A bevy of beautiful bags bouncing in the breeze......well, I thought it sounded good anyway! These are the some of the results of my winter evening knitting sessions. Today we have our knitting group - so another good excuse to knit!

On SaturdayI spent a very happy hour sipping wine, listening to the music (I particularly like the violinist with blue hair!!) and generally imbibing the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Covent Garden. Yesterday I went west to Worthing, today I am home....it's very grey and cold outside, so must now wrap up warm for my walk. I can feel a creative day coming on.......

I just love to visit Anthropologie in Regent Street. Their interiors are fantastic...so many unusual things...I am always inspired by the displays, and continue to dream about surrounding myself with amazingly beautiful things. In reality (!!) below is a picture of the building (part of John Wesley's Chapel) where 5 of us, plus 2 dogs and about 4,000 books lived in 4 small rooms for 3 years. It is in London's Covent Garden.....we survived and had a lot of fun!

I had a photographic session in the garden yesterday, although I have managed to retrieve my 'lost' photos!! This felt and embellished bag is a departure from my usual style, but I am enjoying trying out new things. We shall see what else emerges!! I'n off to London today to meet son no. 2 and we are having a curry (surprise, surprise) and then all going to see The Mousetrap (now in its 60th year!!) We have seen it before, but I always forget who dun it. In fact we used to live virtually next door to the theatre, and at 9.0 pm every night we heard screams!!!

I was going to show you some of my recent embellishing on felt, but I have very cleverly (if there's such a word!) deleted a whole lot of photos from my laptop. I have also deleted them from my camera, so I shall have to start again!! Still, I was going to show you images of my recent visit to the local wood recycling project. So here goes...it was brilliant, and there are some real craftsmen there who carve sculptures, and furniture to order, shelves etc. I particularly like the way the old scaffolding boards have been painted on the ends. Apparently this is how the scaffolders identify their own boards. I learn new things each day!

At the risk of being boring and talking about cakes again...I have to say that Michala's cakes are scrumptious!! She has opened a small unit within a larger vintage store in Norman's Rd, St. Leonards on Sea. She opens Wed. - Sun. and is highly recommended! My friend and I had a great morning and I bought a lovely chair for £2 (at the tip) and a pretty french table for £8. When I've cleaned it up I'll show you a picture of it. In the afternoon I had a couple of happy hours whizzing on my embellisher....all will eventually be revealed! It's pouring with rain at the moment, so I shall put on my wellies and anorak and attack the woods......

I have just enrolled on a on line art journalling course. The artist who runs it has a very free style and always says there's no such thing as a mistake...just my sort of person! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to getting going. I have ordered some spray paints from the U.S. I haven't found anywhere in the U.K. that sells them, so can't wait to spray!! You won't believe it but I'm being taken to yet another tea shop today. It has recently been opened and apparently the cakes are out of this world!! I shall let you know...

We are surrounded by colour and over the years I have been training myself to really look at what's around me. Sometimes I'm so busy in my head that I miss what is before my eyes. I really loved this table which is in my favourite cafe in Lewes. The colour reminds me ofhot summer days...(I wish). I think the rain is on the way now, so I'd better be off on my walk.....

I've had a 'rosy' theme going on this weekend (in between quite a few other activities!!) I have been looking at these gorgeous yellow roses all week and felt inspired, first of all to sketch them, and then to have a whiz with the embellisher. Here are the results. My head continually buzzes with ideas, and I keep on wondering what amazing piece I shall finally come up with. This process has been going on for at least 20 years....I am still hoping for that 'aha' moment. Maybe one day!! In the meantime, I continue to play. Have a good day and thanks everyone for your lovely comments - I really do appreciate them.

Well, I overslept this morning. I couldn't believe it was bright daylight when I woke up! Maybe it was the effect of some wonderful spices in the African food we had in the church last night!! Earlier in the day I was in Lewes and simply couldn't resist popping in to my absolute favourite in the world tea shop. The atmosphere is stunning, the food and welcome amazing and what do you make of the chandelier made up of kitchen utensils? Isn't it whacky! P.S. Roger really liked my muffins and ate 5!! (nearly as naughty as the dog!)

The blueberry muffins were a complete disaster...you can see them below, all ready for baking...so....I put them in the oven, and then realised I forgotten to put the butter in! !!!! I whipped them out..squidged them out of the paper cases..added butter (in lumps) and put them back in to bake. They were not good....heavy and greasy. My friend suggested putting custard over them to make them more palatable!! However, I had more luck with lining bags and have made good headway into that. Off to Lewes today...have a good day!

I look at the trees a lot when I am out dog walking every morning...I love the way the ivy clings and grows around everything....I thought I would keep in the tree mood and hang my latest felt bag on some branches. I think I am quite pleased with it, and today plan to line it with red polka dot fabric that I bought from a fabulous fabric shop in Brighton. Yesterday I bought a really good little book on baking and thought I would try blueberry muffins today! Watch this space.....

I had a couple of hours playing with my dear old embellisher. I managed to finish a cushion and am now exploring more subtle images with fibre and felt. I guess the possibilities are endless and it's sometimes difficult to focus....I sit surrounded by bags of colour and get so excited, I don't feel I do anything sensible!! I also couldn't resist adding a picture of my yellow roses. The more flowers I have in the house the happier I am!

I have been knitting away during the winter evenings and here are some of the results. I really enjoy knitting the little hearts (thank you Naomi for giving me the idea!) I've no idea what could be done with them....I suppose they could look quite good hanging from my painted branches (?)..anyway I am enjoying making them. We had a good knitting group yesterday but I'm afraid that I have to report the my dog George was a very naughty girl. She ate nine cakes when my back was turned for about half a second!! Thought there could be some dire consequences from this...but no mess and she is fine!!!

This cushion/bag is a bit of an experiment. The true colour is much darker and richer, but this gives you an idea. I am trying to push myself on and do something different and find myself drawn to the idea of using larger expanses of plain colour. I dyed the felt green and then embellished it and made a 'cushiony' shape. All the time I am learning and getting ideas........Today we have our knitting group here which will be great...and the sun is still shining (can't believe it!!)

I really do love to dye yarns and am always excited by the results.....I tend to work spontaneously, and if ever I do plan to produce a certain colour, it never works!! So I have finally learned to accept that this is how I am, and enjoy serendipity!! Something seems to have gone wrong with the dating system on my blog, so whatever it says, today is Monday 16 Jan. Apparently this is supposed to be the most depressive day of the year. Let's hope that the huge amount of sunshine we have had has helped people to feel more upbeat. It has certainly energised me.

We're having a good weekend and are all enjoying homemade cheese scones!! Today we're taking kids and dogs to have a good walk before going for a pub lunch. Then, maybe I'll get a chance to do some knitting!