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| Crochet and cake |
Then there's the internet. How many of you have touched my heart and encouraged me in blogging and crafting. My virtual friends all over the world. One way the technology world has been positive. I even had one Internet attendee on my Thursday night crochet sessions and what a fantastic dimension that brought. Thank you Linne. Of course there is the possibility that virtual friends can become real friends too and I've been lucky enough to hook up with Phil from The Twisted Yarn and Amy from Love Made My Home .
Each in their own way have enriched my life and my blog!
Doubly lucky I am.
Each in their own way have enriched my life and my blog!
Doubly lucky I am.
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| A bowl to have by my bedside |
More recently I have ventured into the world of glass and glass fusing. As with yarn the colour choices, combinations and shades are breath taking. At first I was truly over whelmed, not really having read up about it or looked at examples I was like a scared writer looking at a blank white page. That's when a good, no great teacher steps in and guides you in what to do but makes sure as the student you are making the choices, learning as I went along. I'm not a natural at cutting glass, I certainly struggle with visualising from a 2D to 3D and I'm not confident in really knowing yet what can be done with glass and all the possibilities.
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| Glass foiling |
But I'm being gently led allowing only my own imagination to hold me back. If you live in the Oxfordshire area of the UK you really should look up Judith at Handmade In Wallingford , if you are at all interested, I urge you to book up the starter session with her and see what you think. And do you know what, my husbands delighted, he prefers the glass creations to the yarn ones. I wonder if he'll think the same in another 20 years.
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| My dump find being revamped |
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| Garden revamp begins in earnest |
Sheds have been relocated within the garden, have been dismantled and taken away and one beyond saving was burnt in a mammoth fire we had in the garden burning all the excess vegetation that could not fit into the compost bin! This is the remains of the fire several hours later and it actually smouldered for 3 days!! Nerve wrecking. Next steps: to level the ground, add in some electrics, begin paving paths and patios as well as add some garden fencing, phew, feel exhausted just writing that! And let's not forget new planting too. I'm hoping my love if gardening will return with the completion of this project.
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| Brimble in Henningsvaer, Arctic, Norway |
I could not have a list of my favourite past times without including sailing. It's a family past time, a hobby, a sport and our boat is also our home at sea. Brimble has carried us over thousands of miles safely and she holds a dear spot in my heart. We have not seen her for some months as we sailed her into the Arctic last year, but any day now my husband and I will fly over to her and prepare her for the coming season when we bring her back to the UK. Brimble has her own blog too, so you can see where she has been and what she is up to! ( Brimble's blog ) Through sailing my family and I have been able to travel the world, to see sights and sounds we might not otherwise have had the privileged to do so. Pods of dolphins have been our companions, nature has been our guide to where we travel and the experiences as a family we have encountered, enjoyed and survived as a unit are too numerous to mention, but all are cherished memories. Bring on the next sailing season...
I dabble in gardening, baking, crochet, sewing, flower arranging and recycling furniture. Not particularly a master in any of them but I enjoy them non the less. Love the idea of glass fusion it looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteI love all of your interests but have never tried flower arranging, although it is on my to do list. Thanks for stopping by today
DeleteGlass fusion looks so much fun, I've read about it before. Mmm pastimes, I seem to be a jack of all trades & master of none sort of girl. I do like to dabble though. How interesting to read about you sailing x
ReplyDeleteJo. I am totally not an expert in anything but enjoy the variety and learning curves. Glass wirk is do exciting it's fast becoming addictive.
DeleteSuch a fun post today, I love your interests.
ReplyDeleteMeredith
Meredith, thank you it was a fun post to think about, mull over and write.
DeleteI've only recently read about glass fusion from another blogger, and the glass beads she made were dazzling! Good luck with this new venture. Reading about your sailing adventures grabbed my attention. I don't sail, but love to travel, and your sailing trips sound fascinating! I will definitely pop over to read about more on Brimble's blog! Have a great weekend Selma :)
ReplyDeleteWendy
Wendy, when you visit the blog if you scroll down there are even some short videos. Enjoy x
DeleteGreat post! I think a lot of our crafting passions stem from a love of color...and creating something beautiful and colorful of course. But I can go in a yarn shop and just look at all the gorgeous colored yarns...the same way with embroidery thread! I paint because I love color. I used to make and glaze tiles because I love color. I quilt because I love color. Even the photography for my blog is generated by that love, but of course a love for nature which explodes with the color God gave it! :-) Now, as for sailing, I think I could LOVE sailing because of the peacefulness, the beauty and the sense of freedom. Plus, there's nothing more graceful than a sailboat! I get it. Lovely post all the way around! I love the things you have created and enjoyed reading about them. I am new to Five for Friday but I plan to stick around. Look forward to future posts! Have an awesome week!
ReplyDeleteHello Marie and welcome. Colour. I think that sums it up for me too. Love the idea of oainting your own tiles. Wish I could paint and draw. Have a great week yourself and see you soon x
DeleteWonderful pastimes!!! I hope that you are not going to give up crochet for the glass fusing though! Your bowl is really pretty, it has a seaside feel to it! I hope that you enjoy the trip to retrieve Brimble and the sail home again and that it all goes well and safely! Thank you so much as always for taking part. I hope that you have a great weekend - and enjoy planning the new garden!! xx
ReplyDeleteAmy, I could never give up crochet but it is fun being immersed in something else for a while. I think without realising it I'm missing the boat and the water. Hence the blue bowl to have by my bedside.
DeleteSelma, I have dozens and dozens of UFOs! I, too, am a starter more than a finisher, although I'm beginning to work on finishing more now. But the joy of learning . . . Colour is a huge factor for me, as are rhythm and pattern, this is true in music I love, books I love, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteI have been resisting some of the KALs I've seen on blogs, but it's tempting . . .
I have too many pastimes to list them all; some I do fairly frequently, others not so much. It depends on space, supplies being available (not in storage or under a pile of other boxes, etc.) and on having blocks of time that I can count on. This last year, staying with my Aunty eight days out of every fourteen, gave me time to do massive amounts of crochet, some knitting (I really have to finish the Fair Isle style 'barn cardi' - it still needs its sleeves and buttonbands, but is currently living in my friends' attic), even some handstitching, which I always enjoy.
I love nearly every craft known to woman (and have the supplies to prove it!). I'll never do scrapbooking, due to the time involved, but I like making cards occasionally. Again, supplies in storage and lack of space keep that on the back burner. I love weaving, have done some spinning and dyeing (also fabric dyeing), knitting, crochet, embroidery, handstitching, machine sewing, and so on.
I also love painting, but have not done much for some time. And print-making! There are some easy techniques that make you look like an expert right off and I was lucky enough to have a couple of teachers who led me right down that garden path . . .
Creating books and binding them is a slight interest, as is quilting and more.
Other than that, I love cooking and baking, but am more of an old farm wife than a modern chef in inclination. Bread making, yum!!
Gardening, putting up foods (drying, canning, freezing); anything to do with horses (riding, driving, working and training) and other farm animals. Dogs and cats (love training a dog!). Sadly, I've had no animals in my life for some years, but live in hope (did you know that in B.C, where I come from, there is a wee town called Hope? My parents lived there for a while. Now I live, as we used to say, 'beyond Hope' ;-)
I'd best quit here. I seem to be writing a book. :-) (yes, there's more, but I'll spare you . . .)
Thanks for asking, and do remember that in many of my interests I'm only a dabbler; in some I simply have the interest. I'm by no means an expert in anything, and now you can see why! I should specialize, I know, but I doubt it will ever happen . . .
Have a great sail home, Selma; I'll be thinking of you, lucky woman that you are. I've only sailed a couple of times and those in fairly calm waters. I liked it, though.
~ Linne
Linne, I so wish we could meet. I think we have much in common. Loved reading your responses on here and you made me think of old past time favourites that I have not partaken in for one reason or another. I used to weave all the time and was taught by a wonderfully eccentric Swedish nun. I don't think in my youth I realised just how lucky I was to have had her in my life. And hand sewing too, I may just start that up now you mention it. Hoping to run another crochet course in September. I will email you directly and advertise on here to see if we can drum up some more internet attendees to join you. Thank you for being part of the 'eclectic' family
DeleteBlogger wouldn't accept my entire comment, so here's what I cut out of the middle (meant to cut from the end, but oh, well . . .)
ReplyDeleteCreative wrapping of Christmas and other gifts, although I
haven't done that for some time, either. And, again, not
professional quality, more funky hand-made that is heavy on
accessorizing with natural materials. Flower arranging,
although I just read a few books and then jumped in, going
with my instincts. Japanese-style arranging is fun, too.
I used to read more than a book a day, but not so much now. I
love music, but have still not mastered an instrument (again,
I live in Hope LOL). I have a guitar and a flute and crave
other instruments, too.
I love words, language and languages, but am not fluent in
anything but English. I can get along in Spanish if I have a
dictionary, and maybe some others, too. I can say "I'm sorry I
don't speak much xxxxx" in several languages, which is a great
ice-breaker . . .
There's no end to it, is there?? When we admins were assessed
at my last job (they were looking to downsize the admin pool
and I knew it would be me - I was right, too!), I was
unsurprised to learn that Learning was my fifth top strength.
My other four top strengths work together and contribute
hugely to my creativity and creative interests.
Did I mention babies? I can sit for hours with a newborn
asleep on my chest . . . and I have a long-time interest in
birthing and dying and have been a support person, or doula,
for both on several occasions each.
I forgot to say, but thanks for the mention! I loved being in your CALs; thanks to you I bought a lot of yarn to use up my left-overs from the Bavarians . . . but it's definitely been worth it!! So much for downsizing, though. But now I have my friends slowly bringing my yarn back from their property north of here and once it's all in, I think there may be a Cosy blanket or two in my future. We'll see . . . thanks so much for including me, Selma; I hope if you do it again, there are more online participants. <3
ReplyDeleteGosh you are so talented! I do a bit of baking and blogging but would love to be able to crochet. A great post and your boat looks gorgeous xx
ReplyDeleteNot so much talented Lusa as interested. I love learning but also have a greed that makes me want to try all sorts. I do love baking and blogging too!
Deleteyou have so many varied interests I'm sure you never have time to be bored! The glass works must be amazing to see it fuse and blend! Love that!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
It's true Christine I'm never bored. I watch very little tv so when those around me talk of various programmes I often haven't even heard if them let alone seen them as most evenings I'm pottering around with one hobby or another. That's not to say I do t watch tv I do. I live a great movie. Have a wonderful weekend too. X
DeleteYou have varied interests. I love to garden, knit, crochet, read, dabble in our family tree, and spend time with my grandkids. I'm visiting from Five on Friday/
ReplyDeleteHello Linda. I bet looking back and researching the family tree must be fascinating. Have you discovered anything you did not know. Thanks for popping over.
DeleteFive interesting hobbies to pass your time. I love your fused glass - very pretty with stunning colours:)
ReplyDeleteThank you Rosie. I am a little bit in love with all the coloured glass
DeleteWell, now I know for sure that your blog name is spot on. You do lead a very eclectic life. How adventuresome with the sailing. Good luck with the glass crafting. So true about our own mind's holding us back. I'm the same with most projects -- gung ho and then peter out before I'm completely finished. Must be a finisher, and get myself organized. Now that I've quit my job, I'll have more time to work on all that's been left undone or tossed to the side. I'm already involved in a yarn group and having a great time crocheting and meeting with likeminded ladies. Best wishes, Tammy
ReplyDeleteOoh Tammy, exciting times ahead for you. It's great to come together with like minded people. We soon ideas off each other and encourage each other. You'll have heaps of fun. Ahh to be a finisher...
DeleteIt's lovely to have so many varied interests, I like the sound of the glass one it's a new one on me I have tried all sorts of handicrafts in the past, cross stitch, macrame, embroidery, rug making, oil painting to name just a few lots of DIY attempts and gardening but I always come back to knitting and crochet, I'm not a master of any of them but it's fun to dabble. :) xx
ReplyDeleteLinda, I'm totally with you on the matter that it's fun to dabble. I try all sorts too and generally always come back to crochet. It's my comfort zone.
DeleteOh my gosh... SAILING.... my father always had a boat, even as a young man he loved the lake..so we had many a jaunt..we called him the mad captain..he was always barking orders to us..ready to turn about.. point it into the wind..into the wind.. my poor mother pulling the tiller towards her and away..back and forth..like this honey? She would try, but the boat never seemed to go in the right direction..he would stand at the front of the boat, one leg in the small cabin, the other on the mast..his dark long hair blowing,no that way..he'd point..my Mother's hands in the air..him frustrated..when I think about it now it really is funny..those were the days..i love the sound of sailing..even when the boats are in the dock, the gentle sway and the rigging chiming against the metal masts, birds, the lake....I also enjoy baking, crochet, of course, and quilting, antiques, gardening... your garden will be just how you envisioned it when it is done..and you'll enjoy it even more xo susie
ReplyDeleteSusie. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. You paint such a vivid picture and I can hear the joy of your memories. I so hope my children have that to feel and look upon with fondness. Thanks again
DeleteVery interesting! Probably crochet is my favourite past time closely followed by knitting. I like to try new crafts too but always come back to crochet.
ReplyDeleteWe sound so similar Gillian
DeleteWow you do loads of stuff!! The glass bowl is particularly stunning - I'd buy that! Thanks for linking up to #Thelist xx
ReplyDeleteOoh Hsnnah. Thank you for the compliment. Very kind of you x
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