A project for baby

My little nephew was born on 5 June. He's tiny and adorable and luckily I had just finished his bespoke changing table - made from a cheap(ish) chain store bought table (second hand on ebay) and turned into something a bit unique. I had a definite image in my head before I started and the end result was pretty close so I'm happy with it.

I just have to hope that he will be!

One second hand table bought for under £20 from ebay.

The first of five coats!!! of Farrow and Ball All White estate eggshell paint.

Five coats later - painting a little zebra motif on the back.

Yes, he's supposed to look all scribbly!

Add a couple of baskets to hold nappies and creams etc, keeping with the black and white stripe theme and hey presto, a one of a kind changing table for the newest addition to the family.

OK, so it isn't a work of art but I think it's kind of sweet and a personal way to welcome Leo to his new nursery.

For Vicki

For a manager, friend and special person.

A thousand wishes that, whevever you are, you are at peace, Vicki.

Weird to Wonderful

We finally got some sun this weekend and I took great delight in watching a few of the things I planted last year come out in their full glory. Mother Nature is an amazing lady.

From weird.....

To wonderful....

Weird.....

to wonderful.....

you get the picture I'm sure....

Daily Walk

As part of my get fitter campaign - left over from last year's 'to do' list and made more urgent by a diagnosis of pre-diabetes - I've been getting off my evening bus two stops early. This gives me a two kilometre walk along a busy main road to get to my house. Luckily, although the road is unpleasant, the town in which I live is surrounded by beautiful countryside so I usually manage to see a few pretty things as lorries roar past me at 70mph! Last week I took some photos to mark my way, and to distract me because exercise will never be my favourite thing.

This was before I turned on the camera's night setting - although it was still really light.






Night setting on....

This is not a great photo - he was actually some distance from me - but this little guy followed me for several minutes singing his heart out. Clearly wanted an audience but was a little camera shy - more of a radio star I think.



The path moves away from the road at this point and this lovely long arch appears as you get nearer the town.

Lamposts - the first sign of 'civilisation'.

Into the town.

Looking down the road towards home twenty minutes after getting off the bus.


I should have taken some photos of the not so nice bits because it really looks like a charming country walk from these shots. But then again, who wants to see the not so nice bits?!

So, big check in the exercise colomn as well as the healthy eating colomn at present. I haven't turned into an endorphine addicted size 6 overnight but I'm sure it's just a matter of time!!!!

Mood Indigo

The view out of my window at work.

You ain't been blue; no, no, no.
You ain't been blue,
Till you've had that mood indigo.
That feelin' goes stealin' down to my shoes
While I sit and sigh, "Go 'long blues".

Music by the fabulous Duke Ellington and Albany Bigard
Lyrics by Irving Mills

Favourite versions by Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald

Some days you just shouldn't get out of bed.

Accentuate the positive

There are days when I truly hate my job. On days like today I have to look around and remember that I work with fabulous people and in a place where this.....



....delightful chaos and colour is spread all over the office in every nook and cranny.



- and sometimes even in little hammocks. If you can't smile in this environment there's no hope for you.

Following through

Looking back at my blog posts I notice that I often say I'm going to do something and then don't follow through - or at least don't post that I have followed through. Most often the former unfortunately.

A while back I posted some pictures of a new, unfinished, oak coffee table that I was going to finish off myself. Well, I did in fact finish it some time ago. The pictures are below. The grain came up beautifully with coats of clear wax. I'm very pleased with the end product.

I haven't yet finished the table for my father - in my defense it is quite hard to sand when you have whooping cough!

This week I also took affirmative action by signing up for a website design course and a Tai Chi class - two checks in the plus column against fitness and career goals.

So, feeling very pleased with myself as we head towards March. Where on earth does the time go?

Rainy Days

It's pouring with rain outside. Rumour has it that it might snow today - I'm not buying it.

I'm a big fan of the rain - all kinds of rain. I love the heavy rain when you're snuggled inside all safe and warm. I love walking in the rain when you don't have any place to be in particular. I especially love the sea in the rain. All the extrordinary colours and moody lighting. Fabulous.

I often try and catch rain on film and it never works particularly well. Below is a shot of a storm in Florida in December. The drops were falling from the guttering and lit up by lightening. I never did manage to catch the lightening as my camera has one of those annoying delays between pressing the button and the shot being taken. Still, it's atmospheric.

I think my gorgeous, adorable, beautiful, smart nephew might like the rain as much as I do. Well, maybe not, but it certainly doesn't put him off his fun. We had a wonderful time at the beach one wet day. He chased seagulls and played on the slides. It was a bit of a spontaneous trip and a lot damp but it was such fun to see him enjoy himself.

I know you can't see his face clearly but I like the photo in spite of, and because of, that. My little water baby.

When there's no rain to be enjoyed he finds any old bit of water wherever he can - the messier the better! Most of the water in this bird bath is already down his front. Definitely a boy after my own heart.


It's February already, and closer to the end than the beginning. It's hard to believe that it's been almost two months since I was in Florida. Two months since I turned 40. Two months into a new year when I didn't even manage all my goals from last year.

This year's goals are getting off to a rocky start. A bout of whooping cough meant I haven't been able to start any kind of exercise regime as yet. I am, however, eating so healthily that Gillian McKeith herself couldn't fault me! God, I miss pizza.

There aren't many jobs out there right now so that's going to take some time. I've been contemplating moving near the sea and/or moving in to a shared house with my family so getting my house up to scratch to sell may take precedence over changing jobs.

Many of my artistic endeavours this year are likely to be DIY projects in the house. I will try to take photos. I also have a commission to paint a zebra for my unborn nephew which will take me full circle as I started this blog when I painted a cow and a frog for my first little nephew.

Florida at 40!

While taking my birthday/Christmas trip to Florida to celebrate becoming 40, I found the bench I'm going to sit on when I retire.

And this is the view from that bench....


and this is the world's best frozen strawberry marguerita, made by my brother-in-law, which I will have many of while sitting on my bench and looking out over my view. The man is gifted I tell you!


Not a bad retirement plan, in my humble opinion.

So, Florida was the culmination of a year of plans to mark turning 40. I had an amazing holiday in spite of being run down and full of cold. My sister and her husband went to lots of trouble to make sure that I couldn't quite avoid celebrating my birthday entirely. I had cake, krispy kreme donuts by the dozen, presents galore and many, many, many of the aforementioned margueritas. The weather co-operated too and, although it was the coldest winter Florida has seen for a while, my birthday was a spectacularly beautiful day. Even the squirrels in my sister's garden thought so.

They were so obliging about posing for the camera - and so darn cute. I don't care what anyone says about rats with tails. I love them.

Someone who was also darn cute (in all fairness even cuter than the squirrels - sorry guys) but not so keen on posing for the camera was my adorable nephew. At the tender age of two he has developed a fine sense of when to turn his head away. The best photos of him were ones taken when he was engrossed in something else.


As you can no doubt tell, it may have been sunny but it wasn't swimming and sunbathing weather. Little Bean was desperate to jump in to the water and had to be restrained at all times by his long suffering mama. On this particular day he won the battle and ended up cold and wet in the car on the way home - but boy did he have fun first!

The holiday flew by and in no time at all I was at the airport saying goodbye - which I hate. It was a great way to round off my last year in my 30s and a great way to turn 40 - completely painless. Unless you count the tattoo of course, which hurt like the devil for the first five minutes. Whenever I find myself wondering if the whole thing was a dream I can look at the 600 photos I took and at my foot - which now sports a little seahorse type creature. One of my nicest memories is of my little nephew gently tracing the outline of the tattoo because he knew it wasn't supposed to be there. And then he decided to try and scrape it off for me - which makes me laugh every time I think of it.

So, on to this year's goals. Fitness and career satisfaction. Nice and easy then!!

Happy New Year 2010!