I have to hem a dress for Laura Patricia because she is a bridesmaid at Amy Stephen’s wedding in two weeks. The dress has an outer layer and an inner later plus six floofy hanging bits that all need to go up about 10 cm. Might be easier to ask Laura to grow a couple inches over the next ten days or so!
Category: Blog
An afternoon requiring the ultimate patience
Today was the ultimate test of my patience. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to drive five miles to work this morning due to road works and a broken down bus. After work I decided I needed to drive to Camberley to go to the big Marks & Spencers for some things – M3 between Junction 3 & 4A had a 45 minutes delay. I was going to Junction 4A so turned around and went home, but M25 was chockablock so it took another hour to go the same five miles! Got a cup of tea, decided to look at Facebook, so computer starts important updates and took one hour to complete. Three hours and 40 minutes spent waiting today and for people who know me that is an accomplishment in itself!!
Online frustration
It has been a comedy of errors with online shopping this Christmas – theirs and mine. Two presents never being sent and one being sent to the wrong address. Ah well, smile! I have all the blessings I need and what are more material possessions going to add to that? Still I wish my Mum’s parcel would get here as she always sends us the best stocking fillers. Merry Christmas everyone!
Root canal terror
You know how there’s stages to life that all women will likely have to pass at some point in time – like learning to ride a bike, first date, having a baby, first mammogram etc? Well I just survived my first root canal and it wasn’t as bad as I was led to believe! I didn’t even cry! Ironically the dentist was a woman and seemed to understand my white knuckles gripping the armrest.
Stretch for a cookie
You can tell Peps and I are tired after our long walk after work tonight – I’m sitting in my chair holding his biscuit out to him as far as my arm can reach. He’s sitting on the floor stretching his nose out as far as it will go but there’s still six inches between us. Neither of us can be arsed to get up and be the first to move and close the gap!
Sewing for the season
I ask you, why is a person who pretty much hates Christmas, working on a snowmen rug mug and a section of holly appliqué in mid-September? Answer – it’s something to do while I indulge in several episodes of Scott & Bailey – my new favourite crime show.
Catching up on some quilt tops – one since 1998!
I decided recently to have a concentrated sewing binge and finish a few quilt tops – some of which were just sitting there for months waiting for borders. I hate sewing on borders. The Mariner’s Compass quilt top I started BEFORE we left Calgary in 1998!!! Now I have to save up the money to buy the backings and to get them all quilted – another delay before they can be used. However with only three more tops to go before I am caught up I am currently looking through some of my quilt books for the next thing to start…hmmm!
Mirror art in Berlin’s Bundestag
I was intriqued with the possibilities for pictures at the central mirrored tower in the Bundestag in a recent trip to Berlin. The trick was to get as many people or vignettes as possible repeated in each photo and I even took a self portrait without looking like I was doing so.
My firework season – too long & loud
It is Diwali today and there’s lots of fireworks going off. Not nice continuous displays but random “gunshots” that kept every child awake and freak out a lot of pets. It was fine at 7.00 pm – they are entitled to celebrate too, but it’s now 11.30 and enough is enough. How about a little courtesy?
I celebrated every holiday and season in one night tonight. At 5.30 pm walking Peps we passed a few Trick or Treaters. There was the boom, pop, bang of the inevitable fireworks in the distance and one house had a Christmas tree in the living room – I kid you not!! All this was without a coat as it was a record 23.5 degrees C this Halloween. Finally when I got home I baked a birthday cake for a certain Scorpio I know and love. Somehow the Christmas tree doesn’t seem unusual?
However, we did have a great time at the NPL Fireworks on November 1st – a proper display to music rather than this perpetual boom, bang, sizzle, pop nonsense.
10 November
Finally, a reasonably quiet night around our neighbourhood – few fireworks. Got annoyed at a girl at work today who said that Guy Fawkes Night was the most British thing we have and that it was a symbol of our democracy. The fireworks are great she said. She doesn’t have any pets, young children, people scared of loud noises or elderly people living at her house who have been terrified for three weeks now. Next year I am booking a week in France just to get away from the British idea of fun…and I can say that as I was born here.
Guy Fawkes is on November 5th but they celebrate here from the moment they can buy fireworks in the grocery store and both weekends around the 5th usually have big displays as well. When I was a kid it was just one night and it was so much fun – our neighbourhood pooled our money and the Dads did a bit of a simple display – all the Mums made treats and backed potatoes. It was usually cold so there was a bonfire to represent the fact that Fawkes was burned at the stake. Wonderful. Nowadays I feel like I live in a war zone.
Too much Americana?
My latest quilt top – all the stars were hand-pieced. It actually started out as a table runner but I had so much fun making stars I just kept going. I love the Americana look even if it isn’t the best style for London.
