What a lovely day

First it was Germany, then an over night stop on Dartmoor, what a busy little life we have. A bit like waiting for a bus though, not one for ages (or in our case years) then they all come at once!!

Germany was fabulous.  Lots of driving (for some of us), and even more to see. I still haven't managed to up load all the photos, that may be tomorrow's job.  I am debating whether or not to include photos of us in full costume on our way to the Oktoberfest!.................No, on second thoughts, that may be not such a good idea!

Our trip to Dartmoor was very definitely "last minute.com",  but was so very worth it.  We had a lovely walk out from Post Bridge to the waterfall and back.  The weather was perfect and we could see for miles and miles, including the sea at Torbay.

 

Our overnight stop was at "The Bedford Hotel" at Tavistock, sister to "The Two Bridges Hotel" where we have stayed a few times. The perfect end to a lovely day.

A touch of dejavu as we were back there today, this time with our son and his girlfriend.  Again the weather was perfect, hard to believe we are in October, it is so warm.

We had a little chocolate malfunction, so the boys decided to cool them down in the waterfall!

 

Thankfully, the bag was held tight and none were lost, we did panic for a minute or two though, but it worked, and they were very lovely!

We are so lucky to have this beautiful and inspiring National Park on our doorstep! It calms the soul and clears the head.

The view from here

The next stop on our road trip through Germany, was just outside Fussen at Hohenschwangau and the Neuschwanstein Schloss.  This castle was built for King Ludwig II in the 19th century, and is thought to have been used by Wałt Disney as the basis for his castle logo. True or not, it is very picturesque, sat as it is on a rugged hill, above the village.

The attention to detail, just on the outside walls is incredible, especially bearing in mind its location, and the 1.5km walk up the hill.  Our next visit will include a tour of the inside, as we didn't have time to do that, which promises to be equally impressive.

 

The vista was pretty impressive too, looking out across the Plains and the Alpensee, not sure this picture does it justice.

 

Following all this excitement we just had to treat ourselves to a 'little' something to eat.......

A little travelling!

We are having a little road trip through Germany; seeing some lovely sights and having a quick wander down memory lane!

Our first stop was at Gielenkirchen, which was home for me, too many years ago!   I would like to say that I remembered the local village square and shops and also the flats where we lived, but as I was only 3 last time I was here, I think that is just a romantic notion!  Strangely though it was rather amazing to be back there, if only for a very short time.

Yesterday saw us at Hotel Sonne Fussen what an amazing place.  A boutique hotel with textiles, photos and costumes on every floor.  It was really incredible. I would love to go back for a re-visit and longer stay.

The doors of the rooms themselves were also really interesting. 

Collages of different fabrics, colours and textures.  All the things I love.

  

An incredible place, with very friendly staff too.  I may put some more photos on to my Flickr account, once we get home and I've checked through them.

Little sunflower!

As the Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi" goes "you don't know what you've got til it's gone", sometimes it's not until you leave a situation, that you realise the effect that you have on the people around you.

I have just received a fabulous card from my ex-work colleagues, wishing me luck in my new ventures.  Not one to "blow my own trumpet" I was overwhelmed by their comments, thank you ladies.

Anyway enough of that.................this little chap is a true survivor! 

Brought home from play school by our youngest grandchild Eli, it was a tiny bit neglected and very nearly died! 

Thankfully, my resourceful husband came to the rescue, with a little sticky tape.

 

It may not be a world breaking size, but we are proud!

Old friends!

How funny the way life changes and you accept the here and now.

When I stopped doing workshops a couple of years ago, I happily packed away all that was related to that life and settled into the new one.  

Today I dived back in and found all sorts of lovely forgotten treasures!................

..................Fabric paper, painted bondaweb, sheers..............what was I thinking, letting this lot hide away!

Moments later (well maybe a little longer!) the fabric paper was transformed into the sides of a "fuchsia box". Still not quite finished, busy doing other stuff this evening, but well on the way.

Who knows what the next chapter will bring, but hopefully it will include lots of lovely textures and colours!

An idea or two!

Well, I thought I should touch base again, although I haven't actually done any work towards "dropped" as yet.

Think this is good food for thought!!

My birthday cake!! Thank you Tania and helpers Thomas and Niamh. It tasted as good as it looked, I may add.

Anyway, back to business,; I have had a little scout about on the web, and have found a few interesting photos.  Most images have been of "dropped" ice cream!!! Where I live the seagulls will get the ice cream before it touches the ground, so that's a no go!

I like the idea of spilt paint or a dropped egg, but may be that is a little obvious. I did see a very beautiful photo on Pinterest, which has taken my fancy.  It was taken by Brian Valentine and if you follow this link you will be able to see it too.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/364862007290300551/

Not necessarily "dropped", but "droplets" of rain on a spiders web, just fabulous, to my mind.

In the meantime, I am pleased that I haven't given myself a time frame for my challenges, as I would have failed already, but I think I may have to in the future otherwise I won't get anything done!

I have a few busy weeks coming up which may mean that I will fall behind, but I am rather hoping that I will have the opportunity to take lots of photos that will come in handy at some point. So please bear with me.

Dropped

I pressed the button and here we are..........."dropped", my first challenge.  How exciting!

To be honest I have no idea where I am going to go from here, but I guess that's the point, but my mind is already starting to buzz! 

According to the Oxford dictionary the definition of 'dropped' is to let or allow something to fall.  The Urban dictionary definition is "become good". So I reckon that's a start!

Got a busy day tomorrow, so I can't imagine anything will get started, even with the best will in the world. But I may have a quick nosey on the web to see what things of inspiration I can find. 

Wish me luck

A final thought for tonight, I've just listened to Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds singing George Michael's "Careless Whisper". Oh my, very good.

Nearly there!

I think I am nearly ready to pick the first word for my first challenge!

I have spent most of this week tweaking the blog, with a little (or should I say, rather a lot of help) from Rebecca, who thought my first efforts were a little off the mark.  Only your daughter could be so blunt.  Anyway between the two of us I think it is ready!

At the moment, all the "Inspiration" photos are ones that either my family or I have taken, but I will in time include photos that I have found and have made me think a little!  I hope that you will find them interesting too.

Clouds on a Summer day

 I have to admit now I have a thing about Clouds, so you may notice a few included, as I continue to write in this blog.

Anyway enough waffling for now.  Rebecca has just text to say the next bit has been completed.  I would really like to take all the credit.................well, she is my daughter so I guess I can claim a little back!

Why do a blog? Well, why not!

I come from a family of "stitchers". 

My earliest memories are making clothes for my Cindy doll on my mum's Singer sewing machine, my Grandchildren are now doing the same, on the same machine!  

Once the children flew the nest I completed a City and Guilds in Patchwork and Quilting; ran workshops with a friend and set up a textile group with the same friend.

I have, over the past eighteen months re-kindled my love for dress making and knitting, which has lead to me having a creative block and abandoning any thoughts relating to textile art. So, I have decided it is time to do something about this! 

My challenge to myself is to produce work, no bigger than 12" square on a subject chosen at random from a word app on my smart phone and to record my progress here on the blog.  I am not going to restrict myself to a particular discipline, and sometimes I may only paint a bit of fabric, photograph a piece of inspiration or check out a new (to me) artist, who knows!

If anyone reading this fancies joining me in my challenge, I would be delighted.