Not such a fun weekend

This weekend was quiet and boring - we had a walk on Saturday morning and that was nice. The weather has been really unseasonably warm and clear ... I know we're due for another cold snap but at the moment it feels like winter is forgotten and spring is here. Deceptive.

We walked past this big male kangaroo. Normally kangaroos are quite shy and bound away as you get close but this one just stopped and stared. Not going anywhere. The big ones can go you if they're feeling threatened, so we just quietly tiptoed past and continued on our way. You would not want to get scratched by a kangaroo, or kicked. 

For some reason in our house kangaroo testicles are known as "disco balls" ... and the boys have decided there is a kangaroo secret "attack" signal when the biggest kangaroo scratches his disco balls. Which they do all the time (fleas, I'm guessing) so we could only tiptoe quietly for a few paces before "Run!!! RUN!!! THEY'RE GOING TO ATTACK!!!". Oh the serenity of the nature walk.

Saturday afternoon we decided to get stuck into the vegie beds - we'd been going ten minutes and reached the point of no return with open cow poo bags when my husband's phone rang ... it was work and that was him until about 9 that night. So I dug bags of cow manure into the vegie beds for the afternoon ... actually quite enjoyable but I felt it in my back the next day. Not muscles I am accustomed to using.

And then on Sunday I spent the whole day cursing my sewing machine which, for some completely unknown reason, decided not to free motion quilt any more. It just kept skipping stitches, refusing to catch at all and then breaking the thread. Over the course of about ten hours I changed the top tension, the bobbin tension, the presser foot pressure, the needle (four times) and tried eleven different threads in the top and four in the bobbin. And every combination of all of those. 

I took the darning foot off and put it back on, I took the darning plate off and took it back on. I even tried every single stitch length, although it can't possibly make a difference. I brushed out all the lint and even went down the shop to buy five more different types of thread to see if they would work. Nothing did. I was full-on sobbing in frustration by the end, because it worked yesterday perfectly and NOTHING HAS CHANGED. I did test pieces in different fabric and batting and it made no difference. I'm going to try again now but not for long because I nearly smashed it with a hammer yesterday. It might be I'll have to take it down the shop but I'm trying to avoid it because the staff there are a bit dim. Wish me luck.