Precious time

I've had a lovely few days, spending precious time with family and friends, as well as spending quite a bit of time painting and knitting stuff for the school fair.

I've had some good cooking and some bad cooking this week.

Sweet potato and red pepper soup. I decided to add some chilli flakes. I'll maybe rethink the amount next time though!  I also made a green smoothie with a quick up and down the fridge. Kale, cucumber, spinach and chard. It tasted a bit like wet grass clippings with a bitter aftertaste from the chard. I don't usually mix chard with kale or cabbage. Oh well a lesson learnt.

When John left home the first thing I bought was a step so that I could reach the high shelves without getting the stepladder out. At 5'2"  quite a lot is out of reach. I'm not sure I can blame my direct genes because most of my family are six footers and above, but hey ho. I was having a major clean in the kitchen yesterday and was cursing that I couldn't reach the back of the windowsill over the sink to remove what looks like a primary school display of mini-beasts (curse of the open window). I dragged over the little step and cleaned the offending insects away.  Someone was obviously watching and waiting...

Caught in the act - I'll have to hide the step. He only wanted some juice but the kettle is within reach now.

I usually start a little baking for the quilt class on Wednesday night but didn't get home until nearly eight - it was still very warm and I couldn't face turning the oven on so I just weighed some ingredients out and hoped I would get home early enough on Thursday to bake. Luckily I was home in time to do some swift mixing and assembling.

Blueberry muffins and bourbon biscuits. I think I put too many blueberries in the mix though.

Karen brought a lovely book and some chocolate fudge which was to die for.

Hilary and I snapped a couple of photos of the goodies before we fell on them. Karen very kindly put a few squares of fudge in my cake tin which I enjoyed later on when I got home. We are planning a quilt-along on 2nd August for Quilts for Comfort - more of this soon.

I've sewn a couple of lines on my granny blanket but spent a lot of time yesterday painting some hearts. I chose some soft colours (I didn't use the turquoise in the end)

 I watched/listened to the England v New Zealand rugby whilst painting.

I did four with wisteria, light buttermilk and a green/light buttermilk mix with french mauve roses. Then I picked a soft grey to go with the french mauve and painted the other four.

 I wrote the words and left them to dry overnight.

I'll put the hangers on later - maybe tomorrow. I've got some lovely french ribbon for a little bow and some beads perhaps.

This morning I decided to make some bread - cue the next food disaster- I put too much liquid in and it ended up like ciabatta dough - only runnier. Actually it didn't rise very well either but it tasted ok, if a bit heavy. I think Paul Hollywood would have been scathing about it though.

I gave the bathroom a serious steam clean this morning and then settled down to knit a bit more of the bunny.

The ears were done last night and sewn on this morning. The bit being cast off is the body. I've used the last of the yarn from the little cardigan I knitted recently.

I scooted round Sainsbury's just before it closed and came back to finish the arms and a leg before Will got home from Hamsterley Forest where he was cycling. The bag behind the bunny head is full of goodies from my visit to the hairdresser on Friday. I love this quote by JG Ballard.

Tonight I'll finish the other leg and search out the pattern and wool ready for the little dress.

Finally a little photo that is sure to make you smile:

At the Thomas the Tank Engine Park in Birmingham last week. Apparently it rained all the time but he loved it every minute of his visit.  If it hadn't rained we wouldn't have had this lovely picture of Ben in his poncho, knotted at the back to keep it from dragging through the puddles.

Next week is really busy with either three or four late nights at work. But on Friday I will be leaving on time. I'm going to stay with my lovely friend in Surrey so that we can celebrate joining the old biddyhood together. We may also indulge in a little red wine. Did I ever mention that she lives about twenty minutes drive from Sandown Racecourse and there happens to be a quilt show on next weekend? 

While I'm presenting the governors with the budget, having team meetings and open nights and trying to persuade some local businesses to part with a quarter of a million pounds for our 4g pitch I'll be dreaming of fat quarters.

So this was my precious time this week. I've loved it all - well, maybe not the green smoothie.