I'm going to merge!

Hello there to my two faithful followers!

I've decided to merge my two blogs, so somethingbetterinstead will cease to exist within the next few days or whenever I have time to do the importing and exporting. In fact I found I was invariably pasting stuff on both blogs, or wasn't sure where the items should go. So now everything will go to just one place.

Please continue to read isitatoy; where you'll find everything (even the recipes). See you there!

This is your unique opportunity to give me your ideas of how I can improve isitatoy. If you have any ideas, please insert them in the comments box below - you have about a week, after which it will be too late!

Growing old

Many years ago at work we produced a publication about elder care. In it was a lovely poem, which I also translated into French. Since then, my lovely Mum who is 91 years old has developed dementia and I decided to try to dig out the poem from our archives. Amazingly, I found it, together with my translation of which I was very proud because I managed to make it rhyme while still respecting the meaning and the rhythm of the original English. Here they both are. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

What do you see nurse, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you look at me?
A crabbit old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with far away eyes, 
Who dribbles her food, and makes no reply,
When you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.
Who, unresisting or not, lets you do as you will
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.
Is that what you're thinking, is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I move at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I am a small child of ten with a father and a mother,
Brothers and sisters who love one another.
A young girl at sixteen with wings at her feet
Dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty, my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promised to keep.
At twenty-five now I have young of my own
Who need me to build a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now grow fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last.
At forty my young now soon will be gone,
But my man stays beside me to see I don't mourn.
At fifty once more babies play around my knee,
Again we know children, my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead,
I look at the future, I shudder with dread,
For my young are all busy rearing young of their own
And I think of the years and the love I have known.
I'm an old lady now and nature is cruel,
'Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body it crumbles, grace and vigour depart,
And now there is a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcase a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I am loving and living life over again.
I think of the years all too few, gone so fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, nurse, open and see,
Not a crabbit old woman, look closer, see Me.

Anonymous.
It has been reported that this poem was found with the belongings of an elderly lady who died in a nursing home in Ireland.

And now in French:

Madame l'infirmière, que voyez-vous?

Qu'est-ce que vous pensez quand vous me regardez?

Une vieille femme perdue, plus ce qu'elle était,

Qui ne sait pas où elle est, ni ce qu'elle fait,

Qui bave quand elle mange, et ne prend jamais note

Quand vous dites "mais essayez!" à voix bien trop haute.

Qui ne semble remarquer les choses que vous faites

Ni même savoir exactement qui vous êtes,

Qui vous laisse faire, mais pas sans peiner

Me nourrir, me laver, pour remplir les journées.

C'est ce que vous pensez et ce que vous voyez?

Alors, ouvrez les yeux, vous n'avez pas bien regardé.

Je vous dirai qui je suis, moi qui reste sans bouger,

Moi qui fais et qui mange ce que vous, vous voulez.

Je suis une petite fille à l'âge de dix ans,

Avec des frères et des soeurs, aimés par nos parents.

Et puis à seize ans, la tête je relève,

En esperant bientôt voir l'homme de mes rêves.

A vingt je me marie, le futur me guette,

Je me souviens bien des promesses que j'ai faites.

Bientôt vingt-cinq ans et j'ai des enfants moi-même,

Qui ont besoin de savoir que maman les aime.

A trente ans, les enfants grandissent

Avec les liens que les longues années tissent.

A quarante, les enfants vont bientôt partir,

Mais mon mari est là pour me soutenir.

A cinquante, les bébés sont là encore une fois,

Les petits enfants de mon mari et moi.

Et puis vient le jour où mon mari est mort,

Le futur ne me promet que peur et remords.

Mes enfants s'occupent de leur propre familles

Je pense à toutes ces années d'amour envolées...

Je suis vieille, la nature est cruelle

De transformer en carcasse une jeune fille si belle,

Le corps se désintègre et perd sa vigueur

Et il y a une pierre à la place de mon coeur.

Mais dans cette carcasse habite toujours une jeune fille

Et mon coeur se réveille quand je pense à ma vie.

Je pense à mes peines, je pense à mes joies

Et je revis et j'aime encore une fois.

Je pense à des années toutes trop vite passées

Et je trouve malheureux que ça ne puisse durer.

Madame l'infirmière, approche toi et vois,

Ce n'est pas une vieille folle, non, c'est Moi.

Early spring or just a taste of it

After the snow and cold, we've recently had beautiful weather, sunshine and warm temperatures. It's been so nice I went out walking without wearing a coat on Sunday, and I have already seen my first wild primrose!  The photo isn't very good but it's a real wild primrose, growing by a wall on the path I take to work every morning. There's more cold weather forecast for this week so I'll keep my eye on the little primrose to see if it survives. It's quite sheltered by the wall so hopefully it will be OK.

I'm still really busy at work and at home, so I've not had much time to do crafts. I do however have several works in progress - and during the weekend I did manage to make a sweet little felt purse. This is one of the wonderful free patterns on the internet that are there for the taking. I make my crochet patterns available for free, and lots of other people do the same for crochet, knit and sewing patterns. You can also buy them, but I have never done so, as there are so many going for free.

It is nice to be able to walk outside again without slipping on the snow and ice. We are lucky to live in a place that is safe and peaceful and yet only a short bus ride away from an international city and airport. I walk to and from work every day (my office is only 5 minutes away from home!) and try to come home the long way round, especially now that the weather is so lovely. The other day I saw a jay and lots of other birds, they were enjoying the nice weather too.

He did it!

As I mentioned, I'd promised my soon-to-be-14-year-old that during the holidays I would teach him how to make croissants. Well, he's done it!  Here is one that I managed to salvage for a quick photo before it was gobbled down with the rest of them!

They turned out very well, nice and flaky, buttery and very moreish! 

On a very different subject, I found a very cute pattern for some tiny crochet flowers and here's what I made:

They literally took me about 5 minutes each flower. I have lots of different colours of nice cotton yarn, so it looks like I'm going to have fun making some more.

Happy New Giraffe!

I've just finished my latest crochet project: what do you think of this stripy giraffe? I have a couple of improvements to make but then I'll probably be posting the pattern on my amigurumi blog. For now it's just sitting on my chair waiting for me to give it a name. Any ideas?

Easy peasy pancakes

Yes I know pancakes are never very difficult, but this recipe removes the need to measure out ingredients, and considerably reduces the amount of washing up at the end - always a good idea, in my opinion!  You will need:

1 mixing bowl
1 sieve
1 teacup
1 tablespoon
1 frying pan
1 whisk

Plain white flour
1 large egg or 2 small
milk
water
salt
light oil

Makes about eight big pancakes

I start this recipe by gently heating my frying pan on the hob. However, if you use gas it's probably better to heat the pan just before cooking the pancakes.

Using the teacup as a measure, sift two cupfuls of flour into the mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt, then break the egg(s) into the middle of the flour and start to mix with the whisk. Graduallly add 1 cupful of water, then 1 1/2 cupfuls of milk, mixing all the time so that you obtain a (hopefully) lump-free mixture. Now stir in one tablespoon of light oil (sunflower oil or similar).

Turn up the heat under the frying pan, add a little oil (I use a wedge of kitchen roll paper to spread it around the pan) and pour in about half a cup of pancake mixture, tilting the pan to spread it evenly around.

Leave it to cook for a few minutes. You can lift up the edge slightly with a fish slice or spatula to check if the first side is cooked and golden. Then flip it over and cook the other side for a few moments before sliding it onto a plate.

For the next pancake add a little more oil to your pan, and continue until you've used up all the mixture.

Eat with lemon and sugar, or honey and melted butter, or jam, or whatever takes your fancy.

Bon appetit!

This time of year

I feel a bit guilty saying what I'm about to say, when I read the introduction to this blog. Yes I know, I said that it's better to do something other than watching TV.
BUT... the thing I like best about this time of year is that they show some really good films on the TV. There's lots of rubbish too, but here in France just this past week I've watched E.T. (my all-time favourite), The Secret Garden (in English!), Jane Eyre (cried buckets), and there are more to come. Tonight there's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, on Thursday a beautiful French film The Fox and the Child, and on Friday another French film called Two Brothers, about two baby tigers. That's about it, and then on Monday it's back to work!
I am doing other things too - some sewing, some crochet, some cooking, some ironing, even. And spending some quality time with my family, though mostly indoors because it's still grey and frozen outside. My soon to be 14-year-old son now knows how to make tuna and egg filo rolls, and I've promised him he'll know how to bake croissants before the week's out.
I'll try to get back soon, with some pics of my latest creations. Bye for now!