Horrid weather

Rain, rain and wind. Lots of wind. In fact my only foray outside today has been to fix a panel on my greenhouse. The wind seems to have turned southerly, which will hopefully put an end to panels popping out. Most of them are glued in, apart from the end ones. Johnny has headed into school to do some statistical stuff, so I'm hoping nothing blows apart while he is out. It is blowing so hard. I do feel snug inside, and so do my darling companions, Miss Dog and Mr Ginger Jasper. Poor Miss Dog has an ear infection again. She hates having it attended to, and as soon as she hears me getting the baby wipes out, or medicine ready, she tries to skulk away. Fortunately she is extremely compliant and cannot resist co-operating once I've called her firmly. Her right ear is hairy inside, which causes it to trap gunk and get infections every now and then. I clean out the yucky stuff (very satisfying) and apply antibiotic drops. She has already stopped shaking her head and scratching so much.

It was supposed to be a lovely horsey day today, but I'm sure Sam will prefer to be left in his paddock with his best mate, wearing his nice warm "dressing gown" and munching hay. I was also going to visit Ben to give him a good grooming, and hopefully Zanny would be delivered home today, and I was planning to have a good girly chat to her about how to attract her handsome suitor, so that she can get down to business and come home again soon. She is travelling to the West Coast to meet her husband. He is the father of Lucy and Frazer. I'm hoping to be able to have regular rides once she returns, until her tummy gets too round.

Exciting news on the book front. I love my books so much, and yesterday got two new ones. I've been waiting for Cath Kidston's Patch from the Book Depository for a wee while. Much cheaper to import it than buy it here. I also found Jamie's new book Jamie's Great Britain and I couldn't resist, when it was on special. It is awesome. I love reading his recipe books because they are very interesting and conversational in style. I've got almost all of his books, although I haven't seen Jamie's Italy since moving here, and I can't think what happened to it. Did I lend it to someone?

Oooh, I think my crocheted turtle is lifting his leg to wee on Jamie! Oops!

Today I have been working hard on a top-secret Christmas present. When I got bored with that I chopped out some squares from the off-cuts of my blue quilt-as-you-go quilt. I have an idea how to join them, although all of the seams will need to be covered. On the blue quilt I used wide rik-rak, but these squares are much smaller, so I am going to have to have a think about it.

The Crafty Neighbour has just called and says she is putting the jug on for a cup of tea. Hope I don't get too wet running over. XXX