Jessie Chorley Workshop......

another great day at Sew Not Strawberry Jam we arrived to find the workroom had been adorned with bunting by Jessie and she was already sitting stitching as she greeted everyone.

So much to look at,  Jessie is a very generous tutor both in materials and ideas.  The theme of the day was to make a journal, we glued and stitched, talked and laughed and feasted on the delicious lunch, biscuits and cake provided by Sam of SNSJ, another generous lady.

 These were some of the "toys" we had to play with, I lusted over the rubber stamps of pages from an old French children's book whcih Jessie had found.  These are our books, mine is the one on the right.

Today was another of the un-seasonally warm days so we made the most of it, just in case this is summer. I sat and stitched in an effort to try and remember some of the things Jessie showed us.

(I think my scanner need cleaning)

We decided the magic words of the day were "and then", a little different from "what if" but just as exciting.A thing of wonder that all my favourite tutors teach hand sewing with vintage fabrics and yet they all have such individual character. I am looking forward to the book Jessie is bringing out in August and hope to re-visit her shop in the Columbia Road .

I could go to SNSJ without taking a few photographs of the Shepherd's Hut  (before the sun came out)

the Studio

and the geese.

Off to see A Little Chaos tomorrow, trying to pack things in as DH is due to have a rather nasty operation in a couple of weeks.

Wk 9..

a sad/happy week.  We were comforted by the number of people who attended my brother's funeral, good to see so many people loved him as we did. The happy part was being with family,  we had an afternoon at the zoo with my great nephews, so good to hear their laughter and we managed a quick trip up the Lakes on a glorious day with snow on the tops.  The Lake District at it's finest. This is Lake Coniston.

and this was the star at the zoo, only 10 days old.

Lakeland is the home of Derwent Pencils and having seen these recently I couldn't come home without them.

and these 

More about them soon but I am in love. I was also given some deli paper by a generous friend so as soon as I was unpacked I had to play. I created a piece of paper that looked, to me,  like the bracken and the rocks on the hills so this is my spread for this week.  Not to the brief which was "collage something you have recycled" but more a reflection of the week.
this is the cover

and this is the spread

Joy of joys you can use the inktense bars on the gelli plate. Trees are part of one of the first rubber stamps I bought.
The runner is "in progress".

August.....

is the month my young friend comes to stay and we go walking.  It was a bit delayed this year thanks to the fact that in July I missed the bottom step and ricked my ankle. I was worried that I would spoil her holiday by not being able to do long stints but it turned out I managed and in fact it seemed to make my ankle better.  Still not perfect but everything takes longer these days.
One of our first walks was to Hothfield Heathlands described as one of the few remaining fragments of open heath.  Land where, traditionally, cattle were grazed. We saw......
New trees growing from a fallen tree,

the longest horns I have every seen

and a grey horse in grass that looked like mist.

On other days we saw a sheep on a wall, in Sevenoaks

and in London a blue cockerel.

We found dream cottages in  Boughton under Blean and Dargate

 orchards,

 pub flowers

and a magnificent oak tree.

and what better way to end a day than with a sunset. London horizon from my bedroom window

 and fabulous every changing clouds.  I won't bore you with the other 20 odd shots I took.

Ulpha Fell......

To reach Wastwater we decided to go over Ulpha Fell, the road is narrow and it involves a lot of squeezing into the side to pass oncoming traffic but the view is worth it.

There were lots of sheep,

but these two were a lovely surprise.

I wanted an owl......

and  here he is, I could see the outline in the cloth, he just needed a little help.

He is based on the Athena Owl  and is part of what I hope is going to be an ongoing project.

More Kentwell.....

Still reeling from Nadal's defeat..... as another week flashes by, more photos from Kentwell.

Is it a cow?  Is it a donkey?  Is it real?

These photographs don't really show how big these French Donkey's were.   In spite of the field of lush grass behind them they preferred you to hand pick their lunch from the grass on this side of the fence
 The other animal that featured in site and sound was the peacock, a sad tale of a tail here because a fox had stolen his hen so he was calling and displaying as he tried to find another mate.

 So much to see.

Cornwall

We have just spent a very pleasant week in St Ives in Cornwall. This was the view from our apartment.

The tide came in and out of the little beach right below our window. We woke to sound of the waves. Tempted?  This is where we found it,  a lovely welcome and in no time at all were settled in.
This was right outside our door.

We ate Cornish Pasties, of course,  but this was our favourite eatery making the best sandwiches I have ever tasted. 
 We saw some of these,

One of these,

 and a lot of these

But above all some stunning scenery.

 Only another 500 photographs to go..........

Dragon on the lawn....

I have been making lots of  pieces in preparation for the Magic Diaries which starts next week.  This piece got a little ahead of itelf.....

I love him because I drew him free hand. I don't think he is finished, we shall see.

Cold...

This was my garden this morning,

Now it would be fun if they cam to play.

C'mere give me a hug!

Thanks to Damn Cool Pics for these beauties.