Mixed blessings (37)

It was a lovely spring day again yesterday (I'm from the UK, so there's bound to be a lot about the weather on my blog), and DH has taken some holiday from work,so we went to visit Sheffield Park Garden, which is owned by the National Trust. The gardens were glorious, full of rhododenron and azaleas. You wouldn't believe the colours; if you designed a flower with those colours nobody would believe they were possible. And then we saw some goslings which were extremely cute - ducklings are common, but goslings more of a rarity.

Unfortunately, a bit later when we were having a cup of tea I started to feel unwell and we had to make a dash for home. I won't go into graphic details, but I think it was something I ate for lunch!!! 

Luckily I felt okay today, and even better when the postman arrived with a package for me. It was some fabric I had ordered from a UK shop with a sale - not as cheap as in the USA, but brilliantly cheap for the UK. Nothing to show on the sewing front, but I made a real effort to get on with my black and white quilt which has taken a bit of a back seat recently. All being well I will get much further on with it tomorrow.

Google Reader (30)

Thanks to Candace, I spent some time yesterday working out how to use Google Reader. I was a bit disappointed at first, because I couldn't seem to see the original blogs, but I've worked that out now and I'm really happy with the way it works. It's going to give me much more time to really look at some of the features on the blogs. People work so hard to add content and make them attractive, that it has seemed a shame to rush through them. 

Unfortunately, we didn't get down to Brighton to visit number two son on Monday, as I wasn't feeling too well. 

So, I'm making sure to get lots of rest this week so that we can get down to see him on Friday. It's not difficult to rest when the weather is like this - there's nothing better than to sit in the shade in the garden and read or hand sew. I did manage a bit of quilting. I've been using a small scrap quilt to practice my free motion machine quilting. I must say, it isn't as easy as it looks in the few videos I've seen! I started to get a bit smoother and more accurate towards the end but I have a couple of problems - which may be down to me or to my machine.

Firstly, the machine kept 'jumping' when it came to the seams. Secondly, I found it really difficult to co-ordinate my hands and feet, so the stitches were often either too long or too short. Any help would be welcome.

Isn't this azalea beautiful? DH has a real knack with keeping them and always manages to bring them indoors at just the right time. This one's about ten years old now and never fails.

Bluebells (26)

Well, what a lovely day. First thing this morning I had a visit from an old school colleague. We worked together for many years and she retired about six months before I did. It was good to catch up - and to discuss Star Trek! We have both been fans for ever, and still watch repeats whenever we can. After that DH and I went for a walk in a local woods to see the bluebells. Our timing was perfect, as the bluebells are absolutely at their best, carpets of them. And the smell! It was just lovely. To add to the joy we parked near a field full of new lambs - tricky to photograph since they kept hiding behind mum. 

On the way home we stopped at a Garden Centre for coffee and bought several different varieties of tomato plants, a yellow pepper plant, some rocket seedlings and a planter full of strawberry plants. Terrific! I'm not much of a gardener, but I do enjoy growing food, so I look forward to my harvest. I'm particularly looking forward to the baby tomatoes that are to be grown in a hanging basket - just need to keep up with the watering.

This afternoon I finished block 3 for the BOM I'm doing. I have tried different ways of applique with each one, and am still not that happy with it - nor with the colours of the fabrics they are sending. And - if you are also doing the Moda Piece and Plenty BOM, yes, I know that the bird is on the wrong side! Somehow I managed to cut it out the wrong way round and had no more fabric to cut it the correct way. So, it'll have to stand and at least it will be unique.

And to top off a splendid day, DH has offered to cook supper. Great!

Feeling sorry for myself! (8)

I've not done any sewing for days! I've been feeling pretty wretched for some time now, and by Friday was feeling really poorly so I finally gave in and went to the doctor, who diagnosed an sinus infection that's run amok and escaped into the tissues in my face, head, neck, shoulders etc. That means anti-biotics of course, which I hate because they upset my stomach, so I end up eating tons of yoghurt, which I'm also not keen on. So I'm feeling really pathetic and moany!

Anyway, that's enough self-pity. I shall just stay in bed and watch old Fred Astaire films for a day or two so that I'm ready to enjoy Bonnie's new mystery when it starts on Tuesday.

No new photographs, but since it is now officially summer time in the UK (the clocks went forward one hour overnight) here are some lovely flower pics I took last year. Aren't they cheerful!