A pair of intrepid explorers!

So, yesterday, Paula and I left home at 3:30pm - more than enough time to get to Sheffield to watch Strictly.  We made good time so had a leisurely break at a service station which was 30 mins from our destination.  Since the doors opened at 6:30, and the show started at 7:30, I figured that if we left at 6pm then we wouldn't have to wait outside in the cold and would have time for another coffee before finding our seats.  What I didn't reckon on was the amount of roadworks!  Wow!  By the time we reached the arena it was 7:20pm and the car park was full.  Taking a punt on a slightly risky car park (well it had a space), we managed to get to our seats just, literally just, as the show was starting - phew!!  Fortunately I had sent Trisha her ticket so she wasn't waiting for us and had asked a couple if they would move up one seat so that we could all sit together (Paula had booked later than us).



Strictly live was, of course, fantastic - live music, superb dancing and very funny.  Not only that but "Kevin from Grimsby" won on the night - at least I've lived long enough to see him lift a trophy!!  However you really haven't lived until you've seen Ed Balls doing his "gangnam style" dance -wow!  One of the judges even gave him a 10!! Mind you they did say that it was for his commitment rather than his technique.  As if that was not enough - we also heard that Strictly had won an NTA award during the evening and the arena erupted - even the dancers backstage could be heard cheering!  Paula, by the way, loved it and is still "buzzing" today.

We got back to the car park and left in good time - it was probably a better option in the end than the usual car park - only to be met with more, so many more, roadworks on the M1 meaning that we couldn't leave using our usual junction.  We left at the next one and headed in what I thought would be the right direction - remembering of course that it is now past 11pm and pitch black with winding roads and no street lights.  Of course I could have used my sat nav but I am a tad stubborn!  Eventually we saw signs for Lincoln and so headed that way - passing through Sherwood Forest and over a toll bridge (seriously who employs someone to collect 40p in the middle of the night?) on our way.  The adventure should have stopped there but, with one more roll of the dice, the fog descended as we went across the Lincolnshire Wolds meaning that sight was extremely restricted.  As it happens we got home about 10 minutes later (1:10am) than our usual route would have taken but it was an eventful evening!!






Perhaps all of this is a long way round to explaining why I didn't wake up until 9am and why today has been somewhat uneventful.  I have managed, however, to sew the front of the "A Quilter Lives Here" wall hanging together and now need to look through my fabric stash to find something suitable for the two borders and binding.  I am not even sure that I have a large enough piece of fabric for the backing so might have to go for a patchwork effect - well, it's a way of using up the stash!