Home

This is home (well actually my house isn’t on this picture – it’s about a mile down the valley to the left).  But this is my closest village (photographed on Friday) - nestled right onto the side of the hills.  It wasn’t ever the plan that a little obscure place called Wooler would become home.  But home it is.

  

This used to be home for a few years in the early 1990’s

   

DS and I are heading there for a few days because he wants to see….

We are leaving DH to deal with end of year accounts and business things.

On Thursday evening I shall come running and screaming north - back to the hills and peace and quiet and sheep and friends and Wooler and my home.

And hopefully some foundations on the shed!

Demolition Day

8.30am this morning

9.00am

4pm

Saved more items – friends pics (yes Anne and Tina they are safe!!), a chair, two pine bookcases and a small bookcase, some fabrics and other bits.  The house is a tip again! 
Am exhausted now after moving everything again.  Now it all stops again for a while as we get the base sorted.

I spent the morning at a textile group meeting and it was Janet’s birthday. 
Cake all around and a good laugh.

I wonder if…..

I am living in some sort of disaster area here!

We just missed this crash this morning at the end of our lane.  No one was hurt thank goodness but both cars are totally written off.

 

The garden is finally undergoing a transformation.

DS offered to help my gardeners laying gravel and planting a laurel hedge and some shrubs.  The delivery truck just managed to get the gravel over the fence but he was at a precarious angle. 

Look how wonderful the weather can be here, so warm and sunny – snow up on the high hills. 
This is the Ingram Valley, a few miles from home.  DS and I went for a short (steep) walk.

Are you wondering what happened to my mini-break?  It didn’t happen as DS started puking at 6am and finished about 4pm on the day we were meant to leave.  So instead of spa, beach and reading Vogue by the pool I was nursing a sick child.  Even worse we lost our money as it was an advanced booking.  He’s fine now and back to normal.  Poor kid.

Great news though – the Horn Cabinet has arrived!  yes!!!!  It JUST fits in the room.

Lambing Part 2

Working to a deadline

Eleanor Roosevelt from Quotes on Design by Chris Coyier

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself”.

I just love that quote.

Well, its been a very busy two weeks, hence no blogging.  I’m teaching a course for the WSD in August 2011 in Edinburgh, where I proposed to teach a variation on my original Towers of Flowers

When I put in the proposal I notes that I couldn’t show them actual pictures of the new towers because of the studio situation (it was all in my head in fine detail and colour).

Well last week I had an email asking for photo’s by the 23rd April for the Journal!!!  Panic.  I never dreamt they would ask for this 18 months in advance and 3 weeks is short notice for a labour intensive project.

So, 3 weeks notice, two of which are school holiday weeks (so I’m mum 24/7), with a few days away and the third week I’m out for 3 days with other commitments.

So I’ve had to work after 6pm when DH finishes his work and all weekends. 
Not quite the relaxing holiday I was envisaging.

Here I am beading and watching podcasts on the Ipod….

 

Painting paper with moonshadow mists and gold acrylic paint….

 

About to start construction….I’m almost finished now but have run out of brads and despite a 100mile round trip to Hobbycraft I still don’t have any.  I’ve sourced some on the web and hope they arrive quickly.
Once I have the brads I have a few hours work and then I’m finished and ready to photograph.

I’ve put my bright cheery bunting up at the windows as I was beginning to feel as if I was in a prison cell….

During the week days DS and I have been playing all sorts of new games – target practise, trampoline games, going for walks and looking at sheep. 
Today we are getting arty and then DS and I are packing our bags for a trip.

 

More sheep pictures to follow, cute as ever.

Xpandaprint and fish fingers

Never try to use Xpandaprint whilst cooking fish fingers and rice.

You might forget to expand before painting…..

Don’t ask me how I know.

V&A Quilt of quilts

It’s not just me!  Everyone can do it – go on …… upload a quilt to the V&A web site.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/quilts/

V&A exhibition

If you read any UK quilting blogs / Liberty’s blog etc you’ll know that the V&A have a quilt exhibition.
On the web site you can add your quilt to their "image quilt"
http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/quilts/upload

Though not many of my “quilts” fit well into this close up square format.

 

Sheep

I love sheep – I could stand and watch them for hours.  Dozy they might be, but they have such personality.  These were taken today – its been sunny, but still freezing with a sprinkle of snow, not good for these little creatures and the mortality rates are suffering with the weather.

BTW the sunlit photos are hardly tweaked with Photoshop – in the new shed the light falls against the back wall, it was just beautiful and the sheep posed beautifully.

Are you ready for LOTS of sheep pictures?

Postnatal care

 

Prenatal care