Rosy Red

Let me tell you a story about kitsets that come from hardware shops, with promises from the sales person that it's a ''piece of cake'' to put together!! This is Rosy, our brand new wheelbarrow. She looks pretty smart, don't you think?

I had given in to the child's constant ''suggestion'' that we really needed a wheelbarrow, so we duly purchased one, with, I assumed,a complete set of idiot- proof instructions. She arrived at Maitland Street at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, in several pieces, as the word kitset would suggest. And yes, there were instructions - one little sheet with words and diagrams so small that a magnifying glass was required. But, what intrigued me the most was the clever use of space on that one little sheet - the way the manufacturers had managed to squeeze as many steps as possible into one diagram, so that realisitically you needed an engineering degree to actually figure out how the diagram worked, before even beginning to put the wheelbarrow together. You would not believe how many times we put nuts and bolts in place, to then have to remove them and try them from a different angle - and what in heavens name is a ''spring washer'' and where does that go!!! Emotions on the day ranged from utter frustration to hysterical giggling. There were a few choice words muttered on occasion, and at one stage I clearly recall telling my child that I would never ever listen to his ''suggestions'' again!!! (Actually, I think I may have told him that more than once!) At 4.00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, mission accomplished - two and a half hours to put 12 nuts and bolts, and let's not forget the spring washers, in place so that the wheelbarrow functioned the right way up, with handles pointing in the right direction and a wheel that did not sway from side to side! Give me a sewing machine and patchwork pattern any day! So, Rosy has been christened and the ''fun'' we had putting her together will be a memory I shall cherish, lovingly retold to Jake the next time he tries to tell me we need something from a hardward shop that has to be assembled!!!

Turns out that red is a bit of a theme with this post. I've been playing with a little bit of cross stitch - this is a gorgeous little house design by Viginie Gousse - http://cmonmonde.over-blog.com/. Now I am just looking for the perfect little frame for it - maybe I might paint one.

And this is something I stitched on the gorgeous French General heavy weight cotton/linen fabric that I got some weeks ago - I found the pattern in a Country Living magazine and I'm really pleased with how it looks - I will make it into a cushion wrap.

Last week Scandinavian Christmas got an airing - I thought it was time I did the next block - so here's block three finished.

And now for something that is not red - I've finally finished the borders on The Gingham Girls. I've got the backing and batting ready to go, so over the next few weeks, hopefully I'll make a start on quilting it.

It's officially the first day of Spring on Wednesday - only one more day of Winter! Yippee!!

Happy Stitching

Jenny