Glastonbury.... no better place....to spend Summer Solstice!

Summer Solstice, 2012 

and there was only one place to be......

Glastonbury is my spiritual home!

Of course we wore our brightest togs....

Me with my rainbow socks....

And Steve with his bright red shoes....

The Purple Kipling Bag is mine of course :-)

We arrived to stunning blue skies.....

And were met with a tiny Pixie door,

leading to our home for the week....

Betsy Cottage

We had booked on-line, but just 'KNEW' this was exactly the kind of place we were looking for when we read:

Steeped in history, this Grade II medieval sandstone cottage is fantastically quirky, and can accommodate up to four people, in one bedroom..

Dating back to the 16th century, this medieval cottage has had a variety of incarnations in its life, including once being a poor house, kitchen and even a jail. Now, however, the cottage offers a unique opportunity to holiday in wonderfully quirky surroundings, including a double bedroom with four poster bed and free-standing copper bath, and a Victorian range in the sitting room, which also has a sofa bed. There are ancient beams throughout, as well as exposed stone walls and flagstone floors. Guests have shared use of a small courtyard garden. The famous town of Glastonbury is a few miles away, and the whole area around the cottage is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, making this character cottage a wonderful relaxing retreat.

We walked into the living room and joy of joys....

All that was missing was the broomstick by the fire! 

The kitchen was delightful....

but somehow the fridge looked out of place. 

Other than that you would have thought 

we had stepped back in time!

And this is what greeted us 

as we walked up the stairs 

and into the bedroom........

A King sized, four posted bed,

with memory foam mattress! 

Not even the jg hanging by the side of the bath

was enough to put us off...

And the copper bath soon filled up

with lovely 'Lush' bubbles...

and was large enough to swim in.....

The writing had been left on the wall.....

On more than one occasion!.... 

We spent most of our time in the town...

but went for a day out to Longleat!

There were plenty of signs warning us about the monkeys!

And we could have avoided them.... 

But we didn't listen (no change there then!)

This guy was definitely the look out!

He let 3 cars go past, before (I'm sure I heard him!)

he whistled to his mates to come 

and strip the trim off the car room!

Flapping my t-shirt at the sun roof window did not help!

However.... we got away lightly!
 Not like the Merc driver who lost his back quarter light!
One even had the cheek to hitch a ride all the way to the gates as we beat a hasty retreat!

To be honest, I was less freaked out 

in the Lion enclosure and 

felt safer there than with the monkeys! 

In Glastonbury itself we visited lots of old friends.... 

and made some new ones too! 

This is Pan (My name fr him) and his 'Pet bird Mr Corvus.

Rescued as a fledgling, the bird chose him not the other way round. My friend Kath over at Hillside House,  kindly let me use this picture as the most horrible cafe owner told him to 

(in her words)

 "Shift that disgustingly, filthy, bird 

away from my tables, before I call the Police"

I'm not even going to repeat 

the conversation after that,

but would like to say,

that I, in the same circumstances, 

would NOT have kept my cool, 

and all credit to the lad for doing so! 

We also manage to visit his glass suppliers.....we twice actually, as his stocks are getting low and he needs to make more for his website

Where he spent a small fortune..... 

thanks to me, who actively encouraged him!...

And this is what £500 in glass looks like!

 (But Steve..... the colours were so pretty!!!!)

And then we were invited to the Opening Night of

The Glastonbury Art Collective, Exhibition......

And stayed till dark... as we met and chatted

 to so many wonderful people

And that's where Steve...... met James......

James creates the most wonderful pieces of

Twisted Wire Jewellery, 

You can find his creations here

And he and Steve are going to be working in collaboration

to create some new and exciting pieces...

but I'll let Steve tell you more about this as things develop

over on his Steve Smith Jewellery Blog

We had the most wonderfully, romantic and busy week. 

We made many new contacts, drank far too much coffee and spent far too much time acting like 'real' artists...

I cry when I arrive,

and I cry when I leave.

The place just lets me shed some built up stress

and puts things right back into perspective.

The people are great,

they support each others creative endeavours.

The understand that by working together,

there is plenty to go round!

I love the place,

I love the people

and I love the way that time seems to stand still there....

no-one rushes and everything gets done.

There's no need to stress about anything!

It's called The Glastonbury Experience!

Light blue touchpaper and stand well back!

Excuse me..... but I am about to rant!
and the rant is all to do with this post.
Darlington Borough Council you stink!

VERY SAD to see that the Art Centre in Darlington has now closed. Many happy memories of starting my first teaching job here way back in 1988. Attended many workshop, ran courses and went to many concerts here to. The place was very special to me and in the days when I taught there, was the hub of many Folk Festivals, Beer Festivals, Art Exhibitions.... oh and so much more.
Now Darlington and the wider catchment area which it served, has been closed.... because Darlington Borough Council want to spend their money on more 'useful' projects!
As always the Arts just DON'T COUNT under this damn government!
Perhaps if you hadn't done numerous refits on the cafe area D.B.C. you would have had MORe money to run the place!
I remember when the Centre was open from 8am - 11.30pm. The cafe and bar were opened and served all day too! Whatever happened to that? It has been under the threat of closure for years. Youth groups, art groups and singing and musical workshops have gone a long time ago. Proof that the Council really never gave a ****!

I am one of the very few fortunate people to have been all round that building.... I had a long guided tour many years ago and it's never left me. Sadly, not many saw the fantastic studio spaces upstairs and the amazing rooms and architecture... it's a tragedy that Darlington Borough Council spent so little money on it's upkeep over the years! D.B.C. you disgust me!

Like forking out for those ridiculously stupid looking water fountainy thinks which looked more like somewhere to park your bike, were TOTALLY out of character with such an old building and were a complete and absolute waste of money as..... THEY NEVER WORKED!!!  And I mean the water didn't flow out of them!  

Photo taken from this post

Once again, this bunch of asse'oles, that profess to be 'Working for us!' make decisions that affect a large group of the population and once again it's the Arts that gets it in the next.... while Banks (god love them) get bailed out, time and time again.

Oh.... but I see the flea pit of a theatre is staying open!

 RANT OVER!

P.S. There are so many things I could tell you about this place and so many reasons why it should stay open.... but at the moment I am far too angry and the words would just come out all wrong.

Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than open it and remove all doubt!

Sentiment Sunday - sometimes I wonder where the time goes... then I wrote this!

 It seems like forever ago.... in fact I seem to say that a lot these days. Visitors to my blog will be forgiven for thinking I'd dropped down dead or disappeared without a trace, somewhere over the rainbow. But nothing can be further from the truth. 


Life has been crazy busy and despite the wet, unseasonal weather, business has been brisk too. 
I have been trying to at least, to keep up with my business blogs of Inspired by Script and North Yorkshire Weddings, and friends, family, fellow creatives and calligraphers who follow me on Facebook will know that there's never a dull moment! In fact, these days I'm far more likely to share stuff on there than on this blog.... but as a rather brief overview of what's been going on.... I will share just a snippet of my life of the last few weeks. 


Grandma Ra Ra (Daisy's name for me and after Lady GaGa... I am honoured - lol)) and Grandpops. took Daisy to her first Pagan Camp..... and introduced her to the Roundhouse.... going inside was not an option, for the girl who knows her own mind, once she saw the skull above the door! 

She did however LOVE the Stone circle and ran around crazy

 inside it, laughing and giggling uncontrollably 

and without prompting waved goodbye and kissed the stones as she left

After a long day, she insisted she came back to ours 

to have "A cuppa tea" before we took her home.

Then she spotted my Uke (she has one too) and just had to get it out...

Grandpops got his new electric guitar out.... 

and the jamming session started, 

while Grandma Ra Ra put her feet up and clapped madly!

She loves an audience.

It wasn't long before she realised that Grandpops guitar was far louder than hers

and even though it crushed her legs with the weight, just had to give it a go!

A week later we went on a march. 

The first one for me in over 20 years... and for Steve about the same.

The rally was to show support against the proposed closure 

of The Friarage Hospitals Maternity, Special Care Baby Unit and Children's ward,

after having 1 Grandchild in SCBU and another almost die

(save for the expertise of the Doctors on duty that night) 

I feel very strongly about this cause....

So did 2,000 other people!

William Hague our MP did us proud and insisted on leading the march all the way from County Hall, through the High Street and ending up at Bullamoor Park, where we entered into a carnival atmosphere! Daisy, Grandpops and myself stayed close to 2 young drummers all the way.... and managed a little dance too.....Good god Pixie... it isn't the Notting Hill Carnival!  

William Hague stayed around for a good while afterwards, and Daisy.....well, Daisy wouldn't stay away from the loud speaker blasting out music. And then refused to dance to the Lady GaGa song as it wasn't one of her favourites! Did I tell you she is choosy too!. 

After a long walk, much dancing and a long day,

the ice cream was much needed!

 And look.....matching socks with Grandma Ra Ra!

I have lived in this town for 28 years now and I can honestly say, I found the turnout of 2,000 people to be most humbling. Perhaps the camaraderie and atmosphere of the town actually coming together on a common cause, was quite moving....even the men shed tears as we entered the High Street, the town stood still and we were clapped as we walked the route. 

It's just not like this town to join together in ANYTHING, to my recollection! 

Well, then onto the Jubilee.... yes,  the towns decorations were pretty poor, with only Barkers making a real effort to mark the Queens Jubilee! Now why does that NOT surprise me? 

Again........ Apathy!

Now the next few photos are a real treat!

My friends and I had spoken about doing something like this for a long time. My fellow creatives had plans, but somehow thought that knowing our luck, we would be prosecuted for littering or worse! ... ... and before you start wondering NO, IT WASN'T ME AND NO I CANNOT KNIT!

(Just wanted to clear that up). 

Well, overnight, without warning and without being seen....The Urban Knitters struck! Now, if you haven't heard of Urban Gardening, then you probably won't have heard of Urban Knitting! 

Both the Urban Gardeners AND 

the Urban Knitters have these things in common...

They both strike in the dead of night,

unseen by a single soul,

their identities are secret, 

making the place a brighter place.... 

no egos, no thanks, no praise, 

no paybacks and no money involved!

The Queen attended her celebrations in Northallerton....

The seats, looked fab! and far more inviting 

with cushions on! 

and a bit of bunting too!

Even the Town Hall Sign got it's own treatment!

And of course....

the Queen wouldn't be complete without her corgi's!

And..... the comment from the Mayor and Town Councillors????

They loved it and said 

it's a real treat to have Northallerton brightened up

 in such a creative way.

Now... I can look at this in one of 2 ways:

Glass Half Full:

So, me and the other creatives should have given our little idea a go 

as facing littering doesn't seem to be an option!

Glass Half Empty:

 Meet the team creatives.... as seen on Crimewatch...

 prosecuted for leaving bits of Kitsch Art all over the place 

which in our book constitutes LITTERING!

Hmmmm....Let's toss a coin!

............................................

Let's face it... the weather has been pants!

But the garden is getting a good watering 

and it saves me coming home from work and having to water....

so thank you Mother Nature for saving me time :-)

I couldn't help but take the opportunity

of taking some raindrops on Roses pictures...

or to be more precise, Tulips!

Steve's had a few days extra off work... but as the weather has been so wet,

we've taken the opportunity to catch up on building our websites and 

creating some fun stuff at the studio. 

Below are just a few pieces donated to 

The Cat Protection League Raffle.....

Soon we visit Glastonbury.... my spiritual home!
We need a break.... time to spend quality time together in a place we love....MAGIC!


I may not post until after I come back....but in the meantime....Carry on creating,
take advantage of the wet, miserable days... no-one sees the dust till the sun shines! 


Oh, one last note: Some of course I will see daily on Facebook....... the others....If anyone fancies a little bit of night time activity...give me a call! 

AND after reading THAT last sentence back

 I realise that it sounds SO WRONG! 

Obviously it's time for bed!

Which has just made THAT last sentence EVEN WORSE! 

Family Matters!

Steve was right! If I had known that within 2 weeks, I was going to strip and decorate a 3 bedroomed house, complete loads of DIY jobs, carpet rooms and move a 3 bedroomed house into another one, especially at our busiest time of the year, I probably would have had an anxiety attack!

My son, daughter-in-law and 20 month old Daisy needed a bigger house in a better location before her baby brother is born in February and as luck would have it, the perfect house became available.

Sadly the house had belonged to a husband and alcoholic wife and was badly neglected and in serious need of some TLC. Apart from the superficial spruce up, there were lots of other jobs to do and it needed to be done before they moved in. My little Grand-daughter came 5 and half weeks early and I was keen for her not to worry and have that blood pressure raised.

Me and my son decorated (which I LOVE!) and Steve built fireplaces and helped where he could. He'd booked a million Craft Fairs which couldn't be cancelled, but he was a great stabiliser when things went wrong. Thankfully, he's laid back and not easily stressed.

The painting was finished in 10 days flat and the wonderful, huge garden which looks out onto fields can wait till the spring.

Last weekend we moved them in. Saturday was set aside for the boxes which we were to move with the cars and then a van and friend were to turn up on the Sunday for the bigger stuff. Unfortunately, the van didn't materialise, through no fault of the driver....so we decided, totally unfazed, to move what we could in 2 Renault Scenics. Thankfully, we had bought my brothers old Scenic as a second car to the Smart Roadster to use for Craft and Wedding Fairs. Can you believe that we moved everything.....and I mean EVERYTHING... 6' fridge freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer, cooker and even a double bed in these cars? AMAZING!

The family are happily moved in. Daisy loves her Peppa Pig Bedroom, there's a wonderful Sycamore and Silver Birch in the back garden and the birds are singing. Mo dramas, mo nervous breakdowns and a huge bucket of achievement.....all is well with the world :o)

We're off to a Wedding.....

We're off to a Wedding..... and it's a chance to be girly! :o)
Although Ian is my late husbands cousin, he was only 6 when I got married and around 7 and 1/2 when I had my son, so he's more like a nephew than a cousin.

I've done the Invites, Table Names, Seating Plan and Place Cards as their present....and as an extra surprise I've made them a Wedding Post Box.

Their theme was Ivy....

And the colour was green....

The lettering was foiled in silver to give it some pizazz...

And here's a close up of the cut-out Ivy....

It's a great chance to meet up

with the 'other side' of the family....

some of which I haven't seen

since my own wedding 32 years ago.

Doesn't time fly?

Now.....if I can only stop fighting

with my fascinator,we'll be on our way!

UPDATE: Realised it wasn't a good idea posting this as we were about to leave the house unattended all day.....well you never know who's reading this blog. So, I'm posting it AFTER the event.....and a good time was had by all. Great to see the family, although sad that their numbers have now dwindled drastically since my own wedding 32 years ago, but wonderful to see, that although we may have matured in age....the years simply fell away as we reminisced about times gone by.

Although many are no longer with us, they were definitely alive and well today.