Catch up

Life has been such a jumble lately, I can hardly remember all the stuff that's happened. I seem to have lost a whole month and I really don't know where it went. There was a quick visit to Adelaide, home for a few days, then back to celebrate Thomas's 5th birthday. Five!! I have no idea where that time went.

Seonaid was incapacitated with a chronic back injury, so Nan was in charge. I'm a pretty mean Nan at times, but I'm too old to put up with any shenanigans. We did lots of building and drawing, and the meals were nothing special, but we all survived. Both the boys had foul colds, Thomas actually had para-influenza, so he was pretty sick. It was just a matter of time till they passed their germs on to me.

When Seonaid was better I came home, and promptly got sick. I had a couple new medications tho, so it was only 2 weeks of illness, instead of 8. It's been bitterly cold weather, which didn't help, and I've actually been staying at Mereth's place, as she's been stuck in Pirie looking after sick grandchildren. Nanna to the rescue! 

I spent a couple of hours in my sewing room, and managed to finish the Rail Fence top. it's only 60"x 60", not like Becky's huge quilt, but it's a nice size. 

Of course there are leftovers.

I'm going to sew these Spinning Rectangle blocks to use them up, and they'll be my leader-enders for the forseeable future. 

While I've been stuck at Mereth's place hiding from the cold weather I've been hand sewing at night. These Periwinkle blocks are so old, I can't even remember when I started them. I've been carting them to Adelaide as a handwork project, but I hardly ever work on them. Too tired at the end of the day, or the lighting was too bad, or I'd rather sit and talk with Seonaid.  I was stuck on 18 blocks, out of a goal of 35, and it felt like it would take forever. Four nights of sewing has seen me complete 14 blocks, with 3 more to finish, and I can't quite believe it. It's been so easy, with a good sewing setup and no distractions. I'll have to start thinking about the sashing fabric next, and that might entail a trip to the patchwork shop. Even if I find something in the stash, I think I still need a trip to the patchwork shop.

This little needle threader has proved invaluable. I know I have one of those little circular cases that holds about 10 threaded needles, so I might have to find that and put it to use. I don't want to stop the hand sewing now that I have made a habit of it.

I even finished a few little hexagons, so I'll have to prepare some more. I have about 17 now, so I'll have to start working on a setting for them.

I want to have a MAD sewing day soon, just send a hundred HSTs through the machine, and build them into these blocks. That might help clear the surfaces in the sewing room and then I might be able to tackle something from the UFO list.

In other news, my dog Dolly has come back to live with me. When I spent so much time in Adelaide my nephew took her to live with him. She's been living the high life in a remote outback resort, cadging food off all the tourists and staff, and being the welcome committee for anyone visiting. But she's over 13 now, and an old lady, so she'll see out her days with me. 

Finn and Thomas were quite frightened of dogs, so I didn't know how they'd react to her. At first Finn would climb up Seonaid as if she was a tree when Dolly got too close. That didn't last long. Pretty soon it was us saying, "Leave the dog alone!"

"She's my Bes' Fren'" he declared after a couple of days. And Dolly doesn't mind a bit.