Four books for £1.40...bargain! I'm particularly chuffed with the book second from the top. It's called A Curious Life For A Lady by Pat Barr and it's the story of Isabella Bird. Isabella was a pioneering traveller in the late nineteenth century who suddenly, in mid-life, abandoned a safe, staid comfortable middle-class Victorian life to go travelling the world. I heard an episode of Radio 4's Great Lives about her last year and was completed fascinated. Then at Christmas, my Dad got a beautiful book about the history of exploration. There were a couple of references to Isabella, but not... Continue reading

One of the things I promised myself I'd try to 'do' more of this year was make more of my doodles. I've been working on this since before Christmas, and although it's only a pimped up doodle, it's been fun to have a little project to learn from and experiment with. Here's the original doodle... And here it is, turned into a repeating pattern... I've never done this before...it's very exciting! I'm building castles in the air, of one-of-a-kind wrapping paper and exciting personalised fabric...Spoonflower here I come! Well...maybe not quite yet. I think I have to do a bit... Continue reading

I am something of a word geek. The office dictionary sits on my desk, and when a query about spelling or meaning comes up, I love finding out the answer. My true geeky tendencies then make themselves more apparant when I can't resist seeing what other words are on the page. The office is roughly split between those who like me to share any beauties I find and those who don't! Today's word was 'streamlined'...and 'stratum' and 'stratigraphy' were my follow ups. Here are a couple more delights from roughly the same place in my Dictionary of Historical Slang: strangle-goose... Continue reading

I've not worked out what the message is yet, but it feels like I'm being told something important. In the flurry of New Year resolutions, empty yet expectant diaries and pristine calendars, something that happened on my walk to work this morning feels like it should be more meaningful than it might be at a different time of year Today was my first day back after the Christmas break. Two or three weeks before Christmas, I'd managed to lose a well loved brooch somewhere on my walk to work. As I walked through the park this morning, something caught my... Continue reading

Big thanks to the House of Pinheiro, Sew Far Sew Good and the very talented Truly Myrtle. I've talked about postcard swaps before, but I've now joined the ranks of the pincushion swappers. House of Pinheiro and Sew Far Sew Good joined forces last month to arrange the swap and I thought I'd give it a bash...it would make a nice change from the Epic Shrug project (more on this later). So, one quiet Sunday afternoon I rootled around in my fabrics, buttons and beads and whipped up this: Quite a simple little thing, but I was pleased with how... Continue reading

I saw this photo on a Twitter feed earlier this week. It gives you a taste of how beautiful the countryside is at the moment, especially in the last five days when we've had quite glorious weather. The swifts have arrived, the verges are a froth of creamy white cow-parsley and hawthorn and at 6am this morning I was pondering how nice it would be to be able to fetch my duvet, wrap myself up in it and fall back to sleep in a hammock in the garden. Last weekend wasn't quite so beautiful, but I had a lovely weekend... Continue reading

I sat out in my garden properly for the first time yesterday afternoon. Admittedly, I had both long sleeves and trousers on, was in full sun, and had my knitting over my knees, but it was goooooorgeous. Dora enjoyed being out too...after I'd moved her off my chair, she rolled around in the flowerbed, chewing grass stems. Anyway, it was just the kick I needed to post some pictures of the garden. I took them during a break in the showers about ten days ago. Things are growing so fast at the moment that the garden already looks more lush,... Continue reading

I came rather late to the camera-phone party. In fact, the staff were putting away the tables and mopping the floor at that particular soiree when I rolled in. Late last year I got myself an htc phone with camera and all mod cons. I'm still in the honeymoon period at the moment. I'm thrilled that I'm able to summon up a map that shows me where I am when I'm lost, trying to find Oakwood tube station. I am also loving the camera. I'm still getting used to the idea, and often forget that I can just whip out... Continue reading

I spent much of yesterday in a series of death-defying battles against naughty pirates, monsters and monkeys...and the odd octopus. Each battle was interspersed with either a brief voyage by ship, a bit of digging for treasure and rescuing various friendly passengers. As Miranda's mother (Patricia Hodge) would say..."such fun!" I was helping to look after a very good friend's almost three-year-old for the day. H, N and I go back to university, which was (gulp) seventeen years ago. H was having a day out with her family and her partner had to work so N and I stepped into... Continue reading

I'm not talking Spotify playlists or file-sharing here. I suppose I'm thinking more...musical recommendations. A potential minefield in my opinion, but one into which I'll be sallying forth in the coming weeks. I have horrible, embarrassing memories from my teens....ohh, I just can't go there! Way too cringeworthy. A couple of weks ago I was with some friends in the pub one evening...don't fall off your chairs! It was sort of 'open mike' night but, it being the first Wednesday night of January, it was very, very quiet. My friends and I got talking about artists that we'd introduced each... Continue reading

Earlier today I was walking back to my desk after a toilet stop, thinking about what to write in this blog post. I wouldn't say I had a flash of inspiration, but there was certainly a "mmm...yes...that's a good idea" moment. Can I remember what my idea was? NOOOOO.... I can remember having the good idea, but not what the damn good idea was. *sigh* Anyway, I'm not going to moan, because the reason that my brain is a little tired, and that I've not had much time to write my blog over the last few months is that I'm... Continue reading

Christmas is coming. There, I've said it. I'm trying to make more of my Christmas presents this year, and I'm at that stage where it still seems a long way away, but I'm running out of weekends. Thankfully, the weekend just gone was a very productive one. I made: Two mug cosies; A sock rabbit; A Christmas cake; and Made good progress with a cardigan for my sister. Unfortunately, I can't share any pictures with you as I don't want any recipients taking a sneaky peak! I adapted a recipe from Marriage's Flour Millers...I had to change quite a few... Continue reading

I suppose I'm a year or two out of date with this post. Maybe the fact that we're in the early stages of series two of The Great British Bake Off means that baking long ago reached its cultural peak and is on its way back down the other side. Never mind fat...apparently, baking is a feminist issue now...surely a sign that cup cakes, macaroons and whoopie pies are terribly last season. But I'm with Sianyland on this one. Baking is something I enjoy doing. I like to try new recipes. I like to taste new recipes. I prefer to... Continue reading

The last week has been quite full on, what with one thing and another. There's been lots of good things, but an awful lot of less positive goings on too. Thankfully, today has been quiet, restful and productive...perfect blogging conditions, I reckon. My Big Stitched Postcard Swap card arrived, all the way from Canada, beautifully wrapped and crafted by Laura from My Little Sewing Room: The theme this time was 'bloom'...there are some more incredible pieces of work in the Flickr pool to have a peruse through. I'm ashamed to say I'm still working on my card...It will get sent,... Continue reading

I'm not entirely sure why, but I always love using my birthday as an excuse to cook to excess. It might mean baking quantities of cakes for the office or throwing a shindig* of some description, but I love having a reason to get my cookbooks and recipes out and starting to make a plan. When am I going to go shopping? What ingredients do I need? Have I got enough dishes/tins/containers?..and, best of all, what is going to be on the menu. This year, I'm not having a 'do' but will try and make a cake for my colleagues... Continue reading

You know when a computer is sooooo slow that you're never entirely sure whether you have actually clicked that button, or typed that word, and nothing is happening, but you're sure it should be and just as you go access Task Manager something happens but then it grinds to a halt again so you click back and then.....aggghsccchhhasdjalsdjf!!!! I doodle to try and stay calm (and to avoid clicking too many buttons) but clearly my frustration is venting through the medium of paper and biro. Continue reading

I thought you'd like to see how my garden's coming along... My teeny tiny sunflowers are now... ...huge! They've shot up over the last few weeks, and have flowered in the last few days. I've also done some planting on the shady, left-hand side, with a little help from my lovely Mum and Dad. I've also finally got my peppers and tomatoes planted up, and I'm hoping they'll thrive. It's postcard season again! I've had a beautiful one from Jane in California... It is such a treat getting these little works of art in the post. It is also fantastic... Continue reading

Baking can have a slightly intimidating air about it. For me, I think it stems from scary home economics teachers putting the fear of God into me if I forgot my ingredients, dared to grease my cake tins in an unsanctioned manner or caused my cake mix to split from putting too much egg into the creamed butter and sugar. [Actually, my home economics teachers, though scary, were great. Inspiring, actually, in there practical, no nonsense and assertive way...and I'll never forget my first ever pineapple-upside-down-cake...yummm!] Anyway, though I'm comfortable these days with the whole creaming-sugar-and-butter business, there is something... Continue reading

Leaving work yesterday afternoon, my mind was full of thoughts of the evening and weekend ahead. Not that I had anything particularly exciting planned, but that was the point really...what was I going to do with my lovely free weekend... I was also rather absorbed with thoughts of dinner...I'd bought some filled pasta while I did a bit of shopping at lunch time, and I needed to decide on how to serve them...would simple pesto do, or should I make some tomato sauce... It was a lovely evening, too - sunny, bright and fresh; and though my shopping bags were... Continue reading

I finally got a chance to return the favour of Jane's beautiful home-made postcard. She'd even sent me a second card to celebrate her holiday in Chicago. To celebrate the arrival of something like summer I created the following... ...a fabric-paper collage, with a suitably wise, thoughtful quote on the back: On Monday, when the sun is hot, I wonder to myself a lot: 'Now is it true, or is it not, 'That what is which and which is what?' - Winnie-the-Pooh, chapter 7 Talking of quotes, I had to share a couple more gems from J.B.Priestley: "And he had... Continue reading

My lovely brother sent me a link to this earlier this week: It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but in the top right hand corner there's a little call out that says the following... Catch onto Crochet! Be a creative hooker, Beginners welcome! Hee, hee! Continue reading

One day while I was working at the bookshop at Christmas a lady came to the till with the most beautifully decorated notebook. I complemented her on it, and she told me she'd made it herself, using scraps of fabric and a Moleskine notebook. I filed that little nugget of inspiration away, and last weekend I finally got round to acting on it: Continue reading

I've got a day off today. It was meant to be spent in industrious labour in preparation for the Charvil Village Fete on Sunday, but prep for a job interview on Wednesday has intervened. I am supposed to be working on a presentation, but find that as soon as I sit down to "think about it", my mind goes a blank. On the other hand, while I'm doing other things (dipping into Twitter, catching up on my email, reading the newspaper, cleaning even) the ideas ping around my head more easily, bumping up against each other and generating more thoughts... Continue reading

My dictionary defines delight as the following: Being delighted; thing affording delight. v. Give great pleasure or enjoyment to; rejoice, be highly pleased. I've been lucky enough this week to be delighted by lots of things, some of which I thought you might enjoy. On Tuesday, which, as the day after a lovely bank holiday weekend, could have been horrid, I got a great surprise in the post...my own, special hand-crafted postcard, all the way from California. It was glorious to find such a beautiful, inspiring treat in among the bills and direct marketing bumpf. Thank you, Jane...I love it.... Continue reading