In my last post, I mentioned looking forward to a quilting class. Well, I went along and spent a day doing Log Cabin quilt blocks. I love log cabins - they are one of my favourites. Doing the class was great - as usual, a lovely bunch of fellow students and a wonderful tutor in Judy Mendelssohn. Judy is the Associate Editor of Patchwork and Quilting Magazine and is an internationally known teacher, tutor and speaker on quilting, so we were very lucky to have her. She's also about to lead a trip over to Paducah, Kentucky which for quilters is a sort of Mecca. I took in a variety of fabrics and ended up using a Moda Scrap Bag - the Eden range of fabrics. This is a selection of zingy prints in lilac, pink, white, apple green and yellow, with modern florals, birds and abstract prints. As most of the colours were in similar tones, I abandoned the usual convention of shading the blocks from light to dark, and having a red centre square. Instead I used a bright yellow that Paula gave me as the central square and a random build up of logs. I finished the blocks today and ended up with six blocks made with 2.5" strips and one made for some reason with 2" strips. I already had in my stash a plain cotton in a sort of crushed raspberry colour and had picked up a small cheap cushion in Ikea last week (70p!!! Rude not to.) used the smaller block as the base of a cushion cover, making edging and back in the plain cotton. Some pics attached of the finished cushion and the laid out blocks.

Update - I laid out the pressed blocks and the completed cushion on our bed for photographing, then brought the camera into the study for uploading on to the computer and writing my blog. Shortly after, rioting noises were heard and I found Andy lying ON the quilt blocks trying to EAT the cushion. We had words. Fortunately, no permanent harm has been done to blocks, cushion or greyhound.

Then we had the pleasure of a visit by my auntie Hilary. She came up on the Thursday and went home on Saturday. One of the objects of her visit was a trip to Ikea - after doing some major remodelling of her kitchen and adding a conservatory she is in need of some stuff. We had a lovely day there and we also managed to find time to squeeze in a trip to Inkspot our favourite craft shop. I made some muffins on Friday morning for breakfast before our trip to the Swedish wonderland (cranberry), and dropped some round to Paula en route. However, I forgot to put the tray of the remaining uneaten muffins back on the windowsill and when we came home we found a large pile of crumbs and a few small scraps of the paper cases.

Saturday I was doing an extra all day shift in the library so Andrew dropped me off before taking Hil to the station. Sunday morning, Andrew was in one of his regular 10K races - the Atlantic College one, held in the rolling countryside round the beautiful coastline of the Vale of Glamorgan. The weather was gorgeous too - spring is definately in the air. Lots of sunshine, not much wind, perfect for the race. Andrew did a good time, on checking it seems it was 1 second faster than his time on the course last year. Some pics attached. Then back home for some lunch and I went back out to work.

Monday came the call I've been dreading - it was Paula to say that after I'd seen her on Friday her condition had deteriorated over the weekend and for the first time she was in quite a bit of pain. Her lovely Marie Curie nurse arranged for her to be admitted straight away to Holme Towers, our local hospice. Fortunately, they have managed to get her pain management sorted out almost straight away and are making sure she's getting plenty of fluids. We've arranged for me to go and see her tomorrow and we'll take it from there. I doubt if she will be coming back out; some patients do find a quick stay in the hospice very helpful for stabilising their condition or getting their pain management sorted before returning home, but I don't think this will be likely for Paula. I feel a whole series of very mixed emotions - but primarily I'm pleased that she is being well taken care of, by experts, who really understand her needs. Everything else is secondary.

After one of the longest and coldest winters I can ever remember, spring seems to be getting going at last. We now have crocuses in the garden, plus a few daffs. Yesterday, we came home after running a few errands and doing a big shop at Tesco, to find the pond literally swarming with frogs, all getting busy with appropriate springtime activities. Almost overnight, huge clumps of frog spawn have appeared, again much, much later than usual. When Andrew went out the garden late tonight with the dogs, he could hear the frogs croaking and Booty found one on the patio - fortunately the dogs just sniff them and are not specially interested.

Today has been one of those beautiful spring days that just make you want to be outside. Andrew was running in the Atlantic College 10K race, one he has done before. Atlantic College is a 6th form boarding college set in the grounds of St. Donats Castle on the coast of the Vale of Glamorgan. I attach a picture taken from the grounds, looking out over the sea, you can see North Somerset quite clearly. The views and location are quite stunning, and the school is also the site of a small arts centre, that holds concerts, exhibitions and other performances. For the race, we parked in the school sports field, then strolled a short way through the grounds to the start area near the castle. It's a relatively small race, probably about 300 competitors, with lots of club runners, so times are fast, and the field spreads out. Unusually these days, it is not a chip timed race, but recorded manually as runners cross the finish line. While Andrew was racing I sat in the garden, on a lovely stone bench, reading the paper and soaking up the sun. Then I returned to the finish area, to watch him come in in about 48 minutes, a respectable finishing time after an undulating course. He picked up his souvenir T shirt and water, then we strolled happily back to the car, during which time I took the pic you can see of the view over the Channel. A very enjoyable Sunday morning.

After a relaxed afternoon, we had some spatchcocked roast chicken while watching a couple of programmes about the formation of the solar system. Very interesting with some beautiful photography, including shots of the Aurora Borealis; one of my ambitions is to see these (along with going to Dollywood).