Summertime….

Steve had been reading up on Cote brasserie, and suggested we went to the one in Cirencester for lunch. We drove over, and I gave away another two bags of stuff to charity shops, and we browsed the various markets, indoor and outdoor, before heading to the restaurant.

I had French onion soup, followed by Cornish hake (above), and Steve had whitebait, and fish parmentier. There was a June feel to the place, with everyone in their summer frocks, which is why I’ve chosen this shot for my blip. So nice to see people wearing bright colours!

Afterwards we wandered about a bit more, then went to New Brewery Arts cafe for coffee. My favourite artists’ studio (Tracy Elphick) was closed, but in the gallery we admired beautiful glass creations by Graeme Hawes, and I discovered that there’s a swapping event going on in July, where I can swap some of the craft materials I’ve got left, for others. Now it happens that that sewing stuff hasn’t been sorted out yet (I’m terrible at sewing, but I keep inheriting stuff, I must learn to Just Say No). I can offer this as a ‘crafty bundle’ when sorted. The really ancient stuff has already been set aside for the vintage market. The swap is part of a seven week ‘Craftival’ event taking place at New Brewery Arts. I also got very excited about a weaving workshop, until I realised how slow I am at sewing, weaving, beading, etc. There has to be paper involved in order to make it worthwhile for me!

We drove home by a scenic route. It’s been too hot to do some tedious but necessary emailing, but I did do some laundry and it dried super- quickly, AND I’ve sorted the dreaded sewing stuff: it was indeed in a guddle of tangled threads. I’ve now decided to repair an old rucksack, on the back of knowing where everything is.

I also helped a near neighbour snip an incredibly thick, tight type of cable tie off a breaker bar he’d bought. I used my needle-nose pliers to do a bit of gouging. In the end he remembered he had an old hacksaw in his garden, and I held the bar whilst he sawed, and he only once touched my knuckles with the saw! The blind led the blind with their use of OTT tools, to remove a totally OTT and unnecessary lump of plastic!