Busy Friday

I tell you- yesterday was double the blessing when we got up to today's dark greyness and drizzling rain! Yesterday afternoon, after a last practice with the 'singing children' Mum met me at school and we took ourselves out to Cliffoney as I needed batting, and yellow thread, and it was the most glorious day for a drive up the coast to the quilt shop! I took those photos from the car park of the shop, you can see how close the sea is.

Today after taking B to school and collecting Sos from 'the Brewery' (student union car park) after staying the night with friends (out late then stayed up talking until 4.30am) I returned home to bed. I had a funeral to go to at 2.oo pm but of all days today the battery in the alarm clock went, and when it registered 11.30am and bleeped it was actually 1.o5pm. Too late to start out, and since one eye had gone all swollen I decided to not go. Not a feel-good decision.

So I am now working through today's list, which includes deciding on hymns for Sunday morning's Harvest and checking with the other Organist to ensure she hasn't chosen the same ones for the evening Service! I have the hymn book open beside me: I love the headings for the different parts of the Church year- 'The Life Of Faith', 'God the Father, Creator', 'The Church's Witness and Mission', and my absolute favourite, 'The Christian Hope'! What's that verse 'to everything a time and place, to everything a season', that's not exact but to have the year set out is such a safe frame-work for living. (not sure 'frame-work' is the right term?) To me it is a great comfort.

I also have to bag up two tins of Quality Street sweets into 40 goodie bags for the singers, do some laundry, badger Sos into getting on with her chores, and Dilly has just texted to say she's coming home tonight as Dublin is driving her mad! The girl's early years in remote parts of East Africa seem to have left them all with a need for wide spaces: they enjoy social events and friends and doing things in town, but every so often they have to spend time on the beach, or up the mountain, which for Dilly means coming home. Well I'm glad! I think we haven't seen her since the start of August!

I've lit the fire in the stove to heat up the sitting room and kitchen as its such a cold day; B's hockey practice has been cancelled due to the rain. Sos is Kick-boxing again tonight so everyone will be glad of the fire later, I'm already wearing two wool sweaters.

I forgot to mention that my car's reversing lights seem to be 'on' permanently so I stopped by the garage yesterday evening. The mechanic had a look and said the switch has broken but they didn't have a spare so they'll get one in next week. 'Anyhow', sez yer man, 'its not major; if you're going forwards you can hardly be going backwards, so don't worry about it!' Well now, there's a philosophy!

Then on the way to collect B from school this afternoon I came up behind a car with its sunroof open in the rain! D'you think she has a water problem at home and was harvesting rainwater as she travelled? Or bathing even? In any case, I'd rather banjaxed reversing lights to a banjaxed sunroof!

Brief Interlude from dressmaking...

Tuesday of last week the sun was shining so, since I had to collect Sos from Drumcliffe after her morning Bible Camp, we headed home over Keelogyboy. Its only a few kilometres out of the way but really a summer drive as the bog road is remote enough and meandering. In the summer it is just glorious although my photos don't really do it justice. Herewith some of the photos:
Drumcliffe Church-
...where I stopped for a brief chat and prayer with my best friend. The memory of our escapades and the hopes and dreams we shared growing up is always heart-warming to me; I'm sure she is driving the Saints in Heaven mad with her outrageous notions!
Part of King's Mountain-
...the rowan trees are already loaded with berries, and I don't know what these purple weeds are, but since I love hedgerows, here they are!
...view down the valley to Lough Gill, the clouds were wonderful...
...ditto... And now, finally, here is my haul from the Festival of Quilts: I unpacked this morning as my hands were shaking too badly to sew, and my nerves are screaming at me. It serves me right because I forgot to take my medication last night, but it means a wasted day work-wise. I'm drinking jasmin tea and Earl Grey tea, both of which I find soothing when every nerve in my body is standing on end screaming and jangling at me!
As usual the photos are in reverse order.
Thirdly- have you heard of the Bonnet Project: Roses from the Heart?
http://www.femalefactory.com.au/ and http://www.christinahenri.com.au/ ? Although as far as I know we have no relatives who went to Australia I think that the premise of remembering the women who were sent out and who made the best of things over there is a heart-warming notion. Social history is one of my interests, and naturally, the hidden history of women in the grand sweep of events. I read about this project some time ago so was delighted to see the stand at the Festival, and bought me the pattern and fabric for a Bonnet. The lady said that they had 100 enquiries on the first day, although they weren't really expecting more than that the whole four days. I'm glad that this kind of interest is being generated, and as you'll see in the book selection below, I also got a book about the Oregon Trail quilts.

Secondly: my Fabric, gadget and gizmo haul, things I can't get here. There was a stand of Valdani threads, from Canada I think (all the threads below) which were just beautiful colours. (http://www.valdani.com/ ) I noticed that on the first day ladies were looking and asking questions but not buying so much as this is Valdani's first time over in UK, but the second day they were doing a roaring trade!
And firstly: my book haul!!
Glimpses of New Zealand by Gail Lawther, she was there signing beside all her quilts from the book, and was ever so nice. Her husband was on another stand and he seemed like a scream! I've worked from one of her stained glass books and like the way she writes.

Treasures in the Trunk:Quilts of the Oregon Trail by Mary Bywater Cross. I love stories of the Oregon Trail, started many years ago by my best friend being given a set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books for Christmas, how we loved and re-enacted those stories! They were such amazing people who did that journey. The quilts are interesting, the stories are bittersweet, I don't know whether to cry or give thanks, but I can't put the book down.

The Quilter's Directory of Embellishments, and Pretty Thrifty Patchwork, both by Sally Holman. Very practical books, and I'm especially looking forward trying my hand at embellishing quilts in the near future!

But my absolute 'Happy Dance' (as http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.com/ would say!) are these three:

Simple Pleasures, Shellies Bag (pattern), and A Gardener's Journal by Anni Downs. I've wanted 'A Gardener's Journal' for bally-yonks and love her patterns, but you can't get them here. I texted the Hub to ask if I could have an advance on the next quarter's Organ money so that I could get them all! So you see why I haven't unpacked until now? I'm not sure I can keep my needle out of these books...

I feel calmer and better now, having looked at and gloated over all my things! Wicked! I really want to make an Africa Quilt soon. Its been on my mind for a long time. I did make one several years back which was the first I'd had exhibited, but it didn't really tell a story. Any ideas for patterns or just ideas would be gratefully received.

And finally, no, I haven't forgotten that I signed up to finishing up old projects this month...I did actually finish a second border on the jazzy Country Quilt. I was hoping to get that dratted zip finished today and get back to quilting but 'the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley'...and now I need to get to the bus station to collect a returning South African student- teacher from school, who had to arrive before her accomodation was ready due to the constraint of international flights. At least the gargoyles have cleaned and tidied upstairs so she won't disappear without trace in the night!!!