The month is galloping by

It was a day of sunshine and showers. The windy weather over the last few days has blown the petals off a few tulips, but most are intact. I've got several varieties, mainly vibrant shades of pink, purple and orange. Nothing too fancy as most of my bulbs - tulips, daffs and hyacinths - originally come from either Lidl or Wilko. Everything's coming to life in the garden now, including bluebells and even some cowslips in the rectangle of dandelions, moss, clover and a few clumps of grass that I optimistically label a lawn.

I hand-tied a quilt made for a relative's birthday present this morning, which was a task that needed doing. However, and very annoyingly, I found a seam where I'd not caught a raw edge of a block, so had to think up a way to disguise it. A trio of buttons has hopefully done the trick, and my mistake will go unnoticed.

Yodel finally delivered a parcel today, an impulse purchase from eBay of 22 mens ties. 14 of them are 100% silk. There are only a couple I'm not keen on the pattern/colour, though I'm sure I'll still find a use for them. When I've tackled some of the mountain of still-to-be-finished projects I've got half-completed I'll start arranging the ties to make cushion covers, though I'll need to do some unpicking first.

What else? Oh yes, I finished 'Still Life' and have begun reading 'Dark Aemilia' by Sally O'Reilly. It's set in 16th century London, and features Shakespeare and his so-called 'dark lady'. I haven't got too far into it, but it's looking very promising.

Okay, time to lounge on the sofa in pyjamas, drink tea and watch something on the iplayer. I'm currently re-watching episodes of 'Wisting'. Not a laugh a minute, but I do enjoy some Scandi style noir. Reminds me of when I used to be hooked on 'The Killing'. Sarah Lund and that distinctive jumper of hers. Remember that?

Have a good evening.

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Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

In praise of wool

Just a quick post today. I'm offering you a short but peaceful break from the overwhelmingness (is that a word?) of Christmas. By now you've probably eaten your bodyweight in sweets//roast potatoes/pigs in blankets/cake/After Eights ... whatever your festive indulgences are. You're under-exericsed, over-stimulated, feeling broke and possibly guilty about an argument with a relative or friend you've never entirely got on with. So, here's something to take your mind off all that. I've two videos to refresh and revive, and they both concern wool. Interesting fact. Well, I found it interesting. About 1% - yup, one per cent - of the world's textiles are made of wool. Out of curiosity, I also googled how much is made of cotton. That's higher, but it's only about 24% and that's heading downward instead of up. Synthetic fibres are the bulk of all textile manufacture. Anyway, back to woolly wonders. My firs...

Another week's flown by ...

Saturday's rolled around again, and it's not been the most eventful of days. Cleaning and hoovering, a walk to the shops to buy groceries, an hour on the allotment, then home to do some odd tasks in the garden. The strawberry plants are sending out runners, so I've been dealing with those, plus deadheading the perennial sunflowers, and cutting back the gone-over flowers on the sage and marjoram. I'm sad to see those blooms gone as the bees loved them. This afternoon I spent a few hours finishing 'Dawnlands' by Philippa Gregory. It's a really good book, a page turner where you care about the characters and want to be reassured everything's going to work out well for them. Plus you become enraged about the corruption of the so-called justice system at the time of the Stuart kings and queens, about transportation of prisoners to the West Indies, and about the vile nature of the sugar trade in the 1600s and the vast profits made from it....

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