Hobbitting around

Have you had nice weather this week? It's been absolutely glorious here – and though I had to go to work on Monday because DEADLINE I've had the rest of the week off, and I've been putting it to good use.


I've spent very little time online or playing on my PlayStation. Mr Robot had the week off too, so one day we painted a rather grim, grey wall in the garden. It's now a blinding white, and dazzles us every time we set foot outside the back door and the sun is bouncing off it. It's really transformed the patio. We went round the garden centres looking for fence paint, but couldn't find either of the colours we use. Dark green, which we use alongside the flowerbeds and lawn as it recedes and makes a nice background for plants, seemed to have sold out everywhere, and nowhere seemed to be stocking large tubs of the bright blue we use beside the patio, so he ended up ordering both on Amazon. Once the fences are painted too things will be looking really spruce. I hope fun colours for gardens aren't a thing of the past; all the paint in the garden centres and DIY shops was various shades of brown (plus a few little tins containing enough paint to do a bench or door, but not whole fence panels).

Mr Robot also did loads of heavy work in the garden, moving rubble and chopping down bushes at the end, while I've planted loads of seeds. The garden looked good last summer but it's going to look even better this year. I'm repeating a lot of the flowers I grew last year as I was so pleased with how they came out, but am trying some new ones as well. We always love eating outside in the summer. Who needs indoors when there's a lovely garden sit in?

Enough about walls and gardens, though. "What is that godawful top you're wearing in that photo?" I hear you cry*. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was planning to make Burda Style B6527, and that I thought it would fit but I'd make a mockup to be sure. Good job I did. As you can see, a full bust adjustment is definitely needed, as it wouldn't be possible to do this one up. This morning I've going to do an FBA on the pattern (I've found a walkthrough showing this sort of dart, detailing how to add in a side dart) and sacrifice some more sheet to the gods of giant boobs and have another go. I don't mind doing that really. Okay, it does mean it takes me a long time to produce something wearable, but it's also good practice with my machine and saves me wasting loads of decent fabric. I've never made a collar or attached front bands before, so the more often I do it, the better I'll do once I get the good fabric on the machine.

Oh, and some fun news: I've been nominated for the Gamesindustry.biz's '100 Women In Games' list. I'm certain I won't make the list, but it's nice to be in the longlist of 400, and it means I get to go to a free party in London next week and drink ALL THE BOOZE and meet up with all the lovely people I know from online, especially my fellow gamesladies. I nominated a bunch of people and I think they're all on the longlist too, so partying with them will be excellent. Of course, I already have the fear that no-one will talk to me and am flailing like mad about having nothing to wear – if only I'd got MyFitnessPal and started my morning walks earlier, I might have more clothes that fit me – but those things are par for the course. They'll have to wait for a future party to see the psychedelic crimplene...



*Okay, about walls, 'cos you're probably a nosy bugger like me: the cats have been knocking the vintage pamphlet covers (Burma, India, Spain) wonky in the background – they like to sit on the snake tank because it's warm, though I suspect the poor snake isn't too pleased with that. The brown picture is a watercolour we bought in Burma/Myanmar of a pagoda, and it's tourist tat but we like it. The one with all the light on it is a vintage-style travel poster advertising Venus by airship. Needless to say, not something we picked up on holiday.