WOYWW 538

Another week and another Wednesday so time for another glorious blog hop round the crafting desks of the world courtesy of Julia!

I was missing in action last week because I was down in Somerset for my beloved Gran's funeral service.  It was a religious service at the Crematorium in Taunton, with a live organist, two good hymns (her favourite two). I read the Bible passage and the minister who took the service read the family's tribute which I wrote. The sun was shining and the crematorium was light and airy.  We included a few unusual pieces of music as well which were very Gran - the arrival of the Queen of Sheba because she and Mum used to play it as a duet, and one of the big choruses from Elgar's Dream of Gerontius (She loved this and sang it many times - as she put it "the theology is suspect but by golly its a good sing").  We gave her a good send off, but I miss her terribly as I spoke to her twice a week, every week for the past 20 years.  I miss being able to have those conversations with her.

Here is my desk this week, very tidy having had to clear enough space to write an assignment for my School of Ministry course (yesterday there were books everywhere as well as my laptop).  On the desk you can see a nearly empty mug of tea, Gran's order of service and some of her needlework.

 Gran was amazingly creative trying her hand at all sorts of different things over the years, but particularly needlework and lace.  She made the lace for both my Christening Gown and my wedding veil, and did a lot of embroidery, tapestry and cross stitches.  This is her handmade needlebook complete with some of her embroidery and I will treasure it, even though I am rubbish at sewing!

I have spent some time crafting, as well - learning to play with my Gelli plate - boy have I made a mess in the process, but it has been very therapeutic and great fun.

Here are some of my more successful pieces!

 And to finish I thought I would leave you with a couple of photos of  where I grew up.  Mum still lives in this house, which has 5 acres of land, and Alex loves being down there as he can run free in the garden with the dog.

 That's all from me for now. I hope you have a lovely week
With love & God Bless
Caro
xxx

WOYWW 536

Welcome back to my blog and another edition of What's on your Workdesk Wednesday! Don't know what I am talking about?  Check out Julia's blog for all the details.

Here is my desk as it stands on Wednesday morning, all neat and tidy with a mug of tea on the go.  You can see to the left my art journal, and my kindle, and hiding behind my mug, my paint water glass (empty) which is proof that I have been crafting since last week! As I said before I am trying to get into the habit of clearing my desk after every crafting session - partly because I use my desk for working from home occasionally and need space for my laptop

Here is proof that I make as much mess as anyone when actually crafting! Here i was working on a journal page - paint, stencils, inks, pads, peel offs, transfers, stamps and the inevitable cup of tea all in evidence.

This is the finished page in my journal - a page commemorating my beloved Gran and incorporating some of her loves, music, books, flowers and her favourite Bible Quote.

For those of you who commented on my blog early last week and missed the news, Gran passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning. She is now at peace in Heaven (probably having a party with Grandad, Dad and the angels) and we all miss her horribly. I just want to thank you for all your prayers for her over the past few months.  We are currently trying to plan the funeral and the tribute.  I am full of a very heavy, fluey cold, so prayers that I improve before next week would be gratefully received.  
Lots of love and God Bless,
Caro
xxx

WOYWW 535 - back to school

Another Wednesday so time to show you my desk as part of Julia's wonderful What's on your Workdesk Wednesday phenomenon!

My desk is still looking pretty tidy because I am trying to get into the habit of tidying after every crafting session.  To the right of my desk you can still see the pile of books from last week, I have read Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding place - a truly wonderful, and faith inspiring book, and am about to start, with some trepidation, The Shack. The evidence that I have actually managed to craft at least a bit this week is sat on my desk - two new pocket pages as a double spread.

And what a double spread it is - it is the WOYWW 10 year crop! Such fun to look back at the photos and remember what a special day it was.

My cutting mat is missing from my desk as Alex has also been crafting on our dining room table - lots and lots of mess as he crafts on a MUCH bigger scale than me.  This time he was cutting up foam and wooden dowels to make an Orc Sword.

This is the finished object, complete with sharks teeth in the pommel as Orcs have a thing about teeth!  He was determined to finish it before going back to school and managed it just.

Following your questions last week, I want to tell you all that Alex had a wonderful time at Soul Survivor - he loved the worship, loved the atmosphere and really enjoyed being away with the teenagers from church. Apparently, they were all so lovely together - older ones looking after younger ones, and all being really supportive. He really was changed by the experience in such a positive way.  His shoes on the other hand, did not survive!!

We have had a lovely few days before back to school with more wild swimming,

and other adventures including a long promised indoor sky diving experience for Alex.

If it works, here is a brief video of him being taken right up in the tube - he loved it, describing the experience as 'Exhilarating!'. That is all from me for now.  Have a lovely week everyone,
With much love & God Bless
Caro
xxx
P.S. Prayers for my Gran would be most gratefully received - she is in a lot of pain and we are not sure what is causing it, but as a result she is on very large doses of morphine and not eating. If this is time for her to leave us, then we pray that this process doesn't drag out as it is horrid for her.
UPDATE: Gran passed away peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday night. Apparently having been curled up in a ball of pain and moaning despite high levels of morphine, she suddenly relaxed at 11pm and stretched out and went fast to sleep at peace and apparently pain free for the first time in a few days, Mum left her at that point to come home, and Gran never woke up, she died at some point during the night, apparently peacefully. 

WOYWW 534 - hot hot hot!

I know I say it often but this week has flown by and I still havent caught up with everything, not least because it is so hot and I'm not sleeping - peri-menopausal hot sweats plus hot nighttime temperatures are a BAD combination!  Anyway, enough moaning, the reason you are here is because it is Wednesday and time for WOYWW - see Julia's blog for the details.

My desk has seen a little action but not a lot due to the aforementioned catching up after the holiday (house cleaning and tidying, washing, work etc). You can see my mug of tea, the latest 'pocket page' which is my new version of scrapbooking (sorry about the glare - the details are below), various stickers, peel offs etc, a fineliner, and some books on the right. My aunt very kindly sent me a copy of the Shack and The Hiding place - books I have been meaning to read for years, so I will be reading them hopefully.

This is the latest pocket page from my 2019 book - my brother, and the cousins and I all having fun at the fair in May. 

It has been very quiet around here as Alex has been off with church to 'Soul Survivor' in the boiling heat, 

where he has been worshipping with over 8000 other teenagers! 

He gets back today, and I have barely heard from him, but I know that he will have had a wonderful time.  I can't wait to hear all about it.

In the meantime as a relief from the heat I have been wild swimming at my local plunge pool - it is so lovely to stand under this waterfall,

but I have missed my crazy swimming companion - going solo is not the same.  That is all from me for now so have a great week everyone,

With love & God Bless

Caro

xxx

WOYWW 533 - the holiday edition!

I am back from France and sadly back at work, but it is time for showing my desk at home as part of 'What's on your workdesk Wednesday' - see Julia's blog for details and how to join in should you wish to.

Here is my desk in a very tidy state having unpacked and put everything away after my holiday.  I have taken the photo from slightly further away than normal so you can see both sides of the desk. To the right is a book I have bought for my course at the School of Ministry (for Church of England), and a tantalising peep of a little bag from Kathy Franz (more on that later).  The left shows a pile of things for scrapbooking (not put away after last time), and at the back you can see my ipad and my new mug from France.

This is the close up of that mug - I have been looking for a large mug for ages, ever since the one I brought back from Crete was broken, and I found this one in Concarneau. I love it!

These are the contents of the lovely parcel that Kathy Franz sent me as a thank you for the WOYWW 10 year anniversary badge I sent her.  Two lovely crafting related badges, a gorgeous little tote bag from the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo that she attended when we were at the WOYWW 10 year anniversary crop and some lovely Harry Potter papers which I will put to good use!  Thank you so much Kathy!

Talking of Harry Potter I have finally put up the photos that were taken last year when Alex and I went to the studio tour and so completed my Harry Potter corner of my desk (for now!).  There has been no crafting in the past two weeks I'm afraid, but I hope to remedy that before next week!

 As I mentioned earlier, I was in France last week and had a wonderful time and took far too many photos to show here, but thought I would share just a few. It was a brief but wonderful holiday with my family (somewhat bitter sweet as we had booked the holiday before Dad died) in Brittany - lots of swimming, body boarding, kayaking, eating, exploring etc. 

 

Hopefully that has given you a brief taster of our week.  The three cousins had such fun together as did the rest of us. I am back at work again so crazy busy, but will endeavour to visit everyone in the next few days.  Have a wonderful week.
Love and God Bless
Caro
xxx

WOYWW 531 - a fleeting visit!

Well, I am back from my hols and ready to show you my desk again as part of the wonderful What's on Your Workdesk phenomenon (courtesy of Queen Desker, Julia).

 This photo was actually taken on Tuesday evening as I am back at work this week.  On my desk you can see my bullet journal/diary with my mini printer as I am printing out photos to stick in. You can also see a wine label at the back with my brother's name on it - it is his birthday this week and I am trying to decide whether to use it as part of his birthday card or to stick it on a bottle of wine for him (probably the latter as I think he will appreciate it more!). You can also see a lovely fresh mug of tea (this mug holds about a pint). To the far left of my desk I have finally moved the pile of project life things - I found somewhere to store them, at least temporarily.

The only crafting I have achieved in the past two weeks has been to finish the Index card a day challenge.

In total I made all 61 index cards, although the last few were finished a little late. 

Here are all 61 in all their colourful glory!

The reason I was missing last week was because I took Tim and Alex to North Wales for a week in this cottage.  The weather was mixed but we still had fun doing a mixture of different things, active things for Alex (leaving Tim sleeping in the cottage) and more sedate things that Tim could manage despite his health (boat trips, cable car and tram rides). It is always a challenge to juggle the two different needs of my 'boys', but we had a good week overall. Here are just a few of my favourite pictures.

Alex is now having a week with Mum down in Somerset where he is driving the tractor and playing with her puppy JayJay, while I am back at work.  It is VERY quiet here at the moment LOL!  I couldn't resist sharing this photo with you of him jumping into one of our local wild swimming spots (He is the leaping figure in green shorts!) in the peak district taken the day before we went to Wales.

Have a great week everyone. I will be missing again next week (taking Alex to France, but leaving Tim as he can't travel that far), but will try and visit everyone today if possible
With love & God Bless,
Caro
xxxx