On a wing and a prayer

Time for a catch up I thought! Thank you for all the good wishes which I've passed onto Heather and Graham, they are much appreciated.

I was really sorry to miss the Craft Barn Extravaganza weekend and it sounds like it was as much creative fun as always. Neil Walker kindly agreed to take over my workshop at very short notice and came up with his own take on creating three canvasses using my Doo Lally stamps. From the pictures he's posted, it looks as though everyone enjoyed themselves on the class and put their own spin on what they made.

I've been up to various things over the last two weeks. I've been at Heather's quite a bit of course and spending rather a lot of time on buses (or waiting for them!) travelling to and fro. I also had my first stint as a Sidesperson at church...it went well....I didn't trip up or drop the collection plate anyway! I also caught a bit of Poulton's annual summer gala which was blessed with a lovely warm and sunny day. The streets were completely filled with people lining up to watch the various floats, musicians and dancers.

 I've been getting a bit more work done in the garden too of course, although it's actually been a bit too hot at times and I did fall asleep on my bench the other day and woke up after an hour! Guess I must have needed the rest! My biggest successes of the green fingered variety have definitely been of the edible kind....

 .....and everything is growing really well in the greenhouse....er....sorry....conservatory. I don't get too many visitors so I'm happy to use it for growing things in rather than entertaining. The tomatoes are scaling up the bamboo canes and, apart from one, I grew them from seed, so am especially pleased with those. On the left is the one, solitary green bean plant that germinated and on the right is a courgette. I have several of these outside as well, but the one indoors is fast becoming a monster - those leaves are over a foot across! Tara quite likes hiding in the mini jungle that has invaded her space!

I took delivery of a very nice box of tricks last week as you can see....

 .....the Spellbinders Artisan Explorer, lots of Media Mixage bezels, dies, foils and Ice Resin. The little machine has high pressure rollers so you can emboss metals as well as cutting. It's very dinky and it sticks to the work surface with a suction pad......I tested this on the coffee table and could actually raise it off the floor by lifting the machine!

I've been busy working on some pieces, making my usual mess in the process too of course!

 I'll show some close ups of what I've made when they are finished. I'll be demonstrating the Media Mixage range along with my stamps and various inks etc when I'm at Dainty Supplies in Washington, Tyne and Wear on Saturday. I'll be there from 10.30am - 4.30pm, so hope to see some of you there.

I've also finished the canvas that I was working on. A sneaky peek......

....just of one corner! The canvas, which I've entitled "Nature Girl" is now on my Etsy site, so do pop over there to see the finished painting. I hope to be adding a few more items to my shop very soon.

Tomorrow I am going to spend most of the day with Heather, but this evening I'm going to a cheese and wine event, organised by the husband of the Curate. There is going to be music as well as a magician and an undisclosed cabaret artiste....no idea what yet! 

Oh yes, I had a lovely, unexpected email from someone that I used to know quite a few years ago when David and I ran a gallery. We lost touch, so it was great to hear from him. John's an incredibly talented artist who specialises in painting aircraft. You can find his work here and I'm sure you'll be impressed by his attention to detail. 

On a personal note, Saturday was the anniversary of David's funeral. So, all of the first year anniversaries have passed now. I really don't know where the last year has gone - some things seem so much longer ago and others are as fresh in my mind as they were at the time. I've mostly taken each day as it's come along, which is exactly how David preferred to live. Some days have been much harder than others but I've come through them one by one and learned a lot more about myself as I've gone along. I try not to worry about the future and have decided that the words that our Vicar based his sermon on this Sunday are a good mantra for me to live by..."on a wing and a prayer". It's often used to convey something a bit haphazard or that just manages to get the job done, but I like the more spiritual idea of being carried aloft on an outstretched wing and trusting that things will be okay.

Painting progress

Thanks everyone, for the lovely emails that I received over the last couple of days. They were filled with warm wishes and I just want to assure you that I'm doing okay in general, getting on with everything and becoming involved with new things. The love that David and I shared runs through me like the words in a stick of rock, so, that will never change or wane. It's as much a part of me as the blood in my veins.

Yesterday was my time for contemplation and today was a fresh page of course. No gardening - it was cold and rainy here, although now the sun is blazing down again! I've been doing some more work on the painting that I showed you the start of a few posts ago....

....still a long way to go on this, but she is beginning to take shape now. I know exactly where this image is going, so it's just a case of getting the pictures in my head onto the canvas. One tricky aspect of working on a boxy canvas is working on the areas near the edges, so I find it helps to put something of a similar thickness on my table to rest my hand on. I've never liked working with an easel, even with large paintings. I prefer to work at a table, hunched over and close up!

Once this canvas is completed it will be going onto my Etsy site and I hope to have a few more items listed on there over the next few days.

Tomorrow I'll be spending the day with Heather and Graham and will pass on everyone's good wishes to them.

Memories...

Thank you for all the good wishes that have been sent my way as I commemorate the first anniversary of losing David. It's so uplifting to know that people have been thinking about me today. Thank you also for the kind wishes that have been sent to us as a family and to Heather and Graham in particular.

I spent yesterday evening painting a small memorial slate which I placed beside David's rose in the garden this morning. I spent a few hours in the garden as it was beautifully sunny here. Planting and watching things growing has become a very precious thing to me, so it was a lovely way to spend the morning.

 This afternoon I opened my memory box with lots of special mementos inside as well as all the cards that we received when David was ill and after he passed away. I spent quite some time going through everything and remembering all the events that unfolded last year and this evening I lit candles in the garden and sat beside his resting place for a while.

 I've been remembering lots of wonderful things from our life together....funny things that made me smile, moments when we battled through things together, times when my "Superdave" came to my rescue on more than one occasion.....lots of memories.

I've also been considering all the ups and downs of the last twelve months, the roller coaster ride that has made me a much stronger, wiser person. I've discovered hidden strengths, taken on new roles, made new, supportive friends and also become much healthier and fitter. I think (I know) that David would approve of everything...and I also know that he is still with me, guiding me through it all - helping me to know when to follow a particular path or when to cut off something negative that would drag me down.

I've been listening to lots of music today, as well as "singing" some songs that were, are relevent to us. I thought I'd share this hymn which is one that we played at David's funeral as we were leaving the church. Then it was a choral piece, but I found this version today, by a singer I've never heard of, which I like because the beautiful words are really clear.

I hope you enjoy listening to it, it's a very contemplative and comforting hymn.

Thank you again for the good wishes that I've received - I'll pass on those for Heather and Graham of course.

Rallying round

Apologies to anyone who was booked onto my Masterclass at the Craft Barn Extravaganza event this coming weekend, or expected to see my demonstrations, but I have had to cancel my trip at the last minute. Thank you to Sandy for being so understanding.

My family has, once again, been struck by the awful disease of cancer, this time my brother in law Graham. Needless to say we are all feeling numb, especially given the fact that it's a year since we were going through the same thing with David, which makes it seem even more unreal. We feel we're being given more than our fair share of trials to be honest.

Of course, I need to be with my family, especially to give support to Heather. She was such a tower of strength to me throughout David's illness and now it's my turn to be strong for her

Tomorrow is, unbelievably, the first anniversary of David's death, and I'm just going to have a quiet day at home to contemplate and reflect on the life we shared and the last twelve months.

My orange attire

The glorious sunshine has gradually turned into wind and rain again now, so I'm having a coffee break to warm up a bit...I nearly had to resort to turning the heat on again! What crazy weather.

I've just finished the orange Doo Lally sweatshirt that I was part way through yesterday.....

 .....this picture shows the colour better than yesterday's peachy effort. And here's a close up of the completed "Princess Tippy Toes" character....

 .....she looks a lot better with eyes! You can't really see the clear glitter paint too well here, but I also painted it over the deep pink hearts and some of the blue dots. It's a subtle glitter...not too glitzy. I now have the lilac sweatshirt to paint before the Craft Extravaganza weekend.

I'm all set now for my trip to Brigg for the demonstration at the garden centre there. It's quite a long journey with a few train changes and one bus replacement service en route - oh joy! I've not been to Brigg before, so it's always interesting to see a new place. Thank goodness that Thomas is eating properly again and seems to be really on the mend as it would have made things much more tricky for my neighbour who'll be looking after them while I'm away. No doubt there will be some sulking even so!

Tomorrow is the funeral of one of the three young soldiers who were killed in the explosion in Afghanistan in April. Fusilier Sam Flint-Broughton was from Poulton-Le-Fylde and the funeral is going to be at St Chad's (the church I attend). The residents of Poulton always show great respect when there's a funeral, as the church is right in the main square which is usually a hive of activity, but, tomorrow, all the local shops, including the supermarkets are closing for the afternoon and the service is going to be broadcast outside the church.

Well, that's a low note to finish this post on really, but I'll sign off and hope to see some of you on Saturday at the garden centre. Have a good weekend everyone.

Mid breakfast post

Morning everyone, I'm just having my breakfast and first coffee of the day so am taking the chance to sign in and say hello. I've got a lot to get done before bed time tonight, so I was up and working very early to get ahead of myself. The tummy rumbles got rather distracting, reminding me to stop and fuel up before carrying on!

I'm finishing my second Doo Lally sweatshirt this morning before I crack on with the "up against a deadline" project. I took a snap of the work in progress a few minutes ago....

 .....she does look a little weird with the white eyeballs at the moment! I have to complete Princess Tippy Toes and then add all the little extra decorative motifs over the sleeves and front of the sweatshirt. It looks quite peachy here, but it's actually a rather snazzy day glo orange! I'll take a picture of the finished garment later. 

A quick update on my little (big) soldier now. He had a full sachet of cat food yesterday evening, followed by his tablet powdered into evaporated milk, which he lapped up very happily. Later he was following me round in the kitchen so I gave him another sachet of food which he also ate, followed by some cat biccies! What a relief to see him eating and enjoying his food! He sat under my bench in the Doo Lally room last night, laid his head on my foot and purred away happily...obviously feeling relieved of the throbbing pain he must have had in his mouth. Whatever was in the jab he had has really perked him up.This morning he ate his breakfast quite happily followed by his medication - even scraping up a few stray grains of the pink powder off the plate!

Well, I'm off back to the Doo Lally sweatshirt in the Doo Lally room now! Oh, I forgot to say...I have glitter So Soft fabric paint now as well, so I'm going to be adding some sparkly touches here and there. Talk about going over the top - day glo and glitter!

Tablets for tabbies!

Just a quick post to let you know how Thomas got on at the vets this morning. He was very well behaved, going into the carry case with hardly any complaint and he sat in the back of the car with me with his paws through the grille of the box all the way there. He didn't complain at all and just looked a little puzzled!

He wasn't so sure about the smells and sounds once he got into the reception area, but he didn't make a fuss. Once in the surgery he had to be coaxed out but he let the vet look at his mouth and his teeth look pretty reasonable. I was hoping there'd be a black tooth ready for pulling out so he'd feel better very quickly!

However, the gums at the back corners of his mouth were very red and swollen and, going by his reaction, painful. The vet said that, as it was on both sides (more on one) it was most likely to be an infection so he's had a jab and is now on a course of antibiotics.

Of course, it's up to me to get the pills inside him! One and a half of them twice a day and, of course, I am going to be away for some of the ten days that he has to take them. We decided to give it a try as soon as we got back and I sat him on my lap with no great sense of optimism! No chance! His teeth may as well have been superglued together! He did a final Sabre Toothed Tiger impersonation and leaped off my knee.

Mmmmm, another tactic had to be worked out. So, the pills were ground onto a saucer and stirred into a little evaporated milk - success! He lapped up the milk and every bit of powder. Whew!

I realise that the rich evaporated milk is not good for him, but as a temporary measure to get the medicine into him it will  do the job. I couldn't very well ask my poor neighbour to risk life and limb (well...finger!) while I'm away, but this way it's do-able. Heather said she'd come and do it if needs be, but I think it'll be fine.

So, I'm really hoping that he is soon on the mend, though it may take a while to wean him back onto eating properly till he twigs that it doesn't hurt anymore!

Many thanks for all the good wishes and Thomas says "mmmmwwwwweeeayy mmmmeeeaaaaoowow" too!