I am a bit of a fabric hoarder and if I see something I like and it’s priced at what I regard as a bargain, I just have to buy it, thinking that I’m bound to find a use for it at some stage in the future. That’s exactly what happened when I saw this lovely William Morris design fabric, by Sanderson. It’s called Blackthorn and it’s very similar to a Morris design which I first saw in the 1970s, when Morris had a bit of a resurgence. That seems to happen once every 20 years or so, usually because an institution like the V&A has put on an exhibition of his work. I plan to make a wallhanging from this length of material, I’ll back it with something nice but plain and maybe sandwich some wadding/batting material in between, just to give it a bit more weight and make it hang better. Mind you that may not be necessary as the fabric is quite a sturdy linen type.

I remember in the 1970s when we got married I quite fancied buying a sofa in a very similar Morris fabric, but Jack said bloody hell – he’s really not a floral fabric sort of chap – and we ended up buying a very bland and boring sofa covered with beige dralon fabric.

This stripe fabric is completely different but I love it. It’s a shame that the colours haven’t come out so well, believe it or not, the sun was shining brightly on it when I took the photograph and it seems to have had the effect of draining the colour. It’s two shades of green, two of blue and a gorgeous warm yellow, unusual combination but it works. This is a Liberty design, which was a surprise to me as I always associate Liberty with florals, again it’s a heavy linen and the design is called Boughton.

Luckily this is a good length of fabric and I’m planning to use it to make curtains for the new house – whenever we get there, and wherever it may be. I’m determined that the next house will not have high Victorian ceilings like the house we live in now. I’ve had 25 years of them and I want something cosier next time, which will have the advantage that I won’t have to buy or make curtains with a drop of 108 inches, which is what we have at the moment.

This is all for the future though as Jack has been told that he can’t retire this year as they need his experience in the classroom. It’s an absolute pain in the neck, but as I said, the best laid plans o’ mice and men gang aft agley. Oh all right – Rabbie Burns said it first!

How exactly are young teachers supposed to get any experience if they can’t get jobs in teaching because older teachers aren’t allowed to retire just one year early, without taking a big hit to their pension?

Anyway, I’m keeping calm and taking the attitude that if we can’t move house this year then their must be a good reason for it. Well, there’s not a lot else we can do.