I am turning into my grandmother.
This is not half as daunting as it sounds – I have started writing letters again, which seem to be appreciated by the recipients. There's something about pen and ink that is so much more satisfying than a keyboard, even if exactly the same information is imparted. It was my granny that taught me about letter-writing, as far as I remember. Certainly, she is the woman of letters in our family and probably the only person that I have written to on any kind of regular basis over my life. When I was away at boarding school I would, of course, send a weekly letter home, but that was more from duty than actual desire. On a Sunday afternoon at prep school, after lunch, we had to write at least one letter, which would be checked by the headmistress for form and content before we were allowed to seal it into the envelope. It may sound arcane, but we didn't have many secrets in those days, when our lives were ruled by roller-skating, riding ponies and climbing trees. My life from the ages of 8 to 11 came pretty much straight from the pages of a Malory Towers book, for which I will always be thankful; and at least the letter-writing system meant that our parents received the vital information that we were still alive, plus whatever bonus information we decided to put in to make up the requisite three paragraphs of text.
In the interests of becoming even more like my granny, I have started working on a tapestry, which is something that I haven't done in probably a good 20 years. I've done the odd little cross-stitch project, but nothing quite on the scale of this one (the design is about 18"x14", to give you you an idea). 
At the moment, while I work on the background and large blocks of colour, it's very relaxing; however I am looking forward to getting on to the complicated bit.
It's not just about sewing, but about planning ahead, mentally plotting your course through the canvas. Chess has nothing on this! As you can see from the pictures, this is a very detailed design, the shading sometimes marked by a single square of colour. Working out how to use the different colours of wool to their best advantage and not end up with a complete birds nest on the back of the canvas is all part of the challenge. I was always told that you should be able to turn the canvas over and show the back without any shame. Admittedly, this has always been my weakest point – I'm terrible for putting sneaky knots in rather than sewing the thread in properly – but I'm really trying hard to keep this one smart. Bets are currently being taken on how long it takes me either to cave in and cheat or to screw the damn thing up and throw it across the room in a temper. 
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