singlemindedness!

I knew this would happen....I would get stuck into decorating the Studio and would forget to blog. It has taken a nudge from my friend Jean in Scotland to remind me! I have been artexing, painting walls and floors. The wood burning stove is in and working and son in law has been making shelves. I have had a great day today...a whole day at the Bristol Ikea ....all by myself! A real treat! I love Ikea...the colour, the textures, the ideas, the bargains!! The only downside of being on my own was that I had to go through the checkout three times because one trolley load wasn't enough. The Studio now has plenty of storage baskets, and a mattress for my daybed. My husband does not 'do' Ikea. Not even the delicious and very reasonable food will tempt him back after his one and only traumatic visit. It has been a glorious day today and the drive along the M4 was really enjoyable. I think that the M4 is the nicest motorway...the scenery either side is really lovely.

Peanuts!

Job hunting not going well! For 'person of mature outlook' read someone daft enough or desperate enough to work for minimum wage with tons of responsibility....AND they wanted to pick my brains on the creative use of computers! So, am not going to play safe and stick to what I know and instead will be more adventurous. Studio renovation progressing slowly....have sold the old units on e bay and am now waiting for my son to have another cancellation. New Year's resolution to take up regular exercise resulted in my first line dancing class on Monday evening...what fun! How exhausting!

Synchronicity!

Doing sums has never been my favourite occupation, but have realised that to renovate the Studio and to provide support during my thinking 'gap' year from textiles, I need to have some sort of income. Scanning the job section of the local paper, hoping to find maximum reward for minimum effort, I saw a job advertised for a person of 'mature outlook'. Hmmm..well, not sure about the outlook bit, but I am mature! I have actually worked in this place before, about fourteen years ago. So, have applied, stressing the mature bit and I will wait and see what happens.

One of those days!

Well, the first setback in the Studio renovation. The woodburning stove plus pipes arrived yesterday and my elder son who is a heating engineer phoned to say that he had a cancellation and he could come and install it today! Great excitement! Great excitement short lived as on unpacking the flue pipes a whole section was missing. Add to that the weather, the dentist and a hospital appointment all in one day and you can guess that the red wine will be needed this evening!

The 'New' Studio!

A big thank you to all those who have welcomed me, and an even bigger thank you to Maggie for getting me going. Those of you who remember the Embex Studio will remember it like this:

Well, it is now an empty shell and my son in law, who works as IHHI ( Iain Hunter Home Improvements) is making a smashing job of re-working it. In a few weeks time it will be heated by a wood burning stove, have a great big squashy settee and a large table and chairs. I have new courses in the pipeline, starting in January 2009. They will be courses with a difference..a new departure. The Studio will also be home to a very large cat who will be called 'Boston'. He should be born in March and take up residence in May. He is a Maine Coon, and should grow to quite a size! Life has changed a great deal over the last two years, and for certain reasons I cannot have a cat living in the main part of the house. The 'new' Studio will be an ideal house for him, and a working/relaxing space for me! Pokey Bolton of Quilting Arts has a Maine Coon called Dickens and he is HUGE! This is the link to the YouTube video of Dickens. Textile work is on hold at the moment. This is my 'gap' year and I shall use it as thinking and planning time.

Starting my blog

Hi, this is the first posting on the Embex Studio blog. After five years, teaching lots of courses and writing a book, I have decided to change the focus of the Studio and explore a new direction. I will be posting comments as the 'little sort of lady thing called Granny' which is how my two year old grandson, Archie, described me to his mum!