I cut out all my ‘book spines’ and tried to select appropriate fabric then off I went. I chose all the books that had made an impression on me over the years, Heidi, Little Women, I am sorry now I missed out First Term at Malory Towers, (Enid Blyton) but I did put in Black Beauty. I then decided to put in all my hobbies, then the countries in which I lived, and then for fun, the amateur dramatic productions that I was in. I forgot about Dickens, and wish now I had put in Ann Tyler, but there was only so much room. I do love the overall effect, and now only have to stitch on the cats’ collars and eyes.

I also spent a day doing about 1000 squats as I cut and pieced on the floor in the lounge, creating ‘Summer’ for my season border. This series is  all of mountains, and look quite nice, I have already finished ‘Winter’. And finally I finished binding the butterfly quilt. My legs have never had such a good work out…could barely walk for a few days.

I remember going to the Adelaide Guild quilt show one night and seeing the guest speaker, Sharon Schamber show all her amazing creations. She said she quilts 16 hours a day and does no shopping, cleaning or cooking. That sounds ideal. I just hate having to stop and break the flow.

Mind you, all this productivity is so similar to when I used to write…John would come home and take one look at me, huge black shadows under my eyes, and a manic sort of stare, and he would just shake his head. ‘Time to stop’ he’d say, ‘Where’s the brandy!’

Away from sewing, it has been wonderful weather here, and the weekends have been perfect.

The beach is so beautiful, and the sea just starting to have a little ‘nip’. We were bemused last Friday when we saw people stop and throw sea weed at some object. We decided to have a little look, and my goodness, there was this snake, coiled up in the sand, and not looking too happy, but still very much alive. It was a sea snake, but different from the usual species, but it had a very strange wedge at the end of its tail, like a paddle. Sort of put me off swimming!

We also have been doing a lot of walking, which has been good…so good to get out of the aircon way of life. We bought silly hats in the souk last Saturday, and walked back along the Corniche, it was good to be able to actually move.

Shanks Pony is about the only way anyone can move at the moment…as the Powers That Be, have decided to build a Metro system, remove all the roundabouts, put in traffic lights, widen roads and divert traffic to places no one has ever been before. All this is happening consecutively, so journeys are taking hours instead of minutes and frustrations are building all the time. Ho hum.

We attended Oktoberfest again this year…I was feeling a little blue, so didn’t dance on the tables but was happy to watch all the Koreans enjoy the evening out…our cultures are so diverse, but we all seem to come together when we drink  beer in large amounts!

I have also bitten off the nails on my two index fingers. It has been so tense watching the last of Series 4 of Breaking Bad! Can’t wait to get back to Scotland and order the final series. The other form of relaxation I have found is seriously bad…I have been introduced to Pocket Pond 2 on my I Pad. You collect Koi carp and have ponds, and you buy and sell and breed your koi, until you have incredibly rare species that are worth thousands! I fuss with this first thing in the morning, as John is getting ready to go to work, and I absent mindedly wish him a good day, as I press the button to sell or buy! I was quite shocked when he told me last night that I was ‘a sad git’!!!! I can’t believe that our marriage has come to that kind of language!!!!

Lovely pictures of my books ‘on location’. With Christine Tunon in Hanoi and an interesting man in India!