Paper flowers

I'm back on to making paper flowers.  Todays are made from pages torn from a paperback novel following Valerie Lloyd’s paper roses design.  As you have to cut and curl each petal before sticking they are quite time consuming, but I do think they look amazing.  and they are big, they make me think of the really big smelly blooms you might find climbing up an old English country cottage in mid summer.
My only regret is the book I'm using.  I'd love to use the pages of something that really means a lot to me, but I just can't destroy something like that, so its a paperback from one of the local charity shops.

Another hat

I can not believe how much organisation is needed even for a small wedding.  It seems to be sucking all my time away.  I have however found time to knit myself a stripy hat using one of the patterns from St Mungo's.  As I'm still learning there are a few things I could do to improve it, but the stripes at least went to plan.

April writers group

We met a bit early for the writers group this month as Easter gets in the way.
Only a few turned up which gave us time to do a quick exercise - start with 'Not one of them believed me when I told them...'

Here's how mine went...
Not one of them believed me when I told them that my dad was a spy.
Not one of them believed me when I told them I'd seen wolves in the woods.
Not one of them believed me when I told them the school was on fire.
Not one of them believed me when I told them I'd seen David Beckham.
Not one of them believed me when I told them aliens had taken me away.
Not one of them believed me when I told them my mum was the next PM.
Not one of them believed me when I told them there was a land slip on the train tracks.  You'd think they'd have learnt to believe me by now!

For something that had no thought before hand I don't think its too bad.

For the homework:
Imagine you are going to visit someone who has lost their memory.  What will you take with your to help them remember and why?

Ceramic painting

Yesterday I attended my friends Hen Do.  It was originally going to be something to do with tea, but that fell through and so we ended up painting ceramics instead.
Just like with the writers group where we all start with the same prompt, we all started with a plate, a cup and a heart on a ribbon, and just like with the writers group the variety was amazing.
I decided to keep mine simple, but the end results from people who 'can't draw' were all pretty good.
I'm not having a hen do, but this one showed me that they don't have to be loud drunken affairs.  It was good fun and hardy a willy in sight.

Knitting needle wrap

Last month me and Katie went to Unravel - a knitting festival.  It was full of everything you could think of that was related to knitting in any way and we had a lovely morning looking at all the lovely things.
I'd been thinking about getting a full set of knitting needles, and having looked at some bamboo ones at the festival I decided to get some.  I got a full set from The Bamboo Knitting Centre and they are beautiful and I no longer get numb fingers when I knit.

But where to store all my needles?  I decided I needed a case of some sort and after much thought came up with the above design.  I killed a sewing machine in the process (it was quite old) and had to borrow a slightly newer one from my dad, but I am so pleased with the finished wrap.  I know that my needles, even the really fine ones, are all safe in here.

March writers group

Last month I really felt inspired to put pen to paper, but what came out wasn't quite right.  Of course writing is a craft, something you have to work at - if everything came out perfect then everyone would do it!  So with a bit of work I'm sure my story will be ok, but I've lost interest in it now.  And if I'm not interested how can I expect anyone else to be interested?

So I turned up at the Writers Group without anything to read, again.
Quite a small turn out, but it did mean that we could look with real detail at the stories that were presented.

This months homework: Use the following as either the starting line or the inspiration for a story or poem: And although they were sad they rescued everyone. 

(Lyric from ‘A spoonful weighs a ton’ – The Flaming Lips)

Reading half marathon

If someone had said to me 3 years ago, when I first started running, that I would run the Reading half marathon and do it in under 2 hours, I would have laughed and maybe even suggested that I would be going to the moon at some point too.
But yesterday after 3 months of hard training I ran the Reading half marathon and did it in a time of 01:57:38.
In case you don't know a half marathon is 13.1 miles and in this case starts and finishes at the Madejski Stadium.  Its not the most beautiful route round the streets of Reading, but the support was amazing and running into the stadium to finish was overwhelming and really emotional for me.
A day later with tired legs and a big shiny medal, I am thinking about what to do next...

Bone marrow donation

Ever since I can remember I've wanted to give blood.  I can't remember now exactly why, but I imagine it might have had something to do with one of my many trips to hospital due to being an accident prone kid.
As soon as I was old enough - aged 17, I made my first donation, and I've tried to be pretty regular with them since then.  I'm up to something like 42 donations now.
At some point I put my name down on the bone marrow donor register too and on 1 Jan I received a letter tell me that I might be a match with someone and would I consent to them checking my DNA out in detail.

How could I say no?
If I or any one of my loved ones ever need blood or bone marrow (or while we're on the subject, some other body part) I would expect it to be there for them.  But with that expectation comes the responsibility of offering my blood, bone marrow or any other organs (as long as I don't need them any more) in return.

I've just received the letter to say they have found a better match, but I would have stepped up if that was needed, and maybe one day it will be.

Do you expect blood to be there if you need it?  Then all I ask is you donate a pint every four months or so.  It is so simple, just an hour of your time, and yet so many of us don't.  Who knows who you might be helping.