Follow the goings on in my little world with my little doggy and our exciting new adventure of moving back to Cornwall in August and all the ideas that are coming thick and fast!

Check out Teri's Handmade Home for news about the things I am making for my next home which is still a little way off and Dulcie Days for Dulcie's take on the move and her other antics :-)

Thursday 30 September 2010

Friendship Vignettes - Week 4 - Cascade


This weeks theme is Cascade chosen by me and here is the photo that prompted that theme...


This was a serious contender for this weeks photo along with a few others! Choosing this week was so hard but I eventually chose this one...


and Maria's...

It is interesting how without discussing it we both took pictures of Fuschias and water! just to show you here's mine. Obviously not my favourite but interesting!


Pop on over to my Friendship Vignettes 'Rejects' page for the other pictures I took on the theme Cascade! and check out Maria's blog Maria Divine for her choice this week and also to her Photo blog Maria Sees where she has posted her 'rejects'

Hope you like this weeks photo's! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday 26 September 2010

New Books!

I went to a book sale and lunch at my dad's church today.

 Christ Church, Lancaster

I took 8 or 9 books with me to sell and only bought 5 back so that's downsizing...isn't it? LOL

I thought you might like to know what I bought and maybe once I've read them I'll write a little review! don't hold you breath though I'm reading very slowly at present! Just a chapter or 2 before bed! 

 'The Reading Room' by Ruth Hamilton

This is what Amazon says about it...

Leanne Chalmers has made a career for herself presenting her own style of home decorating and design on the nation’s screens. That was her past life, at least. For now Leanne has been forced to start again as Lily, leaving her name, job and marriage behind.
No-one in the Lancashire village of Eagleton has a clue about Lily, save that she’s come up from the South West with her best friend and a small child. But it’s hard to lead a solitary existence in a small place, and Lily and Babs are swiftly embraced by some of the local characters: Mike, the Catholic priest, who the girls can’t help noticing is easy on the eye; Eve, a Liverpudlian, who has a big mouth but a heart of gold; the hairdressers Paul and Maurice; and Dave and his love, Philly, both shy yet determined not to be cowed by Dave’s mother, the domineering matriarch of the village.
Soon, Lily’s new life is full of promise and as she joins Dave’s reading room, a shop come cafĂ© and library, she begins to relax. But then Eve is wounded in a burglary, and suddenly, Lily is afraid that her secret is out: her husband Clive may have discovered where she is, and, having left her for dead before, is now out to kill her…
Full of Ruth Hamilton’s unique warmth and humour, THE READING ROOM is a rich, compelling novel of love, life and courage. 

'The Orchid Thief' by Sarah Orlean

This I was surprised to see is a true Story which I'm sure will make it all the more interesting! 

A review on Amazon said this...

Essentially a portrait of John Larouche, orchid hunter and thief extraordinaire, as well as (surprisingly) supporting the conservation movement, this laconically humorous tale takes us into the depths of the Everglades, the forests of the Far East and the hot-houses of the rich, famous and crooked.
There are some strange asides, that illustrate the type of enigmatic person who goes in for the underworld orchid trade; tales of frog poachers, happy in their slimy occupation; capsicum and bromeliad growers who dump the whole crop in a fit of pique; collectors who also spray-paint pigeons' tails.In all, this reads more like a novel than an investigation into the illegal orchid trade, but loses no credibility for that, rather, it lends a more accessible quality to the book than it would otherwise have.
A very funny, worthwhile read

'What's so Amazing About Grace?' By Phillip Yancey


 Philip says it best when he describes "grace" as the one unique word that distinguishes authentic Christianity throughout the ages. It's what I need every day; it's likely what you desire every day. Philip's book will prod us all to receive grace and dispense it. The results will surprise and delight us.

'Marshmallows For Breakfast' by Dorothy Koomson.


 What a great title! Makes me want to be in their house at breakfast eating marshmallows with them!

After Kendra Tamale returns to England from Australia, she rents a room from Kyle, a single father of two, and looks forward to an uncomplicated life.
Kyle’s young twins, Summer and Jaxon, have other ideas and quickly adopt Kendra as their new mother – mainly because she lets them eat marshmallows for breakfast. Even though Kendra is hiding a painful secret that makes her keep everyone – particularly children – at arm’s length, life improves for her as she becomes a part of their family.
Then Kendra bumps into the man who shares her awful secret and everything falls apart – especially when the kids are taken away by their mother. The only way to fix things is to confess all about her past, but that’s something she swore never to do…

Sadly in looking for a blurb for my blog here I found some very damning reviews but as I tend to like films that only get 2 stars hopefully this will be the same and I will enjoy itfor what it is and not what someone else thinks about it. After all it's my opinion that counts!

'A Vintage Affair' by Isabel Wolff


Phoebe Swift, has just opened a vintage dress shop in Blackheath. At the same time she is coping with the recent loss of her best friend, Emma. So Phoebe takes refuge in her work - restoring these wonderful old clothes to their former glory so that they can go on to have new lives. But what of the past lives these clothes have lived she often wonders? What stories would they tell if they could speak? One day Phoebe meets an elderly French woman, Therese, who wishes to sell her some elegant dresses and suits. In Therese's wardrobe Phoebe also finds a child's sky-blue winter coat, from wartime France. At first Therese wishes not to reveal the coat's history but, as the two women become friends, she opens up. Phoebe listens to the poignant story of the little blue coat not knowing that it is to have a profound and uplifting connection with her own life...

I think this is the book I'll start with. I'm just starting up my own business and I'm sure I'll identify with the theme of this novel! How I would love to have my own shop! Online shops will have to do for me now.

Well I hope you are interested in my choice of books. Have you read any of them? If so let me know if you enjoyed them. Just don't give anything away! Hehe Or if you would like you can read any or all of them alongside me. Let me know if you are joining me and we can chat about how we found them, what we liked or disliked and maybe start our own little reading circle!

Thursday 23 September 2010

Friendship Vignettes - Week 3 - Seed


Welcome back to Friendship Vignettes! This week our theme chosen by Maria was seed! I went out for a walk to Wray with a friend and we found loads of seeds in their natural setting! It was so difficult to make a choice that this week I am including the other pictures that didn't quite make it to the official cut!



͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  

So here are the other photo's that I had to show you! 





I hope you have enjoyed our choices this week! Don't forget to pop over to Maria's blog Maria Divine to see her post and all the other creative things she is up to and her photo blog Maria Sees where she will be putting her other seed pictures!

Don't forget to pop back next week to see what our theme has been for this coming week! 

Thursday 16 September 2010

Friendship Vignettes - Week 2 - Patch


Welcome to Friendship Vignettes week 2! This weeks theme is Patch. I hope you like them. Please leave a comment and let us know if you are inspired to try something because of our little project! Here are the pics...

 

Don't forget to visit Maria's blog Maria Divine to see what wonderful creative things she is up to!

Thanks for visiting!

Friday 10 September 2010

New Brooch...for me!

My friend just said to me that she is going to make a rug and she is starting it tonight. See the details on her blog. Well she was making me feel like I should be making something too! And then I remembered I had made something today! And here it is....


This a gorgeous dress that I haven't worn yet because it is too low cut so I have made a pretty brooch today! In the spirit of reuse and renew the beads came from a necklace I bought in Sainsbury's! There will be a lot of people wearing that necklace but my brooch is unique!


I hope you like it as much as I do! If you do please leave me a message!

Thursday 9 September 2010

Introducing Friendship Vignettes



Welcome to Friendship Vignettes. This is a project Maria and I are doing inspired by Happy Snappy. Happy Snappy are 2 friends separated by distance (one in Scotland and one in Finland). Maria saw their blog and was totally inspired to do something similar as we too are separated by distance. I live in Lancashire and Maria lives in Herefordshire. Maria and I have known each other for 14 years now. Wow I can't believe it is actually that long but we met at a friends wedding and her son is 13! Oh actually the date we met is on our banner. August 1996! How many times can you remember the exact date you meet a friend and have a photo of you on that day! But then Maria is a very special friend so it is lovely to have that memory preserved forever!

So back to our project! Every week one of us picks a theme. Then without discussing it we go and take some photo's on that theme. On Thursday we swap photo's and then post them to our blogs so you can all see what we have each taken and how similar or very different our photo's are! This week Maria chose 'Hole'. Check out her lovely blog Maria Divine. And here are our pictures:-



Hope you like them! If you do please leave a comment!

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Crafting for my Niece

The day after my birthday is my Niece Caitlyns! So with my birthday looming I have had to get busy getting hers ready! So today I made her card and a headband to go with the gifts my parents were sending! I thought you might like to see them!



Hope she likes them!

Friday 3 September 2010

Me and Cornwall Reunited!

Well I though it was about time I followed up my last 2 posts by telling you what it was like to go back to Cornwall after 5 years and what Cornish Delights I experienced!

On my first morning in Cornwall we went into Newquay! It was exactly like I said in my blog about Cornwall...The sun was out, the sky was blue, the sea was like the colours found in the Mediterranean and I took one look at it all and my heart filled with emotion fit to burst! I was HOME! It was a magical feeling!


My next stop was a quaint 'shabby chic' tea room where I had my first real Cornish cream tea in 5 years! it was gorgeous and just added to my growing happiness and contentment and feeling of being home!


During the rest of my trip I enjoyed Saffron buns, Cornish pasties and the lovely Cornish Mead! Sadly not all of my party appreciated mead (I can't understand that! How could you not like mead? hehe) Oh and my favourite Cornish fudge, strawberry and cream flavour, bought from Presingoll Barns just outside of St Agnes. 


The total Cornwall experience was finished off by meeting up with much loved friends and finding out that despite my lack of contact we are still as good friends as we were and value each other's friendship still and just picked up as if no time had passed!

And so after this very emotional journey I come away with new found confidence, a greater tolerance to activity (from an ME perspective), new dreams and the determination to hang onto them and this car sticker!


I never imagined when I decided to take this chance and just go for it that I would have a truly life changing experience and rediscover all the things that are important to me but you just never know what experiences in life are the important ones so grab every opportunity that comes along and don't let your inhibitions get in the way!