And now for the construction....

Well, what have I been up to this week.   Apart from a busy time at work I have had been
Reading.  

The chain reaction of seemingly random events might seem an unlikely basis for a book but I found this one to be so engaging I read it twice!   On the second reading I puncutated the pages with orange Post-It stickers of all the quotes I wanted to note down.   Charlotte's mugging is the start of the chain of events, and I found some of the comments about her relationship with her daughter and her frustration at the limitations of old age to be very close to home.   Besides which, Charlotte is an avid reader (woman after my own heart) and talks of her house having 'walls lined with language' -  I'd love a house like that.  Currently I have only two walls that could be described in such a manner!   Surely the author must have first hand experience to write from the daughters perspective "She felt these painful twinges of compunction where her mother was concerned.   Not just on account of the hip, but the whole business of age, of what has happened to her, what happens, the way in which a person is pushed into another incarnation, becomes a different version of themselves.   Her old mother was still herself but she was diminished in some way, had lost emphasis, was not the figure of Rose's childhood and youth and Rose felt in some irrational way, guilty."  
But enough about reading.  Next was
Cooking.

30th March is Red Dog Puppy Day and as part of the fund raising for these guide dog puppies, biscuit cutters have been made.   I attempted some dog biscuits using mine. 

They taste good but look a little insipid and I realise how much I lack in cake decorating skills!   Perhaps next time I will try and make a proper red coat or at least some chocolate chips in the mixture to give more colour.
And I did some stitching.

The Japanese Etui stitching is complete and now I need to begin the construction.  Tonight while watching Midsomer Murders I will do the back stitching and plan to cut the card shapes tomorrow.  And now looking at the photo I see I need stamens on the cherry blossoms.   Oh dear.   The designer was obviously intending a Japanese Maiko (trainee geisha) hence the bouffant hair style

but this is a very poor chart -  the photo showed a cherry blossom in the hair but it was not charted and the codes for the colours require a high degree of detective skills and much reverse stitching in order to get the correct combination.  I do not recommend this chart and just hope that the finished product looks satisfying as well as satisfactory.
Hope you all have a good evening.   Tonight's menu is homemade pizza so I am required in the kitchen.  Good bye for now.