Goodbye snow & ice, hello sunshine and lazing by the pool!

The cases are packed, the hand luggage almost done, house reasonably tidy and the fridge empty! Australia, here we come. Thank goodness the snow has melted now! We should be able to get to Heathrow without a hitch tomorrow after all those anxious days and nights watching the constantly changing weather forecasts last week.

I've slept like a log for the last two nights and, between bouts of heady excitement, I've even been relaxed enough to make a few cards in my relatively clear craft room. I've got hooked on side-step cards now and here are few I made ealier.

I for Emily's 4th birthday,


a cute 'Heidi' one with decoupage flowers and glitter (take my word for it - they don't show up well in the picture)


and another using a left-over wire flower from last week's efforts


Even my knee is much better and I have managed to hobble to the local shops and back and also get to Slimming Club to check I'd lost my Christmas excess. All that lovely fresh fruit, salads and vegetables, sea-food and BBQ kangaroo steaks should keep me on track even if the exercise regime is on hold for a while. I'd better not overdo the Chardonnay and Merlot - little and often should be OK.

It's a New Year

Well, I've been housebound for most of the last month - firstly with a badly damaged knee and then because we're snowed in! The snow was very pretty to look at at first but the novelty is now wearing thin. Our road is impassible for anything other than a 4-wheel drive and we're some distance from a gritted surface. Food stocks are running low so the diet is going well.

I'm watching the weather forecasts anxiously as we're off to Australia in just under a week's time. Getting to the airport could be a bit of a problem as, even there are trains, we can't get to the station with our luggage. The planned lift could also be difficult as my son's car is stuck in snow on his hilly driveway. We may have to drag our cases down 2 roads and pick up a hired car. Hopefully it will thaw a bit before then or I'll wake up and find it was all a bad dream.

When we do eventually get to Australia it will be to a heatwave as they are currently experiencing temperatures in the low 40s. The local koala was so thirsty he came down from the eucalyptus tree and drank water from a ladle

History seems to be repeating itself as the same thing happened to us last February. Talk about one extreme to another. We'll stand out like sore thumbs as we will be the only people arriving at Adelaide airport to 43 degrees wearing fur hats, thick cardies, gloves and Ugg boots!

I may have to walk with a stick at present and can't manage anything more than a couple of hundred yards yet, but as long as I can get in and out of the pool I'll be a happy bunny.

Working with Wire

I was browsing through the contents of my craft cupboards and came across a couple of articles I wrote over three years ago for Simply Stamping & Papercraft Magazine. It spurred me on to revive this fun technique and I plan to do a class on wire flowers early in the New Year. I found some black and white seed beads so couldn't resist making a cute bee too. Here are the first few samples

Happy New Year

As I was late wishing you all a Merry Christmas, may I be the first to wish you all A Happy and Healthy New Year!

News round-up

Well, I hope you all had a good Christmas and are looking forward to a great 2010. It's been ages since I posted on here so here's an update to finish the year.

After a long wet Summer and no holiday since February we decided to take a short break at the end of October. The chosen destination was a lovely hotel near Woodbridge, Suffolk, which we used as a base to tour the coast and countryside - so beautiful dressed in autumn colours! Visted all the usual tourist haunts - Aldburgh, Snape Maltings, Framlingham, Southwold and Thorpness. We came home via Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge taking advantage of the 'Park and Ride' to get to the heart of the city without the hastle of parking.
Here are a few pictures!






This short break was so successful we decided to take another one at the end of November. This time we chose Winchester as our destination to take advantage of the Christmas Markets, including the lantern parade and official opening on the Friday night and a beautiful Advent carol service at the Cathedral on the Saturday. Once again the hotel had great facilities including a Spa, gym and pool. We chose to eat out sampling Italian, Thai, a pub-lunch and a dim sum banquet.







We are now counting down the days until we fly out to visit the family in Australia - less than three weeks now! I just hope I will be a bit more mobile as I damaged my knee very badly a few weeks ago being over-zealous in the gym! I have torn/strained/pulled tendons, ligaments, muscles and possibly (though hopefully not)cartilage. Have had X-Rays but am waiting to get an MRI scan to assess the extent of the damage. in the meantime it lots of visits to the Osteopath, ice-packs and plenty of rest with the leg elevated!

Surrey Photos

Another sunny week has past and I'm enjoying this Autumn weather - so different from all the rain and gloom last month. Haven't spent much time in the craft room but have been out and about taking photos. Its funny how you miss all the wonderful views and places right on the doorstep. All the photos that follow are within a 10 mile radius of my home. Keep meaning to get up early and take a picture of the grandstand in the misty morning but haven't made it yet!





After such a dismal August the last week has been fabulous - cloudless blue skies and sunshine all the way. have been out for several walks around the beautiful Surrey countryside and also along the towpath of the River Thames from Kingston. Topping up on the sun before winter sets in and I go back to my usual 'SAD' state.





Enjoyed my walk to Box Hill and the Stepping Stones and also managed to see James May's Lego House before it was totally demolished at Denbies Vineyard




Its hard to believe that his time last week I was working flat out at a craft exhibition at Sandown Racecourse but today I've been relaxing in the garden in glorious sunshine and temperatures of nearly 22 degrees!