Today was exactly like I thought Palm Springs would be
Blue sky and palms.
Fabulous.
I went for a walk this morning whilst Mr M hit the gym...
The air was warm and clear
(I'm getting slightly obsessed with mail boxes...)
Then after a late breakfast we drove to the airport. My American sister and her husband had just flown in from San Diego and super kindly took us up in the air for an amazing view...
So so cool...
... and such a small plane!
Good day. Very good day.
... the final instalment of this crazy tour of Italy took me to Cesena, my hometown to meet up with the girls I met waaaaaay back then when I was an au pair in Rhode Island.
I mean waaaaay back then.
How we laughed. We decided we hadn't changed a bit, arguably we look better as during those 10 months away it seemed that all we did was eating. There are some horrific photographic proofs of how big we were which are best left buried. Dunkin' Donuts has a lot to answer for...
Then it was time to rest a while and spend some time with mum and dad. They live in such a beautiful place it's not exactly a chore to do that!
And now I'm posting this whilst packing our bags to go back home. It's been frantic but wonderful. I feel recharged, which is all you want from a holiday.
Let's get this circus on the road again!
Today I dropped the young one at school (the other two take the bus) and drove to Ledbury to see old friends.
The amazing primrose (Silver lace group. I googled it, of course) was growing happily in a pot outside Tinsmith.
Yes of course I popped in... it would have been rude not to! Gorgeous place. I wonder if they'd let me move in for a while...
Anyway, I met with me friends for lunch and it was lovely to catch up after months. We had kids at the same time, went through years of nappies and playgroups and afternoon at the park. Certain experiences bond you for life.
In a good way.
Have you hear the big news?
Let's assume you have at least heard of Comic Relief/Red Nose day... yes? (if not please click here or you might be a little confused).
Ok, with me?
Great, WELL, Emma (aka Silverpebble) has come up with this great idea called Comic Relief Crafternoon and teamed up with the team behind Mollie Makes to produce a fantabulous special edition magazine full of exciting crafts idea (132 pages!!).
The magazines will be available to buy from Sainsbury's on Thursday 29th January (make a note, you know you'll only be sorry if you forget!!). The price is £7.90 and a whopping £5.00 for each copy sold will go to Comic Relief. Not bad, eh?
You can also buy it online via ITunes and Google play.
ALSO, and this is for all of you out there who love crafting, it's a special invitation to organize a gorgeous 'crafternoon' on March 13th, to raise money for all these worthy causes in the UK and Africa. And how much fun will it be to craft together with friends or to arrange a mini craft fair to sell all your beautiful things?
So, why am I telling you all this...
Because Emma contacted me a few months back to tell me she'd designed a pattern for a pair of fingerless mittens and would I mind doing a little technical checking... yes, the girl has just learnt to crochet and she's already designing stuff... there's no stopping some people!
So we worked together and you can find this splendid pattern in the magazine. (Together of course with projects from Lucy from Attic 24, Dottie Angel, Flossie Teacake, Ric-Rac, and so many others I can't even begin to list them all...
I've been sneakily wearing my secret mittens recently... it's been cold you know...
A whole weekend away? Crafting?
Count me in.
I pointed the car North and after a brief but necessary pause for coffee I met up with Ali at Salts Mill.
After lunch (I had a delicious lemon/artichokes/oregano risotto), a mooch around the shops and bookstore and a visit to the Hockney exhibition we got on the road again. (Ok there might have been time for tea and cake... but details schmetails...)
The sun was shining when we got to the Yorkshire Dales and they looked amazing.
(That sky!!!)
We met up with Penny, Tess and Emma.
And we ate, and talked and put the world to right and sew/crochet/knit the night away. (Ok there might have been a smidge of wine being poured... and whiskey - Penny??... but details schmetails)
Day 2 saw us visiting Yarndale in the lovely town of Skipton.
(Ok... some yarn might have been bought... details schmetails...)
It wasn't all chit chat/knit knit/sew sew though, we did have a little bit of a real adventure too when Emma's car decided to throw this on our way:
yes... not good... but as capable young women who travel prepared we spent a very pleasant hour knitting on the verge of a tiny Yorkshire road and getting funny look from passerbys whilst waiting for the rescue truck.
I had a fabulous time, and I'm really annoyed I didn't take a photo of all of us. After the initial sense of guilt about leaving husband and sons behind and the feeling of skirting my responsibilities, I did relax and feel extremely recharged and inspired. There's so much talk about the danger of the internet (and yes I agree with it) but let's face it... it can also be pretty good. Without it I wouldn't have met any of these women... we live far away from each other, we muddle through different lives... but somehow we were brought together and I really believe we're better for it.
We originally called it a retreat but now that I'm back I'd like to call it a 're-group'. I definitively feel more ready to attack what comes my way.
(Stay tuned. Tomorrow's episode will feature "the loot")
It was Pablo Picasso that once said: "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls", and it's so so true.
This morning my friend E and I drove to Gloucester Cathedral to the 'Crucible 2' exhibition:
(Lynne Chadwick - Jubilee IV)
It was a gorgeous morning, the cathdral was still empty of people and filled only by organ music and sun light. Quite amazing.
(Daniel Chadwick - Constellation 2014)
There are sculptures... everywhere you look... in fact I don't think we managed to spot them all in the time we were there...
(David Mach - the thief)
(Ralph Brown - display no more in vain the lofty banner)
(top right corner, Damine Hirst - Fallen Angel, in the foreground Sue Freeborough - let there be spaces in our togetherness)
(William Pye - vesqua)
(Leonard McComb - tree form and circle in polished bronze)
(Anthony Abrahams - man with raised arm)
(Eduardo Paolozzi - Vulcan)
(Jordi Raga -Thames)
Yes, I feel I've dusted the cobwebs of the mind...
(Kenneth Armitage - reach for the stars)
On to the pile of ironing pile then...
Sigh.
I know this is a very different colour palette to what I normally use... some of you 'hate' this quilt... (YOU know who you are... don't hide!), but I actually like it and have really enjoyed making it.
It's a wedding present for a lovely couple who have been through hell last year but they stuck together and battle through it all and still came out looking positively at the future. There's a lesson in that for us all; and... well... they deserve lots of happiness now and... a warm quilt to cuddle under.
That's what I think anyway.
Take a stream, five boys, a couple of rope swings.
Bliss.
We sat on a blanket offering towels and biscuits.
It didn't matter at all that the water was freezing, that the sun wasn't shining and we got rained on during the walk home.
(And if there's a better feeling that seeing you children getting along brilliantly with your friend's children... please let me know)
And so we're back.
The boys are in school, my ironing mountain is on the verge of toppling over and I'm slowly wading through the huge swamp of 'things' that have accumulated whilst I was away.
A few boxes have been ticked but there are still floors to hoover and windows to clean, flowers to plant, food to buy, weight to lose, forms to fill and ufo to finish. Too many of those once again.
The weather is horrible, cold and wet wet wet.
Amongst the mess and the chaos ... a ray of sunshine:
A wonderfully thoughtful parcel from Megan. Thank you, my friend. Everything is perfect. The little nest is exquisit and I have just the right chain for it!
Now if you'll excuse me I'm off sorting out tiles for Mr M's new office kitchen and to get some dishwasher detergent so we can have clean plates tonight before heading to school for a meeting about the French trip I'd done nothing to prepare for... such a glamorour life.
The day started like this
and finished like this
but in the middle we had:
- a 'gaggle' of bloggers: Tracey (great host, thank you!), Ali, Julie, Emma, Val, Nancy, Alice. (We missed you Kristina!)
- a smidgen of crafting
- an obscene amount of eating
(there was more too: Nancy's viking bread, Ali' 'salty/chocolatey' biscuits, Val's truffles, Tracey's cake...)
- a generouse sprinkle of presents:
- and the best day ever.
Thank you girls, you literally made my day.
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