Wednesday, September 30, 2009

So long, farewell, I'm leaving you, goodbye.....

....well, only for the weekend to go to the wedding of my daughter Victoria to John at the Chapel at Sandhurst (Military Academy for those who don't know) so I'll bade you all farewell till Monday.

so Bye for now
Sue

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

3 more journal pages



For the last few days the weather has been warm but we have had torrential rain, thunder and lightning. It is called a gota fria - literally translated as a cloudburst - and today there was so much water on the road I decided that I would not open the shop and do some journalling at home instead (what's this - me time!!!)...but.....all my journalling stuff was down at the shop so I persuaded Colin to drive me there which being the big sweetie that he is, he did. This was 9.15 this morning. I had phoned the ladies who normally come to class and said come tomorrow instead if the weather is any better.....they were happy to stay home in the dry. We have so much water on the road but none coming out of the taps so no wash today yet!!!and only just had the electricity restored.

So nicely snuggled on the sofa in the naya (conservatory) I made three pages...

..this tells of the frustration I am having with my hands...





...this is a cute comment made by Uwe who has the fabulous flower shop opposite my shop...



...and this is a page about Granada...



I am now going to spend the rest of my day off snuggled on the sofa in the living room watching England get st**fed by New Zealand at cricket!!! They have 3 players out already and only 13 runs on the score board!!!

so Bye for now
Sue

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Are you sitting comfortably, then I'll begin.....

I have the computer back, a couple of hours free and I am awake - so that's a positive start - so I will try to catch up on all those missing days. It's quite a marathon post so if you've got yourself a coffee and a couple of biscuits - ginger ones of course - what else!!! and if you're sitting comfortably I will begin!!!

Let's start back on Tuesday 15th September when I had too much to do to blog...

Erica and Christine welcomed newbie Emma who brought a packet of ginger biscuits (how did she know there's always ginger biscuits at classes!!!)



Wednesday and Thursday we had a wonderful tropical storm which knocked out the network card from the computer and so it took a couple of days to put that right. It did not deter the ladies from coming to Wednesday's five hour workshop though.....



...here they are all hard at work...


...here's Helena showing her finished album...



...and Sue...



Lynda with hers....



and Janet.....



...and before some of the ladies had left the girls came for their Wednesday night class...

...it was to be a messy class...



...and Yaa and Mar hadn't brought suitable clothes and so we improvised with bin liners...





...and here they are modelling them...



Outside just got worse and worse.....



On Friday my daughter Victoria and six of her friends descended on our house for a girlie couple of days of fun in the sun before she gets married on 3rd October....

so I closed up the shop on Friday lunchtime and Colin, myself and Mum went away to Granada for the weekend. We stayed right in the heart of Granada - don't drive there if you go - its a one way nightmare - but the hotel was lovely. It was an old palace...



...refurbished in 2005 and very smart and classy in a non corporate way.



The shops were elegant and full of the most gorgeous things - so oldy worldy but classic...no plastic Alhambra palaces in snow shakers here!!!



On Saturday morning we walked around the town and came upon this wedding... just look at those fabulous old cars, the brown one is a Buick...



...and how about these two cuties with their hair all slicked back...bet they don't usually look like that!!!



There were so many lovely clothes among the guests that if I put them on here we'll be here for hours more!!!!
The bride looked wonderful ...and I bet that's her Mother in red in the background.



The bride was held in church while a march went past protesting at the damning of a river (and killing all the fish and wildlife)and finished at the beautiful Government building just past the church.



Look at the street lights...how unusual are they??



We visited the Alhambra Palace - we walked around the gardens which are ??? miles long or maybe it just seems that far?





and inside the Palace itself which stretches over several buildings built from the 7th century onwards by various rulers of that time.

The walls are amazing - so highly decorated everywhere you look....



- and the ceilings too.....







Everywhere you walk there are different patterns of stones set in concrete









The Palace are the buildings in the distance - I am in the gardens - I told you they were BIG!!!



The Alhambra Palace and Gardens were well worth the visit - I have waited a long time to see them and they were worth the wait - in fact I would like to return, albeit minus Mum who at 84 did find it hard going but she managed.

Later, after dinner we walked into a nearby square in the town where the Granada town council had put on music - this is a common occurrence in Spain - it happens regularly in Javea. Chairs are there for people to sit and floor space for those who fancy dancing.



We drove home on Sunday to find the girls had had a good time...(Victoria is in the centre in purple)



Victoria, Miranda, Emily, Candice, Ade



They even dressed her up as a Spanish senorita...



Victoria and the girls went early Monday and life returned to normal - what is NORMAL anyway???

I got to the shop to find the builders had been busy in my absence and I had a pavement - YES!!! How sad is that to be excited over having a pavement???



Anyway, Monday night girls came and soon were busy on their technique filled photo journals...



Dayana painting with mica powders...


Louisa cutting out and Emily stamping...



and Evy cutting out and Lauren casting an eye over her page...


then Tuesday saw a dress fitting...

then Wednesday was the Wednesday girls also making the same journal...
Mar, Alice, Melissa, Yaa


Thursday came and I fell asleep on the sofa!!! oh! well, siestas are acceptable in Spain...

then Friday was the usual Friday morning class...except it was Mu's 60th birthday - note the Bucks Fizz on the table!!!
Margaret, Sandra, Mu



and following that the 25th class - held strangely enough on the 25th for the express purpose of making Christmas cards...
Q, Lorraine, Barbara, Emma



...and that brings us to today - Saturday 26th September...what can I say...shop/paperwork/blog-well halfblog/meal at local Wok restaurant/finish blog/bed!!! nuff said!!!

so phew!!!told you it was going to be a marathon - hope it was worth your time reading it

so Bye for now
Sue

PS Think it's time to put the kettle on again.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Flash, bang.wallop!

went the lightning and pffft!!! went the computer so it has gone to be repaired. Blog will be resumed as soon as possible.
Bye for now
Sue

Monday, September 14, 2009

Messy tonight!!

Tonight was a messy night when the younger girls started a new project - an album crammed full of techniques....so we sprayed, marbled, scrunched and got lovely and messy... except that I forgot to take photos until we were nearing the end of the class when they were drying pages off and all was generally tidier.....



...however, before they went home I called them together for a hand photo!!!



More next Monday
so Bye for now
Sue

Saturday, September 12, 2009

YO! HO! HO!



Yesterday I arrived at the shop as usual - wish this mess was over and done with thought I....and then...... a concrete mixer arrived..... and out of it came all this wet concrete!!!!! aaaahhhhh!!! I'm stranded !!! marooned!!!!



Next thought is how will my customers get in..... so open the door and say in my best Spanglish to the jefe (boss, chief) the one in the blue shirt guiding the concrete

""?que estas haciendo? what are you doing????""





hey my ladies are arriving in 10 minutes! Lots of hand gestures and.....planks are put down and



Mu and Marianna are gallantly helped into the shop...



Sadly, I missed Margaret arriving but with her dodgy hip I didn't dare ask her to replay getting in so we settled down to making Christmas cards.



Another lovely day in paradise!!!
Bye for now
Sue