Spring clean

We have been having some totally different weather patterns, really warm and sunny then plunging into cold and rain.  The rain is still much needed and certainly allows the weeds to be pulled out easier than the usual concrete. 

Found this very pretty grass sparkling with rain drops

This was interesting too

Spent a lovely couple of days with Rebecca, girlie time, but we were very busy.  She wanted help in decluttering both in her home and the outside space as she felt it was a huge mountain.  Bit of a mission, we ended up with two trips to the recycling, made executive decisions, cleaned and polished and ended up with a very nice relaxing back courtyard using some wall art and added touches in the décor in the house.

Much lighter, brighter and a great feel good factor.

All ready for her guests next week and Antoni´s return

A good spring clean all round

take care

xcx

Mixed bag

On Monday I went to Javea to have my float.  I decided to have the 1 1/4 hours as last weeks 1 1/2 was just a little too long and seemed to wipe me out for three days afterwards. I´m pleased that this week I felt better afterwards. 

I have been experimenting with more bead designs using square stitch and was pleased with the results, although they are really time consuming.

More on the craft front, Rebecca and I had a bit of a production line going, she drew the shapes, I sewed them, she trimmed and stuffed and I hand stitched.  These are part of the decorations for her wedding, to be mixed with silver or white ones, 23 down, loads to go!

The first of our iris´s have flowered, they didn´t do very well last year but have obviously settled in now

We have a sudden change in the weather, the mountain has disappeared in dark grey clouds and it´s drizzling, what a change from the 22-24C earlier in the week.  Saves watering the courtyard though!

take care

xcx

A lovely day

It was my birthday on Friday, I had a lovely day with some wonderful gifts.  Thought you might like to see why I was shooed out of On the Rocks in Altea the other day.

Chris gave me a beautiful heart shaped necklace and bracelet, both amethyst

Along with lovely flowers and a card, rather special as it was to A special Wife

Rebecca gave me a set of beautiful crystals, set with a spiral that are interchangable.

One was a clear quartz, a rather powerful crystal good for healing and grounding, an amethyst, good for protection and a rose quartz, for love, especially for loving yourself, something we all probably have trouble with.

She also have me two hearts, one rose quartz and the other amethyst, (maybe a theme going on here!)

They are so tactile and when held up to the light, they have beautiful markings inside, one even looks like a bird on a perch.

They are both so smooth and energizing, Rebecca found the most beautiful boxes to present the gifts in, they are a gift in themselves.

I did receive other presents too, a very pretty waterfall cardigan, certainly one for best amongst others.  What a lucky girl.

Rebecca also bought 3 helium balloons but as she was locking her front door the knot slipped and within an instant she stood watching them fly away.....so on her way up to see us, she had to go into the town and buy some more, bless!

We had a lovely meal up at the Real de Bernia restaurant where we had our wedding reception, including a tapas of aubergine, lightly battered and served on a bed of light hummus, absolutely yummy.  Must give it a try sometime.

take care

xcx

Altea

Yesterday was a lovely warm and sunny day and as Rebecca had been staying over night we decided to go to Altea. The town is very pretty, the old part being on the hill, filled with little independent shops, galleries and cafes.

We were heading for On the Rocks, a wonderful place jam packed with crystals, fossels, jewellery and a lot more.  For Rebecca´s 30th we had bought her an amethyst bracelet, but unfortunately the lobster clasp had broken, it was fixed within minutes, no fuss and no charge, so of course we had to have a browse.  I didn´t actually buy anything and I was shooed out of the shop so Chris and Rebecca could continue looking.  It is my birthday next Friday do I don´t know if that had anything to do with it lol

http://www.ontherocks.eu/en_GB

We then took a stroll along the boardwalk taking in the gentle motion of the sea and enjoying the sunshine.

We passed a very authentic looking Spanish house/café

Then a very different approach, the bar shaped as a ship with the staff in costume

We were heading for Opera

This is a lovely little café/restaurant that serves wonderful salads, (amongst other things) so busy too,  the décor is all about music and has musical instruments including a piano being used as part of the bar.  So Rebecca and I  had goat cheese with bacon and Chris a Caesar salad.  They are huge salads including strawberry, peach pieces, melon and pineapple along with mixed leaves and the usual salad bits and dressings.

Rebecca was eyeing up the cherry strudel but was so full she declined.

We had a lovely day, note in the diary to visit again, have a great weekend

take care

xcx

 

A special day

Rebecca had her 30th birthday last June

We had a little surprise party for her, she thought it would be just the four of us and had no idea of any other guests. The restaurant let us decorate the space so we could make it special for her so we arrived early to set up and waited for her to arrive.

cake centre piece in the making using sugar paste

we did add lots of candles too

I wanted to make her a keepsake so I decided on a bouquet of  French beaded flowers

They are made using size 11 seed beads and wire then wrapped with florist tape

I´m sure you wouldn´t guess, but her favorite colour is purple, so this was the theme and I used tiny stones in the vase to hold the flowers

not a good snap but you can see the theme

For some reason we can´t find the photos of the close ups for the flowers so we will have to take a few sneaky ones at Rebecca´s

We also designed and printed a special newspaper for her incorporating all the news on her birth day, including meeting her brother for the first time
We sourced other relevant topical news, music reviews, theatre news and adverts for 1985 and included these.  It was a four page spread and made facinating reading

For any one with a special birthday approaching, I would suggest making one of these, not only a keepsake, but interesting for guests too.

We had a lovely day and Rebecca asked me to make the beaded flowers for her wedding.
She would like some for her bouquet, for the table decorations, button holes and probably anything else she can think of.  So the mission has been to source ´cadbury´purple beads as the main colour incorporating silver, crystal and lilac.
Hmmmmm

They are quite time consuming so I have started already, I even managed to find purple wire so the whole petal blends in
In between all these preparations I even managed to crochet a car seat blanket for the new baby
(some of it was done on the car journey to Gibraltar, take about fitting it all in!)
So we are still in wedding mode with requests for pom poms, hearts and more
Guess who is going to be a busy bee!
Plus the secret sewing going on in the background.........
Now breath.....................
take care
xcx

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