Some Wet Holidays

My sister and her boys loved my tiny cottage with all of its quirks and Nessie had people to play with all week. I took 3 days off and obviously it rained constantly every single day. We did not let that stop us and did a driving tour of Dartmoor, admired Tintagel Castle in the howling wind and followed that with ice cream in Port Isaac. Looe was the driest place that we visited between squalls. Of course, it was a glorious spring day when my visitors left but the next day lashed down with rain again!

It was lovely to have company and a few days just pootling about but it’s back to normal routines and work this week with a couple of quilts to longarm and further classes to plan…

Nessie wonders what I do all day...

 

Nessie spends a lot of time snoozing or looking out of the window when she is not out on squirrel patrol. I think she thinks that is what I do too when I am not at home. She is very much mistaken! I had a busy week preparing for my class on “Quilting with your Bernina”. The participants learned lots but on reflection, there was too much for just one day’s class. Feedback from one student reported that they were not in the least bit interested in the history of quilting which I mentioned in passing so that has been duly noted for future reference;) 

My sister and nephews are coming for a visit so I will be taking a couple of days off. This meant that I had to make sure everything was prepared in advance for the next batch of classes. The other job which has been getting ignored is completing the filming area so we can make short instructional videos. The idea is that the background looks like a sewing room. We found a folding screen to hide some cables and the door so I ran up some ruched panels with Bernina branded fabric. The media team has to share the space with the technician and we will have to agree on a schedule for access.

Mel and her husband, Iain came for a rake around Tavi with me on Saturday. I had hoped that he would help me to attach my IKEA cupboard to the wall. Left to my own devices I would probably have used nails and no-nails glue but as an engineer he requested that I should get a gadget to find the wooden studs behind the plasterboard so it is fixed correctly and not tilting at a bit of a slope like my so-called “floating” shelf. I blame that on the gas-man who must have leaned on it.

I wonder how my wee house will cope with 3 extra people? The spare bedroom is not big enough for 3 so someone will have to bunk down in the sitting room. It is so annoying that the new sofa is not big enough to sleep on. That was the whole point of bringing the bigger red leather one from Scotland - sadly it is now languishing in the shed!

Cats in Frocks

 

Nessie and I went on a charity shop mission to find Victorian style pictures for my arsenic green sitting room. I could not resist a barmy cross-stitch of kittens in frilly dresses. I hasten to add that it will be part of a “gallery” collection and not a main feature!

My DIY ventures continued with me spending an entire evening attempting to put up a curtain wire for curtains across my wardrobe area. After a lot of dropping tiny screws and shimmying up and down my step stool, I finished the job which would have been better attempted with 2 people, to find that the curtains sagged disastrously. I decided not to persevere and ordered a spring loaded shower curtain pole instead, which was far more successful.

A plumber came and replaced my broken bathroom radiator and when he left it was toasty. Later on it was stone cold - after much internet and soul searching, I had to turn up the thermostat that I had set to a stingey 16 degrees. After the smart new radiator was installed I put up a wee bathroom cabinet as the old one was set so high I could not actually see in the mirror. The new one is naff quality, basically cardboard, but it looks much better and serves its purpose.

Since moving here, I have been going to a weekly “Fair-Share” food larder. For a small fee you can get quite a haul of stuff that shops are getting rid of as the dates are short. This week was particularly good for veg. If there are things I don’t think I can use I take them to work and give them away and it helps to reduce food waste.

I taught a 2-day masterclass about the L890 overlocker / overstitch machine with lots of technical info followed by practical experimenting on rolled hems, gathering, sewing seams, flatlock and more. The participants were all enthused and some are looking forward to my next class on quilting which is this coming week. I really enjoyed being in teaching mode, challenging the confident students and boosting the ones who were floundering:)

My First Visitor

 

Freya finally arrived on Sunday evening! We had a lovely week together - she was able to work remotely and entertain Nessie. She loved the cottage and enjoyed cooking most evenings except when we went out for tapas and pizza. She was a huge help with little DIY projects like putting together some IKEA shelves, since I never bother to read the instructions. We also moved the furniture around to accommodate the new-to-me armchair. 

It was really nice to have such easy company, from chatting in the evening to our outing at the weekend. We spotted a kingfisher on the river, walked in the grounds of Cothele house and paid a visit to the Trago shopping emporium (not something I will repeat in a hurry). 

Hopefully I won’t be lonely this week - I will be too busy preparing for teaching a 2-day Masterclass in using the Bernina L890 overlocker/coverstitch machine.