Confession time. I'm scared of zips. Not in the sense of refusing to have them in the house or wear a jacket with them, but in the sense of not having previously sewn with them and finding the idea of them quite daunting. Anyway, as you've noticed, I've been going through this bag phase recently and in my perambulations around the internet came across several tutorials that promised (faithfully, hand on heart) to take the pain out of zips and make inserting them a breeze. Well, I girded my loins and went to Hobbycraft and bought two small zips. I decided to make some little zippered bags - the sort of thing that might be suitable for makeup or loose change. My thinking (bold, this, I know) was that if it worked, then these might make very attractive Christmas or birthday presents, especially if coupled with say, a tote and a tissue holder in co-ordinating fabrics.

The first one worked, and the instructions were simple to follow, and I was very pleased in one sense. But the zip insertion was wonky and the whole thing didn't look terribly impressive. Another tutorial mentioned having fabric covered zip ends which seemed to look a lot smarter so I went for it. I used some of my Amy Butler fabric with a plain blue lining and a blue zip. The instructions were quite simple and painless to follow and I ended up with a zippered purse. It's not going to win any prizes at the Annual Zippered Purse Show but I'm very pleased with it. Moreover, I've conquered my fear of zips and I think the next stage will simply be to practice a lot, to improve how I do it. I should also mention that the Amy Butler fabric was a dream to work with - a nice weight, didn't fray as soon as you look at it, ironed well, very easy to handle. Fellow sewers/quilters will know how much fabrics can vary, and what a huge difference a good quality fabric can make. I'm going to be really brave and give this little purse to my friend Penny tomorrow, along with the tote bag I made that you can see in the pics above. Again, the lovely AB fabric with the gorgeous lining in the tote. Penny loves shopping at farmers' markets and does a lot of travelling with her work so I can see this being really useful for her.

Tomorrow is the Llandovery Pony Club Show and Penny is judging the Working Hunter Pony Class. I'll be stewarding for her, so it should be a really enjoyable day. We were supposed to be having a heatwave this weekend - today it's been raining most of the day, windy and cold. Earlier in the week, I was so fed up with the weather, (cold and wet) I ordered a new cardigan from Lands End - not for the winter, but for wearing now! In the best British traditions tomorrow, I'm still quite unclear what to wear. My thinking at the moment is to go for cropped jeans, my comfortable dog walking shoes (good grip too when dashing around on grass), a short sleeved cotton top plus cardigan plus fleece in car as back up. Sunglasses too, if it goes the other way. And I'll probably take a spare pair of jeans, socks and top in case it pours down all day and I need to change into something dry before coming home. I've got to be down at Penny's farm by 8.30 and we'll travel together from there so it will be an early start - probably leave here about 7.10. Andrew will be staying home with the woofs. He's been busy in the kitchen preparing a delicious marinade for some pork that he is going to casserole tomorrow - his thinking being that this can sit quite happily for hours in the oven so no worries about rushing home or burning dinner if he waits.

More news about Boola, our blonde bombshell. Now that he's enjoying coming upstairs, he's really getting into it. Last night, a further breakthrough came when he decided to hop on the bed and spent the night on it with me. Andrew is still in the bunk bed as he is finding it easier to make a nest with pillows for his arm. I woke a couple of times in the night to give Boola a stroke and he seemed very happy. In fact, as I write, he's lying behind me, snoozing gently on his duvet.