Virtual Coffee Tuesday - Not the best company...

... at the moment...

Got myself too tired, too stressed to talk, to reach out...

But I'm back at the computer, just to say hello...

Somehow, in my absence, the summer left, and autumn crept in...

(Blackberries my dh gathered yesterday... he's going to make jam... )

I don't have much to say, but I wanted to meet you for coffee and listen to your stories of summer...

And just to make you smile...

Apparently, we can eat more of it - it's official!!

I see Amy's got the link up... come join in :)

Virtual Coffee Tuesday - A Fun Weekend

Well, I've had a lovely girlie weekend up in beautiful Yorkshire with my friend's Andrea and Tina - Andrea lives in Wormald Green a lovely little hamlet between Harrogate and Ripon. Here's the view from Andrea's bedroom window...



On Sunday, we visited Ripon Cathedral. We weren't permitted to take photos inside, but here's one from their website of a beautiful sculpture...

Having worked up an appetite, we enjoyed lunch at a nearby brasserie - Andrea insisted she didn't want to be photographed, so here's just Tina and me...

We've known each other for 40 years having met in Brownies :)

After lunch we went back to Andrea's, Tina took a bracing walk around the area, I read the papers and Andrea watched the rugby (a game I simply do not understand...).

That evening we settled down to enjoy this movie...

It's absolutely beautiful, and Elsa Zylberstein looks incredibly like Modiglani's wife Jeanne (unlike Omid Djalil who played a young Picasso...). We all thoroughly enjoyed it :)

Well, those are the highlights of my lovely weekend - so what did you guys do? Anything fun?

Do pop over to Amy's and join in the stories, while I have a little nap as I'm still recovering... :)

Inspiration Avenue Challenge - The Forest for the Trees

I had such a great plan to make a mixed-media collage of ALL the tree photos I've taken - I've got a canvas ready - but our printer won't play ball :(

So my gorgeous boy showed me how to make a basic digital photo collage...

It's called The Four Seasons - obviously :)

PS I'm away for a girlie weekend till Monday, but I hope to have enough energy left for coffee on Tuesday... See you then x

Virtual Coffee Tuesday - Bits 'n' Bobs...

Hello again :)

This is an afternoon coffee as I've spent most of the morning at the diabetic clinic *sigh* But I was very helpful, and the new regime seems to be working...

So, how's you???

We can actually sit outside with our drinks if you'd like... it's a true summer's day... warm with a gentle breeze...

We've got some lovely flowers blooming, though I've no idea what any of them are... other than just beautiful :)
Any ideas???

And we can even enjoy music while we sit on the patio... I've finally entered the 21st century... A dear friend sent me an ipod shuffle a few months ago, and the kids have shown me how to put my CDs on iTunes... Then at the weekend, Nick got a cable so I can play the ipod through my beloved Bose...

Can you believe this little thing has 20 albums on it???? We've got a restful mix of Adele, Jamie Woo, Angus and Julia Stone, Damien Rice, Bill Withers, Iron and Wine, etc., etc...

Also, at the weekend I got some goodies for my art desk... If you remember from this post a couple of weeks ago, my brushes sat in an Alphabetti tin, but not any more...

I got the blue vase/brush holder and the funky dish/brush rest from the lovely Nicky's etsy shop - how pretty is this glaze??
 

 

Well, before I hand over the chatter to the rest of you over at Amy's, I'll leave you with my new favourite book, My Heart Wanders by Pia Jane Bijkerk. It's just perfect for sitting in the garden, chilled glass in hand, drooling over the exquisite words and pictures...

My pics don't do the book justice, but you get the idea :)

And I've used this little paper heart token at the back of the book as a bookmark :)