A Week Off

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and I fully intended to blog more, but just never got around to it.  Life has been a cycle of working, resting, etc., the usual.

Work has been okay lately, I'm enjoying working with the new Shop Manager. I finished last night and I am now on leave for a week.

LB has just had two intense weeks of GCSE exams, so she is pretty exhausted.  Most have gone okay, but a few, she felt didn't go so well.  We'll just have to wait and see. She is off school this next week for half term, so we are going away for the week and she should get a well earned rest.

OH's 50th birthday came and went a week ago.  We didn't really do anything special on the day, as he wasn't bothered. We are spending this week with some members of his family, that will be our celebration. We're actually all going to Center Parcs, which should be fun.  I'm not sure what his family will make of it, as I don't think they've been before, but I'm sure we'll soon find out.

Last night was a bit of a disaster, a very selfish neighbour booked a mobile tyre fitter to replace their tyres at 3 am.  Yes, 3 o'clock in the morning. Can you believe it? We couldn't.  He didn't finish until around 4 am and what with a diesel generator going intermittently, banging and hammering and air pipes, it was pretty noisy and difficult to ignore. OH had to be up at 6 am to go out on his bike, so he was not very happy.

Sometimes, urban life is not easy. People are crazy and rude and if you challenge them you get all sorts of aggression back, needless to say we didn't on this occasion, but it was difficult to resist, believe me.

This morning I've managed to catch a class at the gym and I've done some food shopping for the holiday, mostly fruit and salad items, as OH's siblings are buying most of the food. OH paid for the accommodation. 

This afternoon, I've been washing, ironing and packing in readiness.  I'm intending to catch another class at the gym in the morning before we leave, as we can't get into the accommodation until 3pm ish, so were not rushing off.  I've already got a couple of classes booked at Center Parcs, one a Zumba class and the other a Bollywood Dance class.  Unfortunately, one follows immediately after the other, so I might be completely worn out by the time I've finished.

We're taking our bikes with us to ride around the site, so I'm hoping to get lots of exercise and fresh air, which I'm looking forward to. The weather forecast isn't great, but since when were they correct. We'll just take it as it comes.

I'm also taking some quilting to do in any spare time I might get. I started a new hexagonal quilt this week and it's coming along very nicely.  I find quilting to be very relaxing on my days off from work and I've done it this week whilst watching the Chelsea Flower Show coverage on TV, which I've really enjoyed.

I've decided that I need to get on and do it now, whilst my eyesight is still good enough, as it is definitely starting to deteriorate and I have trouble threading needles these days, even with my glasses on. I do have some needles that you don't thread somewhere, so there's always that option if I really find I can't do it.

Making this quilt is also helping to use up some of my huge stash of fabric, which is a definite plus. I've been wanting to make a grey themed quilt for our bed for a few years now, but have just not got around to it. I'm hand stitching it, so it won't be perfect, but I don't care about perfection.  I like things to look homely and comfortable.  Besides, it's a really traditional quilting method (I can remember my mum working on one one when I was a child) and I think you treasure it more when you've taken hours of your time to make something by hand.  Here's a sneak preview of some it that I've already completed.

As you can see, I don't iron my hexagons before stitching them together, sloppy I know, but I just don't have the time or patience to do so. They will get ironed when it's finished. I've made the hexagons quite large, otherwise it would just take way too long to complete by hand. I've organised them in rows for this quilt, trying to match the fabric as much as possible, but there will be more interest in the central panel, which I've now moved on to working on. As wadding, I'm going to use an old vintage wool blanket. It should work a treat.  I'll let you know if it does.

Next, after this project, is going to be a quilt for our dog. I've got some lovely doggy print fabrics that I want to use for it. I think she'll like it. Another long put off project, but it's time to just get on with it. What is the point of all this fabric just sitting around not being used.

I haven't decided on a design yet, but I'm sure it will come to me when I'm ready to make it. It will probably be very simple and I may machine stitch it, as I know she will scratch at it, so it should make it stronger.

Anyway, I must go and finish packing. I'll try to post about our stay at Center Parcs for anyone who might be interested, if I get the chance. We haven't been to this particular site since LB was a toddler, so it will be interesting to go back and see if it has changed at all. To be honest, I'm just looking forward to a rest and a change of scenery.

Have a good week.