It's still light and there are people in town but the shops have just shut at 5pm. We arrived in Totnes at about 4.45pm. Just in time to get excited, then panicky, then disconsolate. Lovely shops but we cant go in!
I can't get used to early closing.
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I know I already put a photo here of the cherry blossom in Plaça Verdaguer but I can’t walk down the street without having to stop and gaze at the beautiful pink blossom. It’s everywhere now.
I remember it being beautiful in London as well and you just have to stand still and enjoy it.
one of the nice things about Duna is that she can be left outside a shop without fear that she will take someones hand off. Children can come up and pat her and she won't growl or jump. She might try to grab their biscuits though.
Lots of children here are scared of dogs…older ones too. I know its bad but sometimes we have fun scattering those crowds of teenagers that block the pavement. When scary Duna walks through their midst the girls scream and squash themselves up against the wall.
morning walk with Duna to the square.
between two ugly blocks the cherry blossom brings hope of Spring.
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After an hour I got the threading right – of course I broke it several times and also had to change the dreaded bobbin after getting all the thread in a knot deep inside
It is many years since I used a treadle sewing machine – at Barassie Street Primary School where we girls still had sewing lessons while the boys did Woodwork. Those afternoons in the sewing room, warmed by a wood fire (can that be right?) with 20 other girls making shoe bags seem like a dream from another world. We also had Cookery classes when the boys did Metalwork and produced rice puddings while learning that you can judge the worth of a woman by the state of her tea towel drawer.
I had to get help from the trusty internet after spending ages trying to get the foot pedal going.
Is it stuck? Should I oil it?
No – you need to turn the hand wheel towards you first and then pedal away with both feet – the right one slightly in front of the left. (the video clip is silly but made me laugh and relax and do it right)
“A treadle machine makes stitches far superior to those of a modern electric machine”
In the right hands I am sure it would
But it was lovely once we found our rhythm and of course the fantasies started – patchwork quilts, tango dresses, bags…
But today it was curtains and work had to stop when dark fell and the lovely long sewing room got too cold even for me
