A Techno Free Weekend. with sewing on the side.

Good Morning, I am refreshed and raring to go. I had a lazy day yesterday, sitting in the car for nearly 5 hours Saturday did me no favours at all, my joints were rebelling all Sunday, I did not feel up to writing a blog post so had a technology free day. I filled my day nicely with some reading and a little bit of sewing and a very little bit of cooking.
I put some bacon chops in the slow cooker with a bottle of Mr T's cheapest Cola and served them with mustard mash, cauli and broccoli. Jam sponge and custard for pudding. Yum.

I did manage a quick visit to Burton-on-Trent Saturday, a quick look round the market and a zip in and out of the Charity Shops.

I picked up this single duvet cover for £1, it is very good quality and in new condition. I plan to turn it into aprons with a frill round the skirts. My local Cats Protection CS can sell them as fundraisers.

The quilt for James and Cerys is done, I could not settle on fabric to back it so used a fleece blanket and it is really warm.

One thing that I noticed in the Burton CS was the price of pillowcases, £1 upwards!! I pay 25p at most. The one in this pic is one of a pair for 35p. I stuff them with 3 or 4 layers of wadding offcuts, sew up the opening and do a little hand quilting and there is a very cheap pet bed. This one will fit a small to medium dog or a couple of cats. I sew the layers of wadding together as well so that when washed they retain their shape.

I got my November block swap on Saturday, I am not a happy bunny, it came with a letter saying that she had cut it wrong so had put a patch in one corner, did I mind!! if so let her know and she would try again!

Well yes I do mind, I take great care to send a swap as near perfect as I can make it. I am fussy and like to think that others are also. If it turns out too small I remake, if I am not going to do it properly then I do not do it at all. To me part of the fun of swapping is to match the swap with my partners tastes and to make them something with a bit of "OOH" factor. This is what I got. BTW my colours are Red, Yellow and Aqua on White, with no Batiks.

This is not square, it does not measure 12 1/2" and it is not Aqua, it also has grey and the blue is a Batik.

This is where she cut it wrong, the red point has been cut off and the blue pint was lost when she added a scrap of fabric. 

I am putting it in the post and sending it back. The block pattern I quite like but I could not keep this even to cut for scraps, evrytime I saw it I would seethe. My last block was nothing special but it was the right size and the right colours so I will use it. All the other blocks that I have had are really good and I look forward to turning them into a quilt.

Moan over.

This was our dinner on Friday, spicy fried chicken, in the end I did not make batter I dipped the meat in milk and then a spicy gram flour mix. The sausage gravy was lovely, I used a 50p pack of RTC honey and mustard sausages and added a little extra mustard to the gravy.

It was so tasty that we are having a version of it tonight on pasta.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Pain free for 24 hours.

2. A visit on Saturday and a catch up.

3. Being made aware that my health issues are negligible.

4. Being made aware that our health service, with all its problems. does a very good job on the whole.

5. Feeling fortunate in having Francesca's family in my life.

In 2 weeks Fran will be moving to her new house-share in London, a time of change and for us all. I look forward to seeing more space in the cottage and seeing her social life actually happen. She will instantly gain over 5 hours a day by not commuting.

On that thought I really ought to drag out some of the things that need checking before they are packed, there are a lot of boxes that have not been touched for 2 years!

                                       TTFN                            Pam