have bit of mind-blowingly exciting news that I’m bubbling over about, and which I’ve known about for about 3 weeks, but didn’t know how to go about sharing this news as I didn’t want anyone to think I was showing off or anything like that.

I’ve been nominated for an award in the WordPress Annual Bloggers Bash Awards 2018! This news made me so, so happy that I sat here and blubbered (cried) about it.

Now I live under no delusions of winning – there are a lot of other blogs nominated in my category who are far worthier than my little bit of the World Wide Web – but to be nominated — Ohh my goodness! That alone is the most incredible, magical thing to me. Such an honour and so unbelievably wonderful to see my name there amongst all those others – aw heck, – I could cry all over again just telling you about it.

I’ll give you a link to the page on WordPress so that you can read about the awards for yourself. (Voting closes at midnight on April 30th (BST)). If you want to see my name there, scroll down to the category of: MOST INFORMATIVE (Original Content) Blogger – and you’ll find my name in the box under the explanation of what this category is about.

LINK TO LIST OF NOMINATIONS – click here: https://sachablack.co.uk/2018/04/06/voting-is-now-open-for-the-annual-bloggers-bash-awards-bloggersbash/

Please know that I’m not asking you to vote for me – I wouldn’t ever do that. The joy of seeing my name amongst all those others is mind-blowing. I have no pipe dreams about winning. I don’t ‘do’ Facebook or any of the social media things like that – and no one in my family reads my blog, except for the lovely Mr.Cobs (bless him), so I have no ‘in family’ or friend supporters, but hey, that doesn’t matter …. I WAS NOMINATED! And that alone means more to me than you could ever imagine.

Thank you to the lovely fellow blogger who put my name forward. I am touched to the heart of me and filled with thanks for your kindness. Bless you. I think I know who this is, but I won’t embarrass them by naming them here.

So . . . that’s me, back in the saddle again. Now I know that trying to catch up with everyone’s blog posts I’ve missed reading is going to be a task on the impossible scale, so what I’m planning to do is pick up from today. However . . . if there is a post that I’ve missed over the past couple of weeks, which you were hoping for me to see, or comment on, then please leave a link to it in a comment below and I’ll go straight to it and have a peep.

What have you been up to? Been anywhere? Seen something? Created anything? Do share!

Until we talk – and I hope we do talk … may your day be bright. May your smiles be brighter. And may your life be filled with contentment. If it’s not … make it so!

Sending you much love and squidges ~

Paint, brushes and … coo what a mess!

I’ve been very lackadaisical about posting a blog post or two over the last few days, or reading and commenting on yours and/or other folks blog posts. Sorry about that. I’m here to explain that there is a very good reason for this … so – read on dear reader, read on . . .

Liddle Widdle Cottage — Not exactly a photograph of little wittle Cobweb Cottage, *but a sort of likeness.* 😀

We moved into our incy wincy, teeny tiny, little wittle cottage over 6 years ago now, and from the moment I saw the already converted garage – no garage door anymore, a lovely wooden floor and spotlights in the ceiling. No draughts, large double glazed window with a double glazed door, and all this sited in the back garden, across the decking – well, I knew that whatever the cottage looked like, THIS craft room was going to be mine.

However … I’ve longed, from that moment, for the room to be painted white inside. It was and always has been since we moved in, been a delicate shade of lavender. Not a bad colour by any means, but just not the right colour for me. I longed for an antique sort of white which was soft on the eye and which I found relaxing and inspiring.

I dropped hints every now and again. I even added this request to my Christmas List to Father Christmas, but it was missed off the presents left by F.Christmas, and hints never hit the spot.

BUT . . . about 3 months ago Mr. Cobs suddenly said that he was going to put me some better shelving in my craft room! (Be still my beating heart). I gasped in ~~shock~~ loving surprise and gazed all starry-eyed at my craft room walls, imagining the new shelves.

Now Mr. Cobs isn’t someone who rushes at jobs. I have to put in a request several weeks before I’m in need of something, so I knew that I’d likely have to wait for a short while for the said shelves to appear – but I began to kind of sort out my crafty things. Moving stuff about, making piles of this, that and the other, all of them waiting, waiting, waiting – bit like being 42 weeks pregnant when you hoped to go into labour at week 39.

Suddenly, himself BURST into action earlier this week (during a bout of it not raining for a change!) and after measuring (several times) and informing me of what he thought was the right shelving system for me …. and me agreeing or suggesting perhaps a tweak here and there – I decided that I would chance my arm and see if perhaps, before he put up the said new shelving, would he, perhaps, maybe, be open to taking up a paint brush and splashing some paint around in order to turn lavender walls into white ones. And . . . . . . . . . HE’S DOING IT!!! He’s actually painting the Craft Room! Oh joy of joys thy name is Cobs Snr!

Painting — Not entirely a photograph of Mr.Cobs, but a sort of likeness. *lol*

Ohhh dear reader 😀 I cannot explain how amazing the room feels when I go into it. It’s bright, uplifting but restful and the positive vibes are incredible. AND …. … the new shelving system looks wonderful. There’s still things to do, and still all the putting back of all the crafty stash etc to be taken care of, but … it’s all this moving, changing, painting, putting up shelving, altering, (and still waiting for an extra bit of shelving and then possible moving of a couple of things around) – which has kept me away from posting. I haven’t been able to properly get into the craft room, and the dining room table is filled to capacity with all the crafty stuff which has had to be moved from the craft room, in order for painting to take place – so no crafty thing has been produced to share with you here

So … my apologies that I’ve missed some of your posts over the last week or so. I will attempt to catch up at some point. But a combination of Mr. C., paint, brushes, and creations of a totally different sort than normal … and also because I’ve been far too excited about this [almost] Alice in Wonderland happening, has kept me from being able to do anything other than be child-like excited about my craft room being decorated.

I’m kind of here … I’m just not quite all there. (but you knew that already). lol

Oh … and in the middle of all this Little Cobs had a Birthday, and I hosted a Birthday Party here at Cobweb Towers – and had to hide all the craft stash which has been sitting on the dining room table! It was all hidden really well. In fact so well that I’m not sure we’ve found it all again! LOL.

Anyhoo … normal service will be resumed once everything is back to normal. Until then … please take very good care of yourself.

Sending love and squidges ~

Craft Living, with Anne and Malcolm ~ part 3

Some of you will recall that I’ve posted ‘Craft Living with Anne and Malcolm’ twice before, and so know that all the photos/pictures are all about having a bit of a giggle about something(s) that you might have normally not noticed about a craft inspired photograph.

If you haven’t seen the firs two of these blog posts, you might find that having a read of them first will give you an idea of what to expect in this third instalment.

You can find the first Anne and Malcolm post HERE No.1 (it will open in a new tab for you)

The second Anne and Malcolm post can be found HERE No.2 (again, it will open in a new tab).

Anne and Malcolm aren’t myself or Mr.Cobs – however, they do have their feet placed firmly in our joined at the hip sense of humour. (except my humour is far cleaner than Mr.Cobs, and doesn’t involve swear words (very often) and most certainly has nothing to do with f.a.r.t.s or blowing raspberries either!)

Anne and Malcolm are a figment of my imagination. They are two people I ‘made up’ in order to share something which tickles the heck out of me – that being viewing a photograph and the ability to see something funny; odd; weird; strange; ticklish… which, the moment I’ve seen *that thing*, I instantly give voice to describing it. And … I simply brought that voice to the blog here in order to [hopefully] cause you smile.

So here for your enjoyment is Craft Living with Anne and Malcolm, part 3. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I did putting this little selection together for your enjoyment.

There aren’t nearly enough laughs to be heard in the world right now, so have some fun with these, and share them too. Let’s infect the world with a bit of laughter! 😀

❤

Well, what did Malcolm expect Anne to put the pot plant on… a pillowcase off the bed?? Good grief!

❤

Eh? Don’t we all do that???

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Personally, Mr. Cobs lives with the belief that I have a bladder the size of Lake Titicaca!

❤

…. Nice to know that someone else has that problem too. 🙂

~ ❤ ~

Well, we’ve turned over a few more pages of the ‘COBWEB CATALOGUE – life with a Crafter & her Spouse’. Y’know … I don’t think we’ll ever get to the end of that Catalogue – there seems to be an unending amount of pages in it.

I will be truthful and say that I love this adorable pair. They’re obviously made for each other. But both in need of getting out more.

Thank you so much for coming and having a bit of a giggle with me. Do remember to share the smiles with your friends (send ’em a link in an email) or re-blog for your own blog followers. We really do need more smiles going on in the world right now, so let’s form a chain, eh?

Wishing you a happy, contented weekend. Sending squidges and buckets love, to you in your corner, from me in mine. ~

Things I’ve Learned This Week.

Hello, good morning and …. HAPPY FRIDAY!

I don’t know about you, but Fridays give me this funny little feeling somewhere between my tummy button and my … erm … my uhm … chest. (phew – that was touch and go there for a minute). It’s an odd sort of feeling, like my body is having a quiet giggle to itself. A cross between a giggle and a tickle – but right inside me. In the centre of my body. Funniest little feeling. Nice one though.

Aww … hush up Cobs. Get on with the post already!

Right .. you’re here to read about how I’ve had my edumacation improved this week, so without further ado, I shall plunge straight in and get on with it.

This week I learned . . . that Liechtenstein is a tiny, doubly landlocked country tucked away between Switzerland and Austria. It owes much of its wealth to its traditional status as a tax haven, though it has in recent years taken steps to shake off its image as a tax haven and to reposition itself as a legitimate financial centre.

However … do you know that Liechtenstein is the Worlds Leading Manufacturer in _______. If you don’t know the answer to that …. have a guess. Think about the country. Think about where it is. Imagine what you think that Liechtenstein is the Worlds Leading Manufacturer in. Just take a wild guess.

Vaduz Castle, overlooking the capital, is home to the Prince of Liechtenstein

Let’s see if you guessed correctly shall we? In actual fact, Liechtenstein is the Worlds Leading Manufacturer in —>left click on your mouse and hold the click as you drag your cursor over this blank spot here —>FALSE TEETH<— 😀 If you’re anything like me you’ll have guessed that it would be some sort of speciality Beer. But no… such a beautiful place with such romantic feel about it – who could have guessed that fact? lol

If you’d like to learn a little more about this enchanting place you can read more here: The Spectator – Liechtenstein the link will open up in another page for you. If when the page loads, it asks you to ‘join up’ to their site, either close that smaller window or simply click back, then click forward and the Spectators efforts to get you to sign up will disappear so that you can read.

Now then … what else have I learned this week?…. ohhhhh… I know…

I learned this week that when you have a plan, the world laughs at you and makes other plans just to see how you handle the new stuff which life has thrown at you.

My craft room is all set up in our converted garage. The whole thing was already converted when we bought the cottage – so it seemed to be fate that brought us to it.

It took about a year before we were able to set up the room properly so that I could craft in it. (we had to do renovations to the cottage after we bought it). And I love it in there. However … I did have to make a teensy bit of room for our washing machine. But it’s located at the other end of the room, away from where I sit, so I didn’t bother too much about it. BUT … this week it suddenly began making the most dreadful noise when it started to spin. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG! It got louder too.

So scared was I that I picked up the phone and called Mr.Cobs (he was in the cottage – our phones can call each other – so my phone in the garage can, at the press of a button, call the phone in the house. It works!. When Himself answered the phone I had to shout to hear myself talk…. “come to the craft room QUICK!”, I was scared silly that the Washing Machine was going to suddenly blow up!

Well, shortening the tale … the Washing Machine has gone to Washing Machine Heaven. So .. a new machine was found, delivery arranged, payment was made AT GREAT EXPENSE I might add!, (I hope this new machine makes me my coffee, I’m telling you!). Then Mr.Cobs said he’d have to get the old machine out, ready for the men to make delivery of new machine, and take old machine away with them. And that’s where the trouble started.

It sounded like such a simple thing – remove old washing machine, make space for new one. Oh. My. Goodmiss! I hadn’t quite realised that there was a small(ish) Ikea unit which although not ‘in front’ of our old machine … it was enough in front, to stop the machine moving fully out of its position. So that unit had to be moved. Which meant that a whole load of stuff on the unit had to move, and then all the stuff which was on top of the unit had to be moved … and well, shortening the tale even further … a mess the size of a volcano happened. I haven’t been able to work at my desk(s) all week. I decided that since we’d got that unit out, then perhaps the best thing would be to re-site it and attach it to the sewing desk, so that the unit wouldn’t be in the way.

I won’t bore you with the jiggling which happened after that, but suffice to say … I could, at 7.30pm on Thursday night (yesterday) finally see a bit of my desk again. So from all this I learned … That I rather envied my Grandmother and how she told me about she used to do the washing for her growing family …. in a ‘dolly tub’ in the back garden. BRING BACK THE DOLLY TUB! It’s cheaper, and it doesn’t break down!

I also learned this week: in quick, ‘bullet’ form ….

That . . . 80% of food has sugar added to it.

That . . . Wasps must wear ‘uniforms’ by smearing themselves with wax from their nest, and then on their return, fellow wasps recognise they are from the same colony and accept them in.

That . . . Mark Twain invented and patented the bra-strap clasp. I kid ye not. This really is true.

That . . . Abulia is the word for the inability to make decisions.

A musophobist is a person who distrusts poetry. As someone who will make up a bit of silly poetry at the drop of a hat – this was a real upset to me!

Depp means ‘twit’ in German. This kind of upset me for a moment, because I used to have rather a soft spot for Johnny Depp … but then I outgrew him so no longer upset. 🙂

The first commercial chewing gum appeared in 1871, after Thomas Adams had failed to make car tyres from the same ingredients. Yes … that stopped me in my tracks too when I learned that.

The Pantone colour chart has 104 shades of grey. So that means *that fellow* in *that ’50 shades’ book* was well below par. (snigger) I’m so glad that I didn’t read it.

and finally . . .

Male Ladybirds can spend up to four hours mating with a dead female before realising something is wrong. Ok… I’m going to stand up and admit that I actually laughed. I’m sorry. I’m sorry to the Men Ladybirds. I don’t think I meant to find that funny … but … well … it just kinda snuck up on me and before I knew it I was giggling like a schoolgirl. (And each time I think of it, I start giggling all over again). I don’t know why it tickles the heck out of me … well, maybe I do… but I’m not going to say. Let’s just say that I apologise. (and yes…. I’m giggling right now too).

I’ve learned rather a lot this week. How I’ve managed to remember all of it so that I can share it with you, is way out of my understanding. But I’m so glad that I did. (Especially so the Lady(man)bird one. LOLOL. [now stop it Cobs. Behave yourself! tsk tsk.]

Well there’s only enough time for some jokes now, so I’d better get on with it…. ready? OK.. let’s go!

Why did the bicycle fall over? . . . Because it was two tired!

Why did the prune go out with the raisin? . . . They couldn’t find dates!

Did you hear about the corduroy pillow? . . . It made the headlines.

Why do they call them light bulbs? … Because they don’t weigh very much.

What’s red and looks like a bucket? . . . A red bucket.

What’s blue and smells like red paint? . . . Blue paint

What’s orange and sounds like a parrot? . . . A carrot

Why does Beethoven hate chickens? . . . Because all they ask for is Bach Bach Bach Bach Bach.

and finally . . .

What is Beethoven up to now? . . . Decomposing.

I did say that we could talk more about Time Travelling this week … but I ran out of ….. lol.

Truth is, I think I’ve talked more than enough, so I’m going to shut up and give your brain a rest.

Also …. My apologies to all the crafters out there, because I haven’t shared anything crafty with you this week. Having had my craft room turned upside down hasn’t helped with any crafty endeavours … but … I’m filled with ideas for what I want to do, so I’ll try to be back next week with something lovely to look at.

I have a busy weekend coming …. I’m hosting Little Cobs Birthday Party in our cottage. I’ve been busy ordering, buying, finding and all manner of things. So I’m really looking forward to his party on Saturday (tomorrow). All I have to remember to do before then is find half an hour to wrap his gifts, instead of realising ten minutes before the party starts, that I haven’t wrapped them! eeeek!

So … what about you? Do you have anything planned for this weekend? Do share. I’d love to hear about what you’re up to in your corner of the world.

Whatever you’re doing, may you find happiness and joy. May the weather be what you’d like it to be, and may love enter your life softly, gently, and leave footprints on your heart. Be good to each other, and . . . may your God go with you.