Strawberries, spies and sparks from the vacuum cleaner...

(Photo of my front garden.  Everything's growing like crazy!)

Finally!  I didn't think I'd get any decent strawberries from the dried out looking plants on the allotment.  But recent rainfall's meant they've grown and ripened, and I've had delicious bowlfuls of 'em.  I don't eat them with cream - can't afford to scoff all those calories - but natural yoghurt instead.  Last year I tried freezing some of the berries I picked, but they really are best eaten fresh.  I'll save the freezing for blackberries instead when it's their harvest time.  So it's strawberries in my morning breakfast of either porridge or overnight oats, berries for pudding and berries for evening snacking.  Yum! 

I finished reading the Stella Rimington book I picked up in a charity shop.  It was a decent enough spy story, but rather dry and I won't be in a particular hurry to read any more of hers.  I'm about to begin the Barbara Kingsolver novel 'Flight Behaviour'.   That looks much more to my taste.  

I've been continuing to experiment with my new laminator, seeing what I can sandwich between two sheets of plastic.  This handful of thread ends, for instance.  Yes, I know it's silly, but it's fun.  On a more serious subject, I had a mammogram the other day.  Purely routine.  Being a 'woman of a certain age' the NHS kindly invites me to have a mammogram once every three years.  It'll be about two or three weeks before I get the letter with the - fingers crossed - all clear.  There's no point worrying about what my results will be, so I'll put it to the back  of my mind until that letter arrives.  Then we'll see what Fate's got in store for me.  I'm just grateful we have our National Health Service and can benefit from early diagnosis.  Our great grandmothers and generations further back of women didn't have that safety net, so we must count our blessings.  

What else can I tell you?  Oh yes, I needed to order a new vacuum cleaner yesterday.  The old one was making an odd noise, then I smelt burning and sparks literally flew from it.  Eeek!  Luckily it's still under guarantee, so back to the shop it goes for a refund.  I'm reduced to brushing the carpet using a dustpan and brush until my new machine arrives, and it made me think of those hard working Victorian housemaids.  Back in the days before homes had time saving gadgets like hoovers and washing machines, dishwashers and steam irons.  All the carpets that maids must've got down on their hands and knees to keep clean.  All the dust being walked in from the street, and the mess created from rooms having working fireplaces heated with coal.  Theirs must've been a tough life.  

I'll continue with a few pictures of my embroidery work-in-progress.  It continues to be understated and subtle ... not!  

A trip to Hobbycraft on Thursday saw me buying alphabet beads which I'd taken a fancy to, and coincidentally were on special offer, reduced in price.  

Which meant I could sew this little scrappy piece of slow-stitching.  'Faith'.  Isn't that what we all need a lot more of?  Faith in ourselves, faith in others, faith in our ability to do good in this world and help protect our precious planet.  Faith seems like a good word to pause and think about.