A slow weekend

I feel like I'm coming down with something; I'm achy and generally sluggish. This weekend has been quite low-key, especially in comparison with last weekend.

Last Sunday Alan, a group of friends and I went to the Great British Cheese Festival. Alan and I cycled the 12 kilometres to the farm where the festival was held. Luckily it was a lovely day and we had such a good time drinking cider and spiced hot apple juice, cheese tossing, buying herbs, sampling liquers and, of course, filling our stomachs with lots and lots of cheese. Alan and I bought so much cheese between us, we couldn't fit it all into the fridge! It was a wonderful autumn day. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so no cheesy pictures, I'm afraid!

The week went by very quickly. I've started a twice-weekly exercise regime with three male friends, and we're all feeling a little better about ourselves. Two more weeks to half-term, and I'm still enjoying myself at school.

I've also gone back to quilting with a vengeance. My first ever quilted cushion cover is now almost finished. This is what it looked like yesterday:


I worked very hard on it yesterday, and it's now almost done. I'm quite proud of it; I made it without experience, sewing machine, design, tools, or even thinking ahead in the slightest. You can see it's not perfect:


But it's still not at all bad for a complete beginner! I've already got my next project lined up - I'm so excited about this quilting business at the moment! I bought some new fabrics yesterday:


My next quilt is going to be a black-and-white affair in a diamond pattern. Hopefully that will be more agreeable to Alan (who thinks the cushion is a wee bit girly). I also picked up this lovely and helpful book (it has patterns and cut-outs) in the sale:


The quilt on the cover really appeals to me, as I love autumn and trees and leaves. I just need to find the right sort of fabric. The book is full of lovely ideas:


I suppose if I want to get serious about quilting I'd better start putting some effort into organising myself and not do it in this off-the-cuff manner...

I'll put up some pictures of the quilted cushion cover as soon as it's done - I want to show it off!

Meanwhile, a random picture of our kitchen:


I like that poster of the Greek votive offerings I bought in Greece this summer, and the view is lovely too. As long as I can see trees, I'm happy.

The previous inhabitants of our flat were apparently not the cleanest, and when we moved in the shelves of our kitchen cupboard were all sticky. Alan didn't mind too much, but I thought it was pretty disgusting. So I went out and got some shelf-paper, with very cheerful results:


It makes me happy every time I open up the cupboard!