November ...ing

November, November. Stormy, dark and exhausting, also cosy.

:: Travelling to London, not once but twice. The first trip was for fun, the second trip for work. You can read about the fun trip in a previous post. The most memorable part of my work trip to London was the Caledonian Sleeper. Going down, great. Coming back, no water in cabin. I slept well both ways, which was good. Overall a good experience but don't be fooled by the luxurious advertising material, the sleeper at the end of the day is a train, not a penthouse suite. The meeting I attended was really good and absolutely worth the trip.

:: Listening to several mostly mediocre audio books. I listened to the Ferryman by Justin Cronin, which I found fairly awful. The plot is thin and the characters one dimensional and unlikeable. The book needed a more ruthless editor. I started a new crime series, set on the Isle of Skye written by J.M. Dalgliesh. The first instalment is A long time dead, the second one The dead man of Storr. Both perfectly ok but I am not planning on reading the next instalment. I didn't like any of the people in the book. I also listened to There is something I have to tell you by Michelle McDonagh, which was fabulous, with characters that felt like real people with well developed and complex personalities. 

:: Working flat out. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, in about two weeks, things will start to slow down.  For a while.

:: Stitching the final few half blocks for my Ice Cream Soda quilt. I'll have to join the blocks at some point. 

:: Mending older quilts. Our quilts get a lot of use and some of the lighter weight fabrics wear through quickly. It is tempting to use all kinds of scraps because they are pretty, despite being light cotton lawns or similar.

:: Sorting through old construction sets James and Alistair received over the years. I checked the parts and those kits that were still complete, are off to charity to bring joy to another child. 

:: Cheering on James from a distance. He travelled to Liverpool with his running club for a big cross country race. He did well, much better than last year. Unfortunately, he and all his stuff were caked in mud... so much washing! I haven't opened the bag with his spikes yet and I am not looking forward to it. 

:: Lamenting the stormy wet days but then enjoying the first frost. 

:: Seeking out the last splashes of colour all around. 

:: Sitting in the lab freezing (it is large and impossible to heat properly), and waiting for students to arrive for a week of training. 

Thanks for visiting. I have been a bit quiet recently when visiting your blogs. Reading but not commenting. I am there though, enjoying your posts 😊