A Belated St Ives Part 2

The past two months haven't been amazing health-wise. I keep losing my balance and I become disorientated  and sometimes dizzy. I bump into things and seem to do a lot of curtseying to compensate for my wobbling.....when we go out I tend to hang onto my husband so people won't think I'm drunk :-(
I have an appointment at a Balance Clinic at Derby Hospital in three weeks; hopefully they will be able to tell me what's causing it (and whether its connected to my other health problems).

I promised more photos of St Ives so here they are. I don't want this to be a wordy post so I'll just add a few for each one:

I always say that St Ives is beautiful no matter what the weather.....we spent a happy hour in Caffe Pasta watching the rain one day. I love the way it gives the buildings a soft, muted appearance.

St Ives harbour beach....Caffe Pasta in the centre of the photo....

 There were some special high tides whilst we were there, such fun to watch and dodge. 

Porthminster Gallery is on the left.......probably my favourite. 

They usually have some work by Matthew Lanyon there.

 Houses on the beach. Wonder how they cope with the high tides!

The famous Sloop Inn. Had a few drinks here....

The view from our little balcony.

 The Seafood Cafe....great fish soup!

 The Digey Cafe......another favourite coffee shop just around the corner from the house where we stayed (you can see pics of the house in my previous post).

Surfers on Porthmeor Beach.

Porthgwidden Beach. Gorgeous early in the morning. There's a coffee shop at the back with a deck.

And finally.......a few little glimpses. 

Brian's whitebait starter at The Seafood Cafe.....coffee and cake at Caffe Pasta.....a scarf I bought in Seasalt....the famous shabby door a few yards from the house where we stayed.....my collection of St Ives treasures.....daffodils and an honestly box by the harbour.....gorgeous soup for lunch at The Digey Cafe.....and the all important warning about the gulls! They are so naughty....

As I'm unable to sit and sew at the moment I've been doing some digital scrapbooking and moodboard stuff . I post most of my work on Instagram these days.....

 I recently read this book (above), recommended to me by Sarah at Paisley Rain Boots. 

Its wonderful.......if you get a chance - read it.

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(Most of my digital supplies are by Anna Aspnes and Katie Pertiet)

Friday Finds (on a Monday)......'She wore flowers in her hair'

This is my contribution for Kim Klassen's 'Friday Finds' challenge (sorry I'm a bit late.....wasn't too well on Friday).
I have two 'finds'...a book and a planter.
I've been wanting a head planter for some time and finally spotted one in our local garden centre. I'm intrigued by how the look of it will change as the trailing plant grows and the pansies are replaced with other flowers.
We have a walled garden, which isn't always an advantage, but it is good for attaching things like this on to!

I altered my photo using Kim's textures 'Golden' and 'Magicedges'. I love the magic series....it always amazes me how a black texture can affect an image in the way it does.

The quote is from 'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy (winner of the Booker Prize 1997). 

I love the description of the character Ammu...

'On days like this there was something restless and untamed about her.... she wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes. She spoke to no-one. She spent hours on the riverbank with her little plastic transistor.....she smoked cigarettes and had midnight swims. She had a delicate chiselled face, black eyebrows angled like seagull's wings, a small straight nose and luminous nutbrown skin. Her shoulders in her sleeveless sari blouse shone as though they had been polished with a high-wax polish.'

I have the book on my Kindle but am only 15% through it. I'll let you know how I get on.
Have any of you read it?

I adore this time of year when every day there are new finds in the garden. I had a quick trip round with my camera this morning whilst the sun was shining. Angel wondered what on earth I was doing crouching on the ground getting that low-angled shot.
I treated myself to a Nikon camera a few weeks ago; there's so much to learn!! I'm still trying to get to grips with the aperture setting...... love those soft, blurry backgrounds :-)

Thank goodness for the warmer days and the beauty of Springtime; they lift my spirits when I'm feeling down. When we do meditation (in my yoga class) we sometimes have to imagine a favourite, soothing place......I always think of my garden.
Still searching for a diagnosis for my health problem .....I'm paying for a series of ultrasound scans later this week. 

Back tomorrow with Texture Tuesday and a recipe..... 

Texture Tuesday......Quiet

I bought this lovely pot of white muscari at my local garden centre this week for only £1.40....bargain!
I have a garden full of the blue version which, although we moan about it, I do actually like very much.
But this white version is very special, it seems to have a special serene quality.....and it smells lovely too, which is a bonus.
So above is my offering for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday....I have cheated slightly and used the word 'silence' instead of  'quiet'  ;-)
I used a few of Kim's textures, but the main one was 'Phoebe'.

Muscari Aucheri 'White Magic'

Still plodding on with my needle cases.

These two are almost finished....

 And my fabric weaving now feels like a single piece of cloth.......ready for embellishment.

Off now to look at my Bloglovin' list. 

Have you discovered it yet? Its a great way of keeping up to date with your favourite blogs......and for finding  new ones.

Back soon....

Texture Tuesday....Pure Beauty

Here's my contribution for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday ....photo altered in PSE using Kim's textures: 'wonderful magic_stars', 'february magic edges' and 'yesteryear'.
I buy flowers for the house every week and usually go for blues, purples or pinks (never yellow...except for in March when I have jugs of daffodils everywhere). For a change this week I decided to go for white roses and gypsophila .....they look so peaceful; I love them. One of my most popular and re-pinned pins on Pinterest is this photo I took of a flower shop in Harrogate......where they only sell white flowers. The inside of the shop was even more beautiful.

Hah...I've just noticed our reflections in the glass :-D

I'm very fussy about flowers (my husband would groan and say 'I'll vouch for that' if he was reading this ;-) I don't like chrysanthemums or carnations. (And you can imagine what I think of yellow chrysanthemums and carnations....)

Before I go....just a quick peep at my latest project.
I'm making needle cases and books; mixed media collage on hand-made felt.
The felt is only rough cut here and I still have lots of stitching to do......my favourite part :-)

And that's my job for tomorrow! (After I've taken Mum shopping.....)

Texture Tuesday (a few days late)

I'm starting to feel really positive about the arrival of Spring...there are so many signs around, I can't help but feel it's just around the corner. Of course, we could have a rude awakening and winter could actually arrive in the next few weeks! Here in the Midlands we've escaped a lot of the really bad weather.....only time will tell if we've escaped it completely :-)
Kim Klassen's theme is Light this week....and I'm thinking 'Light at the end of the tunnel'.
Winter, for me, is a bit like a tunnel I have to get through....

I used Kim's 'wonderfulmagic_stars' texture...twice (both at soft light).
I have a number of these hyacinths around the house; not only do they look beautiful, they smell wonderful too...
(The pot holder is from Ikea BTW).

I'm hoping there's 'light at the end of the tunnel' regarding my health too.....
I mentioned a couple of posts back that I've suffered with digestive problems for almost two years and during that time I've read many books on the subject. I believe that carbs are very damaging to our health and I'm trying hard to avoid them. I eat no refined sugar and avoid cakes, biscuits, sweets etc.
I LOVE bread though and can't imagine giving that up completely. So, I've done a lot of research into spelt flour. Its an ancient grain that hasn't been refined or modified and so is much healthier. It is higher in protein and easier to digest than wheat. I find that I can eat one piece a day without suffering any consequences. And it's much tastier than ordinary bread.......I've even converted my mum :-)

This is the flour I use.....plus the spelt and walnut loaf I made yesterday.  The addition of chopped dates is good too! There are other recipes on the back of the bag.

I have also become a bit obsessed with coconut oil....it has so many amazing health benefits. I use it in most of our meals nowadays;  its the best oil to use for frying as it doesn't deteriorate when heated. I also eat it by the spoonful; its good for the brain! I made these treats today.....

The base is made from ground oats, ground almonds, coconut oil, Manuka honey, almond butter, cinnamon and vanilla essence. I pressed it into petit four cases then poured the topping over...which is made from coconut oil, raw cacao powder and honey. They are only tiny but they satisfy my craving for something sweet. I found the recipe on the marvellous  'Oh she glows' website.....which I highly recommend. Go and look at her latest recipe.....'Blissful Blueberry Banana Spelt Muffins'.........(vegan and no refined sugar). Can't wait to try those.

Back tomorrow with some artwork.....

Friday Finds

This is my contribution to Kim Klassen's 'Friday Finds', which I am going to try and join in with on a regular basis.  I used Kim's 'Magic Scripted' texture on my photo, plus one of her affirmation brushes.......a great quote and even more appropriate as the flower has a flaw on one of the petals.

I decided to make a start on my garden journal yesterday.....which meant photographing the garden at its 'winter worst', in order to appreciate the beauty later on ;-)
I had a lovely surprise though when I found the hellebore flowering amongst all the duller stuff.
I remember buying it last year; an unimpressive stem with four leaves which the nursery owner assured me would become a wonderful plant.  Well he was right.....

I printed out a few sizes of the digitally altered photo and spent a happy half hour sorting through my collage boxes to find matching materials for a collage (or two).

Angel was on hand to give advice....

So at last I am going to start sticking and stitching!! Its been a long time.......

Happy Valentines Day

Sending love to all my blogging friends.

We found this leaf on a beach in Skiathos last year.

This is the bush it came from.....

....does anyone know what its called? I've looked on Google, but can't find one similar.

Made a card for DH (need to use some of my ever-growing collection of background papers ;-)

And another mixed-media collage to add to the collection.....

Now I'm off to make a heart-shaped cake!
Whatever you do today, make it special for you.
As Whitney said.......

Learning to love yourself..... is the greatest love of all

So sad that she didn't seem to achieve that herself......

A Roman Holiday........

My husband and I had a big surprise on Christmas Day when our son gave us an extra present of a trip to Rome at the end of January. We've never been before so it was very exciting to do the research and decide on all the places we wanted to see. As DH is a huge fan of the film 'Gladiator', we decided to book a guided tour of the Colisseum and Roman Forum......it was amazing.

It still boggles my mind to think that something like that could have been built almost 2,000 years ago. We were given a lot of fascinating information from our guide...some it was very gory!

My favourite place was the Pantheon; I loved sitting in the Piazza drinking coffee (and Prosecco :-) whilst admiring the view. The back is very different from the front....and there's a hole in the roof (plus a drain in the floor below for when it rains). Apparently its magical in there when it snows!

We visited the Trevi Fountain at night, marvelled at the ancient ruins around every corner, admired the fountains and thousands of statues.....

 ......and couldn't help noticing how birds like to stand on the statues heads!! (maybe for the view?)
We didn't manage to go inside the Vatican or Sistine Chapel so may have to plan another visit sometime in the future...... :-)

As for doing anything creative..... I've been trying to make some postcard-sized mixed-media pieces to sell.

 I've just managed the one!!!

But I will persevere and make at least a dozen by the end of the month.......... ;-)
(The background paper is Beryl Taylor's 'fabric paper technique' from her book Mixed-Media Explorations)

Whilst I'm here I just want to wave 'Hi' to Mixed Media Julie who came and spent the day with Maggi and I last week. We had a lovely time visiting The Beetroot Tree Gallery, Peartree Yard Craft Warehouse and my favourite coffee shop/delicatessen in Breaston for lunch. Julie bought a selection of her beautiful art to show us and I gave her a tour of my chaotic art room! Hope we get to meet up again very soon....



Peachy says 'Hi' - he's been having fun in the snow this week.......maybe I should make him some boots ;-)