Friday 28 June 2013

Friday random


It's raining. I was hoping for a walk on the beach before setting up at the arts festival but that's not going to happen.....


I just bought a frame and when I got it out of the packet it's all damaged. Back to the shops. Hoping the extra trip won't be too much mileage, the car is telling me to REFUEL. insistently. I am ignoring it..........
whilst I have time to sit here and refuel myself with a cup of tea and half an hour blog catch up I don't have time to go to the petrol station......(ok mostly it's because I can't stand the smell........) 
 hope I don't regret this decision later.......
(edited later, I did most of the driving about and then caved in and went and queued for an age for petrol. horrid stinky stuff. but I couldn't face the idea of  breaking down in the torrential rain......)


google reader is closing down on Monday, I've put a bloglovin link on the sidebar, it's easy to import all your subscriptions. 


photos from Boulmer lifeboat station. thankfully the lifeboat itself is a bit newer than the accompanying vehicles...........

Friday 21 June 2013

drawing with threads.

black thread on cream linen.
 
 
inspired by wild flowers,

 
fossils,

 
and feathers.

 
panic has set in over prepartions for the Alnmouth Arts Festival next weekend, if you want me I'll be buried under a pile of threads somewhere.........
 
 

Thursday 20 June 2013

wildflower inspiration

 
cow parsley

 
dandelions

 
daisies and buttercups,

 
I love how the hedgerows explode with life and colour at this time of year.
 
 

Monday 10 June 2013

Moonwalk Edinbra 2013


We arrive at the largest pink tent in the world.
Preparations begin for the night ahead;
Costumes are put on, and green sparkly makeup applied.
Meanwhile we are listening to drum bands and rock bands,
watching dancers,
learning about what the money raised is spent on, about the research it enables and the improvement in the quality of care for cancer patients.
A nurse gets quite emotional as she talks about the difference it means to her patients.
We get something hot to eat, and a neck and shoulder massage.
There is an emotional minutes silence.
A hug with the person next to you.
Music from the Rock Choir.
"Something inside so Strong" - the words stay in my head, and I sing them quietly to myself later in the night, and they help me up the hill  that is the Royal Mile at mile 23.
A warm up routine to get those muscles working.


Outside of the tent everything is dark and the tent is now decorated with giant glowing "moons".


We line up in our start group, waiting for midnight. It is much colder than everyone had hoped for, the sun of the previous days replaced by a grey day, drizzle and light wind. Clear ponchos are put on over the costumes and everyone rustles expectantly.


Midnight. Off we go, first stop Arthur's seat, up and up we go, there is a sound of gentle chatter, and the rustle of ponchos, but it is eerily quiet, and without any street lights almost totally black, some people are wearing lights, and they glow like Christmas trees in the darkness. We reach the top and see the lights of Edinbra spread out below us, but none of my photos in the dark come out well, and I give up until it gets lighter.
We walk through Edinburgh city centre and on the streets people are still out and about, everyone waves and cheers us on. The Castle is lit up pink for us, it is quite the sight!
Now we are walking through residential streets and it is oh so quiet, but there are houses with bra's hanging the windows, people waving from the ends of their driveways, ribbons and balloons tied to hedges. A child giving out drinks and home baking, a elderly lady waving a bright pink bra. Wonderful. 
As we pass Silverknowes we can see the sea, it's 3.30 am and it's already light. There is a chill wind off the water (gloves on now) and it feels like a long way to go, but there's a disco bus playing music and  cheerful volunteers encouraging us on. "Keep walking. You're doing really well."
There's a group of young lads playing guitar sitting on the wall and encouraging us to dance. At 4am!


4.30 and we see the sun, keep walking.


The light on the water is amazing, and I want to stop and take better photos  but I know if I do I won't start again, so walking and clicking, is the only way.
I start counting down the miles until I can have a cup of tea, and am impossibly excited at mile 20 in Portobello to find a beach side cafe van has opened early specially and is selling teas and coffees at reduced prices and giving away chocolate Brownies. I have never been so happy to buy a cup of tea. 
It warms me up and I gladly get take off the poncho, fed up with the rustling, and we are given oranges and sweeties by a hair salon, who have opened up to let everyone use their toilets. 


As we walk we admire the costumes of all the other walkers, we saw wonder woman and her twin, lots of sequins and feather boas, and the all colours of the rainbow. For some reason we always seemed to end up behind these three, so brightly coloured against the grey skies.
We skirt around the bottom of Holyrood Park, no need to go back up Arthur, but as we walk we pass a group of walkers heading out to do it all again. These are the elite walkers, the Over the Moon walkers, the once round isn't enough, lets do it twice walkers. We applaud them and wonder in awe how they are still smiling.


North Bridge, and we have done the last of the uphills, round the corner is a lady I was waiting to see, diagnosed with breast cancer 12 years ago she has supported the moonwalk for the last  few years, holding up a sign that says "thank you from people like me", this is her story.  She had promised me a hug on the walk the walk forum, and I walked over that bridge to get my  hug I had to try really hard not to cry. I was stiff and tired and ready for a sit down, but she was a reminder me of the reason we were there, and I really had nothing to complain about. 
and it was a good hug.


The next two miles were filled with the most cheerful volunteers possible,  


with the most fantastic signs.



I was ever so pleased to see this one!


and finally the finish line.


and a medal.

I may never take it off.

Saturday 8 June 2013

It's time for Moonwalk Edinburgh!

Moonwalk day has arrived.
The sun is shining.
The mermaid outfits are finished.


The arrival of the crocheted fish from dottycookie had me squealing with excitement.


In the interests of modesty, and in order not to frighten anyone away I haven't posted a photo of me modelling the outfit, but here is my bra - everyone wears a decorated bra to increase awareness of breast cancer,



and here is the complete outfit, with a silk shrug for a little warmth, and a long blue/green mermaid plait.  Just need to add some sparkly makeup and the transformation will be complete.

Tonight whilst you are sleeping in your beds I shall be walking 26.2 miles around Edinburgh (up Arthur's Seat, and along the coast) starting at about midnight and hopefully finishing at around 8am.  It has been lovely having you along with me virtually on all my training walks, all 492 miles of them, and thank you so much to those who have sponsored me. It means such a lot to me to know that every mile walked will make a difference to the future of breast cancer treatments.

Wish me luck, hopefully I'll be back tomorrow - with  a medal.

you can read more about my fund raising and sponsor me here - thank you xxxx