MEETING MOIRA!!

I have had a great day. I set off first thing for Cambridgeshire and spent the day with Moira. This was the first time we have met after getting to know each other in May when enrolled on the same e-course (Kelly Rae Roberts - Taking Flight). At the time we learned we had things in common and have kept in touch when the course finished. We learned:

* We are around the same age and share the same birthday
* We both have a daughter and a son
* and two granddaughters of similar age
* We are both registered nurses
* We are both passionate about creating and plan to sell our work


It was SO good to finally meet up. I had a lovely drive, no hold ups, no getting lost. Infact the journey was much quicker than we both anticipated so I do hope we can get together from time to time.
So what did we get up to?
Well, a part from chatting non stop we lost no time in looking at each others creative work. Moira has posted photos on her blog, but they do not do justice to her actual work. I was both amazed and buzzing with inspiration. In November I am going to Belstead House for a residential weekend. Moira is teaching so I am looking forward to it more than ever now! Moira is VERY talented and I loved the background papers she makes, they are STUNNING!
Moira was kind enough to show me how to screen print on to fabric. I had great fun and came home with lots of prints that I will work on. Here are a few pictures :



We discovered the stem of the ivy was too thick and left a very broad stem on the printed area. You learn by experience. We played around with different ideas and I love the prints I made. Thank you so much, Moira! I had a GREAT day and look forward to meeting up again soon.

Do we, don't we, do we???

All thoughts of posting a blog this week have been put off due to big decisions being made, followed by the chaos that followed. Anyone who knows us will tell you our home is constantly being changed. To the point where my sister, who visits once a year or so, will step in the front door and ask "where do I go?"
I had intended to post some of my recent creative work, but instead I will show some photos of the current work in progress and once the dust has settled I'll get back on track. So, what have we been up to?



I'd like to say this is the finished result. But instead it was part of my kitchen before the work began. After a major rebuild 6 years ago we have never felt happy with the layout and have rearranged the furniture time and time again. So we finally decided to stop being indecisive and to do something about it. It may work, it may not, but we know from the past that we can change it if in the end we don't like what we do! And so the units were removed and down came the wall:



















Since the cupboards are not yet reinstalled their contents are all over the floor, in boxes, on the table, and where ever else they can fit. There is a constant "have you seen the flour, vingegar, spices?" It's not been made any easier by a glut of vegetables that I picked from the allotment yesterday, and needed to pickle and prepare for storage. But we've had lots of experience over the years and take all this in our stride. I just hope when it is finished that we will be more comfortable with the new layout of the area that we mainly live in. I'll post more photos as work progresses. Meanwhile, I need to climb over the ladder and tools and prepare the potatoes I dug up yesterday. I've managed to pickle some of the 15 cucumbers, and chopped a red cabbage. That is now being salted, ready for pickling tomorrow. It's a nice thought that when we open the jars at Christmas, the building work might be finished and we'll be cosy around the log burner. But then again, those who know us might just laugh at my optomism!