Still here

June was frantic and the first week of July busy too, and now I feel all in the doldrums - without any wind in my sails, rather than fed-up. 

 I finished my little boat I made from Ann Wood's pattern here.

I made the boat ages ago, but have been waiting for inspiration for the sail.  My upcycled plastic bag bunting provided me with the inspiration I needed so I was able to hang it up as part of the decorations for our party.

 Ann has some very pretty ones for sale.

Meanwhile last week I went to the Isle of Wight for a couple of days to stay with my Dad.  It is not far, but it takes ages as the ferry crossing adds an hour and a half to the journey. My sister will be moving onto the mainland later in the summer, so it may have been my last visit to her bungalow. She lives in Gurnard so we had lunch at the beach cafe and took a stroll along the seafront. It was very windy and I wasn't feeling very inspired.

 The beach huts which I have photographed several times.

The sun catching these sails really made them stand out - it was so blustery it was hard to stand steady enough to get a good shot.

And here our a few shots from our 'do'.  Luckily the weather held out, and although it wasn't that warm, we managed to stay outside 'till midnight.  I failed to photograph the spread,  thank you to Sainsbury's and Heather who made veggie bites and some wonderful little desserts.  And I failed to snap Marvin who helped himself from the buffet when we were all outside -  I had to clip the covers on the platters with clothes pegs!

 Everyone said they enjoyed themselves, and Mr T had friends there going back to his school days.

 Mr T rigged up speakers in the garden and had lined up suitable music.  We warned our neighbours we would be outside till late, but Sara from next door said she could hardly hear us from indoors, so we didn't keep her little ones awake! I think she had a little smile to herself about us 'oldies' having a good time.

 Strange how everyone congregated round the 'bar' - can't think why.  It made an alternative to the kitchen.

Luckily our friend Dave who does a lot of wedding photography took charge of my camera and managed to get portraits of nearly everyone. That is Dave on the bottom row reading the Sunday paper next morning.

I had to sneak Mr T from our recent self portrait as he got missed out - and yes that is me second from the end - I wish I could remember what was so funny.

I've nothing much up my sleeve at the moment but I am hoping inspiration will return soon.  Meanwhile I have a couple of projects that need finishing and I may give myself a couple of 'exercises' to do, (that is the textile sort - not physical, in case you were wondering,) which will fulfill my aim of just doing something. Postman's Knock is great for keeping the creativity ticking over - I've got a few ideas for my next topic, so I won't be idle for long.

Have a good week - I am gradually catching up with everyone.

Jill