One hot day

Good weekend, even though AGAIN no sewing. Well, a little sewing today but it was disastrous - perhaps I'm just not in the zone at the moment. It happens, although mercifully, not often. The less you think about it the better, otherwise it may become "sewer's block" or something. I was only trying to make a simple book cover for a friend's birthday, but it was all wonky and looked like a 7-year old had made it. Oh how nice it would be to have a little stash of ready-made, panic-free presents that I could peruse when a birthday arises. But no, it's always last minute with me I'm afraid.

Anyhow, the cleaning frenzy continued but this time it was outside. As the sun actually shone yesterday, husband and I decided to have a day 'on the estate' (ha ha), i.e. cutting the grass and generally tidying up the outside of the house. I managed to tidy up the drive, varnish the front door (front and back of it) and varnish the back of the back door. Then, I cut the grass and got to grips with the rockery and pulled out everything that looked dead i.e., most of it. Meanwhile, husband managed to spend his entire time strimming one little patch of grass. Delicate and hard work, apparently. Granted, the grass was knee-high, but I couldn't help thinking I could have done it in half the time.

Today I had mother-in-law and her sister over for Sunday lunch, plus brother-in-law. The roast Pork was super, but the pavlova I attempted for the pud wasn't cooked. How long are you supposed to cook a meringue for? Every book I read says something different. Anyhow, I just shoved the cream and strawberries on it all the same. No-one was rude enough to point out it was raw in the middle, thank goodness. Let's hope we don't all go down with food poisoning ...

Oh dear. I wish I could think of something I could make in an evening for my friend. I have set myself the goal of making all my own presents this year (I mean for other people) and so far I've done pretty well. Arggghhh. Most annoying if this one breaks my run. Thinking cap time. Hmmmm.