today, I am mostly loving...

The new Joelle Hoverson book 'Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts'. It is full of some really lovely ideas and the photography is very inspiring. I have no particular plans to make anything from it, as yet, but I do feel it creating a ground swell of ideas.

Also on today's 'love' list is corduroy. A favourite autumnal fabric of mine and these colours (although the photo doesn't do them justice at all) are helping to turn that swell into a surge of creativity. I have found it incrediably hard to get back into the creative swing of things since my long hiatus over the summer but these fabrics and books do help to nudge me in the right direction.

Another thing that really helped was visiting a couple of galleries when in Norfolk. At the Bircham Gallery in Holt I spent my birthday money on an Angie Lewin print entitled "Totem". I just love looking at and find myself losing myself as I stare into it. Then at Big Blue Sky I loved browsing all the crafts and art for sale there. I discovered one particular crafts person whose work I fell in love with - Fran Squires who handprints fabric and then turns it into bags, aprons or tea towels and she also creates one-off framed works of fabric art. I could have bought lots of her stuff but I was a little strapped after buying the Angie Lewin print!

I am also loving my membership to the V&A especially with such fantastic exhibitions on at the moment. I've been to view the 'Art of Lee Miller' and have plans to go to the 'Golden Age of Couture' next week.

Ain't love just grand?

pull up a chair ...

and grab a cup of coffee or tea or maybe a glass of wine depending on your personal time of day. I think it's time we caught up with each other don't you?

I've had fun catching up with everything you have been up to over the last month. So much has been happening to you all. Holidays have been enjoyed, bereavements shared, expectations and births celebrated and books published. Those back to/first days of school feelings, worries and joys struck chords.

And I guess my month has been much the same. The last week of the school holidays we spent in Norfolk enjoying what must have been the best week of the holidays weather-wise. We basked in glorious warm sunshine and so hit the beach everyday. Little fella had a whale of a time and I'm still finding sand in various garment pockets.I managed to read two whole books and proper books at that no pictures or nuffink. And even more importantly I enjoyed both of them. In case you were wondering they were "Tokyo Cancelled" by Rana Dasgupta and "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen and now I'm working my way through a biography about Lee Miller.

We went out one morning to see the seals - something, in all the times we've been to Norfolk, we have never done before. We took an early morning boat trip from Morston Quay and the weather was perfect and there were so many seals and seal pups to see. It was fantastically good fun and made us ask 'why have we not done this before?'The next morning we went to Holt for yummy coffee and cake at Byfords and then browsing some of our favourite shops. Old Town where we placed an order for some garments and I was lucky enough to get a sneaky peek at the fabric, "Kensal Rising", they have designed for St Judes. And of course we checked out the toys in Starlings. Then we headed back to the beach.

Another morning we hit Cromer to walk along a different beach, collect pretty stones and then enjoy chips with lots of salt and vinegar on the pier. Then back to Wells in the afternoon to hit the beach. (Bit of a theme developing there - don't you think?)

All in all we came home with sunkissed faces and looking a whole lot healthier than when we left. Which, sadly, evapourated rapidly once we got back to school and work! We seem to have been living under a cloud of illness and general malaise hence the lack of blogging but I think our bodies are regaining their immunity to the school and workplace bugs so hopefully we are starting to fight fit again.