The SOSF (Society of Secret Fairies) have struck again

A cheery postman still wearing shorts (its very mild for this time of year) knocked on my door this morning with a surprise parcel from across the ocean, the SOSF have struck again.
Clearing a space on my work bench and with camera at hand to record the occasion I preceded to open the box in a careful but excitedly hasty manner, a gorgeous smell wafts from the box and fills the air of my small untidy studio a hint of the season to come... I catch a glimpse through the autumnal coloured packing ... beautifully wrapped parcels.

A coveted box filled with goodies... I begin to open colourfully wrapped parcel after parcel. A handful of magnets... some stickers as well as other little goodies reminding me that Halloween is nearly upon us... Fun pumpkin earrings and necklace jewellery with a not so scary sparkle purple spider ring presented in a lovely little gift box all will be worn while i scare the bejesuses out of the kids who knock on our door this Halloween. Some homemade scented oil and 4 packets of seeds from the SOSF friends garden that I will be planting in the near future… A delectably scented candle that I cannot help but repeatably sniff (does that sound weird? on second thoughts don't answer that) Lots of goodies to eat ... fall harvest pasta and creepy crawly jelly sweets and chocolates that I will be eating while I look through the Home Companion from cover to cover this evening with my feet up which I know I'm going to thoroughly enjoy... and lots more besides if you don't believe me have a look for yourselves....

A thousand thanks to the Fairy that sent it!
Tara you truly are a wonderful fairy... :>)

P.S. I may be a bit slow in returning the favour… but never fear I have been gathering some goodies together and hope to have it winging its way to you soon!!. (now were are those homing pigeons?!!)
Debs x

I had a lovely surprise waiting for me when I returned from my monthly outing to the Doctors yesterday Tuesday morning, An unofficial SOSF gift from my friends Penny and Toby at Natural Attrill Opening the small box I was greeted by a lovely pair of earrings handmade by the ever talented Toby and I have been wearing them ever since. Thank you again Penny and Toby for my ‘cheer up’ gift they really did put a smile on my face

Thank heavens for digital cameras after several attempts and lots of pics of my left nostril, i was finally able to get a pic with the earring in shot.

Work wise I have spent today working in Photoshop retouching wedding photographs. I would love to show you some before and after shots but I don’t yet have permission. The photos in question are lovely, but the groom has his eyes closed in one particular photo were the bride looks fabulous, so having flicked through the rest of the wedding album and found a photo were the groom is in a similar position with eyes open, I set about superimposing those eyes onto the photo that the couple want a large print from. I also spent a bit of time on the wedding group photos smoothing out clothes and removing blemishes. Finally put together a montage of photos from the day it self which I am in the process of printing out onto A3 premium glossy paper. These will be framed and given to both sets of parents as a memento of the day. I must admit I really do enjoy doing this type of work and seeing the couple involved faces when they see the finished product is priceless… And they say the camera never lies.

A time to reflect

First off I am sorry I have not posted for awhile, but I have a good excuse, I have been unwell. Some of you know that I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis and after a rather long spell in remission it decided to kick off big time. The past couple of months have been pretty bad with most of my joints being affected, I have had to have help dressing and not been able to walk without doing a seriously good impression of a cross between Quasimodo and Long John Silver. On a positive note I have lost weight woohoo yeah! 12lbs to be exact due to this glitch (the body burns up a lot of energy when the immune system goes into attack joint mode) not really a good way to do it but hey I’m not complaining. And I have been trained to give myself my weekly injection of Methotrexate and have been jabbing myself for a number of weeks now, something I never thought I would ever do. In the mean time my lovely doctor has given me a course of steroids which has helped ease the pain bliss! and I am starting to get back to my normal self (what ever that is)

With my apology in place I thought I’d better to include some photo’s to break up my pitiful excuse for not posting for so long.

The first pears from the tree planted in the garden two years ago. They tasted fantastic.

The apple trees were thwarted at the first post due to the blooming magpies eating the apples when they first started to grow (hope they had belly ache ha ha! ).

It’s that time of year when the lovely landscape treats us to one of nature’s most spectacular displays and as the green ivy covering my house turn to gold’s and reds and wildlife makes its presence known, I have been woken the last two weeks by large flocks of migrating geese flying over head most mornings honking loudly, a sound I must admit does make me smile. I find myself reflecting on what I have accomplished so far this year which if i am honest is not as much as I had wanted to do.

I bought a tiny ivy plant from Woolworth's for £1.89 approximately 15 years ago it now covers two-sides of the house and is home to birds, bees and other numerous creatures. The last photo is taken from my bedroom window

With that in mind I have set my self some goals, some of which I want to accomplish before the year is out, one particular project has got my creative juices flowing again and find myself really excited about getting it of the ground, I will post more details when I can.

A experimental style i did a couple of months ago. Turned out better than i thought it would, and i have several other sketches i am going to colour up. Painted traditionally in watercolour and coloured pencil .