Coming along...

...nicely; Thank you.

With the help of a banana skin, brown paper and a box the tomatoes are finally turning red.

Here they are on Friday...

 ...still a couple of stubborn ones but by Monday...

...a rosy hue can be seen on them all.

Thank you to everyone who provided suggestions as to how I could get these toms to change colour - it worked..............................................................

Spooky treats...

...to cheer folk up.

The weather has turned rather dull & gloomy in the last few days and mornings have been very overcast and sometimes foggy. So I decided we needed a splash of colour to lift the 'spirits'.

The UK doesn't really "do" Halloween - although from the amount of stuff in the shops this year you would find that hard to believe.

My friend & colleague Cheryl brought me a present when she visited earlier in the week...

 ...some fun pumpkin lights and a lovely spider's web candle stick...

 ...she was surprised that I hadn't already decorated for All Hallows Eve as she knows that I don't need much of an excuse to start putting decorations out in the office LOL...

...so here we are, already for a bit of 'spooktacular' fun.

Hope you all have a great weekend whether you are "Trick or Treating"...or not.

Don't forget that the clocks go back Saturday night. Enjoy your extra hour in bed...................................................................

What has disappeared from...

...your High Street?

The beginning of October saw the last of our banks withdraw from the High Street in our town and last night saw a lot of frustrated folk getting off the train and finding that only one of the remaining ATMs in the town was actually working. Something that is becoming all too familiar...

...as more & more banks jump on the "let's push digital" band-wagon.

I may be a 'stick in the mud' but I don't want to do everything on-line and I don't want to deal with row upon row of machines - I want to deal with a person.

When we moved to this area, many moons ago, our high street was a wonderful mix. We had a good selection of banking facilities...Barclays, Midland, Lloyds, Nationwide, TSB and of course the Post Office. Now all we have is the Post Office which is little more than a raised desk in the local newsagent's where there is normally only one member of staff flitting between serving papers and dealing with post & banking.

There were a couple of supermarkets, chemists, pet-shops, grocers, butchers, general stores, hardware stores, utilities, hairdressers, shoe-shops........all the things you would expect in a small country town centre. Now all we seem to have is Estate Agents and Take-aways - not fabulous for an area with a high pensioner population.

A mile down the road we have another town centre and things are just as bad there as many of the banking facilities have disappeared over the years (or combined). It was great when Barclays combined with The Woolwich as in Corringham they adopted the Woolwich opening hours - Saturday morning opening - great for those of us that don't always have time during the week.......last weekend that came to an end and staff were telling folk not to worry "they could use the post office"????

The Media keep telling us that society is becoming very isolated and kids can't communicate well - what do they expect when there is becoming less opportunity for human, face-to-face interaction.

We live in a world of constant change and we have wonderful technology available to us but we really shouldn't be losing out on human contact.

I work in an area where there is a very high level of shoplifting in the shopping mall - virtually every store has a security guard and there are more wandering around the mall. Yet the likes of Lidl, Poundland, Sainsburys and Wilko have replaced loads of the checkouts with self service tills - are they mad? If they were freeing up staff to wander around being 'visible' there might be some sense to it but they haven't - you can never find an assistant when you need one so they have actually used this move to reduce staff.

I work with PCs every day and I am currently typing this on my home PC - fabulous - but I like to meet & talk to people; real people. So I will continue to support my local stores (the ones that remain) and hope that the High Street doesn't disappear completely.............................................

Bananas, boxes...

...and brown paper.

These were a common response to my plea for help getting my tomatoes to ripen.

You know what...they work!!!

I now have a second tomato well on the way to being 'red' and the others are not looking so 'wickedly' green.

I'll grab some photos at the weekend to show how they are coming along.

Thank you all for the suggestions..............................................

Lunch Lady Jan....

...has been busy again.

She sent me another parcel of goodies for the R.N.L.I. fundraising.

Some pretty parcels of patchwork coasters....

 ...in a lovely combination of festive fabrics. Hand stitched felt decorations...

 ...this is just one of each to give you an idea of the pretty pieces. Then there's the bunting...

 ...some in bright cheerful colours and the others to match the coasters...

...it looks fabulous.

Such wonderful makes from the lovely Jan - Thank you so much.

The fundraising is continuing and we are not far from the £800 mark (which considering I was only aiming at £150, is amazing).

With the exception of buying some scones, jam & cream back in the Summer so we could offer "Afternoon Tea", everything else has been donated. Folk are still bringing in books for the sale (and going home with a few new ones LOL) and Shaz Brooks' lovely cards have been selling well. Jan's last batch of goodies barely made it to the sale table before they were snatched up so I have no doubt these will go the same way.

I am so pleased with what has been achieved and can only thank folk for their support and generosity.

Wells-Next-the-Sea have enough money for their new lifeboat and some of the extra money will go to building a new boathouse to keep it in.

Folks here in the UK will be familiar with the fabulous work that the RNLI do keeping our coastal waters a safe place to be. This hot Summer has seen our beaches and waterways used a lot more than usual and when folk have gotten themselves into difficulties the RNLI have come to the rescue.

As someone who lives near to the water, I think they do an amazing job considering they are all volunteers and will continue to support them where I can.................................................

Just to...

...round off.

Here are the last of Joanne's pages...

 ...oops...

 ...poor cat is standing on its head...

...her work is lovely.

These Groovi plates from Clarity are the same images that Clarity had as stamps a few years ago and I made a mini book which I gave as a Christmas present to a colleague who was retiring. When I finally get this one finished it will be for Me. I don't often make stuff just for myself so it will be something special.

Someone kindly mentioned on their blog that there are only 9 weekends left until Christmas - just where has the year gone to?........................................................................

In no particular order...

...here are a few more of Joanne's (Pinnacle Crafts) completed pages.

Aren't they fabulous. I think it is going to take me quite some time to get mine done - perhaps I should be aiming at Christmas 2020 LOL.

Still...I have the 10 basic pages embossed, it's just the embellies  and 'fancy work' to do - no sweat ***rollseyes***

Anyhoo...Joanne has now put her book together so I hope I can get some photos when I pop into the shop at the weekend.............................................................

They just wont...

...ripen.

Earlier in the year I bought Mum two tomato plants. To begin with they didn't seem to do much and then they just went mad. The plants grew huge and they have been smothered in tomatoes.

Here are 6 I picked about 5 weeks ago...

...and they just don't seem to want to ripen...

...apart from the one on the end.

Anyone got any tips?.......................................................................

T'was the Night...

...before Christmas.

The Groovi plate class on Saturday was super but very busy - so much to do and the time just flew.

I did manage to get all 10 plates embossed and almost finished the first one.

This was Joanne's first page of her book...

 ...and looked fabulous.
This was my first page coloured and awaiting perforating...

...which I have now done and the glitter has been applied. The gems haven't yet been added and it has yet to be mounted on CS - but I'm getting there LOL

I have booked myself in for a couple of extra workshops so that I can get a few more of the pages completed whilst the other ladies do all their amazing parchment work.

Joanne's completed pages are wonderful and I will be happy if mine look half as good.

I somehow don't think I'm going to have this completed for this Christmas...............................

Naked Flame...

...is having a huge sale!

If you live in reachable distance of Barleylands Craft Village (or jump on-line) you could grab some bargains and perhaps deal with some of your present list.

Ian the owner of "Naked Flame" is clearing a lot of his stock to make space for the Autumn/Christmas seasonals and so that he can expand his own Naked Flame range.

Virtually everything in store is 50% off and there are a few items reduced by as much as 70% - how can you say no to bargains like that.

Current stock includes: -

Woodwick Candles
Wax Lyrical
Colony
Artisan
Kringle
Classic Candles
Prices
and lots of lovely accessories.

At the moment I'm having a lovely time burning the Naked Flame "Lemongrass & Ginger" - probably my favourite smell ever...............................................

The trouble with mirri & gloss card...

...is trying to get a photo without glare.

The last card from Saturday's workshop was a very shiny affaire and as you can see...

 ...I either had problems with lighting or the skylights...

...but I think you get the idea. The card was concentrating on the straight lines & angles that are also a sign of Deco style.

One thing that we didn't get around to was a box that Andy had on display with the other samples...

 ...making good use of the fact that the Hunkydory "Little book of..." products have six of each image - five are used on the box and you would still have one image left to make a matching card...

...the box also makes good use of the WRMK Envelope punch board. The punch part of the board makes the notches that create the "neck" of the box.

A very enjoyable day covering colours & style items that not everyone would associate with the Deco period. Thank you Andy for a fabulous workshop.

Next weekend I have a workshop with Joanne (Andy's sister) and we will be playing with the "Twas the Night before Christmas" Groovi boards. I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew LOL.................................................................................

More Deco style...

...for Christmas.

A recent issue of "Simply Cards and Papercrafting" had this wonderful embossing folder as part of its freebie...

...and with a bit of cutting out it was very easy to make it dimensional. Another pass through, embossing this time onto black mirri created the front door...

 ...and the Christmas tree die-cut is one of the dies from a recent Spellbinders set of two Deco style trees. The wreath was created using silver mirri and the pearl CS that was used for the main part of the card. It was die-cut using the Sue Wilson "Cape Daisy" from Creative Expressions...

 ...and the background was embossed using one of the Texture embossing folders from Crafter's Companion - I think it is call Dry stone wall or something similar.
A bit of matting & layering and a torn piece of card to create the effect of snow...

...and  there we have it - the finished card. It doesn't have a sentiment on it at the moment as I will decide upon the one to use once I've decided who will get the card.

There are still a couple of Deco items to show you from the workshop so do stop by again to see what else Andy (Pinnacle Crafts) had lined up for us.......................................................

A bit of...

...Deco Christmas.

Andy's workshop on Saturday was themed around Deco colours, ideas and images...

 ...this card used the Hunkydory "little book" which contains 144 fabulous Deco Christmas images...

 ...and the poinsettias were made from pearl CS that had been layered with glittered vellum.
Many folk would be surprised to know that the Deco period used a lot of pastel colours...

 ...but pink & blue (as used here) were very popular...

 ...you can just make out the glitter on the flower and if you look closely...

 ...you can just make it out on the background. There was a lot of Matt & Layering on this card...

...a total of 5 layers before the topper & embellies so this is a weighty piece...

...and although it will fit in an envelope, it would probably be better in a box.

This was the first of 3 lovely cards that we made during the workshop - I'll show you the others another time..........................................................

It's 7 October...

...and the countdown to Halloween is well under way.

The shops have had Halloween decorations & the like on display for several weeks now and locally, posters have started to appear concerning a variety of up & coming events.

Barleylands will be having their pumpkin carving for the kids...

...and the orange globes are already starting to fill the fields on the approach to the craft village.

The weather has taken a very chilly turn but so far we have remained lucky with the days remaining dry and quite bright...it was a shock to the system though to start digging out the jumpers & fleeces.

Perhaps the chillier weather was the reason behind out biggest turnout so far for the Knit & Natter.

Not only did we have a couple of new folk join us but we also had a few 'visitors' who just wanted to see what it was all about - so word seems to be spreading. One visitor said she used to knit squares for her church so they could be made into blankets but she hadn't knitted for a long time due to problems with her sight - she said she felt that she would like to get her needles out again...so may be joining us next time.

It is lovely having folk sharing their crafting experiences and just enjoying a bit of time doing something "mindfull".

I'm looking forward to the next get together to see if we get even more interest (might need to find a larger room LOL)......................................................

Sunday I said...

..."Bye-bye" to the Focus.

Mum decided that after 18 years, she no longer wanted a Mobility car so I arranged to return it.

It was strange taking everything out of the vehicle knowing that this was the last time I would drive it...

 ...18 years driving the same style of vehicle (Focus Estate) has almost become second nature...

 ...but I have to say, one thing I have noticed over the years is that the 'finish' on the vehicles has become quite poor...

 ...these two panels over the front wheel (driver's side) were misaligned when we received the car two years ago and things like welding around the tailgate was very rough...

...but on the whole, the car was a pleasure to drive and met its purpose.

This was the first time that Mum had chosen anything other than a blue car and it reminded me a bit of a gingerbread house. So bye-bye "Gingerbread House" and thank you for all the safe miles that you provided us with................................................................

£731.75...

...is our current total for the RNLI.

Things are still going well with the fundraising, as you can see from our current total - we're still aiming for £1000 (fingers crossed).

We had another load of books donated and a couple of craft bits so I re-arranged the display...

 ...I only have a limited area where all this can be displayed so I have to move things around...

 ...to keep it looking interesting. I think it works as after this move around...

 ...we had another lot of sales. I've tried to make the books & crafts two distinct areas to make it easier to browse...

...and this resulted in a lot of Shaz Silverwolf's beautiful cards being snapped up.

After taking these photos we had someone bring in another suitcase full of books so the trolley isn't looking quite so tidy. But hey-ho, it's all for a good cause.

Our new CEO visited in September and he purchased some tickets for our Shipping forecast sweepstake. I emailed him last week to let him know that he wasn't the winner and I got a very nice reply from him (the next working day - not bad for someone responsible for 60,000+ staff).

So there you go folks, we are still rocking along nicely and I will keep you up to date with how things are going...............................................................