Celebrations and Occasions

We love a party in our family! I enjoy planning for presents and surprises while others get the food and games sorted....

Just recently we've had my niece and her husband visiting along with my great-niece, and had her Peppa Pig party (hence the picture of her Peppa Pig jumper in a previous post).

Last week it was the turn of the youngest member of our clan (at the moment). She's mad on Paw Patrol, but could I find a Paw Patrol pattern anywhere? Mulling it over with my spinning group they told me how to transfer a picture using special graph paper with the suggestion of copying it onto acetate first so that the graph lines appear on top of the picture. So here it is!!!

Then there was the small matter of a birthday card. There are plenty of 'Happy 2nd Birthday' ones and some Paw Patrol ones for 3 year olds, but not for a two year old. So what could I do - well let's raise a glass to the good old laptop and some photographic paper!!

That just left Mothering Sunday. All buoyed up with my knitting achievements I attempted to knit a picture 'M', but somehow whatever I did the tension came out all wrong so I was in my sister's local craft shop when I spied a wooden letter that I could cover with fabric - day saved - Ta-dah!


                                               

A couple of years ago it was my elder niece's 30th. I was able to collect pound coins from almost all the years since her birth, but none from the year of her 30th. So I made her a purse and filled it with a selection of coins from all the years that she's been around making up £30 and mounted a pound coin from her birth year and a different coin from her 30th year for her. This year it's the younger one's turn. It's even more tricky as the pound coins from her birth year have now been withdrawn so I'll have to think of something else.... Watch this space!

Doing Two Things at Once

Now I know that when I finished work I promised myself that I’d not rush around anymore trying to juggle multiple tasks, but...... well I must admit this time it was pretty pleasing to realise that I’d ticked two items off my list without realising it!

I got a Kindle as a present the Christmas before last and I’m converted totally. I always thought that I’d never take technology over handling a book, but I’m truly sold on my new-ish toy. I’ll never be able to turn my back on my love of physically turning a page or retreating to the bath with a paperback, however the sheer joy of having virtually any title I want in my hand immediately is both addictive and mesmerising.

I've indulged my butterfly brain over and over by flitting from one book to another, having multiple pages open, never losing my place and all without driving himself mad by leaving two or three (sometimes more) lying around part read. He’s more of a ‘one thing at a time till it’s finished’ kind of guy - suffice to say it’s just not in my nature. Now I can have as many books on the go at a time sometimes reading parts of two at the same sitting without annoying anyone - well with my reading habits anyway.

I'd downloaded Marie Kondo's 'Spark Joy' a while ago, but only dipped into it so decided to read it properly along with Cait Flanders' 'The Year of Less' and came to the conclusion that it was time to tackle my excess 'stuff'.  I won't bore you with the list of tired t-shirts or solo socks that now no longer fight for space in the bedroom or the books liberated from dusty shelves to gladden new hearts.

It was time to tackle the loft.... The loft contains all my craft resources. Having started with plenty of kits from magazines that I will never start (let alone finish) - boot fair - and two smelly fleeces that I will never spin (there are still four left, but let's not talk about those) I was feeling like I was getting somewhere.

Then my sister needed some new cushions so I stopped and made some covers for some old cushions I 'just happened' to have up in that loft... Then my niece rather liked an applique one I gave to my sister so I did a couple for her. What a result - I now have no cushions in the loft AND I got to do some sewing just like I promised myself I would earlier in the year. Two for the price of one without even trying - Howzat!!

March 2019 - Where did that come from?

One moment you are working away, travelling lots, taking train rides to visit family, spending hours writing at the computer and then.... Well then - it seems that almost three years slip by and I neglect to record anything...

Each time I've intended to start, something (as ever) crops up. Even as recently as January I wanted to begin the New Year with a post about packing up the Christmas decorations. I was going to wax lyrical about repairing some of the old baubles by covering them with fabric complete with lovely photos, although I did manage to take one of all the Christmas cards I made from odds and ends and photos of the decorations before they were packed away (I find it easier to do these while Christmas is still hovering in the air rather than before it all gets started).

I was also quite impressed at beginning the search for next Christmas' lucky dip, but that doesn't seem to be all that relevant now we're in March! (We have a family lucky dip on Christmas Eve with lots of little bits and pieces we've gathered during the year - colouring books, free perfume samples, sale items from Christmas stock, odds and ends I've sewn or knitted and so on - it takes ages and is great fun and means we all get some small presents without spending loads on the occasion.)

So to now.... Don't worry - this isn't a list of all the happenings since my last blog - tempting though it is to plod through it just to show that I have been productive and busy and all that. Suffice to say that I did lots more writing for work, finishing with a particular product for them that I'd wanted to write for a number of years so that was very satisfying. As part of my leaving present I got a coffee machine and pasta making 'stuff' following trips to Rome and Florence - how was my life complete before them?

 

It's Lasagne in case you're not sure!

Visiting Rome has meant that I've been able to see my youngest niece who lives there with her husband and daughter (and is about to add to the clan soon). My previous trip to Italy was around 40 years ago on a whistle stop 7 day tour. What a bonus it's been to spend plenty of time going back over the things I studied for A Level and degree courses...…

 Not bad for a view from the kitchen of the apartment we stayed in, eh?

What else - well apart from a wedding (my niece) and a daughter for my other niece, I retired - as you may have worked out from above - hence the time for Italian excursions. I don't seem to have had much other time - it appears to be true what people say about retiring and then not knowing how they found time to go out to work.

The last few months have been exciting times, with my family (apart from the Italian extension) moving around 20 miles away from me after all the years of being 170 miles away, so no more long train journeys and I get to see them every week.

What about the craft? - I'll not go into a great long list, but here's some snaps of one or two items that I've managed to squeeze in ……

 Finished my fish at last!

Next up is a Paw Patrol jumper so fingers crossed for that one!

So that's me back - promise it'll get more interesting from here on in!!!

Festival and family

It's been another full on couple of weeks, but all great fun. The Exmouth Festival coincided with my family visiting so there's been plenty to do.

I was able to put some of my work on display at the Blackmore Theatre and it was good to get one or two items finished in order to do it!

Here's a picture I finally completed - it's called 'Heartfelt'. I'm rather pleased with it as I hand felted the background and topped it with a ceramic button I made a while ago. I know the photo is on a bit of an angle, but any other shot I tried to take reflected either the rest of the bedroom where it now hangs, or me taking the picture!

 

I also hung a couple of scarves I made a while ago from bamboo poles as wall hangings. These I spun  from sari silk. It always amazes me how a ball of random fluff can end up looking like this once it's been spun and knitted.

I had some of my hand spun, knitted and felted bags on display too.

As well as this bag made from some thicker sari silk.

Once that was all up and on show other than a spell of stewarding on the Monday I was able to spend time with my sister, mum, niece, her husband and my great nephew. Graeham and I had a full day's digging on the beach on the holiday Tuesday while Finn directed operations and gave out spades. He'll make a great foreman when he grows up. Then the action moved on to Crealy the next day with the weather still with us. Thursday saw mum, Judith and me eating ice cream on Budleigh beach and then on Friday we all met up for scones and tea before they had to get ready to head back to Surrey.

On Sunday it was back to the Festival withthere workshops at Seadog Gallery. I took the wheel along as well as a couple of drop spindles and some chopsticks (yes chopsticks) so that anyone who dropped in could try their hand at spinning some merino and silk (yes with chopsticks) to make simple bracelets. 

The sun shone, sandwiches and scones were plentiful and it was a lovely day in Anna's garden. I had time to watch Hayley teaching others how to craft mosaic panels and even got to try making a felt flower in Natasha's workshop.

So, from then on it's been back to the day job, with plenty of writing to get to grips with! 

Today we've been shopping for fabric. A bit of household sewing to do - I'll show you when it's finished....

Phew.... Time for tea I think - and an evening of football......

I'm Baaaaack!

It's been a while, but at last I'm back (or baa-ck) with the blog.

So much has happened that if I were to begin filling you in I'd be here till midnight - so I'll just carry on as if I've never been away and try harder to keep up to date. That includes rejoining Handmade Monday and enjoying all the other posts there each week....

I finally gave in to sense and said goodbye to my first wheel... 

I was sad to see it go, but there's not really room to keep everything and I use my travelling wheel more so it's gone off to be used by a really nice guy who farms alpacas.

I've finished one or two patchwork-y pieces.

The first was a recycling project... The front here is made up of old felted jumpers

While the back is old worn out t-shirts...

Finally here's the crocheted mini wall hanging that I started ages ago.

It's now got a starring role on display! It's Exmouth Festival this week, so I've put it in the exhibition at the Blackmore Theatre - part of the Exmouth Art Trail. I've also got some bags, a couple of sari silk wall hangings and a felted picture down there. I'm stewarding at the end of the weekend so I'll try and get some photos to add....

More news soon.... I promise it won't be such a long wait between blogs this time!

Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend.....

School's Out!!

Okay, I know I said normal service was resumed, but I was away again last week so the post sort of fell by the wayside....

Still, now it's the end of term I can catch up (a bit)...

It's been nice to have some 'kick-back' time and just watch the grass grow - well I would do, but up until a day or two ago it wasn't. Everything around here had gone a sort of straw yellow with the sun, but recent showers have definitely perked things up. Here's the (rather grainy) view from our garden/sun room before the rain.

 

 

A lovely view (when you block out our neighbours' bungalows by squeezing your eyes - and ignore the telegraph pole) to drift away while having a coffee and pretending to read!

 

The sun has also worked its magic on the pots and plants around the garden. When I was young dad would fill the house in the autumn with all the geraniums he was saving. They all lived on the landing on top of the tallboy and reeked of that rather distinctive geranium smell which I hated. Funny isn't it, that now I can't imagine our garden here without them!

 

 

 

Just yesterday Graeham called for me to come quickly as he'd spotted a little visitor in the garden... We regularly have cats and foxes, we've also had a frog on the front door (actually sitting on a projecting piece so that when you open and shut the door he looked up rather enjoying the ride!) and a pheasant strutting along the road outside the bungalow, but never a bunny! This one was very small and looked rather lost - hopefully it made it to a place of safety.....

 

So what else have I been up to other than relaxing and gazing out of the window? Well, I was up in Kent working at my old school for the end of term. It coincided with Mum's birthday so I stayed at my sister's place and we went our and enjoyed a meal at the local tapas bar. And Juds also gave me the mirror that I made last time I was there. We both played for a while sticking our shells on - mine's the one on the left. I just need to varnish it, then.. not sure what to do with it, or where to hang it!

 

 

Other than that I've tried to get myself into finishing a couple of blankets that I started - as you can see this one hasn't got that far! Mind you, it's a lot further than the baby blanket I have started, frogged, restarted, frogged... and so on about four times... Now I've stopped knitting it and started crocheting instead.

 

 

 

Oh yes, I got to spinning too.... I'm having to tear myself away from the lovely Shetland fleece that I'm spinning and try to discipline myself into concentrating on the alpaca that still sits there looking accusingly at me - perhaps next week when I go to the spinning group I'll get the drum carder out and attack it full on to speed things up!

 

And I've read, and played tennis and eaten cake.. all that and the holiday's only just started!

 

Right, action - I have got teachers' notes to write on Carrie's War, still I reeeaaallly need to just pop over to Handmade Monday to see what everyone else has been up to. Task avoidance I hear you say, hmmm now if that was an Olympic sport I could truly be a champion!

 

 

Normal Service (!) resumed...

Hello again! I know I've been remiss with the postings, but I can't believe how quickly the time goes and how little I seem to have to write to show you how I've filled it!!!

Anyway, excuses aside, everything keeps moving along - so here are some highlights..

In between the writing and trips away for work we have managed one or two nice trips out for ourselves too. There have been barbecues with friends - the most recent last night on the beach at Budleigh, walks along the beach and relaxing in lovely spots. Here's a couple of shots from when we had some time in Cockington. This first one is the view from our table in the cafe where we had our cream tea while the pianist played in the garden....

 

 

I have managed some bits and pieces of finishing off, the odd doll's blanket and scarf.. like this lacy one. I've also got a beautiful new fleece from one of our Wednesday spinners, Dawn. She sheared her flock on the Saturday and brought a selection of Shetland fleeces the following Wednesday. They were lovely. I've washed mine and started on it abandoning the alpaca that's driving me nuts! (Mind you I am about half way through the throw I'm making from it - I swear that the rest of it that is living in the loft is breeding, there always seems to be more of it each time I open the box it's in...).

 

 

 

Work continues apace, with next academic year's dates already rolling in - so it would seem I'm still employed for the future. On my last visit to Cardiff I went out for a walk in the evening with some of the staff from one of the schools. It was such a change from either having a drift around Cardiff on my own or retreating to the hotel room. We did a couple of circuits of the lake at Roath. To my shame, even though I was at university there for three years, I'd never been to the park. Here it is - can't really guess you're in the middle of a capital city, can you?

 

 

 

I've also been able to get up to see my mum and sister - their birthdays are this week so I'll be back there again on Sunday - and then on to my old school for the end of term. So we'll have time for an evening at their local tapas bar with plenty of Sangria. My excuse is that I'm practising for my holiday. We finally managed to book one for October - so it's off to Fuerteventura then!

 

Finally, thanks to some of the lovely comments you sent I plucked up the courage to pop into a local shop, Inc. I chatted to Emma who runs it and showed her some of my brooches and she bought a couple to try in the shop. This week I had a call asking for some more and I showed her an ice cream one that I'd made - and she wanted more of those too! Here's some of the batch ready to go down there today! I've never done anything like this before so I'm well and truly chuffed at the response, especially as the first two she had sold so quickly.

 



 

 

 

I think that's just about everything up to date now.... although I'm sure I've forgotten plenty too.. it's been that sort of time. So I'm about to settle down to some data work for the morning, before I have my usual coffee break browse and Handmade Monday then  pop down to Inc with my brooches. After that I guess it's a relax in the sunshine - long may it last!!!!