sea breezes

Birthday Weekend

It was my birthday over the weekend and as usual I was spoiled. Alexander came home from Uni on the train and stayed for a few days, Georgina finished school on Thursday for half term so we had lots of time together. On Saturday we decided on a trip to the cinema to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, what a load of rubbish! It wasn't even worth the petrol to get there, never mind the cost of  the tickets. I was ready to walk out after 5 minutes but we stayed in the hope that it would improve. Two hours later, it hadn't.

I knew that Steve was buying me a ring for my  birthday because I had to go and try one on for the size, he gave it to me a day early when he collected it from the jeweller.

 

I was up way earlier than anyone else for my birthday, even with the extra hour in bed when the clocks went back. I was very good and didn't even prod the pile of presents but waited until everyone else had got up. I have very generous in-laws who bought me two of the pop up Sizzix dies I wanted. I'm looking forward to playing with these over half term. They were designed by my friend Karen, she has some great projects using them on her blog.

 

 

Georgina gave me this cute little breakfast larder, I have plans for the little cupboard when it's empty...

 

Alexander gave me a Newcastle scarf from the Sir Bobby Robson match and a beach hut canvas for my studio

 

There was still a present left to open, not a huge box but quite heavy. I could feel a carry handle at the top and thought maybe Steve had bought me a new Backgammon case but I couldn't think why as nobody else plays with me, I have to play against the computer. As I tore off the paper I was speechless - a shiny new MacBook Pro!!

 

No just the standard model but the top spec. with 4gb of RAM and a 250gb drive! My old ibook needs a new battery and CD drive and my iMac G5 struggles with some of my photo editing and both could do with updating. I have to empty the room I used as a studio and had nowhere to set up my desktop so was a bit stuck. Now I can take it all out and use my new MacBook in the living room and get the room renovated, once it is decorated and refurnished I have been promised a new Mac desktop. It will be great to take away with me as I have been relying on my iphone to get online when I am travelling. Of course I spent much of the day playing and transferring data from my main computer while Steve cooked a curry for dinner. 

Alexander has gone back to uni, I am so pleased that he's loving his life in Newcastle, he loves living back up there although he still hasn't got used to the colder weather!

We are off to Hastings for the day, it's lovely and sunny so I'm hoping for some good photographs.

 

more art journal pages

I've been busy finishing my class for the Scrapagogo weekend at the end of the month and then playing in my studio with paints and collage to make some more art journal pages. I have decided to add some 3D embellishments too, I get a bit bored with flat pages and love to have moving parts on my pages. I added some earrings from Clare's Accessories sale to these ones.

 

 

classes

I've been busy putting together new classes and class kits for Kate at Pickleberry Papercrafts, lots of cutting out to do and much concentration. It was worth it to see the finished Advent Calendar class yesterday. It's been very popular, the next one is fully booked and only a couple of spaces left on the one after. The girls were all pleased with what they made yesterday.

 

I've been desperate to get on with some art journal pages, after a few days of preparing and painting my backgrounds, I can now start on some more collage. I wasn't supposed to be down at the studio today but I couldn't resist! I made these two pages, not sure if they are finished yet though (are they ever?)

The pictures aren't brilliant, I didn't have my camera so used my phone instead. The light reflected on the wet gel medium, I will have to  take better photographs when they have dried properly.

 

catching up

It's been ages since I blogged, I've been up to Newcastle to deliver Alexander's belongings and his scooter, ready for him to start University. He had a great surprise when he went to enrol and found out that his course had been upgraded to a masters which means he will be studying for four years before he goes to Sandhurst.

I felt a bit homesick when I came back, I think it was because I had left him up there and was quite jealous that he was not far from my favourite places. We are driving up to visit at half term so will see him again soon.

Meanwhile I have been playing in the studio, designing some new classes with Kate at Pickleberry Papercrafts and getting into the back to school routine. I have tidied my studio and moved some more stuff from the house but my priority now is to empty the old craft room and redecorate. Once that is done we will empty Alexander's room and redecorate that for Georgina. He will have to have the smaller room from now on.

I spent the last couple of days with scrapping friends, Anne and Jude said they were coming with friends for the midnight crop on Friday at Pickleberry but when I went down it was lovely to see Karen too. It was a great night but I didn't get much done. Helen altered a music box and made it into a Halloween theme, it's brilliant. Julie moved into her studio next door to mine, it's totally different, restful shades of moss green and cream with pink accents. I love looking in there but love the total mis-matched chaos of my own.

Yesterday I spotted a pumpkin field from the dual carriageway and thought I knew roughly where it was, after driving round the countryside I asked a dog walking lady who showed me the track leading to it, not 100 yards from where I was! The local geocaching has certainly made me more aware of the local single track roads!

 

I went back to the shop where the girls were cropping and he headed back for some photographs

 

 

It was a bonus find, I had no idea that there were any so close to home!

After a meal last night and a trip to the beach in the dark I came home for a rest, back to chores today and then class designs for Scrapagogo and Trip Down Memory Lane retreats.

a new chapter

On Monday I drove over to Surrey to drop Alexander off at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst for his pre-universtity course.

He was meeting up with his friends from Welbeck then spending the rest of the week in lectures, physical tests and uniform issue. He will spend time with the army throughout his three years at university before he goes back to Sandhurst to finish his officer training. He looked very smart in his suit but he can't wait to get to uni where he will be able to dress in his casual clothes after spending the last fourteen years in school uniforms.

caching again

It was great to get out caching again with Helen yesterday, we went down to the Dover area where there was a weekend camping event.

We picked some caches to do and found all of them, one near a windmill (now a residential property). Both of us forgot to get our GPS sets ready so we used my iphone which wasn't brilliant when there was no phone signal.

There were some caches hidden in a series around old phone boxes. I ended up in the prickly Hawthorn bush while Helen held my camera

then we signed the log book

One was near a church and as we explored we found a box of biscuits and juice left for visitors in the porch - result!

We met up with friends at the campsite where Tony, Sally and Mark kindly shared their barbeque with us. Sally gave me one of Tony's thick fleeces to wear and I really didn't want to give it back, I was so cosy sitting by the fire. I met some other teams and it was great to put names to faces, I think we might go down and camp there next year (if the weather is good)

ticking along

Life is ticking along nicely, the weather has been great in my little corner of the rainy British Isles so I have spent as much time at the beach as I can, just reading and swimming, mostly on my own because nobody else wanted to go. It's time to admit that days at the beach with my children are at an end. Alex has been working all of the holidays and Georgina would rather spend time with her friend. It makes me feel quite old but I do appreciate the time to myself.

I had a quick trip up to Stratford last week, the town was a little disappointing as I felt it lacked character, I'm not really into shopping and the streets were not as I imagined. I expected something similar to York, Canterbury or Durham but although there was some interesting architecture it didn't wow me. However, I recognised a monument from a visit to the Geocaching website and remembered that I had the (unused) Geocache app on my iphone. A couple of clicks and there it was, the co-ords were worked out over a lovely latté and it was time to search. I took a while to work out the navigation and wandered a bit but it didn't take long to locate the cache - about 20 feet away from my coffee spot! After a few caches I was quite disappointed when my battery ran out but I'm happy that my caching mojo has returned. I have bought some back up packs for future use and will definitely be using my iPhone for caching in the future.

I didn't take many photographs but I took these in my favourite spot by the canal basin. I'd like to live on a canal boat on day, when I'm a mad old hag with a scruffy little dog and the kids have disowned me.

Georgina had her operation last Friday to remove the plate in her arm. She was incredibly brave and took the whole thing in her stride (must be the Northern blood in her). She has a month until the screw holes have healed and then hopefully that will be her arm back to normal. She started back to school on yesterday, pleased that she isn't in the bottom year any more. I managed to get one photograph before she started with the attitude but I will get my own back and use them all in a layout. Of course it was a rushed shot just before school so I didn't realise that there were dead leaves, a dead plant in a pot and a bag of compost in the picture. Which just goes to show that I am not a gardener. I WILL do all my pots next year and have a pretty patio again.

I just finished a great book, sort of Da Vinci code but I liked it better, it's based on the works of Gaudi in Barcelona, so interesting that I am planning a few days there in the autumn to follow the trail in the book.

I love his work, but I have only been to Barcelona for the waterski racing world championships in 1985 and never got any further than the harbour! I would love to see all of his work in real life.

Finally I have been planning some classes for Pickleberry and taught a beeswax canvas class last night, it was a great evening and the results were lovely. Julie is going to put hers in her new studio (next door to mine) while Diane will add a photograph to hers to give as a gift.

It's chores day today then off to the airport to collect Alex and Helene, back from their week with Elina and Yianis in Mykonos.

sunsets

We have had some great weather since I got back from Durham, warm and sunny with a couple of very hot days (spent at the beach) and a couple of overnight showers. We went to Camber on Wednesday but it was packed so we left mid afternoon and decided to spend the evening at Tankerton, cooking on the barbecue and then a ride down to Herne Bay for the kids to spend some time in the little amusement arcade there.

We were treated to a spectacular sunset, it's just a shame that the tide was out. It's a very long way out at low tide and fairly muddy sand to get there - yuk. If only I had Bamburgh, the warm sea here and this weather I would be in paradise!

away again

After a couple of days searching the internet for a holiday cottage for a week up at Bamburgh that was a)affordable and b)not on a housing estate or street (how can they call them cottages?) I gave up. I'm not paying a month's mortgage to stay in a tired looking house when the same price will get us a week abroad including flights and accommodation. I called Gill to let her know that we weren't going and she mentioned that her boys were going away fishing for a few days, she asked if Georgina and I would like to stay. It was short notice but after a quick check on train fares (it took 12 hours to drive there last time) we decided to go. With the family railcard it was only £27 each way for me and £7 for Georgina. Alex was off to Normandy for the weekend and Steve had some work so he stayed at home on dog watch.

I love looking at this view when the train pulls into Durham

We shopped at the Metro Centre, spent a day at The Scrapbook Shop where Georgina and Laura did the class taught by Gill. We went to visit our mother who lives in this little cottage in the grounds of a castle estate in North Yorkshire

I think she was quite relieved when we left, we (well, 'I') tormented her the whole afternoon, we laughed and giggled our way through some old photographs and her old school reports.

I think it was all a bit too much for her! Georgina is wearing a winter hat despite the weather being quite warm (for the north) because she bought it the day before and liked it!

The highlight of my trip was a day in Bamburgh, this view of the castle on the drive into the village never fails to move me, it conjures up so many great memories, I think it is my most favourite place in the world. 

The weather was lovely, sunny and warm. We picnicked on the beach with hot sausage rolls and pies from Carters, an ice cream from Coxons and then walked along to Stag rocks to explore rock pools and collect driftwood, shells and sea glass. A perfect day. Gill's little puppy, Rusty, was very well behaved on his first trip to the beach and the girls had great fun running with him in the shallows.

We headed into Seahouses at teatime for chips by the harbour and bought a few nick nacks in the arty shops. A mermaid for my studio, some polished shells and a fairy for Georgina. We resisted some lovely mugs, knowing that we would struggle on the train with an extra bag to carry. 

Gill and I crafted in the evenings, she had made a couple of triptychs and I wanted to make one for myself. As usual, I raided her stash, used her stamps and inks and made lots of mess.

All too soon it was time to come home but the blow was softened by the fact that Alex was home for the whole weekend and the weather at home was gorgeous. We all went to the beach at Tankerton on Friday night then down to play in the amusement arcades at Herne Bay.

sunset

We are lucky enough to live in a little pocket of good weather, when the rest of the country has rain or snow it mostly bypasses where we live! Of course we get bad weather but the worst of it always seems a few miles away.

Saturday was horrid, Georgina had planned a beach barbecue to celebrate her birthday with some friends, we shopped on Friday for food and Saturday dawned bright and sunny. Sadly it wasn't to last and a couple of hours before her party was due to start the heavens opened so we had to ring round and cancel.

After checking the weather forecast it seemed that yesterday was going to be our best bet for an alternative date so we loaded the freezer with the food and rearranged the date.

I think it must have been the hottest day of the year so far, it was gorgeous and still 28º when we headed down to the beach. It was hot work cooking but nothing was burned and apart from having to send Alex for more drinks it went well, with lots of fun toasting marshmallows on the dying embers. To crown a great day we were lucky enough to watch a glorious sunset and Georgie has been inundated with Facebook messages from her friends to say what a great time they had.

We were planning on a week in the North East this month, Steve has never been to Bamburgh so we were going to visit my favourite places to show him. I also want to photograph houses and streets where my ancestors lived to add to my growing folder of family tree information. After over eight hours searching the internet for a decent holiday cottage at an affordable price I gave up. Many were ordinary houses in streets, we wanted something secluded, I found a few at £550+ for a week but I kept thinking that we could buy a couple of tickets to the US for Christmas shopping for the same price. 

I called Gill to let her know and she mentioned that her boys were away soon, leaving just her and Laura. Steve is busy with work and Alex is off to Normandy for the weekend so I booked train tickets for me and Georgina (a bargain at £70 return for us both!) and we are heading North on Saturday for a few days. Gill will have to put up with my snoring and stealing her stash but sisters are forgiven easily. This time next week I could be walking along my most favourite beach in the world, rock pooling at the Wyndings and eating delicious sausage rolls from Carters while looking forward to a Coxons cornet in Seahouses.