24th July 2020 Mailer

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The ... by Carol Clarke

... one that got away .... Or to be more accurate ... The five that got away! I was walking along the side of this field just 10 minutes walk from my house when there was a lot of flapping and 2 grey partridges emerged from under the hedge and flew over the field ... I hadnt taken more than 2 more steps when 3 more did the same thing! lol By the time Id grabbed my phone and took the photo they were of course nowhere to be seen! lol The area is steeped in history though and is locally called The Marrot (so called after the Marriot family who had previously owned land there) and is the site where Bess of Hardwicks son Charles was to have built a house but the building work was never finished. During a visit to the site a gang fight broke out between friends of Sir Charles step brother and the Stanhopes. Workers from the site came to their aid and during the ensuing exchange one of the Stanhopes gang was killed while others fled the scene. After the incident it is said that Sir Charles no longer wanted to continue building the house in what he considered a neighborhood polluted by violence and death, and as a consequence we didnt get what would have been a magnificent manor house. But on the bright side I do get to walk there regularly! lol Below are 2 of my Cute Garden Girlz Easel Card Mini Kits

cup1058375_359 by Carol Clarke

cup1058374_359 by Carol Clarke

New Pal by Deborah Davies

During the last few months I have realised how much I have missed having a dog in our family. I didnt get another because I felt it was unfair to leave it all day alone whilst I was out at work.I have just received some news on the work front, when we return to work properly I will be home based from now on. Therefore, I am actively looking for a new pal. I am hoping to be considered for the handsome lad in the photo.

Fabulous girly card.

cup1060018_613 by Deborah Davies

cup1053603_613 by Deborah Davies

Visitors to our garden by Shirley Young

One afternoon a few weeks ago we spotted a hedgehog walking across our lawn. We were a little concerned as hedgehogs dont normally come out during the day but it didnt looked injured or ill so we just assumed it was hungy and we put out some cat food and water as that was all we had at the time. This went down very well so we started putting food down each evening and and the hedgehog became a regular visitor to the extent that my husband made a little feeding station to keep off the rain - we call it the Hedgehog Cafe. We were very surprised a couple of weeks later to see what we now assume is mum who is at the back in the photograph, turn up with three babies. Not sure if dad is around or just leaving it all up to mum but the babies all seem to be thriving.

cup1060189_40382 by Shirley Young

cup1048456_40382 by Shirley Young

Signing Off by Vicki Avcin

Wednesday 23rd July 2020 was an end of an era. Last week I told you about her last flight out of Brisbane, but Wednesday saw her last flight out of Australia, forever.QANTAS 747, VH-OEJ, known as Wunala, flew out of Sydney for the last time on her way to Los Angeles (LAX) before one last flight to the Mojave Desert where she will spend the rest of her days. The 747 fleet claimed a lot of firsts in their time as QANTAS was the first airline in the world to operate a 747 only fleet. Since 1971 QANTAS operated a total of 65 747s. The first 747 took of from Brisbane 49 years ago and has since carried over 250 million people safely to their destinations and home again. QANTASs first female Captain, Sharelle Quinn had the honour of commanding the final flight. The last flight out of Sydney was done in style, with her leaving Sydney Airport, flying over the CBD and the iconic Harbour Bridge then up over the Northern and Eastern suburbs and beaches, then headed south, doing a low level flyover and dipping her wings as a farewell to 747-400, VH-OJA which is preserved at the HARS Museum at Albion Park and then turned eastward for her final flight to LAX. But after 10 mins of heading east, we saw her turn back. Lot of joking happening that she didnt want to go, crew had hijacked her and she was going to Longreach (where QANTAS was born) but hoping that it wasnt a problem…… but there was one last surprise that no one saw coming. We watched and watched until the message was evident, she signed off with a flight forming the famous Flying Kangaroo before once again heading off to her final destination. A wonderful and very fitting signature to leave.

Quilling look cards are my items today, A Christmas design and a pretty pink rose design.

cup1060601_543 by Vicki Avcin

cup1060603_543 by Vicki Avcin

Short break by Carol Dunne

Now that lockdown restrictions have been lifted it was great to have an away break for a few days. We travelled to Whitby in Yorkshire and stayed in a really old hotel. The original owner had given Captain Cook ( the very one who discovered Australia) a job on one of his ships, so the house was about 400 years old. This is our room with a beautiful four poster bed.

Two of my latest shaped vases designs for you to look at.

cup1060707_173 by Carol Dunne

cup1060707_173 by Carol Dunne

Finally a day out! by Amy Perry

Hello everyone as some of you may know my parents (designer Nick Bowley) have upped and emigrated to Spain, Its obviously been a very sad time for all of us as we struggle to adapt to not seeing eachother all the time but we will adjust im sure, they are currently in a caravan in England getting ready to jump on the euro tunnel across to France then onwards to Spain its so exciting a new adventure and lots of free holidays for me and my little family :) With all this thats going on my husband has been trying to distract me from it all so we had a well deserved day out to the local beach, my children love the seaside specially if they can find a few crabs!

cup1052982_983 by Amy Perry

Garden Beautiful by Lauren C. Waterworth

Since moving into our new home last November we have had a lot of work done, including a lot of DIY.The decking leading into our garden had seen better days however as we are on a budget to get the kitchen done I decided the best option would be to clean it up and give it a lick of paint.Due to the current situation there has been a paint shortage across the U.K. and so it took me several weeks to get a hold of the shade I wanted - a beautiful sea foam blue colour. I was a bit wary as the colour was indeed quite bright but the finished effect is stunning!I filled our deck with colour flowers, hand painted rocks and they are guarded by John and Ringo (The Flamingos)I just need to finish painting the garden fence now...

cup853425_88163 by Lauren C. Waterworth

cup852855_88163 by Lauren C. Waterworth

I want to be an Orphan!!! by Janice McFarlane

Well the school summer holidays are now officially on us, although since March its felt like a very long one for some parents. Alfie my 8 year old grandson, has found it difficult at times because of being unable to play with his friends. He particularly didnt relish having to do school work at home sometimes, particularly writing. This is something he has struggled with because he is left handed. We are a family of lefties for the most part; I am, so is my husband, my daughter and now Alfie, his younger brother Harry is right handed. So Kayleigh struggled each time Alfie had to write a story, once he had done one they were really good. So imagine her surprise that now its the school holidays Alfie wanted to write some stories. On this occasion Alfie wrote 3 stories in a row, one about a little lost elephant, his favourite animal. So, when he showed his mum there was a conversation between the which went like this - Alfie - I know what I want to be when I grow up, Kayleigh - Whats that then? Alfie - An orphan. Kayleigh - An orphan? Alfie - Yes, you know, someone who writes books. Kayleigh - You mean an author! That gave us all a good laugh, but Kayleigh was just pleased he wanted to write. She has sent the story of the elephant to me and asked me to put it into a little book for him with some pictures. Watch this space!

cup1060293_905 by Janice McFarlane

cup1060294_905 by Janice McFarlane

I am back! by Tina Fitch

Sorry I havent posted in a while, I lost my dad middle of June and I am finding it very hard to concentrate to be honest... We knew it was coming but he was doing so well and really thought they had made mistake with timings given to us.. Unfortunately not was the case..I am now getting back to some normality but its hard as some of you probably know...Anyway I went out this week to my happy place RAF Lakenheath and took some beautiful shots, the weather was just beautiful I it was a nice change to get out and about..Hopefully I can now get back to doing what I love best and thats designing so look out for more special cards..Thanks for your patients

cup1060552_596 by Tina Fitch

cup1054231_596 by Tina Fitch

Wintered over geraniums by Judith Henry

Last fall we pulled our geraniums, dusted off the dirt, and stored them in the dark basement. We had such beautiful dark red flowers and thought wed try to winter over the plants. We brought them up in March and planted them in pots. The plants had been cut back in the fall but to our surprise they had started to push out shoots that were white. Within a few days they were green and growing fast in our front southern window. Planted in the urns and now they are blooming.

cup1060498_2228 by Judith Henry

cup1059808_2228 by Judith Henry

Silly Billy! by Sue Way

This boy makes me laugh everyday. And makes sure we get our daily step count up lol At lunch time he always has a carrot. I gave him his carrot, sat down to eat my lunch and when I looked over at him this is how he was laying. Apparently is a sign of good hips, which I really hope is true for later life. We just call it frog legs or a spoot.

cup895661_38 by Sue Way

cup916428_38 by Sue Way