Normal service ...

... can now be resumed, I think.  I have three four good reasons for having been absent again for the past week.

Firstly, on the day I was writing my last post I had a tickly throat and the odd sneezle and by the end of the day I had developed a horrid, dasty code id by dose.  I still have the sore throat and a cough a week later.  It's been years since I've had a real cold like that, so I've felt very sorry for myself, although the manufacturers of paper hankies, throat lozenges and cough mixture are very happy about the increase in their profits.

Secondly I lost my virtual voice.  Most of you have heard me whinging for months now that my laptop was preparing to give up the ghost, and last week it got so that I had to give in and buy a new one.  That has meant I have had to go from using Windows 7 to Windows 8.1, and that, let me tell you, is a massive leap.  So much so that, after a couple of days I ordered myself a Dummies Guide to Windows 8.  There seems to be very little similarity between the two systems so far, and I have to tell you that I do NOT like it.  I will persevere though, as I have been told that once I get used to it I will like it - yes Lynn, I'm blaming you if this doesn't work out!  Just as an aside, would you all like a bit of a giggle at my expense?  Well, the day after I got this new laptop, I wanted to uninstall the preset virus checker programme, McAfee, and install AVG, which we prefer.  Mr Fixit helpfully produced the CD for me to insert, and that's when I realised something.  Putting it politely, I had nowhere to stick it!  Yes folks, I had bought this super-whizzy new laptop with loads of memory and an extra fast brain, but it doesn't have a disc drive!  Heyho, I guess I'll now have to buy an external one.

The third reason is that I took off for a brief trip down south to visit my DS, DDIL and DGS3.  Grandson 3 was performing in a concert at the local theatre which was lovely and I so enjoyed it, but I didn't really have any time to blog about anything.

The fourth reason is that yesterday was Mothers' Day here in the UK, so I treated myself to an even lazier than usual day.  Mrs Nomad came round in the afternoon with a Yankee Candle and some chocolates, and my son gave me flowers, so I was a spoilt mother.

yesterday ....

...  was the monthly meeting of the Yorkshire Modern Quilters, a group which I thoroughly enjoy belonging to.

This month a number of us were making sewing caddies.  The pattern is a free one which can be found here. It was a fun day, but along the way, there was much wailing, whining and sulking (and not just by me, in case that's what you were thinking).  The main problem we were all having was with our bottoms! Variations of the problem ranged from having left it at home ( most of us did the cutting at home before we met), cutting it the wrong size and sewing it on the wrong way round so all the seams would be on the outside - and yes, that last one was my error.  Anyway, by the end of the day there was quite a collection of cute little caddies like these,

 and this is Scrappy's

and here is mine

Ignore all the loose ends that I haven't yet sewn in but I couldn't wait to put things in it and see what it looked like.

It was a great day, and thanks must go to Quilthaze and Janet for organising these for us.

What's missing in this picture?

Our bird feeder, that's what.

The other morning we got up and opened the curtains to find that some toe-rag had come down our drive in the night and helped themselves to it.  Amazing really, it's been standing outside ageing in all sorts of weather for about three years now, so it's not as if it was all shiny and new looking. We've walked around the are to see if it's lying around somewhere but it's not and it's certainly too heavy to have just blown away.

It makes you wonder what goes on in some people's minds, doesn't it?

How do you know ...

... when it's time to stop sewing for a while?

When you find yourself telling someone you'll meet them at two and a half instead of two thirty!

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, yes I actually did that once.

Helping the economy ...

I may have been quiet lately, but I have still been helping the economy out a little bit - well, it's our moral duty to do so, isn't it?

First off, I bought this gorgeous bundle of summer.  Aren't the colours just so wonderful?  I have no idea what I'll be doing with these, but for now they are looking lovely just sitting on a shelf.  Don't you love it when a package also contains some little extras?  Jodie from Fort Worth Fabric Studios always seems to include a little treat with her packages, and this time I got a cute little notepad, and also a sachet of white chocolate drink.  I drank that yesterday, and it was yummy. Jodie has a great eye for colour, and puts together some very tempting FQ bundles.

  

About a week ago, my friend Scrappy and I went on an expedition.  Next week we are going to a sewing day where we will be making sewing caddies, so that was a good excuse to go shopping.  Actually, I already have the fabric I need for that, but I also needed some for a bag I am going to make and also I needed some to go into another quilt I am making.  So, off we went on a train to the seaside, where there is a really great shop that sells fabrics like Moda very cheaply cos they are last years ranges.  This is what I bought.  We had a fun day and had lunch out too although there are no photos of that - we ate it too quickly!

Oh, and while I've been writing this the postie bought me another package.  There is no photo, but it's some Kona white and Kona black fabrics.

Hello? ...

... Is there anybody there?

Probably not, cos I've been so quiet.

Why?

Well, I could tell you that I was abducted by aliens and taken off in a spaceship to live with little green space-people, but you probably wouldn't believe me.

I could tell you that I won a large fortune on the lottery and have been on a world cruise, but you probably wouldn't believe me.

I could tell you that I've been busy doing a total spring-clean of both our house and Dad's, but you certainly wouldn't believe me.

So what have I been doing?

Writing patterns, spending time with family and friends, helping the economy out a bit and generally just living a normal life.  Tomorrow (I hope), I'll show you one or two fabric purchases that I might have made recently.