Local TV programme and my encounter with a hawk

Hi,

Happy Halloween.

We are having a lovely autumn here in Somerset, the trees are looking beautiful dressed in yellows and oranges laced with browns. My drive to and from work is a joy with the country lanes looking so colourful.

Today I thought I would tell you about a TV programme on BBC this Tuesday 2nd November at 9pm, It is about some shop keepers going back to the Victorian time. It was filmed in Shepton Mallet, in Somerset. Shepton Mallet is about 6 miles away from us. I am sorry the picture is not very good I took it off the BBC site. It shows the high street in Victorian times, we saw them filming a few months ago.

I went to the wool shop yesterday in Shepton to buy some wool for my Christmas cupcakes which I have started knitting. Their in the window was a question left by the BBC, on the board it showed a packet of sewing pins "What else did they use pins for apart from sewing and pricking". To be honest I cant think, I know pins are also used in lace making so I suspect they would say that was pricking but I have no idea what else they would use them for. When I find out the answer I will post it on here for you.

I also want to tell you about my encounter with a hawk on my way home on Firday. I turned to go over the bridge towards Vobster and their in the road was a brown lump, it at first glance looked like a pile of leaves but as I drove nearer, I slowed up and stopped as it moved, the head popped up, he well it might have been a she, looked at me, pick up whatever it was eating and flew off. It was a wonderful sight as it flew over the wall and into some trees.

For those you have asked how I am getting on, at last I have a date for the scan with radio active dye this will be on the 8th November. I hope this will be the last one before they decide what they are going to do. I am having a very bad weekend with pain, and very little sleep, at 3am this morning I could not sleep so I got up and wrote down the tatting design pattern that was on my mind. Now all I have to do is to tat it and see if it works out as well as it does on paper. I have been asked to make three pairs of earrings for my sister in law (Sheila). I hope she will like my night design. I will put it on my blog when I have done it for you to see.

I hope you are keeping well, I hope you have enjoy reading my blog.

Thanks you for visiting my blog and until the next time you are passing by take care.

Hugs Margaret

Commissioned Cards

Hi,
Just a quick post tonight, these are some commissioned cards which I was asked to make.
The motor bike card image came from and its proved to be a popular image for a man.

These two cards are similar and also another design that I have been asked to make several times, the butterfly is pulled across the image, I used on both a peel off butterfly place on card and cut around and put on the mechanism.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting my blog and look forward to seeing you again in blog land. I have been considering starting another blog for my writings. I have written a couple of novels and a few short stories but have been unable to find an agent or publisher. This would be one way of showing my work, so watch this space its only an idea at the moment and possibly won't happen until after Christmas now.

In the meantime until you pass by again take care

Hugs Margaret

Tatted Angles

Hi,

What a lovely morning here in Somerset, the sun is shinning and the washing is out drying, a bit cold but what do we expect for October.

Today I am bring you the tatted angels I found on the Internet, the pattern is lovely and is Katie's Johnson's 3 Dimensional Angel, (http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes2001/katieangel.html) if you want to look up the pattern.

I did make a few changes though, the original pattern had the skirt glued to the body, and after a few hours of thought and play around I added two picots at the bottom of the body where there is 9 dc's. I placed a picot each side of the 9 dc's and then attached the skirt on the first row so ring A and B where on one side of the body and C and D and the other side making a circle. Sounds difficult but after a couple although fiddly its easy. They do stand up although I did put some starch on them. at the top of the angle I made a picot and used that as a hook for some thread so they could hang. I hope that sounds clear.

For those of you who are not into tatting I am sorry that is sounds technical but for those who can tat they will understand the pattern.

I hope you like the angels and look forward to seeing you pass this way again soon. In the meantime take care.

Hugs

Margaret.

Holiday Tatting

Hi,

Winter is now fast approaching, and we had our first frosts this week, although today has been a bit milder.

Tomorrow I am in Cheese and Grain in Frome with my craft table, this will have my first Christmas items on including Christmas cards, which I will bring you on my next blog, as well as some commissioned cards.

Today I am bring you pictures of the tatting I did on holiday.The large cross is from a book which I brought in the 1970's by Mary Koniors. A very easy pattern which I enjoyed doing.

These are some tatted stars, these patterns came from Burda's Anna magazine, they used to publish in English and I have every copy from around 1972/3 until a few years ago when they stopped publishing the English copy. It is a German magazine which is still published in German, the patterns are worked from graphs and not written. The cleaner we had at the Apartments used to have a look at my tatting most days and I gave her one of my stars as a present.

I am still waiting for my scan at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. This scan is going to take quite a while as they are going to give me an injection of radio active dye and they will scan as it goes into the liver, bile ducts and then into the gall bladder. I am not looking forward to it but if they are to prove the theory of my pain I will go through anything to get rid of the pain.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and I look forward to seeing you again in blog land soon
In the meantime I hope you are keeping well, until the next time you pass by take care.

Hugs

Margaret.

I won a Candy

Hi,

This was not the post I was going to do, but I won this candy. Its the first on I have ever won and I cant believe it. The candy was from Clare Curd.

I wanted to say a little something, I am waiting for a scan on my gall bladder this time they want it with dye. I got a comment from someone the other day and I thought I would just set the matter right, although the comment did not come from anyone in the crafting world. I feel a but upset, I have a mother that thinks I am not ill and I am sure the girls I work with think that I that I am not in the pain I say I am. The trouble is I have a face I put on when I go to work, I try so hard not show I am in pain, we are not allowed to say to our residents when we are ill so therefore when I walk out of my door at home I put a face on to say I am fine. the trouble is no one sees me at home they have no idea how many pain killers I take. No one sees me in the middle of the night in pain and not able to sleep, walking around the house or fidgeting around the bed to try and get comfortable so I can manage another few hours of sleep. No one sees me when I feel sick and don't want to eat My husband sees it all and knows that I am fed up with pain and cry a lot at home, yes I cry its the waiting that gets me down, not knowing how much longer I have to sit in pain until the next scan and when they will deceide what they will do. Do the doctors care... no does the NHS care ..... no but like thousands of other people I have paid in all my working life since I was 15 years old, I have never had time off for children so they have had over 40 years of money off me and still we wait for something to be done. I have had pain now for over 5 and half years on and off, at first it would moan for a couple of days and settle down, and come back every so often, but last year I was diagnosed with Polymalgia and put on steroids, the high dose of steroids killed the pain but as I came off the steroids the pain started again and by the time I was completely off the steroids the pain was bad and since then has never gone away. Now I am in pain 24/7 and on the top dose of pain killers, I cant take the full amount because I drive and they send me off to sleep so I take them when the pain gets unbearable. Unfortunately I have a tan at the moment from Turkey so I look better than I am. Well there you have it, so for anyone who thinks I am not ill perhaps they might think again.

I hope you will come and see my blog again and next time the post will be tatting as promised.

In the meantime have a lovely weekend and take care

Hugs Margaret

Turkey Full of Turkish Delight - Side Kentia Apartments

Side - Kentia Apartments
Hi,
First I must apologise for not uploading this piece about my holiday. The delay was due to illness not only with myself but my Mother, who is now hopefully getting stronger and getting to be able to look after herself and her dogs. I am now waiting for another scan with dye this time, I suppose one day they will find out what is wrong and sort it and then I can be out of pain. In the meantime its just carry on.

Whats the saying - Sun, sea and sand plus sex Turkey has it all, between Europe and Asia Turkey tries to be both. Turkey is a very large country it takes as long to fly to Turkey as it does it fly from end of Turkey to the other......... 4 hours.
Cloudless skies of blue,with an occasional white whisky cloud that neither shields the sun but just makes lacy patterns across the sky. The two weeks has been very very hot although at first the locals said it was cooling down towards the second week the temperature went up to around 46c. When we landed at Bristol it was 7c, we lost 40 degrees in four hours.

The picture above is the apartments which we stayed at. they were very nice and all the staff very friendly and helpful. We had a great rep Billy, the best rep I have ever had on a holiday. I have written a letter to the company giving prise where prise is due.
This was the pool at the apartments at night with the fountain going. Relaxing by the pool is oh so hard work, this pool with music all day some of it back to the 60's. It was nice to hear some of the old songs including a lot of the Beatles. The apartments were clean and we had the most wonderful cleaner who one day did the most wonderful pattern on the bed with bougainvillea flowers, that was the day I was feeling really ill and she cheered me up. I was making some tatted Christmas stars and I gave her one when he left as a present with a tip. As you can see she made the bad look lovely and worth a picture. Everyday the sheet was put back on the bed as a fan. There are some more pictures of the apartment at the bottom of this piece.

Side pronounced See-day in the ancient language of Luwian meaning Pomegranate.
Side is a very large area of Antalya region of Turkey. The rep said we are one of the nearest apartments to the old town but its still 40 minute walk into the beginning of the old town and 10 Turkish lira by Taxi.

The old town is worth a visit on the outskirts between new Side and the old town is the Greco-Roman amphitheatre. This is the best amphitheatre there is outside Italy.

The shops in the old town our mainly jewellery, clothes, spices, Turkish delight, and restaurants. In the harbour pleasure boats take visitor's out on trips, at the bottom of the town is the Temple of Apollo ruins see picture above, when the sun sets in the harbour (see picture) the then rush abound to the Temple of Apollo ruins and catch the last of the dipping sun on the stones.

Turkey is a very colourful country, buildings are painted with shades of pink, yellow, or creams and browns. Lush green areas in the gardens and around the apartments and in the middle of dual carriageways palms, banana, oleander, hibiscus, bougainvillea, roses and various plants that we would have as pot plants in this country they grow with abundance.

Again like Icmeler we are not far from the mosque, there are several in Side, but like everything else these days they don't have one Emir per mosque. The Emir's are share several mosques, something like here with vicars having more than one church to look after. They are connected by radio therefore at pray time, you hear like a mobile phone noise, and then the call to pray. Its seems like they take it turn to call from different mosques. The call to pray is five times per day everyday of the week.
We did a trip to the Manavgat river, the water is the colour of green and at the end of the river it meets the sea and you can swim in the sea one side of the beach and then go over to the river and swim in the fresh water and have a swim to clean off the sea water. We had lunch on the boat before going back up river to Manavgat and seeing the weekly market - huge is the only word to describe the market and then to the Manavgat Falls these are Turkeys Niagara Falls see picture.
Its been a very restful holiday we have had some lovely meals at My Corner restaurant, we were looked after very well by Ali. Every meal started with flat bread, garlic mushrooms, garlic butter, sour cream dip and a tomato spicy one which I did not try. This was free before the meal and then with the bill finished off with a little something!!!!

We found the Turkish people very helpful and obliging but there driving left a lot to desire, the streets are wide, they have no idea what side of the road to drive, the buses are small, there are no bus stops everyone just puts their hand out and he stops, squeeze on, and then pass the money down to the driver who without stopping driving sorts out the change and its passed back.

This was the side street from the apartments, and yes it was as wide as its looks, the surface was tar and then chippings, but their chippings are more like rocks and very painful to walk on.


This was the road down to the restaurant on the corner at the end of this picture. Side streets in Turkey do not have names only numbers and only main roads have names.

Turkey is worth a visit, but the summers are very hot and the winters are cold.

Finally we saw this on the beach in the old town the ultimate luxury seating, I don't know how comfortable they are but they had their own table to go with the seats.......
I hope you have enjoyed reading about Turkey and our holiday.

I hope you will come back and visit my blog again when you are in blog land, the next blog will be on Tatting which I did on holiday.

In the meantime take care and keep well

Hugs

Margaret

Just a few more pictures of the apartments.......

Kids pool



The gardens

Reception

National Cardmakers Day 1st October

Hi,

Its been a lovely day today with clear blue skies and some lovely sunshine, after the pouring rain yesterday we had it was lovely to see the sun and it was quite warm for this time of year.

Today I am bring you two cards that I made for the National card makers day that was last Friday.

The one above was for Whisper (do crafts member) I used messy rabbit image and placed it on a silver damask background on a silver card and used blue holographic dots in the corners and each corner of the mounted picture and words. with white ribbon finished off with silver peel offs

This card which I made two of for Suzanne and Jeanette two very good friends in blog land and members of Do crafts. I used the owl image from Dawn Bibby stamped I wanted to make it looked as if the owls were in a tree with foliage around them, the little flowers have some very special gold colour gems in the middle which I found in Rhodes a few years ago, they are used for finger nails in the shape of flowers. I was only able to buy one packet so I only use them on special cards. I mounted the owls on the same silver damask paper and placed on a green glittery flowery paper on a silver card. and white ribbon finished off with silver peel offs.

I hope you have enjoyed vising my blog and look forward to seeing you again in blog land soon. My next post will be our holiday in Turkey.

In the meantime take care

Hugs Margaret