on a cold March Monday morning

The house is filled with the scent of hyacinths. Richard planted six bulbs we received for Christmas, they are now competing for most beautiful hyacinth in the house. For those of us with an acute sense of smell (me), it is at times overbearing but I think my odour receptors are slowly being habituated to this scent. 

On a similar theme, I planted up six pre-chilled forcing pips of Lilly-of-the-Valley in pots, to be grown indoors. These should flower in the first year and can then be transplanted into the garden. I have over the years planted many, many pips of Lilly-of-the-Valley but they never came up. Too much squirrel activity I think. I am hopeful for this latest attempt but even if they don't establish outside, I will have had the pleasure of having a crop inside for one spring. 

The weather has been lovely, mostly at least and being outside is a pleasure. It is rather cold and warm layers are still a must. I can feel my mood improving although of course the men in the house disagree. I went for a walk with my good friend Jo and we both agreed that meeting up with girlfriends is way better for our mental wellbeing than the daily tedium we suffer with teenage boys. Just like me, she also shares the house with three boys/men. 

I spent a pleasant couple of hours sorting through my sewing patterns, putting those doubt I'll make again in the recycling. These are print outs of pdf patterns, not the traditional patterns in neat A5 sized pattern sleeves. I still have the pattern files and can print them out again if I change my mind. One advantage of pdf patterns is that they take up no space at all in a drawer. I did the same with traced patterns that are more than 5 years old for which I had to make changes. My body shape has changed quite a bit over that time and I'd have to make different adjustments now. Then I sorted through my two haberdashery boxes (aka random bits and bobs accumulated over many years). The boxes have compartments in them for easy tidying. I know now that I have countless short lengths of elastic of various widths, hopefully useful for something eventually. Also an unusually large number of very short zips. I may have had plans to make small boxy pouches for everyone one year...

After spending some time last weekend cutting fabric for a jacket and a blouse, I made a point of sewing for 30 minutes every day. I am pleased to report that this has also helped my mood and I now have a finished jacket, which I will model and photograph soon. It is surprising how quickly a garment comes together like that. 

On Sunday evening, we had our annual cheese fondue dinner. Being Swiss, I think this is an essential meal to have at least once a year. We buy ours at Waitrose, it is good. I think sometimes you can buy it at Lidl and of course you can get your own cheese mix from any cheesemonger. Just when it was ready to go on the thingamajig that keeps the cheese liquid, we realised that we had no spirit left for the burner container. I don't know what it is called but I can tell you here that a table spoon of pre-warmed Glengoyne whiskey poured into the burner and set alight with a match works a treat. A tea light candle on the other hand doesn't. I can also report that I experienced cheese dreams of varying of ludicrousness. I love cheese but cheese doesn't love me. 

Thank you for your encouraging comments on me becoming a mentor. I am pleased to say that I have been accepted on the programme. My training starts this week and and the application for PVG is being processed I hope. PVG for those of you not living in Scotland is a scheme that ensures people are safe to work with Protected Vulnerable Groups, including children. I am quite excited about this new challenge. 

I have an appointment for a sebaceous cyst removal today. Fingers crossed my GP doesn't get cold feet (he is worried about the size and him being out of practice). Wish me luck!

Thanks for visiting 😊