Becki's Ramblings

Happy, Happy, Happy!

2010-05-21T10:42:00.001+02:00

Oh my Oh my Oh my - How long is it since I posted on here???!!!! I've been so busy with my new Stampin' Up! blog and getting ready for my first event as an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator that I hadn't noticed the time flying by.

Well, we are LOVING living in Ipswich. I knew it would be wonderful living with Alan full time, but I wasn't prepared for just how much we would both love the place. Our little house is gorgeous - still boxes around the place, but gorgeous nonetheless, and Ipswich as a place to live is just fantastic! There is a bus from the end of our road straight into town every quarter of an hour, and the town centre has some amazing buildings, lots of Tudor architecture (you should SEE the building in which Lakeland is situated!) and the waterfront has been redeveloped in recent years, so lots of yachts to look at and pavement cafe culture on tap whenever we want it. Ahhhh, the joys of people-watching!

Last night we drove out to Felixstowe, which is all of ten minutes away, and went for a lovely walk along the beach. I can't believe we have the sea so close, it's magical! I forgot my camera then, but here are a couple of pics of one of the most beautiful flowering cherry trees that we saw in Ipswich a couple of weekends ago:

Back soon - I promise I'll try not to leave it so long...

Hugs,

Becki
xx

My First Stampin' Up! Training Day..

2010-04-27T12:25:00.003+02:00

Hello everyone! I had such a fantastic time on Sunday, at my first ever Stampin' Up! training day. It was held up in Peterborough, about fifteen or twenty minutes away from where I used to live, so driving up there with Alan was a bit like going home. Poured with rain the whole time though, so I'm so glad I wasn't driving!

The event was organised by Monica and Bekka and there were about twenty of us there in all. Oh my goodness, my head was spinning by the time I got back, with all the information and excitement. The business training was all about time management, how to run our SU business without it running (and taking over) our lives. It was so useful! I'm a "list person" anyway, so the advice to carry a notebook with us all the time to make sure we don't forget / lose information was not new, but the hints on how to prioritise and make the most of our time was so helpful. I need to get better at distinguishing between the "important" and the "urgent" things that lay claim to my time. Someone told me once that tasks are a bit like people hurt in an accident - those that shout the loudest are usually not the ones that need your attention the most. It's not universally true, but is a pretty good guide, I've found.

Of course, it wasn't all formal business training, there was a lovey amount of crafting to be done too. I'd show you photos, but my camera is still in a box somewhere, so I couldn't take pics of all the gorgeous samples, but hopefully I will find it in the next day or so and I can show you the projects I made then. Oh, the most beautiful scrapbook album - just you wait till you see it!!! And THE MOST AMAZING projects using Shimmer Paint (can't wait till I can order some of this).

Have a fabby day, all of you, and thanks for popping by.

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Watch Out - Here I Come!!

2010-04-23T12:11:00.003+02:00

Hello again, I'm so excited!! I'm on the verge of signing up to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator again. I say "again", because I signed up for SU in France in January, not realising that I would be coming home again so soon so I wouldn't be able to carry on over there. Stampin' Up! are running a fabby offer at the moment, with a huge ten percent off the cost of the demonstrators' Starter Kit. Which means you get a massive £240 worth of gorgeous goodies for only £125 - how amazing is that discount?!

My new upline is going to be Bekka Prideaux (not entirely sure she knows what she's let herself in for) - thanks so much for agreeing to take me on, Bekka! If you haven't come across Bekka's blog then do hop over and have a look, she has some fantastic projects on there.

I' not too sure if I'm going to carry on using this blog as my Stampin' Up! "window", or whether I'll need to set up a new one. Either way, I'll be carrying on with this one and hopefully might even have chance to keep it updated more regularly. Do keep popping by, I love hearing from you.

Have a fab day! Hugs,

Becki
xx

Still Here..

2010-04-21T08:24:00.002+02:00

Hello everyone! I'm still around - just been a bit busy over the past few weeks. Unexpectedly, I've moved back to England, and Alan and I have been looking for somewhere to live. We've found a place to rent now, and are gradually getting straight. I've also been making plans to start my own crafting business over here, so watch this space.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible (as they say)! Thanks for sticking around, I really appreciate it.

Hugs,

Becki
xx

On Of The BEST Birthdays Ever!

2010-03-04T22:09:00.001+01:00

Well, I'm back in France - sorry not to have posted for a while. I've had a horrible cold and sinisuitis which has meant me feeling like doing absolutely nothing for quite a while. I'm on my second load of antibiotics and am finally starting to feel a bit more human again, so hopefully I can catch up with blogging again at last.
I had such a fab time in England. While I was over there, it was my birthday AND Valentine's Day. Alan spoiled me rotten and it was lovely! One of my favourite things ever is to go to London's West End and see a show, and it's something I haven't done for years. Alan - I'm so lucky to have such a lovely husband! - booked two fantastic seats for us to go and see "Avenue Q" at the Gielgud Theatre, and took me down to London on my birthday, to do whatever I wanted for the day. Because of Ryanair's luggage restrictions I didn't take my camera with me to the UK, but Alan's just emailed to me some of the photos that he took.
This is me just off Westminster Bridge, with the Houses of Parliament in the background.

It's funny, but when I was still able to work, I used to have to go to London quite a lot, and I hated it. I'm not good with crowds at all, and having to get to a certain place for a certain time through the London crowds and traffic used to make me so stressed, but as a place to go to for a day or a weekend out, with no pressure or anything, it's FAB!!

This, in case you didn't know, is the London Eye:
What an amazing experience! I've been on it before, when it was first opened, but this time was loads better. As part of your ticket price, you get to see a 3-D film, which was just amazing. Sooooo much better than the 3-D experiments I remember from when I was a child, when you had to wear red-and-green glasses. (You still have to wear glasses, but they look clear and didn't make me feel sick, which the others used to). I couldn't believe how realistic the three-dimensional effect was. At one point, a seagull "flew" over our heads, and almost everyone ducked! And in the film, it showed bubbles being blown in the wind, and in the auditorium they actually did blow bubbles over us - great fun!

And here is a shot of the view from part-way up. It's just a shame it was such a cloudy day - I really want to go again either in high summer or during the night-time.
I do think that Westminster Palace (the Houses of Parliament) is such a beautiful building. And since they cleaned all the grime off it a few years back it really shines!

After the London Eye, we spent the afternoon in Covent Garden - browsing round the most amazing little toyshop and enjoying the "living statues" and such talented street-musicians, and then had a lovely Chinese meal in Soho.

Finally, here is the theatre that we went to: The Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. I LOVE theatreland at night, such a magical place.

If you've never heard of "Avenue Q", it is done with puppets, but with the puppeteers visible on stage too. Some of the characters are played by real people, rather than puppets, so it's a completely unique experience. Superbly well done, with some really catchy songs and some hysterically funny moments. I loved it..

An amazing day - it must rank as one of the best birthdays ever. I have the BEST husband!!!!

Back with more soon!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

While I'm Away...

2010-02-09T14:00:00.003+01:00

Hello from England! I've managed to bag myself some web-time while I'm over in the UK for a couple of weeks. It's so lovely to see Alan every day, but I do miss the internet!!!!

I thought you might be interested in a couple of photos I took back at Mum and Dad's before I came away. It had been really cold, and it always amazes me to see the pool with ice on it. This one shows how sunny it was at the time, but sooooo cold!

And this one is a bit closer-up, so you can see the patterns on the ice..

Finally for now, here is one of Mum and Dad's cats, Blackie (can't imagine why they call him that!). He's so dark it's almost impossible to get a decent picture of him, so I'm really pleased with this one.

That's all for now. I'm back in France on the 18th February, so I'll see you then. Have a fab Valentine's Day!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

First signs of spring!

2010-01-27T21:24:00.003+01:00

Wow - look what I found just a little way down our drive!!! First indication that spring may be on its way, how exciting!

It was such a chilly morning too, just look at all the frost on the surrounding grass. Oh, it did make me smile to see these little beauties. I'll post more when they're fully out.

Oh - do you like what I did with the photo? I used that new photo-editing software I downloaded the other day. It's fab! So easy to use and has an incredible number of snazzy features. For a freebie, I'm really impressed.

I hope that my little bit of spring has brightened your day as much as it did mine..

Hugs,

Becki
xx

More Blog Candy Cards

2010-01-25T21:58:00.003+01:00

I can finally show you the cards I made last week, now the people they were intended for have received them so there's no chance of spoiling the surprise. Both are made using stamps and papers I won in Sara's blog candy. I can't tell you how much I love working with these stamps - they are just amazing to stamp with!!

Here's the first one, which I made to send to Sara as a thank you for drawing me as the winner of the candy:

And the insert:

And this is the second one, which I sent to Peggy, my new French penpal, with my first letter to her:

And the insert:

The sentiments were from the free set I got with my Craft Stamper subscription. I have to say, after using the lovely Stampin' Up! stamps, the clear sentiments felt decidedly squidgy and the impressions were definitely not as clear. I'm pleased with the end results though.

Hope you like them - thanks for looking!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Another Blog Candy Card..

2010-01-18T10:45:00.004+01:00

I love love love these stamps I won as blog candy! I've been playing round with them lots and lots and haven't had a bad print yet. I've made some cards that I can't post photos of at the moment, because the people they're intended for might visit and see them on here, so you'll have to wait a while for those, but in the meantime here is a card I made for my friend Paul's birthday next week.

I used the other set of stamps this time, Polka Dot Punches, to give me something less girly. The swirly stamp is inked up with red, then the edges over-inked with a lovely chocolate brown. A stamp positioner allowed me to get the partial images in the right place on the small pieces of card for the front, and to overlay the greeting with the swirl on the inside. The gorgeous stripy paper is from one of my blog candy papers.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I hope he likes it, and I hope you do too!

I've been a lucky girl this week. First, I've gained a French penpal, Peggy! You can see her blog here and I've written my first letter to her already. I'm really looking forward to our correspondence and to getting to know her.

Secondly, I got this card from the lovely Emilie, who I met on the In Love With Stamping forum:

This is the only Happy New Year card I've received this year, and I love it! Thank you so much Emilie!

As before, sorry for the pretty lousy photos. When I was at home and using my own pc, I had a fab photo-editing suite that helped enormously. Now I'm using the laptop I've been doing without, which means that you've been getting my photos "in the raw". This morning, though, I downloaded Photoscape, as from the reviews I've seen, this seems to be the best free downloadable editing software available. But is it actually? Well, we'll have to see....

Back soon.

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Finally - A Blog Candy Card!

2010-01-15T17:50:00.004+01:00

Finally, I've made a card using the beautiful blog candy I won from Sara just before Christmas. It's for my friend Sally's birthday, and I really hope she likes it.

Isn't it funny - the red borders don't look even in the photo. They are in real life, I promise! I love the way the two-step stamps work, such an easy way to get two colours. I have to say I'm so impressed with all the stamps I won, I haven't had a duff image yet, even from the very first time I used them. Hardly any pressure needed at all.. The sentiment is from one the sets of clear stamps I got with my Craft Stamper mag subscription. I stamped it first with the same red ink I used on the flowers, then decided it needed a little something more, so overstamped it with the brown I'd used on the outlines. I think it worked well. The button is attached with silicone glue, having tied a thin strip of paper through the holes as a bit more embellishment.

Here is the inside. Oh I love these two-step stamps!! Sorry about the lousy picture, I really need to work out a decent way to photograph my cards.

Finally, I thought I'd show you a picture of the Christmas Card I made for Mum and Dad, using one of my very favourite stamps so far - this lovely snowman.

I cut out and then glittered a second layer for his hat brim, pompom and scarf, and the holly as well. Talk about fiddly! I'm pleased I persevered, though, 'cause he's really pretty. Mum has kept this card up, although the rest have been put away now - so I stole him away for a quick photo session earlier!

See you soon..

Becki
xx

Two cards - and a Bit of Inkyness!

2010-01-13T14:38:00.004+01:00

Hello again!

Just a quick post, this one, 'cause Mum finally let us take the tree and all our cards down today and it reminded me that I hadn't posted photos of the beautiful handmade cards I got sent for Christmas. Well, I say "for Christmas" - one of them was actually sent with the gorgeous blog candy I won and so isn't a Christmas card as such. But, it arrived on Christmas Eve, I haven't posted a photo of it yet, so it counts as one for today's purposes!

Here they are. This is the one that came with the blog candy that I won from Sara:

And this is the one that Emilie sent me:

Aren't they beautiful! I really love this clean, fresh style. Thank you so much, ladies....

I actually did a bit of crafting myself yesterday. Yaaaaayyyyyy!!!! I didn't have long, and because it was a red day I was trying to work mostly by the little bit of daylight that came in through the one set of shutters that we had opened (it was really windy yesterday, and our windows let in the draft like nobody's business) so didn't want to do anything that needed any proper idea of colours. I decided to do a bit of prep work I've been meaning to do for ages. A few years ago Mum and I bought a load of inkpads from QVC when Mum first got interested in papercrafting. There's been a lot that's happened since then, and most of them hadn't even been opened. Since most inks dry a different colour to the way they look on the pad, I thought I'd stamp out some reference sheets. Well, I didn't mean them to end up as reference sheets at the time (I was trying to find out which colours went best with the lovely papers I received as part of my blog candy so I can actually make something using it) but when I was half way through it dawned on me that it would be quite useful to have something to keep for future reference. Anyway, here they are. A bit scruffy really, and I didn't attempt to do them in colour families or anything, but I think they'll be quite handy, just the same.

Maybe when I'm a bit more organised I'll re-do them more neatly, and on better paper.

It was lovely though, to finally get my fingers a bit inky. It's been an age!!!

On a non-crafting note, it is a good deal warmer today and most of the snow has gone. It poured with rain all last night and, when I got down to the gite to go to bed, the gas bottle feeding the fire had run out. It was SO COLD!!!! I went to bed in thick pyjamas, socks and a cardigan, and I could see my breath as I sat in bed for a while reading. Fortunately, the electric heaters do come on overnight when the power is cheap again, so it had warmed up a bit by morning. Still nice to come up to the house and snuggle in front of the wood-burners though. It's sunny and bright outside now, really cheery.

Have a good day!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!!

2010-01-11T16:28:00.009+01:00

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a fab weekend.

Oooh - we woke up a couple of days ago to white everywhere - quite a rarity here. It snowed all day on Saturday so we just stayed inside, snuggled up with both wood-burners going full tilt - scrummy warm!

Yesterday it had stopped so we ventured out for a walk. It was lovely! Really crisp, crunchy snow, like I remember from when I was a kid, and haven't really seen for years. D'you fancy coming for a wander with me? I'll show you around...

Just look at these icicles, formed by the snow that had been melted by the chimney and then re-frozen on its way down the roof. They must be at least eighteen inches long!

Here is our amazing, white landscape:

And our front door, looking really Christmassy (okay, so it's January, but who's worried?!). You can just about see the garland still on the door. Mum doesn't want to take it down until the snow has gone!

I love the way the snow sits on the trees. Every so often we heard what sounded like an animal scurrying round in the undergrowth, only to turn round to see the last icing-sugar sprinkling of snow falling from one of the branches. I think this tree looks so beautiful...

And these snow-topped teasels made me chuckle.

Along with our post-box with its little white hat:

And then there are the garlands of snow which have "sagged" a little bit and then re-frozen. These just look like a physical impossibility, but they're all over the place. Shows how cold the air is, I suppose. I think they look fab!

Okay. Still no crafting, I've been catching up with paperwork (finally got round to submitting my tax return) and stuff, but I PROMISE I will try to get some creativity going and will post photos as soon as possible.

Back soon. Until then,

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-06T18:55:00.004+01:00

Well, I'm back home after the most fantastic two weeks in the UK with Alan. It was so hard to say goodbye at the airport - I was in bits and even got asked by one of the staff if I was okay as I stood just beyond security, blubbering and trying to pull myself together. It was so nice of her to be concerned, but oh how embarrassing!

I hope you all had a fab time too - I can't believe how quickly the time goes by. Alan and I stayed with Bob (Alan's brother), and it was lovely of him to let us, since he's so used to just having his own space. Bless him, it was so funny to see him dealing with the fact that the bathroom suddenly sprouted lots of "girly" bits and pieces!

Last weekend we spent a lovely time visiting friends up in and around Peterborough, including having a quick peek at my little house (which has been rented out since September and thankfully looks absolutely fine). We stayed overnight with more friends near Biggleswade (thanks for your fab hospitality, Helen and Paul!) and then visited Wimpole Hall on our way back to Bob's, to make a bit of use of our National Trust membership. The hall itself was closed for the winter, but we had a really lovely walk round the gardens and the Home Farm. We were the only people without children who turned up to watch the pigs being fed! I tried to take photos of the piggies - they were gorgeous, I love pigs! - but it was too dark and they were too fast, so I failed dismally. I did, however, manage to get some piccies of some of the goats:

This one was such a character! Just look at his face in this next picture!

And here is one of his stable-fellows, resigned to actually eating from the manger, rather than standing in it!

Mum and Dad have kept goats (not pygmy ones like these cuties, but great galumphing ones) for about twenty years now, and they are amazing animals. Each one has his or her own character, and they make fantastic pets, really affectionate. They only have one now, though I'm working on persuading them to get some more. Oh - and some chickens. I really want to keep chickens! Mum's holding out at the moment, but you never know....

Hope you're not too snowed in!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Oh My Goodness - I Won!!!!!!

2009-12-21T22:02:00.003+01:00

I won - I actually won that amazing blog candy I told you about yesterday!!!! I can't believe it!! I'm sooooooooooo chuffed!!!!! Bet you could hear the cheers from where you are!

On a different note, this will probably be my last post till the New Year, 'cause tomorrow I fly back the the UK to spend Christmas with my darling husband. I can't wait to see him!

So, have a fabby Christmas, all of you. Thank you for reading this, and I'll see you in the New Year.

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Blog Candy Up For Grabs!!

2009-12-20T19:17:00.002+01:00

Fab Blog Candy on offer! It's Sara's blogoversary and she has some gorgeous goodies on offer. Click here to be taken to her blog so you can be in with a chance to win.

Hugs,

Becki
xx

It Snowed Last Night!!!!!

2009-12-18T12:46:00.003+01:00

Yaaayy!!!!!! I woke up this morning and it was white over outside! I thought it was a bit warmer (it's been too cold for snow for the last few days, at around minus four or five, albeit really sunny) - shame, 'cause it meant as soon as the sun really got going it all started to melt and it's nearly gone now. Here are some photos I managed to get first thing though, before the thaw started.

This is the view from just outside the gite:

Heading up the drive to Mum and Dad's (the gite, where I live, is just to the left and you can see all the roof tiles stacked up to the right, waiting for the weather to improve):

On the terrace just outside the front door - look, the sun's just started to come out! I'm amazed this one came out, I was looking almost straight into the sun and had to cup my hand over the top of the lens:

This one's taken from more or less the same spot, just turned round to the right a bit. You can just see the start of the goat's barns on the right of the photo:

Pretty, huh?!

We've had red days all this week, except (surprisingly) for today, which means massively expensive electricity. So (pulls a frowny face) no real opportunity for crafting as the gite has been too chilly. I'm off shopping this afternoon to see what presents I can find - I'm after some little calendar booklets to pretty up, amongst other things. Then hopefully I can actually do some crafting later on. Maybe. It's my turn to cook tonight so I'll have to see if I have time. Oh well, at least I can use the oven today!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Christmas Cards and an Embossing Technique

2009-12-11T21:22:00.005+01:00

I finally remembered to take some photos of the embossed cards I'm making to send this year. I thought you might like to see step-by-steps, so here they are. I started off with plain (well, slightly textured) white card:

I embossed a strip down the edge with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, using my Wizard:

I embossed two lines half a centimetre apart to neaten the edge:

This is the back view. I did the same to neaten the edge here too:

A simple stamped image and greeting, matted onto mirror card, and here is the finished card:

I hope you like it!

I had an interesting time working out how to do the embossing. Up till now, I've only embossed pieces of card which are either the same size or smaller than the Cuttlebug folders, and I didn't know it was possible to emboss using only part of the folder. Then, last week, I discovered Ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard (what a fab blog!!), and this tutorial. I thought I'd try to adapt it for use with the Wizard.

I've never used a Cuttlebug, but I think that the white mats that you use with the Wizard must be a lot thicker than the mats the Cuttlebug uses. I didn't have to worry about cutting round the pattern, but I did need to make what Ikki calls a Modified Folder Pad the same thickness as one of the white mats. I used card from cereal packets - cut down to six centimetres wide, to match the width of the strip of embossing that I wanted. Here is the pad I made (interesting photo of the year award is in the post!):

It took a bit of fiddling around to get the exact thickness, and I had to add another strip every so often as the pad was getting compacted by the pressure of putting it through the Wizard, but I was really pleased with the results. I shall definitely use this technique again.

Thanks for reading!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Aargh!!!!

2009-12-11T19:58:00.002+01:00

I've just found out that getting my car registered over here is a bit more complicated than Mum and Dad had told me it would be. Well, I suppose they have an excuse - it's fifteen years since they had to register an English car in France, so presumably things have changed a bit!

I thought it was just a question of taking my V5 to the Sous-Prefecture and then booking it in for a Controle Technique (French MOT). Oh no. I have to get a form from the DVLA first, a Certificate of Permanent Export. AND I was supposed to have done this before bringing the car over in the first place!!!!

Eeek!!!

Oh well, nothing I can do about it now until Monday. At least my lovely little car's clean - took me hours and hours but I washed it today. My goodness, that was one FILTHY car! Looks all sparkly spangly now...

Back later with photos of my Christmas cards.

Hugs,

Becki
xx

My First Christmas Cards..

2009-12-09T20:50:00.004+01:00

Well, finally, at ten to nine in the evening, I am starting to feel like I'm functioning properly. I've had one of those frustrating days today, where I feel as if my brain is shrouded in fog all the time - as if I'm only about ten percent awake. Fortunately it happens very rarely now, the last time I felt like this must be well over six months ago, but I've really struggled to move and have felt so heavy all day. It's a salutary reminder of how I used to be, and perhaps a shot across the bows to remind me not to overdo it. Going to have an earlier night tonight..

I did, though, manage to take some photos of the Christmas cards I made yesterday, and the little decoration, so I thought I'd show you what they're like. The cards first:

I have so much stash lying around that never gets used, so I decided that I would concentrate on using it. These two are made using die-cut decoupage I bought before last Christmas and forgot about. The patterned paper is also from a pack I'd forgotten I had, while the blue paper is textured white cardstock coloured using Distress Ink. I'm actually more pleased with these than I thought I would be - I'm not much of a decoupage person and die-cut just seems like cheating, but somehow they really work with the coloured papers I think. What do you think?

This is the decoration I had a go at.

I found instructions here, and decided to have a go. This is actually a lot smaller than the instructions were for (each square of paper was three inches by three), and I've added an extra cut, so each section is a bit lacier than in the original. Oh - and I didn't want to waste double sided paper on my test version, so this is just patterned on one side. Even so, I think it's turned out to be very pretty. So easy to do as well, a bit fiddly to start with and I needed to use a stronger glue than tape pen (my test version keeps pinging apart in places!). I'm going to make a load and suspend them so they hang down in front of the windows. How exciting - I loved making this!!

I forgot to take pics of the other cards I'm making, the ones that I can do "production-line" fashion. (That makes them sound horrible, but they're really pretty, I promise!) I'll put up photos of these tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Finally - Christmas Preparations Started!

2009-12-08T21:33:00.002+01:00

Hooray!!!!! I've actually started making my Christmas cards (I know, I KNOW!) ! I don't know why, but this year seems not to have had as many weeks between the start of November and the start of December, it only seems like five minutes ago that there were eight weeks till Christmas and now - where on earth has the time gone???

Anyway, at the weekend I suddenly got an idea for what I was going to do for my cards this year. Normally, I do special ones for family and really close friends and then for everyone else I like to come up with something that is quicker to do. I decided I wanted to include embossing, using my Wizard, which I love but don't use half enough. What I wanted to do wasn't entirely straightforward, so it took me a bit of time playing round with ideas until I worked out how to do it. I know I'm being a tease, writing this when I can't put any pictures up, but my camera is in the gite and I haven't had time to photograph them yet. I promise I'll put some pics up tomorrow.

I've also made a little decoration - kind of experimental, as I was trying out something I found whilst blog-hopping yesterday. It's a star, and it looks smashing - can't wait to show you! Hee hee, now you've GOT to come back and look!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Busy Bee...

2009-12-05T19:19:00.002+01:00

Oh it's just so so so busy at the moment! We've got to get our detailed planning application for the house in by Christmas Eve so we've been eating, sleeping and drinking plans for what seems like an eternity. The architects are putting the finishing touches to them and we think they'll be done by the early part of next week. I have to say, they're looking amazing and we'll have two superb houses. Once we've tackled the minor business of actually rebuilding them, that is!

Dad is still working on re-roofing the barn and gite; he's got all the false rafters in place now, and most of the laths on the half of the roof that is above the gite. The weather is really against him, and he's only really managing to get a couple of hours of work done on it each day. But he's getting there and it won't be long before he can start on putting the tiles - and then it'll be finished in no time, 'cause that'll easily be the quickest bit to do. I wish I could help, but the only time I got onto the roof I slipped and then just froze. Really weird, 'cause I've never been scared of heights, but I was absolutely petrified, to the point of tears. I'm fine up on scaffolding and ladders, but that roof really beat me.

Saturday mornings are my time to go fruit and veg shopping in Moissac. Mum and Dad never go market shopping, but I always bought my fresh stuff from the market in England and the quality of the fruit and veg in the supermarkets over here is truly atrocious! And it's not cheap, either, which surprised me, given that it doesn't have to travel half as far as does most of the stuff sold in the UK. I think it's a turnover thing - there simply isn't the population in this part of France to buy what the supermarkets stock. I love market shopping, it's just so much more REAL than supermarket shopping, buying REAL food from REAL people. And then from there to the little Casino (shop, not gambling den!) to stock up on dairy and frozen food.

(A funny thing I saw at Casino: a very wealthy-looking woman in a huge BMW swung smoothly into the car park, all eyes on her. She drove round the almost empty car park, looking for the perfect space, turned neatly into it.....then drove straight into the trolley park at the end of the space with the loudest crunch, sending the trolleys shunting about six feet from where they had been standing! I had to laugh...)

When Alan was over last week we cut back yet more brambles and pruned various trees to within an inch of its life. Mum and Dad have about eighteen acres here and it's got on top of them over the last few years. When I was first ill, three years ago, Mum came over to England and stayed with me for nearly a year; she worked so hard looking after me that she made herself poorly so she was then unable to do much for the next two years (she's just getting back on her feet now). It really isn't possible for one person (Dad) to keep on top of that much land and it's a huge challenge to get it back under control now. The flip side of the fantastic weather here is that everything grows like wildfire - you turn your back for five minutes and tiny seedlings are suddenly twenty foot high trees!

Anyway.. this afternoon, Mum and I dragged a load of branches down to the tractor and trailer, cut them so they'd fit and loaded them all up then drove them down to the massive bonfire-in-preparation that we're building on one of the fields down the drive. Well, Mum drove and I poddled down the drive after her. My goodness, the drive is long! And steep! Not so bad on the way down, but on the way up, after having been clambering about in the trailer and hefting branches around again - I was SHATTERED when we got back to the house!

So, it's not my turn to cook tonight, so an evening blog-hopping and watching Merlin, Strictly Come Dancing and Casualty is just what the doctor ordered, I think. Wine anyone?

Hugs,

Becki
xx

What A Weekend!!

2009-12-01T20:28:00.004+01:00

Hello! Well, I've had the most fabulous few days with my wonderful husband, and there were more than a few tears when I left the airport this afternoon after seeing him leave yet again. Next time we're together will be for Christmas and I really MUST book my flights!!

I have to share something really funny with you. Sunday was the six month anniversary of our wedding, so on Saturday Alan took me out for a gorgeous meal. Not knowing anywhere locally, he'd asked me to book, and I took the opportunity to try out the Manoir St Jean, which is a beautiful hotel and restaurant between here and Moissac, our closest (small) town. I've driven past it so many times and always thought it looked beautiful, Mum and Dad had never been but had heard good reports, so I decided that now was the time to try it out. Here is a photo of the dining room, taken from the website:

(I've just realised that the table shown in the foreground is actually the table we sat at - how brilliant is that!)

Before we went, I showed Alan the website and he agreed that it looked perfect. Because his French is in its infancy, he showed me how to use the Google website translation facility. With the most hilarious results! Here is a quote from the website, as written:

"Ainsi, en fonction des marchés et des saisons, notre chef vous composera de beaux menus, faisant la part belle aux produits locaux de petits producteurs et aux poissons sauvages."

And here is the Google translation:

"Thus, according to market and season, our chef you compose beautiful menus, making beautiful products from local small farmers and wild fish."

You can imagine the giggles that followed, and the determination to avoid eating anything that looked as if it could have been concocted using local residents, agricultural or otherwise!

Anyway, that aside, the restaurant was amazing. You've already seen how beautiful it was. The food was of a quality that made the surroundings seem distinctly average. When the waitress brought us our aperitifs, she also brought a foie gras brulee - the tiniest little dish (a couple of inches across at the most) of foie gras blended with cream and flambeed so that the surface had caramelised. It was served with a kind of tomato salsa and was absolutely delicious. Next (and this was all before we were served with our starters) we were brought "Mousse a Lard" (please excuse the horrible lack of accents - I don't know how to do them on this keyboard), which was a ramekin dish filled with what can only be described as foam! The flavour foxed us completely - I hadn't caught what the waitress had said it was - we just knew it was incredibly familiar. After we'd eaten it, I asked again, and it turned out to be smoked bacon. It was the most amazing dish - "smoky bacon foam" really doesn't do it justice!

Our starters were just as good. I had opted for foie gras de canard and Alan went for what had been desribed as beef ravioli. My starter was what I was expecting, but Alan's was, surprisingly, not pasta-based at all. The ravioli parcels were actually made from the thinnest slices of totally rare beef, stuffed with a delicious cream cheese centre. Had we known what it would have been, we would have steered clear, but I'm so glad we didn't. Alan very kindly donated one of the little cushions to me (he had some of my foie gras in return) and it literally melted in my mouth. Honestly, I'm running out of superlatives here...

Unusually, because our tastes are very similar, we chose different main courses. We both love fish, but selected different types. Alan had langoustines (shelled, thank goodness - the first time he tried them he had to extract them himself and the poor thing took ages and ended up with virtually nothing edible for his efforst) served with scallops and I had pan-fried seabream. Fish can be a real trial for restaurants, because it's so easy to overcook it - particularly shellfish - but everything we ordered was cooked to the point of perfection. The restaurant makes a point of serving local, seasonal, organically produced vegetables and the medley of courgettes, mange-tout and mushrooms was the perfect accompaniment. Good grief, I sound like a restaurant critic, but you get the idea.

We did both have the same dessert, a plate of wafer-thin pineapple slices served with an I-can't-remember-what-it-was sorbet. Gorgeous!! All washed down with a bottle of Hoegaarden beer for Alan (he was driving) and glasses of excellent Gaillac for me, followed by a superb coffee to round everything off.

What a meal! The waitress was lovely, friendly but unobtrusive, and chatted to us when she realised that we were happy to do so. She tried her English out on us, but for the most part I acted as translator, and I still get a kick out of realising that my French is getting better and better. Alan's doing really well too; he's understanding more and more and gaining in confidence with his speaking. His German is good, and I know his French will get there too, he has an obvious aptitude for languages.

Sorry - this has turned out to be really rambling so, if you've stuck with me all the way through, thanks! I had got loads else to tell you, but I won't push my luck, and will save everything else till another time. Take care.

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Learn Something New Every Day

2009-11-25T19:38:00.002+01:00

Hi! It's been a few days since I've posted on here for a number of reasons. One is that I've got a rotten cold and have been feeling distinctly below par, but I've also had a lot on my mind that has meant I've been a little distracted. Back now....

Whilst I've been sitting tucked up under layers of blankets with a gorgeous fire crackling away in the wood-burning stove, I've been doing a lot of blog-hopping. It always amazes me how much you can learn from these online diaries, there is such a tremendous amount of information out there! And some truly talented people, too.

One thing I came across this evening, I thought was a really interesting idea, and I thought I'd share it with you. It's called "Learn Something New Every Day". I like to think I'm generally a positive kind of a person, but I am aware that every so often I need a kick to get me facing back in the right direction. My philosophy has always been to try to be the best "me" that I can possibly be, and I think this fits right into that. There is even an online course you can take - see this link! The course runs every year, in September, and I might pop a note in my diary to look into it in 2010. But for now, I'm going to try to adopt the philosophy and see how I get on..

So, what have I learned today? I think this has to be a lesson that keeps coming back to me time and again over the last few years, and that is, that illness can be improved, or worsened, by our attitude to it. Before I developed M.E. I never used to be a poorly type of person, now I seem to catch everything that's going. Each time, I notice that if I let it get me down it takes me far longer to get better than it does if I decide to be positive and not let it drag me under. How many more times am I going to have to learn this, before I remember it every time I need to???!

Hooray - Alan's flying over tomorrow!! Can't wait to see my gorgeous husband.. He'll be here till Tuesday, which is nowhere near long enough, but at least it means I get a few lovely days to spend with him. One day, we WILL be able to live together. We WILL!!!

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Back Blog-Hopping!

2009-11-21T13:26:00.004+01:00

I meant to post this photo yesterday, but what with one thing and another just didn't get the chance. This is the valley we look over as we go down the drive - taken later in the day so that the sun was in the right place to catch the colours. I love the way the colour seems to be lasting and lasting, and becoming more and more intense as the days go by. Mind you - the breeze seems to be getting up a bit today so I don't know if it'll be here by the end of the week.

At last, we've managed to get wireless internet set up here, which means that I can actually connect my laptop to the net, rather than having to hog Mum's pc whenever I go online. Much more surfing is now possible, and I spent a happy few hours yesterday blog-hopping whilst watching Children In Need. Trouble is, now I wish the wireless signal reached down to the gite, where all my craft stuff is, because I found SO MUCH inspiration! Not likely to have much time to play today, cause I've spent the morning at the market already and likely to be busy this afternoon, but I'm tucking all sorts of ideas away for future reference. Hmmm.....

Hugs,

Becki
xx

Golden Brown, Texture Like... Moss?!

2009-11-19T12:00:00.006+01:00

Wow - what a morning! Gorgeous sunshine again and sixteen degrees by ten o'clock. The autumn colour is staying, though day by day a little more of it is being deposited on the ground, so the trees look like they're standing in golden pools. The light seems to be so much clearer here than at this time of year in the UK, so everywhere seems to sparkle. And despite the fact that we had som much rain last week and the grass is still a bit soggy, the paths and roads are clear and dry again now and the air is palpably drier than I'm used to. I still can't quite get used to the fact that I can wander around without having to wear a coat, and if I'm working outside then even a cardigan or jumper is too warm!

I promised some more photos of the colours along the drive. Here is one showing the really bright, cushiony moss that grows all down the centre of it - thought I'd better take some photos before I clear all of it away! I love the way it seems to glow in the early morning sun.

Here is a close-up of the moss itself. It's really pretty, made up of loads of little tiny star-shaped clusters. And it feels so SOFT, like velvet! If you click on the photo you should be able to see it in even more detail. I like the idea of making a backing paper inspired by this, so watch this space...

A little further along you can see this tree. It's a walnut tree, I think, but at this time of year you can see the globes of mistletoe growing in it, so cclearly. I had thought that mistletoe killed trees but apparently not, it's symbiotic, which means it needs the tree to stay alive in order to survive itself. In a few weeks' time the berries will turn white; we usually gather several bunches to decorate the house at Christmas. Crumbs! That's not actually long away... MUST get my Christmas cards made!!!!

This next tree really caught my eye, 'cause of all the gorgeous browns, golds and yellows. It really shone out in the sunlight and my photo just doesn't do it justice. I think it's probably a bit blurry too, again I was zooming in on one area, and I seem to wobble an awful lot! Aren't the colours beautiful!

Finally, I thought I'd missed them today, 'cause I was a bit later out than I'd intended to be, but no! All of a sudden two deer gambolled into view just as the sun caught the field they were in. They were lower down in the valley, still in the mists a little, which is why the photos are a bit hazy, but these pictures are clearer than the ones I managed the other day.

One of these days I will go out really early (I will, I will, I WILL) and set up my camera with a tripod and then just wait. Hopefully I'll be able to get some closer shots then. I wish I had a video camera - they look so funny when they suddenly decide to take off into the undergrowth and all you can see is their hindquarters flashing white. I wish they'd work out that it's this that the many hunters round here see - if they stayed still they'd be much safer!

Thanks for visiting!

Back soon. Hugs,

Becki
xx

Sunrise, and a "Smoking" Car!

2009-11-18T20:02:00.003+01:00

Hello again! I just had to show you these photos of yesterday's sunrise! They were taken at about half seven or so, one just before the sun came up and the other just after. Aren't the colours incredible!!! This is the first view I see every morning, isn't it beautiful!? Oh - and by the way, don't believe the "Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning" saying - or at least, it definitely doesn't apply over here. The rest of the day was gorgeous too.

Having been working on clearing out a ditch yesterday, I struggled to get up when my alarm went off this morning, and eventually emerged at closer to nine than seven. By that time the day was shaping up nicely and it was already relatively warm, albeit a little hazy. What amazed me was that my car looked as if it was on fire! Closer inspection showed that it wasn't, in fact, smoke that I could see, but steam - after a clear and chilly night the warmth of the sun was literally steaming the dew off the top of the car. I've never seen this before, 'cause in the UK my little car was always garaged. I thought you might like to see a photo:

By this time I was well and truly enjoying poddling round being lady of all I surveyed. I wandered round to the other side of the gite to have a look at the view in that direction, over another valley. The autumn colours are incredible, lasting far longer than I'm used to (being used to living on the edge of the fens it was always too windy for the autumn leaves to stay on the trees for long). A good part of the lawn right next to this part of the drive is taken up with roof tiles, and I didn't want them in shot, so this is a smaller section of the view than I really wanted to show you, but still really pretty. We have views in every direction here, as Mum and Dad's house is positioned part way up the side of a beautiful, scooped valley. Tomorrow I'll wander a bit further down the drive and take some shots across the fields down there. The colour is even more breathtaking - you'll love it, I'm sure..

Back tomorrow with more crafting pictures. Until then...

Hugs,

Becki

The Great Unveiling!

2009-11-13T20:48:00.004+01:00

Hello again! Well, I've been telling you about the picture I made, and I've finally finished it. Here it is - ta-daa!!!

And here it is in its absolutely finished state, backed onto the papers I showed you yesterday. I'm so pleased with it! It's now sitting in pride of place on my bedside table, and makes me smile every time I look at it.

I hope you like it too!

On a non-crafting note, we've had a busy day today. The weather has finally been good enough to put some washing out, though it's still not quite dry. I can't believe how much I've got to try to get done - I really miss having a centrally heated house and a tumble drier! Mum and I also went down to the bottom of the drive to scrape off the accumulation of gravel that has built up over the years. Their drive is about a quarter of a mile long and, although it only leads to their house, it is actually maintained by the local commune. This basically means that once a year they come and pour some tar down, then throw gravel onto it. But, what with one thing and another, Mum and Dad haven't been able to sweep the excess away for the past three or four years, and it's built up to an incredible height all along the middle of the drive. It doesn't affect Mum and Dad's great big four-wheel-drive, but my little Fabia has been bottoming out at several points and I was a bit worried it would damage it. Anyway, we've done a fair amount and what we've done looks so much better! The true test will come tomorrow when I take my car out to the market, but hopefully that section of the drive won't cause problems any more. We'll do more tomorrow..

Back soon. Hugs,

Becki

Patterned Paper Making

2009-11-12T20:11:00.004+01:00

Hello again! Just a quickie today, I wanted to show you the patterned papers I made this morning. I wanted something I could use as a background for the picture I've been working on (I will post a photo of it when it's done, I promise) so thought I'd have a play to see what I could come up with.

I was really pleased with them! The bottom paper is under a heavy box of paper as I write this, to flatten it out before I use it.

Go on - have a play! I enjoyed making these soooooooo much!!!

Love,

Becki

"Weather" We Like It Or Not!!!

2009-11-11T19:33:00.004+01:00

Crumbs - how quickly the weather changes! Last weekend, when Alan was here, we had lovely weather, warm and sunny, and distinctly pleasant. For the last couple of days it has been absolutely FOUL!!!! Dull, grey, foggy, drizzly, shifting occasionally to real driving rain - NOT what us Brits normally associate with south-west France. One of those weeks when, as Dad says, it could be more accurately described as "south-WET" France! Yukkkk!!

On the positive side, early yesterday morning was lovely. Until I tried hanging a load of washing out, that is, when the rain decided to arrive with no warning whatsoever. Here is the vew from the gite at about half past seven yesterday morning:

Whilst enjoying the early morning quiet, before either Mum or Dad were up and about, I wandered across to look across one of their fields, where you can quite often spot a family of deer around dawn or dusk. I wasn't disappointed. The photo is a bit grainy, because the sun wasn't up yet, and I had to have the camera on maximum zoom without having time to set up a tripod, but hopefully you can see. We often see this little family pottering about, they don't seem to be at all nervous of us, and if we're on one of the tractors then so much the better. One of the nicest things about living in the middle of nowhere - they really are beautiful.

Because the weather has been so grotty I have been able to do quite a bit of crafting over the past few days. I hope I'll be able to post a photo of what I've been working on in the next day or so, a bit of an experiment for me, but I think it's turning out well. Watch this space...

One final little anecdote. It's Armistice Day today, which in France is a public holiday. Well, despite knowing this, we managed to forget totally about it on more than one occasion, the funniest being when I had spent ages running round getting together all the papers I would need to finally get myself into the French healthcare system - and while I was out I was going to pop into the bank to transfer some money into the joint accout that Mum, Dad and I use to pay for food and other shared expenses - I even made sure the Caisse Primaire (the health insurance place) would be open by double-checking online. All of a sudden, Dad said, "But the bank won't be open, 'cause it's Bank Holiday, so you'll only be able to go to the Caisse Primaire." Pause. "Except you won't be able to go to the Caisse Primaire, 'cause it'll be shut, 'cause it's a Bank Holiday!" He then pootled off to make some phone calls - none of which were successful, 'cause everywhere was shut, 'cause it's a Bank Holiday!!!!! Maybe we should make a sign for ourselves, so we remember next time!

Back soon. Love 'n' stuff,

Becki

Season of Mists....

2009-10-28T20:27:00.004+01:00

It was such a gorgeous day today, beautifully sunny again. Because the skies are clear though, the nights are so cold, and we have tended to have mists first thing. I took some photos to show you what the view is like from my little gite, across the valley. You can see the layers of mist - really pretty!

I have been busy crafting when I can, too. Here's a pic of the card I finished yesterday, to send to our lovely friends Robbie and Judy:

I'm just starting to get to grips with my brayer - not terribly good with it yet, but I do love it!

Soooooooo excited!! Alan comes over tomorrow for a few days. Tomorrow will be exactly five months since our wedding, so it'll be a double celebration! Can't wait!!! You'll excuse me if I don't post anything for a few days, won't you...?

Big hugs,

Becki

Meet Oscar.... and Migrating Birds

2009-10-25T21:17:00.007+01:00

Yaay - I've found the photos I took of the wild cat that's adopted Mum and Dad! They always just called him, "the wild cat", but I thought he deserved a name. Oscar (since he's the "Wild(e)" cat!) seemd to fit, so Oscar he became.. He's more feral, I suppose, than actually wild, but he's gradually getting used to us and will snuffle at my fingers now, for a second or two before nervousness takes over.

I took these pics just after I'd fed him two or three days ago. Isn't he gorgeous!

I love this next one - makes him look as if he's laughing!

Finally, I thought you might like to see this next photo. We seem to be right under the migration path for these birds, and had several flocks fly over on the same day last week. Mum thinks they're black cranes, but I couldn't vouch for that. Noisy, they were, though... Not the clearest of photos, but I didn't have time to get the tripod out and this was taken at some huge magnification. Spectacular - and amazing how they all seem to leave within a couple of hours of each other!

Love and hugs,

Becki

Honeymoon Photos

2009-10-24T17:47:00.004+02:00

It's a really gloomy day today, so I've been looking through and sorting out the photos that I took on our honeymoon, almost five months ago now. We stayed in Cornwall and spent a lot of time at the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Here are just a few of my favourites:

This is me and Alan at the Lost Gardens of Heligan - Alan stood the camera on a rock and set the timer, so I'm amazed that this is actually in focus!

Me, pretending I'm a queen on her throne - at Eden this time.

Also at Eden, this gorgeous driftwood horse stands in the lead-up to the visitor centre.

Ah, happy memories - I've been smiling all afternoon!

Hugs 'n' stuff,

Becki
xx

Eiffel Tower ATC

2009-10-22T18:30:00.006+02:00

Hello everyone!

Here's a quick peek at an ATC I made for my friend Laura, to send with the letter I wrote to her a few days ago. I hope you like it!

Really weird weather here at the moment - the sky looks as if there should be rainbows, but there's not actually any rain. I think it's on its way though, it's been a bit wet and gloomy for a few days now. Dad is addicted to the online weather forecast and tells me that things are supposed to brighten up by the end of next week, so here's hoping!

I wanted to post some pictures I took of the gorgeous wild (well, semi-wild) cat that has taken to eating here, but I've left the memory card in the gite. I'll be back later to put them on so you can see just how beautiful he is..

Back soon,

Becki
xx

Little Bits of Artwork..

2009-10-15T13:31:00.006+02:00

Aha! I have a chance to post some piccies of the little bits of crafty stuff that I've been up to over the last few days. Here are some photos:

I loved making this tiny piece! The stamp was free with Craft Stamper Magazine (fab magazine - do get hold of a copy if you're into stamping and haven't seen it!) and I've had great fun playing round with it. The geisha is stamped onto white card, coloured using Distress Inks , then mounted behind a little chipboard frame that I covered with foiled paper and distressed to get rid of the shiny newness.

This one was made for a friend's Mum's 70th birthday. The brief was to include a cute animal, which caused me problems since I didn't have any stamps which fitted the bill. Then, when I was rummaging round, I came across a resource book of cat images that came free with Crafts Beautiful magazine ages ago. Hey presto - problem solved! The papers were in the same little book, apart from the pale coloured mat layered behind the cat, which I brayered with a rainbow inkpad 'cause it looked odd being white. Hopefully the lady will like it.. Just got to finish the inside now. I have a stamp which says "Hope your day is "Purr-fect", which I think will do nicely.

I tried to post another photo, of a brayered and stamped picture, but for some reason the photo won't load properly. Ah well. I need to do that again anyway, as I forgot to heat set the ink and managed to smudge it in places, so maybe it's as well, eh?

Right. Off to have lunch now. It's a gorgeous day outside, but FREEZING cold. In the sun, and out of the wind, it's lovely, but the wind is bitter and if you're out of the sun, forget it! I've been putting on and taking off fleeces all day. Mum and Dad think it's hilarious, 'cause they're used to it, but I'm used to it being cold everywhere when it's cold, not cold then hot then cold then hot. I feel like a human yo-yo....

Hugs,

Becki

What It's All About...

2009-10-11T20:45:00.009+02:00

Here we go. This is the reason I'm over here. This is the project Mum, Dad and I took on - now you probably think we're barmy too..

I tried to post a photo taken from further away, but for some reason Blogger doesn't like it. As well as the house, which you can see in this photo, there is a barn which is, if anything, less whole than the house is, though considerably larger. Ah well, it'll keep us occupied for five minutes or so..

At the moment, we're clearing all the rubble from the inside of the house. When Alan and Bob were here last week, they helped Dad to clear the inside of the entrance hall. There was a huge hole in the wall at the back of the hall which desperately needed shoring up to prevent further deterioration - stone walls are actually amazingly weak and if they're damaged at all then huge calamity can follow. This really had to be the first job, but to get to the hole, the remnants of the roof and top of the walls needed clearing out of the way first. Here is what it looked like after Dad had blocked the hole up.

Not terribly pretty, but it will stop the whole of the wall coming in on us until we're in a position to take the blocks out and build the stonework up again properly. For now, the main concern is to stabilise as much as we can before the winter sets in. Fortunately, being the south of France, that happens considerably later than in the UK - while we were working yesterday the temperature was a lovely 23 degrees!

These are before and after photos of what we did yesterday. We only had time to spend a couple of hours over there. Mum wasn't well and Dad needs at the moment to concentrate on re-roofing their gite (where I'm living), and the M.E. means that I still can't do as much as I'd like, but we got a fair amount cleared. This is one of the rooms off the hallway, and it is mostly full of roof tiles - lovely, curved terracotta tiles, and a surprising number of them still intact.

Before:

After:
Looking at these, it looks as if we hardly did a thing - funny how photos don't always show what you want them to. I could really have done with being able to hover over the room and take the pictures from directly above, so you could see how much clearer it really is. Still a long way to go, but a lot better than when we started. Hmm.. I'll have to plan these photos a bit better!

I'm posting this a day later than intended, 'cause I've been a bit under the weather today. There are a lot of bugs going round and, as usual, I have to try them all out. I feel a lot better this evening, so hopefully by tomorrow I'll be back to normal again. I still need to take photos of the little crafty pieces I was working on at the weekend, so I'll try to make that a priority - promise!

Back soon.

Love,

Becki

Blogging at Last!

2009-10-10T15:03:00.002+02:00

Hooray - I've finally found the time to set up my new blog!!!!! Thanks for bearing with me. Over the last few days I've at last managed to start sorting out my craft stuff. Most of my clothes are still packed away but they're nowhere near as important!

What I'm hoping for with this blog is that it will be an online diary so that all my friends can keep up with what I'm doing while I'm living over here in France. Why am I here? It's a long story, but basically has to do with an old, delapidated French farmhouse that I bought a few years ago with Mum and Dad, but then became too poorly to to any work on it. I'm now well enough to do SOME work on it, hence leaving the UK for the time being, and having to live away from my much-loved husband of only five months, Alan, who is trying to spend as much time as he can over here in between earning the vital pennies. A bit of an odd way to start a marriage, but oh well - life's like that sometimes.

Anyway. The thing of the moment has been storage. Ages ago, I saw a page on the internet detailing how to build shelves using planks and wine bottles. Not wanting to spend a fortune on bookcases or cupboards, and given that I'm staying at the moment in Mum and Dad's gite (so can't clog the place up with too much extra furniture) I thought I'd give it a go. Most of what I brought over with me is craft stuff, and I desperately needed somewhere to unpack it to. There are DIY and farmers' merchants aplenty here, and vastly cheaper than in England, so I managed to pick up some pine planks pretty cheaply. Add empty beer bottles, some of which were retrieved from the recycling, others which I managed to pick up (beer included!) for a little over eight Euros for twenty-four, and this was the result:

They're not as tidy - or as empty - as this any more! As you can see, I've also used some really handy little drawer towers that we picked up at Aldi, to support one of the shelves, to give me a bit more height. Since I took these photos I've added another shelf at the top, supported on another three of these drawer towers. I'm absolutely thrilled to bits with them. With the last shelf that I've now added, that gives me about thirty-five feet of storage space for a total of less than £40 - and that doesn't include drinking the beer! (I didn't drink most of the beer - Alan and his brother Bob were here for a few days last week and very kindly agreed to help me with that part of the process!)

I actually managed to do a bit of crafting last night, but I've not managed to take any photos yet. I'll be back later to show you what I got up to.

Back soon folks. Love and hugs,

Becki