Grim foreshadowing

 My husband and sister-in-law have been coping with a sudden crisis with their parents this week after my mother-in-law fell ill with a stomach bug, followed by a chest infection which sent her diabetes numbers rising. As she is her husband's carer, someone has had to stay with them constantly and look after them both while she recovers. They live two hours away from both us and my s-i-l, so care has required some logistical juggling. Luckily DH works remotely so he can work at their place to a degree. It's become clear that they really need someone coming every day. The council isn't responding yet to our requests for a Needs Assessment (which gets the ball rolling for social care) so we're having to arrange (hopefully temporary) expensive paid care to come in.  They really should have moved somewhere with better support a few years ago, but chose to install a stair lift instead.  Parental decrepitude is such a familar problem at the moment being faced by so many people I know in my age group. It's also a grim foreshadowing of what lies in store for us all.  Every time DH and I catch ourselves doing something that the 'old people' do (like talking to ourselves, forgetting why we just opened a cupboard, pressing the wrong buttons in a zoom call etc.) we feel a bit depressed. Hopefully we've got at least another 15 or more good years, but you never know.  We certainly plan to downsize out of this larger house into something more future proof, probably in about eight years.  Although I can't contemplate having less room for all my stash.  I fantasise that we can find copious square footage all on one floor level, for example a converted primary school :)

I've kept up with my hour or so a day on the longarm, working on the Thirties sampler quilt.  It's feeling more comfortable, and I'm getting more confident about using the rulers for simple patterns. But there are still lots of wobbles and some rough bits.  I feel exhausted after an hour of concentrating, I don't know how people keep on quilting for hours. Maybe it's like a muscle you need to build up.

I've been prepping quilt pieces for the next quilt retreat in January. There isn't a lot of room at the retreat for cutting out or designing, so I am trying to do that here at home.  I cut out and prepped blocks for an 'envelope block' quilt first.  Then I pulled out the pinwheel blocks I sewed from Tilda fabrics at a previous retreat, and composed some scrappy sashing for them which I will assemble at the retreat.  I tried several different fabrics for the cornerstones but liked this colour the best.

Currently I am sewing together jelly roll strips to make a Chequered Dresden Plate from a Missouri Star video.  I will cut all the wedges then assemble the plates at the retreat.

I've started knitting some wristwarmers using Shetland jumperweight wool I bought in Shetland.  For some reason my tension isn't great, I don't know if it is all the ends getting in the way since the colours are changing almost every row.  Hopefully they will block flatter.

The Chinese dollshouse  is finished now apart from trying to get the electrics to work.  I did an initial hookup but a couple of bulbs still aren't coming on and the lights are flickering. I also need to assemble the plexiglas dust cover which came in the kit. Unexpectedly, this has proved to be the most challenging aspect of the whole project, since the paper covering on the plexiglas is basically welded on.  I looked it up online, and it's probably because of age since it was manufactured.  Online suggested applying gentle head and rolling the paper onto a dowel, which definitely helps.  But it is still taking up to 30 minutes to clear one piece of plexiglas - there are five altogether.  I'll post pictures when I get the electrics hopefully sorted.  The house does look quite cool when it's all lit up.

All the Christmas decorations are now up, and DS is coming home for Christmas tomorrow.  He'll work remotely for a week then he has a week off.  It will be nice to have him back for a while.  He's semi-promised to cook for us a few times which will be a nice break.

This year's tree