A Quiet Easter Weekend in London - W/E 7th April 2026 - Part 2

Easter weekend got off to a lovely slow start this year. I think it's the first year in quite a few years, that I haven't had to work at some point over the weekend, which was nice. I had slept like a log on Thursday night, for the first time in a few nights, so I woke up feeling refreshed. I stayed in bed and read a couple of chapters of my book before getting up and showered and ready for the day.

OH was out cycling at the Velodrome all day on Good Friday, so it was just myself and LB home alone pleasing ourselves. The weather was a bit grey, with intermittent drizzle, but the neighbours on both sides had gone away for the weekend, so it was lovely and peaceful. I made a point of sitting in the garden a couple of times through the day, just enjoying the peace and quiet.

As a consequence, I didn't have to worry about making a noise using my sewing machine this weekend, so of course, I decided to carry on making some more fabric yarn. I made up another 30m of yarn and just have one more ball to stitch and the prep is all done. It's a completely relaxing and mindless task to make the yarn, which is why I quite enjoy it.

I also dug out another unfinished scrappy project that I hadn't touched in a while. I'd previously made lots of scrappy strips with lots of very small scraps, that I intend to make into a quilt for the shed, to match a cushion cover I made last year.  I set to working on it and by the time it was supper, I had half the quilt top finished, which was a suprise. It's coming along nicely and I'll probably work on it more over the Easter weekend. It's a great project to use up little pieces of fabric and it's quite fun sewing them into strips.

LB was working tonight, so it was just me and OH at home. We watched the new film version of Wuthering Heights on OH's Prime account. It was okay, not as bad as I thought it was going to be, based on all the recent hype, but OH was not impressed, as he'd read the book a couple of years ago and it wasn't really anything like the book. Definitely a bit of artistic licence at play in this production.  We followed this by watching another episode of The Madison, before heading to bed.

On Saturday morning, OH was cycling again and I headed to the gym. We planned to go out on Easter Sunday, so I wouldn't be able to go them, so I got my session in early. When I got back I did some more sewing, and finished the scrappy quilt top and the last ball of yarn. Now I just need to make the cushion covers this month.

LB was working in the afternoon and had a tough shift. We all just spent the evening chilling at home.

On Easter Sunday, we were all up early to go out to the Car Boot Sale. We often have a trip out on Easter Sunday if we're in London. It rained a bit on the way and was pretty cold and windy though, so not ideal weather. A lot of stalls were already packing up when we got there at 9.30, but there were still plenty to peruse. I bought mostly food. There's a good fruit and veg stall, so I bought some of the weekly shop there rather than at the supermarket. There was also a stall selling spices and other items and I spent a few pounds there. I bought one item for me, which was a dress for £4. It was a linen/viscose mix and quite pretty. Hopefully, I'll wear it in the summer months.  The only other things I bought were one Fatsia plant for the garden and a couple of plant supports for my indoor plants, so I didn't bring home lots of things that I need to make house room for.

On leaving the Car Boot Sale, we headed to a pub for Easter Sunday Lunch out and had a nice roast dinner. I will make our roast on Easter Monday instead.  It was nice not to have to cook. Later, after getting home, OH and I went to the allotment and did a bit more weeding and prepping. It's all looking very tidy and ready to plant out anything else we want to grow, it's just a bit early for the summer crops. We had our site inspection earlier in the day, but our plot was already cultivated and tidy, so I don't anticipate any problems from that.

Sunday evening, we had a family movie night and watched Hamnet on OH's Prime account whilst eating some Easter chocolate. It was a good film.

Bank Holiday Monday, was another chill day. I had a lie in and finished reading a book, then started another one from my TBR shelf, before getting up and ready for the day.

OH and I spent most of the day in the garden at home. OH potting on allotment seedlings and me tidying up the beds and doing a bit of pruning of dead wood from my hazel bushes. It was a gloriously sunny day, warmest we've had for a while, so it was the only place to be, as far as I was concerned. Things are springing back into life and it's lovely.

I finished making another sun catcher, which I've hung on the back door. I'd already made the strands of beads (mostly glass), but just had to tie them to a stick to hang.

I made a roast lamb dinner in the evening which was nice and then OH and I settled down to watching a couple of episodes of The Madison. We had a lovely Easter weekend, but I did eat too much chocolate, so it's back to being more careful this week.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - March 2026

This is the first Monthly Clothing Purchase post I have posted this year, as I didn't buy any clothes during January and February. March has been a bit different in this regard, as I have purchased several items, all thrifted from charity shops.

The first item I bought was this 100% viscose black and white floral dress, which was in a half price sale in a charity shop when we went up to Yorkshire. It cost £3, which was a steal.  It is similar in style to a couple of dresses I already have and enjoy wearing, but I liked the print and the longer length of this one. 

I did do some alterations to this dress when I got it home.  There was a small hole that I needed to stitch up and the dress originally had two ties at the neckline. I decided to cut these off and stitch up the neckline, as I preferred how it looked on with this done. I'm all for a very modest neckline. I really don't like v-necks or plunging necklines. I rarely show any cleavage. I will probably wear it with a sweater vest over the top, or even a sweater in the cooler months, but now altered, it will also look good worn on it's own in the summer months. I've already worn this dress a few times and I know it will become a firm favourite.

The second item I bought was this Kit And Caboodal knitted black dress which cost me £5. I've wanted a knitted dress for a while, but all the one's I've seen have been body con and tight and at my time of life that is not really a good look for me. This one, however, was a much looser fit and looked nice on. I can imagine wearing it with knee length boots and tights and it will probably look quite smart. It is an acryllic mix, so it doesn't really fit with my buying natural fibres preferences these days, but I liked it, it is in immaculate condition and was something I felt I would regret not buying.

I then purchased this 100% wool jumper that I found in a Buddhist Centre charity shop. It was made in Nepal and I love the multiple colours in it. It could be worn over almost any colour. It's slightly boho looking. I will probably look a bit like 'Swampy' in it, if you remember the guy who used to climb trees and protest about the environment or whatever. But I like it.

It was a bit more expensive than most things I buy in charity shops at £18, but as it's is made of natural fibre and was such a one off, I was happy to pay a bit more. I don't have many, if any, colourful jumpers, so this is a first. I'm hoping I'll get good wear out of it in colder months, providing no moths get anywhere near it.

I didn't really intend to spend any more money on clothing this month, but as the weather was quite nice, I did drop into my favourite charity shop whilst doing the weekly grocery shop and found a few more items for the coming warmer months.

The first was this pair of wide legged, barrel jeans in a pale denim wash. I really liked the way they fit at the back, and the flattering looser, wider legs. They cost £3. 

I also bought a pair of loose fitting denim shorts for wearing on holiday, if we go this year. They cost £2 and are a nice comfortable fit and will look nice with just a vest and sandals.

Finally, I found a pair of brand new sandals for £7 (originally £16 new). I like the ankle straps on these, which I find flattering, as I have thin ankles but wider calves and these seem to even out the differences.

I'm looking forward to wearing these items as the weather warms up.

In total then, it was quite a spendy month in terms of clothing, in that I spent £38 on the above items.  This does take me over my £20 per month thrifting spend, especially as I bought some denim fabric too, to make some clothes with, which cost £11, but I don't have any regrets, as I'm pretty happy with what I bought. I will probably need to go easy next month though and maybe even give buying clothing a miss altogether unless I see any super inexpensive bargains.

An Eye Test and Easter Week - W/E 7th April 2026 - Part One

The week leading up to Easter, started with a day out doing the weekly shop as usual. I had another voucher to spend at Tesco this week, this time £7 off a £50 spend, which was well worth taking advantage of. Due to all the talk in the media (mostly on YouTube) about potential energy/food shortages due to the war in Iran, it's been making me a little concerned, so I did spend some money stocking up on a few items, just filling out the pantry a bit, nothing excessive. I noticed that petrol had gone up another 3p to £1.45 per litre, which wasn't a lot. It's now gone up about 7 or 8p in the last two weeks since I filled up, so not really a dramatic rise, but I'm sure it will go up further yet.

I got a few bits for Easter weekend, mainly just some hot cross buns, items for a roast dinner and the odd treat. We don't really do anything too special at Easter. We're not going away, as LB is working and OH cycling over the weekend, we'll probably visit family again after Easter, when there's less traffic on the roads.

Monday evening, OH was cycling. When he got back, we watched the last episode of the Murdoch family documentary on Netflix, which was interesting.

Tuesday, I was up and off to the gym for my Zumba class in the morning. When I got back, I needed to get showered/changed and head off to an optician's for an eye test at our local ASDA. It was a bit weird going there, as it is on the same retail park where my last job was, so it felt a bit like deja-vu. It made me glad that I no longer need to go there to work.

Anyway, the test went okay, as there was very little change, which meant that I didn't need to buy new glasses or get new lenses put in. I did have to pay an extra £9 for a test that looks at the back of your eye, but the optician showed me the results and all was okay. It was interesting to see what the back of your eye looks like on the screen. In the end it cost me £33, but hopefully that will be the last time I need to pay for it. I may get some lenses put in some older frames, as OH has offered to send them off to an online company, along with some for himself and some for LB, which charges a lot less.

On my way back, I noticed that a local site where they were supposed to be opening a new Lidl store, wasn't advertising the store opening there anymore. It's an old petrol station site, so I expect they've run into issues with contamination. It's a pity, as it would have been very convenient to have a store there, but such is life.

I bought  a few bits in ASDA, including some pillow cases, that I am going to use for my hexi quilt, as I'm running out of fabric. They are almost a match, but for £2, were a good price and should be enough to allow me to finish it.

For the rest of the afternoon, I worked on making some more fabric yarn for another rug. I decided to use some clothing I don't want in this instance. I also applied for a job that took my interest today. I'm not sure if I'll hear anything. It's the first job I've applied for since leaving my previous job, so we'll see what happens.

In the evening, OH and I started watching The Madison on Paramount. They had a good deal of £2.99 per month for a couple of months, so it gave us the opportunity to try a couple of series on there. We started watching Marshals, an offshoot of Yellowstone, but we're not sure we want to continue watching it. We preferred The Madison, which is all over social media at the moment.

On Wednesday morning, I was up really late, on account of not getting to sleep until after 4am. As a consequence, I slept in until 10ish and then doomscrolled for an hour before actually getting up. I know I'm very lucky that I can do this, when most people have to go to work.

After a very late breakfast, as it was almost lunchtime, I decided to do some sewing on my machine, stitching the ball of yarn I'd worked on the day before. It measured 30m in length once I'd finished it, which was a good start. I think that this time around I will make less yarn, as I think I only need 80-90m, judging by how much was left over from the last rug I made.

After lunch, I worked on preparing other fabrics that I found in my stash to make into yarn. I think I'll aim to get all the yarn for the next rug made this month, as well as the outdoor cushions. It shouldn't take too long, as I did a lot of work on it today. It was nice to just spend a day at my sewing machine and not go anywhere.

In the evening, I made another Two Tin Chickpea Masala, which was nice. It's such a cheap meal to make,  as it contains no meat and it's nice to cook it from scratch using spices in the cupboard. I have to admit that I'm starting to get a bit anxious on account of all the doom and gloom on social media about the energy crisis. I need to stop watching, but then I don't want to be behind the news either.

On Thursday, I headed to the gym for 10am as usual for my class. I'm such a creature of habit, but I like to have a bit of a routine each week when I'm not working. For the first time since I started going in January, this class was actually full, which was amazing.  Great for the teacher who works hard to give us a great class. I'll have to make sure I book early from now on.  I think it was possibly partly due to it being the Easter holidays and people  being off work too, we'll see what happens next week. 

After lunch, I did a bit of shredding left over from the other week, as the rubbish was due to go out. I don't think I went far enough in terms of culling the paperwork, so once I've finished this current lot of shredding, I'm going to go back in and get rid of a lot more. I just don't need it and it is taking up space in the house. I only want to keep absolute essential paperwork going forward.

I put a bit of laundry away and put another wash on, and then I continued doing some more sewing at my machine, creating another ball of fabric yarn of 15m in length this time. I've now made more than half of what I need for this second rug. Future balls will be smaller than the two I've already made and I've prepped and pinned a few more, totalling 16m, ready for stitching.

Later, I decided to make a few treats for the Easter weekend. I had some sausagemeat and ready made puff pastry in the freezer, so I made some small sausage rolls. I also then made some healthy dark chocolate and peanut butter date treats for OH and some chocolate crispy buns with mini eggs on top, to eat over the holiday weekend. I didn't smother the crispy buns with chocolate, I only used one small bar, as OH is watching his calorie intake at the moment. (Not a good weekend for that) I also ran out of large paper cases, so had to make some super small crispies with some mini cases I had, which is no bad thing. It beats buying everything in and I quite enjoy making treats that we can enjoy, as I very rarely buy them. Here's a few photos:

On Thursday evening, after supper, OH and I headed to our local Lidl to do a shop. I had a voucher to get £5 off a £70 spend, which only lasted for another day or so, plus I wanted to get some of the veg that was on offer for Easter. I decided I would do next week's shop early to use the voucher and OH wanted to get some wine, coffee, whisky and chocolate, so he came with me. I did manage to get some veg, but only potatoes and shallots, as all the other veg on offer had sold out. Never mind. I should only need to go out to our local supermarket and get some fruit and a few other bits next week now, which is good.

It was nice to get home and look forward to a long weekend of just relaxing and enjoying the holiday. London has gone pretty quiet, as lots of people have left town for the weekend, which is all good as far as I'm concerned.

Financial Roundup - March 2026

 March has felt like a long month in some ways, especially with all the doom and gloom in the news every day, but we got through it. Financially, it's been a bit more challenging, mainly due to my own spendthrift ways.

I didn't keep as tight a rein on my spending in March, hence why I struggled towards the end of the month. I spent much more in charity shops, around £50 or so, which was in excess of what I had budgeted for. I was happy with everything I bought, but paid the price as I got toward the end of the month and had to use April's budget for the last weekly shop.

As a consequence, I need to really keep a tight control on spending in April, with very little room for any purchases other than food and household items. I just need to focus again.  Luckily, I don't have any birthdays or major expenses on the horizon this month, which is good. All the Easter eggs and food have been bought.

One positive from March, was that I did get my eyes tested and didn't need to buy new glasses, as my prescription had changed very little. I think I am going to take OH up on his offer to pay for some new lenses in some old frames I have, which is kind of him.

My dental check up is still overdue. I just can't face it and I will need to pay an additional £75 for a clean, as the dentist has said this is necessary. (I personally don't want it or feel it is necessary) I'm also concerned that they will find additional treatment to prescribe, although I don't currently have any issues. It's not good when you start putting off health checks because of financial concerns, it's a slippery slope.

Anyway, I'm hoping to receive some interest payments on some savings accounts this month, so if I'm desperate, I can always dip into those, although I'd much rather leave them where they are if I can. I'm also hoping to hear from some pensions which are due to start paying out later this year. I'm led to believe that they usually contact you six months before they mature, but we'll see if this happens. It would be good to have some updated figures with regard to what I can expect to receive on a monthly basis when I turn 60 later this year.

For now, I'm just plodding on, trying to keep things moving. whilst continuing to enjoy life without spending too much. I'm very fortunate that I have everything I need and don't want for anything.

Clock Change and Life Getting Back to Normal - W/E 29th March 2026

This week got off to an early start on Monday. For some reason, I woke at 6am and didn't really get back to sleep, which is unusual for me. I stayed in bed reading for a while, before showering and getting ready to go out and do the weekly shop.

There was quite a lot of stuff that I needed to buy this week, partly because of all the cleaning I'd been doing, I'd run out of a few household things. I also needed to spend £50 at Tesco to take advantage of another £5 off voucher. I managed this by buying a few regular items a little early and on offer. It increased my expenditure this week, but will even out going forward. I ended up saving over £20 in total and got a joint of lamb half price for Easter.

I also had a 10% off voucher to use at Lidl by way of the Lidl Plus app, so I saved another £5 here. It hasn't left me a lot for the final fifth shop of the month, but I will probably borrow a bit from next month's budget for that.

I did visit the charity shop this week, as I hadn't been for a couple of weeks. The sun was shining and I decided to see if there were any nice summer clothing items in store. I ended up spending £17 in total, on a pair of wide legged light denim jeans £3, a pair of denim shorts £2 and a pair of brand new sandals £7. I also bought a cotton summer dress, which was for LB, but if she doesn't like it, I may keep it for me, or take it back. It cost £5.

By the time I came home it had turned a bit chilly. I was absolutely shattered, I think on account of waking up so early. I had intended to do some more cleaning in the evening, but I just didn't have the energy. OH was due back on Tuesday evening, so I still had time to do a bit more.

On Tuesday, I woke up early again, read in bed for an hour or so and then got up and ready to go to my class at the gym. 

After lunch, I started to do some more cleaning, starting with the hallway, living rooms and then worked my way downstairs to the kitchen, which needed more work. It took me the rest of the day, but it felt good to get most of the rooms looking a bit fresher. The only room I didn't get to was the bathroom upstairs, but I'll tackle that another day.

OH got back just after 8pm after unexpected flight delays. It was nice to see him and he'd had a really good time, although he'd not been well for a day or so. I think a few of them had caught a virus that had made them feel unwell, nothing too serious though.

Wednesday, I decided to take a day off from the cleaning. After lunch, I took myself off for a walk. I hadn't been for a walk in a couple of weeks, so it was nice to get some fresh air.  It was certainly a fresh walk. It was quite cold and windy and then I got part way round and it started hailstoning, followed by blue sky and sunshine and then a little rain. Talk about wild.

I booked an appointment online to go for an eyetest next week, which I'd been meaning to do for a while. I've gone back to ASDA, as I received a reminder by post last week and their eye test only costs £24, as opposed to £30 elsewhere. I realised recently, that this will be the last time I will have to pay for this test, as I'll get it for free from October when I turn 60, which is a plus.

I also ordered some recycling bags from our local depot, as we were running low. We used to get free food caddy bags, but now have to supply our own. Anyway, that was another small job done. For the remainder of the afternoon, I sat and watched some TV, whilst sewing the binding on the rug I made. A very chill day.

On Thursday, I went to my usual class at the gym in the morning, which was good.  In the afternoon, I felt really tired and retired to bed for what I thought would be an hour's nap, but turned out to be a four hour nap, which was a bit self indulgent, but if my body needs it, then so be it.

When I woke up, I did a bit of reading and then came down and did some rug binding  in front of the TV. LB returned home later tonight. It was lovely to see her. OH and I watched a movie on BBC 4 based on a Julian Barnes novel, which was quite interesting.

Friday, was another fairly quiet day. I didn't need to be anywhere today, so it was nice to have a slow leisurely start to the day reading, showering, etc. I did some financial housekeeping in the morning, as it was virtually the end of the month. In the afternoon, I binge watched a Turkish series on Netflix called the Museum of Innocense, which was okay, whilst finishing the binding on my rug and then working on my hexie EPP project. Later, after supper, OH and I watched the movie I Swear on Netflix, which was really good.

Saturday morning, I had to get up earlier than normal, as our neighbour knocked to drop off their dog for the day. OH had gone out cycling, so I had to get up and get breakfast and spend time with the dog, who likes attention and cuddles. LB and I took it in turns to keep him happy, whilst I got dressed and later did some household tasks and a bit of blogging.

Later, after lunch, OH came home and we took him with us to the allotment and for a walk. Whilst at the allotment, OH spread some chicken manure pellets and sowed some peas and beetroot, whilst I spent my time weeding more of the paths around the plot. I got most of the paths done, just half of one path to do. In the second photo I left some self-seeded flowers in the cracks in the path, as they are pretty, but the weeds were taken out. I've just got the half of the path nearest to the camera left to weed, which shouldn't take long. Here's a couple of photos:

You can see the dog at the top of the first path. He's a sweetie. We had a nice couple of hours out in the fresh air though and got more of the plot cultivated which was good.

In the evening, OH and I watched a couple of episodes of a documentary about the Murdoch family on Netflix. It's interesting.

I was a bit thrown out by the clock change on Sunday morning, especially as I didn't get to sleep until well into the early hours of the morning. I read in bed for a while, finishing another book, this one about global food waste, which was sobering.

I then got up and ready to go to the gym, albeit a bit later than usual. OH came to the gym with me which was nice and we both had a good workout.

In the evening, I binge watched the last 5 episodes of The Other Bennett Sister on iPlayer, whilst OH was tinkering with his bike. It was so good, I really enjoyed it and it made a for a nice end to the week.

Monthly Makes - March/April 2026

This month's post is quite a long one, as it's been a pretty busy month on the making front, and I've continued with my quest to keep trying to use up fabrics in my stash. As mentioned in my last post, my main aim this month was to complete a woven rug in greens, creams and browns, to put in my sewing room, when I hang some new curtains in there. 

I had previously made quite a lot of fabric yarn to use in this rug, but still needed another 15 metres or so of yarn to have enough to complete it, so at the beginning of the month I made the remaining yarn required. I hoped that 100 metres or so would be enough, as the rug, I estimated, would be about 1m in length and 90cm in width, which was the area provided by the clothing rack I was using to weave it on. This project was going to be a huge stash buster and as it was going to be woven, I could use up lots of fabrics that weren't particular favourites and which I couldn't imagine using for anything else. 

My intention to weave the rug whilst OH and LB were away later in March, meant that I had a couple of weeks in between to fill with other sewing projects. As a consequence, I decided to make a new patchwork ironing board cover.

Just before Christmas, whilst making fabric (paper) chains, I accidentally ironed some fusible webbing onto my current ironing board cover, and whilst it didn't really prevent it from functioning as normal, I couldn't peel it off. I'd had a patchwork ironing board cover on one of my Pinterest boards for a few years, so I decided I would finally get around to making one.

My fabric choices comprised of quite a few fabrics that I have had for a long time and really like, but have kept saving them for some unknown future project. They are an interesting mix of prints, vintages and origins. I decided that it was silly to keep saving them, as I should be using them and seeing them in every day use, and this project was a good one to start using them for. The pallate is pale and mostly pastel, with a mixture of ditsy and other prints and plains, but I think the fabrics blended well.

I used a large hexie shape for the design, as hexies are my favourite shape to work with in EPP, but I've done lots of small hexie projects and wanted to try a larger design this time around. I was quite happy with how it turned out, and I didn't even really need to use much of each of my favourite fabrics for this project either.

I used the original cover to create an extra layer under the top layer, partly to make the cover a bit thicker, and partly because I didn't think I would use it for anything else and didn't want to throw it away. It worked well enough. I re-used the original string tie from the old cover too.  Here's a picture of the finished cover on the ironing board:

In between doing this and starting work on my rug weaving, I also made a trivet or table mat with the seams I cut off jeans and another sewing scrap bag for the craft table from jean waistbands, belt loops and pockets. Both projects were hand sewn and used up lots of scrappage from the jeans, which was all good.

The remaining free sewing time I had left this month, I decided to continue work on one of my all-time favourite EPP quilt projects. I hadn't picked it up in probably a year or more, but I want to finish it this year. It's been a mammoth project, as it's king sized and made from 1 inch hexies. The main thing I need to do is to add navy hexies around the edges to even up them up, so that I can add wadding and backing to it and then bind it all together. It is going to take quite a lot of work still, as there are some big gaps to fill, but I'm slowly working on it in the evenings in front of the TV, so I'll get there eventually. 

Here's a picture of where I'm currently at with it:

Once LB and OH went away on their travels, I got out the clothing rack that I was going to transform into a loom and cleaned and assembled it. I then started to tie the warp chords to the frame. This turned out to be a bit tricky, as it was difficult to get the warp threads and tension tight enough. I was using macrame yarn for this purpose, which was thick and strong, but even so, I struggled at first until I got into an efficient routine of tying all the tops first, cutting the chord to the correct length and then, whilst sitting on the floor, I moved along tying the bottom chords and trying to create as much tension as possible. 

Another issue I faced when I got out the rack, was that it was actually taller than I'd measured previously, as I'd measured it when it was dissembled!! It could actually make a rug of approximately 125cm in length, as opposed to the 100cm I thought I was making. I was unsure if I had enough fabric yarn, although the width was slightly narrower at 75/80cm, as opposed to 90cm that I'd previously calculated. I figured I could always make it shorter or make more yarn and proceeded to go ahead as planned, with what I had made.

Once the warp chords were secured, all 46 of them, I could then proceed to start weaving. I'd created an order in which I wanted to use the different fabric yarns and tried to follow it, so that the weave wasn't too random. It took an afternoon to weave the rug. I had more than enough fabric yarn in the end and still have some left to use in another project potentially.

Here's a picture of the rug whilst it was on the loom. Once woven, my next job was to hand stitch the edges of the rug together, before tying off the strings and taking it off the frame.  I then machine stitched the sides to secure them, before binding the edges.

Here's a picture of the finished rug and a more close up look at the weave:

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, for a first attempt. It ended up being 115cm by 75cm. I will probably make another, possibly in blue, as I have some blue macrame cord for this purpose and lots of blue fabric to make yarn. I'm not sure when though. I need a break before embarking on another one of these. Hopefully the rug will be washable, as it is made of cotton fabric. It has been very satisfying to use up lots of my stash on this project. The only thing I did purchase was the macrame cord, which cost around £6 online, so it was a pretty frugal make.

That just about sums up my progress in terms of sewing and weaving projects this month. I'm happy with the progress I've made and several items did get completed, which is good.

After a busy month of making, now the weather is warming up, next month I am aiming to make some cushion covers for our outdoor furniture. We currently have cream coloured cushions from IKEA, which are very impractical for outdoor use and not easily washable, so I want to make covers for them that can be removed and washed.

I'm going to be making these covers using patchwork and making them with offcuts from denim jeans and other bits of denim I have. I'm hoping they'll look nice in the garden in the summer months and will be hard wearing. I'll keep you updated with my progress in next month's Monthly Makes post.

I'll also be continuing with the hexie quilt and hopefully making progress on that. I may also think up and start other projects in between, which if I do, I will post about in next month's Monthly Makes post.

I hope you've had a crafty month.

The Home Alone Half of the Week - W/E 22nd March 2026 - Part 2

On Thursday last week, OH headed off early to catch a plane to Spain. He was going on a cycling break with some friends, for a long weekend. I got up a little later and got ready to go to the gym for a class. I decided to cycle there. It was another lovely sunny day, we had great weather last week.

When I got home, I did a bit of financial housekeeping and paid a couple of bills. I also got out my stack of bank statements going back 15 years. I managed to windle it down quite a bit. It will take a while to shred everything, as my shredder is hand operated and only takes one sheet of paper at a time. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane, seeing the payments that went into and out of my account this long ago. I'm glad to shred them to be honest, for most of the period I lived in overdraft, not any more thankfully. (It was a free overdraft!)

Anyway, after lunch LB headed off for her week away too. She was flying to Northern Ireland with a couple of friends, one of whom lives there. I felt a bit sad after she'd gone and I was left home alone. It didn't last long, as I decided to just keep myself busy. I shredded some of the paperwork, cleaned out the fridge and made some fruit jellies using up a few strawberries left in the freezer.

I then decided to make something completely new for supper. It was a Dopiazeh Persian Potato Curry. It was a very simple recipe that I'd found on Pinterest, using just a couple of potatoes, an onion, half a tin of tomatoes and I threw in a few french beans from the freezer too. All the other ingredients were spices or herbs. It was very nice. I just had it with the last remaining slice of bread. 

I am currently seeking out new recipes, preferably vegetarian, as meat is very expensive, and who knows what will be available in the future. If there are food shortages, recipes like this will be useful for making the best of what we have and what we grow at the allotment.

After supper, I decided to water all the houseplants downstairs, as I'd been meaning to do it all week and they were getting a bit dry and frazzled. I then got out the clothing rail that I'm going to weave my rug on. It was a bit dusty, so I cleaned it down and assembled it. I'm hoping it works well as a loom. Fingers crossed. I just needed to set up the warp threads before I could get started.

On Friday, I got up late after lying in bed reading. I started a new book from my TBR pile called 'Wilding' by Isabella Tree. It is the story of how a historic farming estate in West Sussex, was completely re-wilded, after the family farming it for over a decade, failed to hardly make a profit. I'm only two chapters in and I'm loving it.

Eventually, I surfaced and got ready for the day. Today, was the day that I was going to make my rug. The process took all day. Firstly, I needed to attach the warp threads to the frame and then weave using the fabric yarn. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. I still had things to finish to complete it, i.e. the binding, but I was happy with what I'd done.

As a consequence, Friday passed pretty quickly. I didn't set foot outside the house, save to go into the garden and feed the birds, but that's not completely unheard of here, especially when I get engrossed in some project or other. OH called in the evening and seemed to be enjoying himself which was good.

Friday evening, I started watching The Other Bennett Sister on iPlayer. It was excellent, so excellent that I binge watched all 5 episodes (They were only 30 minutes long). 

On Saturday, I had another lie in.  Why not? I finished one book, that I'd already part read, but had left in a drawer and forgotten about. Hence, why I bought the same book again earlier this year, (from the CS) which was super annoying.  Now I need to donate two of the same book. The charity shop will think me a little crazy, which I am.

OH called for a chat and to tell me that his brother is going home from the hospital, which was good news. He was enjoying himself in Spain, but had injured his knee, accidentally bumping into a piece of furniture in the villa where they were staying. 

When I got up, I decided to change some bedding, then went downstairs for breakfast. I spent the morning cutting up some old t-shirts and other clothes, that I no longer want, but which are too worn to donate. I will probably make them into fabric yarn, as we already have way too many cleaning cloths.

After lunch, I decided to continue with making the rug. I needed to stitch the fabric yarn strips together along the edges, before taking it off the loom and then cut the warp threads and tie them. Once I'd done that, I machine stitched the edges to make them more secure.

I also intermittently pottered around putting away laundry, putting on laundry and doing other small jobs. I was determined to eat properly whilst everyone was away, so I made a chicken hot pot to last me two nights. Whilst it was cooking in the oven, I pinned some binding onto the rug, so all I need to do now is stitch it on, which I'm going to do by hand. I'll post a picture of the finished rug in my Monthly Makes post next week.

After two days spent at home, on Sunday, I needed to get out of the house, so I headed off to the gym in the morning for my usual gym session. The weather continued to be lovely, which was a bonus.

In the afternoon, I decided to put aside all making and sewing for the rest of the day and do some cleaning. The house definitely needed a spring clean and whilst everyone was away, it was an ideal time to set about it. I decided to start upstairs in the main bedroom and work my way down through the house, just doing the basics in the living rooms, as I needed help to move the sofa and switch the rooms up a bit for the warmer months. I'll probably do those rooms properly later in the week when OH is back.

I managed to thoroughly clean the main bedroom, and did a quick job on the sewing room. This room will be cleaned properly next month, as we have a visitor who will be staying in it, so it wasn't essential for it to be thoroughly cleaned and then done again a few weeks later.

I then vacuumed and mopped the stairs and landings, before it got a bit late to use the vacuum cleaner, so I stopped for supper. I went back and wiped down pictures, skirtings and bannisters on the stairs and landings after supper and then decided to spend an hour or so thoroughly cleaning down the worktop on one side of the kitchen, doing the washing up, sweeping the floor, cleaning the dishwasher with citric acid and then cleaning some powder puffs from upstairs, before calling it a night. It felt good to get started on the spring cleaning, which will be a mammoth job and will probably take me most of the week. 

I have to say that I've made good use of my time home alone this week and lots of small jobs that I've been putting off have got completed. There's still more to do, but hopefully I'll get some of them done before OH comes home. It did make me wonder why I'm not so productive when everyone is home.