Summertime...

So after a frantic few months of being very busy and not so busy, the summer approaches, and of course the weather has turned grey and wet. Two more weeks of manic work-related activity up and down the country before a quieter July and a chance to get back to some sewing. I'm pleased to say that I 've turned down a couple of pieces of work from the Leadership Foundation in order to free-up some space for work elsewhere. I now have work scheduled with the University of Stirling and the University of Exeter so the Autumn will have some interesting days.

For now I'd love to get out in my garden. Everything is growing like mad, including the weeds, and the week of rain that followed three weeks of sunshine has made a difference. Peas are about three feet high (no flowers yet) and the runners are a third of the way up their poles and starting to produce flower stems. I've harvested my first handful of radishes! The carrot, beetroot, spinach, chard and kale seeds are all growing well. A bit of thinning needed here however so that I end up with more than leaves. And the wonderful rambler, 'Seagull' is just coming into bloom. This year, so far, the clematis haven't got the wilt, and the shrubs in the pots are doing well, although I do want to find space to plant them in the beds.

Inside the first quilt in many years has been completed, see photos of'glacier moon' whilst in progress, second now is on the frame (the black and white mystery quilt) albeit that slightly less time has been spent on that of late due to a recent burst of travelling. In the meantime socks are still actively being produced in the evenings and a few commissions have been picked up for friends and my goddaughter.

Time flies when......

.... Work life balance is more work than life!  I've just rediscovered this blog page that I started in 2009 and see that even then I was complaining about how hectic my life was. Strange that seven years on this unremitting work related activity has finally led me to give up full time employment and become a free-lance leadership developmnent consultant.  And a fortnight into my new life I have work beginning to fill up the blank pages of the diary and most importantly I feel that I have my life back.

How wonderful it is to give myself permission to take a day off to go to the Quilt show at Edinburgh, and to spend the whole weekend quilting! Maybe there is some hope that the five quilt tops that are pieced but unquilted will finally be completed and that I can start making some of the kits I've been buying for years.  Shorter evenings are now spent knitting socks with wool from my stash and catching up on blog posts from knitters I haven't seen in ages. Long may it last.

My friends tell me I look relaxed and I know I am sleeping better (and longer now that I am no longer regularly getting up at 04:30 to drive to the airport).

Of course I do still have to earn a living, so I can't be taking days off every week -- I'll have to go out and find work as well as design and deliver it. But for a few weeks perhaps, I'll work part-time, and see whether I can't slow down time enough to enjoy it.