A Project Completed!

Many years ago, I began a patchwork bedspread, but it proved to be a huge project which I kept getting bored with.  After many redesigns, stops and starts, yesterday I finally finished it.

Because it was so big, there wasn’t anywhere indoors to spread it out flat, and as it was a dry day, I spread a couple of sheets on the patio.  Then I laid out the lining (made from an old pair of curtains):

Next, the middle layer assembled from two blankets that had belonged to my parents.  I had expected just to sew the two together, but obviously one had been washed more than the other and they were no longer the same size.  So much measuring and planning occured…

Lastly, the top layer which was the one that had given rise to many different designs. (Weighted down with tins of beans.)

The lining was 4cm bigger all round, so the final step was to fold the edges over, pin and sew them.

I can’t believe it’s finished after all this time!  And it definitely helps with the draughts in bed at night. Which was the original plan.

Shoreham Woods – Peace & Quiet

We occasionally go walking in Shoreham Woods, but much of it is quite noisy due to the adjacent M25. However, with lockdown, there is very little traffic and the woods were nice and peaceful:

It’s also one of the best places to see bluebells at this time of year:

Rocco of course likes wearing himself out chasing sticks:

And paths that are horrible and slippery during the winter are nice and dry:

We went a slightly different way today, and looking back you can see the phone mast at the top of the hill badly disguised as a tree:

And in close up – whoever designed the fake tree has no idea what a deciduous tree looks like:

Next is Polhill Bank, where the ground slopes down from the North Downs to the Weald. Rocco does like carrying a pair of sticks as a large X:

The railway line comes out of the tunnel under Polhill here:

and it’s a lovely spot to sit and watch the world not go by:

By this time, Rocco is often thirsty, but he remembered a water trough just off the path. The water level was a bit low for him to reach, but he solved the problem in typical Labrador fashion:

Then more nice paths and bluebells on the way back to the car:

A lovely walk in warm sunshine. Worth driving a few miles on empty roads!

An early start

Got up at 6am yesterday to go to Tesco.  Much calmer than last week in the evening! I think I will do this again – in spite of not being a morning person.  I took the opportunity to treat myself to croissants for breakfast, which I had with my coffee after the shopping.

Most of the rest of the morning was spent cutting up the labels I printed earlier.

In the afternoon I finished the other hanging basket.  We shall see if the cuttings take and the seeds germinate.  They don’t look great right now, but watch this space!

As for today, Bible group this morning.  This is a “normal” Wednesday activity, but I am still having trouble remembering which day it is.  Maybe subconsciously I want it to be Thursday so I can settle down with a beer.  Maybe I’ll settle down with a beer anyway!

 

Priory Gardens

Rocco has cut his paw, so I was on my own for the morning walk. One bonus was that I could walk through the “Dog Free” part of Priory Gardens, which were lovely in the spring sunshine.

The pond was looking good as well, nice and clean!

Meanwhile, indoors…

This weekend’s project has been to make labels for food crates for the local foodbank. I hope they are the right size, since I have made over 2,000.

In other news, I have started planting the hanging baskets.  Photo to come when I have done both of them!

 

Spring is here

The warm weather at Easter seems to have triggered many plants to flower, and the local woods were exceptionally nice this morning with bluebells:

Rocco of course likes his sticks:

A special treat was seeing the new Wild Garlic in a part of the woods noted for it:

I was very surprised that Rocco actually stood still long enough to take his photograph – maybe he is finally growing up!

Virtual Pub

One of the biggest disadvantages for me during lockdown is not being able to chat with friends and enjoy a few beers in a pub.

We solved the beer problem by converting our social club into an off-licence serving draught local real ales – it does seem strange drinking beer out of milk bottles, but needs must!

The chat side has largely been solved with technology; not perfect, but better than nothing:

It’s still Easter!

The weather has been glorious – which is a blessing, so we have both been busy in the garden.   It was fun trying, though.  there have been the sounds of people out in their gardens this weekend, which has been lovely.

In technology news, I spent ages playing with Movie on the phone, preparing a video message to go on the church Facebook page, then couldn’t get it off the phone!

This evening, I took part in an online communion service, which was surprisingly effective.  here is my bread and wine, ready to go:

 

Life goes on

Gemma and Lucy were due to visit this weekend, but we had a virtual visit on Saturday, which eventually culminated in a game of Chinese chequers.  Another online church service on Sunday thanks to our brilliant tech team. I am also learning how to add things to the church website, to help relieve the pressure on them.

And so the minutiae of life continue.  I am so glad it’s spring and we live in a house.  There’s always something to do. Although a great deal of it does involve sitting at the computer.

More spring cleaning on Monday, this time the hall bookcase. The last food delivery on Tuesday;now it’s back to weekly visits to the supermarket for the first time in twenty years!  Wednesday morning back to the computer for a video meeting with another church group and some time in the potting shed in the afternoon.