Excuses, excuses

Most people I know are so busy all the time their blog posts always start with an apology for not have written for a while. I think I have a pretty good excuse this time - how do you like the sound of food poisoning? Not a lot I suspect and you certainly wouldn't want to know the gory details! Not everyone succumbed so maybe it was only the greedy ones! We've had lots of family celebrations over recent weeks. 'He who gardens' and I have been married for forty years. Hard to believe but true. Not sure why I still feel about 17 some days, especially when all the evidence is to the contrary! Our anniversary day was gloriously sunny so we drove out to the Shropshire Hills and had lunch in a lovely restaurant in Church Stretton. The plan was to walk/climb along Carding Mill Valley but somehow that idea lost its appeal once we'd eaten and a gentle stroll around the town was all we managed.

We treated ourselves to one or two gifts to commemorate the momentous occasion (how anyone can justify yet another banjo is beyond me) and also bought a new bench for the garden although we did draw the line at a brass plaque! Guess who was first to try it for size the minute it was delivered? It's a bit of a joke really - who has time to actually sit down in a garden?

Not all of my days are spent partying or making arty stuff. There are always the more prosaic but necessary chores too. This week I replaced all of the sail blinds in the conservatory. Not the easiest picture to take but you get an idea from this one end of the room. I made 19 blinds in all. A really horrible job but with luck they'll last for a few years!

Meanwhile Laura and I are gradually working on our collaborative piece for Alsace. You can see the kind of obstacles we face. Toby loves nothing more than to curl up on the long arm as though it's a cat hammock. If this quilt doesn't hang straight we'll know who to blame!

As you can see here, the quilting is quite closely spaced and taking quite a while! We're concentrating on all of the gold background now that the trees have been quilted in black. The birds will be stitched right at the end.

My smaller projects are much less demanding. This is the Allium panel with its lettering now complete. All I have to do is mount it onto the canvas and it will be ready for the stand at Festival of Quilts.

Hollyhocks is also ready for its final touches. I plan to display these square panels arranged quite formally in rows - hopefully they'll prove popular.

So despite complaints of illness life goes on. Hope you are all well and keeping creative. Bye for now - Linda