Blogging by candlelight?

Last night I had intended to finish the applique on my ALQS quilt, blog the label for my EBDQS, and prepare tonight's dinner, since Simon is away for a few days, and I find it hard to have things ready in time with James and Eleanor underfoot and tired after work. With my priorities as normal, I'd done most of the sewing just after midnight when the house went pitch black. My sewing machine (fortunately not in the middle of appliqueing a piece at the time) switched off under my hands. The computer and heater went silent behind me, and the lights flickered and went. The street lights were out, too, so it was completely black, and I had to feel around for the first thing I could think of - the firelighter we use for the stove! Hoping desperately that James (who likes a nightlight) and Eleanor didn't happen to wake (luckily they didn't) I switched off appliances by candlelight and returned the defrosted but uncooked meat to the fridge and had an early night. The power returned just before 2am, and I had to get up and turn off random lights and other items I'd missed!
For the ALQS, my quilt will be heading overseas (not giving much away there!) so I decided to use Australian imagery. The colours are inspired by an outback sunset, and the leaves by the burned ones which blew into our Canberra garden during the January 2003 firestorms. This evening I finished the applique, although now I'm toying with adding a few more leaves to the left - I've cut some out ready to see how they look. I'll also add a gum blossom using free-machine embroidery with shimmery red thread in ochre and pink tones and some seed beads, and highlight the edges and centre veins of the leaves with some shimmery green thread (I know exactly what look I want but have to find some thread which will work!) Incredibly, this quilt is the first to come entirely from my stash (top, binding, backing, even the batting and beads - threads don't count!).

That said, here are some unrelated additions to two of my favourite stash 'departments' which arrived today:
(Stash = 935m).

PS - I kid you not; less than a minute after I posted this, the power went off again! Only momentarily, but still... I'm now carrying a small torch in my pocket just in case!