In the sewing room, writing

It's been a busy week. After two days at work, I've been confined to my sewing room writing, thinking and making notes. Oh, I did have one outing. I drove my friend, Bernadette, to the airport in her car - a very red, very low on the ground sports car. It was a big change from my little station wagon. Driving back past the shops, it was all Christmas decorations and people with packages, it doesn't look like a world economic crisis out there. On that same day, Hanno drove down to the Gold Coast to help our son, Kerry, move house.

I was back in the sewing room yesterday. It's quite pleasant in there, shut away from what is happening in the house. The phone rings frequently, yesterday there were calls from my sisters and a few from my Centre, but through it all I kept tapping away at the keys, looking out the window and wondering when I should pick the pumpkins.

The book proposal is coming together. I finished one section of it yesterday, then decided to add another section to the book (not the proposal), which means I'll have to rewrite quite a bit of the first chapter, which is part of the proposal. I'll make a start on that today. Did I tell you I'm with the same agency that represented Janet Luhrs and her Simple Living Guide? I am very thankful for that because I know I'm in good hands and I appreciate their knowledge and guidance.

So I was tapping away on the keyboard yesterday, when Hanno walked in with a parcel. "it's from Germany" he said, and I knew immediately what it was. Hilde, a reader here, had sent me Zakka Sewing: 25 Japanese projects for the household, a number of beautiful fabrics, thread and a lovely message on a card. It made my morning! Thank you so much, Hilde! You are very generous. I spent a wonderful thirty minutes looking through the book and then had to force myself back to the computer. I kept thinking of that little squirrel tea cosy though, it's so sweet.

It doesn't feel like Christmas yet. We have no decorations up and I haven't decided what we'll eat for Christmas lunch, but I know it will come together, just like it always does. In the meantime, I'll keep writing and thinking, writing and thinking and hope that soon I'll be confident enough to send my proposal in.

Thank you all for the comments this week, I really look forward to reading them. They remind me every day that you're all out there and there is a world-wide community of us all working towards a better life, and for that, I'm ever thankful.