Yesterday I managed to finish piecing my Nature’s Notebook pinwheels. Not enough for a twin sized quilt – but I’m going to go a bit wild on the borders and as this quilt is heading for a bunkbed I think it should end up big enough. What have I learned? 1. Pinwheels need strongly contrasting [...]

I’ve had a lovely day today. Nothing much planned and everybody just pottering around and doing their own thing. I took myself off to the swimming pool this morning, swam lengths for half an hour and then sat in the hot pool for a few minutes. To be honest, I hate swimming pools and find [...]

Today is busy with lots of work for clients who have left everything until the last minute and now it’s become an emergency. You’ve gotta love ‘em! So there’s no sewing time today to give me balance … But these are helping… You should smell the hyacinths. Mmmmm ….. divine. I love them! I also [...]

There is much to be said about having an ordinary life. Ordinary in the sense of balanced, not disastrous, not crazy successful. Just one day at a time of comfortable normality. I have come to realize that the pattern of ordinary days brings contentment. Simplifying those days and eradicating the hectic as much as possible [...]

I rather like Nigella Lawson’s cookbooks. I like her approach to eating – it’s all about enjoyment. Eating at Nigella’s house must be a bit larger than life, but you’d certainly be allowed to enjoy what you eat and I don’t think she really does ‘diet’ at all. No fuss enjoyment – all rather refreshing, [...]