Nice Surprise & Wet Weekend

I had a lovely surprise from Annica in Sweden this weekend - these beautiful ATCs - aren't they gorgeous? I'm afraid the background colour is not doing anything for them - they are really lovely in the flesh. Thank you so much Annica :)



Sunday must have been the wettest day for ages. We all squelched our way through the 'Naturally Fife' exhibition - a kind of combination horticultural and environmental show. This is only the second year it's been on and it's held in Dunfermline in Pittencrieff Park which is absolutely gorgeous. Everything was on in large marquees and we had a good time although we were really cold and wet by the end of it - the water seeped up through the bottom of my trousers - euch! There was a lot of information about environmental things - being greener in the home, recycling etc etc. There was a woman with a peg loom which was quite interesting - my other half assured me he could make me one (I expect he has forgotten already!) and the RSPB and the Woodland Trust were there too. There were activities for the children to do and mine got into the spirit of things..

Making a home for ladybirds to hibernate in for the winter from hollow sticks tied together (who knew ladybirds hibernated?)



Decorating a wooden necklace..



They also made nice fish from willow which they wove - Adam wanted to make a dragon but the lady said they only did fish! They wanted to make felted flowers too, but there was a bit of a queue for that and so I promised I'd do it with them at home (and you know they won't forget!).

There were some extremely large vegetables to behold! How white are those cauliflowers?! I just wanted to grab them all and make soup. :-)



There was quite a show of flowers too and a huge long table of bonsai trees.



It was a shame the day was so cold and wet because I'm sure it must have affected the attendance numbers. I hope they continue to do it every year. Oh, I nearly forgot - one of the best things was that I got two new plants for my garden - an echinacea and a heuchera - absolutely gorgeous, just have to figure out where to put them now...

Thank You!!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who congratulated me on passing my exam, you are all so lovely (sniff, sniff). xxxx

On the same subject, I was not allowed out of my bedroom for several hours this morning because there were secret 'goings on' happening downstairs. You can imagine my delight when I was finally allowed to see what my little darlings had been up to - bless them, they are so sweet.

The Sun is Out

The sun has come out at last today, although we have still had some showers. Still, lets hope the weather continues to improve throughout the week. Although it will be little comfort for all those poor people affected by the awful floods.

I have made myself get on today and I finished my bag (for a 'recycled' series/theme). I have tried to photograph it indoors and out and none of the pics are very good at all. This is about the best, but still the colours are not right - it looks quite nice really.



I also experimented with trying to make a felted vessel or two (the vessels without the pestles Alis!). The little blue one is quite robust but the brown one is a bit too floppy I think. I wonder if it would strengthen with stitching? Hmm, will have to think on that.



Did another couple of pieces of wet felting. This green piece looks better in real life, the colours are great and I think I might make a little cover for my mobile phone from it.




This piece also turned out nicely - I'm going to try and turn it into some sort of bag or container I think - perhaps with stitching. Not quite decided yet.




Tonight I'm venturing out to my quilt group - Bay Patchers. I haven't been for months on end and it will be a surprise if anyone recognises me! My long suffering friend Maria will be there, so we can have a nice blether and a cup of tea. Tomorrow we (Maria and I) go to our monthly textile group - this usually results in us marvelling at other people's work and feeling thoroughly disheartened about our own! Not only that, but if we need the loo we have to go outside and round the corner to the squash club to use theirs - not good if it's lashing with rain (or indeed if you get there and find you've forgotten the 'code' for the lock on the door!!!).

I've almost decided on the next OU course - it's a toss up between 'Enlightenment to Romanticism' and 'Creative Writing' - I must admit I fancy the creative writing one - (not that I'm any good at writing you understand but one does dream of a dazzling literary career like old JK Rowling!!). Eeny meeny miny mo.....

And finally, I must say thank you to all you lovely supportive people who have left kind comments after my 'miserable' post. I'm sure I will pick up soon - we all have times like these I guess, but it really is nice to have people to 'share' them with and who will cheer you up with a kind word or a kick up the bum (whichever is required!). Yes, I'm starting to feel better already.....'the sun'll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow.......' blimey, did I sing that out loud? xx

Thank You!

Thank you to all you lovely people who have wished me luck for my exam tomorrow. I can't believe all the months of studying (or avoiding it) are nearly over. I don't think I could take in any more information if I tried now, so let's hope it's enough. I'm praying for 'good' questions and a clear, focused mind. Roll on 1.01pm tomorrow!! xxxx