Sunday, 31st July....

Hello again!

I am gratified to see that some people are reading this blog. I've had a few comments!

We popped up to our friends' house for drinks and nibbles last night. They had invited their next door neighbours who were over on holiday. I came over all domesticated and made some sausage rolls with my own fair hands. We sat outside (one of the things I love about living in Spain - you can sit outside at night and be perfectly warm in a summer dress) and nibbled and drank and nibbled and drank until 1 a.m. Went home slightly rat arsed! I had no business feeling as reasonably healthy as I did this morning. Should have had a hangover but I got away with it.

Bryn just got back from doing an airport run to Alicante.  He's gone to bed with a pounding headache.

Sold another buckle off the buckleman web site today. Seven down, eighty nine to go. If anybody is interested, Bryn is selling his collection of German Military belt buckles. He started collecting them when he was fifteen but now they are pension fund!

I've done the ironing and now I'm going to have a go at writing some good descriptions for these earrings I made a few weeks ago, just before I went off for my regular jaunt to the UK.

 Simple sterling silver spirals.

 Copper and haematite earrings.

 Copper wonky heart earrings with Swarovski crystals.

 Sterling silver large oval hoops with Mother of Pearl.

Sterling silver wonky hearts with red glass heart beads.








Some will be listed in bluetina and some in bluetinatoo. Not sure which ones yet.

See you later!

An interesting few weeks....

My poor little blog has been sadly neglected.  I've been so busy these past few weeks that I haven't had time to blog about anything!

Unfortunately, I have not been busy making jewellery.  Real life has been happening to me - it seems to happen with alarming regularity and lightning speed lately. Another symptom of growing older, I think. Speaking of which, April saw the coming and going of my 60th birthday.  I am officially an old wrinkly, senior citizen, aged crone or whatever!  As the Spanish say "Soy una pensionista!" I may be of pensionable age but I have not been recompensed - I will not be eligible for my UK state pension until I'm 61 and a bit. They are gradually moving the pension age for women up to 65 and I was caught at the beginning of the sliding scale. My  poor husband (toy boy) is only 55. The way they keep moving the goalposts, he'll probably be 95 and out if it by the time he qualifies!

I spent three weeks in the UK visiting my Mum, having my birthday, seeing grandchildren, friends and relatives and it seemed that not a day went by when there wasn't something to do, someone to see, or somewhere to go. I took wire and pliers with me but never got to touch them. Since coming home to Spain, I have visited friends in Alicante, done lots of shopping, washing, cooking, ironing and cleaning but no creating! I'm trying to get back into the "zone" but it's hard. I managed one pair of earrings today so I've made a start.

I'm also trying to catch up with Artfire's Social Media Boot Camp course.  That's another thing I was intending to follow while in the UK.  Didn't happen, of course! I'm slowly working my way through all the Forum threads and making copious notes. We're doing Facebook at the moment. I already have a Facebook Page so I've got a head start there. Next, I believe, it's Twitter. God help me.....

A Woman's Work is Never Done...

Well, not by me, generally speaking. Except today. Today I had to do HOUSEWORK!

I wanted to do the ironing. I think "wanted" is the wrong word there. Perhaps "needed" would be better. We were about to run out of clothes to wear. I looked at the floor and the layers of dust on it. And the balls of fluff. "I can't do my ironing with that there!" I sighed. You know how things you're ironing sometimes end up draping on the floor. So I found the cupboard with the cleaning stuff in it - took me a few minutes. I recognised the broom after a while and found I actually remembered how to wield it!

"I'll just sweep up this bit" I said to myself. Of course, once I started sweeping, I couldn't seem to let go of the broom handle! It lead me into the lounge and then the kitchen and then the bedroom......

Then I noticed the dust on the sideboard, the dining table, the coffee table, etc. A couple of candles had melted all over the mantelpiece. (We have a lot of power cuts here - candles are essential). Then, of course, I had to vacuum up all the dust, crumbs and other unidentified detritus gathered in the middle of the room. THEN I did the ironing!

I'm not supposed to be doing housework. I have an official quote from my dear husband. "I don't expect you to do housework. You're far too busy!"

My heart leapt when I heard that!  Silly me, I assumed it meant that he would be taking over this onerous task himself! He does it when he feels like it, for which I can't blame him. I very rarely feel like it! The annoying thing is, he tells everybody that he's better at housework than I am. No, he's not better at it, he's just faster! Which means he misses bits. When I clean, I CLEAN! Which is why it would take me all day to do one room. He does the whole house in two hours and ignores the little areas he doesn't consider important.  The total inability to see dirt is hard wired into the male psyche!