Mustard and Pears

The tone for this week was set on Monday afternoon when I dropped my phone (which was in the back pocket of my jeans) down the toilet. The first thing I did - after fishing it out - was reach for my phone to google "how to dry out a phone you've just dropped down the toilet" and then straight away realised that, of course, I could not do this simple task, and I would have to fire up the very old and very slow laptop. My phone sat in a bag of rice for a few days but alas, no joy, although thank goodness the SIM card (with contacts, photos etc) survived the dunking. It really made me think though. A break from online life is all well and good provided that it's on your terms, like you're on holiday and you've chosen to take that break. A break from online life which you didn't want is actually just really bloody annoying and inconvenient. I like my phone and I like my contact with life online, because it's all social. If I needed my phone for work then no doubt I'd feel less positively about it, but my phone is my connection to my friends - real life and online, my hobbies, my interests, my podcasts, my apps. It was most irritating not having all that in my pocket. We'd arranged on Tuesday to meet friends from Leeds who were staying in London, and their address was in a text on my phone, which I couldn't access.  I didn't have her mobile number in my address book (which I only open once a year to send Christmas cards anyway) and so I had to use the laptop to Facebook message a mutual friend for my friend's mobile number and then text her from Bella's phone, explaining that I was an accident prone idiot and please could we have the address again? You see, annoying. 

Phone issues aside, it has been a nice week. Not quite as hazy and summery as the first week of the holidays perhaps, but still lots of highlights. Our day in London (Teddington to be precise) was absolutely lovely, even with the rain, and it was really good to catch up with a family we met at NCT group twelve years ago, and so easy too. Some friendships can cope with a year or two year gap - you just pick up where you left off. Teddington, an affluent area I think it's fair to say, was full of independent cafes, bakeries and clothes shops and also had the most amazing charity shop I've ever come across. I found a very nice and I think brand new Breton striped top by and brand called Me+Em.

And a beautifully tailored Joules shirt.

It's a size larger than I'd usually wear but it looks fab tucked into jeans, and the long body length means I can wear it under a jumper in the winter.

Anyway, two almost-new, good quality tops for under £20 - if my local charity shops stocked such lovely items then I'd be more than happy to source my entire wardrobe second hand.

With all that extra free time I had, I got around to crocheting the Mama Moon Bag

I am so happy with how it turned out. 

I want to take this bag on holiday and use it as a handbag, so I lined it as I was worried about a pen or lip balm disappearing between the holes, and added a snap buckle for security.

It was very quick to make, maybe a couple of hours, and you could definitely make one in an evening. I would really recommend the pattern.

There was half a ball of Bobbiny yarn/rope leftover so I made a little plant pot with the remnants.

Other highlights....

I made courgette fritters using this recipe and they were amazing and did three days of lunches. 

A kind friend from Instagram sent me this embroidery kit and I cannot wait to to get stuck in to it. I love the limited palate of colours in the threads.

I treated myself to a wooden pear. It was a bad day and the arrival of this little beauty in the post made me smile from ear to ear. It's the little things. The tactile shape just begs to be picked up and turned over in your hand, and I like how the wood tones work with our collection of pebbles and shells. 

So not all bad, in fact lots of good, including a picnic with my sister Anna and her girls, a coffee with my dear friend Charlotte, pottering around the house doing various things like re-potting house plants, going on dog walks...it's been good. And now we are again visiting friends this weekend before leaving for our holiday on Monday, and I will be skipping onto that plane with a working mobile phone in my pocket. I cannot wait to share it with you when we get back. It's a big one. There may even be an embroidered holiday diary.