Big Chill - and it's not cold

So it's half term and I have the whole week booked. Think again - maybe not the whole week, maybe three days, Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. Ok I'll go with that even though someone else's bad planning means I can't get a whole week. (I'll try not to be too bitter). I'm not going to let it spoil the time I do have and this weekend has been a full chill.  Ben stayed on Friday night.  I thought it was so John and Steph could have an intimate Valentine meal but I think they just wanted a good night's sleep! What's happened to romance eh?

Saturday on the 'Hill' was great although we didn't get a good chance for a chinwag with Sandra.  I made some little hearts last week.

This is what they looked like when I left the shop and I did quite a bit of work on them but they didn't turn out quite how I expected and I am going to re-do them at the shop.  I have sanded them down and will hopefully finish them this coming week.  Sandra had a fabulous vintage style block in the shop last week with hearts and beautiful words on.  David cut some for us and this is the start:

I'm really excited to do this one which is destined for Steph but I may have to make another for me.  It's covered with torn up pages from a book and will be decorated with little vintage froo-froos and lovely words.  The hearts have butterfly paper on and I am going to cut out one of the butterflies and emboss it with clear powder.

I always try to find different flavours for cakes and biscuits.  When I asked Will what flavour he would like last weekend he said - plain with jam in the middle.  We (I) quite often forget that simple is good too.  I only had two eggs so it wasn't very big but it didn't last that long - this is about ten minutes after I spread the jam over.

Lovely and light, moist and straightforward.  The hens have started laying a bit better this week so I decided to make some creme caramel. The bought eggs aren't a patch on our lovely ladies' offering - look at the colour of these yolks:

One for John and Steph and one for Will and I.  Ours is gone. Slipped down a treat.

Enough of the stomach.  I have done a lot of quilting today and not much else. The first strip is completed and the second is well on its way.  I'm revising the timescale for this because the pattern on the flowery strips is really zipping along.  Hopefully it will be finished before the hot weather - spring and autumn are perfect times for full size quilts.  The light is good (it's been brilliant sunshine all day) but it's still cool enough to snuggle under.

I always amazed at the difference the quilting makes to plain fabric - it's magic isn't it? Sorry about the colour on this - it is actually off-white but the light was fading when I took the photo.

Update on the fluffy chooks - how big they are now.  I think they are close to full grown - look at the mohican on the grey one!

Ben and John popped up for a couple of hours so I got to have a good squeeze twice this weekend.  This is Ben trying to sneak upstairs to see Will - he's still too young for stairs on his own (Ben that is).

Caught re-handed!

I've uploaded May from 'Picture the Year' and hope to get most of the rest of the patterns printed out so that Alison can test them.  Also on my list are two little quilts for 'Quilts for Comfort' which are nearly pieced and some work on a new pattern. Squeak. I love new patterns.

Have a good week everyone.