I was right it has been a busy week

Monday I had  lunch with three good friends, Diane, Sheila and Jacqueline who is also my cousin. We met at the Tiptree Jam Factory for a lovely lunch and of course lots of chat and lots of laughter. Of course I had to buy a few treats, lemon curd and gooseberry chutney for me and strawberry jam for Dave. Well you have to don't you? Then it was on to the Cheap Shop, an Aladdin's cave for those of us with a weakness for fabrics  and yarns. Another treat for me some wool to knit myself some fingerless gloves and some baby wool (more on that later). Actually it turned into more than lunch, I went to Jacqueline's for a coffee and didn't get home until just before Dave, so I suppose it was more like a whole day out! Tuesday was a colour and cut for my mop of hair, do I feel like a new woman? No just a woman with very short hair! Wednesday and it was Lady Bugs in the morning. Thursday I delivered a piece of work to Caroline, it's being included in her groups exhibit at Jersey's Textile In Focus. The Material Girls are exhibiting there too, very exciting!

Liberation of the Heart

Today has been a quiet day just the gym and shopping.

I feel a lot better about things this week, maybe my feeling down is due to the weather? It seems to have brightened up and so has my mood! Talking about how I feel with friends has helped and it's amazing how many other people feel the same.......

I've lots of project's to keep me focused and the list is getting longer. There is the ERTF exhibition later this year, The Material Girls exhibition in 2012. And two other projects that have come my way, one of my cousins, my gym partner is going to become a Nan in July, so I'm going to knit a few things, so the baby wool, and I'll make a quilt too. Becky's sister is also having a baby in July so a baby quilt for her too and maybe a knitted something if there is time. I also promised to make Rachel a lap quilt, she snuggled under mine over Christmas. I've got it together and now I'm starting the hand quilting. I'm pleased with this quilt, it is truly a scrap quilt.

I have bought nothing to make it, the batting was the only problem, I  joined three bits together, the top was made from bits and pieces from my stash or leftover blocks from other quilts I've made. When Rachel finally gets it she'll see fabrics from other quilts I've made for her and the rest of the family over the years, there is even fabric in it from the first quilt I made. Who says hoarding doesn't pay? I have lots of bits left to make several more, I just need the time......

January Blues?

I just cant believe it's been so long since my last post, 14 days! What have I been doing?  Nothing very dynamic sadly. Last Sunday I went on a mini bus trip with a patchwork group I belong to, it was a textile sale and exhibition. The place was crowded beyond belief, a health and safety hazard, I'm sure!  I ended up coming home with some fabrics after elbowing my way through the crowds, but didn't get anything that I had really gone for!!!! I wont bother to go again, I'd rather pay full price and shop in comfort. I didn't even like the exhibition, (maybe it's me, I think I'm a bit down at the moment). When I went to the group this week the others were saying how inspired they felt by what they has seen, I got home from the exhibition feeling like I'd wasted a whole Sunday! Are you feeling as though you want to click off this blog now?

Suzanne Jarvis - Lace Maker

Friday evening was the ERTF Owen Jones exhibition private view and I'd been asked by the chairman to go along and do the 'meeting and greeting'. I was worried about it, (see above) I hope I covered how I'm feeling no one seemed to notice, and Beverley the other meet and greeter did a fantastic job.  The visitors and guests really gave the exhibition a great response, the work is so diverse, I loved it. The venue is brilliant, it's the first time I've been to Chelmsford museum, well worth a visit. Speaking to a friend of the museum he said there is a Grayson Perry vase in one of the galleries,  it's definitely a place I'm going to revisit! For more information click on the link in the side bar for the Owen Jones Project blog.

Today after a visit to the father in law, we  went to a quilting shop so I could buy the fabric I didn't get last weekend. When we got home I put some of the fabric in the washing machine to rinse and we settled down with a well deserved cup of coffee and the newspapers, time to relax. Lovely and quiet, then a strange noise started to come from the downstairs cloakroom, water was flooding the floor from the loo. Smelly nasty dirty water, yep! A blocked drain. Dave looked outside and water was leaking out of the drain cover onto the drive. YUK!!! Unfortunately our drain is shared with our next door neighbours and  the insurance we pay doesn't cover the work, it was on their side and they don't have cover. Expensive but at least the plummer came quickly, and now we can flush.

I've a really busy week coming up, so no time to feel sorry for myself next week.

All In The Name Of Research!

We'd a visit to Kew Gardens planned for today, after visiting James and Becky yesterday and telling them that we were going on a 'research' trip to get some inspiration for the Material Girls next exhibition. James suggested Limehouse Basin and the locks at the start of  Regents Canal. In December James and some friends walked from there to Little Venice, something we'll  do when the weather improves. Instead of the journey across to West London we stayed on the East side and took a walk along the 'Thames River Walk'  between Limehouse  and Shadwell Basin's (then back again) not a long walk in length but in time..... After stopping  to take photo's it took a few hours, I managed to take over 100 images, lots of inspiration. Dave is very patient, although he  said he cant always understand why I photograph certain things.

Dave being very patient

Obviously  we see things differently,  maybe it's just me, after a few days away with my brother and sister in law,  they said they thought I was strange taking photos of doors, grids and manhole covers.........

Lock between Thames and Limehouse Basin

Dave's always happy as long as there's a good pub or restaurant this time we went to The Narrow, this is a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, I must say the food was better than his TV programmes, which I avoid!

After lunch we walked round Limehouse Basin and the lock on the Regents Canal, then back to the car and home.
Sometimes I think I would like to live further away from London than I do, but I'm a townie at heart. To live in one of the apartments overlooking  the Thames would be my idea of heaven, at least for a few years. But I'll have to make do with living a 20 minute car journey away from the Docklands.

River Thames looking toward Canary Wharf

Creatively I've not been idle this week,  I've been working on a project which is now finished and just has to be delivered, I cant say any more about it at the moment. I'll just tease you with this........

150 Posts

This is my 150th post, my first post was in October 2007, I started very slowly with only one post that year? Since then my posting has gradually increased. My posts are not dynamic, not always about my creative work, I  tend to write about things that are going on in my life the ups and downs. Sadly last year there were more downs than ups but as I said in a previous post,  I'm going into the new year with a positive attitude. So a big thank you to those that read and comment on  my posts. I hope it doesn't take me 3 years to do the next 150 posts!

I have never been a great diary writer, I do remember receiving diaries when I was a teenager and starting off with good intentions then after a week or so abandoning them, blogging is different I dont know why maybe it's because I know you are reading them. I enjoy blogging and I enjoy reading other people blogs too!

A blog I would recommend is Pebbledash take a look, yesterday she blogged about Wordle, something I'd never seen before. This morning  as Pebbledash suggested I had a play, I put my blog address into wordle and it came up with this.

What a Difference a Year Makes

We did our usual new years day stroll along the south side of the river Thames this morning, between Butlers Wharf and up to London Bridge, not very far but enough to work up an appetite for lunch! Last year it was freezing cold but bright and clear, today it was damp, cloudy but mild.

January 1st 2011

January 1st 2010

I'm leaping into  2011 positive and with lots of new challenges! I have decided to take part in the Sketch Book Challenge, my drawing isn't brilliant, but I'm going to give it my best effort and see where it leads! And positive,  I've felt very negative about things lately, but things are going to change...........