Special day....

Today we have been married 47 years. Normally we just say "Happy Anniversary" and get on with whatever, today was a lovely September day, the kind we have been missing in the dreadful 'no summer'. So today we first thought of going to Brighton but then decided on Beachy Head, somewhere we have never been.
This is the famous lighthouse and I have to confess this is towards the end of our day because first of all we visited Alfriston Clergy House which was the first building bought by the National Trust. We were just bowled over by the charm of the village and of the house and particularly the gardens.

This is the 'back' door

and the apple tree

These 'friends' were in the village

This is my first view of the famous "Seven Sisters"

and here the magnificent cliffs (see the tiny people for scale)

I had wanted to contribute to the wonderful V&A World Beach Project but, typically, didn't get the idea of what I wanted to do until we arrived home....ah well an excuse for another day.
PS. I even did some stitching in the car on the way down. Lovely day!

Excuses, excuses....

If you look at the comments on the previous post you will see that I am in trouble for lagging behind in my posts.......Well here goes. Thursday 4.30pm, we were enjoying a peaceful afternoon, DH was playing patience and I was finishing off the knitted blanket for Electra(cat)when there was a sharp crarfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff(right on cue Electra moved across the keyboard to her current favourite position,right in front of the monitor!

To continue.. there was a sharp crack from the kitchen. We are used to birds hitting our large windows but we said "That wasn't a bird". Sure enough there was a hole in the kitchen window....to cut a very long story short it turned out that our neighbours had suffered even worse than us. Some dear soul with a catapult(at first we thought air gun). It has been logged by the police and that is about all we can do...I know that since time began there has always had crime but one of the sadnesses of the modern world to me is the senseless destruction or defacement of someone elses property. Don't get me started!!!!

Friday afternoon 4.55p.m the computer crashed.....this weekend the computer shop was closed until Tuesday morning, well of course!!!!!

Sunday afternoon, 5.30p.m Oh no,I thought, here comes the cat she is going to knock over my drink.......no...I can do it better myself...Coca Cola akk over my brand new carpet.

Did you really want to know why I was behind??????

Last weekend was the Thames Festival. I enjoyed it so much last year I took a friend with me this year and so did everyone else.......it was packed. I may be that Saturday was the first time the sun has shone for what seems like forever.(Grey again today!!!!)This year we went onto Southwark Bridge to be met be this amazing site.




These lines of tables stetched the whole length of the bridge on both sides. People were buying food or eating their own picnics turning it into one huge street (bridge) party. "Gold" chairs to sit on, a centre piece like this

every couple of yards and a place "mat" at every table

Each one had a culinary disaster story on it. I could have spent the whole day just reading the tables. I couldn't find out who were the artists resonsible but they deserve some kind of achievement award.
These children were getting into the spirit of the thing, they were soaked.

My friend said, "I'm glad I don't have to take one of them home on the train!!!"

I found this on the excellent Bibliodyssey. How right he was. Feel sorry for the poor old silk worms though......
The Praise of the Needle

"To all dispersed sorts of ARTS and TRADES,
I writ the Needles praise (that never fades)
So long as Children shall be got or borne,
So long as Garments shall be made, or worne,
So long as Hemp or Flax or Sheepe shall beare
Their linnen-woolen fleeces yeare by yeare;
So long as Silk-wormes, with exhausted spoyle,
Of their own Entrailes, for mans gaine shall toyle:
Yea, till the world be quite dissolv'd and past;
So long at least, the Needles use shall last.."
[John Taylor, 1640]

Keep up girl.....

Still struggling to get back into the habit of blogging and creating. here is my Calendar Girls 2008 postcard for Val. This was the picture

I decided to go with the words and the coolour, I think we are all struggling a bit with the flowers. So what did I produce? Flowers!!! I made the little word plaque on fine aida and than painted the background satin and lace with koh-i-nor dyes. They were very dark when they were wet but came up these pastel shades when dry. So I decided to go with pretty and added the beads and the flowers.


Just caught up with what Purple Missus who has her usual bumper Sunday edition. Enough reading to keep me going all week, such fascinating experiments. The Maggie Grey who is tantalising about the new book. Sounds as though the whole experience is going to be really exciting. (My directory is disinigrating nicely) and lastly Sara Lechner had a link to the Mixed Nuts exhibition, what great fun this looks.

Bad blogger.....

I have missed posting for a couple of weeks, entirely my own fault......part procrastination, and we all know tomorrow is come, here and gone before you can blink and part So to get me back in the swing of things, here is a book cover I made for my daughter.

It started out life as an experiment, ages ago, on the embellisher and then I embroidered it to within an inch of its life. This is the piece before it was turned into a book cover.


I won't go on about our rotten weather as I know there are people who are suffering a lot, lot worse but on a grey wet Sunday when Maggie Grey tells you to slash a catalogue or directory what else would you do?