another week another university

So its another week and therefore another university open day. Last week Leeds, not our part of the country but an acceptable few hours driving.....this week Lancaster! How much does this child want to get away from us! A very unacceptable 4 hours in the car each way. But did we complain....not much! but not within hearing of youngest child.

This one she liked. For those who have never visited this university(and why would you have) it is very near the wonderful lake district but in terms of its architecture

it is anything but wonderful. More of a dogs breakfast, a seventies new town look. BUT she liked it. The guy doing the talk for fine art was very interesting and the course seemed far more suited to her. Unlike Leeds which only really seemed interested in extremely modern conceptual art,

Lancaster lets the student follow the art direction that they prefer and fine tune it. Just what she wants.

Youngest was not allowing me to take many photos but i managed a few and it is in a glorious part of the world.

Despite the mishmash of architectural styles some of the accommodation was really tip top , very Scandinavian in design and well thought out. She liked that a lot and it wasn't even the most expensive....a mere £84 per week! A really worthwhile day for youngest...we shall see. Norwich next.

Friday I had a really fun day. Went to a friend who is a wonderful quilter(is that what they call themselves) and she gave another friend and me a tutorial on patchwork and more importantly for me, the correct way to use a sewing machine.I loved it and look what I produced.

Actually I know this is fairly unimpressive but who knows where it may lead on the crafting front. I really enjoyed all the quilting paraphernalia, the measuring and cutting and Jo said I made a pretty good job of my joins. So am all inspired now.

Have a great week folks

No I haven't been away........

nor have I been any busier than usual with work, but the reason I haven't written is that i didn't know what to say. Life here in the small town has taken on a strange atmosphere, preparations for university have stepped up a pace. There has been a trip to Primark for towels and bedding, I am buying all the deals on toiletries I see....all with more than a little disbelief and dread. Herb is keeping his feelings very close to his chest but I am becoming agitated and there is a certain tension in the house. This was compounded this week with a visit to the university open day in Leeds for youngest child. We did the 3 hours drive up north to see what Leeds has to offer for a 17 year old wanting to study fine art. We loved it but to be honest I think she was a little overawed by the campus and the course and it probably isn't for her. (Her with the purple bag)but again on the drive back, I pondered on the fact that this time next year the nest will indeed be empty.....and that doesn't make me happy. There was an article in the Observer last week whose tone was that this was an ideal opportunity for a couple to refind each other, to pursue new interests etc. Of coursed I pounced on this but it didn't make me feel any better. We have a lovely life which I appreciate very much , we enjoy each others company, have lovely friends, a nice home, a good work life balance , it will just seem a paler shade without the girls. that's all.

Enough.....its going to happen onward and upward.......I have plans to fill the space.

I'm going to turn the spare bedroom(it's so bad now i can't even bear to show you a picture) into a bit of a craft room.

I will go to the handmade craft fair in Cambridge in December and the knitting and stitching show at Alexandra Palace in October for inspiration.

I am thinking of starting a stitching group in the small town.

I have Herbs landmark birthday to sort.....and of course youngest will still be here for another year. No need to wish that away.

Speaking of crafting.....a little bit of crewel..I have run out of wool for the university blanket, so took the time to finish the black and green one. I absolutely love it. I know its a bit contrived colour wise but that's me I'm afraid. Only a few hundred ends to sew in!

bank holiday chilli festival

Yesterday Herb and I went to the Benington Lordship chilli festival in a small village about half an hour away. Neither of us knew what to expect, but we certainly hadn't anticipated the level of interest in chilli's! It was a fantastic event.

You could smell the food as we parked the car and even though it was before noon we started planning what we'd have. Of course the food stalls were a big draw but those packed with all things chilli were amazing, plants, sauces, chutneys, aprons, shirts and more. Lots of tasting to be done and some purchases to make. We laughed so much at all the blokes egging each other on to taste the deadliest of sauces. one chap was clearly in some distress after tasting something called Satans S@@t.

I waited for ages for the paella to be done, long after Herb had eaten his harissa chicken with yogurt and flatbread (yum he said). But it refused to cook, poor chap, I gave up in the end.

I finally decided on the goat curry and I'm so pleased I did. It was really wonderful and I'm going to try and recreate it............when I can source the goat meat!

The house and gardens are wonderful and it was the perfect venue........try and go next year if you re in the Stevenage area.

The music was perfect and very mexican..............

....and we finally chose a medium hot chilli plant, some chutney, chilli of course and a southern indian garlic and tomato sauce to take home.

We loved this little chap in the vegetable patch.......he's not real of course...we want one.



On the craft front I am beavering away at the 'university blanket', its not going to be huge, just enough to wrap round her shoulders, when home seems a long way away..........


I bought this beautiful thread from rowan, cotton glace in blue and burnt orange colours and thought I would do some motifs to put on a white pillowcase. Will show you if it works out.
Finally youngest child returned from Greece, looking beautifully tanned and happy. Boy was I relieved to see her back in one piece.....you see a week before she left, a fine young man, a good friend of hers, died tragically on holiday. A terrible accident that makes you want to hold on to them even more tightly, even though at 17 they don't want to be held so so tight.

A level results day.........

Well the sun finally rose on today........literally I was there to see it, i just couldn't sleep properly. I finally heard eldest child get a phone call at 7.15, then a very quiet 10 minutes (she was checking on the UCAS site)before the door was flung open and she shouted at her dad who was of course fast asleep(how can men do that?).........''I'm going to uni''........fantastic fantastic news. We are so very proud of her, she has worked very hard. AAB is not easily achievable although we think she was a little disappointed she didn't get 3 A's. But hey she's off to York to study how the brain works-psychology....how brilliant is that.

Youngest child got her AS results, A B C........so she is very happy too. In fact both are so thrilled, we have hardly seen them because they have gone to town to celebrate on the common with all their pals. The house has been filled with noisy excitable young people and why not. All quiet now though.

Youngest is off to Greece tonight so we are doing a midnight round trip to Gatwick. oh joy. I am more than a little worried about her going away and have prepared a little lecture, you know the kind of things, stick together, don't drink too much, don't burn in the sun, eat properly, stay away from boys etc etc. You can imagine the response I will get

I am now under pressure to crack on with the new blanket for eldest to take to uni. I think it looks really good so far.

Just need to pop to John Lewis to get some more supplies of yarn. Meanwhile have started a little crewel project as I can't bear to have nothing on the go. There is never enough time for all my ideas! Great day.......

results day and a new blanket

a-level results day is looming and we in this little house in the small town are getting a wee bit anxious........not speaking about the day to come but its in all our thoughts. One week tomorrow will decide eldest child's immediate future, university or maybe not. Of course we think she will get the results she needs and following a speedy and expensive trip to ikea will disappear off up north to start her new adventure(and study of course). I have everything crossed but am confident she will get it. She has worked so hard.

Youngest child will later that same day also get her AS results before she flies off to a faraway Greek island to have her first holiday with chums(don't tell me its too soon, i am being the liberal mum on the outside, inside is a different story).

Anyhow hit john Lewis this week for a new project and had all that gorgeous yarn to choose from. Herb was hovering so there wasn't much time but this is what i came away with. I intend it as a little piece of home for eldest child to take to university. all positive thoughts welcome!

Bands of the 80'S

..............at the back of town is a stately home that is tonight having a concert with bands of the 80's. wish I'd got a ticket cos its all my old favourites. ABC singing 'all of my heart'...........Go West, king of wishful thinking, Heaven 17, Belinda Carlyle and Human League............remember that video? Am stood in the rain listening to Martin Fry and being whisked back 25 years.............where has the time gone?



Off to Norfolk for a few days tomorrow.............taking the linen and wool so might get a few bits done.




Have been trying to finish off some stuff today as the weather has been so poor, I was forced to stay in. Not really a hardship as I like nothing better than to settle down with the radio and some stitching. Have run out of wool for the crochet blanket so it must go back in the bag until I can get to John Lewis.I will also need to go to ikea for some frames for the stack of crewel embroidery i have.


Had a little practice of the Japanese stitching from the new book....it will look better in cotton don't you agree.


Have to go Phil Oakley starting up.......... dont you want me baby!!!

a great week.........

But not a lot to show you I’m afraid. i forgot my camera!

Wednesday i met a friend in London and we went to the summer exhibition at the royal academy. I'm afraid i wasn’t as excited as she was at the modern art but a very pleasant couple of hours was spent in this wonderful building. In the main, modern art isn’t my thing, you know what I mean, 2 splashes of acrylic across a canvas doesn’t constitute art to me. the Tracy emin pics were frankly bewildering but the Damien Hirst statue of St Bartholomew was intriguing and quite womderful in all its glorius silveryness!. ( oh how we giggled as the lady describing it to her partially sighted friend suddenly realised what was draped over his arm. 'ohmygodohmygod', check it out if you don't know what i mean. a bit of a whoa moment).





However next on the agenda was Fortnum’s for some delicious treats then on to a dim sum restaurant that had been recommended by a colleague. Ocean city and its excellent food....... great value if you’re in Chinatown.

Then we walked up to Liberty’s before home. I hadn’t been to there in quite some time and I found the haberdashery dept a bit disappointing. its moved now to a bit of a dark corner and I know the fabrics are wonderful but there didn’t seem to be any else that was special, or tempting. It will be a different matter I know if I get into quilting which I would like to try later in the year.

I bought these 2 little children’s colouring books at the royal academy.





Aren’t they sweet?

I thought they would make little stitchery projects at some point.
This lovely lovely book was waiting for me when I got in..all the way from Japan. Funnily enough I saw it at the Japan centre in Piccadilly but it was a lot more than I paid directly from Japan.

On the stitching front I saw these beautiful blue wools in the local shop and had to have a dabble with them. Am rather please with the results but I think I need to get my stitches a bit neater.
We are rather lucky in this little town to have a little secret art gallery that specialises in the work of Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, whose work I absolutely love. Today they had a coffee morning to raise funds for a new study centre so we went along to gaze at these wonderful prints. Some other work was on sale so we bought this little picture by David Weston. Then it was home to watch the next stage of the tour du France. We were in this area on holiday 2 years ago so it was familiar, and having been up mount ventoux in a car we could appreciate what they were doing. Amazing stamina. What hearts and lungs those guys must have!