Friday

Good morning, everyone.  It's another lovely, frosty morning, cold and sunny.  I reckon it will be a beautiful day.

Yesterday, as soon as I could, I hit the road and headed off for the bus into town (can't use my pass until after nine) and stayed on the bus until it got to the bottom of Moulsham Street where I hopped off and headed up Moulsham Street.  I used to go there pretty often because there was a superb music shop, Dace's, where I got all my recorder exam music as well as recorded music and where they repaired instruments, etc.  Such a good place but it's moved elsewhere now.  Maybe it got too costly right in the town centre.

Anyway, opposite what used to be Dace's was Franklin's, so in I went.  What an Aladdin's cave!  It made me wonder why I ever go to Hobbycraft for 'fixings' when there's Franklin's almost right outside a bus stop!

I spent well over an hour in there (it's on two floors), choosing patterns (sewing and knitting), drooling over fabrics and yarn and generally getting to grips with what they offer.  It is also a sewing machine shop and the nice young man (young to me, anyway - and I swear they get younger every day) does demos and so on.  I have suggested to Beth that we book a time with him to go over what's out there in the upper market quilting machine line.

I found a pattern to use the chunky yarn I got in Aldi's and a very nice pattern to make up some Aran I have.  It's not really a traditional Aran pattern but it has 'elements'.  I also got a pattern that's a plain round neck chunky which I can adapt with Guernsey-like patterning.
Downstairs, I wanted four paper patterns but they only had one in, for a skirt, so I will look online for the others.

Finally and very reluctantly, I decided enough was enough and left the shop, making my way back into the town centre, hopping in and out of shops as I did so.  It wasn't until much later that the impact of this really hit home.  I, fat old me, was going into 'normal' shops, looking at 'normal' clothes, trying on 'normal' sizes and rejecting, not because they didn't fit but because I didn't fancy them.  Pre-gallbladder, if it fitted, I had it, regardless.  Well, not quite, but I did wear things I wasn't too keen on because there wasn't anything else.

Once home, my disabled persons railcard had arrived so that is now signed and tucked inside the little card holder where my bus pass can be found.

In the evening it was Slimming World group and, to my great delight, it was another two pounds off.  Woo hoo!  I also won one of the raffles as the slimmer of the week didn't stay so the basket of goodies was raffled off.  Not a bad evening, eh?

Today, I have a home to tidy before my lovely cleaner arrives, some ironing, some packing, some meal planning, a little bit of shopping and an hour's drive.  Better get going then, don't you think?  :-)
Have a lovely day, everyone.
xx