In case of boredom...

I've reached the stage of making piles of things to pack tomorrow, and simply have to have a supply of distractions in case I'm bored. The boredom threshold of a gnat is something I aspire to.

Here in the pile, there are
Four novels: The Kite Runner - started on the Como trip but not half way through, The Sea (John Banville) Booker prizewinner, State of the Union (Douglas Kennedy) and A Wedding in December - Anita Shreve (because we'll be in The Berkshires too)
My ipod loaded with music, talking books and podcasts, including Cast On and In Our Time , favourites I don't normally have time to listen to properly.
My ipaq PDA with my address book, diary and, most important, Bejeweled and Bubblet
Knitting - hoping to conquer that second sock syndrome
Sketchbook/Journal - will try to keep a record of what we do
Artpack - everything but the kitchen sink - crayons, paints, glue, pencils and more
Sudoku book - might have to share this with Mark since he's discovered Sudoku himself
General Knowledge crosswords - Mark's Mum cuts these from the Saturday Telegraph for me, but never includes the answers.

..and last but not least, our baby laptop, so that we can keep up with family and friends, upload our photographs and play spider solitaire.

No room for The Bible and Shakespeare!

 

Failure!

Bleh. Don't you hate it when things don't go smoothly?

Preparing to go on holiday next week, I have a long list of things to do. OK, many of them are long standing commitments, things I ought to have done ages ago when the days or weeks stretched ahead of me. Instead, they are left till last minute and any glimpse of an item associated with the task brings on a spasm of conscience, which in this heat manifests itself as a cold sweat.

So, one item on the list was to make samples for a Christmas craft pack. Easy peasy - I'd volunteered to do this one, had even chosen the samples myself - no pressure from anyone. Had all the materials to make folksy "naive" felt peg-doll angels and elves, just needed to sit down and get on with it. Which I did yesterday. And failed.

Using red and white felt together is not to be recommended. The white felt is covered in fluff from the red felt, which makes the angels very grubby-looking indeed! The glue seeps through the felt in no time, however careful I am to use the tiniest amount. The pegs are too big to make the things look in any way classy or desirable...and what was supposed to be an easy, beginners no-sew item looks crummy and certainly anything but naive. If I can't get them to work right, then the innocent craft novice hardly stands a chance of achieving the guaranteed success these packs have to offer if they are to work well.

Wish me better luck today working on the other sample - a small gift box along the lines of a miniature American-style "takeout" box. Oh, and in making 200 macaroons, another fine mess I got myself into!

Perfect summer evening (part three)

I'm going to take myself outside with my book and a glass of something long and cold, and enjoy the cool evening air.

Coincidentally, I'm reading this at the moment - highly recommended. For the next week, you can listen to a reading here

Perfect summer evening (part two)

The cows are making their way up the hill opposite in single file (but you have to look hard to spot them behind the bush)

Perfect summer evening (part one)

Blogger is playing silly bloggers, so this post will come in three parts (three pictures, you see)

The roar of the burners on this hot air balloon led me to think it was rather nearer than it was - I had visions of it appearing just over the hedge!