Happy Accidents

I had an amazing weekend in warm sunshine and blue skies at Glastonbury.  Even though it's only really just down the road from me I've never taken the time to visit and explore.  I had such a joy filled weekend exploring the sites and soaking up the atmosphere.  I'll come back one day soon to post some pictures of my visit but for now I just had to share this coincidence with you.

I've been working away on my new patchwork picture, as I said before I don't want to share too much right now, but it features a big hill with a wiggly path running up it.

I was struck by how similar my picture is to this view of Glastonbury tour ....

... one of the many photos I took last Saturday.  I started the picture before my visit, it's based on a doodle that has been in my head for a while.  I've wanted to visit Glastonbury for the longest time and have seen many, many images of the tor over the years, and while my doodle is not exactly the same as the tower on the tor maybe my subconscious had this place in mind when the doodle came to me, and maybe knowing that my visit was imminent is what drew me to finally getting round to creating my image in stitch.

Coincidence?  Serendipity? Happy accident? Maybe my mind is just making connections that aren't really there, who knows? It's something fun to think about nonetheless.

Wot no cuddles?

I love my little castle, but sadly I can't have my cats with me here and I do miss them so.  Luckily they are being looked after by a friend for the time being so I still get to visit for cuddles with them every now and then.  Last week when I popped by to say hello, Pip was way too busy sleeping to be bothered with messy business of cuddles.

Where next?

Having finished my little bison embroidery I've had some time this week to think about what projects I want to be working on next. I have two in mind.

The first is a new little stitchery in the same style as the bison one, I had so much fun with that project I thought I'd try again.   It's going to be based on a image that I've had floating around in my mind for a little while now, of a little house on a big hill.  I'll be raiding the scrap jars for this one again.

I probably won't be sharing too much of the progress on this one though, as I have chosen to make it as a gift for one of the people that responded to my 'self' post earlier this year.  So I'll probably hold off showing the finished piece until I know it has been received.

The second thing I will be working on is this needle felted bird that I made a while back.

It's another of those things that I made then it fell down the back of the desk to be forgotten about for a while ;-)  At some point this poor fellow had candle wax spilled on him, fortunately it's only blobbed on the white background so hopefully I'll still be able to salvage him and create something that's a bit more 'finished'.

There won't be much happening on either of these this weekend though as I'm off for a weekend of wanderings in and around Glastonbury.  Have a great weekend. x

Glorious Graveyard

On Monday I took myself for a mammoth walk around the Gloucestershire countryside, it was mainly mammoth because I took the wrong direction several times and ended up adding at least an extra hour and half walking time to the planned route, navigation was never my strong point :)  Looking at the maps when I got back I reckon that I did 13 miles in all.

The walk took me down wide open canal ways.....

Through a fascinating ship graveyard

 Here I am playing silly buggers among the old ships (you would have laughed at me lying in the grass setting my camera and then trying to run in to position before the self timer went off!!)

 I went past the lovely, but ruined Severn Railway bridge

 This next one of the bridge tower looking out over the river is probably my favourite shot of the day.

 I walked over railway lines ... that always feels a bit naughty, even when it is a permissive path

 And back out to the banks of the Severn, you might just be able to make out the  Severn road bridge in the far distance.

 I also got to do a lot of wading through mud, down bridleways and through farm land :)  The joys of winter walking.

And finally just before I sign off for all of you out there who share my unhealthy obsession with texture, rust and decay (you know who you are) here are a few more shots from the ship graveyard, hope you enjoy. XX

Bison in the Buttercups

My little stitchery is complete, it's entirely made from left over scraps of fabric. The embroidery thread was all left overs from cross stitch kits too, a nice way to recycle and reuse I think.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  My first attempt at interpreting one of my own photos in stitch, I had lots of fun with it and can see myself working on more little pictures like this in the future.  I've mounted it on a canvas that I picked up in a sale a while back and have had lying round ever since.

On another note this is my 1000th post if you can believe it, who knew when I first started this blog that I'd have so much to talk about.  Thanks to everyone out there who takes the time to pop by and read my ramblings :)

Fun, family and fresh air

I've had such a brilliant start to my time off work.......

..... lots of laughs, and silliness on two great nights out with my lovely friends.......

 ...... even more silliness at the park with my sister, brother-in-law and my lovely nephews...... I managed to make everyone laugh by taking a tumble down the stairs in full view of everyone at the park - embarrassing and painful, lol..........

Today I have been out enjoying some lovely fresh air ........

... oh and lots of mud, the joys of winter walking.

I've also almost finished my little bison stitchery so hopefully with a bit of work this evening I'll be back to share that with you tomorrow.

Hope you have all had a great start to your week.  X

Love Actually

I didn't get time yesterday to pop by and wish you all happy valentines.  I hope you had lots of love and romance in your day.  I had a really lovely day, no romance for me but I did get to live vicariously through tales of romance from my friends, which is plenty good enough for me right now.  It's nice to know that romance is not dead :)

I received one valentine, picked randomly from a pack of love hearts but it kind of sums up my love life at the moment ;-)

 But my day was not entirely without love, love comes in many different guises. The wonderful people in the team I work with spoilt me with a beautiful card, flowers, balloons, and wine, to help me celebrate/commiserate the fact that I have been working for my employer for 10 years this week.

It's nice to know that you are appreciated and loved, getting through the work day is so much easier when you work with nice people who look out for each other.  In the 10 years that I've been at the company I've been through some really difficult times in my personal life and I know that I wouldn't be where I am today without the support of the good friends I work with.

Let someone who you don't tell very often know how much they mean to you today.  It'll bring them a bit of joy, go on I dare you...... x

Buttercups in winter

I have a bit of a hiatus from my city and guilds at the moment, it's nice. I'm secretly hoping it might last a couple of weeks longer.  It means I can get back to some hand stitching ..... it's been a while.

Anyone remember this?....

.....The beginnings of a little stitchery I started last summer, based on this picture that I took at a local farm of bisons in the buttercups :)

 

Unfortunately I managed to bury this among a pile of crap at home and the background I made has become slightly stained with ink in places, I'm hoping that it will mostly be unnoticeable once I'm finished.

Is there anything nicer than cosying up on the sofa on a winters evening, some good tunes playing in the background, getting lost in the rhythm of some simple stitching?

I have 4 days to survive at work and then I'm on a break for 10 days, am so hoping that I find plenty of time in those days to lose myself in stitch for a while.

Walking on water and other such nonsense

I can't quite believe how quickly time is flying by at the moment.  I have such good intentions to blog regularly but somehow there is always so much going on it never seems to happen. 

Since I last popped by to visit you all I've spent a fabulous day in London, I've been working out hard at the gym and have lost 4llbs, I've spent several evenings with good friends new and old - laughing more than I thought could ever be possible, and I've been out in the cold and snow enjoying the beautiful countryside and getting myself some rosy cheeks.

Life is good at the moment, my heart is happy.  Since moving in to my flat things have been really tight for me money wise, but in a way I'm glad, it's teaching me that it feels good to buy only the things you really need and not just spend willy nilly on the things you think you want, it's teaching me to open my eyes and heart to the new adventures that are all around me everyday.  There is no need to go out and travel the world looking for new adventures and new experiences (granted it's fabulous if you can) but all those things can be found on your very own doorstep if only you just look at your world in a different way than you always have, or take the time to get to know some people that wouldn't usually hang out in your circle.

Go on ..... go out and do something new today ... I dare you.  If you're feeling really brave you could try a little walking on water like this little chap I saw in London last weekend.

Devon Delights

A few snaps from my weekend away in Devon in January.

Kingswear Harbour

One of the many gorgeous seascapes from the coast path walk we did on Saturday.

Paignton Pier at Night.  (I was going to experiment a bit more with some night time photographs but literally just after I pressed the shutter for this shot the pier closed and so the lights went out)

Paignton pier at sunrise

crashing waves.

Dave, about to get drenched (although we are no longer a couple we are working hard to remain friends so I hope we get to continue to go on these little adventures together).

This month I have a weekend away planned on my own.  Not going too far, just across the border to Somerset, but it's been a while since I did any trips on my own so it will be fun to find out how it goes.  I'm also in London for the day this weekend, so hopefully will have some more pictures of my travels round the UK to share soon.