Poetry and dogs...

Well, last time I blogged seems a long time ago and, at the time I said I would write more often but it wasn't to be. Life somehow seems to go at such a pace, and reminds me of a poem that I loved as a child by Robert Louis Stevenson about the view from a train called From a Railway Carriage...

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And here is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone forever! 

I loved the rhythm of this poem and the excitement of a train journey - not something that I ever did as a child - but it sounded so ... breathless with excitement. Now it matches so much to how fast the days go by, especially the last line, and reminds me to try to appreciate every moment of life and see if with the same excitement as if I was seeing it from a railway carriage window. 
I love train journeys, although I prefer them if the train isn't packed and I can have a window seat I have to admit, and that feeling of watching things and people as the train goes on still makes  me feel like the child who discovered this poem.

I feel like reminiscing for lots of reasons. The Queens Jubilee gave us all the opportunity to look back at the last 60 years (not that I can go back that far), my son got married recently to his American fiancee and they are now going through the complex process of applying for an American visa for him so that they can move out to the States, my Mum's dementia advances and all of these mark the passing of time. 


The wedding was fun, even though it was at very short notice in the end. They had been engaged for a little while and moved in with us at the end of February so that they could save some money ready for their move to the states, and within a few days of moving in they announced their wedding date - 3 weeks and 4 days later!!! As her folks live Stateside, I become not only mother of the groom but honorary mother of the bride too, and did you know it is almost impossible to get a wedding cake made by any professional in less than 3 weeks as all the professionals need more notice than that. So I learned a lot of new skills in a very short time, one of which was decorating a wedding cake and I don't think it turned out too bad considering I have never done anything quite like this before!!

I learnt where to hire a full Scottish kilt outfit, how to make floral table decorations, how to cater for a wedding, how to be sociable with ex husbands and family, what Cannolli are (not sure about the spelling though but for anyone who doesn't know they are Italian delicacies that taste yummy and probably have 1000 calories in each) and how to help a bride choose a wedding dress as well as the cake making and decorating. All things considered the day went really well, and I'd like to say thanks to the family and friends who managed to make it to the wedding, despite both the short notice and the fact that it was on a weekday. I know that the happy couple really appreciated everyone being there to share their special day.

The happy couple remain with us at the moment, which although we love having them with us, hasn't always been plain sailing. It's nearly 12 years since he moved out, and since then, apart from the ever loving Spaniels, we have been on our own. Having people in the house for longer than a few days has meant compromises on all sides, but it's well worth it for us to be able to spend this time with them before they leave the country. 

Speaking of the spaniels, here they are in a picture taken last summer. He's the black and white one, only 2 years old and typical mad Springer Spaniel, she's brown and white and is now about 13 or 14, but behaves just as mad as he does! They're both rehomes (like rescues but in both cases we know where they came from) so we're not exactly sure how old they are. We've had her now for 11 years or so, and him for well over a year and they are just fabulous to have around. They are always happy and can always lift your spirits if the days been a bit hard going.

I have done lots of sewing and promise pictures next time... The Goth bride doll is finally finished, and just waiting to be mounted on her stand. She just needs a Steampunk Groom now, so I guess that will be the next project, in between some vintage style dresses. The sewing room has never seen so much activity....
Until next time relax and enjoy life. Live in the moment and enjoy everything that life shows you.

Busy, busy, busy......

It really doesn't seem like over 2 months since I last posted on here. I've now made a commitment with myself to blog at least once a fortnight, and I'll try to aim for once a week - although don't hold your breath!!
Well, what have I been up to? Life's been pretty busy up until the last couple of weeks or so. Work was really manic through September for lots of reasons and I didn't manage to get as much sewing done as I would have liked to do. I haven't seen the allotment either so nothing growing down there except weeds. I aim to get some winter digging done at some point, but obviously that's weather dependent. It's also very dependent on my recovery from surgery. I had to have my shoulder operated on to free up some nerves, the official title is shoulder athroscopy with sub-acromial decompression, and I am now post op and recovering well. I could do very little at all for the first week and then only a minimal amount for the next week but am now 3 weeks post surgery and have the use back of my right arm, although still no lifting - oh and better still no hoovering or ironing!! Yippeee!

Anyway on the sewing front I really have done very little. I finished Crazy Kate and she went off to her new home (see last post for picture), and have finished the frog prince. I'm really pleased with him and he's sitting on my shelf in my workshop, although I haven't decided his long term home yet. I may keep him or I may even offer him up for sale.

Speaking of my workshop I thought I would post a couple of pictures of it so that you can see just how much of  mess I tend to work in!! About once a month I set to and tidy it all up but the tidy state never lasts.
I think it may just give you an idea about how my brain works - in a mess with lots going on all at once! It's quite a small space, but does have a walk in cupboard off to one side which is absolutely full of material, books, magazines and other useful stuff. Mind you I think hubby may disagree about the "useful" bit. As you can probably tell from the sloping ceiling it's up in the roof  space but has a beautiful big velux window which means lots of natural light. And hubby has a workshop next door full of modelling stuff and aeroplanes - I'm sure he'd describe all the junk in there as useful too.....

I haven't been able to get to dolls club for the last couple of months and am really looking forward to going to see everyone at the end of the month. It's our Christmas party too so that's even better. And I'm hoping to complete both of the dolls sitting on the table - if you can see them amongst all the other stuff....

Some of the things I've been up to...

Well it's been a busy few weeks for lots of reasons. I've become a god mum to my new nephew Sonny. I've never been a god mum before so I'm very excited about all that. I also volunteered to make his christening outfit which seemed like a good idea at the time, but as we live 200 miles away from them it was a bit stressful when it came down to it as I didn't know for sure if it would fit him or not, but fortunately it did and he looked absolutely gorgeous in it. I don't have a photo of him wearing the outfit but I do have a photo of the outfit itself.

The weather was good on the day, Sonny didn't cry all the way through the service, and apart from the usual family dramas it all went very well.
While I was up in Lincolnshire for the christening I went to visit my Mum. Mum has dementia and is now living in a care home. It's really hard to go and see someone who looks like my Mum and sounds like my Mum, but when you talk to her it's not my Mum at all. As usual I came away in tears. She's well cared for fortunately and the staff look after her very well. She was no longer safe at home and a care home was the best option for her, but it's still tough to see her as she is now. I don't know if she knows who I am when I go to see her, but I do know that she enjoys the company, so I will keep visiting her, even if 5 minutes after I've left she doesn't remember I was there. So many times we are told to live in the here and now, instead of worrying about the future or harking back to the past. Mum has no choice but to live in the now.

What else have I been doing. Well I've done some more sewing. A dolls club challenge was to repair and recycle an old doll. Here are the before and after pictures ..... I hope you can tell which one is which!!

And last but not least I've finished my latest doll creation. She is based on a pattern by Jan Horrocks and is called Kate, crazy Kate. I've made her for a friend of mine, and have got to admit to being really quite pleased with the way she has turned out. I'm still very much the novice doll maker, but the more I practice the better I will get at it. Anyway crazy Kate is going to dolls club with me next weekend before she goes off to her new home, but here she is in all her finery...

The picture isn't doing her justice I don't think, but at least you'll get an idea what she's like...
I'm really enjoying doing more and more sewing and playing with textiles, and am hoping to continue to expand my skills and experience as time goes on..

Time flies...

I can't believe how quickly time flies these days. Blink and a months just gone by...
Well I've been busy in the sewing room whenever I've had a chance, although work has been really busy too. We had our annual assessment and audit this week and am pleased to report that we got the best result ever (and currently the best result in the South West with only 2 left to be done - so worst we can be is third overall) and this is due to the hard work that all the team have put in over the last 2 years!
On to the sewing front I finally finished making long tall Sally...

The lady who's granddaughter I made her for is very happy with her. I learnt a lot along the way, as usual, and would do things slightly differently if I made the same doll again. The pictures don't really do her justice.

The last Saturday in April was dolls club and although a small turnout because of the bank holiday, a lot of fun was had by all. We turned our hand to making hats this month. I didn't get mine finished on the day but here's a picture of it now its finished..

I've started (or should say gone back to) my feisty old lady Myrtle and am hoping to get her to a stage I can take her to dolls club next week. In amongst all that I have also finally finished the lounge curtains so my husband can stop nagging me about them now. All in all the last month's been quite a creative time. Long may it continue...

Holidays....... And time to do the fun things in life!!

I've finally managed to have a full week off work! I kept trying to but ended up either cancelling the whole week or only getting a day or two off. Now I've put my foot down with myself and persuaded myself that I am dispensable, so I can have a week off - actually even better because of the Easter break its really 10 days off!!
I have all sorts of plans for how I'm going to spend my days, but I know for sure that whatever happens and however much I do pack in I won't manage to do everything I'd like to.... Time does seem to get shorter as I get older. A friend I used to know told me once that our days our really now only 17 hrs long not 24 like we think as time goes faster than it used to! I don't know if that's true but some days it really feels like it, especially when I'm not at work!
Well I've promised myself that I'll finish long tall Sally this week, and Myrtle too. Although I've got an itch to do a steam punk doll so who's to say what will be done this week. I think Hubby would like me to finish the lounge curtains - but that's just boring don't you think?
Apart from work its been a real retail therapy week one way and another. A friend and I went shopping last weekend to cheer her up as she's just coming to the end of a difficult divorce process after 38 yrs of marriage and is a little worried about the future holds. I'd like to say that I introduced her to the joys of charity shop shopping as I'm a real believer in recycling, but she's as committed to that as I am. Anyway we had a fabulous day, doing all the charity shops in Devizes, and then going up market to Marlborough and doing the slightly more up market charity shops there. I found some fabulous material, wool, painting supplies and some books. She bought books, bags and toys for her grandchildren. We had lunch out and all things considered a good day was had by all. Sometimes it's nice to take a day out with no real plans and just see where the day takes you and that's exactly what we did.
To all of you out there who are trying to be creative and struggling, for any reason at all, just remember that any creativity is better than none and the only person you need to please is yourself. And if it doesn't come out quite like you were hoping it did, its still not a mistake but a learning curve and it should always be FUN!

Times flies and the latest project...

I can't believe it's April already. The weeks just seem to fly past faster and faster. I've been really busy at work lately and by the time I get home, walked the dogs and have cooked and eaten supper there seems little time or energy left to do anything much at all. Mind you the lighter evenings definitely help. I've also been trying really hard to spend more time in the sewing room as it really does help to destress at the end of the day - well normally anyway, except when something doesn't go quite the way you want it to!!
Anyway the latest doll project is well underway. She's called long tall Sally and is for hanging on a wall rather than standing or sitting.

There's lots of work still to do. Lots of flowers to make - like the ones on the feet. Lots of beads or embellishments of some sort to sew on and lots of face and hair things to do but I'm really pleased with the way she's turning out now, after having had doubts about her and thus a distinct hiccup in the commitment to finishing her off. I dyed the material for her skirt myself - a first having never dyed anything before - and wasn't sure about how it had come out. I made the flowers for her boots (and am still making flowers for elsewhere on her outfit) - again another first. I'm really enjoying experimenting with things and waiting to see how they come out. I might have sewed on and off for years but mainly clothes and doll making is far more creative and it gives you the chance to let your imagination run riot. I just need to develop the skills that go with the imagination!!
The last weekend in March was a really busy one. Saturday was dolls club and yet again the experienced doll makers in the club kindly shared their knowledge and skills with those of us less so, so many thanks to Shashi for helping me with the dolls head sculpting. I'm looking forward to my next doll as I plan to sculpt the face thanks to the help I've had. Also thanks to Mavis - I had a great time on the Sunday at the NEC Sewing for pleasure, Fashion and Embroidery and Hobbycraft combined shows. I spent most of my time in the Sewing and Fashion sections marvelling at some of the wonderful exhibitions by very talented people. I'll try to post some of the pictures I took next time I'm writing ... In the meantime I need a cuppa and Masterchef calls....

Well I finally finished Mr Blue, my first ever teddy bear. He's ended up with a somewhat surprised expression but I love him to bits and am very pleased with the way he's turned out. It's a week for finishing things off I've decided so I've also finally finished the wrap for my first doll Marina, having decided to add some turquoise blue lining to it and I have to say its finished her off well. Now I just need to finish sewing the bag I promised someone for Christmas and I can go back to doll making!! Although I have just bought some curtain material in the sales to make new curtains for the lounge!! Too much material and too many possible projects and never enough time in the day. Tomorrow its doll club and I'm looking forward to seeing all the very talented ladies in the club again. I went last month for the first time and they made me very welcome and we had a great deal of fun making sculpted faces. If you want to see the outcome the club has a blog site called fanciful figures... Now off to put the kettle on before going back to the sewing room. I love it when I get a day off work and can do just what I want....