Hi ladies

I have moved. 

Sadly things haven't quite gone according to plan this year and life has been really quite difficult since Christmas. I was constantly tired and cold and those around me thought I was loosing my marbles and becoming quite erratic. Specifically, I couldn't decide what to do about the shop. I had been going to leave to marry Phillip before that all fell apart and I think in my mind I knew I was exhausted. But at the same time I was trying to be realistic and it paid my wages. Deciding what was best was a real problem for me. I loved doing it, well most of it, but I knew I was really tired all the time. I woke up tired. One of my best friends Sarah thought I was depressed and although I disagreed at first I did start to wonder. My other best friend just said I was a pain and said she didn't want to be around me anymore, which was horrid, really hard to hear and just about finished me off at the time.

At this point I thought I'd better go to the doctors. When I told her what had happened in my life recently and that I was tired, cold, irritable all the time and also what my friends thought, she said she agreed with Sarah. She diagnosed anti-depression pills. I went home and cried a bit. Then I decided to move. I knew I couldn't manage without the friend who wasn't my friend anymore, mentally I just couldn't cope with her assessment of my worth and physically I couldn't manage either. And my mum said she was worried about me, why didn't I just go home and get better and then see what would happen next. 

Aren't mum's ace? 

So thats what I did. I packed up and moved within 2 days. All my family came and helped pack, my brother used his huge HGV to shift the stuff and I cried through all of it like a wet lemon. It was very hard and I still wasn't sure. At my age not knowing what you are going to do next is quite scary. But most of all I just felt very, very tired. 

When I got here I had to register with a new GP. As part of this process they take your blood pressure and mine was quite scarily high. I went back later and it was still high so they monitored it over a few days and then did an ECG. Apparently high blood pressure over a long period can cause damage to your heart. My ECG wasn't right and my tiredness down to this. I know I should be upset by this but I'm really pleased that I am not depressed. I was quite depressed by the thought of being so depressed my friend didn't like me anymore. That upset me more than anything. Now I know what is causing my problem I can work on getting it fixed. I am so pleased I moved, I may not have found I had a problem until it was too late. 

So I am at my mum's for now. The shop has gone, I am not working, I am resting as they say. I should start to feel better soon and then I will decide whats next. I do actually feel better already, making the decision to move lifted a lot of pressure from me. And it is obvious now that I couldn't have manage to work for very much longer. I still feel really tired but its getting better, well I'm pacing myself better, and I am loosing weight. I have made a new blog - gettingbackbrahms.blogspot.co.uk - and I am leaving this one in my past. I hope you will drop by the new one. The title is a book by Mavis Cheek, I love her books, they laugh at themselves. This one is about a lady whoes failed love life stuffs up her life and ruins her enjoyment of all the things she enjoyed before her life fell apart, one of these being listening to Brahms. It sort of sums up what happened to me and how I feel just now. Most importantly it has a happy ending and much as I really, really miss my friend who isn't, life goes on and I am hoping for a happy ending too.

Love Karen x

PS - Thank you so much for all the reading you have done here in the past, it has been lovely to look at the number of views and think someone is at least a bit interested.

All the very best, Karen x

Wedding Fair Day at Raithwaite Hall

Hello out there. I have had a lovely day today. But it has been a really long one. When I left home at 6.30am it was still dark! I was invited to Raithwaite Hall Hotel, at Sandsend near Whitby by their Wedding Planner - Clare Goldsmith.

I met Clare last year at the Harrogate Wedding Fair and I was lucky enough to stay at this fabulous hotel for my 50th birthday.

Today's visit was work rather than leisure however. The hotel was holding an open day for its wedding venue and had invited a select few (inc me!!!) to showcase their businesses. The hotel is 5 star and everything is beautiful so I was really flattered to be asked.

My china had been packed up and was already in the car so I just needed to load up me and my dogly and then we were off........

Two hours later we were there!

Isn't it lovely?

This is the view coming into Sandsend from the north and showing the pier at Whitby. This morning the sun was shining and the sea was blue.

It looked stunning!

I fed dogly and left him in the car whilst I unloaded my boxes and got set up. Then I took him on the beach for an hour and he chased sticks and waves and another labrador and when he was tired, wet and sandy I stuck him on the back seat of the car on a blanket and went to work.

Even tho' it is still February I left him a big bowl of water - which amazingly he didn't knock over - and all the windows open. When I went out an hour later to check him he was snoring and didn't even open one eye, so he was fine.

Back inside I put some makeup and a tidy top on and the brides started to arrive!

Clare had given me the top table to decorate and it was great fun setting it up.

I wish I was a better photographer though.

I know I'm biased but the china looked stunning!

I have a wedding booked at Raithwaite Hall in March and the bride for that came along too so it was lovely to meet her and her fiance.

She had only seen the china in photographs so it was nice for her to get to touch it. I know it sounds a bit odd but my china really needs to be touched! I am really fussy and only pick good quality fine bone china. It has to be thin and pretty and perfect.

You can't always tell this in photos - you do need to touch it to know its right!

Like this tea pot. Isn't this it pretty?

I prob do have a bit of a problem with china

I do love it.

And it looks so lovely all mixed and matched.

I should point out that there were other people there of course!

Clare and General Manager Nigel were showcasing Raithwaite Hall as a Wedding venue.

The hotel has gorgeous grounds for perfect wedding photos, a wonderful Spa for pampering - I know this because I used it on my birthday - but it must be lovely to use it before your wedding!

Other businesses included a company who make gorgeous bespoke Wedding Stationary and a lovely photographer. I failed to get either of their names, but I'm sure Clare would be happy to provide them if you were interested!

The stationary was amazingly nice!

And Susie Hart, who was showing her amazing flowers.

These were really stunning!

Even with my poor photography skills they look good.

In the flesh they are fab!

You must look at her web site.

She has won lots of awards and her flowers are much better than nice.

There was a Wedding cake lady with some fabulous cakes, but by the time I got around to her with my camera she had almost packed up so I have no pictures, sorry!

And there was a lovely young lady playing a harp.

And a lady with chair covers and sashes.

I love the pearl and diamante fasteners on these!

The lady here had every colour sash you could think of. One bride to be brought a dress in - all encased in a clear plastic dust bag - and matched her chair sashes exactly to the flowers on her dress! The lady on this stand was lovely, I didn't get her name but she was really nice to talk to!

Check their web site here.

I had a lovely time. I chatted to people all afternoon and it seemed to go really quickly!

It got to packing up time sooner than I expected and my dogly was very pleased to see me despite having slept through most of the afternoon.

We had another long walk on the beach. There was a bit less beach by now though. The tide was on its way in. Not that that stopped him enjoying it. He chased around like a mad thing and got wet and covered in sand for a second time.

Dogly had his tea in the car (dried food, luckily) and I went into Whitby for fish and chips before setting off for home.

It was dark again when I got back!

It had been a 14 hour day but one that I really enjoyed and hopefully will get some bookings from.

I'm in bed now so will see you again soon,

Night, night

Karen

Making things

Good afternoon ladies! It is a beautiful day in Wensleydale, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the fell is looking good with the sun lighting its crevices.

This week has been another that hasn't gone quite to plan. I went to my mum's on Sunday, intending to be home on Tuesday afternoon. But due to car trouble ended up staying til Thursday morning. I have a huge list of jobs at home so instead of relaxing into it I was getting a bit edgy at the time I was wasting.

And I was commandeered by my daughter to go shopping for the stuff to make her wedding invites. Not a good idea really as a whole day went missing there. And guess who got the 'making' job? Not that I'm really moaning - I am so excited about this wedding. I just know I'm going to spend the whole day rubbing my face with baby wipes to remove my makeup from where it shouldn't be every time I look at her in her dress, or at my son (who is giving her away) or at my grandsons (pageboys and so cute) or my gorgeous Megan (bridesmaid and the most perfectly beautiful child). You get the picture. Its going to be a good day for the mascara industry.

But, back to reality....

Luckily I had my fabric in the car so I decided to save myself from feeling like I was doing nothing by 'making something'. What exactly I wasn't sure of - but something had to be salvaged from my forced inactivity. In among my fabric I had some with hens printed on it. I like hens, they are somehow quite restful. I toyed with making doorstops, but couldn't get enthused and then decided on cushions.

Hen cushions....

I had this Annie Sloan red homespun check and some linen type with hens printed on it so I 'borrowed' a cushion inner from my poor mum and hunted out her sewing machine. It is surprising how much disruption a little sewing can make to my mum's neat house. The machine went on the dining room table, the ironing board was set up in the kitchen (which it filled) and my creativity just kept overflowing into my mum's neat, dust free, tidy spaces.

But I was pleased with the result. So I had another go...

This time with a cockerel and a bit of leftover heart fabric. I liked this one too.

Especially in my shop window with Fiona's MarmaladeRose Fat Hens sat clucking in front of it.

But then I fancied a complete change and went for hesian and muslin.

I really like this. I had seen a similar bag and cushion on another blog ages ago and I wish I could find it again. Its so frustrating when I can't remember where I've seen something. That lady had made a cushion from burlap and muslin frills with a flower and something printed on it and it looked so romantic I had fancied having a go for ages. Mine has been tweaked a bit, the frills are flatter and finished with lace to cover the edges and my flower is floppier, but the basic idea is hers. If I find who I will post a link cos she had lots of other pretties to look at.

I thought this would be perfect for my bridal window. I just love it!

And that was it, not much really for 2 days where I should have been doing things, but at least I had something to show for it. And I did enjoy it.

It took me ages to put mum's house back to her standard of neatness though!

See you soon I hope

Karen x

Panic

Wow, where does the time go?

I really need more hours in the day than are currently available. Perhaps the current system for hours in each day could be changed? I have had a mega busy week, mostly due to the fact that my personal life has hit a bit of a snag as far as planning is concerned and this has caused much physical work - as well as the "oh my God" and "woe is me" stuff which takes far more energy than it deserves.

Anyway, tis done now and I have transformed my dining room into a haven for my Wedding stuff - for the shop, not me, I'm not getting married. Although my daughter is, which is pretty fabulous. But I digress....

This morning I had a meeting with a lovely bride and her mum. The Wedding is in a couple of months and they have hired my vintage china for the reception. As I had planned to be living elsewhere I had blithely expected my ex sitting room to have been transformed into a lovely Wedding China Showroom oooo several days, if not weeks ago. The lovely people who came this morning were expecting a pretty, well laid out display. This was not the case yesterday - my ex sitting room is now required for sitting in so the whole thing had to be relocated in my ex dining room instead. As both rooms looked like 16 gypsy families had dumped their belongings on my floor and legged it I wanted to cry just looking at it. But with the help of my fabulous friends and a bit of cashed waved at teenage muscle, furniture was moved, boxes were relocated dust was dusted, windows were washed and china was unpacked. It took til after 1am and doesn't look quite how I wanted but it was passable.

The cabinets, which are huge and heavy, were muscled into place by my friend's teenage son and his mate - the same teenagers moved the same cabinets 3 weeks ago when my move was still 'on' so I was well impressed that they were willing to do them again. £20 helped but with all the boxes and other stuff they moved it was well & truly earned.

Then I could get on with filling them, the best bit usually, but this time I was under so much time issue that I was tetchy even doing this bit! I had brought the china down from my mum's the day before - it had been stored carefully packed in plastic boxes in her garage over the winter. I can only fit so much in the cabinets so only the bestest bits get to go in normally, but this time I wasn't sure which bits were in which boxes so it was all done on a much more ad-hoc basis. I like this set a lot though, its really pretty, so it can stay!

I had to make room for candle sticks too, these were part of a set of 14 that went to a wedding last week so needed all the wax cleaning off them before they could show themselves publicly. Lovely Anne did this for me whilst I fretted upstairs with the china.

Lots of other bits went in and finally I was 'happy' with it!

My bride and her mum came to look at cake plates so I had a selection of those to put together too! This was very last minite - they were still all separate plates an hour before!

But I really was pleased with them!

I just thought they looked lovely!

I do like cake plates.

This one was a charity shop find!

Still with its original label on so never used, such a shame.

Then all the other bits had to come in.

Dinky little keepsake boxes, books and albums, hearts and little flags for sticking in buns.

Fiona's - MarmaladeRose - gorgeous lavender hearts.

Birdcages and name/photo holders.

And candelabra, I have hundreds of these, well maybe not hundreds but you try storing them! It feels like hundreds. These went to the same wedding as the silver candle sticks so lovely Anne was very busy making them wax free and presentable. The smaller ones above are 60cms tall.

The big ones are a metre tall which sounds huge, but is great for when you are sitting down. You can see under the branches to discuss how lovely they are with whoever is sitting opposite! At their last wedding these were wrapped in ivy all up the stem. The ivy had been given a slight glittery sheen, they looked lovely, not to over the top, the ivy took the polished look away and the glitter just gave them back enough glam.

Once I had my dinky words in

a selection of hearts

and frames

well that was it!

One last cake plate and I was ready, at last!

It wasn't as planned, but life rarely is.

It was never meant to be in this room. It was meant to be done in a much more relaxed and enjoyable way, with time to contemplate what went where and all that.

But it is done and my bride and her mum came, had tea, chose plates and went away happy - I think - I hope so.

If my mega moan hasn't put you off I will see you again soon!

Take care

Karen x

PS Fiona, Anne, and Sarah - who commandeer'd her son and his mate - are all friends of the highest order, much appreciated and greatly loved for their efforts here and at other times. And because they just put up with me. Thank you girls xxx

Candles & The Dreaded Tax Return

Hello out there.

I had a very mixed week last week. I spent the first half of the week frantically trying to finish off my tax return before the deadline expired. I am useless at numbers and instead of learning from past years I still leave the vast majority of the paperwork 'til the very last minute. This always stresses me out.

Any sane person would do it monthly. But I don't, and this year was no different. So until Wednesday evening I was not very nice to know. But when I had finished it I was in a very smug mood. Because then could get on with the job I was really looking forward to. I had an order for jam jar candles for a wedding!

How exciting is that? And such a responsibility!

I had already made the candles, rose scented from creamy paraffin wax in a mixture of re-cycled jam jars - some fat, some thin, some short, some taller. I was really pleased with these, they smelt lovely and the mix of jar sizes was just what the bride had specified. So the job I had still to do was the best bit - the decorating.

The bride had decided she wanted all the jam jar candles to be wrapped in hessian. Then she wanted them split into two batches - half to be decorated with cream cotton lace and the other half to be decorated with cream roses and ivy.

This really was a nice job!

The lace wrapped ones looked gorgeous. They had two tiny cream rose buds wrapped around the lip of the jar to just finish them off and I thought they looked great.

The rose and ivy decorated ones took a little longer as each one was slightly different.

Some had tiny flowers on narrow hessian

some had bigger flowers and leaves

and some had just a single rose, but they all looked lovely!

All they needed was a safety sticker underneath

and packaging up!

All done and ready to go - along with 8 x 1 meter tall 5 arm candelara, 4 x 60cm tall 5 arm candelarba, 14 single candle sticks, 148 dinner candles and a 7 tier cup cake stand!

So much more fun than doing my tax return!!

Hope you agree.

Bye for now

Karen xx