I feel as though I have moved into the vets! I have 3 cats, Tortie and Smudge who are 18 and Tigger who is 11. Last week I made an appointment to take Tigger for her annual check up and boosters. She is slightly feral and likes to stay out all night so in the morning, she came in and had her breakfast and then went off to sleep. I got the box out of the garage and in that instant, she totally vanished. Couldn't find her anywhere - I looked behind the sofa, understairs cupboard, wardrobes upstairs but absolutely no sign of her. So off I went with Tortie who was booked in for Friday morning and this of course upset the computer at the vet's. Got home and there was Tigger curled up fast asleep in the armchair! Both Smudge and Tortie have had to have blood tests. Smudge's results came this morning and she is doing OK on her thyroid tablets - she's not too bad taking them and only occasionally do I have to take 3 or 4 goes to get it into her. This morning was Tortie's turn for a blood test - tortoiseshell cats have a reputation for being feisty and at 18 Tortie Portie hasn't lost hers! After waiting for ages, at least 20 minutes, the vet reappeared and said she was very sorry but they had been unable to take any blood as she wriggled too much and could they keep her for a couple of hours to have another go? If I have to give her tablets I think I might need those gauntlets you see birds of prey handlers wearing!
Good evening at Knit and Natters last night - I hope Tina's new wool shop in Thornbury does well as she is full of enthusiasm.

Yesterday I went to the Weston Quilters quilt show in Weston super Mare, not a place I know well even though it's only a 45 minute drive down the M5 and very popular with everyone. I had been persuaded to enter my red and white yellow brick road quilt so had to go and collect it at the end of the show. I very nearly withdrew it as I had a disaster after sending off the entry form. I looked at it and thought it was a bit hairy (I have 3 cats who love sleeping on my quilts) so bunged it into the washing machine on 30 degrees and of course some of the reds ran! And I had prewashed them as well! So it looked rather pink in places and left me feeling quite disappointed. However because of its size it had been hung on a wall above one of the traders so no-one could get up close and personal! I might try giving it another wash with Colour Catcher to see if some of the pink comes out. It was a lovely show, spent a small fortune on fabric and patterns and I was lucky enough to win one of the bags being raffled so that more than made up for the red fabric running.

This is my red and white yellow brick road quilt. Made with fat quarters bought on a holiday to the US - we went to a small quilt show held by a local quilt group and one of the traders there had this fabulous selection of red and white fat quarters. When I got them home I washed them and to my horror one of them had a large chunk cut out so I couldn't make the full number of blocks. This was taken before the reds ran.


Thursday I went to Hereford with the U3A church visits group. Didn't take long to get there but the traffic in Hereford was fairly bad. The cathedral was lovely and we had a conducted tour which does make a huge difference. I managed to sneak off to Doughtys in the lunch break to get some PFD fabric for an indigo dyeing class I am taking next month and of course came out with not just PFD fabric but a pack of fat quarters and two half metres of Japanese taupes. Then I found their haberdashery shop round the corner and bought some wool to knit a waistcoat .... bread and water for the rest of the month!

It's been a while since I last posted, three months in fact!
Just been to the Food Fair in Thornbury and the carrot cake lady wasn't there, sob! I have signed up with Sainsburys Diets and have lost 3 pounds in the first week so probably just as well she wasn't there as it would have definitely sabotaged things! Does carrot cake count towards your 5 a day? Met Lorraine for a coffee instead.

This is Tigger making the most of the small amount of sunshine we had in August - oh the joys of being a cat!

This photo is rather dark but was taken in Acton Court during the Tudor Tailor talk about a Tudor gentlewoman's wardrobe. Fascinating talk and good to be back at ActonCourt which has to be the most amazing Tudor building in the country.

I have signed up for a week's quilting course in Cornwall in November. It's called Design for the terrified which fits me perfectly! It took a long time to decide to go and part of me is still not entirely convinced about it. I cannot draw to save my life and my imaginatin goes a total blank when the word design comes up. However amongst all the stuff I brought back from my parents' house is a book of Japanese designs and there are 20 different gingko leaf patterns which I would love to make a quilt with so maybe I can do something with them?