I've just got through the first week since eldest son went off to University.


I felt very anxious in the run up to him going - and hearing the stories of my friends crying when they left their children, I was really dreading it. I'm the one who cries at adverts - so I couldn't see how I wasn't going to make a complete fool of myself. But I held it together - not too hard really when we saw the lovely room he had - and he seemed to be happy and looking forward to it all. He's taken half the house so he must feel at home!

Quilting

Earlier in the year I decided to make a patchwork quilt. I'm not an expert quilter - previous experience making a cushion cover when I was at school - but I decided that I wanted to create a family heirloom.



Progress has been slow - it took me about a month to choose the fabric I wanted. I read up on different techniques, took advice from friends and then decided to do my own thing. I probably would have been more sensible to either start with a smaller project or to go for a squares design. I went for a king size bedspread made from small hexagons.


I've now made 8 "templates" - not sure how many more to go - but it must be lots! I'm a bit worried that it might not match in with my room decor - but frankly by the time I finish it who knows what colour my bedroom will be.



I'm taking a break from it to complete another heirloom - a patchwork quilted memory cushion which is going to feature a picture of my parents on their wedding day. It's my dad's birthday soon and I thought it would be a nice present for him. I'll post a picture of it when I'm finished!

I went on a trip to Slough today. I've never been before so my impression of the place was based the Slough of Despond (I know it's nothing to do with the place but hey!) and what I'd seen in The Office.


Trusty sat nav got me there - but as soon as we approached the town centre it started ordering me to turn round at the next available opportunity. It obviously wasn't happy that I had reached my destination.


I found the office I was visiting, tried to cross the road to reach it but nearly got run over by two red BMW's doing a bit of boy racing. On my way out I got mixed up - fortunately not literally - with two policemen trying to bundle a suspect into the back of a police van.


I was glad to get back to my car - although I was stopped in the car park by a man asking for my unexpired parking ticket - a request I didn't feel able to refuse. This was followed by a close encounter with a traffic warden so I ended up the one making a quick getaway!


On the way home sat nav decided on a scenic route which took me past a sign for a community orchard. What is a community orchard, because I'd like my community to have one.