Onwards and Upwards

Dear souls, Ive been rather absent from blogland of late due to the aforementioned cold turning into a rather unpleasant chest infection. I finally had to succumb to visiting the docs after trying lots of self medication (like echinacea drinks and afternoon naps) and realising it wasnt going to plan when a silly dry cough began to be followed by a rather strange pain in my lungs. But dont worry!! Things seem to be on the mend!! For the first time in several days I have been out in the fresh air, tackled a small mountain of ironing and began to sort through my stock for the impending fair which is this very saturday!!

Im getting there...however the illness has impeded the progress somewhat and as a result, the house is a mess and dust bunnies are having a fandango under the dining table having not seen the hoover in several days but Christmas decorations are emerging...(hoorah!! and that at least, is a Good Thing :)

...as are boxes of cards and pretty fabric hearts...

Its very exciting, and Im hoping that come saturday morning I will waken with enough 'Umph' to get me through the day as currently energy levels are still quite low (Im seriously looking forward to it though, its going to be very festive with lots of fabulous stalls - please, please click the 'Candy Cane' link on the right side bar to find out more and if you are able to make it, I promise you will not be disappointed!!)

So, despite wheezing and coughing and the obligatory eucalyptus steam inhalations under a towel, I have somehow in the midst of the mayhem found time for a little creative fun time and made some pretty granny bunting, which is now adorning our window!

Im afraid the light isn't too terrific for photographs, but here's a close up...



What do you think? Isn't it cheerful? I was making this at the weekend whilst staying with my sister. Its very quick to make and rather addictive too - Ive already had a request from the Little One for some - 'Mummy can I have flags in my bedroom too please? and can I have pink and brown and blue and green and white....'

Seems Im going to be busy with bunting again very soon!! Well, I figure it will make a nice stocking filler for her so Ive plenty of time!

In some respects, once the fair is over, it will really free up alot of time for me - time to read more books, time to watch good old movies (like High Society, or White Christmas) snugged up on the sofa with hot chocolate and ALMOST COMPLETED BIG BLANKET!!! Oh yes! Did I forget to mention that? Its not far off being done!! Yes, the new pattern is working out a treat and already its big enough to get under and so Im testing it out, just to make sure it works alright...

Im also going to be able to get back to painting, thats what I ache for at the moment...we went to Blackthorpe Barn Christmas Craft Market whilst in Bury St Edmunds visiting sis, and I came away itching to paint after seeing some beautiful work by fellow artists (also went a bit wild and bought a wonderful linocut print, by the extremely talented Penny Bhadresa - do check out her work its stunning).

So, Im all fired up and Im wanting to send more work off to the Literary Agency, and I must tell you - its quite exciting and another mini milestone for me - that my work was circulated around Oxford and London recently and there is interest from a couple of publishers, one of which is Penguin...!!!

Will keep you posted on that, but suffice to say I was delighted to receive that bit of feedback!

Anyway - Ive just remembered that Im meant to be recuperating!! I think a nice cup of tea and a nice rerun of the Darling Buds of May is in order...I do find that when Im not working in the afternoon I get sucked into watching repeats of classic tv shows like that, they are very comforting and make me feel so much better!

I hope you are all well, will try and catch up with you all soon, once the fair is over and done with!

Til then, mulled wine and tiny iced lebkuchen to you!

Love Julia xxx