Adrienne’s lace-making

This morning it was book group at Shona’s, five minutes along the road. Only Siobhan, Alison, Sue and I were there to discuss Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. We all agreed it was a good book, ahead of its time in many ways. There was no shortage of points to discuss as it covered so much - a sense of time and place, patriarchy, colonialism, and feminism told with insight and humour.

This afternoon it was the U3A stitching group meeting at Adrienne’s. I walked down, still the long way round because of the ice on the paths. The cold was such that my eyes watered and by the time I got there the mascara had run down my cheeks. I must have looked like a demented clown but nobody said a word.

Adrienne had offered to teach us lace-making and gave us a history of the craft (it originated in Buckinghamshire in the 16th century) along with an exhibition of her bobbins, as well as showing us her beautiful work. I didn’t partake of her offer as I needed the opportunity to get the knitted square for the blanket done, but it was interesting to see her demonstration. In addition to keeping the lace-makers on task, she was able to point me in the right direction with the triangle which looks like a more complex bikini bottom now.

Last night we binged on the first 3 episodes of Traitors. Yes an annoying woman was voted off - but there are so many of them still left!