Happy Holidays

I have not updated this blog for a couple of weeks as I have been on holiday. I decided that I would not go near a computer for the whole time because if I did I would have been drawn into doing work and answering work related emails.

Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th July saw the final Textile Kaleidoscope exhibition, at least in its current form. The Thursday of that week was taken up with setting up the exhibition. It was totally exhausting hauling furniture around, not helped by the extremely humid weather. However it was an opportunity for the 9 of us to spend some quality time together and to admire each other's work. The exhibition went well but I was a little bit disappointed that numbers were down slightly compared to last year. Nevertheless we all received some lovely comments from the visitors and I got to meet someone who had actually read my blog! I was really surprised as according to my Stat Counter I have a very small number of followers, but it was great to meet her.

The event was overshadowed by the news that one of the Priory Beaders had been taken seriously ill. Sadly she died on the Saturday. She will be missed. Although in her mid 80's she was always out and about attending beading shows and beading classes. She lived her life to the full and was a joy to be with.

After the exhibition we had a small get together to mark the end of an era. We have all finished our beading classes now and our tutor Jane is moving on to pastures new. I will still see most of them at Priory Beaders but somehow it just won't be the same. Jane handed us each her feedback on our work and told us that we had all passed our NCFE Level 3. I felt a great sense of achievement at finishing my course. I am one of life's plodders, always have been and always will be. I remember being told by one of my lecturers when I was studying for my degree that I was an average student and that I would never 'set the world on fire'! I was upset at the time but have come to realise that he was right. I may never be a high flyer but I feel that I have achieved a lot over the last 6 years and feel really proud of myself.

The second week of my break from work was really quiet. I was happy to spend some time at home recovering. I am struggling physically a little bit at the moment with pains in my back and left leg. It is possibly a legacy from a bad fall that I had last year which left me walking with a stick for three months. I am due to have an MRI scan of my back soon so hopefully that will shed some light on what is causing the pain.

Last Saturday I went to Knit Nation at Imperial College in London with 'M' aka 'A Girl in Winter' and my OH who came along for the trip. 'M' and I spent a couple of hours wandering around the Marketplace drooling over the gorgeous hand dyed yarn on sale. We were a bit starstruck too as we saw Woolly Wormhead, Ysolda Teague and the founders of Ravelry, Jess and Casey. We had a good day ending up in a lovely pub found by my OH.

Now it is back to work and back to reality.