Out and About

It's been a while and I'd like to plead pressure of work but, actually, I've been out and about doing pre-Christmas things. We spent a night in Windsor on the way back from a business meeting. The Travel Lodge is right in the town centre so we had a lovely meal (arrived mid-evening) and shopped the next day. Then went and walked along the Thames - great weekend.

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I'll draw a veil over the lunches with various groups, suffice to say that I'm on a strict diet! Yesterday I went to London to meet up with two friends and we took in the Columbia Road flower market. It was wonderfully colourful, as you can see - love the leaves on these cyclamen. Great design source. I can honestly say that I have never been so wet - it rained, it hailed, it sleeted and we were wet right through to our underclothes. And frozen! When we got back to friend one's house we had to borrow clothes while ours were put in the dryer. Lovely to catch up with everyone's news.

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These are photos of the birth of a lake. It is sited next to an existing lake very close to our house. Although so close we only discovered it fairly recently as it is well hidden and seems to be kept a secret. We see exciting birds there - great crested grebes, widgeon, tufted ducks and lots of herons and cormorants. they are making an enormous new lake next to this one.

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Here is the stage they are at with the new lake. It will be filled in January if the rain doesn't beat them to it. I'll take pics when it is done.

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Tomorrow is exciting as it is the first issue of the new, combined, Workshop on the Web and Quiltwow mags. Here's a pic from Jan Beaney's article - she's got some great ideas.
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Having a catch-up day at home today.

HDD - It was a little mall linking the main road with a back road leading to the big West Quay development. Don't know the name but it was really pretty.


Pauline - I shall have to find the loo app. Need that one to go nationwide. My favourite one is 'Sleeps to Christmas' (always reminds me of Doreen). As well as playing a carol and counting down the sleeps, it also plays sleigh bells when you shake the iphone.

Thanks to all for mentions of Harrogate on blogs.

Up and Running

Back to normal at last with Broadband. Boy, do you miss it when it's gone.

Heather – Yes, I think Sue Rangeley’s work is wonderful. Her drawings and fashion sketches are so very good and we’ve angled the book to show how she moves from inspiration, through studio work to sampling and finished pieces. Then there is a section to show the techniques in detail. There is an excitement about Isobel’s book too, but I will wait until I’ve met up with her next week to tell you about that.

Had such a giggle about the book on the Amazon, JP. Hope it had enough in the way of pics to be an inspiration.

I’m still enjoying card making for the WoW gift subs. Sometimes the simplest things work really well – this one is just a hand stitched strap made from silk carrier rods with some couching and a metallic leaf.

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We are having new furniture in our sitting room and the mess and work this has generated is quite unbelievable. Emptying drawers, taking the cast-off furniture to the kids and getting rid of the spiders and cobwebs that had been lurking behind the bookcases, has taken ages.

I hope to bring you photos of my new look living room in the next post. The sofas aren’t coming until after Christmas – just as well with all the GCs trampling about.

I left Clive to it yesterday and went out with my girls for a spot of Christmas shopping in Southampton. Always fun when we get together and we found lots of good pressies. I forgot my camera and had to use the iphone for these festive wintry shots.

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Not bad for a camera phone and very easy to transfer to my laptop.

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I am loving my iphone even more than I thought I would. Have had a lot of fun in the app store – more on that later. Best of all is that I can now have Spotify – the music streaming site – playing on my iphone dock (I have these all over the house). You have to pay for the premium service. I already had the free version on my laptop but it’s a hassle carrying it around. Figure I will save money on itunes, though.

Did anyone go to Harrogate K&S? I don’t do that one but would love to hear how it’s going.

Almost Here

Thanks for the good wishes. I'm much better now. New Sue Rangeley book out in January and we'll hopefully have one from Isobel Hall, too. There is a rumour that she might do free classes. Fingers crossed.

Well, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, as the song says. We lost our broadband connection this week – first time in about ten years, so I guess we’ve been lucky. Don’t you just miss it? It’s not properly back yet – all the companies blaming each other, of course. I can only get on line on the laptop with wi-fi. I’ve had to use it in some strange places around the house and I think we’ll draw a veil over the episode in the downstairs loo. That was the only place it worked at one point. I’m at my desk in a quite normal situation at the moment but this will be a short post in case it goes again.

What a great excuse to buy an iphone. I’ve wanted one for ages and it’s so exciting. I can get on-line with it – yesterday I even got my emails but today I can’t. Will investigate tomorrow. It even works on the docking station although they said it wouldn’t.

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I’m busy making cards for Workshop on the Web’s gift subscription scheme. If given as a pressie, the recipient gets a hand-made card and the subscription details and the giver get an extra issue of WoW. Anyone interested get in touch with fiona@workshopontheweb.com

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I love making cards – do you like my mulberry bark angels with tassel skirts? Good to do some fun hand stitching in the evening.

Must go now in case it disappears – quit while you are ahead I reckon. Back soon.

Bouncing Back

I've not had a good week. A gum infection left me crumpled on the sofa for most of the week and not only was it painful but I looked like something from a Sci-Fi film. Half human, half hamster!

The dentist sorted me out with some antbiotics and now it's much better.

Two things have cheered me up - the first was the fact that we decided it was a good excuse to light our new wood-burner. Curling up and watching the flames was great, although a little too hot. At least this time we didn't have to open the patio doors.

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The second up-cheerer was the Yahoo group that links everyone doing our free d4daisy online classes. They've been turning out some really good stuff. Here is Doreen's piece from Lynda Monk's workshop.

This one is by Thelma from my lesson. Books were the linking theme and Lynda's 'mystery ingredient' gave lovely results.

Now one from Heather - love that binding. More will be shown and the next lesson is due soon.

I have managed to do some work. The next d4daisy book is by Sue Rangeley. Her work is breathtaking, based on nature. She starts by showing where she finds inspiration and then goes on through the studio proccesses to the finished piece. Here is a little taster on a rose theme.

First the drawing.

Then a detail of one of the pieces.

I think it will be a great book and the pics have cheered me up no end. I hope to be back in full stitching mode next week.