Pretty in pink

 It's been another tired sort of weekend here, and I'm sure I didn't get done any of the things I'd hoped to. 

Yesterday we went to the library and the bakery, as we often do on a Saturday. I bought a biscuit press from the charity shop next door to the bakery. It was £2 and I predict us getting a lot of use from it! It's a very quick and easy way of making many, many tiny biscuits and there are so many variations we could do. I will probably bake some more tonight ready for lunch boxes in the week. 

I didn't really know what I was after from the library this week, but I took out a book about botanical illustration, should I ever get the chance to give it a go, har har, and this really pretty book about decorating with pastels. It has a lot of pretty creative ideas and has made me want to get back to organising and decorating my home. It makes such a difference to your happiness having pleasant surroundings. 

We went for a long and very rainy walk this morning, and consequently lit our first fire of the year. It's not really cold enough, but our coats were soaked through and it seems the most practical and cost effective way of drying them. I got a crochet pan handle from the kitchen, but thought we'd be better off with a quilted one (which I then demonstrated by burning both of my thumbs while using the crochet one) and made this pretty pan handle, or trivet using a few scraps. I sorely regret giving away nearly a full bin bag of scrap fabric when we moved into this house. I guess it seemed the only practical thing to do at the time. I try to be more careful about what I let in and what I send out now. 

I started it by hand, but due to my sore thumbs finished it on the machine. It was nice to do a bit of hand sewing and made a change from knitting. 

Speaking of hand sewing, I did get around to nipping out a bit of the elastic from the skirt given to me by my friend, and that was the only alteration I needed to do. It'll be a lovely warm skirt for winter, and is just my taste.