What I’ve been up to

The last few days have been a bit of a mixed bag.  Sadly on Friday we had a family funeral to attend as  Robin’s cousin Steve had passed away.  The day was wet and wild, and we drove up to Palmerston North to attend the church.  Reflecting in the car that as the aunts and uncles have now all passed on, sadly the cousins are the older generation.   Quite a sobering thought.  With our part of the country being in “Level 2”, gatherings are capped at 100 people.  Therefore, the family  wanted to know who was likely to attend, and no doubt a bit of number crunching went on, with emails finally sent out inviting us to attend.  It was a lovely service, and we were well spaced out in the church.  I did wonder if refreshments would be served afterwards, and it was done quite well, I thought.  Instead of everyone helping themselves from the platters of sandwiches, savories and cakes, servings were arranged in individual containers, rather like airline food. 

Saturday was still rather wet, but by Sunday the weather had changed for the better.  I spent the morning keeping an eye on my large pot of boiling marmalade, feeling rather like a witch as I bent over the boiling cauldron.   Found myself muttering  “Hubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble”  while I stirred the boiling fruit.  Many thanks to Robin’s brother Gary for the fruit from his trees. 

Orange and lemon marmalade

Gemma decided that since it was a lazy Sunday morning and after she had enjoyed some crunchies for breakfast, why not go back to bed.  I didn't have the heart to disturb her, so the bed stayed in disarray for a while longer.  Which goes to show who is really in charge in this house!

Can’t disturb the cat

Sunday afternoon was so nice and warm that we sat outside for an hour or so enjoying the weather.  I was quite happy with my knitting and a cuppa, and Gemma was snoozing on the seat making the most of the sunshine and warm temperatures.

And here it is Monday, my son’s birthday.  He lives in Christchurch so  I phoned to wish him Happy Birthday. “ How old are you now?”, I asked.  Michael was shocked and told me as his mother I should know exactly how old he is!  Of course I knew, well, my guess was quite close.  Bet he can’t remember how old I am, and that I have a biggish birthday coming up soon.

Today I’ve been piecing some backing for a quilt top I finished a while ago.  The blocks for this quilt were part of a long ago block swap, so I’m incorporating the signature blocks from the those who took part into the backing.  Then I can take it to the commercial quilter to work her magic, it’s a bed sized quilt so too big for me to quilt at home. 

Signature blocks will be part of the quilt backing

It’s been a while since I updated my List of Six and rolled the dice again to choose which project to work on.  I want to get the pieced quilt backing completed in the next day or two.  It’s going to be a busy week with several appointments, an outing or two, and possibly the weekend away in the caravan, so it could well be next week before I get to work on my new list.