My boy.

I had a last minute trip to Aberystwyth last week to collect Jourdan from uni as he was not at all well and too ill to get the train home on Saturday. Although I was a bit nervous about the drive, I actually made pretty good time, just over four hours each way. Very tired afterwards but also very pleased to get him home and off to the doctors the next morning for a weeks worth of penicillin. Four days of looking after him and he is finally back on his feet and feeling back to normal. 

It doesn't matter how old they get they will always still need their mums!

Acrylic on canvas

Back to work!

Nearly 2 years after leaving the hustle and bustle of office life I am now returning for a years contract in Reading. In no particular order - I'm going back to sitting in traffic, back to having to set an alarm, back to working really long days, back to being knackered in the evening, back to really looking forward to weekends, back to going to work in the dark and getting home in the dark, back to working my little socks off. And guess what - I can't wait!!!

A present for Clare

A present for a friend I used to work with some time ago. Clare was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2006 and is an inspiration to everyone that knows her.

This is a painting of a black and white photograph Clare put on her Facebook page, I stole it, painted it in sepia and delivered it to her doorstep this morning.

Easy crocheted beret.

A friend of my daughters asked me to make a beret for a 12 year old. After looking around the net I decided on this one, using sock yarn from my stash. 

I got the pattern from here (The Adventures of Gingerbread) and just kept decreasing until I thought it was about the right size for a childs head, hoping it will fit and equally hoping she will like it! Mind you if she doesn't I can always undo the rim, take off the last decrease row and redo it slightly bigger it for Rhiannon.

In the last two days I have....

Made the following:

2 Onion and cream quiches

2 Caramelised red onion and goats cheese tarts

1 courgette and cheddar cheese quiche

1 roasted squash and feta tart

1 feta, olive, basil and roasted tomato tart

1 baked risotto pie

1 salad of chickpeas in tamari and paprika, with a yoghurt and coriander dressing 

1 salad of lentils, beetroot and feta

30 mince pies 

and 24 breakfast bars

Oh and dished up 31 homemade wholemeal rolls.

phew!

Bloody foxes!

Last night we lost Susan and Florence. 

The one night when I was away with the dogs we must have had a visit from a fox, for the first time as far as I am aware and I am devastated. My two favourite girls gone. According to my neighbour it was very noisy in the night and I really hope that the noise came from the three girls left and not the two gone, hopefully their end came quickly. 

Arthur

14 years old - who said he wouldn't make his next birthday!

The last rose of summer

Thomas Moore (1779-1852)

'TIS THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER

'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming alone.
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone.
No flow'r of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes
Or give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee thou lone one
To pine on the stem,
Since the lovely are sleeping
Go sleep thou with them;
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow
When friendships decay,
And from loves' shining circle
The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown
Oh! Who would inhabit
This bleak world alone? 

Sung by Deanna Durbin here

A thief in the night

We could hear munching in the dark and there sat a bold little visitor amongst the dying sunflowers having a lovely time. 

Home again

Home again and the ferry coming back wasn't too bad thank goodness, not that I want to go on one again anytime soon! We had a lovely time seeing Janette and Pete and it did me the world of good. It was a shame about the weather but it didn't matter as it was their company I was after.

We did have one visit out to The House of Biscuits. A tourist attraction really but in low season it was nice and quiet.

And all I brought was a bar of soap!

Well not all throughout the trip obviously, our car coming home also contained 12 vintage apple crates for storage and display, 2 vintage linen sheets and of course lots of cheese.

A message from France

A spur of the moment decision to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg was made this week. There's been a lot going on recently; my baby has gone to uni in mid Wales and I miss him terribly and worry constantly, I've had a wedding cake to make (previous post) and I actually went back and did a weeks office work too. So I felt a desperate need to see my friend who now resides in Normandy.

A good idea at the time until the ferry set off and we had a three hour white knuckle ride across the English channel. Now I need to decide if I am actually going to return home again on Tuesday? So far it looks as if Roy might be going home on his own and I'm waiting until the Spring when sea calms back down again!

We hadn't told Janette and Pete that we were coming, hoping it would be a nice surprise and judging by their reactions it certainly was, there were tears from both me and Janette.

The weather so far has been quite cloudy and cold but we did manage to have a nice evening walk down by the beach when the clouds broke on our first evening.

Stunning!

Rose and blossom 2 tier wedding cake

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to make a small wedding cake for an intimate wedding this Friday. No problem I said, what would you like? Oh I don't know was the answer, I'll leave that entirely up to you!

Well, for better or worse here it is ready for delivery.

A new toy

I got a new lens through the post on Saturday, new to me anyway. It's a second hand 50mm prime lens and although i've been playing with it and have some photos I think it will take some getting used to and a lot of practicing!

I'm especially pleased with the last two still life pictures taken indoors.

I love it and can't wait to have a go at some portraits, if anyone lets me near them that is.

Yet another blanket!

I'm thinking that it better be a bit chilly this winter as I now have so many blankets that we won't be able to move for them soon.

This one measures about 62 by 50 inches, plenty big enough to snuggle up under. I didn't need to buy any wool as it had been hanging around for some time (at least a couple of years), so not only have a de-cluttered a bit, I also feel a little proud of myself that I didn't buy any new, although truth be told I had looking online all the week before!

It matches perfectly with a chest of drawers I revamped a little while ago.

As well as with a cushion cover that I made probably about the same time as I brought the wool which has never seen the light of day.

This week also saw the delivery of some new fabric, but now I've chopped it up i'm not sure I'm that keen on it. Maybe it will be okay once I get going, I do hope so!

In the meadow