Merry Christmas !

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2015!  Hope Santa brought you lots of good things.  My attempts to take a "selfie" of Mia and I failed miserably, so here's the best I could get ......

 Mia being rather cheeky under the Xmas Tree!

 Lovely decorations for my tree from Lindsay

A selection of some of the lovely goodies I received today

One of Lindsay's gorgeous canvasses ..... already got it on display!

A few weeks have passed now ......

...... since I last posted on the anniversary of Graham's death. Just been pottering along since then mostly, but for the past couple of weeks I've had a horrid cold that's been a bit stubborn to shift, it just dragged on and on, beginning with an innocuous sore throat, and despite dosing myself up with honey (to soothe my throat) and various cold remedies, it was determined to run its course (including a nasty 24-hour norovirus episode as well)!  So I spent most of the time "lolling around" on the sofa, catching up on TV programmes I'd recorded or doing a bit of knitting when the mood struck (creative and productive, but doesn't need too much thinking or imagination when my head's all fuzzy)!  

However, by this weekend I was feeling much better, much more energised again, and just as well because Monday night I went with Lindsay to the operatic production of "Madame Butterfly" at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool.  I'd bought tickets for us to see this back in July as part of Lindsay's birthday gifts - Lindsay is a huge fan of opera, but for me, it was a new experience, having never been before and not being particularly keen on opera myself.  Anyway, we began the evening with a delicious meal at Nando's, one of our favourite eating places, which is situated just opposite the theatre so we didn't have far to walk after we'd eaten! 

I went with an open mind, not really knowing what to expect. Lindsay absolutely loved the evening, teary-eyed all the way through, clapping and cheering along with the rest of the audience.  For myself, although I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful costumes and the scenic backdrops, and the Grand itself is a wonderful old building. I'm afraid I remained unmoved by the opera, music and singing itself - and despite my best efforts, have come to the conclusion that opera really just is not for me (sorry, Lindsay, I know I'm a Philistine in your eyes, but I really did try - give me a rock concert any day instead *LOL*) !  Well, at least I know now ......

 

When I uploaded these photos to my computer I noticed all the indoor shots in the Grand show a series of orbs - I know it's an old theatre, rumoured to be haunted, but I suspect these "orbs" are not of a ghostly nature but caused by condensation droplets (maybe) having come into a warm, dry atmosphere from a very wet and rainy night outside!  

A year has gone by .....

..... where did the time go?

REMEMBER ME IN YOUR HEART

8th October 2013

To the living, I am gone,

To the sorrowful, I will never return,

To the angry, I was cheated,

But to the happy, I am at peace,

And to the faithful, I have never left.

I cannot speak, but I can listen.

I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.

So as you stand upon a shore gazing at a beautiful sea ...

As you look upon a flower and admire its simplicity ...

Remember me.

Remember me in your heart:

Your thoughts, and your memories,

Of the times we loved,

The times we cried,

The times we fought,

The times we laughed.

For if you always think of me,

I will never have gone.

A Day Out ....

On Saturday I headed over to Port Sunlight on the Wirral, to the Happy Stamper Festival being held in Hulme Hall there.  Lindsay was demonstrating stamping techniques and also displaying some of her own recent art canvasses, which proved to be extremely popular - they are rather gorgeous!  My apparent role was to be "gofer" for the day and more or less the first thing I was greeted with when I arrived was "go grab me a black coffee, I haven't had one yet - please" - I also had to man the stand whilst Lindsay disappeared for a bite of lunch - but I did get to have a look round what is an extremely busy stamping fair.  Picked up some grunge paste and an assortment of metal bits and pieces, ideal for altered art work and at a real bargain price!

 Lindsay, concentrating hard

 .... and explaining something technical !

 Samples of Lindsay's beautiful canvasses

(the notebook was a particular favourite of everybody's)

 

Lindsay and I (still smiling at the end of a very busy day)!

By the time I arrived home - via train and taxi - it had already turned pitch-black, even though it was only around 7.30 pm) - just time to pick up a naughty "chippy tea" and settle down, in comfy PJ's, to watch "Strictly Come Dancing".  A good day !

Here's a "Secret" ....

..... Box, that is !  Decided to post pics of the "Secrets" box now that it's finished, as I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it. May end up as a Christmas gift or I may keep it, we'll see.

Anyway, here it is .... and hopefully it'll kick-start me into making some more "art" stuff again - it's about time I did !

Hope you like!

A Chill in the Air ......

....... with the Autumnal Equinox on Tuesday, seems we are definitely into autumn now, certainly I've had to put the heating on a couple of times over the past day or two and today is particularly grey and dull. Hence - I am in the mood for building up my stash of colourful socks to keep my toes warm during chillier days ......

 Recently completed ..... I love these!

 Currently on the needles ........

..... including this bright and chunky jumper,

which will definitely be keeping me warm come winter time!

I've also now finished the box that I began whilst round at Lindsay's the other day, I'm quite pleased with the result, but can't upload photos of it just yet!  Now I'm trying to get inspired to do a similar makeover on another box I have (well, it's in the form of a stack of three papier mache books with the top cover opening to reveal an inner hidey-hole).  At the moment I'm thinking Victorian, science, mechanical, fossils, entomology ..... rather steampunkish anyway.  But I've just got to let the ideas mull for a little while.

A Messy Day

Spent the day round at Lindsay's, getting messy with paint, glue and stencils, having a go at decorating a papier mache box I had in a grungy, steampunk style (inspired by her lovely canvasses, which can be seen in her Etsy shop and on her blog).  I'm not the best of students when it comes to a "classroom" situation - my brains fly out the window I think *LOL*, so I think Lindsay was rather exasperated with my ineptitude at times and I got "told off" a few times (that's sisters for you)!  Mind you, I did spill some water everywhere and nearly swept the entire contents off the table at one point, so I'll forgive her! Haven't finished the box yet and I think it may end up as a Christmas present, so don't want to give too much away, but here's a peek .....

Yesterday, I took the plunge (after much pestering from Lindsay et al), and dyed my hair for the first time in my life (bringing it back to the colour of my teens), so today we had a lot of fun taking photos of ourselves in a variety of poses (and selfies) in Lindsay's garden.  

I'm afraid none of the selfies we took of the two of us together

 are suitable for public consumption .... ha !

All in all, it was a good day - and an extremely silly, giggly one! - hopefully it'll have inspired me to get cracking again with my own inks and paints and start creating again ..... it's been a long time since I've felt like making anything!