Newcastle is a loooooong way away

It really is! It's just under 400 miles from G's front door to his parent house (which I may add is beautiful) and takes about 6 hours to drive....except of course if you're stuck in the traffic on the M1. There seems to be 2 mile stretches of roadworks with speed limits of 50mph but odd 1 mile stretches of 70mph thrown in for good measure. Of course I hate roadworks but appreciate that the surface needs to be renewed and maintained but what does frustrate me is work that's almost completed and say just needs the white lines painting but they keep it shut with nothing happening. Needless to say, it's annoying but then you see signs saying 'respect for road workers'. I never appreciated that road workers were 'disrespected'. Do people open their car windows and shout abuse about the amount of bum cleavage on display?

Anywhooooo, we were going to our 3rd wedding this year and 2nd at the same venue at The Grand Hotel, Tynemouth. A blustery & wet day but that was ok as we were inside and I had to meet G's extended family. I'm pleased to say they were lovely to me and made me feel especially welcome. His Mum was wonderful and told me how lovely it was to know that her son had found someone so lovely (now I'm blushing) as I'm so wonderful, kind and generous! It's not a wonder that I'm so modest!!!

We had a lovely day and the wedding went off without a hitch. G's second cousin who is only 3 stole the show by laughing especially loud at the Best Man's speech. I'm convinced she'd been paid.

If there was a small moan to be had, it was that our room was quite small and had lots of pine furniture in it. And the bed was solid! Whilst getting up in the middle of the night to regain some of my circulation I managed to stub my little toe on this little coffee table. You can only imagine me trying to muffle my cry and swear words to try and not wake G up. Fortunately, he sleeps like his had about 15 pints and is out like a light.

We drove back the next morning. I was negotiating the Tynemouth Tunnel when I saw a flashing safety sign. Getting closer, and closer it read.........'X Factor, Vote Joe'. That's where your road tax goes to people!!! :0)

G & I are now house hunting. Fortunately we are singing off the same hymn sheet as far as requirements go. We want 4 bedrooms. G wants a study, a spare room, our bedroom and then another room. G has hinted I can have it as a craft room, but he's secretly harbouring hopes for a pool table!

Life Is Good

When I made my last post I'd completely forgotten to tell you about G & I's trip to Italy in September. How could I forget! This was my third visit to Italy this year (Milan, Venice & in the middle of no-where but vaguely near Perugia). We had an amazing time. We chilled out by the pool, we ate well, we slept well, we ......, well you get the picture! Apart from the mad drivers, and I'm discounting G at this point everything was good! Those Italian drivers, sheesh, they are loco! They just drive in the middle of the road & completely ignore the speed limits even though there appears to be speed cameras everywhere. Probably just for us Johnny Foreigners.
Anyway, we visited Siena, Lake Tresimeno & did a spot of wine tasting at Montepulciano. Mmmmmmmmmmm, except, we could see the grapes, we were almost within touching distance of them but the wine cellars were few and far between. The scenery was breathtaking and seeing as I bought a calendar, I can re-live it every day next year. Oh yes, the calendar purchase....when I had viewed nearly every calendar in Siena G lost the plot and said in a slightly loud voice, 'JUST GET ONE, THEY'RE ALL THE SAME!!' Ok ok, keep your wig on! Probably the only downside was that at the house, a Belgium family had the most adorable Old English Sheepdog puppies, yes, two bundles of fun. G has a phobia of dogs to the max, which I really feel for him about. Luckily after G explained to them the problem they ensured the dogs were always restrained. But I so desperately wanted to play with them! It was difficult but I knew I couldn't do it. Ah, but now my big news......drum roll please! G has finally asked me to live with him. I say finally because we've been talking around this subject for some months now. I knew he wanted to but G is ultra cautious and he wanted to be 100% certain, which is fair enough. He is going to buy a house for us & I will let mine. So we are going 'area shopping' at the weekend, and I'm very excited! I love moving house, I'm a freak, I know.

Poor Charlie who is already jealous of G will have his little nose put out of joint, but hey, he's a cat, he'll have to get over it. And yes, G has agreed to let me have a craft room, I know, MY OWN CRAFT ROOM!!!!!!!

Here I am!

Goodness me, it's been 7 weeks or so since I was last here.....sorry, sorry, sorry!!!!! It's funny, only the other day I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't bother with this sometimes self indulgent blog malarkey but this morning I woke up to find the loveliest of emails in my FaceBook inbox. It's from a lovely lady called Kemi who wrote and thanked me for writing in such an honest format and speaking about things which hurt but in a positive way. That meant a huge amount to me. You write things here and assume no-one is reading......shows how wrong you can be!

Ok, so what's happened in the time you've, sorry, I've been away? Bloody loads! G & I have had our first 'anniversary'. Aaaaaahhhhhh, I hear you say. To celebrate he booked for us to spend the night at a lovely hotel in Surrey which had a Rat Pack tribute night. It was a great night. It was a night I learnt many things. Firstly, life does go on and that romantic love you think you'll never recapture can come again. And secondly, G has two left feet and when he told me he couldn't dance.....he wasn't lying! Darn it! I just love to dance! The best bit of the night was the people we were sitting with. Without wanting to sound middle classed, hoity-toity, they were working class with money South Londoners. Tommy even had his own gold tooth pick on a chain round his neck which Rose had bought him as he tore beer mats to shreds picking his teeth! But they were lovely, friendly people.

My Decree Absolute has come through and I am officially single again. It's very sad but definately the right decision. S & I had many wonderful years together but we are now very different people. We keep in touch and I have met his new girlfriend and she is just lovely & much more suited to him.

What is kinda weird and freaky is that S's g/f invited E & I to do our first jewellery party over at their house!!! They invited G but he feld odd about it. Getting over the fact that it could have been awkward, but it was a great night. E & I sold loads of things, and all the things I didn't expect to. The room was buzzing with interest and I loved every minute of it! We are now booked in for a jewellery party at a belly dance show and we have a stall in our office work place on 4th Dec.

Life's good and I'm appreciating feeling happy again.

Venice (again)

You must be sick and tired of Venice!! Well, I'm back now and apart from harping on about it in this blog then you won't hear about it again, I promise (haha, fingers crossed behind my back!)So, early start for E & I on Saturday. The plane was on time and nothing unusual happened on the way...all well and good. Landed at Marco Polo airport and the heat hit us, 29 degrees and the humidity was up on the ceiling. We caught the bus into Venice and then managed to find the Vaperetto's (water bus) easily. Arriving at your hotel on a water bus is a new experience for me. We then lugged our cases over the Rialto Bridge and spent the next half an hour finding our hotel which was located down the narrowest of side streets.
After having a shower we hit the streets for a cold frosty one and then the rain started to fall, and fall, and fall! Thunder & lightening and those stone & marble steps became really slippy! Venice in the rain wasn't what I had planned for and it isn't a city that's really designed for that. All the beautiful canals and streets loose their sparkle and become grey and un-interesting. Even St Marks lost it's luster that even a coffee costing E8.50 wouldn't be able to re-capture.
The rain did stop and we headed back for dinner. We fell in our beds expecting to sleep the sleep of the dead but no, there was this huge lamp directly outside our window. We both tossed and turned. E put her head under the sheets and I had a flannel over my eyes to block the light out. The next morning after complaining the receptionist asked why we hadn't closed the shutters? Shutters?, what shutters???? D'oh!!
The next morning we caught several Vaperettos over to Murano. We looked around the glass museum and then went on the bead hunt. And to be truthful it was a bit disappointing. A couple of shops had some beads but on the whole it was other glass in various forms. We met some lovely people who were happy to chat and a few not so nice ones who tried to pressurise us into buying a very expensive polar bear sculptures and chandeliers (do I look like I have that sort of cash to spend?) E had incidents with young and old slimy men, one who suggested she could have something for free if SHE did something for free!!!! =:0( We then travelled onto Burano who's claim to fame is its brightly coloured houses. These were beautiful, so we sat back, had a drink and an ice cream to chill out....only for E to find a piece of glass in her ice cream. It just wasn't her day was it!Finally, our last day was spent snapping St Marks in the sun and wandering around the back streets which were lovely and cool. Someone must have been smiling on us and we happened to find two shops selling beads and the people in there were lovely. After spending a fortune we had some lunch by a beautiful canal where 2 Gondoliers were plying their trade. Pity the older, greasy one had his flies open! Imagine being flashed on a gondola down a back canal!!!!! We navigated the tiny maze-like streets back to the Rialto Bridge to pick up our luggage and begin to say our goodbyes. Venice IS beautiful, but it is spoilt too. The Rialto Bridge has graffiti on it & everything is so expensive. We sat in a little cafe and had two cans of cold drink and it was E7.40. This is out of place even for central London. Also, there's no-where to sit and watch the world go by as there are no benches. So it's either keep walking or spend a kings ransom on drinks in a side cafe. I also think the WOW factor has been lost as it's such a popular photographic topic. If I hadn't seen the Basilica before I'm sure I would have gasped in delight. When G & I were in Las Vegas we had a gondola ride at the Venetian Hotel. It was expensive and quite short but it was very romantic. The Gondolier explained a few things and sang to us. We kissed under the bridge and said loving things to each other. By comparison, the people in Gondolas in Venice looked a little non-plussed. Usually one party was taking video footage or photos, or the gondola was being sidled upto by 3 Vaperettos and on one occasion the Gondolier was on his mobile. I didn't hear one of them sing.....such a shame!I enjoyed Venice, but I'm not sure whether I would go back again.

Venice & All Things Jewellery Related

So the big day has arrived, actually two big days have arrived!

Firstly, and probably more importantly for my future, today I can apply for my Decree Absolute. This means I will officially be divorced when it comes through. It seems an awfully long time to wait (6 weeks & 1 day) from the Decree Nisi but I guess it makes people think about what they are doing and the full implications. The worst bit for me have been the dreams; my dad dying, E dying, moving out of the marital home but moving just up the street next to a cemetery. The common theme seems to be death and I guess that's fairly understandable as I would have been married for 19 years this year and it's quite a big thing to get over.

Secondly and far more exciting, E & I are off to Venice tomorrow!! :0) Our flight is at 8.10am so it means a really early start but not even that can quell my excitement. We've thought about going for so long so it's a bit of a surprise that we haven't really planned what we are going to do when we get there. So we had a chat and we've decided that we aren't going to do the whole 'running around, looking at things for 2 secs and take a photo' thing but generally just amble about and take in the flavour of Venice. That's not to say we won't visit St Marks (or San Marco to us who know the lingo) with its' Basilica and of course we are staying right next to the Rialto Bridge. My only plan is to ensure I get a photo of an empty gondola tied up at the end of the afternoon with the sun going down, actually I'll just be happy to get some photos without millions of tourists in it..........and buy lots of BEADS from Murano so I can truthfully say 'Murano Bead Jewellery' without my nose growing like Pinnochio! I had a look at Etsy and the amount of people who say 'Murano....' when you KNOW it just isn't!!

E & I have just had a trial run at making our own ear wires and found it to be quite easy. That's not to say that there isn't a knack. Never again do I have to put boring earwires on my earrings....well, I do until I get the cup bur tool which rubs the rough edges down so your don't have blood dripping from your ear.

So 'Ciao' till next week!!

Venice

Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! I'm really excited! E & I are going to Venice next week for the Bank Holiday. I'm not quite sure why I've suddenly got so excited seeing as it's been booked since March or April but I am!

I've bought a guide book and we've managed to locate our hotel on the map. That may sound a bit dense but if you've ever seen a Venice street map then you'll know what I'm talking about! We're staying in a little hotel http://www.locandapostevecie.com/ which is a stones throw from the Rialto Bridge, which is only then a hop & a skip from St Marks Square.

So I suddenly have the urge to make a list of things I need; sun cream, mozzie cream, after sun, 10 pairs of shoes, 16 changes of clothes, etc etc. Men, why do they make you feel like you take too much stuff on holiday with you. So what if I do want to take 10 pairs of shoes, they fit in the case and I'm the one dragging it through the streets and I have the weight allowance on our luxury travel conveyor (Easyjet to you!) I am slightly concerned about getting my bum in the seat and getting the belt around me to fit, it's always a bit of a squeeze but one day I won't be able to push my flab above the belt!

I told a work colleague we were going and she said stepping in the Rialto Bridge was like stepping into a 17th Century Oil Painting, which sounds kind of magical and awe inspiring. I hope I don't fill up like I did when G & I went to see The Last Supper.

I have told E that I want to get up at the crack of dawn and get to St Marks at say 7 oclock in the morning so I can take photos without millions of tourists in them.....bet everyone else has that idea. She said 'ok, we can get pissed on sunday night'. G will be in Edinburgh when I'm away, on a stag night. I'm slightly happier at his location. It was supposed to be Hamburg but the guys were all 'nipple tassel'ed out and are going for the paint ball option!

Sorry no photo today...maybe next week.

Catch up

Oh dear, I haven't been here in a little while have I!

I've been a busy bee running around with G & E, making more jewellery and of course, trying to run a business.

E & I went on a stained glass 1 day course a little while ago. It was in Midhurst, run by a company called Artworks. Nancy who runs the company, and this course, is absolutely lovely and extremely patient.

She showed us how to cut glass in straight lines and curves and then encouraged us to design our own piece to make. But the first thing she told us was that we would cut our hands, and boy was she right! At the end I had 3 plasters over cuts and a burn from the soldering iron. It was good fun and despite my cackhand-ness I came away with a lovely piece which sits in my front window. I'm not sure if I'd want to do it as a full time hobby but it's nice to have had a go!

I got back from there shattered only to have missed loads of calls from G who couldn't find his car keys. That's what you get for putting them in the bottomless pit that is my handbag!

Last week we went to a friends BBQ where G & E got both got a little drunk & on Sunday we were on the road to Wembley for the community shield (that's football for those not in the know). I like the new staduim but it was so hot and the shape means there's no air circulating. So I hope you've been checking out my jewellery on http://www.poppyfieldsdesign.etsy.com/ 10% off for all blog friends

Glorious Goodwood

The racing at Goodwood on the July course is the highlight of their racing season. I've been twice before (not this event though), once where is rained solidly all day and another time viewing from the restaurant. On this occasion I have never seen so many people crammed in.
The weather all week had been very poor, as in pouring with rain! And I was concerned that it wasn't going to be a nice day out but the morning bought sunshine which lasted all day.

G & I managed to miss the turning, which was completely my fault. It's not far from where I live and I just assumed I knew the way. But we got there where people were pushing and shoving to get in, almost killing themselves by crossing the road in front of moving buses and cars. It was all a bit mental!

Ladies day was the day before so I was really surprised to see so many ladies in vibrant hats, very, very high heels and beautiful dresses. Fortunately I had made some sort of effort and didn't feel completely out of place.
The first race we couldn't see because we decided to go to the top of the Grandstand but there were just too many people. We found a more suitable viewing spot for the rest of the day. G placed his bets with the bookies but I took the more restrained approach by betting on the tote. We both had 2 wins in the day, but his bet paid 4/1 where the mean tote only paid 2.5/1 :-( The first rule of gambling is to never change your mind on who you're going to bet on. I broke this rule to my own cost and missed out on a 9/1 winner! Drat!

But we had a lovely day, drove home with the top down on the car and realised we both had managed to get sunburnt!

I'm in love........(blush)

oh dear, I've just been told of by E for saying how I had nothing to write today but she said, 'of course you have, you're in love!' So I stand corrected and hence the above statement.

G and I have been dating for 9 months now and whilst I have told him I love him a million times I'm really feeling it at the moment. I'd love to say that I'm all skittish, and dewey eyed but what I mean is that we are very happy together, and I feel really part of a two-some.

We have also shared some stuff over the past week or so, things from the past and information about each other that we've held back from revealing because we were scared to say, that it might frighten the other off.

So G, I love you and I don't care who knows it.

Poppyfields Design

Well I've finally managed to get it all done! That's right, my online jewellery sales shop is up and running. The address is http://www.poppyfieldsdesign.etsy.com/

I know I was going to be called something different but wouldn't you know that when I went to register the name, it was gone! How annoying.

It's amazing how long these things take to do. Once I had made the decision I had to frantically start making things and if the creative juices aren't flowing, there's not alot you can do about it.

Even when you make the pieces, the next challenge is to photograph them. Luckily E found an great online tool which does amazing things to decidely average photos. It's at http://www.picnik.com/ You can lighten, darken, improve the colouring, put your name on......on and the list goes on.

Pricing is tricky. You want to sell, but you also want to get something for your time in making and your ability to be able to make, but not rip anyone off. My idea is that I'm only making things that I like, so if no-one buys, then at least I'll be left with jewellery I'm happy to wear.

The final challenge is putting them all up online. Goodness, how many different ways can you say 'this is a lovely bracelet'?

So have a look, please, and I'd love some feedback on my designs.

Happy friday, G is playing cricket all weekend so I have the weekend free to do all sorts of jobs. Mosaic tiling in my cloakroom...looking forward to it! :0)

I do like to be beside the seaside!

I'm just back to work after a weeks break with my neices. Oh my goodness, I'm absolutely shattered and need another week off to recover! Not having any kiddies I never realised exactly how hard work it is, and I take my hat off to all the mums out there especially if they're working as well. It's really made me appreciate what a special job they do. It's just so full on!

My two neices, T 10 & K 7 live in Exeter and their school breaks up early for the holidays so that's why they were with me, and of course they wanted to visit their auntie who lives at the seaside.

There weren't many ground rules except they couldn't come and wake me up before 8.30am. I am so glad I said that as they both wake up as bright as buttons and it's non stop til the time they go to bed. I must admit to being quite strict, but that's how I was brought up so I hope they had a lovely time.

We managed to get to the beach even though the weather wasn't brilliant. We also went to the small Natural History Museum with its butterfly house, along with the park, and the tea rooms attached to the 9 hole pitch and putt. They serve the yummiest cakes, which are absolutely massive!G took the day off and took us to Monkey World. It's not a zoo but a rescue centre where apes and monkeys from around the world get sent when they are rescued from illegal homes. We saw so many beautiful monkeys & orangutans which was amazing. But my favourite had to be seeing the Lemurs. Just soooooo cute and we were all singing 'I like to move it, move it' from Madagascar. The keeper must be really fed up with that one!

Ta Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

It's done and I'm wearing it!!!!

They're here, they're here!!

Hooray, I'm so excited!!

Sorry to disappoint you if you thought it was a minor celeb or aliens from Mars but finally my petite jump rings have arrived from Texas. The reason I'm so excited is that I really struggled to get the size that I wanted so I could make the elusive byzantine bracelet I've been desperate to create. So difficult to get, I had to get a custom order from a lovely couple called Ralph & Karen, who also gave me some fab advice too. I love you guys.

So, what's so special about this byzantine bracelet, I hear you ask. Well, to some, not much really but for me it the relisation of a beading dream. I saw one of these bracelets on Etsy and just fell in love with it! I couldn't work out how they had managed to get the rings to twist and turn. I found the an online tutorial and with some very inferior rings I tried to do it. I tried, and I tried, and I tried until one day I threw it across the room. I couldn't work out why I couldn't do it.

But now I know why I couldn't. Essentially, the technique I was doing was correct but the rings were the wrong guage size. In lay mans term, the wire wasn't thick enough to hold the shape.

In some ways, I'm a bit disappointed in how easy I'm finding it to construct. I expected it to be much fiddlier (is that a proper word?) So after getting this done I'm going to do another one, but this time in silver, as a special gift for me for hanging on in there.

Can't wait til E is back to work tomorrow so I can show (off) her all the things I've made whilst she's been away, like the Breaking Waves bracelet (above). I made a beautiful set called Delicate Darkness which was baby tourmaline rondelles with black ceramic beads but I managed to fall in love with it so had to keep it myself. G told me off, saying that wasn't the way to get things made. I also custom made and sold a pair of orange Tropical Trumpets to Melissa who works across the hall from me!

Hey ho, off we go for some more jump ring jinks!

Dragonfly Jewellery Designs

A while ago I said I was opening up an Etsy shop to sell some of my jewellery. So I've been beavering away, looking at my beads and seeing what I can come up with. I'm not opening the shop until I have at least 20 items and I'm now half way through.

So here is a sneak preview of some of the things I will be selling. These aren't the final photos, as I can see that they need to be set up better and with better lighting. But hey, it's all a learning curve!

How to get ideas?

I've been a busy bee this week, frantically trying to make things to put on my new Etsy shop. But it's really difficult to suddenly come up with ideas on demand. Quite often ideas come to me whilst relaxing in the bath or sitting in the garden, just generally daydreaming about beads....like you do! So far I have made 6 items to sell. That doesn't sound very much but I am trying to make things that I like, that I would be happy to wear, which also includes making sure the findings look good and fit well; jump rings that are closed properly and things generally look of a good quality. All too often I see hand made jewellery which looks un-professional and cheap. Handmade can be quirky and is the main reason people buy it but that doesn't mean you have to skimp on quality of finishing. My biggest nightmare scenario is that people will look at my items to sell and will say, 'oooh, look at those rubbishy jump rings' or words to that effect. Ok, so I'm not going to hear it but it will speak volumes if nothing sells.

I've also tried to get my head around photographing my items. I'm sure there's a tutorial somewhere on Etsy but looking at other sellers I've noticed that items in bright natural daylight look better than just rested on a laminate desk. I've been taking some photos of my existing jewellery to form a gallery so that I can look back and be proud of what I've done but also use it as a catalogue for ideas for the future. The pictures featured today are some things I made back in the beginning of my beading journey, and it's amazing to see how far I've come. I'm so much better at it now but I guess that just comes from practice. So be kind, and ignore the dust!If this all fails, I can at least say I had some fun making some jewellery and I can wear all my additional pieces. Hmmm, how about wearing all my chain maille items and doing my best Mr T impression? Fool!

A Lovely Weekend

I'm back from a lovely weekend away with G. It was one of those weekends where everything felt perfect, even if in reality things weren't. I know, I know, I'm being a bit cryptic here.

We drove up to Oxford on Saturday afternoon. It was very warm and the Lions were playing the Springbok. G has just put me on the insurance of his car so he took the opportunity to shout at the radio whilst I drove and prayed I didn't scratch his little Merc. We pulled into the hotel car park and I knew we were about to step back in time, circa 1967 I guess.

The hotel had that sort of carpet which makes you go dizzy when you look at it, the pattern sort of rushes up to meet you. Mein host was affable enough but when asked for a good restaurant in the area he couldn't help and wasn't really sure about getting a taxi. I would have thought they were pretty easy things to help with. The room was clean but the bed was solid. G started to apologise but it wasn't his fault.

We ended up at The Trout (a pub) for dinner which was beautifully set on a river, with ducks begging to be fed and in fact flying up on the wall really begging to be fed!! G turned out to be a 'twitcher' and had useless facts on the plumage of the drakes (!) We had a lovely meal, great wine and the company was just perfect.

Pity I was awake all night due to a hard bed (I know I've mentioned that already!) and only one window that we could open. Oh yes, and the heating was on, barely, but still on.

The next morning we got up and had the most dreadful breakfast. Dirty cups, orange squash instead of juice and sausages which could easily pass as dog turds. I kid you not! We floated around the city until it was time to meet his cricket chums for the afternoon match against The Heartaches, a team lead by non other than Tim Rice. I could try and tell you I watched enthralled, but I sat watching for when G was batting and bowling. Unfortunately, but probably not unexpectedly, the Allstars lost. So time for a quick drink and then the drive back. I was so tired but very happy & I fell asleep the moment I was cuddled up with G.

What a lovely weekend, even with the dog turd sausages!

I've been adopted!

Yes, sorry Mum & Dad, I've been adopted by someone else. It's a big black cat called Thomas.

A few months back I noticed that Charlie's food seemed to be going down alot quicker than normal but he didn't seem to be getting any fatter! Then one evening I went out to the kitchen to grab a cuppa and there he was, scoffing Charlie's food! I shooed him back out the cat-flap and hoped that he'd be afraid of me and not come back.

The next time I saw him he was sitting in the upstairs hallway, just having a lay down (like you do).

Then after that he was in the kitchen and when he saw me he nuzzled up against my leg. To this cat I'm obviously as scary as a big, squidgey marshmallow.

So I thought I be clever and shut the cat flap so he (and Charlie unfortunately) couldn't get in and this worked until I left the upstairs bedroom window open! D'oh! Charlie & Thomas could BOTH get in even though I thought Thomas was far too fat.

I had my bath replaced and E's boyfriend was taking the old one away for me, but Thomas found a little home in the shelter of it. Anyone would think he was a stray but he has a collar with a tag and phone number on it and his owners are probably wondering where he goes and what he gets up to.

Last night I came home and found Charlie & Thomas in the garden, catching the last of the suns' rays. Thomas saw me, no fear and continued to lay there. He even looked up obligingly for a photo call. So I guess he's definitely adopted me. Can I help it if he loves me???