We recently took some Year eleven's (from Hubby's school) on a retreat. The centre was at a place called Kintbury in Berkshire. I have been quite a few times with various groups. The people are lovely and the grounds around the centre are just fantastic. I can truly say that I come away feeling totally refreshed everytime I visit (even when I am kept awake by very rowdy teenagers!)

I have decided that this year I am going to make all presents. A little bit of a task, I know, but I am sure that it will work out a great deal less expensive. This is the first effort. It was for my Mum's birthday. I was quite pleased because the wood, fabric and padding were all off-cuts. I only had to invest in the ribbon and pins. She was delighted as she had seen this fabric some time ago when I was making curtains for a client. This piece was destined for the bin and I retrieved it.

Also as we are starting Lent this week, Hubby and I were trying to decide what positive action we could try and follow for the forty days. We are going to repeat last year's effort. We are giving up supermarkets. We found before that we did not spend much more money that normal. It will be interesting to see if the same happens this year with financial situation. However in order to ensure that we keep to our goal I am going to be posting regular updates on my blog to keep everybody informed. Watch this space!