What Katie Did

celebrating green

It has barely stopped raining here. This morning I took the chance to take Poppy for a walk during a rare burst of sunshine. Come and have a look

This is usually a tiny trickle now rushing along with all this rain water

Puddles everywhere with clouds reflected

standard footwear these days

all this water makes for all this green!

I'm intoxicated with GREEN

This one is the shadows of the elderflower buds on the leaves! Arty eh!
Now you all know I am famous for liking pink. The previous post can have left you in no doubt about that! Pink is the corresponding heart colour to green so here is some of the pink and purple I found out and about this morning

I could post pictures all afternoon. But I'll leave you with this one

my walk back home through the woods.
Enjoying the gaps between the rain very much.

In Praise of Sheds

My neighbour Jane runs the Garden Station and for Art Tour this year, she commissioned an exhibition called 'In Praise of Sheds'. Seems like everyone has a shed these days, to use as a traditional depository for the lawn mower and old plant pots or some, like mine as their own unique work space. Lots of local artists rose to the challenge and the results make an impressive display at the Station. Rosie Villiers Stuart is a wonderful artist and dear friend of mine. She decided to paint ME in MY SHED!
This photo does not in any way do the finished picture any justice at all as it is merely a photo of the framed picture, but you get the idea

no - you really have to see the original.
look at the detail

my coffee pot and little milk jug

amazing knitting needle shelf!!

Geoff says that Rosie has captured the way i sit at an angle like that perfectly. Also, Poppy looks a bit coy because she knows she is not allowed on the sofa!!

I have never been painted before and I was full of trepidation about how it would be. If you look at the link to Rosie you can see that she mostly paints birds and landscapes and hardly ever uses this much pink!
 
So - how wonderful to have a shed and be in an exhibition and be doing Art Tour! As if all that wasn't enough,  BBC R4 Women's Hour will be doing a feature on the exhibition soon and a lovely reporter came to interview me in my shed, so I have that to look forward to. An ambition realised - always wanted to be on Woman's Hour. (That's one I forgot to tell you about M&D - I'll give you notice when its on)
I am overcome!

It's still all about feet!

Thank you to everyone who left a comment or had a sympathetic thought about my feet! I posted those pictures on Sunday night after a lovely long sleep and before another one! But there was not much energy for words! the walk was amazing. 10,000 people in one pink tent. I have put lots more pictures over on Flickr.
So - how are my feet? Well, surprisingly OK I'm amazed to discover. Sore immediately after and everything north of the feet ached too. But not as bad as I had imagined. I am not the worlds fittest person (!) and when I got to the mile 5 marker, I had a sinking feeling that there was still a long long way to go, and mile eleven was another low point. But, and this is going to sound soppy, I kept thinking of my good friend who survived this awful thing - breast cancer - and all the courage she had during those awful months. I could surely manage a bit of pain and discomfort for a few hours? 4 hours and 46 minutes to be precise.
And then at choir last night there was a friend who had completed 26.2 miles with no more than a blister on her toe which made me think that I had done no more than a gentle stroll!
Its all about effort put forth and the good will that follows. I was wafted along on a wave of good will! Thanks to all of you who wished me well. I'm enjoying it being something I have done rather than something I am about to do!

Moon Walk Edinburgh 2007

Its all about feet.....

....though before I get onto feet, what is this weather up to? Geoff had a bloke called Noah at the workshop the other day asking if he could build him a big boat.....
Anyway - my feet. They are funny old feet. They do the business of getting me from A to B but they moan and complain about it and insist on big comfortable roomy shoes. These are very hard to come by 'off the peg' and in the past I have had shoes made. I wear them for several years until they fall apart and then have an uncomfortable few months deciding that I really do need a new pair. These were my birthday present from Geoff. They arrived on his birthday  Conker Shoes in Totnes

I wore them to work yesterday. They are Very Comfortable. I don't know what people have against my stripy socks, I think they look great. (just look at those bunions though!)
Now more importantly to the shoes I will be wearing in about 36 hours from now. The other thing I wore to work yesterday was the funky bra I have just finished, to wear for the Moon Walk. You can be sure there will be pictures of that - more pictures than enough I feel! My colleagues had a good laugh at my expense and gave generously! Now all I have to do is walk all night long in Edinburgh with thousands of others! I have booked in appointments at work for Monday so I obviously thought I would be in a fit state to go to work on Monday!
Next time I post I  will have DONE IT!

Art Tour

Getting the shed ready for the first Open Studio day was hard work but great fun. I was busy cleaning and sorting

packing and pricing

organising and arranging

and taking notice of my notice

Barter Books sell this great poster

Just as I was beginning to wonder how I was going to manage to go to the loo or make a cup of tea between 11 and 5 on Sunday, my lovely Martha walked through the door, home for three days especially to help out! So we were ready to turn the sign to .......

Thank you to everyone who came and to everyone who liked my things enough to buy them! The sun shone and the visitors came. I had been full of trepidation about the whole thing, but I need not have worried, the Shed was a hit!
Special thanks to the woman who came to visit on her daughters recommendation. Sarah reads this blog from Adelaide and sent her Mum along to see me! Once more I am amazed by the wonderful world of Blogging!
Hello Sarah - you have a lovely Mum!

Shed Time with Catherine

Art Tour or the Open Studio Sundays are getting nearer - like three more days to go! Yesterday, Catherine, my lovely work colleague, came to spend the day in the shed with me. Homer came too (Poppy wasn't very happy about this)

(the picture in the drawer behind Homer's head is our first collie Ruby - who was the nicest dog who ever chewed a bone)
Catherine also brought this

(Tilly approves)
and she had this in the car too

So we overlocked and made button holes - well Catherine did - I just sat in awe and fed her tea and biscuits.

But I still love my little machine. It does all I ever want it to do and if I practice a bit, I think I could do button holes too!
Its always nice to have company though! Thank you Catherine!
Oh - I am so enjoying being off work! Soon I will show you all the things I have been making in readiness for this Shed Open Day! But not yet - I have to go and finish most of them first!
Enjoy your day too.

Be careful what you say 'Yes' to

oh what a busy busy time. I managed everything on my 'to do' list with a few extras thrown in..... a surprise visit from Lucy and her three kids who I put to work shamelessly - shaking mats and plumping pillows. Great workers and I didn't even offer them a glass of juice! I am a bad hostess. But a busy one.
The weaving exhibition is all packed up and on its way home. If you count success by visitor numbers then it was a success. If you count success by lively comments in the visitors book then it was a success. If you count it by the numbers of lovely people who I got a chance to reconnect with - then it worked on that level too. All good.

The civil partnership celebrations were terrific. The right people won the Frisbee golf with no cheating at all...

this was one of the 'holes' that the teams had to aim through - here are the Rock Chicks getting ready to take this hole in one (well six actually)
Lee made cakes

The weather was fantastic, so we had the best party on the Station platform. Catherine was all dressed up in her party frock, in the car on her way. Knowing this was the first of two celebrations she would be going to with her parents (there was a Fancy Dress Party the next day) she said 'Mummy, can I wear my shoes to the party tomorrow?' because in their haste to leave they had forgotten her shoes! Never mind - Patrick to the rescue with his red wellies! She looked terrific!

Next challenge is the first Art Tour date next Sunday followed by the Moon Walk on 16th. Trying to work out how to fit in a couple more long walks to get my poor feet used to the idea!