Hearts of Gold at the White Heart

It’s 5.45 a.m., not a time I’m familiar with, and the dawn is gently peeking through the curtains. I can hear birds scratching in the eaves and very little else. It is a peaceful moment. (Imagine “Morning” from Peer Gynt playing gently in the background.)

“Boo!” shouts Ben as he crawls into my bed and puts his cold feet on my tummy. “Did I scare you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. ” he says, kissing the end of my nose, crawls out of bed, out onto the landing shouting “Grandad, Grandaaaaad…” and runs down the stairs to find him.

I am now wide awake, with cold spots on my middle and a sinking feeling because they are going home today. Dammit.

He’s taking one of my paper globes with him, “onnygarmy” is what he calls it and who am I to argue?

Last night he stayed in with Grandad while his mum and I met up with some friends at an event to raise money for a cancer charity which focuses on ovarian and other “female” cancers. The novelist, Milly Johnson, was giving a talk and we had an old fashioned, rather lady like afternoon tea, with cucumber sandwiches, (Crusts removed, dead posh) and cream scones. And tea. That’s not the full menu but you get the picture.

I’m on the right, next to Rachel and our friend Ann is on the left. Hope she doesn’t mind me showing this.

The place – the White Heart at Penistone – is lovely, we’ve been before and I would recommend it. Since Milly is a writer of predominantly romantic fiction, it was full of women. The air was thick with oestrogen and I had a certain amount of sympathy for the one and only man in the audience but, if he was uncomfortable, he’d only himself to blame.  The talk was hilarious, slightly vulgar on occasion, downright crude once or twice and very cleverly avoided being offensive. There were some of the corniest jokes I’ve ever heard and I would tell you them if I could remember them. But I can’t. As Milly said last night; “If binge drinking damages short term memory, what does binge drinking do?” I was only on tea, honest,  but it seems to have had the same effect.

I bought one of her books, one that I had bought and read before but lent to someone and now I can’t remember who, so I can’t ask for it back. It’s called “The Yorkshire Pudding Club” and, if you get the chance to read it, do, it’s hilarious. Many of Milly’s characters are very true to life, particularly in our area, which is where the books  are set and I swear I’ve met quite a few of them in real life. I think I’ve read all her books – about ten, I think, and they are all funny, poignant and heart warming. Literature? Possibly not, if literature is TS Elliott and Shakespeare , but they are a bloody good read and that works for me. I’ve already started re-reading it. I shall be going to the launch of her new one in June – already have the tickets – and I am soooooo looking forward to it.

So we had a wonderful, funny, entertaining evening, with good food and good friends – does it get better? Well, yes it does, because the event raised about £750.00 too.

I mentioned a while ago that I am making the invitations for my son’s up coming wedding and I have finally finished them. Yesterday, I started printing the inners and menus to go inside them, after several long and not quite acrimonious discussions about style and content and layout.  So the printer completed the first ten and then collapsed in a heap, sobbed miserably , then gave up the ghost completely. We haven’t had it long, 14 months, in fact. The warranty was for 12. Our house is where printers go to die. Three years ago, we bought a new printer and, for my crafting needs, we bought a mid- range one, rather than a  cheap and cheerful one. As a precaution, we took out a three year extended warranty, guaranteeing a replacement if it went wrong, which it did, less than a year later; as did its replacement and the replacement for that one too. The one that died yesterday was the fourth or fifth in three years, I’ve lost track.

So we bought a new one. It’s a Hewlett Packard and has 5 months Instant Ink as part of the deal. Or does it? Well no, because there is supposed to be an enrolment key with it, which there isn’t, but the retailer can’t just give us one and HP support don’t work  at weekends. Shoot me now. Please.  (The printer set up was dead easy; the WiFi connected like a dream and it prints just fine. Should have known something had to go wrong but hope does spring eternal, in spite of experience.)

I can only hope that the Diva Challenge is a goody, so I can work off my frustrations on that.

LATER:

And here it is.

Here we are, the first Monday of the month so that means Use My Tangle (UMT) where we try our hand at one of tangles that you’ve created. 

This month’s tangle is called FASSETT and was created by Lynn Mead.  The step outs can be found here. Oh my gosh. I *LOVE* this tangle.  It’s so fun, and so beautiful – and it’s one of those tangles that looks complicated but is actually quite simple. 

Nzeppel, Sandswirl, Jessicup and, of course, Fassett.

It’s not a pattern I would have chosen because it requires me to draw neat triangles inside and next to other neat triangles but I been an gone an done it an this is it.

 

 

 

 

It would appear that I am fixated on circles at present – three out of the last four Challenge pieces are based on them.  I don’t know why this is, but I will try to be a bit different next time. Until then, world, be good -ish.

A Celtic Cross with inexpertly drawn emeralds.