I can't believe it's nearly 3 weeks since my last post, life sure got in the way of blogging.  I still have a few deadlines to deal with, but I've cleared a lot of things off my to-do list; hopefully I will be able to get back in the sewing room soon.

Every year I leave my taxes till the last possible minute, and every year I swear I won't do it again.

I really mean it this year.  No, Really!  I think I would have enjoyed being an accountant, once I'm in the swing of it I love it.  It's just that I don't keep the bookwork up to date all through the year, and that's because I'm a hopeless procrastinator.  Actually I'm very good at procrastinating, that's the problem.

DD Seonaid came down with a horrible flu, so I drove to Adelaide and rescued her, bringing her back for 4 days of pampering.  Dolly loved that, sitting in Seonaids's bed helping to eat her toast each morning, and snuggling under the covers with her.  I'm sure she helped the patient with her recovery.  It was so lovely to have my girl home, even if she was sick; I made her some of her favourite childhood meals and tried to make life a bit easier for her.  It's no fun being sick and on your own.

We had a mini family gathering a couple of weeks ago, with Mereth's sister and brother in law and neice arriving at our brothers place to give a Thermomix demo to us and John and Liz.  That was a very interesting night, I've heard about these machines and wanted to see one in action.  The bread-making in 1.5 minutes was something I couldn't quite believe, but it was true. The buckwheat rolls were every bit as good as ones that have been kneaded for 10 minutes and had two rises.

The machine is a considerable investment, but it's on my wishlist for the future.  We had a lovely meal,with lots of good conversation; it's lovely to catch up with family members who live far away.

Yesterday I received a large envelope in the post, and it contained this magazine;

there on the cover, peeking out of the cupboard, is my Jacob's ladder quilt.  The magazine did a great job of photographing it, it looks fabulous. I'm thrilled with the photos and article, it's wonderful to see your own quilt in print.

This issue should be in the shops now, and it's full of interesting things, including some lovely knitting and an article on something dear to my heart; coloured sheep.  I ask everyone I know with farm connections to keep a lookout for coloured fleeces for me, and that resulted in the 7 fleeces I had stored.  I've started spinning two of them, and two regretfully had to be disposed of, as whoever did the shearing made such a mess of it the fleece was useless.  I still have plenty to work with though. 

These two skeins are just the beginning of a gorgeous dark brown merino,very soft and lovely to spin.  I think these first efforts at spinning (after a 30 year break) will be made into a tabard, sort of a cross between a vest and a tunic. 

It's very satisfying to make finished yarn from raw materials, even if it is time-consuming.  My tabard will be a labour of love.