When problems are successes, and successes bring problems

This weekend my parents came to visit. I wanted to give them some things which my son is too big for, in preparation for the planned visit of my sister, her husband and her baby (the youngest grandchild) next month. Next month! I'm getting really excited now and am counting down the weeks as they pass!

My mother brought me the necklace which I'd given her for Christmas, asking for a small repair - which was, happily, accomplished within seconds (it was not so much a repair as, shall we say, an optimisation). Actually I was pleased because the fact she noticed the problem and wanted it fixed is a sign she's actually been wearing it. She is not normally a very necklacey type person so this is a great compliment. In other words, very existence of the problem-that-needed-fixing meant that the necklace was in fact a success.

 
I made this necklace with Acculon beading wire (tiger-tail) because this bead shop, where I did a lot of my Christmas shopping, has loads of very nice beads but not the largest range of beading wires. But tiger-tail is actually not a bad choice for this necklace: it's so stiff that it holds its circular shape really well, and the beads are pretty light so the wire doesn't get kinked by their weight.

My parents also baby-sat my son on Saturday so that I could go to my friend's hen party, which was held at her new house. She lives in a tiny village on the top of a hill that rises all by itself out of the plain, topped by an actual Norman church, with green fields stretching all around as far as you can see until they merge softly into blue hills far in the distance. You approach the village down a single-track, winding road, with beautiful long-maned horses kept tethered by the roadside, grazing happily on the lush grass - honestly, it's just like a village in a fairy-tale. And her house is almost at the top of that hill, with wood flooring, white walls, lots of space everywhere, and very simple classic decor. It's really lovely.

I think I might have mentioned something along these lines to the bride-to-be, but she just laughed and said "well, it's so big that it takes ages to clean!" To be fair, I do agree that this is a major disadvantage of living in a big house. Even fairy-tale princesses have their own problems...