this and that on a Sunday evening

There is this daft pigeon in my garden, I am surprised it has not been killed by a cat or fox yet, or come to think of it by the carnivorous squirrel that roams the neighbourhood. I refilled the bird feeders the other day and it came so close that I couldn't fit it into the photo! I thought it's red feet were rather interesting. Jack takes no interest whatsoever in the pigeons that visit the garden to pickup the seeds other birds dropped. Squirrels on the other hand drive him bananas. I might be something to do with our resident squirrel stealing his bones when he doesn't pay attention. This very same squirrel had a plentiful winter in between scavenging for bones, devouring my tulip bulbs and stealing bird food from the feeders. I like it all the same, it is a feisty one. Yes, it does hold a beef rib between its paws on the photo above.

This weekend passed rather too quickly if you ask me. I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow but then I never am until I am actually at my desk, gently bouncing on my ball that doubles for a chair and working through the emails that have accumulated. 

I tidied a bit, flooded the utility room when draining the washing machine to clean the blocked drain, knitted to distract me from the fact that this flooding shut down the washing machine completely due to so some ingenious mechanism that senses water near its electric innards... and finally I tried to make a start on Sammy's moving out quilt but didn't feel enthused by fabric or pattern. This was my Saturday. I hope yours was more productive. 

Richard and I went to a 50th Birthday party on Saturday evening. It was good to catch up with friends, old and not so old. Now that our older children are growing up, old friendships formed while waiting for kids at the school gates and watching them play in the park are somewhat neglected. I sometimes miss the opportunities to chat with other parents, make summer friends on the playground and other local community venues but if I am perfectly honest with myself, by the the time James and Alistair were at school, I had somewhat run out of steam and never made a great effort forming new friendships with their peers parents. 

At the party, there was a lot of Brexit talk. There is a lot of Brexit talk everywhere with the ominous deadline looming. I feel somewhat reassured that I will at least retain freedom of movement and that my children have this privilege, too. I doubt we'll be leaving anytime soon, our roots are here, but it is good to have the option to relocate should we wish to do so. 

Today, I thought I might inspect the garden and tidy up a bit but I couldn't muster the energy. I did however remove the chicken wire from two of the large planters where we had planted tulip bulbs. The tulips are growing fast and were poking through the wire mesh. The one planter without chicken wire has no bulbs left. As you can see, the resident squirrel is well-fed. 

I cut fabric for a few more ice cream soda blocks. I think the colour balance is not quite right, there is a distinct lack of shades of red. I invested the last of my pocket money in four different red fat quarters. Maybe next weekend, I can address the colour balance at last. I now have 26 blocks, they are looking pretty on my "design wall". I use blue tack to stick them on the wall. I have photographed each and I am looking forward to plan the layout without punishing my poor old knees. 

I listened to almost a whole week of Women's Hour programmes, always enlightening, thought provoking and entertaining. I think it is my current favourite radio programme. Do you listen to it? 

There you are, a not very memorable weekend. I am glad to report that Richard has fixed the washing machine and the laundry is done. Time to sit back and relax (some more). Thanks for stopping by xx