Travel trauma

For one who travels so much -both for business and leisure - I am very bad at one aspect of it: packing. I don't mean the mechanics of packing. I am a world beater at that - I can roll and stuff and cram into a case for England. I mean choosing what to take.

How do I know what the weather will be like next Thursday?
How do I know whether I will be in casual or dress up mood?
How do I know whether I will or will not spill chicken tikka masala sauce over one outfit and need a spare?

And for our upcoming trip to Bath the decision get worse. We are going by car for a fortnight in a flat we know well. So no airline luggage limits but I do have a very large car boot. Basically I have a fortnight of creativity and relaxation.


Some decisions are easy. The sewing machine has to come becuase I am doing a thread play class at Midsomer Quilting when I am down there. Which means the thread box comes too. And my still in edit novel has to come because if I don't crack it soon the only chance of publication will be a posthumous one. (And my friend Sharon will start to nag. In a very nice way. And with justification. But still....)

But thereafter I hit dilemma time.

How many books shall I take given that I don't want to run out but in any event am within 5 mins walk of two good bookshops?

And what about quilting? The sewing machine has to go becuase I am doing a thread play workshop at Midsomer Quiting when I am down there. So the whole thread storage box goes too. And the gift quilt I am painstakingly hand appliqueing and paper piecing comes too or else the lack of progress will worry me and spoil the relaxation. But should I pack somthing else and if so what?

The Afican ladies will be ready for basting (There are just two seams left to sew and a border to put on) but there is no space in the flat to baste it but I might be able to wangle workshop space in one of the shops down there. Which begs the question - do I just put a plain backing on it or shall I use the spare strips leftover to piece some kind of back?. Or are they best used in another top ( Im thinking a kids one with animal foot prints inbetween scrap blocks). Or should I finish one of the others in progess before I start another? The crazy blocks I was making with other scraps? Or the silk wall hanging that is ready for quilting? Or should I give into temptation because I'm in holiday and see if I can start and finish one while I am away - a Japanese one perhaps? Or should I let myself hack into that collection of black and red Asian fabrics I have been itching to get my hands on in my stash? Or perhaps I shouldn't take anything given that I am going via the traders at Trentham Gardens and have access to three fabric shops and a haberdashers down there.....

Or perhaps I should just squeeze it all into the car and decide when I get there?

Help!