I am so busy at the moment I barely have time to even raise my head hence why I am so quiet here.

My first batch of projects for my new book, 7 in total, are due at the end of the month and I am working very hard to get them and their instructions all done.

In addition to my work in the book there will be 10 projects from 10 different contributors from around the World (I'm keeping them underwraps for now) and some of them have never previously written up a project so I am taking on their work too. Fortunately I like writing instructions and doing diagrams but it does get very mentally taxing and my mind is filled with different thread paths and projects. But I know it will be worth it in the end and it's exciting to see it all happening.

But tonight I took a few hours off to do a beginners mongraming class with my youngest sister at The London Embroidery School.

My sister, the one who go married in 2011 and headed off to work in Bulgaria for a year, and the one whose cause many of you kindly contributed, has had a hard time of it this past year. Whilst in Bulgaria she had a bad accident when a horse fell on her and seriously damaged her leg. She braved it out in Bulgaria for a while after that but in the end her and her husband made the decision to return to England so she could have treatment and recover. I know it was a very tough decision for them but when it came down to a question of her being able to walk it was the right thing to do.

Over a year on from the accident, and an operation and lots of physiotherapy later, she's back on her feet, literally and figuratively, and as well as continuing to work with children with special needs both of them have set up a company specialising in wedding, homeware and gift items- Clouds and Currents. I am supremely proud of both of them and how hard they have worked. After a bit of wirework coaching from me (and of course the 'loan' of lots of pliers, books and wire) Bridget also does wirework and it was these which got her accepted onto the curated website (don't click if you don't want to lose hours of time browsing treats and delights from UK based small businesses!) Not On The High Street.

Anyway, when I heard about the monograming class it seemed a great way to spend some time with her whilst learning something new- we both love adding extra strings to our bows.

The class was good fun and we learnt a lot. Weirdly it was in exactly the same studio that I did my taxidermy class last year so I had a strong sense of deja vu. The teacher was very patient and knowledgable and with her guidance we both added our initials to handkerchiefs. I am not very good at embroidery or work when I have to make a decision about where to go. Give me tapestry and cross stitch etc and I'm fine- even beadwork as so much of it is just going into holes that are already there. But give me work where I have to make choices and I lose my confidence and panic about what to do. But with some guidance got through and I can even live with the fact my 'J' looks more like a 'T'.