What a jolly holiday.

You know how it goes... work, sleep, work, sleep and then before you realise it you need a holiday and, surprise, its holiday time!

Tree and I decided to go back to the first place we ever went on holiday together in Ibiza. We mailed ahead and managed to get the same apartment at the front of the hotel with a beautiful view of the bay at Portinaxt. How good is that? It was just like we had never left.
We filled up the days with trips out to the Hippy Market and to different places around the island. We went to St Antonio and watched the sun go down looking out to Cafe Del Mar, next to Mambo and Club Paradis. The first time we went to Cafe Del Mar there was just an old jetty by some ropey hotels. Now there are big staggered verandahs with canvas canopies that loads of people sit out at. Every night people gather to see the sunset. As the sun sinks below the horizon a big cheer goes up and people clap and whistle. All very pagan if you think about it.

Tree wasn't too well on the second week, so we took it easy and stayed around the apartment and beach. I was glad just to do nothing and chill out. I reckon I put on a few pounds as well due to the fact that the Spanish have no real understanding of veggie food. Nearly every dish was loaded with cheese and indigestion was rife!

Bella Italia!

Tree and I have not long returned from our trip to Venice for her 40th birthday celebration. We had a good time, getting in a lot of walking, and are glad to be back home. Venice is a lovely city but I wouldn't recommend staying for more than a few days as you can take in most of it in a good weekend. It is an expensive place and the locals take every opportunity to inflate prices for the tourist trap. I wouldn't mind but a lot of it is not worth anything to start with. The most ridiculous place to go is Harry's Bar. A club sandwich is 45 Euros (£39). That has got to be one mother of a sandwich for that price!! Some people we know had lunch for four, upstairs in the expensive bit where the menus have no prices marked, and got a bill for over £1000!! There is Murano glass everywhere you go, most of which is imported in from China, and carnival mask shops. We took a trip to Murano and decided to buy a small piece of glass, direct from the foundry where at least we would know it was genuine. We took a trip to the Lido and got on a bus. We were trying to get to Malomocca, a small picturesque village, but ended up going straight through it. Next thing we were going up a ramp and onto a ferry before we could get off. At the other side we drove for miles, with the roadside turning from houses to rougher houses and then a shipyard. At every stop rougher people got on and Tree had a guy with a deep scar, right across the back of his head, sit in front of her. At this point she noticed in the guide that the next stop was in an area where the people were described as "relatively lawless". Needless to say, we stayed on the bus and went back to the ferry pronto. Altogether not bad for 1.80 Euros!!

I must also add that Venice is not good for veggies as the food is all geared towards meat eaters. Hoever we did find, possibly, Venice's only veggie restaurant. Sadly it was on the day before we left!!!

When we got back to Blighty, we went down to see Joy and Nige for a few days and chill. Tree and I enjoyed some nice weather and spent a lot of time on the beach and went hunting for some places to move to.

Now comes the rush as I get ready for the first show of the year at Tiddesley Wood!

P.s Well done to Dan for completing the marathon and don't forget it is not too late to make a donation.

Annual catch up time.

It was about this time last year that I found myself in the same situation of being negligent on my blogging. I seem to remember, as well, that I vowed to make this a singular event. However, here I am catching up again! This time of year is particularly busy for me as I start making preparation for the coming year, festival and fayre wise. On this note, I am glad to say we have confirmed on Tiddesley Wood Spring Open Day, 3 Wishes Faerie Festival and Blissfields. We just have to wait on the outcome of Beauiful Days and The Big Chill.
Otherwise, I have been busy working on the house getting the main bedroom and French windows done. We should be ready to sell in time for next Spring. Tree and I are going to take time out for our birthdays this year and we are off next week to Joy and Nige's for a long weekend and to get ourselves on some estate agents lists. In April we are going to Venice for a week to celebrate Tree's 40th. We thought about longer, but a shorter break means we can have a better hotel and will be enough time to see all we want to see. Also, this allows us to go to India, The Maldives or Sri Lanka in the Winter of 2008.
On the health front, I am feeling a lot better now my weight is down by one and a half stone despite the tablets I am taking, which should put half a stone ON me a month as a side effect. The tablets are beginning to kick in and my cholesterol count is normal now. The downside is I will have to take them for the rest of my life. A small price to avoid a stroke or heart attack!
Well, that's about it for a catch up...until next year....

A well earned rest!

Tree and I took time out to go to Wales for a couple of days break at a campsite/spa. Basicly, you get to camp and have use of a pool, sauna and treatments, like massages, etc. I certainly was in need of a good back massage and felt loads better for having one. We had a day out and about at Tresaith, where the waterfall comes out of the cliffside, and I spent some time studying the magnificent organic forms in the rocks. One resembled the remains of a bizarre sort of animal draped on the rocks. Another, looked like the grain of a tree that had been petrified. All this has inspired me to create some more works! We also made the effort to go and find Jon and Trudi Finch's studio and look at their work. We will be stocking some of their artwork in the shop, soon I hope. Jon is in the process of building an Oak framed eco-house near the studio and they will then use their current house to run workshops. Brilliant idea!

Keeping a promise. The Maha Mantra

I almost forgot. Even though Charles, one of the waiters, is Catholic, he asked that I put the Maha Mantra on the blog. We had a discussion about Lord Krishna, Rama and Sita, the Ramayana and The Mahabharata (Hindu bible). He seemed quite impressed that I had read it cover to cover, as it is 9000 pages long and most Hindus only read sections at a time. The recitation of this mantra gives, and brings, favour and reverence to those that recite it and, more importantly, to Lord Krishna.

Hari Krishna Hari Krishna
Krishna Krishna
Hari Hari
Hari Rama Hari Rama
Rama Rama
Hari Hari.

B is for B'ham, I is for India, V is for Visa

What a day ! Tree and I were up at the crack of dawn to go to Birmingham to get our visas for India. We were told, by someone in the know, to get there early, so we arrived about 10 minutes after the doors opened at the consulate. This was not good on our part as everybody who has been before knows to get there about an hour before. We took a ticket, number 422, as they were serving number 315. As you can imagine, we didn't hang about and went round the jewellery quarter instead. We came back about an hour later and still queued for another half hour. That is not the end of it though ! After you have submitted your application you have to go away and come back after 4pm to collect it ! We went back into town for lunch and spent the afternoon at the City Art Gallery. As I pointed out in a previous blog, people don't look up much and in this case I noticed how nearly everyone at the gallery missed the splendour of the building itself. Understandable you might say, given all the fantastic work on show, but I would argue that the ceilings, in particular, are an artform in their own right. There were at least four huge stained glass domes in the roof that were quite spectacular. I lay down on the floor and took several photos, which produced some interest from other gallery visitors. With regard to artwork, the Pre-Raphaelite work was inspiring and the Buddha gallery beautiful. I was also mightily impressed with some textile work using a method I had not come across before and liked the chrysalis, hanging from the ceiling, most.

A change is as good as a rest !

Not a lot to report since my last blog. Tree and I have just come back from a long weekend at Croyde. We hoped to catch some surf but Tree has been very unwell, temperature and everything, so we left the boards behind. A good job really as the swell was almost into minus figures it was so flat. Tree improved while we were there and we had good weather, so I was happy. Even though we only stayed two nights, it felt like a week and we agreed we definitely needed the break. On the way back we stopped at Glastonbury and had lunch at our favourite, The Rainbows End Cafe. I think a few issues, concerning where I am going, have been resolved, and that is a weight off my mind. It is a pity that I now have to face the endless barrage of complaints at work, about the branch closure, for the next two months. Oh well, things could be far worse !!!

A short break and thick nobs.

We've just come back from a few days in Wales and feel refreshed and ready to face the challenges of everyday Worcester life. Although the weather was hot, we still haven't managed to get into the sea at Mwnt, but I'm sure we will next time. We explored the north of Aberystwyth and decided that we prefer to look at the Cardigan area to live. Whilst out and about we went to a car boot near Sarnau and met a nice couple there, called Claudine and Simon. Simon is a tree surgeon and makes handcrafted wooden furniture, how ironic is that !! We spent a long time discussing the merits of moving to Wales and they have kindly offered to look out for smallholdings for us. Anyway, I've posted a couple of photos of Aberystwyth, taken from the top of Constitution Hill, just to post a photo really. Oh, and I almost forgot, we stopped at a golf club for a spot of lunch at Newport, whereon we got a very snotty reception and we're told we had to book for lunch, whilst being looked up and down. We sat outside the main dining room, spoiling their view, judging by the way we were looked at, so I left a little reminder for them, made from a crisp packet, before leaving. It's good to confirm peoples negative stereotypes sometimes !!!

All play and no work !

As you will have gathered from the lack of blogging, Tree and I have been away for a couple of weeks sojourn. As part of the bigger plan, to move away from Worcester, we went to Ballydehob, in south west Ireland, to see if it would be a suitable place to move to. We stayed in a place called Ardura Beg Cottage overlooking Roaring Water Bay and, as you can see from the photograph taken from the living room window, had a beautiful view of the bay. The castle to the left of the photo belongs to Jeremy Irons and the lighthouse, to the right, is Fastnet. There is too much to put in one blog about our trip, so I will spread it out, with a few photos, over the next few days. Sadly, living there would be a logistical nightmare for the business - it took us sixteen hours just to get there !! Certainly, if we didn't have to come to mainland UK, it would have been brilliant. Peace and quiet, absolutely no light pollution, fresh air, clean water, loads of healthfood shops and the sunsets were phenomenal.