Card making

Pulled out my card stuff on Sunday.  It will be October in a couple days and I need to get started on - gasp, horror! - holiday cards.  I decided on a couple layouts but no designs yet.  BTW these are not glued down and are, admittedly, slightly crooked lol.

We'll have to see where these go from here and how they work out lol.

Renaissance Festival

We took a family trip to the mid-Michigan Renaissance Faire yesterday.  It was a gorgeous day, hotter than we thought and I wish I'd worn something other than jeans.  Hubby ended up with sunburn!

Thought I'd share some of my pics from the day.  As always Bocca Musica were my favourite of the day!  We saw their PG13 performance and the Mature one later in the day.  They are a raunchy drinking-song group.  Check them out.

They have a couple videos on their web page

Bocca Musica

The Washing Well Wenches

 Jousting

Our champion at the joust.

It's a great day out!  We didn't even have time to see all the acts and shop.  It is done on a permanent site. 

Gorjuss by Santoro

I love these little girls!  There's something about the designs that call to me.  I had a heck of a time finding them in the states.  I ordered some of the stamp sets from Amazon but they take 2-4 weeks to ship!  I found the above at Walmart.com of all places.  They had sold out of all the stamp sets except the one at the bottom of the picture.   Now it seems they no long carry the rubber stamp sets.  They do have the paper and decoupage.  Can't wait to use them!  Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with them lol. 


Thought I'd also share a pic of the wonderful deckchair hut we saw on the beach in Gt. Yarmouth.  Love it!

Autumn Equinox

It's the time of the Autumn Equinox.  I love this time of the year.  It is beginning to get cooler, but not quite time to turn on the heat.  The leaves begin to change and the outside is awash in colour.  Michigan is really beautiful at this time of year.  Sometimes in the summer it gets so hot and the grass has just about died and everything looks brown.  Autumn brings colour - with orange, gold and golden leaves.  It's time to stop eating those salads and start cooking some really hearty meals.

Friday

Been back a week and it doesn't seem like it.  I miss Mum and I miss home.  Doesn't matter how many years I live away it's always home.  Sigh.  Still haven't talked to anyone at work about cutting down on hours.  I was all ready to do it, the manager was there, then about 9am she left for the day!

Pictures today are courtesy of my Mum's back window.  She lives in an upstairs flat.  There is only one person below and nobody above.  She has the most glorious sunsets out of her kitchen window.  I always take a picture every year I go.  I even have a pic up on my living room wall of the sunset out her kitchen window.  The one I saw this year was stunning.  The sky was actually almost purple - the pictures are the actual colour the sky was.  Just beautiful!

I love the silhouette look of the houses in the background.  Really stunning!

First day back at work and more pics

Grrrrr.... 4.30am came around way too soon.  I don't miss not getting up early when I'm on holiday!  Lots to catch up on at work.  Not much had changed.  I dreaded going back.  Not fun.

Back to the pics.  Here are some more I took in Christchurch Park.

 This is a view of St Margaret's Church.  It is near to the park/mansion.  It was built in the 13th century and served as church and burial place for the lords of the manor. 

 

These are part of the gardens behind the mansion. 

This is the plaque for Thomas Wolsey Art Gallery.  There are lots of things around Ipswich with the name Wolsey.  Thomas Wolsey was the cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and was quite an important figure in the 17th century.  He was born in Ipswich in 1473.  He became Lord Chancellor, King Henry VIII's chief advisor.

There are two ponds in the park.  They have loads of different birds on them.  I guess in the times when the area was a priory the ponds were a source of fish for the monks.  There isn't any sign of the old priory - a shame. 

That last one is a funny looking thing!

A few parents came along with children and began to feed the birds.  There is a small machine where you can purchase a hand full of bird food.  They don't like you feeding bread to the birds as it tends to attract the rats too!

I guess the food thing doesn't work too well.  We actually saw a rat dart out while we were there - either that or it was a big mouse!  My Mum is terrified of them so we had to move on.  We walked further around the pond to spot the bird on the tree limb.

We ended up walking around some more and were going to go back the way we came when I saw about four of those dreaded rats/mice.  YIKES!  Mum wouldn't go back that way lol. 

 

 

Rain, Rain...

Last day of my holiday before I go back to work and it's raining - yuk!  Chilly, too.

I have decisions to make - continue as I am in a job that makes me miserable and tired or drop down to part time.  I have to make the decision soon as it is driving me crazy and I can't go on keep thinking about it.  Not going to ramble on much but the big decision is taking me so long because of two things a) insurance - I am carrying insurance for us all.  We can get it through hubby's job but while not any more expensive it's not as good  and b) I actually like the job just not the bs that goes along with it, working (almost) every holiday and (almost) every Sunday.  I'm leaning towards part-time but haven't taken the final leap - YET.

Anyway - enough whinging.  Back to my hols.

One of my favourite places in Ipswich is Christchurch Park.  It is in the middle of the town centre.  The park is 70 acres.  There is a beautiful Tudor Mansion in the park too.  It's a gorgeous place to visit and on nice days the park is well used and lots of people sit and eat their lunch.  In front of the mansion is an expanse of grass where people either sit or play football.

The Mansion itself has a museum and art gallery inside.  Admission is free.  I remember going there a lot as a child and so does my Mum.  I still love going there.

I'll post pics tomorrow of the pond and birds that we walked around in the park.  It's quite a walk as you can imagine!

Been on Holiday!

I went back to England to visit my Mum for her birthday.  It was an amazing visit - too short as always - but very refreshing and I got to spend time with my Mum.  I took lots of pictures and bought lots of goodies to share. 

For now I'll just post a couple pics I took while on the plane.  I like flying.  I LOVE the look of the clouds.  While flying through them they are smoky but when you're above them it's like looking down at puffs of cotton wool.  It sometimes looks as if you could jump out of the plane and land on soft, cushion-y pillows.