The view outside

This is a small part of the view over (and of!) our back fence looking north I think, or perhaps slightly north-east. The grass isn't quite that green now as it's browning off for winter, I took this pic when we first viewed the house in early March. But the trees are still there, and we never tire of just looking at the trees and the birds. This morning I saw a couple of King Parrots in the trees slightly to the left of this view, those trees are fairly close to our fence and are a popular resting place for a variety of birds. The parrots were chattering away while I was hanging out the washing - then off they flew, to the trees in the distance. I have the door onto the outdoor patio open at present and the birds almost sound as though they are in the room with me.

And you can all stop panicking, My Lovely New Bernina has been found and is set up for sewing. But the tin containing the different feet is obviously at the bottom of a large box, because it hasn't surfaced yet. Foot no. 1 is wider than a quarter inch so I have stuck a strip of tape on the machine bed to make a seam guide, because.......I have started to sew! I have started on a table runner from some very pretty fabric that I won in Tammy's giveaway earlier this year and cut out before we moved. The ' Woven Squares Table Runner' pattern is from "Fat Quarter Frenzy" by Susan Purney-Mark and Daphne Grieg, fabric colours are creamy white with pink, red and brown - I'm hoping it will look very flash on the new table that we ordered a few days ago.

At this stage I don't think I can unpack any more boxes marked "sewing rm misc" or "sewing rm materials", because I need a couple of cupboards moved into what is to be my other sewing room - the smaller room is good for sewing because it has a large window and is bright, but it is too small for storage as well. So cupboards, shelf units and a desk will go into the fourth bedroom (because I doubt that we will ever need all those bedrooms) which also means that the smaller room will not be too cluttered. Mess is the enemy of creativity, I have decided - one takes a look at the untidyness, and making sense of it all becomes too much, so one just walks away without having sewn a stitch or knitted a row. So this move is giving me a chance to organise my creative space for the better, I hope.

Speaking of knitting, the cardy that I made twice is sewn up and being worn, it is slightly loose around the shoulders but that means more room for layers underneath. Unfortunately the remade sleeves are a bit too long and I am blowed if I am going to unpick it yet again, so I have turned them back to form cuffs. It is quite warm because of the wide sailor collar adding another layer over my shoulders and back, even if the width of the collar makes me look as though I am rather enormous. But you know, it's so warm that I don't care.

All this unpacking and putting away has made my wrist a wee bit sore so I have gone back to doing the exercises prescribed by the physio after the plaster was removed late last year. I've only been doing them for a couple of days and can already notice the difference. I have also started wearing a wrist brace when I am moving and unpacking boxes - I'm trying not to lift anything too heavy and it's usually possible to slide boxes instead of lifting them. After the plaster came off I had to wear the brace for a while for support, and while the physio said it's best not to use it for too long - it is certainly helping at present. And it's a temporary thing, because once the boxes have been unpacked and removed I won't need it.

Once again I apologise, but the etiquette book still hasn't been unpacked, because not all the bookshelves are in their final positions. So talk nicely to each other, and be kind to the people you meet, and just pretend those wise words came from the etiquette book instead of my head.

Now I am going to sew another stitch or two......I am enjoying it very much!

Jennifer