Beading

One day last summer we decided to go to Maria´s, our local restaurant, I enjoy wearing jewellery and as usual had some of my own beaded items on. It was commented upon and Maria asked if I would make up a board with some necklaces and bracelets to sell in the restaurant. It is a challenge to display them well with such a limited space available

 along with some earrings

It has proved quite popular and I was also asked to do several commissions

Since Christmas with the two weddings and receptions etc I haven´t had the time to replace sold items and to introduce new designs, so this last week I have been busy beading

The designs are quite time consuming, these are some of the latest ones

I have made a few more but not photographed them yet.  These have all been made from my stash, might just have to get a few replacements!

Have a great weekend

take care

xcx 

Floating

Yesterday I went to Javea to The Treatment Works, a small salon offering various treatments, including, massage, facials,waxing, nails etc but I went for a float.

This is the third time I have been and they offer two types of floatation tanks, one rather like a room and the other resembles a pod. As I suffer with a bit of claustrophobia I like the tank.

The tank itself is large enough to spread you arms and touch the sides and long enough for me not to be able to reach the end, the water is bath warm and of course full of various salts.  There is a shower wet room before hand as you have to shower and shampoo your hair prior to the float and again after, then the tank has its own door, inside light and speaker for relaxing music.

As soon as you enter the water you float so I found it best to use the neck pillow and just lay down.  No matter how hard you try, it is extremely difficult to push down with arms or legs as you immediately pop up again, the resistance is amazing.

So with soft gentle music for about 10 minutes to start, you just lay there, I meditate or try to clear and quieten thoughts and probably doze a bit, some completely relax and sleep. The sensation is difficult to describe but to float and feel no pressure from say laying on a bed or floor is so relaxing and for me takes pressure away from my body and constant pain from the Fibromyalgia.

There have been recent studies carried out for those suffering from various ailments, fibromyalgia being one of them with very positive results, although several regular floats are recommended.  I was able to acknowledge the pain, address it and love it away, ok it came back or appeared in a different place as usual, but other pressures were absent.

It is ideal for those in stressful situations for whatever reasons and a complete ´me´ time without interruptions or feeling guilty. In fact the client after me was a regular having an hour and a half and he looked rather like a very burly rugby player!

 At the end of the hour session I felt relaxed, quite wafty, and calm.  Drinking plenty of water afterwards to help cleanse the released toxins is a must, along with someone to drive you home and cook dinner lol

If you ever get the chance to float, I would recommend it

take care

xcx

To reminise

Another lovely day today, very blue clear skies and quite warm at 24C

I mentioned in my last post about the Pyrford youth club that I started going to in 1971.  There were three main halls, one dedicated to table tennis, the large main one, where other activities happened, such as the trampoline, badminton etc  and the coffee lounge, a nice place to sit and chill with friends. Outside was a small pitch, ideal for 5 a side.

On Mondays evenings it was weight training for the girls, this was synchronised movements but using a bar with weights. There was one boy doing normal weights, he wanted to be a fireman but his physic was not up to their standard, but by the time Fred had finished with him he sailed through and got his dream job.  We are all still friends today

My bar had 1.5 lbs each end plus the bar, not very heavy you may think, however when all the routines were put to music and the bars were swinging you certainly didn´t want to get in the way. Also if you missed a week, boy did your muscles tell you about it a day later.

We had routines to various songs of the day, Delilah, push bike song, where did your love go, plus others.  We would be booked for events like the local parish days and would appear in our uniforms to perform.  Sometimes the boys would sneer and make comments about the weights, so we always encouraged them to try for themselves, one they didn´t have a clue or rhythm, two, they would get only half way through and give up because...it was too heavy!

In 1973 I became the Captain of the team, and would be standing in the centre leading

 With our coach Fred Moran

Look at those long white socks!

We had our moment of fame when we were invited to go up to London to the BBC studios and do a routine for Blue Peter. A great day but John Knoaks kept forgetting his lines and we had various takes but all went well in the end.

As we were leaving we bumped into Dick Emery who immediately played the fool wielding our bars around and getting into the character of Mr Lampwick.

We had to leave for the journey back to Surrey as we wanted to watch ourselves on the TV  program that afternoon, no video recorders then!

I still have my Blue Peter badge for this, along side another one sent years before when I sent up a photo of our guinea pig, Pru, with her 8 babies asking if it was a record, they kindly wrote back saying they couldn´t be sure but enclosed a badge.

I still have my bars, must confess to being a bit rusty on the routines now, mind you even a broom stick would suffice to begin with and I cannot hear any of the songs without being transported straight back to those days.

An added bonus was that Chris lived nearby and would come up to the club too.

Maybe I should get the bar out of moth balls for some gentle exercise

take care

xcx

The way it was

Really sorry but ´hubby´ gave me the wrong link! hopefully this will work:

Our Wedding Photo Book Online

We met in 1971 at the local youth club, shall I divulge the ages, oh yes ok then,
 I was 14, very shy, and interested in the weight training team events, but did notice this boy who kept walking from the table tennis room through the main hall,
  Chris was 16 , we clicked as they say, he would leave his 6th form school and walk to meet me from school, shedding the blazer, due to the competition between the two schools and walking me home, oh the bliss of youth

A few hic ups along the way but Chris proposed in 1975, New years eve  and we were on our way, Chris was doing an engineering apprentiship (which he hated) and really wanted to be a  musical   entertainer, we ended up being a duo, touring in our local area to fit in with work, even gigs in Wandsworth prison officers mess, (that was an experience all on its own), but things got in the way, parental concerns over a musical career and fathers intervention meant a huge tear and we were torn apart.

Life has its way of dealing the cards, I married and had my two beautiful wonderful children, Chris ended up in New Zealand due to his musical contracts, our two families kept in touch, we were finally reunited in 2002 with the realisation that it was others not ourselves that drove the split.

Chris came back to the UK for a school reunion, his Mum said to contact me and that as they say was it.  However lives built abroad needed to be addressed and so it wasnt until 2003 we were reunited with a rainbow. In NZ, Chris had this storm followed by a wonderful rainbow, he said it was a sign, then a couple of hours later he received a phone call saying his Dad had passed.  He came back for the funeral and never returned. Hence the rainbow connection
so before you all nod off, this was to be the theme of our wedding, great excuse to include so much colour!!

 the table decorations, made from mason jars with lace and sprinkles

 our butterfly mobiles with rainbow colours

Tiny Suffolk puffs around foam spheres, ruched organza puffs, wooden hearts, cut, painted and decorated, lots of balloons, two bird cages filled with statice and gyp, sprinkles and crystals

I also made the pew ends from statice, sage, rosemary and gyp

On the table in front of the altar sat a remembrance candle which I stood in a glass bowl surrounded by amethyst crystals we were asked to light this and take a few moments to reflect on those unable to be present.

I had had the fore thought to put little royal blue organza bags with tissues in on the pews, just in case!

We decided to sing one of the songs we sang back in 1975,

I´ll never find another you by The Seekers

We collected the vibrant bougainvillea flowers and dried them along with some roses and lavender, made some cones from doilles and filled them for confetti, worked brilliantly

I also made spheres from different coloured yarns for decorations

On our return from Gibraltar we had another vibrant rainbow, another sign?

I found the two bird cages in a Chinese bazaar for 14e and just filled them up

I made the cakes, both sponge, one chocolate, the other lemon, there was very little left

Enough for now!?

Sorry about the layout and spaces, but the program will not let me change them around and as our connection is getting slower, I don´t want to push my luck

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter break

take care

xcx

 

Sharing our news

Hello everyone, rather a long break, for all sorts of reasons, perhaps most of all, just because!  Wow one whole year just seems to have zipped past and disappeared.

I´m sure I shall flip back to some events, but I thought you may like to share in our news,

We have been very busy these last three months, planning and crafting, organising

Chris and I have just got married

First we went to Gibraltar in February, getting married in Spain was proving very difficult, every document had to be translated and stamped, the time was taking an age and it was getting stressful, so we opted for Gibraltar for the legalities.  It was very easy, and even though there were no frills, we still enjoyed the ceremony, with Rebecca walking me in to the room and giving us the rings.

So with Chris´s brother, best friend, Rebecca and Antoni we had a picnic on the balcony then a photo shoot down on the beach.

We were going to visit the monkeys etc on the rock but the cable car was being refurbished, best thing as it turns out as we organised a private tour with an excellent guide and had a lovely time.

We also visited St Michael´s caves, which were outstandingly beautiful.  I really do not do tunnels or caves etc but was determined to go in, it was wonderful, they hold concerts there and the lighting systems made it magical.  When I touched the rocks I was surprised to feel it was very warm, there was a polished stalactite and the energy was amazing.

We only took video so will have to take off some stills.

We also visited the tunnels, hacked out by the soldiers, the history was very interesting but I did not enjoy these as much, in contrast the stone was so cold to touch and quite hostile.

So moving into March

On Monday we had a blessing in our little chapel in the Ermita, with family and friends, it was so beautiful, very emotional and we consider this to be our ´wedding´, 

Rebecca, Antoni, Daniel, Shine and Leocia, lovely flower girl, Chris´s Mum and sister

Well perhaps I should call a halt here before you all get bored

So after 41 years 1 month and 5 days since Chris first proposed, through parental intervention, life and circumstances we finally tied the knot

Here is the link to our albelli photo book if you are interested

http://www.albelli.co.uk/view-online-photo-book/ebbe716f-329c-4413-a34e-b1b1e68b37a3?utm_campaign=SFB_widget

so where ever you are take care

xcx

A little tale of the cat kingdom

Such a nice feeling, being able to open the fridge and have it bulging with fresh goodies and thinking what to have to eat, the new recipe of spinach rice went down well again along with the vibrant stir fry.  

We stopped off this morning on our way back from a doctor's appointment to visit the fish counter so today's lunch was fresh mussels in a white wine sauce, with a zingy salad.  I am determined to shed those extra pounds that have crept on, I know it's going to be hard due to all my levels being all over the place, but with the warmer weather creeping on, portion control and fresh produce it must work, surely??!! any tips gratefully received

 

I think I may try walking round the block each day too, its up and down hill so must be a bit of a work out, especially for me with the fibro, would be nice to do some yoga too, have to look into that

 

When Rebecca brought me back home she decided to stay until teatime today, we both felt reassured by being around and I´m pleased to say she is feeling a little better, so she has gone home to be with her girlies (cats)  We have put strategies in place for our comfort zones, discussed possibilities and probabilities, so all is very positive and forward thinking

 

I posted a photo of this plant on 29.1.15, where I said I would post another when it flowered, I say this because I can´t find the original one, but anyway it looks very pretty and is a haven for the bees who visit it all day long. 

 

 

We have a couple of other plants that need to mature, but in some of the high winds their pots were lifted off and smashed to the ground, resulting in broken stems.  I have planted these pieces and they seem to be taking, so, a very positive result as we can now dot these around to find the best growing space for them.

 

Last night our TV viewing was the football!

I am not a particular fan of sport, but as with all things give and take is in order

Last night it was between Reading and Bradford, an FA 1/4 final replay

Chris has followed Reading forever, and his Dad and Grandad before

In fact his father´s ashes are buried near the goal post

so it was very poignant last night for his team, that has been suffering its struggles, to reach this point.

so!

can you picture the scene, nail biting, edge of seat stuff

various comments of encouragement and then...within minutes.....

Reading score..............roarrrrr, jumping about and other whoooops.......

well....

there were cats flying everywhere from their safe little havens, where they were soundly asleep

wondering what the dickens was going on,

two raced the length of the house for the cat flap only to collide in their rush,

 others looked totally bewildered when they arrived in the dining room

 then decided it was best to see if any goodies were in the food bowl

other ran then turned and glared

they had just settled down again thinking it was safe

when.................

they scored again..........

the noise was so deafening it was difficult to register it was from one person

that did it

they all fled

every single one of the 9 - disappeared

have to admit so did Rebecca and I

there was another repeat performance with even more volume when a 3rd goal was scored

It was only after this when things quietened, did peace reign once again in the cat kingdom

goodness only knows what will happen in the semi´s

 

right, off to do tonight´s dinner

what to have, ooh let´s go and look

take care

xcx

 

 



Splash of colour

Although it seems a while ago now, I did enjoy my second hot stone massage, unfortunately we continued to have things go wrong, including having water cascading down the landing walls, down the stairs into the dining room and lounge - all because the electronic sensor in the float switch of the top water tank ceased. All fixed now though and we did have beautifully clean stairs (they are all tiles, so no damage).  At last apart from one thing, all the pumps and systems seems to be working, but sshhhhhhh don't say anything!

I had a lovely Mother's day (for the first half) as Rebecca had stayed over so we started off with some beautiful gifts, a fold away shopping bag, candle holders and vanilla scented candles, a beautiful amethyst crystal and a rose quartz one too.

We decided to investigate the market at Pedreguer, about 35 minute drive away.  It was very large and we only managed to see half of it.  There were some very good plant stalls and as I got a bit carried away, we had to do two trips to the car....

I also bought several plant plugs of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, and cauliflower, these were to go with the lettuce plants I have already been bringing on. A medium sized rosemary, a lavender and a pot of chocolate mint found their way into my box too.

This is a photo of a huge thyme plant that Rebecca and Antoni gave to me

We had a lovely break for coffee and a bite at the cafe, then continued on for the veggie shopping.  We had taken the bag on wheels, something everyone seems to have over here and hunted out the bargains.  We found strawberries 2kg for 3 euros, avacados 2kg 4e, carrots 4kg 2e, 2 large cauliflowers for 1e and 3 large heads of brocolli for 1e, they were the best deals but we ended up having to do a double run back to the car to unload  the goodies.  We shared everything out and filled our fridges with the thoughts of brocolli soup, carrot, apples ginger and lemon juices and smoothies packed with yummy fruit and roasted veg. A 2kg bag of lemons was only 1e, freshly picked and unwaxed, the zest knocks you back when you grate it.

Sadly this is where the day started to go down hill.  Rebecca had been experiencing pains and rapid heartbeats etc for a little while and on our journey back home had started to feel unwell.  The whole thing was beginning to feel very frightening so we ended up in the ER. Mention pain, palpitations and the heart and boy do they move! Hooked up to the ECG machine, etc and results and Rebecca whisked into the doctor straight away.  X ray, bloods, calming words, then the wait for results, but then they lost a phial and had to retake 'what!' more waiting, but we were eventually allowed home about 10pm, we arrived at 5.30, with the promise of chasing up the Doppler tests, a new appointment with the consultant and some meds. 

The doctor was absolutely brilliant, and very easy on the eyes!! he had total empathy with us as he had also been on the journey with his young wife, sharing his story with us whilst at the same time trying to compose himself. He was very reassuring, took all the time Rebecca needed and promised all the follow ups, he also suggested that this may be because Rebecca is trying to gain back her life and it could be her body´s way of saying no been through enough and not ready.  We shall see.

Whilst it was not the planned Mother´s day it in fact reinforced the very essence of the meaning, just being a caring, loving, supporting Mum ready to do whatever is necessary, and we did spend the whole day together.

 Jo asked  what projects we had been working on recently so I thought it was about time I posted something. 

 A Mother´s day card for MIL, I chose size 11 seed beads for the butterfly

 

A random mix of little motifs ready to be made into either gift tags or notelets

Miniatures have been featuring a little heavily of late, these are a pair of rustic garden chairs I made from bamboo skewers

I have been asked to take the next club workshop which will be making flowers and pot plants, so I asked hubby for an arbor to fix trailing plants to, space for troughs and hanging baskets.  This is what he has made so far

Now I need to make the flowers, similar to the ones in the garden above and design the garden, some will be thread, others from tissue paper, an office hole punch creates just the right size for making petals. Mind you glasses and tweezers are a must lol.



Just made some carrot, apple, ginger and lemon juice but it disappeared before I could take a photo, yum.  Turkey marinating in lemon, ginger, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic so must go and make the spinach rice and stir fry.

take care

xcx