No posts for the next couple of weeks because I'm off to Milwaukee on Monday for the Bead and Button and after that I'll be spending a few days in Chicago.
Have a great couple of weeks.
All the best
Neroli
Saturday 30 May 2009
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Sandwich and Deal
Where I went
Highlight of this week was the next stretch of the Saxon Shore Way, from Sandwich to Deal. It's a short walk - only about 5 miles - so I took the opportunity to have a look round Sandwich before I set off. It was a gorgeous day, which showed Sandwich off to its best advantage. It's a lovely little town, really quaint and pretty, and I'd live there if I could, but it takes 2 hours to get to central London on the train, and a four-hour round trip to work just isn't on.
Highlight of this week was the next stretch of the Saxon Shore Way, from Sandwich to Deal. It's a short walk - only about 5 miles - so I took the opportunity to have a look round Sandwich before I set off. It was a gorgeous day, which showed Sandwich off to its best advantage. It's a lovely little town, really quaint and pretty, and I'd live there if I could, but it takes 2 hours to get to central London on the train, and a four-hour round trip to work just isn't on.
I took some photos of Sandwich which I tried to upload here, but no luck. For some reason the internet kept switching itself off every time I tried to upload! Instead you can see the photos on Flickr:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38772372@N02/
Sandwich has a thousand years of history behind it, and it's well worth a visit. You can find out more about Sandwich through the "Open Sandwich" website, and the link to this is below:-
http://www.open-sandwich.co.uk/
Sandwich is where the Kent "Makey Do" is being held on 11 July. Part craft fair, part making experience, it's being run by Jennyflowerblue. You can read all about it on her blog:-
The walk to Deal was mainly golf courses. After leaving Sandwich the Saxon Shore Way heads across the Royal St George's golf course until it reaches the sea, and then turns south with the sea on the left and the Royal Cinque Ports golf course on the right. I didn't get a chance to look round Deal, but I definitely will when I do the next stretch of the walk
Sunday was lovely day too, so I went for a short local walk around Green Street Green.
Alan and the girls are staying with his cousin Margaret this week, so I've got the house all to myself. Consequently I didn't go far on Bank Holiday Monday or today, Tuesday, because I wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet of being in by myself.
(Why am I off work on a Tuesday? Well, we civil servants get an additional day off in honour of the Queen's Birthday. We're Crown servants and she's our boss. At the Dept of Health this additional day is always the Tuesday after bank holiday at the end of May).
What I made
Still working on the floral filigree beaded scarf. I'm finally past the three-quarters mark and so the end is finally in sight! If you read "Bead" magazine, do look out for the picture of my prize winning bead tapestry "Magic Carpet" on page 8 of the latest issue.
What I read
This week I've been reading "The Ghost" by Robert Harris. An established ghost writer is hired to write the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, closely associated with the war on terror, after the original ghost writer dies in dodgy circumstances. The ghost writer delves deeper and deeper into the PM's murky past.......to discover a shocking secret. Easy to read, but the ending is a bit far-fetched - or is it?
What I learned this week
"Robin of Sherwood" is the best televisual portrayal of the legend of Robin Hood. Accept no substitutes!
Sunday 10 May 2009
If you go down to the woods today
Yawn...another very quiet week.
What I did
Highlight of the week was bank holiday Monday - well, a day off work would be the highlight of anyone's week now wouldn't it? We went to "Wildwood", a wild animal park near Herne Bay in Kent. The highlight of a visit to Wildwood is seeing the wild boars and the badgers, and they didn't disappoint. The wild boars look big and evil and dirty, but their piglets are just sooooo cute! Only one piglet this year though. The keeper said that they thought that the extremely cold winter had meant that this year's litter wasn't so big. A couple of years ago they had about 8 piglets running about the place. The used to have three badgers that they'd rescued from a landfill site when their mother died, and couldn't be sent back to the wild. They still have two of them, but unfortunately one, Jeremy, died earlier in the year. The two remaining badgers, Big Bore and Medium Bore, were gorgeous. We have some badgers round our way, but naturally we don't see them very often. The keeper gave us an interesting talk about badgers while Big Bore and Medium Bore hassled him for food. After that we went for dinner at Pizza Express in Maidstone.
The only other happening of note was a visit to Comet on the bypass to buy and new camera. I will be setting aside some time this forthcoming Tuesday to try it out and start to learn about all its new functions.
What I made
I really put some hours this week into the Floral Filigree beaded scarf, and I have now completed and joined up 250 of the flowers. Only another 110 to go! I finished Kerrie Slade's brick stitch flower pendant, and I've made a start of the necklace bit of it, which should be finished tomorrow. I'm definitely going to post a picture of that when it's finished.
What I read
I'm still hauling through Frank Harris's biography of Oscar Wilde, which interestingly enough focuses on the time after he left prison, which most biographies don't really cover in much detail. I'm nearly finished it now, and it's been a fascinating read. Frank is a complete maggot and although he claimed to be Oscar's friend, he clearly bears out the phrase "with friends like him, who needs enemies?" His version of some of the events in this part of Oscar's life, and his role in them, simply don't agree with other sources. Frank is telling porkies. I'm also continuing to read "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. It is a series of six interlinked stories and I'm very impressed by David's ability to tell different stories in different "voices". The mystery which runs through all six is intriguing, but given that this is a work of literature rather than a mystery story I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that the mystery never gets solved.
What I learned this week
There are two Hilton hotels on Praed Street in London. Make sure you get the right one, or otherwise you might find yourself attending a conference on microbiology.
What I did
Highlight of the week was bank holiday Monday - well, a day off work would be the highlight of anyone's week now wouldn't it? We went to "Wildwood", a wild animal park near Herne Bay in Kent. The highlight of a visit to Wildwood is seeing the wild boars and the badgers, and they didn't disappoint. The wild boars look big and evil and dirty, but their piglets are just sooooo cute! Only one piglet this year though. The keeper said that they thought that the extremely cold winter had meant that this year's litter wasn't so big. A couple of years ago they had about 8 piglets running about the place. The used to have three badgers that they'd rescued from a landfill site when their mother died, and couldn't be sent back to the wild. They still have two of them, but unfortunately one, Jeremy, died earlier in the year. The two remaining badgers, Big Bore and Medium Bore, were gorgeous. We have some badgers round our way, but naturally we don't see them very often. The keeper gave us an interesting talk about badgers while Big Bore and Medium Bore hassled him for food. After that we went for dinner at Pizza Express in Maidstone.
The only other happening of note was a visit to Comet on the bypass to buy and new camera. I will be setting aside some time this forthcoming Tuesday to try it out and start to learn about all its new functions.
What I made
I really put some hours this week into the Floral Filigree beaded scarf, and I have now completed and joined up 250 of the flowers. Only another 110 to go! I finished Kerrie Slade's brick stitch flower pendant, and I've made a start of the necklace bit of it, which should be finished tomorrow. I'm definitely going to post a picture of that when it's finished.
What I read
I'm still hauling through Frank Harris's biography of Oscar Wilde, which interestingly enough focuses on the time after he left prison, which most biographies don't really cover in much detail. I'm nearly finished it now, and it's been a fascinating read. Frank is a complete maggot and although he claimed to be Oscar's friend, he clearly bears out the phrase "with friends like him, who needs enemies?" His version of some of the events in this part of Oscar's life, and his role in them, simply don't agree with other sources. Frank is telling porkies. I'm also continuing to read "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. It is a series of six interlinked stories and I'm very impressed by David's ability to tell different stories in different "voices". The mystery which runs through all six is intriguing, but given that this is a work of literature rather than a mystery story I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that the mystery never gets solved.
What I learned this week
There are two Hilton hotels on Praed Street in London. Make sure you get the right one, or otherwise you might find yourself attending a conference on microbiology.
Sunday 3 May 2009
A short one this week
Not much going on for me this week, as you can see...........
Where I went
Only the 1 outing this week - a four mile circular walk around Petts Wood on Saturday. I walk this route once every year, about this time of year...why?....it's because of the bluebells. My walk takes me through Petts Wood itself, and through the National Trust's Hawkwood Estate, and through a number of woodland areas full of lovely, lovely bluebells. Here's a picture, but not from this year's walk because my camera is knackered and I haven't got a new one yet.
What I made
Continued with the brick stitch necklace - finished the big flower and then started on the medium flower - which took me longer to do than the big one. I kept messing it up and having to take it out - because I was trying to watch the Blues Brothers at the same time. When I'd finished the medium flower I went back to the floral filigree beaded acarf and worked on that for a while.
My pattern for a Greek Key square stitch beaded bracelet appeared on the Bead and Button website - this link should take you right there:-
What I read
I'm currently reading "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. It's six interlinked stories, and the book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize - as well as winning Richard and Judy's "Read od the Year" - so two very different recommendations there. It's slowly drawing me in, but I haven't read enough of it yet to offer any useful comments.
What I learned this week
Using a Stenley knife to sharpen pencils isn't a good idea.
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