A little more applique and another sign of Spring

The weather changed today - and not for the better. The gorgeous mild sunshine we've had so far this holiday week was replaced with that revolting combination of wind and rain. Either of them on their own I can cope with - the two together are just not funny!

So it was a case of holing up indoors and keeping occupied as best we could. Sarah is working her way through a mountain of GCSE coursework. The size of the mountain may well bear direct correlation to the amount of time she's left certain pieces and their impending deadlines straight after the holidays - only she can work through that one. Hopefully it will teach her a lesson about pacing herself.

Lou got the paints out - she loves to play with watercolours - and kept herself fully occupied. Out of my three she has always been the one who could find something to do without the usual 'I'm bored' that I get from the other two

Nick was walking round like a bear with a chewed ear! Mainly because all his friends who live nearby were otherwise engaged today. Eventually I managed to find something he fancied having a go at...................

I know this will be difficult to believe but he wanted to try doing some ironing. Yes you heard that right.

Now there may well have been an ulterior motive for this - mainly because ironing in our house is a lucrative occupation. For some time it has been Sarah's way of earning extra pocket money. Well at a fiver a basket it's good value and to our way of thinking we would probably only end up funding the extra credit on her mobile phone anyway so we might as well get something productive for it, plus she gets to learn the value of money too.

Of course now she has a part-time job netting her a good £60 or £70 per month, a basket of ironing for £5 isn't quite as attractive or as essential to keep the cash flow going. So it does seem to pile up a bit more than it used to.

So the mantle may well fall to her younger brother and sister eventually.

I had already ironed about half the basket this morning and then took a little time out to show Nick some simple things like pillowcases, handkerchiefs and school polo shirts.

I've probably mentioned before that of my three he is undoubtably the most clumsy particularly with his hands on the fine motor skills. He's excellent at sport, has good ball handling skills, but give him drawing or anything craft wise to do he's at a complete loss - I've never seen anyone so cack-handed.

However much to my surprise he gave it a pretty good shot (maybe it was down to the teacher) and polished off quite a few items before he singed a fingertip and decided he'd had enough.

When I told his dad on the phone he was amazed that he hadn't done it the moment he picked up the iron - maybe we give him insufficient credit.

So he's earned a pound or two to add to his slush fund and it kept him quiet for a good half hour or more. We will definitely build on this at a later date.

While he was ironing I managed a bit more applique and here is another block I've completed. I just keep making them at random as the fancy takes me picking up different design ideas as I go along with no particular finished item in mind except I'd like it to be a soft pastel version of the sort of Robert Callaham quilt you used to and still do see the patterns for in McCalls Quilting

I shall do some HST's, stars, pinwheels, geese and checkerboard effect pieces to infil between them as I go along.

And finally the mini daffs are just starting to come out in the pots in my garden - I managed to snap this one in one of the few sunny spots between the squally showers today