Wednesday

Good morning!  It's a gloomy, dull, wet morning here in not-so-sunny Essex with the promise of more to come.  I've got the windows open to freshen things but I don't think they will stay open for long.  The last thing I want is the heating clicking on.  And I think I will be checking out the Blightwatch site, just in case.  The bordeaux solution is ready and waiting! I think the gloom has as much to do with the fact that the nights are now getting noticeably longer and the days shorter as it is to do with cloud cover.  It is, after all, nearly the middle of August!

(I've just checked Blightwatch and there's not been any Smith periods (when temperature and humidity are such as to make blight likely) so no spraying today.  It'd probably get washed off anyway!)

Yesterday was lovely.  Beth and I did some quilting and then we set off for some self indulgence in And Sew On, the wonderful place we have discovered that is about half an hour's drive away, less when the traffic is light.  We did have a purpose:  Beth has a commission to make a table runner for someone and we needed the fabric.  It was such fun getting out the bolts of fabric and laying them over each other until we had just the perfect combination of colours.  We also got various other bits and pieces.  I needed some buttons for my knitting and so on (or do I mean sew on?).

We also had lunch there too.  I was sorely tempted by the toasted sandwiches but instead went for a cheese, onion and thyme scone.  It was jolly nice but there was not enough cheese and it was too big.  Too much scone for butter, in other words.  The thyme flavour was just right!  I'm going to have a go at making some myself.  Not today but maybe tomorrow.

Once home, we set to, quilting and constructing more Christmas (sorry) stockings.  They are coming out really well and will look great when they are finished.  At the Craft Centre we got a few more ideas of little things to make that use up really, so we will have a go at them too.  All jolly good fun.

In the evening I carried on with the knitting and the front is now done.  It's taking more time than usual but is equally more interesting, even though I keep losing the cable needle!

It has been so nice these last few weeks being all needleworky together with Beth.  She's so very creative it's a delight to sit and chat together and get ideas from her.  Long may it continue!

Today is more of the same except that I think we intend to focus more on little decorations and bunting.  I think!




Today's food:
Breakfast:  Toast (sorry, Chrissie) and jam, melon
Lunch:  Vegetable frittata with a salad, yogurt and apricot sauce
Dinner:  I think I shall make a sauce with chopped tomatoes, vegetables and some shredded ham and have it on pasta, then fruit.