getting off the treadmill and relaxing!

Whoa, time to myself!!???? I am utterly enjoying just 'being' at home (even though that entails housework too), and not having to do anything I have not decided to do for myself! Sounds a bit over the top maybe, but I am in need of solitude my friends! It has been too long since I had an actual day or two to decide what I want to do in, and I am really glad that time has come! Probably the fact that autumn has been replaced with the monsoon season here in Holland is helping me to stick around the house and not go off on any 'trips' to various little, small, uninteresting craft stores.................dying to get over to them really but no cash! Added to the awful rain here, it is weather for ducks only folks! Peter is planing a trip to Egypt for his work and tempting though it is, I am staying here and getting on with stuff I have in the diary for this and next month. I am doing a huge workshop on 10 November for a womans club, and it is time to get the kits together and decide what they will be making! Something christmassy for sure... My mobile suddenly upped and died at the start of the week so I lost all my contact numbers in one swoop. Tim told me about saving to the sim card....obviously I didn't know about that earlier or I would have done that, but Peter had a spare phone to put my card in and so I am able to continue using it when people let me have their numbers again!! Thanks to those who have already let me have them! I went to the new choir last night but only 5 of us turned up, which probably means that it is over before it got really started which is a shame. However, last night a lovely 'conductress' came along to see us and she had trained with Maarten from Enjoy, in Zoetermeer so it was wonderful! She did all the same things as he used to do, so it felt very comfortable with her. Maybe there is a possibility that she has got another choir locally, so I hope something nice comes of it. What else? Tims girlfriend has had a photoshoot for her birthday and she looks gorgeous in her photos! Really professional standard, so I will add a couple here so you can see Alicia in all her glory! I am looking forward to a card workshop in Den Helder on 18 October, as I want to find inspiration for my own cards soon! It feels as though it has all got so 'busy' in the designing of cards - bigger, brighter, and more embellised that ever, that I think I am going to be simple and clean this year, and not over-fussy. I have done a couple of simple designs that appeal to me, so I think that is the direction I will be going in. It is all getting a bit 'samey' I feel, and the originality of someones own designs is being lost. It isn't a competition after all ladies!! Inspiration can come from all directions but the personal touch is the one that is most valued by friends and family alike. I saw a great book when I was in Simpel Scrappen last time, and I think I will get it for christmas for myself. Not my usual style at all, but it was such a relief to see simplicity in every layout! I am a fan of Melodee Langworthy and Ali Edwards, so you can see where I am coming from!!! But time for lunch and then some scrapping!!! The monsoon persists.....going nowhere today!