TUSAL March 2012

Good grief, I can't believe it's that time again... I don't know where my days are disappearing to.

It's another new moon though, so time for the TUSAL (if you don't know what it is, head to Daffycat's blog - link on the right hand side of the page)

Most of the threads are still from Moonlit Waters, so there's a lot of dark ones in there (although I think the flash brightened them all up a little), done mainly while I was watching the motor race at the weekend.

Not much else to update, I've been busy working :)

TTFN!
Jo x

Coping methods

Sometimes, London can feel a bit overwhelming.  There are people everywhere you are trying to walk, runners getting in your way, noisy traffic hurtling down the street next to you, crowded tubes full of people so that you hardly have space to breathe.

When this happens, I like to put on my ipod, and block out the world.  I pretend that I'm in a film of my life and that the music is the soundtrack.  When I walk down the street, I'm walking with purpose, like I'm getting to the important part of the movie.  Then I end up grinning to myself about how bizarre that would probably seem to anyone else.

And then everything seems fine and less overwhelming.  Because it's MY movie, with my soundtrack and everyone else is just an extra.

Flashback... Perth

This time last year, we were in Perth having a wonderful honeymoon.  It's been a bit of a depressing thought this week while I've been at work, so I dug out the blog we wrote while we were away and I thought I'd share some of the things we wrote and photos that my hubby took.  All photos copyright Robert May.

Fremantle

11th March 2011
Last minute change of plans today.  We had planned to get up and go to Rottnest Island, however, an evening of drinking and a bit of jet lag meant that we didn’t surface early enough to get a whole day trip, so we decided to pop to Fremantle and then have dinner not too far away on Cottesloe beach.
First up though was a breakfast in a little cafe we spotted yesterday close to our hotel.  After munching down Eggs Benedict (Rob) and Eggs Florentine (Joanne) and doing a little trip research using their wifi, we left Tom’s Kitchen and headed towards the train station for the short hop to Fremantle.


It was quite an interesting place, with many little shops, and a few large harbours. We found a lovely little bar called The Monk Bar and Kitchen where we sampled some house wine and lager, and Rob had his favourite espresso yet. Then we meandered to a small beach, and stopped to take in the beautiful blue-green sea. We stopped quickly to look at a gallery of stunning underwater photography, (www.glencowans.com) and then headed back towards the station to catch the train a few stops to Cottesloe.


In Cottesloe, we had our minds on dinner in a restaurant pictured on the gift list site, but they were having a private function so were unavailable. Thankfully, we wandered further along the coast and found a quieter grouping of restaurants, including the gorgeous beachside Barchetta restaurant, who were able to fit us in. We happily watched the sun set as we ate fantastic pizza and scoffed some delicious Rose fizz.

Moonlit Waters update

Hello all,

I thought it was about time for an update on Moonlit Waters.  I've not got as far as I expected to after a month, and the colours didn't quite come out as they actually are, but I'm still in the dark corner for now.

Hopefully lots more to update on next month, otherwise at this rate it's going to be many, many years until I get finished!

TUSAL for Feb

Blimey, where did a month disappear to?

The good news is that I've been working hard on my jobhunting and getting back to work seminars and it seems to have paid off, I expect to be going back to the 9-5 from next week... I'm sure that commuting every day will be a shock to the system.

The bad news is that stitching time hasn't been as much as I would have liked.  The HAED is progressing, a little slowly, but I am getting on well with parking stitches which means that I'm finishing most of the threads and there's not much in the way of trimmings.  

So, it doesn't look much since last month, but here's February's TUSAL!  (If you don't know what TUSAL is, there's a little linky picture on the right of this page to Daffycat's site which explains all about it)

Strange Day

Today was a bit strange.  I don't often venture into west London.  But I found myself out by Paddington.  It was fine to begin with, but it was pretty early, so I decided to go for breakfast.  There's a nice area near Paddington with some cafes and restaurants, but it took me an age to find it, and because it was really quiet and I was on my own, I felt a bit odd when people were walking behind me.

Later on, when it was a bit busier, I'd walked to a shopping centre, again the shops inside weren't open but I was being nosey and having a walk around since the main centre was open.  As I was leaving, I saw two Indian chaps.  One of them approached me, obviously put up to it a bit by his mate and mumbled for a bit before he said he was really sorry but he was a bit shy, but that he really wanted to be my friend.  I really didn't know how to take it,  I presumed it was some sort of chat up thing, but since I felt as though I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards as the wind had made my hair go crazy, I wasn't sure!

I don't think I've ever been approached like that before and I was already feeling a bit wierded out by the quietness.  I politely said I was sorry and declined, which I think was the right thing to do, but overall I just found it very odd.

I then went into Hyde Park, where dogs seemed to be following me as well!!

Just a very strange day.  I think I'll stick to East London!

Anyone else had any odd meetings with strangers like this?

The Owl

A little stitching update.

I made this for my dad, who is a huge Sheffield Wednesday fan... it only seemed right that I swapped the black that the kit came with for the Owls blue.

I bought it way back in October at the stitching show and I had such fun stitching it up - I can't believe how long ago that was, where has the time gone?!

Anyway, here's a little (a bit blurry) photo: