The calm before the storm ...

Thank you for the quiet time alone last friday. For being able to do the school drop off and start my day with the buzz of the city and tea for one. For finding this beautiful rubber stamp (pictured above) that will forever make me smile and will bring much joy. Thank you for week-ends and time together as a family, for second breakfasts and the genius of having a dunkin' donuts next to pret for the ultimate mix it up! Thank you for the pleasure of watching that eldest boy of mine enjoying a moment and folks he really knows how! For play dates and role play and for Grandma's that make fabulous dressing up clothes and grandchildren that appreciate them. Thank you even, for chicken pox because without all of the chaos of itchiness and lack of sleep, the calm of the week-end would not be so sweet. For biscuits with faces on that distract from the itch ... for a little while at least and for building towers with bricks and knocking them down again and again. Like Rocky Balboa once said to James 'Clubber' Lang 'Ain't So Bad'!!! And it really ain't, so, bad!

Summer, summer, summertime ...

It's summertime and it has been lovely to catch up with family and friends over the last few days. We had a wonderful time in Liverpool visiting my in-laws, who in one fell swoop managed to make eldest son's summer wish list come true by taking us to Wales, for a paddle in the sea followed by fish and chips ... it doesn't get better than that!! (well obviously it does but hey, he doesn't know that yet) plus it was a fabulous day out for all.

B & E (my in-laws) were even sweet enough to let hubby and I have a night out whilst they stayed in with the kids!! A great time we had too sipping cocktails and visiting a couple of indie bars in Liverpool town centre, listening to great tunes and reminiscing about back in the day!!!

Yesterday, I had the luxury of a few hours to myself and so met up with a great friend of mine who I actually studied with at university. The very lovely Emma is a very talented artist who I am desperate to feature on this blog because ... well it would just be rude not to share her beautiful work!! In fact I am very excited to say that she agreed yesterday to let me interview her about her art practice and I hope that interview plus lots of delicious examples of her work will be featured here on this blog in the next couple of weeks. I have been hugely inspired and motivated by Stephanie Levy's Artists who blog and figured I already know lots of people who are very talented that I would love, love, love everyone to know about. So, watch this space for further developments with that!!

In the mean time, here are some photos I took of a shop window in North Wales ... I thought these hand made boxes with images of birds set against traditional net curtains and occasional floral print were just ... beautiful!