Short Report Card

Pagan Tarot

Half-term week was fabulous, not least because DH was home for the whole week. OK, that was mainly to take care of Wilhelmina the Volvo's MOT and any issues arising from that (a new tyre and whole set of brake discs and pads, so she is not a cheap date), but even so - we even had some grown-up time on our own, as the kids had a sleepover at Belo's, after which he put them to work weeding his garden.

Sure, I can tell you what we got up to, why wouldn't I ? 

We ate, drank, went to sleep early, and slept til late - as one ages, one begins to truly appreciate a long night of uninterrupted sleep all the way through until mid-morning. In separate beds. It was blissfully good.

But lest you think that all I did was lie around delicately munching peeled grapes, let me show you the front garden. It is only tiny, but what with the weather (drought then floods) and other things, I had really left it to itself for the last year and a half. It just shows you how messy Nature is when unsupervised:

And after a few hours and half a bottle a little sip of wine, we have this slightly less messy and with more gaps/spaces result:

 

 

Tottering away dragging my trowel behind me, I decided that the only thing that could possibly revive me would be more wine and a doner kebab the size of my head; then I collapsed in a catatonic heap of digestion ....

 But now I must be off and attempt to be productive - another shawl needs blocking. I finished it yesterday - binding it off took all afternoon (really, it was like a squillion million stitches AND a picot bind off) sitting in the sunshine; I have the sunburnt inside knee to show for it. How do you burn just the inside of one knee ? All these mysterious things that I never used to worry about.

The Purpose of Stash

We're hopefully zooming down to Kent on Sunday to ditch the kids at Nanny's for a week, as long as Ingrid the Volvo is amenable. Other than enjoyment for the kids, there is an actual purpose behind arranging time out of the maternal slammer on licence, but more of that in another post at a later date.

It so happens that Sunday is also the birthday of one of my SILs, and she is having a celebration. We can't simply do a drive-by jettisoning of the kids; well, we could, but it seems a tad impolite seeing as how we don't get down there often.

So began the quest for a suitable gift. DH suggested that since we seemed to have so many knitted scarves lying around, why not give her one of those ? knowing that one of them has indeed been knitted for her, since he'd selected the yarn.

I don't think that men truly understand the concept of having a stash. That scarf is part of the Xmas stash and is intended to be her Xmas gift. If we use it for a birthday gift, then it's no longer part of the Xmas stash, and what will we give her at that time ? Let alone that it's actually quite a warm August and woolly scarves are for winter.

Fortunately, stash comes in handy in times of gift crises like this. I headed up to my wicker chests full of fabric acquired randomly with no project or purpose in mind. This is what I selected from the jumble:



I unearthed the sewing machine, and then had a cup of tea - balm for any troubled soul - to engender the correct mindset:

• I will be patient

• I will take my time

• I will do it properly.
  

I almost added 'I will not curse like a sailor' to the list, but a reality check got the better of pious aspirations. One must ensure one's goals are achieveable. Repeating this mantra, I set to work. By the end of last evening, I had produced this:



It is the front of a cushion cover in a traditional patchwork design called the Frienship Ring, Aster, or Dresden Plate.

Inside it, along with the cushion pad, will go a mix of herbs to aid sleep: lavender, hops, camomile, jasmine, lemon verbena, rose petals, rosemary, cloves and cinnamon sprinkled with a few drops of essential oils: camomile, lavender, benzoin, sandalwood and the tiniest smidge of May Chang just to 'lift' it. These are marinating with orris root as we speak.




Today's task is to complete the cushion: affix a back and seam it all together. Sew the herbs into a muslin pouch and insert. Sounds simple, doesn't it ?

First, I shall go perform the ritual to re-affirm the mantra: the kettle's on.