IT'S BEEN ONE OF THOSE WEEKS......

Actually it's been one of those fortnights! I dare say everyone reading this is thinking 'yeah, know what that feels like...'

Leaving out the fact that it's now raining instead of being warm and sunny, and other 'stuff' has been happening... my camera and computer stopped talking to each other!!! Now in my tiny world this is a happening of proper seriousness as I couldn't blog without a picture or two, or send pictures to customers.

MAJOR PANIC...look up possibility of buying new camera.......realise it's October and the gremlins always come visiting this month.....scream for help from tame 'expert'.
Said tame expert has now got the camera and computer to talk to each other again so with a big 'PHEW' I'm up and running again.

Although I have been working in miniature I've no pictures to share at the moment, so have fallen back on my garden as usual. I was desperate for rain as my garden was drying up. Mother Nature was having a joke - so she made it rain....lots of it...

I've some gorgeous late roses out and wonderfully bright Michaelmas Daisies while the fence/shrubs/border is completely submerged by clematis which is now in full frothy seed-head.  When it stops raining I must take a picture!

I often think that Mother Nature must chuckle at our pontificating about global warming and climate change and then throw a curve ball. A winter flowering Helebore has been looking wonderful for three weeks now, 'Freckles' a winter/early spring Clematis is flowering it's socks off as is this deep red Japonica although it still has apples as well.......

Then we have Viburnum Bonariensis which usually flowers on leafless stems in deep winter!!

I'm happy to see them all this early - whatever the weather.
 
Thank you for looking
Robin

A Lovely Day...

Last Saturday was lovely day - a super workshop with lovely participants ..... Billericay Miniatures Club have a lovely day coming up in November.....and I've had some lovely outings.......

A BIG thank you to all the ladies who attended our 'Down the Little Herb Garden Path' at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre last Saturday.  It was a very full working day but lots of fun so we hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as Celia and I did.

I think Celia was explaining the intricacies of the old gate

  We also took along a few of our earlier projects for the ladies at their first workshop to see - nice to see them out again!

Billericay Miniature Club are  putting the finishing touches to a fascinating and very exciting project - a French Village called 'Village des Amis' - which they will be exhibiting on Saturday 8th November in the Billericay W.I. Hall from 10.30am. Do go along if you're able to.
I was delighted to be asked to create a couple of boules players for the village square which is surrounded by 15 shops - I look forward to seeing them in place in due course. It sounds fabulous!!

Not in the first flush of youth...'Pierre and Jean'

 I love Oxford and am fortunate to live quite near and visit often.  I think Oxford is a wonderful city with Town and Gown very close together - but away from the commercial bustle and dreaming spires there are some lovely walks and interesting backways.  We had a wander recently along the Oxford Canal towpath - over a bridge and into Jericho, an ancient area of streets outside the original city walls. If you're a fan of colin Dexter's novels featuring Inspector Morse this is where the televised adaptation  'Dead of Jericho' is set. I lived around the corner MANY moons ago and it hasn't changed too much.

A few weekends ago we had a lovely day in Brighton - there are so many wonderful pictures of the famous Pavillion and the Pier I won't add to them.  However the remains of the old West Pier are very striking and sculptural so I hope you'll like this.

Brighton is very creative and vibrant place - we had lunch listening to live music and looking over the waves - not bad eh?
There appeared to be an informal musical 'happening' down on the beach as well and these guys were in the top spots! They looked very precarious but seemed happy.

We had to tear ourselves away from the Museum and in particular the fantastic room dedicated to 20th century Art and Design - Macintosh and Lalique to die for......and much, much more.

...and then it was off to London this week with my chum Celia, partner in Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops ....absolutely a works outing for research purposes (we told our husbands).......to The Museum of childhood in Bethnal Green. The vast array of toys was stunning. from ancient to modern, but the vintage ones interested us the most.  It was slightly disconcerting to find that the ones I remember playing with are all vintage.....

There were so many wonderful dolls and dolls houses from all eras but I couldn't resist taking a photograph of this amazing pair of large dolls from 1920s depicting two characters from the C18th play 'A School for Scandal'.

Thank you for looking
Robin