Something to blog about -Woyww

Hooray I’ve something to blog about.

The textile group I am a member of has a new prompt.

ART & ARTISTS and we are to create whatever we want

by focusing on our chosen subject.

I love the whimsical collage work of Emily Hildebrand aka Quiet Noticing

over on Instagram.  She works in paper, painting & drawing.

My take on it is in fabric.

My second choice is Cherokee based Textile artist and author

Krista Barmer aka The Mending Space over on Instagram.

It’s all about layering and stitch with this one.

I’ve not gone with the more well known artists yet, I’m just going with what

I’m drawn too.

Over on the home front.

We picked up this vintage looking wallpaper for 99p a roll

and after living with it pinned up for a couple of days

the wandering welder has set too stripping the kitchen wall

ready to hang it.


Here’s the tidy side of the kitchen

Out and about.

I went to see Where The Crawdads Sing at the cinema yesterday.

If you’ve read the book I promise you that the film will not disappoint.

We were spellbound for over two hours and said we could watch it again.

Did I show you this stunning handworked wire flower I found in

the charity shop for 20p in a frame.  Just imagine the hours spent

making it. Never mind the skill needed. It’s pinned up on the

studio wall now.

I’m sorry for not getting back to you last week, it’s been a

bit full on again with paperwork and mum’s house sale.

Next week we are taking Mum upto her favourite holiday cottage

at Grange Over Sands and in between taking her it we will be at

our caravan just up the road.

See you soon.

Stay well and keep crafting

Lynn

xxx

Linking up with 
WHAT’S ON YUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY

WOYWW - Books and Wooden Houses

Hello desk hoppers and fellow bloggers, the weeks are flying by and I won’t bore you with all the stuff that is still going on with Mum’s house sale and move.

I’ve done a lot of reading

And over the last fortnight I got heavily into Wimbledon. It’s all pure distraction tactics.  I’m afraid to say the last few months has taken its toll on me physically and mentally.

LINK TO ANNE BROOKE

However, last weekend I went on a two day craft workshop at Anne Brooke’s studio in Brighouse and it was so nice to be with likeminded folk and my good friend vintage crockery trader Pat of A Vintage Affair.

Under the watchful eye of our lovely Scottish tutor Ali Ferguson of The Purple Thread Shed we created these wooden tenement buildings. There was lots of prepping, drilling and stitching and embellishing went on.

LINK TO ALI FERGUSON

Pat made a row of shops

Mine were loosely based on the beautiful cottages in the Cumbrian town of Ulverston.

So now we are spending a few days at our little caravan in the Lake District.  

Hope everyone is well

Love Lynn

x

LINK TO WHAT’S ON YOUR WORK DESK WEDNESDAY

Life goes on …… woyww 679

After three floods and three moves Mum is now in her retirement apartment. She has even had time for cake with the Queen and a Jubilee party in the residents lounge.

Life hasn’t calmed down yet though as we’ve now got her old house to prepare for sale and I’m still ploughing my way through paperwork and hours on the phone trying to get through to services and authorities.  I don’t know how folk can say things are better now.  It’s a shame I’m not getting paid to do this lot as I’d be coining it in.  Oh yes and I’m also still dealing with the flood compensation paperwork.

So still no crafting yet.  However, my sister came home for the weekend and we managed an afternoon treat at a local art gallery.

THE WHITAKER GALLERY, RAWTENSTALL

The room of curiosities 

PAULA CHAMBERS EXHIBITION 

WORKING GIRLS

Update on crafting since I started this post.  My textile group had a little online workshop on the Cyanotype process.

If you don’t know what it is, it’s a dyeing technique using chemicals and the sun.

Looks lovely …… only thing is, it should be blue and not disappear

when rinsed through.

Wouldn’t you know I had been sent the wrong chemical mix.  Poor Kim who

I bought it off was mortified.  Not to worry said I, there’s worse things happen.

So hopefully I’ll post the real thing next week heehee.

Take care and have a good week

Lynn

xxx

Linking up with

WHAT’S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY

WOYWW - renamed WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

Just popping in with a quick thank you for your good wishes

and the lovely anniversary WOYWW cards ladies.

I’ve got some good news at last.

After what seems like weeks and weeks of one drama after another I can now say we are moving forward. If you missed it all, here’s a quick reminder. House move, Mum’s flat floods three times, another house move, two unexpected deaths of close friends, a snapped clutch pedal, many many cancelled plans and lots of holding of baited breath.

Here’s the schedule ahead

Monday 23rd May - contractors confirmed Mum’s flat is now dry and they have removed the driers.

Tuesday 24th May - Decorator coming to finish off

Wednesday 25th May - Residents meeting at Mum’s retirement complex/phone & broadband set up

Thursday 26th May - carpets fitted

Friday 27th May -  Vinyl fitted to kitchen 

Saturday 28th May - Packing up ready for move

Sunday 29th May - Move back to flat

Tuesday 31st May - new wardrobe arriving 

Plus a mammoth amount of paperwork and phone calls.

After that we have a jubilee party and settling in time for mum in her new flat and her getting to know the area.

So by the end of June we hope will be chilling out at our little caravan in the Lake District.  Our first trip there this year. 

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and I can get back to creating and jolly blogging soon.

That’s a wrap for now.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Lynn

xxx

LINKING IN WITH 

WHAT’S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY

One step forward, ten steps back

One step forward, ten steps back. No that’s not a new dance,  it’s the state of things in my little world.

See this face, well that’s how I look for real.  All out of flunter.  If you’ve missed recent events, here’s a recap.

1. Found a lovely retirement flat for my 89 year old mum.

2. There’s a water burst before she moves in.

3. Morning of move there’s another burst but we move anyway, paddling through the hallway.

4. Three days later there is major flooding. Mum moves back out to her old house that we are due to sell.

5. One of my dearest friends dies.

Fast forward what feels like months but is in fact less than a fortnight and one of mum’s oldest friends dies unexpectedly.  They’ve been friends since they were 18.

Oh I’ve not finished yet.  On my way home from a catch up with my bestie and what we call our “lost & weary” club, my car clutch pedal snaps and the car is stuck half in the garage and half on the narrow country lane we live on, narrowly missing the side of the garage wall by an inch.

After the heart palpitations calmed down I rang the nice green flag man who arrived a short time later and gulped when he saw how close it was to the wall.

What a good chap he managed to bump it into the garage without any further damage.  After a short consultation with the nice man the wandering welder said he would be able to repair it. - Sunday night update : It’s not fixed yet. It needs a new pedal.

Honestly could you make all this up.  I doubt it.  One day I’m sure I’ll laugh at this lot.  It was far more peaceful during the pandemic.  

Did I mention that I’ve had to cancel all holidays and events in June in order to get Mum settled back in her new flat at some point.  Keep your fingers crossed folks that things work out for the better now and there’s no more drama.

(From 2018 morning our Chester meet up)

I’m so sorry Sue, Ann & Jos, Vix & Jon, Tina & Gav and all the lovely ladies in our No Rules Textile Society that we won’t get to meet up as planned.  With a lot of luck we will be spending some time at our caravan in the lakes with a beer or  two for company. The season started on the 1st March and we haven’t been there yet.

I’m looking forward to the days when I will be able to blog some good stuff.

Thanks for sticking with me

Lynn xx

In the meantime there’s two funerals, more meetings with contractors, carpet fitters, a mammoth amount of paperwork to get through, more phone calls and yet another house move and house sale to get through.

Sounds like a script for a sitcom

Haha

From bad to worse

Since my last post things have gone from bad to worse.  Mum has had to move out of her new retirement flat after a third mains water burst further up the road caused severe flooding.  

Mum is fine, she stayed one night with us then alongside United Utilities we packed everything up and moved it back to her old house that she had left less than a week ago.  She sat quietly at our house while all this was done and now we have to wait anything from 4-8 weeks before she can be moved back.

In fairness to United Utilities even though they have wreaked all this havoc, causing more stress and anxiety than I’ve had in sometime, they are working with us brilliantly.  I have a direct contact person who came to talk to all the residents at the retirement court.  So for now we sit tight until the flat dries out and new carpets can be fitted - again.

It’s not that simple though is it.  There’s the question of all the paper work when moving house.  Not to mention changing councils and a telephone line that is now in the wrong house.  I could go on and on.

On top of this one of my dearest friends died unexpectedly and it’s left me heartbroken.

I’m hoping that sometime soon I will be back to blogging in my usual bright chirpy way.  I hope you will bear with me.

I have got a pile of lovely books to distract me from all the things I have to do. Don’t read the Richard Osman one while you’re trying to go sleep,  it’s far to funny.

As is this Alan Bennett one about the Queen and a mobile library.

See you soon  with a happier post hopefully 

Lynn

xxx