Swiss Trip 2012

The thing I love most about our trip to Switzerland every year is that nothing ever changes . Well the Alps and the Bernese Oberland wouldn't but then nor do the delightfully old fashioned tea rooms, still decorated in their 70's brown and orange hues with rafia lampshades. There's something rather re-assuring about a place that doesn't feel the need to re-invent itself every decade in the name of 'progress'.

The hotel we stay at is family run and friendly and looks like it would have done 20 years ago, even the staff are there for life, which makes it all the lovelier. The view from our balcony overlooking Lake Thun never fails to make my heart sing and the cool mountain air is the perfect antidote to everything that's stressful in modern day life. And if all of that fails to impress then I can eat my own body weight in cheese and chocolate every single day. What's not to like about a country that is clean, decent, old fashioned , polite and beautiful to look at ?
Oh and then there's the stationery shops brimming with art supplies and coloured pencils and every shape, colour and size of pen, pencil or pencil case. Don't start me.

So here's a few pictures to show you what I mean.

Cycling down from the Niederhorn with the Eiger in the distance.

A quiet backwater in Interlaken 

The hillside in Sigriswil adjoining our hotel apartment

The local Baren Fest ( Bear Festival) where you buy a carrot and if you pick a lucky one you win a delightful bear ... but if you don't at least you get to eat the carrot !

Most bakeries have a sign like this outside . I love to take photos of them all .

The view of Lake Thun from the top of the Niederhorn. Can't get enough of this view nor the turquoise of the water.

The Swiss take real pride in homemade crafts. I bought this table runner with a matching bread cloth for when we have fondues at home at a local craft fair. It's beautifully hand embroidered and cost next to nothing.

Just a few buttons to add to my collection bought from a local garage sale... you can never have enough buttons.

Thrilled to discover an exhibition of the craft of Scherenschnitt - a traditional hand papercutting art which has to be seen to be believed. The detail and intricacy of design is phenomenal.

Meet Susanne Schlapfer who kindly allowed me to photograph her at work.

The organiser's car - how beautiful is that ?

Braving the heart-stopping icy lake waters - those are Max's feet in the air ! Nothing beats swimming in freshwater Swiss lakes fed with water from the surrounding mountains. Even better when followed by a snooze in the sauna. That look on my face is a mixture of pain and pleasure.

Cruising the chocolate aisles at the local supermarket - spoilt for choice.

Views from Oberhofen castle.

Filling up the water bottles from mountain waterfalls.

I only have to wait another 364 days before we're back again.

Calico Cat

Every month, something REALLY exciting happens. It starts with a ring on the doorbell where I'll find my lovely postie standing with a large brown box in his hands.

If I can make it down the hallway without ripping the tape from it's sides in order to spill its luscious contents, by the time I reach the kitchen table , I'm already gasping with delight at the prospect of revealing what lies inside.

Yes its D for delivery Day for my monthly Studio Calico kit.

By the time I've carefully eased the pretty sticker that seals the brown paper bag and stroked each and every piece of paper, I usually find there's an interloper on the scene. His name is Jack and he knows he's in for a treat. I swear he can smell that box a mile away . I'm convinced the lovely packers at Studio Calico must slip in some catnip on the sly.

We've tried a number of comfy, plushy, squishy, furry, padded, quilted cat bed things but to no avail. He knows his place. Not for him the luxury of designer comfort. He prefers the solid, honest, integrity of a brown cardboard box. But I must credit him with great taste . If you're going to curl up for a nap , you might as well surround yourself with the beauty of a Studio Calico kit.

Way to go Jack.

This cake contains ....

... 1 large bar of the finest 70% cocoa solids chocolate, 2 Crunchies, 1 large box of Maltesers, 1 large bag of mini marshmallows, unsalted butter, golden caster sugar, golden syrup, 1 packet of crushed biscuits , 1 large pack of M & M's , 12 candles and about 5 squillion calories.

We'll be injecting it into our arteries after we've polished off a burger and fries at Byron's Burgers, washed down with a vanilla milkshake for youngest son's 12th birthday tonight.

If I'm not back by midnight, call an ambulance.

Happy Birthday Son !

Been Busy

Bought one of those printers trays from 7 Gypsies and I've filled it with loveliness for Max's 12th birthday this week. Rather pleased with how its turned out. There's a message for him in the envelope in the top right corner. It was great fun picking through my stash and finding just the right bits and bobs to fit the spaces. Love these trays.

What the hell are weekends all about ?

You read stories in the weekend sections of the broadsheets , you know the sort , "My ideal weekend' . They always begin with exquisite breakfasts comprising freshly percolated coffee accompanied by pastries from their local artisan bakery and usually end with al fresco dining washed down with a few bottles of Rioja.

Mine are never going to live up to those standards. For a start , I'm usually on Mum's taxi duty, so Fridays are alcohol deprived. By Saturday I'm usually dealing with a couple of sleep deprived, hormonally stroppy teens. The situation normally deteriorates by the early evening because DH has spent the bulk of the day achieving nothing , rounded off by some inane TV sports marathon.

Saturday is my binge drinking opportunity and I make a point of maxing out on cheap plonk. Sunday rolls around all too quickly, beginning with a dehydrated hangover and is usually peppered with family duty visits, homework which usually includes the tail end of some hideous project on which we're usually 3 weeks behind schedule and a couple of sports bags full of stinky, sweaty trainers and T shirts.

There's usually the arbitrary row about how dull our lives have become and a spot of self flagellation about the number of unticked tasks on the To Do list.

Meanwhile the rest of the world appear to be having happy, cheerful, sun kissed family meals al fresco or a spot of pampering at the local spa, rounded off with cocktails or some such with wildly witty mates.

Maybe the grass is always greener. One of these days, I hope to find myself in their shoes. If only.

Art

Just spent a happy hour down at The Landmark in Teddington's Midsummer Art Fair. Never fails to amaze me just how creative and clever artists can be. I always come away bursting with inspiration.

Here's a little peek at my favourites. Do check out  their websites, I guarantee you'll be enthralled.

Joseph Silcott - each bird, heart or butterfly has been painstakingly cut by hand.

 www.josephscissorhands.co.uk

                              

Wirework artist Helaina Sharpley - these images don't really do her work justice. The play of light on their 3 dimensionality casts lovely shadows against the blacks they're mounted on.

www.helainasharpley.co.uk

Glyn Walton - Life in miniature. these exquisite domes are only a couple of inches high. I adore the way that rabbit is poking his head above the corn.

www.glynwalton.co.uk

And my favourite ...

Kate Newington

www.katenewington.com

Kate is not just a talented collage artist but an extremely nice person. I commissioned her to do a collage of the boys for my husband's 50th and it now has pride of place in our kitchen where I spend most of my time. There isn't a day goes by when it doesn't give me pleasure just looking at it.

It captures the very essence of the boys at a time in their lives in a way that fills my heart with joy. Isn't that what art is all about ? The picture incorporates everything the boys were wild about at that time... for Theo it was dinosaurs, Pokemon, purple Starburst sweets and a video he loved called Baby Mozart. For Max it was wind chimes, the lullaby I used to sing to him at night and even the smear of lipstick on his forehead that I'd leave behind on my way out to work. Beautiful.

Lace

Love a bargain. This beautiful piece of cotton lace cost me 50p from a charity shop. Can't bear to think of all the work that's gone into it and then it ends up in the bargain bin. Still, its ended up in a good home.

Just finished this layout

I have a little suitcase and inside that suitcase is a little trinket box and inside that little trinket box is a selection of treasured finds ... which I raided to complete this layout. I'm loving gold at the moment . The tape down the right had side is actually a roll of decorative masking tape with gold labels. I've filled each one with a little treasure. There's a little secret message to my son on the card inside the glassine paper envelope and I've managed to sneak a few birds and butterflies in there too. Quite liking the A4 format these days too. More pleasing on the eye somehow. Oh ... and the man in the moon stamp is from the latest Studio Calico kit as my son always tells me how much he loves me in terms of trips to and from the moon.
Isn't it funny how you don't notice things about a layout until after you've photographed and uploaded it .. like the fact that he has a birds nest sat on top of his head and that the gem in the top right corner is wonky ... oh and that I forgot to attach the strip of gold German scrap to the frame. Ah well.

Dontcha just love it ...

... when you're out shopping for mundane items like shoelaces and something for tea and you come across little beauties like these ....

... and this...

The badges came from Habitat and the little birdie photo holder came from Bentalls. Now you may wonder why I'm in either Habitat or Bentalls when all I need is spag bol and a pair of medium black laces .... well you see , my route to Sainsburys is quite circuitous and takes me right past Habitat's front door and Bentalls ... well I have to walk right through the stationery department to get to the multi story car park. Sort of makes grocery shopping almost bearable.

Incidentally the photo is one of my favourites of my eldest knee deep in mud in the garden when he was 4 years old. That was the summer his baby brother was born and his best friends in the world were a plastic beach spade and the garden hose. Who needs Centre Parks ?

Tell me what you're listening to at the moment . I've just downloaded Ralph Vaughan Williams' Lark Ascending and I'm still dumbfounded, since the day I first heard this,  wondering how on earth a human being can produce such an extraordinarily beautiful sound to almost rival nature if that were even possible.

Choosing to Die - Terry Pratchett

I'm feeling overwhelmed having just watched this documentary on iPlayer.

I cannot get the image of Peter Smedley and Andrew Colgan  out of my mind, all the crueler for the latter given his young age. And then there were their nearest and dearest , Peter's wife and Andrew's mother -  stoic to the last.

What struck me most was the surreal and yet at the same time the ordinariness of it. A total juxtaposition which left me reeling with emotion.  A cup of tea , a choice of meticulously wrapped neapolitan chocolates with which to mollify the bitter taste of the poison.

Reading the reviews I see that the usual 'against most religions' argument has been wheeled out again as a reason to condemn the taking of one's own life, as if it is anyone's business other than your own.

This might well have been called Whose Life is it Anyway . Who on earth has the right to judge whether it is right or proper for a human to choose whether and when to die and the manner of their own death.

All the sadder for this last trembling act  to have to be played out on foreign land in a foreign language in a small, blue, rather impersonal house, ghettoised onto an industrial estate for fear of upsetting nearby residents, with a couple of kindly and compassionate 'hosts' ready with the Kleenex.

I was touched by the irony of the yellow and black chevron safety tape adhered to the front door step , a nod to health and safety , as if the potential of a grazed knee caused by a stumble upon entering can even begin to compare to what is about to happen inside.

I can barely begin to imagine how this must feel for those in the precarious position of finding themselves trapped in a body or mind that has deteriorated to the extent that 'normal' life, whatever that is, no longer seems possible.

The documentary was compassionately edited , sensitively filmed and possibly the most haunting piece of television I have ever watched. One can only hope that the debate will now be widened to allow those with a real say in the matter to decide for themselves. Those whose lives are theirs to relinquish without the overbearing voice of moral jurors breathing down their neck ( as if they were even entitled to have an opinion ) bearing judgement on the actions of a desperate and dying , yet dignified soul .

The Deed is Done...

... I have just submitted my application to become Lord Sugar's next Apprentice. These youngsters haven't got a clue. Move over there's an 'oldie' coming through.

   You're Hired !

At Last ...

.. I've finally found an excuse to buy some of those wonderful little bottles of Windsor and Newton's inks. I've always lusted after them in art shops but wondered how I might put them to good use. Well yesterday I was in one of the world's greatest stationery and art shops ( Coleman's - if you haven't been then go - they're a chain in the Midlands and the last word in personal service , I can't fault them ).

There they were , all lined up tantalisingly and the  polar bear on the bottle of white ink seemed to be imploring me to take him home ... so I did along with a quill pen - cheap and cheerful - extra fine nib which you can store inside the handle thereby avoiding the risk of poking your eye out in transit.

The perfect marriage . Beautifully drawn fine white lines . Beats my Uniball Signo white pen hands down and I thought that was unbeatable.

The only problem is , the inks come in a range of about 20 colours with lovely names and even lovelier packaging. I feel a new collection coming on but then at just over £2 a bottle it's cheaper than wine which I'm not drinking at the moment.

The little birdy is one of Marianne's Creatables. I'm not sure who Marianne is but thank you anyway wherever you are Marianne - your dies are delightful.

Bargain Flip Flops

Amazing what a trip to the Supermarket can lead to . Bought these rather plain flip flops for the bargain price of £1.50 ( £2 originally with 25% off at Sainsburys) .

Loathe to pay the exorbitant prices of Accessorize's decorated flip flops ( £20 and upwards ) I set to with my glue gun and an assortment of buttons and brads and pimped them as follows ....

Whether any of it stays glued remains to be seen .. me and glue don't go very well together.

I'm sat here dabbling in my scrap room when I really should be at Sports Day. It was the black cloud/monsoon icon on this mornings weather forecast that persuaded me to stay home and now I'm paying the price ... Mummy Guilt ! Nothing that a home baked cake won't resolve ... why is food the solution to everything ?

Scrap A Mia

Now just a distant memory .... a lovely weekend spent scrapping chatting and laughing , the best sort. No photos sadly , compact camera has gone AWOL .Can't even upload any of my layouts as I'm ashamed to say I haven't finished any of them yet and wouldn't be able to photograph them if I had .

Favourite class had to be Emma Trout's using Webster's Pages. I am insanely jealous of Emma's sublime attention to detail and her innate sense of style and composition. Her layouts are a joy to behold. When I grow up I'd like to scrapbook like her.

In the meantime I'm muddling along with my own layouts and have this page to show you. A class designed for Lorraine at Scrap Revolution featuring our little kitten Jack , hence the title.

In respect of all things British I actually consulted the official Union Jack website to use the exact proportions and layout of the Union Jack flag. 

I also need to tell you about a new magazine I've just discovered called Mollie Makes. OOOh , what a delightful little publication. I devoured it in one sitting and now have to wait a whole month before the next one. I feel a subscription coming on.

Anyone else at the end of their tether ?

Just 2 words .... exam revision ... oh and 2 more ... teenage sons. Enough said.

My Royal Wedding Top Ten

1. Drinking Champagne with the girls , the cheaper the better

2. Eating cake , homemade of course and piled high with red , white and blue sprinkles.

3. Making paper chains with the boys - you can never have enough.

4. Making bunting - ditto.

5. Watching telly in bed with a mug of tea in my brand new Union Jack mug, of course if I'd known our own little Jack had tasted it first .....

6. Getting dressed up in my wedding dress.

7. The look on my eldest son's face at the the sight of me in my wedding dress with a jauntily placed plastic tiara on my head and a glass of champagne in my hand - priceless.

8. Caviar for tea ( gift from very generous friend).

9. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Flypast. My father was a Lancaster pilot during WW11 and it never fails to bring a tear to me eye.

10. Watching it all over again in the evening.

You can't beat a good wedding, especially when you haven't had to shell out for an outfit or a toaster . How was your day ?

Hellisters

I've discovered a whole new shopping hell on earth . It's a place called Hollisters . The designers and architects had a field day on their drawing boards. The branch at our local shopping centre can only be described as a Hawaiian / mock Tudor fusion with colonial overtones. If you're ever trying to find it a your local shopping centre just look for the hoards of pre-pubescent texting tweenies hanging around outside .

Once over the threshold, past the leather wing chairs and Victorian candelabra ... oh and you sometimes you have to queue up outside ( crowd control ) as if entering a hallowed nightclub,  the light levels dip to about the strength of a 20 watt bulb. You don't need to actually see the merchandise as it's all identical - sherbert coloured T shirts sporting Californian slogans like 'Surfs Up' or 'Beach Bum' or maybe even ' I'm only buying this to show that I can afford £25 quid for a T shirt and all my mates have exactly the same one ' .

I stumbled my way past the throngs of twelve year olds fingering the merchandise, looking for something with an affordable price tag . Fat Chance. The sales staff are on permanent T shirt folding duties as everyone seemed to be doing the same thing - pulling out a T shirt from an immaculate pile , looking at the price tag , mouthing the words " How Much ?!"  then replacing it in a crumpled pile for the folders to do their magic.

Deeper inside this hell-hole , your eyes begin to acclimatise to the dingy lighting but not quite enough to avoid serious injury to your ankles as you trip over the 5" high plinths clearly designed to catch you unawares. The teens presumably have memorised the floor layout in their sleep and can navigate their way around blindfold. Bruised but  not defeated I rounded the corner and entered the preppy area where the clothing was emblazoned with fictional college emblems 'Californian Surf School Alumini 1963 ' and the like. Oh dear. It was all getting much worse than I'd dared imagine. The cotton felt nice though until you realised that it had probably been harvested at the expense of a 9 year old child labourer for the cost a bowl of rice a day.

Eventually I found a 'bargain' garment for  £12 and made my way to the till where I found a snaking queue of at least 30 people clutching their  prospective purchases . You could just about make out the whites of their eyes - difficult to determine whether this was due to a heightened pitch of shopping fever or a nervousness at the prospect of parting with a day's wages.

Gasping with disbelief I plonked my T shirt back on a random shelf in a crumpled pile - well , you have to give the brigade of T Shirt folders something to do , and groped my way to the exit, past the bamboo plantation, round the next bend , hang a right at the Georgian mahogany library shelves, emerging , blinking, into the sunlight.

I don't think my 11 year old will be too upset that I failed in my conquest to bag him an uber trendy T . Bless him - our local Oxfam is his favourite shop.

Next time you're in town , take a look at the passing shoppers. You'll be able to spot the Hollisters customers a mile away . They will usually be a 40 something Mum with bruised ankles and an empty wallet with a texting teen tagging along with a big grin on their face.

Poor old Martha Stewart

She must be exhausted . So far this month she's planted a forest, made all her own soap , appliqued a squillion eggs, hand carved her own herb labels and by page 120 she's held an Easter egg hunt for a bunch of kids dressed in linen suits. It's called a " casual Easter brunch ' , so casual in fact that all of the grown-ups have clearly been instructed to wear yellow whilst sipping champagne ( presumably from her own hand planted vineyard ) before helping the kids decorate their goose eggs at the craft table ( don't think little Johnny's felt penned mess is going to cut the mustard with Martha ) . I'm exhausted already and I haven't even ventured on to page 158 where she tackles cleaning her oven , which includes a step by step tutorial on how to unblock your fuel ports with a paper clip. And how come her duck egg blue apron is spotless ?
Just out of shot are the crew of 100 who doubtless actually do the unblocking for her.

It's easy to have a pop at Martha but it's such fun and that may account for why I shell out £3.90 for her monthly mag , it's the best laugh I've had since watching Michael Mackintyre judge Britain's Got Talent last night on telly.

Flipping through to end of the mag I found a section on how to look bloody marvellous too. Not content with laying your own eggs and crafting your own rugs, she's now telling us how we should dress. Strange though , everyone's upside down , maybe its for the Australian market ? No you have to turn it the other way round apparently and start from the other end to make it look like a whole new mag. What will those clever marketing chappies think of next ?

Incidentally my Easter egg hunts normally get rained off and involve an indoor version with a  handful of the lurid foil wrapped cream egg variety squished behind sofas and hard to find places which , unfound, turn up months later -  a real bonus when you're clean out of chocolate sometime in July and have a desperate urge to stuff your face with something from Cadburys.

I'm currently also reading , as if a glutton for punishment, a book about simplifying your life. I usually have at least one of these on the go on my Kindle at any one time. They're usually another source of guffaws. This one tells me I need to eliminate and simplify . So that's how you do it ? And here's me been cluttering and complicating my life for years with unnecessary burdens. So this morning I'm going to simplify my life by eliminating the ironing and I plan to go out for breakfast and let someone else do the washing up. Actually there are a few gems in the book which I plan to put to the test so if some of you don't hear from me in the next few months it may be because I've eliminated you from my email list. Apparently email and the internet is the scourge of 21st century living ( an element of truth) and we spend 30% of our lives attending to it . So , switching off now so that I don't get lured into the den of the internet iniquity known as the shopping cart. but not before I've checked out Martha's online clip art page which will show me how to print my own rhubarb compote labels.. trouble is I was supposed to plant the ruddy rhubarb plants last year and I clean forgot. Too busy scrubbing down my garden statue collection with baking soda no doubt ( p132 ) .

Bunny Humour

Seeing as it's nearly Easter ...

Oh , I've just checked my blog and seen that the picture above has disappeared to be replaced by a menacing little blue square containing a question remark. Anyone techies know why that is ?

Qualy

I have one problem with this design company. I want one of everything . Feast your eyes on this scene of loveliness.

Oh ... just tried to post a picture but it won't let me ... hey ho , you'll have to look here instead .

Oh , so now it's letting me copy a picture ... ah well , have a look at this little lot.

Trouble is , I can't find anywhere in the UK that stocks their products and as much as I'd love a visit to Bangkok , that would be one shopping trip too far. Incidentally , the white bunny's ears are a pair of scissors and his carrot holds paper clips.