The Wonders of Winter

We have had such a happy week in the wonderful part of the world we live in - a day and night at Salamander Bay, about an hour's drive away from home. One of the best spots to be in Winter!

The day was clear, cold and windy, but beautiful - perhaps not the description the owner of this washed up yacht might have used?

Our garden at home is looking beautiful too with the bottle brush, dancing like red fairies in the strong winds,and our Robyn Gordon Grevilleas attracting birds, even in such gale force winds.

What about creative stuff this week? Inspired by the day at the Bay, I finally named a couple of my embellished felt pouches " Bayside Blues' and " Nautilus" ....

And our lovely garden prompted me to play with my new Inktense pencils. I only bought six pencils separately, rather than a set, just so I could experiment with them. I think I'll be buying a few more ... These samples were originally a grey on grey print cotton, firstly coloured with a light Dyna Flow wash, and then features picked up with the pencils. Very easy - just colouring in!

It was also our son's birthday during the week, so we had a great night celebrating with a family party. Mmm ... homemade paella with loads of fresh mussels, calamari, prawns and fish - lovingly cooked by Jim, and I made and decorated party style cupcakes, and a mud cake birthday cake. All shared by our lovely family - nothing could be better.

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