August

It's been so long since my last post (mostly due to August getting in the way) that I almost had to relearn how to work blogger.  But I've figured out which buttons to press now and can update you on what we've been up to that's kept me away from the PC...

Himself and I strapped on our walking boots for a long weekend of walking in the Yorkshire Dales and it was beeeeooootiful.  In the midst of a rainy summer, we had a little sunshine and made the most of it.  The countryside is such a dramatic contrast to the soft stone and woodland of my more familiar Cotswolds that I came home with over 500 pictures!  

Looking at the greens captured in between the stone walls made me imagine quilt designs...

There were some surprises such as this heart in a rock and below, a log lying in a dried up stream with the coins of hundreds of visitors pressed into it's soft wood.  It's such an unexpected sight, you could easily walk past and never notice it.  But once we'd noticed one, we saw several "money logs".

A couple of weeks later we were enjoying another long weekend camping and body boarding at one of our favourite places in north Devon.   

This is the body.  This is the board.  Body boarding.

 It looks almost like a warmer, more southerly location but this really is north Devon!

We celebrated 2 birthdays.  For himself, I baked a Victoria sponge and it was decorated/graffeteed by both his boys.  It's difficult to tell but these are flowers and meaningful splats made with pre-filled, coloured icing pens. 

The 2nd birthday was himself's mum who reached 80.  We took over a local hall, invited all her relatives and friends and had a civilised afternoon with catering, speeches and balloons.

Sadly, there was also a loss in the family.  Making this card helped me appreciate crafting in a new way, as a way of remembering the lost one and as a way of reaching out to their closest family.  When words feel difficult and clumsy, a handmade memorial speaks for you. 

There was more, happier creativity too as I returned to a hobby which has always left me frustrated because I cannot seem to master it!  Watercolour painting!!  This time I've set myself a challenge to actually sit down properly with the correct materials and take my time to LEARN!  With any other interest I am always realistic about what result to expect, except this.  I expect myself to churn out works of art despite the fact that I don't know how to use the brushes or how much water to use or how to mix the colours.  Sheesh!  If I was baking a cake I'd expect it to be a bit ropey first time but to improve each time I made it  and that's the logic I need to apply to watercolours :)  So using a book and a set of DVD's I did a tree (easy - think stick covered in blobs)

...and a moonlit scene.  It's a bit dodgy and the middle ground colours went seriously wonky but you can mostly tell what it is (ie it's not a bowl of fruit) so I'm happy with that.  My next lesson is misty mountains and I'm hoping it is achieved with blobs because I can do those :)