Oohh had some extra unplanned time off this afternoon so as soon as I could I drove to see Gene.   We cooked lunch together and then sat

outside in the shade and ate grilled Plaice, boiled mini potatoes and a salad

of rocket, feta, baby cherry tomatoes and beetroot!  We just talked and talked!   

Ahh what a wonderful afternoon it turned out to be. 

I have to sort out my room this weekend.  It is so funny because I get so overwhelmed every time I get to the end of my 5 week slot.  I have to decide what goes back into storage while I  am on my break, then it all has to come out again if I need it when I am back again, what clothes will I need, what goes to London with me,  do I take something with that is easy to make in between visiting family or do I just leave it all in storage and take a book to read,  how much is acceptable to  leave in  the  cupboard without encroaching  too much on the other care workers space....... 

Another thing that happens is I see all the  wool,  lace and ‘stuff’  that I have accumulated  in my room and I  start to think maybe I should just throw this away and

 when will I ever get to do that and maybe I should keep this or maybe take that with to make on my break and, and,  .....

 See, I drive myself a little crazy J 

 

But in 4 sleepies I get to spend an entire two weeks with my incredible husband, see my daughter, Tammy, and Neil and my twin grandsons, Eugene my son and Jenny, and my beautiful granddaughter Jamie who is 8 and
 Nathan who is 6 and my Mom and Dad,
and we get to visit with a few friends for good measure!! 
So it is usually a really good break full of fun – the trick here is to try sort it all out without panicking too much!

 

That lonely calico and lace armrest cover that I found in the bargain bin at The Loom Mill, has been unpicked, really carefully, cotton lace always unravels so badly

 and has been transformed into a bit of lacy nonsense. 

I had to sew this all by hand!  Filled it with a beautiful smelling

rose and lavender organza bag.  

Smells like heaven in my room at the moment. 

  

 I embellish the lace with roses that I

made out of  the  pink satin  ribbon that I also found in the 

 bargain bins, added some pearl beads and finished it

off with a bit of  feather stitching and a beaded edge! 

 I am thrilled with how it turned out and luckily I have enough to make another one. 

Found a lovely little Village while exploring, a Village called Hailsham http://www.hailsham-tc.gov.uk/visithailsham.html not very big, but it has a ribbon of typically delightful Village shops running through the main street.  On my way home I drove out along the country road leaving town and came across sign posts for the ‘Old Loom Mill’.  Any old buildings fascinate me so I stopped

 Guess what it is still home to a huge selection of fabrics, ribbons and wool and the rest of the space had been converted to hold stalls rented out to crafters to display and sell their goods. Found a scrapbook ‘shop’ some antiques stalls and all sorts of other delightful goodies.

I spent an hour just enjoying looking at everything and came away with a single chair arm rest cover, I know but I loved the lace on it, two knitted cotton doilies, and off cuts of lace and ribbon.  I also found a blingy photo frame in a Bargain Bin - not sure what I will do with all these bits, but I had so much fun. 

I ended the day with a delicious cream tea in the Mills tea garden.

This little trip and bit of retail therapy has made me so happy.

Thank you so much, again, Karen  www.KarenValentineDesign.com 

I appreciate your help so much.  You are an absolute star!

Happy Fathers day to all the Fathers in the world, but especially to Neil, my son-in-law,
on his first Fathers Day.  He is a new dad to twin boys!

My precious grandsons, Matthew and Alexander were originally due today,
but they were in a bit of a hurry  and arrived on the
 4th of May instead. 

They are 6 weeks and 4 days old today!        

  They are growing by the hour  and  are an absolute  delight,
keep their Mom and Dad on their toes,
but the daily reports I get at all good.

Eleven  more sleepies and I get to see them and hold them again, cannot wait :-) 

 Matthew is on left and Alex is on the right, I think. 

When they are dressed the same I have a hard time telling them apart :-)

I used to have an entire room full of craft stuff in South Africa, I could decide on any project and go straight to my craft room and find anything I needed to do a beading project or a scrapbook page or what ever it was that I had the inspiration to do.

When we originally moved from South Africa to the United States I gave antiques worth thousands away and kept boxes of quilting material and scrapbook paper and equipment, to take to the United States.  Only people who craft will understand the craziness of this.
When we moved to the United Kingdom, a year later I resorted and managed to post  some  back here, but much to my absolute frustration, it is all in storage at the moment as I  currently work for five weeks  with  one week off as a 'live in companion'  to a delightful lady who is 88 years old.

I spend most of  my day in the sitting room with my dear lady and as I need to keep my mind and hands busy, I have taken to knitting and crocheting, trouble is because this is not my normal choice of  hobby I struggle to come up with an exciting project. 

Crocheting flowers  is so much fun and so quick to make ... so  inspired by the flowers I made, I went searching for some lavender bags and found some in the Village shop  that are only 2"  square and made these little scented bags to  make a top drawer smell delightful. 

 

Made layers of flowers in different sizes to make the flower luxurious, and sewed loads of seed beads into the middle of others , just to add a bit of bling!

I love lavender so so much :-).

Wow I cannot believe that I have actually set up my very own Blog.  Thank you Karen Valentine for your help. 

Hopefully now that I  have my very own blog site that is up and running I will be inspired to write on it.  This is of course a work in progress and I am looking forward to the journey. 

 Watch this space!

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