The large workbench in my studio was a large sheet of plywood, supported on two flimsy tressle legs as a temporary measure.   It had a nice timber frame, so it was lovely and flat and very level.  It was big (8 foot by 4 foot) and super to work on for pinning and laying out quilt tops, but it wasn’t strong enough to do much else on it, because it wobbled about and had minimal storage beneath. Mostly, it was used to house a bed for Toots to sleep in while I was quilting and I had to use just one end of it!

I mentioned to Peter that it could do with a facelift and this is what he did last weekend. He got some lovely pink units from IKEA (pronounced EEE-KEA, not EYE-KEA, by the way).  Peter modified two of the units by taking out one partition from each and joining the two units together, so that they now take my Go! Studio cutter and my spare sewing machines.  It has storage both sides (6 units) and is now so strong and steady that I can now use it as a proper cutting table and my spare cutting mats fit perfectly underneath.  As you can see, I’m now more organised, with less clutter, and with great storage for some of my quilts and equipment.  And, its pretty in pink too!  The problem now, of course, is – where will I put Toots’ bed? She’s very upset at losing her sleeping area!!!

Also pretty in pink (well, dark pink anyway) is the jelly I’ve been making from the fruit we had stored in the deep freezer over the winter.  I made a couple of batches of Bramble and Apple and Elderberry jelly, and this worked well – they will be great to go with our meals for the rest of the year!

Finally, also pretty in pink, is the second large apple tree in our garden.  It’s just come out into blossom and the bumble bees are out and about, so hopefully we’ll get a good crop from it this year.  Our first apple tree to blossom was pure white, but this second one has lovely pink buds and flowers.  Our third tree, up in the wood, is just about to break into blossom, so we should have a glut of apples again this year. Maybe Peter will make his cider again from the excess apples?