Cairns Eclipse

I week to go and I’m all set.

This is what every well dress eclipse watcher will be wearing on the morning of the 14th November. Bring it on.

Stitch, Craft, Create

My Faux Crazy Patch Angel has been published.

She features in the holiday issue of Stitch Craft Create magazine out of the US.

I was thrilled with the layout, they made her look so good.

For full instructions grab your copy of Stitch Craft Create and make yourself an angel for this holiday season.

Welsh Dragon Progress

A full weekend of motor racing has seen great progress with the Welsh Dragon cross stitch.

A few more races and it should be ready to fly.

Ddraig Goch

psst… that’s Welsh Dragon.

After my recent crocheting woes I decided that since i will be home this week I would start on my Welsh Dragon kit I bought while on holidays. At first it felt a little strange stitching another person’s design but I soon got back into the swing of cross stitch.

Just in case it takes me a while to finish I thought I would show you how it will look when finished.

Crochet Woes

Before hopping on the plane and heading OS I grabbed myself some 8 ply wool and a crochet hook. Crochet is a great ‘plane craft’, its quiet and doesn’t need a lot of elbow room.  Since I’ve been home I’ve needed to be on a plane twice more so the crocheting got to go again.

During these recent trips I started using some different colours; same brand, same ply and same size hook but with very different results. I will have to undo the green and orange squares and re-do using a different size hook. I  wouldn’t mind so much if I had bought cheap wool but at the price I paid I don’t think it is too much to ask for consistency.

Spa Slippers

Before we went away I ditched my old house slippers. I know they are not really very ‘in’ but I really don’t like walking around the house barefoot. Once home i needed to replace them so I got out the sewing machine. That sounds easy doesn’t it? First I needed to spend lots of time cleaning up my sewing area. That done I quickly whipped up me new slippers.

I followed the tutorial over here. I followed it to the letter except I used a pair of sandals to trace the sole as I don’t own a pair of thongs. If I make another pair I would change the construction but I was very happy with the end product.

Singapore–Jurong Bird Park

I’ve always loved this place.

Particularly the monorail, it gave a bird’s eye view.

I have been to the bird park numerous times over the last 20 years, often choosing Singapore as our stopover due to this place.

Alan and I have both recommended to family and friends to visit Singapore simply due to the the birds but unfortunately this visit showed us that sadly we can’t do that anymore.

 

The water display areas smelled of decaying fish and the other areas smelled of rodents. In fact i saw a number of large rats out in the pen in the ostrich area. Even the toilet, while extremely clean, stank. The monorail  is no longer operational. Something has changed  dramatically, once was the shining light of Singapore Tourism is now now sadly lacking.

As I said at the outset of this post I did love this place so much that I haven’t just slagged it off here but have emailed feedback to the Park, Singapore Wildlife Reserves and Singapore Tourism. Let’s hope they take it as intended and bring the park back to its former glory.

Craft Shopping In The UK

With the pics from the Singapore leg of our holiday on Alan’s camera I decided to share with you my craft finds while in the UK.

My first stop was the ‘dye’ aisle. I knew this shop stocked some of the Dylon products that we can’t buy here in Australia. The Sharpies and the alcohol inks were priced too well to leave behind.

I’ve used lot of different image transfer methods over the years but I have never been able to try Dylon’s product. I had to buy the large jar, in the name of research of course. Down the bottom are some slate buttons. I bought this Welsh Dragon in a little craft shop on our first day in Llandudno. Again, the silk  price was simply too good not to buy.

 

The long hanks are actually paper thread, they were the only colours available at the time. The hemp comes in lots of different weights and colours, I showed remarkable restraint.

At least until I got to the rug making aisle. I’ve always wanted to have a go at rug making, not the latch hook kind but the proper type. I couldn’t decide which tool I wanted so I bought one of each.

I bought some bead formers and small shape cutters. I really don’t know if you can buy these here but after my recent revisiting of bread clay making I decided I would have a go at making some beads with it.

And finally, a couple of books. The Jennie Parry book will support the classes I did with Jennie at the conference.  I have already done quite a bit of couching with my braids but the Chinese Embroidery Book takes it to a new level. “Threads That Move” is the Conference Proceedings. If I was more like Sheldon I would point out that my paper was published in here…but I’m not so I won’t, lol.

Alas, availability of luggage space limited any further shopping, but I do have the online site saved in my favourites.

Flowers of England

Summer Blooms are everywhere in the UK, in gardens, hanging baskets, vases on street side cafes and bicycle baskets.

I have no clue what any of these are, I just know I loved the intensity of the colours.


Most of these were taken in Chester; around the Roman Amphitheatre.


These look a little like a pin wheel.

Just after a shower.

In a bicycle basket at the docks in Liverpool.

Liverpool

Next stop was Liverpool. Liverpool was playing host to a Tall Ship Regatta at Albert Docks.

About half an hour after we took this photo the docks were packed with people  enjoying the sunshine and the boats and…

the liquid refreshments.

As we were leaving we spied a mother swan swimming with her young ones.

They met up with another family group.

Then they all went off together, it was really cute.

Blue Moon

Our last night in Llandudno coincided with a Blue Moon.

The day’s clouds cleared away to reveal a beautiful night.

I took this photo while sitting on the train at Deganwy rail station, Alan’s Aunt lives across the road. The train line follows the coast all the way down to Llandudno.

Rally GB

Last year Alan & I were watching the Rally GB and Alan was surprised to see they were driving around the Great Orme’s Marine Drive. he promised to take me for a spin.

It is a toll road which I loved, it reminded me of stopping to pay the toll to cross the Hornibrook Bridge.

No, Alan wasn’t channelling a Rally Driver, I snapped before I had the camera steady.

It is a one way road so you can take some brilliant shots of the view.

We stopped briefly to take this shot. i got out of the car and the wind was so brisk I was having trouble holding the camera steady. This is the Conwy Estuary looking toward Conwy Castle.

Alan told me his quickest lap time around Marine Drive was 3mins. We took a little longer, much to his disgust. From up here I was able to get my bearings of all the little villages and towns that line this section of coast and the views were amazing. If you are ever in this neck of the woods pay your money and do the drive, you won’t be disappointed. Let me know if you crack 3mins. I won’t tell Alan.

We’re at the Seaside

This is the Victorian seaside town of Llandudno. The sun is shining so all the holiday makers are out on the Prom, some brave souls even went swimming.

This place has the biggest seagulls I have ever seen, they are the size of a small dog… no kidding.

Llandudno Pier. We walked out to the end and had a cup of tea, as you do. I can say that this is the only time I have been cold since being here. Good cuppa though.

All along the coast are these wind farms. I didn’t think they detracted from the view. They actually reminded me a little of the really expensive piece of public art on the waterfront at Redcliffe. I do hope they don’t put too many more in cause then I think it might get ugly.

Donkeys on the beach. Alan used to do this when he was a kid. This reminded me of the primary school readers we used. They were all very English and told stories of going to the seaside.

Talking of those readers I can remember a story in one about how the whole village thought a house had caught on fire but instead the geraniums had flowered. I never actually understood that as our geraniums were only orange. I took this image in Manchester when I finally got that story…. almost 45 years later. Never say never.

Trefriw Woollen Mill

We are in the middle of a four day stay in North Wales. Alan hasn’t been back here to Llandudno since he left 37 years ago.  We’ve been catching up with the Welsh rellies and seeing some of the sights. Alan’s Aunty Joan took us out for the day into the Welsh Hills. Our first stop was the Trefriw Woollen Mill.

The patterns are unique to Wales.

Trefriw Woollen Mills are still operating commercially. We saw the weaving being done. In Winter the weavers get busy dyeing the wool. They have a really well planned Dyer’s Garden. I want to come back and see them do this. We then headed to Betws Y Coed.

 

 

Swallow Falls at Betws Y Coed. This was the first time we have had our ‘macs’ on since we’ve been in the UK. It tumbled down but somehow it seemed right.

We had a delicious lunch here. The food was only surpassed by the quality of the service. The waitress was so much fun. This view is taken across the village green, very Midsommer. On our way home we popped in for a cup of tea.

This is the Llanrwast Bridge looking across to the tea room. Actually saw somebody catch a fish in this river a bit further down from here. We had a great day and saw heaps of the country while indulging in my passion for textiles.