… I’ve been playing around with screening off the chaos which is our loft space, for when I need to do more formal video calls – the bench meeting this evening, for example.
If I’m to use this idea for real, I’ll have to iron the scarves!!
It was a particularly stunning evening at Poverest Rec on Saturday – the moon was large, orange and low, and the mist covering the area was only about six feet deep, giving a weird effect which this photo doesn’t really capture.
The air was very still and it was not at all cold. Altogether quite a lovely walk!
The top of my sewing drawers was getting cluttered, so I decided to tidy it up. Which, of course, led to sorting out one of the drawers. 
As is the way with things, this led to sorting out my eaves cupboard…
A real sense of achievement! And so to actually doing something now that my sewing space is ready for action:
Well, I haven’t made wine, but… I picked most of the grapes I could reach from the kitchen step stool. Loads still left on the vine.
So, after about an hour taking the grapes off the stalks (you can’t just squash them if you plan to make jelly), I had to go and do some other stuff, so the grapes took over the fridge.
A couple of days later, I continued… The bowl on the left is the one that started out full of grapes. And, may I say, spiders and earwigs!
So there was lots of rubbish, but a big pot of grapes, to which I added apple and lemon for a better set. Well, any set, to be honest.
That evening, the cooked mixture was left to drip.
My jelly bag was too small, so that’s part of Phil’s old brewing kit.
After cooking again with an equivalent amount of sugar: many pots of grape jelly. That should last until the next harvest!
Oh, and there are still a few in the fridge for me to eat.
This year, for the first time in several, I have had time to gather some herbs for the freezer.
Here’s a big bowl of herbs ready for sorting.
And here they are sorted. The lids are from pots I have used in previous years, although not recently.
And here are the stalks, the leaves which weren’t good enough, and a few dandelions.
The herb bed has been particularly good this year, and I have really enjoyed using it. I even took a bag of herbs with me on holiday, which livened up what is usually very plain cooking when we’re away.
After deliberating for a long time about opening the church sanctuary for private prayer, once we had agreed, we wanted to go ahead quickly and didn’t have time to get a poster printed. I agreed to make one; I am pleased with how it turned out, and there is something very satisfying about doing something you enjoy, but for someone else!
Then again, sometimes it’s good to create things only for your own amusement. Here’s a sketch of the windmill we saw on holiday. Usually I end up sketching boring landscapes…
I knew the dining room cupboards needed sorting out. Some of them contain overflow from the kitchen, and buying a new wok triggered a sort out of some of the kitchen cupboards. Furthermore, we looked at old photos of the dining room and realised it had not always been this cluttered!
So I emptied the cupboards on to the table…
Reminds me of the photo we took of our wedding presents!
Some of it went to the bin, some to be re-homed, some to the loft, and the result…
Of course, the fireplace is gone, the wallpaper is different, and the pile of games is “new”.
You may recognise the little dancing girl from the 1980’s photo.
Phil and I decided to try out the new restaurant in Orpington. Called GPO, it is in the building where the Post Office used to be. We had a good lunch, very tasty burgers. It was a bit echo-y for old fogies like us, but the staff were very helpful and friendly, and the space has been well laid out.
The last phase of making the stays was the eyelets for the lacing, for the shoulder straps and back fastening. I was pleased to find that my small hole punch went through the layers of fabric and interfacing. Stitching them was strangely therapeutic!
So, they are now done. I will have to make another chemise to go under them. Black t-shirt definitely not authentic! Although they look baggy on the dummy, they are fine on me since I am rather fuller of figure…
Phil’s bath towels were getting threadbare, so I bought some new ones.
So then, what to do with the old ones? Well, they can go in with the pet stuff. Which triggered a sort out of the doggie box, with help from Rocco…
… which, in turn, triggered a sort out of the outside storage box, and the crates of games stuff from the garage.
Very satisfying!