A Pleasant Surprise with an Impulse Buy

Ranee - that must have been incredibly frustrating. I suppose you could always get one of those deep picture frames and mount them on velvet as a 'conversation piece'. I'd be tempted to do something! But you're right - all you can do is laugh.

Wherethejourneytakesme - if we ever meet up and shopping is involved, you can watch from a safe distance.

Sharon - Raven Forge has some epic pieces, really nice stuff. I got an email from them with 5% off. I didn't dare click on the link.

KJ - I've warned bear about this so many times, that buying stuff on offer that you don't need is wasted money. He talked me out of some towels. They were a good buy from Tesco, but we didn't need them. I said that we would be saving a lot. Bear said that we would save even more if we didn't buy them at all.

Today I got a package. It's actually pretty flat, like two pieces of paper taped together.

I was waiting on some ribbons and fabric scraps and I guessed that the package wasn't that. It was this.

I thought that the blanket had arrived earlier in a more conventional plastic type envelope thingy, and I hadn't opened it as I didn't want to be bothered with it right now. I saw the blanket on eBay (my friend) and it looked sad and thin, but I thought it would be perfect to go under a table cloth to protect the table. It was bigger than the fleece that I already had, and I thought I could use any off cuts to line place mats. Apparently it's 100% wool and was described as a 'camp blanket'. It's a double blanket and I wasn't expecting too much for around a tenner including all postage. It's not very fluffy at all, but sort of rough, and I'm going to take it to the dry cleaners as there are some faint marks, but it would be fine on a bed under a sheet. 

I checked the plastic type thingy and found this.

Which is what I am hoping to use for crafts. I've got some ideas. I also want to try and get some sort of background stuff for instagram (author purposes).

Bear is still shockingly full of cold, but he's better in himself. Apparently he is supposed to see a play that isn't Shakespeare or a musical for the purposes of his drama course. I have just spent an absolute fortune at The Grand Theatre in Leeds for Cluedo. It isn't even the posh seats, either. DH and I have also promised to go through Macbeth with him. He isn't really catching up with the English teaching at the moment, and at least we can help with that. We would have no chance with anything scientific, but we both did English Literature at A level, DH has an English degree and we both love words and stories. We can't teach him exam technique, which has changed phenomenally since we last sat an exam, but we can talk about the texts. 

There is another play at a smaller theatre that sounds slightly promising, but it also sounds dark and edgy. It recommends ages 16+ and bear won't be 16 until next December. Bear is more worried that something modern will come up about S*E*X and I'll ask him to explain it to me. We're holding fire on that. 

Bear doesn't appreciate how lucky he is. We live in a major city with some large and small theatres and lots of amateur groups (at least, before the plague). When I was his age, living in a small town, it was a huge deal to get to Liverpool or Manchester to see anything. The internet makes it easy as well. I could just go onto my laptop and search the local theatres. 

Also, DH and I now have an excuse to go and see all sorts of wonderful shows. I'm going to have to check the budget, and stop buying random blankets on eBay, but it will be awesome.

Hugs and good health to all.