It’s life Jim!

Wow! It feels like absolutely aaages since I last posted! Sorry about that folks, it's that damned 'real life' thing getting in the way! So what has real life been throwing in the path of Samsara? Well, my TESOL course finally came to an end..yep, I can hardly believe it myself! The moderator/examiner came last week to interview us all, we had small group interviews followed by individual ones - I grabbed one of the first interview slots because I like to get things out of the way, I can't bear waiting around for things...it stresses me out too much. Anyway there was three of us in our first group, we met in the college canteen far too early with plans to check over stuff beforehand, and ended up really making each other giggle about what was ahead of us! The examiner was going to be a monster; he was going to be a pushover; he was going to be a ladies' man and Julie and I would be able to work our feminine wiles on him; he'd swing the other way and we'd leave him to Kevin!

So we got called up to the room for our group meeting and it became apparent that he was not only a waffler (by the end of the meeting he was already running late!), but also very much a ladies' man! In fact he made eye contact with me the whole group session! It got a bit embarrassing in the end and I had to deliberately break eye contact with him on more than one occasion! A bit naughty of him considering there were three of us in the room. When we came out after the group meeting to prepare for the individual meetings, Kevin declared that it was up to me to butter him up for the group because he obviously couldn't take his eyes off me! Well, I shall just say that we all passed with flying colours and I'm sure it had nothing to do with me! Yes, I'll say that again a bit louder in case you missed it....I PASSED!!!!!! Whoooooohoooo!

We all went out last night for a celebratory meal, to celebrate being unleashed upon the (non) English speaking world! It was kind of sad thinking that I might not see some of my fellow students again since some of them live in other towns and counties. I have sent my CV off for several jobs, one of which I'd really really like which is a summer job in Madrid (Spain). The job looks so cool, it's a summer school which teaches art & crafts, English, sports, etc....it'd be like a working holiday...with sun! Keep your fingers crossed for me folks! I need some sun, the weather here's been rubbish for the last week or so!

What else has real life been throwing at me..uuuum, I've been invigilating, boring, trying to get the last students finished in their various courses....also boring. I put up the A level exhibitions ready for the moderator next week, hard work and boring! I’ve lost 12 lb so far on my quest to lose the weight I put on during my course! Ooo yes, I went to the Strawberry Fayre on Saturday with my mate and her sons and grand-daughter.

There was this amazing horsebox there which had been converted and looked so cosy, with art and bookshelves and sofas. I just peeked in quickly because I always feel kind of awkward about nosing into peoples homes! The girl was selling her artwork which was fabulous, but I unfortunately didn’t get her contact details – doh! 

Is it a little bit disturbing that my mates sons seems to gravitate towards silly hats and wigs whenever we go to a festival!

 

M didn't want to come because he's been getting into the cricket and there's been big things happening in the cricket world lately! My mate and I spent the day wandering round the stalls, listening to bands and watching the world go by. I spent far too much money, I bought a lovely pair of patchwork trousers, a rainbow sun top,

a gorgeous rainbow moonstone ring (a reward to myself for passing my course)

and a fairy costume for my friends 40th birthday party in August! Yes, not only do we have party bags and cake and party games, but we also have silly fancy dress themes! I already have an awesome pair of fairy wings that Dragonflyducky made me, and I now have a purple and black dress with built in tutu skirt! I can't wait! I just need to get out my stripy tights and biker boots!

I finished my jacket....

It’s a little on the big side, but I can wear a thick jumper under it if I need to, so it’ll do me into the autumn!

And here we go again because I love the flappy butterfly…

 

 

I started a pair of trousers...these are my altered art trousers *lol* so much more than embellished clothing! Look here, I even have a tiny copy of my avatar here...if you ever pass a hippy girl wearing a mad pair of embroidered trousers with a butterfly fairy on, say 'Hi', it may just be me!!!

And of course you can’t even contemplate any kind of fabric project without the aid of your trusty fabric presser! What would I do without my willing assistant?

 

And more close-ups of some of the details so far…

I've also started a super secret hippy project which I'm not going to divulge yet because my potential partner may stalk my blog and I wouldn't want to give anything away! There's a few days sign-up time left and we already have over thirty swappers! There's so many wonderful people signed up it's going to be hard to chose myself a partner *lol*

Anyway toodle pip folks, see you soon!

And now, the end is near….

I hardly dare say it, but I’m getting to the end of my final assignment FINISHED!!!! I’ve handed in almost all of my portfolios now, just the last one now and I’m getting near to the end. The last bit is the most difficult bit for me; I seem to have spent ages on this one – a phonological analysis of a recorded transcript from my language student *Sigh* Still, it’ll all be done soon, we have the moderator coming in a couple of weeks to interview us all, not a pleasant experience but one that must be prepared for. My art students have all done their exams now and we are in the middle of marking. The moderators for those courses will be coming in a few weeks also. My other students have another month or so, so there’ll be some money coming in for a bit. I hate being hourly paid! I’m trying to sort out some work for the summer, invigilation and summer schools, but I’m really really looking forward to not having to study! What will I do with myself? I’m definitely going to have to spend some time in the garden! Apart from the odd bit of tidying up, I haven’t spent any time in the garden this year. It’s looking a bit like a jungle out there at the moment!

So what have I been doing the last week or so apart from nose to the grind stone working? Well, I’ve repaired a fine shrug which was viciously attacked by Pippin!

 

She made several great big holes in it, probably trying to make a nest in it! 

So I found the finest yarn I could and crocheted some little flowers from it.

Then I sewed them over the holes.

 

I finished off the centre of each flower with an iridescent sequin. Look, good as new!

I’ve also finished the body of my Sunkist! I just have the sleeves to do now! My garden blanket is growing slowly, and in anticipation of some wonderfully free crafting time, I’ve decided to organise round three of the Hippy Swap over on Craftster! I must be a glutton for punishment! More paperwork *lol* Anyway, if you want to join in, head over to Craftster, I haven’t started sign-ups yet, but contribute to the thread and show your interest http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=305213.0

 

Busy, busy, busy!

Yes, it’s been a busy, busy week or two here in the world of Samsara! This is pretty much what I’ve been doing for the last week or two, or indeed since the last time I spoke to you:

• I finished and handed in one portfolio
• I finished another portfolio to be handed in tomorrow night (1 more to go)
• I finished an assignment to be handed in tomorrow night
• I took on teaching my group for another class because the teacher had resigned!
• I went to bellydance class – the Hafla is not far away now!
• The dishwasher blew a fuse and tripped the house power out several times, but I managed to find a brand new one for free on Freecycle!
• I went to yoga
• I started dieting seriously (as opposed to half-heartedly) and I’ve lost half a stone so far!
• I dyed my hair a black cherry colour on impulse
• I went to see Coraline in 3D with my best mate!
• I went to see the new Star Trek with M – amazing! Yes, I’m a sci-fi fanatic and I’m not ashamed to admit it!
• I knitted more of my Sunkist
• I crocheted more of my garden blanket
• I’ve taken the Uberhound for walks
• I’ve tidied my space endlessly in ‘task avoidance’ jobs
• I’ve played Wii with friends

M blew up the main PC (thank goodness for my trusty little laptop here *kisses keyboard reverently*) and we’re waiting for a new ‘thingy’ which will hopefully sort it out! Luckily I have TESOL stuff backed up here on my laptop, and on several memory sticks, so I’ve been able to manage.

As you can see, the knitting and crocheting has been going swimmingly!

I finished early today because my students had an exam, so the Uberhound and I went for a walk along the canal near my house. 

Everything is blossoming! Very very pretty, although a pain in the arse for those of us who suffer from hayfever!

The sky was a beautiful blue today although there was a cold wind blowing.

I don’t walk this way much in the winter, it gets too boggy, but it’s lovely when the weather’s nice and you get barges travelling along the Gran Union Canal!

Joe often takes a slurp from the canal; I remember when he was a puppy, he was mooching alongside the canal and all of a sudden I heard this ‘plooooop’ sound and he’d disappeared! I saw this panicky little head pop up from the water and splashing as his little paws tried to gain purchase on the bank. In the end, I had to reach in and grab his collar and scoop my arm under his bum and haul him out! I was drenched! I’d never be able to do it now, he’s much too big; I think he weighs almost as much as I do now! I tell him now that if he falls in, he’s on his own! 

Phew! What a busy couple of weeks it’s been! What have you been up to?

Bees and beads!

The last couple of days have been gloriously sunny and the local bees have been taking advantage of the blossoming flowers by collecting everything they can, especially from my Dystentra  (Bleeding heart) – look how caked his back legs are with pollen!

I’ve been working so hard!

But today my friend dragged me away from the books to go to the local bead show held at  Towcester Racecourse – Sarah Hornik was supposed to be there, but I think she was at the Flame Off which was yesterday – I didn’t see her today which I was most disappointed at.

The weather was lovely and the sky was blue…

and inside there were naked flames as exhibiters demonstrated their skills.

My haul for the day, although I didn’t buy as much as I could have…

I did treat myself to this dichroic cabochon though and I’ve already glued a sterling silver bail to the back so I can wear it as a pendant. It’s huge and sparkles like a thousand fireworks twinkling in the winter sky! It’ll be like wearing one of Klimt or Hunterwasser’s works of art!

I also found this lovely polymer clay focal bead which I can’t wait to make into a wearable piece of art!

And what else have I been up to? Well, I’ve been customising this plain old sage green jacket. It’s lovely and soft, almost velvet like to the touch. But very plain. The sleeves were much too long for me, so I altered them using this process which I admit is completely my own sort of mackled together technique and would probably make a seamstress drop all her pins in horror, but it worked for me, so I’m passing it on to you, in case you ever feel the urge to alter a lined jacket sleeve! So I measured how much I needed to lose off the length…

and then the scary bit – cut off just slightly less than you need to…

Make sure you cut through the lining too…

Then with the sleeve inside out, turn the edge over once, then again pinning as you go, so that all the edges are folded into themselves and won’t fray…

Then you can sew the edge and the lining so that it’s all neat.

And there we go, my cack-handed and very unprofessional way of shortening a jacket sleeve!

Look, all neat and shortened now! I’m probably going to embellish the sleeves a bit anyway, but at least they’re the right length!

And here’s where I am with the whole project. I found a beautiful butterfly appliqué patch and these matching flowers..

I had been intending to go for a leafy theme, but I saw these and was inspired! They’re all sequined and embroidered, and the embroidery thread I'm using for the swirls co-ordinates and makes me feel all summery!

So far, I’m loving it! I have some more swirls to embroider on it and some iridescent flower sequins to add to it too. What are you guy’s up to?

Right, back to the books then, and work again tomorrow! Holidays are never as long as you’d like!

Theatres ‘n’ Things!

Hey dudes! How’s the Spring Break treating you all? Things have been fun here, though I haven’t done nearly enough work *not freaking out yet but give me time!* but I have had fun! Friday night some friends came over for a natter and we listened to music and played the Wii until the wee small hours. I totally whooped them on golf despite their boasts that they played virtual golf on a regular basis! I managed to get one under par for the tournament and I don’t even know what that means! Everyone was suitably impressed though *lol*

Saturday night the family and I drove down to London, parked on the outskirts and then caught the Tube into Central London to the West End where the show was. The piccies are a little dull, but it was almost seven o’clock at night, so I think they were reasonably clear for almost duskiness!

After collecting the tickets, and leaving Mum and Bruv in the Sherlock Holmes pub,

me and Sis went for a stroll across the Thames, checking out the lovely view, with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben on one side of the river and the London Eye on the other.

Then we headed back to the pub for a swift half with Mum and Bruv, and onto the theatre. Our seats were high high high up in the gods but it was okay because we could just about see, and we had a lovely view of the painted ceiling.

The theatre was great although I don’t think singing is Graham Norton’s forte – he was okay, but clearly his voice doesn’t have the stamina as it was wilting a little towards the end of the show; maybe he was under the weather or something. The other guys were great though! The guy who played Zaza’s maid was fabulous and the Follies were amazing *even if their pins were amazing and much better than mine could ever hope to be – sigh* !

M and I never made it to Glastonbury on Sunday, we woke up and the weather was awful and it had been raining Saturday aswell. We had visions of wet us and wet dog (phewww) attempting to scramble up the Tor, and round Avebury, and even worse, visions of the wet and muddy Uberhound stinking up the car, and not being able to shelter anywhere because, hey, it’s Easter Sunday and every where's closed. *So there’ll be no crystal shopping either then* It’s a postponed trip, not a cancelled one. Maybe we’ll make it this weekend. On Monday, a cousin came up to visit Mum from London with her fiancé, so we went over for lunch with the Uberhound because cousin and her fiancé love Joe and would have given me a bollocking if I’d have turned up without him *lol* Joe loved it of course, he spent the day getting loads of fuss and loads of grub. I think he ate so much that I practically had to roll him home!

And guess what? You might want to sit down here….I have an FO folks!!! Yes, a real actual finished object! My ‘Go for Baroque’ was finished last night whilst chilling out in front of ‘Underworld – Rise of the Lycans’. Hurrah! Yes I know that there are a few ends to weave in and I have to add the ribbon trim, but essentially, it's finished!

I even got as far as casting on the second sleeve on my BPT Hoodie! How’s that for productive!

Actually that was later whilst watching the new Red Dwarf, but still last night. It wasn’t a good night for sleeping last night – I was all tucky up-y and falling to sleep when there was a huge kerfuffle at the cat flap which completely woke me up, so I spent the rest of the night listening to The Stand (by Stephen King) on my MP3 player and crocheting squares for my flower garden blanket. Good thing I didn’t have to get up for work today. Although I have been working hard today. I’ve been evaluating and analysing a text book for my TESOL course! Boring!!!

And now I have a quandary; You see I started back on my Pink Sherbet today and I’m really not feeling it. I think I’ve lost the mojo on this one. It’s been so long since I picked it up that I’m not in the groove with it anymore. So I’m really considering frogging it and starting something simpler. The pattern’s okay, but my head’s just not in the right place for a complicated lace pattern and I can’t remember where I am with it. Sooo, I haven’t quite decided yet, but that’s the way I’m leaning. Frog it and use the yarn for a simpler pattern where the lovely colour and texture of the yarn will be more obvious.