To The Manor Born....

I have just returned from a lovely day at "Downton Abbey" aka Highclere Castle, near Newbury. The sun shone, we got there easily, The Husband entered into the spirit of things, The Son was being looked after by Grandma, The Dog had been parked in the shade. In a word.....bliss. If I'd thought about it, I should have taken some needlework, then I could have squatted a bench in the glorious grounds, and pretended I was one of the Ladies, while soaking up the atmosphere. As it was, I was so giddy about A Grown Up Day Out, that all I managed was a silly grin on my face!
As for other excitement this weekend, Friday evening saw me babysitting for a lovely local family. They have a cat. Whilst I'm not particularly a cat person, Tom is friendly enough, and so far there have been no problems. He even came and "helped" me quilt. I've seen other cat's on other blogs being photographed doing this, and had always thought the photos may have been staged, but no, Tom was more than happy to help.....

And then the fun began. There I sat, quilting quietly, minding my own business, as all good babysitters should. The cat came in. He left. He came in again. Then I noticed he was looking a little too intently at the rug which had also been sitting there all evening, minding it's own business. Curiosity got the better of me, and I too, had to have a look. And there looking back at me, was a present. Of the furry, four-legged, squeaking variety. I leapt up onto the sofa, and told the cat to stop messing around and finish his hunter duties. That was when I discovered that cats are not the most obedient of creatures. Now, you should know....I DON'T DO MICE..... But nor do I do standing on someone's sofa, indefinitely, waiting for the people of the house to return. Screwing up every last ounce of courage, I leapt from the sofa, and went in search of something to trap the Rather-Too-Lively-For-My-Liking mouse in. This, after more screwing up of courage, is what I came up with.....

And yes, before you ask, the mouse was safely contained under the saucepan, which in turn was kept FIRMLY in place, by a solid oak, upturned bar stool, weighted down by as many large books as I could squeeze in under the bars. One can never be certain that said mouse hadn't been to the gym recently. To top it all (and to finish me off completely) while I was dealing with the mouse, I was charged at, from another direction, by the mother of all spiders. Suffice to say, that I'm considering adding a Danger Money Clause to future babysitting evenings!
Finally....I've FINALLY managed to master this handy little gadget....

For the uninitiated, it's called an Aunt Becky, and my finger tips LOVE it!! Now when I quilt, it (and not my poor fingertips) takes the brunt of the needle coming through to the underside of the quilt, and helps me to "rock" the needle back to the right side of the quilt. It has made my stitches even smaller and more uniform in length, which is what it said it would do on the box! Yay!
I shall love you and leave you now, with a last backwards glance at a truly lovely day.....

xx