Surprise, Surprise

The postman arrived this morning, and as I heard the thump on the mat, I assumed it would be the usual selection of unwanted catalogues and circulars. Ok, so maybe one day I WILL need a hearing aid, due to the noisy gigs, but I'm ok for the moment thank you.  And I have no wish to go on a cruise, nor do I wish to buy into an exorbitant timeshare scheme, allowing me to spend one or two weeks a year (probably in the rain) in a Country House, with a golf course, so stop writing to tell me how I could miss out if I don't respond  immediately.

While I'm about it, I don't eat kebabs, or pizzas, or curry - and even if I did I wouldn't want them delivered to my door.  I'm not planning to sell my property, even if there ARE lots of eager buyers waiting for a home just like mine, and I am quite happy with all my current tv/telephone/broadband arrangements, thank you.

Oh, and, if the man from Acorn is reading this, my parents DO NOT WANT A B****Y STAIRLIFT!!

Anyway, having got all that off my chest, in fact, the post was the most lovely surprise - two fat quarters of the most wonderful fabric sent completely unexpectedly but the lovely Angela

Aren't they beautiful?  She said that as soon as the new fabric arrived she immediately thought of me and sent them to me.  This isn't an advert, and it certainly isn't why she sent them, but I thought I'd put a link to her shop here in case you are as taken with them as I am and might want to order some.  Thanks Angela!

Talking of lovely fabric, I bought some of this a few months ago .....

and, thanks to the lousy weather, it finally got made up into a skirt - the pattern is Burda 8176 which I've used a couple of times, and plan to use again.  It's really quick and simple to make, although I add a lining that the pattern doesn't have.  (It's actually from the Burda Young Fashion section - but I won't tell them if you don't)

I've also made a couple more needlecases from vintage fabric.  

And finally, as this is a post of odds and ends, I thought anyone with a rusting treadle sewing machine table might be inspired by this. My friend Jane has had this table in her garden for years, awaiting the right project.  

She got her husband to make a wooden box into which a compost bag fits perfectly, and has planted it up with various salad leaves and herbs.  The best of it, is that slugs don't seem to be able to climb up that far. 

Now I suppose I'm going to be searching on ebay for a treadle.

Surprise Surprise - John Lennon