Grinding to a halt - and trying to jump start the blogging mojo

Oh dear!

What happened there?

One minute it's all chugging along in a pretty standard way, and then WHOOOMP!  You have a few days away from blogs and blogging and return home to find you just can't get it all started again...Maybe the battery is flat; perhaps the starter motor has seized up; perhaps it's the spark plugs?

Whatever it is, I am attempting a bit of tweaking and rummaging today, in the hope that I can get the thing up and running again.  Otherwise known as 'doing a post'...

So, Mr U-t-B and I had a few days away to celebrate our wedding anniversary. 

We headed off to the Limousin countryside, perhaps best known for the pretty (but apparently quite fierce) cattle...

Okay, Monsieur Bull - I get the hint!

It may not sound the most glamorous way to celebrate, but I went over to his 'retirement project' to help him tidy his tools!

Oh the fun!  

Seriously though, I really did enjoy this!

That IS the 'after' photo - and though it may not look like it, it really is super-organised now!

Mr U-t-B has a lot of tools, and he is always so hell-bent on doing the next job, and the next one, and the next, that he ends up with a right old chaotic mess and then slowed down when he can't lay his clever hands on what he requires.  

Our quarters were rustic, but clean and with a beautiful view.  Owls hooting made the only night-time sounds, cuckoos in the daytime and bats were pretty much our only companions.

At Mr U-t-B's project, there is no electricity, unless you switch the noisy generator on.  So light is courtesy of solar lamps, hot water is provided by a 'camping' shower (which luckily is plumbed into an inside shower, as it was flippin' freezing outside!) and the much needed extra heat is provided by a paraffin heater.

No internet, intermittent phone signal - bliss!

The weather was pretty ropey - cold and drizzly, which meant we were only too happy to get on with the inside tidying jobs, so that in his next stint of work,  Mr U-t-B can turn this area into a bedroom.

The morning we were to set off for home, the sun finally decided to put in an appearance.

Driving home, we stopped for lunch and a wander around Chartres.

Anyway, once back home I had a swap to take part in.

I had another attempt at making a textile ATC, this one trying to tailor it to my swap partner's likes.  

I decided that this was the one to send, as I hoped it was most in tune with the recipient's likes.  

I was then lucky enough to receive this sweet and beautifully made card from my other partner...

Thank you to Hilda, of inkythings.blogspot.co.uk.  I love the image of the girl, the colours and fabrics.  

It is now sitting happily in my workroom, where I can see it often.  I enjoyed taking part in Ali's swap, and if she runs one again, I'm sure I'll be signing up!

Well, I think that is quite enough as a test-run.  Hopefully back very soon - I have books and sewing to share...