Not a good day for photos but Picture the Year starts today

I'm having some trouble importing photos.  No sure what the problem is but there are some lovely ones of Ben going through his Daddy's rucksack that won't upload.  I was going to show you what was in the said rucksack - A lap top power cable, two pens, a butt bungee, a neck exerciser, two satsumas and an old ipod! I'll just confirm that John is a Sports Physio and the Butt Bungee is an elastic band which helps to strengthen "Glutes" - bum muscles which have become weakened and unbalanced and are giving back pain - just for the record.

This is the only one and is quite blurred.  Ben is not well at the moment and we spent last night in the emergency room. He has croup which frightened the bejeezus out of his Mammy and Daddy and Ben too I think. He had some steroids and they let him out about 2am so everyone is a bit tired today. He is still very wheezy and pale.

The lamp I have been shabbying up has been a bit of a disaster!  The paint wouldn't dry properly.  After two days I decided to paint over the Dulux One Coat  Three Coats with some acrylic craft paint.  That worked great.  I shaded the edges with some pinky lilac to go with the new shade and decided to give the whole thing a quick spray with the sealer. Look what happened:

A bit too shabby I think.  I sanded it down again but it is not the best effort I have made. However it has been salvaged now and is lighting my bedside.

Tried a new recipe today for custard creams - they were yummy and pronounced fit to bake for the quilt class on Thursday. They went in a flash. (Edd Kimber's recipe). They were really crisp and light but I do think they ought to be square!

Quick update on the little chicks - they are really growing strong now and can perch on their own.  They had some delicious dried mealworms today. Mmmm.

The quilt which I marked up during the summer holidays was on my to do list and I had forgotten how wonderfully relaxing it is to just quilt. It changes a piece of flat fabric into something really special.  I'm going to enjoy this one very much.

So, if you're wondering when I am going to get round to publishing the fabric requirements for 'Picture the Year' you will have to go to www.strawberrypatches.wordpress.com  because I couldn't get a downloadable pdf file into blogger and had to set up a wordpress blog.  I'm still working on it so will put a link in every week until I've got it figured out. There will be paper copies available at High Street Quilting from this Friday onwards or if all else fails email me at strawberrypatches@btinternet.com and I'll send a copy that way. The pattern is free - yipee!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the lovely ladies at the first quilt meeting of the year at High Street Quilting on Thursday but it's back to work tomorrow and I find myself yearning for the time when this is my work. Sooner rather than later I hope.