a fine Easter weekend

I am on holiday!!!! Did you have a nice Easter weekend? Ours was just fine. Nothing spectacular or spiritual but fine. I coloured six eggs, which is about as exciting as Easter got. 

The kids still enjoy an Easter egg hunt. These days, Annie hides the eggs and then encourages James and Alistair to find them all. She counted the eggs so that we could be sure none would be left behind for Jack to find and eat. He has eaten an entire large Easter egg before. Annie hid some special dog treats for him but he didn't quite get it. 

I almost lost Jack on my Saturday walk. He often veers off the paths to follow an exciting scent and he usually catches up with his people after exploring for a short while. On this particular walk, he got confused and went to look for us in the wrong direction. I was quite worried but luckily another walker had spotted him. He must have eventually heard my calls because he came flying, like one of those super fast Japanese bullet trains, paws barely touching the ground. He didn't leave my side for the rest of the walk. 

I enjoyed sitting the garden with Sam, chatting about life, university and his upcoming move down south for his year long work placement. Lots of people were enjoying time in the garden, it as lovely to hear children squeal with delight, jumping on their trampolines and playing happily or the gentle murmur of grown up conversations.

I spent Saturday afternoon sewing an unwearable skirt. The pattern is the Fiore skirt by Closet Core Patterns. I made version A and it looked rather nice but I should have tried it on before finishing because the finished measurements indicated in the pattern chart were way out and the skirt slid off my bum. The masterfully inserted invisible zip served no purpose whatsoever. I pinned the skirt in place sitting on my natural waist. Then I spent a good while on Sunday morning removing the waistband to adjust the width in the side seams. I had graded the waistband seams and it was a bit worse for wear but I had accidentally cut two so all was good. Except that I couldn't find it. I thought it might have ended up in the bin with the scraps from cutting the pieces out. The bin meanwhile had of course been taken out. Nothing wrong with a bit of dumpster diving on Easter morning I thought and I am pleased to report that I was successful in retrieving the missing item. I am glad I didn't put it in the compost bin, where I normally dispose of natural fibre fabric scraps. I took the skirt in by 10 cm. I kid you not, a whole 10 cm. It should fit now. I don't really feel like modelling the skirt, it is far too cold at the moment. One day maybe.

Richard and I went on our first social visit since New Year's Eve, in our friends back garden. Their teenage daughters meanwhile visited Annie in our garden. We can still not have indoor visits and social gatherings are limited to a total of four persons from two households. James and Alistair did their own thing, one playing football with a pal, the other watching the telly. Everybody was happy. I couldn't get the smell of fire out of my hair, even after a double shampoo. It is cold here in Glasgow and spending an afternoon with friends requires a fire, blankets and winter coats... a bit like camping really. 

The boys are quite feral, a sure sign of spring. James in particular likes to spend the afternoon in the woods and down by the river, building dens and dams. He is lucky to have one good friend who also loves to spend time outdoors and whose parents allow him to do that. Urban parents are quite risk averse. I try to keep my own worries in check (not always successfully so). I know how important it is for children to experience the outdoors and have adventures. 

On Monday morning I was a bit worried of being bored because my days are so full when I am working that I am find it difficult to imagine what I might do with all the free time. I started the day with a jog/walk along the canal and river. Then I did a spot of cleaning and finally spent some time clearing out my wardrobe. I held onto some clothes purely for sentimental reasons but I decided that someone else might get joy from finding a nice dress in the charity shop so parted with everything that I had not worn for a while. I am not sure if charity shops take handmade items because they don't have labels with care instructions and size/material information but I hope they do not just throw these items in the recycling pile. In the end, the day passed really quickly. No doubt the rest of the week will be similar.

I have my crossover vaccine trial clinic visit today. I expect to spend a couple of hours there. There are always more consent forms to read through and sign, recent medical history to discuss, a physical examination, blood tests, a Covid-19 test and plenty of waiting around before the injection then some more waiting around after. Then follows seven days of temperature checks and side effect tracking (at home). 

The kids are on their spring break, too. At least the boys are, Annie has to go to school most days, which seems a bit unfair but this is an unusual final school year for her and she is not complaining. At least she'll see friends at school. 

Anyway, must get dressed and ready for the day. Thanks for visiting!