Catching up with June

As usual I meant to keep up to date, but good intentions ...

... tend to get washed away. 

This was the scene on my birthday, not quite what I had been expecting for a DAS day outing to the Black Country  Museum. I hadn't been there since 1993, so saw some changes through the rain. 

It did make for a few interesting pictures. This was taken when standing under cover at the rolling mill, looking out at the puddles. Most of the time I took snatched pictures with my phone, rather than my camera.

As you can see it wasn't freezing, but I was glad I'd taken an umbrella and jacket with me. Here are the baker's and sweetshop.

It certainly seemed to be the wettest day of the year so far, although I'm not sure if the statistics will back that up. Our garden benefited greatly from the steady rain.Later in the day we travelled on to the Mushroom Green Chain Shop in Cradley Heath. Again, I hadn't been there since '93. It was under cover and warm, and a pleasure to see individual chain links being forged. I would have had a try, but I was wearing a dress that I don't want messed up.

One of the advantages of Ravelry is that there are many groups that arrange swaps. This year I took part in the June Birthday Exchange again, thus guaranteeing at least one birthday present! This shows the contents of the lovely parcel I received from Gudrun in Germany. I have often thought about buying a Zauberball, but couldn't work out which colourway to choose. Gudrun got it spot on, saving me much searching. The white mittens in the foreground fit perfectly, and will come in handy later in the year. Due to extreme temperatures on its journey, the chocolate had partially melted and reformed, but still tasted great.