Long week with some very good bits

Last week was a tough one and so this week I've been playing catch up.  Last Monday I started getting achy and shivery and went to bed with a jumper, socks and hot water bottle.......only to shed them, and the bed-covers, a few hours later as I hit a hot spell.  The rest of the week followed suit and became quite a struggle just to keep things ticking over.  I was still feeling dreadful on Friday and went to the doctor in the hope that I had something bacterial and be able to have some antibiotics - but no, the doctor reckoned I had flu and told me to go to bed (and that I should have been all week - easy for her to say!).  Anyhow John came home a short while later and was brilliant all weekend giving me as much time as possible to rest and sleep.  

Birthday fabric

It feels like a dreadful waste to have done so little all weekend but it does mean that I'm feeling loads better now.  Sunday was my birthday (next year will be quite a big no. - 40!).  It was rather an odd one but lovely nonetheless.  I was given some great presents and lots of cuddles and checks from the children who were very anxious that I had a good day.  They kept asking if I was having fun which was very sweet!  And Finn was concerned about the lack of a birthday cake for me.  I just said I didn't want one this year - rather than explaining to him that cake baking was the last thing I felt like doing.

The fabric above is from my brothers (AMH flannel from M is for Make and solids from Backstitch).  I have wanted to make a quilt for our sitting room for ages but haven't felt I could justify the expense so I'm very excited to have this delicious stack to cut into.  I've just joined the Made in Cherry Quilt Along (hosted by Pins and Bobbins).  This will be a little different from my usual squares and rectangles and the pattern and finished effect really appeals to me - while I admire the quilts that other people make, and especially the skill involved, they are often too intricate or fussy for my personal taste but this one is very exciting.  I doubt I'll be able to keep up with the quilt along properly but I don't suppose that really matters.

Sarah Fielke's Made in Cherry from the Lecien Website

I was also given some lovely books.  They will be thoroughly enjoyed.  I love books - pretty much any, and John is the same so we have masses of books with very varying subject matter.  The Colette Sewing Handbook has been, subtly, sitting in my Amazon wish list for quite a while now.  I'd love to learn more about garment sewing and, from the reviews I have read, this seems like an ideal place to start - I don't imagine I'll ever be able to completely design my own clothes.  I'd just like to be able to master the main clothes sewing skills and techniques properly and to be able to make pattern adjustments if the fit isn't good.  It is likely that I will only refer to things like sleeve setting and making proper gathers for the next year or two and then advance onto the more technical stuff once I have a little more time.

Birthday books

 I treated myself to three little post of Muscari and I'm enjoying watching them come out.

 Lily is a great help when taking photos.

One of my favourite presents was a copy of a photo book my dad made for my Grannie's Christmas.  She's 92 now and, as I have mentioned a few times I think, has dementia but she still loves looking at photos.  I think, also, that dad wanted to get the best ones permanently stored and the main details of her life recorded. It is so good to have a copy - she has led such an interesting and eventful, sometimes stressful, life.

Her dad had a saddler's shop in Boston (UK, not USA!) and she had 8 big sisters, she was the baby of the family.  She is the only one left alive now.

She was in the RAF during WWII and served in India and Burma, meeting my Grandad on the troop ship out there.  They got engaged after 9 days and were married in Calcutta while on leave.

I think that had better be all for now as I really should be getting back to cooking some food and Katie will be hungry soon. ..............I've just run downstairs because I heard a crash..........Lily has knocked off a hand-blown glass bowl, from Australia, that we were given as a wedding present....it's broken and I'm feeling rather cross.....oh well.