13th July 2018 Mailer

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Alnwick Castle by Carol Dunne

Another trip to use up some of our unexpected summer sunshine. This time we went to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. As far as I understand the present Duchess of Northumberland who lives at Alnwick Castle was concerned that a lot of local people had no jobs so she designed a beautiful water garden in the castle grounds.This project has been on going since 1996 (I think) . It is difficult to take photos because many of the water features are surrounded by hedges making them a bit like amaze. The one in the photograph is spectacular. Installing all these fountains and keeping the place running provides jobs for many local people. If you are up that way the gardens are well worth a visit.

Here are two of my latest fold back pop-up designs.

cup894847_173 by Carol Dunne

cup894848_173 by Carol Dunne

Who needs a Serengeti Sunset! by Janice McFarlane

I am very fortunate to live in a lovely village, surrounded by other villages in a very pretty area of Nottinghamshire. With beautiful scenery surrounding us and the stunning Derbyshire Dales are just a 15 minute car ride away. So who needs a Serengeti Sunset where the silhouettes of Giraffes gently sail across the horizon. Or even a picture of Timon and Pumbaa, serenading us with hakuna matata, as they do a merry dance with a sunset background. We have the most beautiful sunsets here and all I have to do is open my front door.

These are two of my latest kits, there is also a third one to match. Makes a wonderful gift and keepsake,

cup895376_905 by Janice McFarlane

cup895392_905 by Janice McFarlane

The Birthday That Lasted for Days... by Clare Walker

This week, thought I better explain why have not been around the site. The long and the short of it: I had a birthday. Not even a landmark one, mind you, but for some lovely and pleasant reason that I didn`t plan and am so grateful for, it seems to have lasted for days, between trips, family visits and parties.The flowers in the picture were from my husband (carnations were a wise choice in the heat!) who also took me stargazing at a designated Dark Sky Reserve (ie theres little man-made light there, so you can see a wide range of stars much more easily there). It was a wonderful experience I`d recommend to anyone and definitely want to repeat...But we both need to learn how to take better photographs of stars, as there`s absolutely nothing in the camera from it except completely dark and blank photos.As other gifts included a new desk chair and a set of watercolour pens though, this is a clear sign I now need to get back to work!

But as I get new items ready to upload here are some of my carnation designs in the meantime.

cup885715_79993 by Clare Walker

cup860883_79993 by Clare Walker

THE TO DO LIST - PART 1 by Wanda Lipski

Following on from my (thankfully) minor stroke, hubby and I decided to draw up a list of all those TO DO things that we never get around to. As well as the items that are in the realms of our dreams there are many that are very attainable including Have a Picnic in Chalmazel the ski resort on the hills opposite us, a mere 60- minute drive away. We packed picnic, dog, and sun hats and set off. Made a short detour to visit a (closed) fortified castle on top of a hill and it was leaving the site that I had one of those curl-up-and-die moments. If tomorrow was the 11th, then people were coming to transport my church organ to a nearby church for a classy music festival AND I WASNT AT HOME. About 5 miles from our destination and crossing something off our list, we turned tail, drove home and ate our picnic sitting on the grass in our garden. My photos of the castle didnt come out (maybe hubbys did) but I did snap these cute characters on our route. Hope you enjoy them. This week Ive been preparing all my 2019 calendars. If you bagged a gold star for a previous version, then please note that you will collect on any sales in 2019 as I have not changed the numbers, just the photo and file. Where the star wasnt snapped up, then Im putting the 2019 version as a new product for better visibility. Go bag a star and have a good week?

cup796529_2237 by Wanda Lipski

cup796680_2237 by Wanda Lipski

Church Windows by Judith Henry

My church has some of the most beautiful windows by Bob White. This is called Fused glass. This is the creation window which faces East so we have a spectacular display of color every Sunday during church. It is not the only window. We also have the Messiah windows which are on the sides, both the Christmas story and the passion story. You can just hear the messiah singing.

These are my two newest designs. A little Christmas mixed with the summer lily pond. Enjoy

cup895457_2228 by Judith Henry

cup892447_2228 by Judith Henry

Portside at Max Brenners by Vicki Avcin

Well last week I told you I was heading to Brisbane to spend a week with my daughter. Well sadly its all been and done and Im now home. I said in last weeks news that I had 3 things on the list to do and yayy I did them all and more! One of the things I wanted to do was go have a chocolate fix at Max Brenners and Im happy to say that was ticked off with my daughter and her partner. It was a cold rainy night and the night before I left to come home and this was the last item to do so we headed off down to Portside at Hamilton. Not only is this where the cruise ships dock but it has many many restrauants from all nationalities including max Brenners. So what did I end up having? Did you pick it from last weeks news? Well I indulged with the Praline Meringue Puff Extravaganza. It was a giant praline meringue stuffed with vanilla ice cream, topped off with strawberries and caramelised pecans and smothered with chocolate of course. It was huge and wasnt sure Id get through the whole lot but I did!! It was accompanied with a hug mug of classic dark hot chocolate. These little hug mugs are great to warm the hands on a cold raining night. My daughter had Banana Praline Crepes and her partner had a Chocolate soufflé. Ive now had my yearly chocolate binge and thoroughly enjoyed it.So that was one of the wonderful events during the week. Ill have more news about my BrisVegas visit next week.

This week Im promoting 2 of my Owl Designs. Take a look at the beautiful cards made from them too

cup672549_543 by Vicki Avcin

cup672755_543 by Vicki Avcin

Playhouse by Carol Clarke

Once again this week one of my older granddaughters came along to our Cuddle and Giggle Day. After a happy stop off at the park on the way home from school we had a lovely time playing in the garden Poor old Stephanie was promptly put in the playhouse and ordered to stay there by 6 year old Olivia! lolBelow are 2 of my fun NEW transport boxes ... Watch out for more ... COMING SOON!!

cup892341_359 by Carol Clarke

cup891502_359 by Carol Clarke

Bird Feeder by Gillian Hutchinson

We have a tree over our garden fence that we finally got around to cutting down. We got most of it down low enough for the chainsaw to finish it the next day. But after looking at it for a while we have decided to turn it into a bird feeding station. Obviously, we have to tidy some branches up to make it look a bit better and hopefully add some bird features to it along with a bird bath. But for now the birds have been loving the feeders and its so peaceful to watch them.

cup895236_1443 by Gillian Hutchinson

cup895259_1443 by Gillian Hutchinson

Our Seniors Group... by Janice Shehan

Hello, I am happy to say that I belong to a happy and exciting Seniors Ministry at our church. I am fortunate enough to help with some ot the planning and details each month. This month was our 4th of July Celebration and we had a blast! We had American trivia, games and prizes galore! The food was, of course, scrumptious and plenty of it. If theres one thing we like to do here, it is eat great food. And, we have amazing cooks and bakers in this group.

cup895421_2049 by Janice Shehan

cup895388_2049 by Janice Shehan

Silly Billy! by Sue Way

We have had Billy for 2 weeks, but it feels a lot longer lol He is now 10 weeks old and a very confident little man. But he likes to be able to see us, typical Golden. He gets the zoomies after his dinner, as he has so much energy, but as he cant go for a walk yet, we decided to buy a puppy stroller. For some reason, my hubby ordered a bright red one! Well at first it was all going to plan, Billy was sitting up looking around and sniffing the air, but then he saw a few dogs and seagulls with a bit more freedom than him so he started barking and barking! We tried to ignore it, hoping he would stop, but he didnt and he even tried to leap out at one stage so we had to zip him in! What a disaster! But we didnt give up and the next time we took him out in it, he only cried for a little while, then he was quiet, which made a much more relaxing walk for us and some much needed fresh air for him. We cant wait for his puppy vaccinations to be done so we can walk him properly.

cup894852_38 by Sue Way

cup741549_38 by Sue Way

RAF 100 by Tina Fitch

Well what a superb display the RAF put on for us all on Tuesday..This is just one of the photos I took of the Helicopters that landed in Stapleford airfield before they joined the flypast to go over the mall in London...I made my way down to the air field nice and early so I had plenty of room to spread out with all my kit.. About 45 mins before the actual flypast there were 12 helicopters land right in front of us.. I just couldnt believe my eyes, I have never seen that amount in one place at the same time.. They stayed for roughly 25 mins for us to take shots then they all took off together and circled to join the flypast..The rest was history we saw every aircraft that flew and what a show it was...All service personell should be very proud of themselves . they have all given and continue to give to keep us and our country safe..Well done to all

cup874321_596 by Tina Fitch

cup873267_596 by Tina Fitch

Summer blooms by Debra Laraway

This is my favorite summer part of our yard. Fifteen years ago we got together with our neighbors and we all planted purple and white crape myrtles along the back of our yards. When we planted them, these were about 1 1/2 to 2 feet high, and now theyre over 20 feet. The white trees always bloom about a month before the purple ones.

cup891047_1571 by Debra Laraway

cup887092_1571 by Debra Laraway