I'm still here...

 Hello friends...

I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a very 

Happy Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

I'm sorry that life has gotten in the way of blogging this past year but that's just the way it is... So many ups and downs and changes.

Thank you for all the beautiful cards I've received, it's lovely to know that you are still thinking of me as I do you. 

I still find a little time to enjoy my hobbies and I'll leave you with this little guy

 

Stay safe and enjoy the holidays

~Ros ~

It's Been Awhile...

 ...A long while

Hello there, I hope this finds you well?

Life for me has changed a lot over the last few years and I guess for some of you too but I continue to do the things I love and the things that make me happy. Sadly both my sewing machines broke down and I had to buy another one to keep me going until I am able to get to a repair shop because I love to sew...

Recently my husband had his driving licence revoked due to him having glaucoma despite his consultant and 2 independent opthamologists saying he was perfectly fit to drive. It is like taking his legs away - so after many years I have had to start driving again and believe me I am finding it nerve wracking.

 

I can honestly say that life is anything but quiet in this household, the universe continues to visit us with challenges. It all got too much for my husband and one morning he collapsed and fell down the stairs...He was incredibly lucky not to have done some serious damage and spent a day in hospital with only cuts and bruises but boy it gave me such a fright. 

 

Anyway, today I have some happy paintings to share - meet the beach babes

 

 

 

 

of course not all beach days are warm, sometimes it's blowing a gale on a coastal walk

and I did a double page in my tiny art book

 

I don't know why it is that I prefer to do paintings that involve the sea but I'm always led there and...in a couple of weeks we will be taking a 7 day cruise from my home town to France. We are so looking forward to it, the rest, the sea air and not having to do anything but enjoy...

I hope you enjoyed seeing these, wishing you a beautiful day

~ Ros ~ 

May

 Hello there...

Looks like I missed out April, well it was a busy month for us with highs and lows. We did however spend 5 days on the sunny island of Majorca and it was a joy. The weather blest us and everything went well, in fact we've had wonderful weather this past week too.

 

I was due to see the spine consultant this week but he's taken ill and all appointments have been pushed back... I'm slowly but surely losing the sensations in the fingers of my right hand now but I keep going with sewing, painting, baking and as much as I can really. 

So today I have a few painting to share with you, this is one of my favourites, it just captures peacefulness don't you think

 

 I'm addicted to seascapes, it's where I always lean too

 

 One of my brothers was so impressed that he asked if he could buy one, of course I painted a couple for him (free of course) but I forgot to photograph them

 

Sometimes I like to just let the paint flow and see where it takes me as in this next one

 

and I like to feature birds a lot

 

 I guess I have a go to colour palette too but I still like to paint flowers too or add them to my seascapes

 

 

And my final one  is in my teeny little art journal...

 

 

I'll leave you with a photo my hubby took on our holiday (wearing one of my own creations)

 

 Have yourselves a wonderful day

 

~Ros~

 

 

 

March

 Good morning friends

I can't believe it's March already and I'm way behind with so many things. I have letters to write and cards to send and things keep getting in he way. I'm due at hospital later today for a procedure I'm dreading as the last one left me with an infection for 2 weeks, so I'm trying to keep my mind elsewhere. 

I have a few paintings to share with you though... I did a few mini paintings on cardstock, about 10x10cms

When I'm worried about things I pull out the paints and let my mind go to nicer places

Like warm sunny beaches

 

or peaceful places

 

 

This one is a little bigger

 

And a lifelong friend of mine who now lives in the USA, has just moved into her new appartment so I made something for her as she has started a gallery wall

 The card was done using up paint on my pallet, then drawing a flower and painting over it

and a larger painting for her

I still have much to share and one day I will get around to it...

 

Sending hugs and love to ou all

 

~ Ros ~

February

 Hello lovely friends, I hope you are well.

February is already here and it's a cold one...Hubby celebrated his 81st birthday yesterday and I can hardly believe it. He's keeping well but like a lot of us, slower than we used to be. Unfortunately due to some health issues I've been having we couldn't go out to dinner for my birthday last month or his birthday yesterday but hopefully in the next few weeks things will improve.

I've a few cards to share with you today, painting has been my go to. Much of it ended up in the bin but these I was able to make into cards to send to my blog friends...

 

I do love seascapes, I'm sure you've noticed and I love trying to do interesting skies

 Most of these are painted with the prima paints and I sometimes use paynes grey from tubes

 I can't wait till April comes around and I get to spend some time by the sea...

And the last one

 

I still have a lot of sewing projects to share with you and I will eventually get around to photographing them.

Enjoy your day and thanks for popping by

 

~ Ros ~

 

 

January

 Hello dear friends...

First off let me say a big thank you for the lovely Christmas cards and birthday cards I received. It is so touching to know that you are thinking of me.

I hope you are all well and safe? The dreadful sight of the fires in California has shocked everyone. I can never begin to imagine how people cope losing everything, my heart goes out to all.

Christmas here was a quiet affair with just the three of us and our Anniversary was celebrated with dinner at a Greek resturant. Ian wanted to get away but honestly it was far too cold with so much flu and covid still about, we were better at home.

My birthday was not so quiet as I had visitors all day which completely wore me out, so much so that we abandoned going out that evening. However, we are making up for both the anniversary and our birthdays (hubby's birthday being in a few weeks). We have booked a 5 day break on our favourite Island of Majorca in April. As well as that we are taking a 7 day cruise in July.

As I'm sure you are aware, cruises have a few formal evenings, which I used to dread, but this year I decided to make my own evening dresses, something suitable for my age and something to cover my scars - I thought you would like to see them.

This one is a gorgeous shade of blue in shantung silk so it shimmers

Excuse the machine in the background Lol! I make up my own patterns but fitting them to me is quite a nightmare - I don't have a proper dummy, this is just a shop one and we are not quite the same size.

The belt is very sparkly but it doesn't pick up on the photo.

And the second one

 

This was harder to photograph - It has a sew on Diamante and a godet at the back. The top part is a fine crepe, lined and the skirt is a scuba crepe. They look really nice on, and I'm looking forward to wearing them - It's been a long time since I dressed up.

And the cost?  

They each cost around £10 to make, so worth the effort. I can sew fine with a machine but the hand sewing is very difficult for me and takes the longest time.

I also have a painting to share, a moody seascape. 

I had my 2nd shingles shot on Monday and had a very bad reaction to it so I've been sick all week. Then yesterday we had very high winds due to the storm, the morning was dark and wet, so what came from that was my moody painting

Let me know if you'd like to see more of my creations and I will share when I can.

Be safe my friends,

Till next time

~ Ros ~

Another Post

 Goodness me... 

Thank you so much for your comments and the lovely cards I have received. 

Our postal system is dire despite the charges, but it's about to be taken over so one can only hope that it gets back to they way it used to be. I have posted cards but whether they get there is another matter.

I find it difficult to photograph my watercolours but I attempted to do just that prior to posting. Here are some ..

I did lots of trees

Of course in Blues and greens

Unfortunately it doesn't show the sparkle

Then some foliage...

And finally I did a few of these girls in snowy scenes but didn't think to photograph them before posting

I will try to be a better blogger and share when I can, my hands are painful most of the time which doesn't help. Maybe I'll share some sewing projects... I can use the machines but hand sewing, oh my...

Till next time

~ Ros ~

Merry Christmas

 Well it's been far too long and honestly I'm not sure what to say really...

I do hope this finds you well and not too stressed and if I have missed important matters I can only apologise.

I'm still uncertain as to whether I will carry on with blogging or if there is anyone who even still follows me - I guess my life has changed so much these past few years and no doubt some of you  may have been the same. Each day I wake up and I'm grateful for being here and still having my husband, my son and my small family.

It has been another year of far too many hospital visits, more surgery and mishaps, including part of my chest bursting open during the night following my last surgery, my husband collapsing a few times and we even managed to catch covid. We lost a number of friends this year, each one suddenly without warning and for awhile our world crumbled.

On the upside, last week my husband got the "all clear" and I finally got discharged from both the lung clinic and the breast clinic at the end of October. I still go back for fluid to be drained when necessary but it feels weird not to be regularly visiting the hospital.

I did carry on painting but sewing has been my main pastime along caring for my husband who is nearly 81 and sadly not what he used to be.

My stamps, dies and stencils have not seen the light of day for a long time and I'm not sure that they ever will...

After all we have endured these past 2 years we are looking forward to Christmas together and celebrating our Silver Wedding Anniversary in January.

So on that note I wish you all a very Happy Christmas, may the New year bring you good health and happiness

Ros

xxx

 

 

As Promised

 Hello there friends...

As promised I do have some paintings to share, mostly abstract ones today with a seascape thrown in.

Did I tell you that my camera broke? Well it did so I used my phone for these and I apologise for the blur in some of them but my hands are not at all steady.

Anyway here we go, random paint and when dry I add the little features

 

I haven't added sentiments as yet, took me awhile to make these into cards. I hope you enjoy them.

On another note I finally have a couple of appointments for breathing tests which I have to undergo before I see the specialist. I'm doing okay and fingers crossed that the fibrosis doesn't spread. Hubby is also doing well after his collapse, he was a bit low for a few days but is now back to his usual self.

I hope you are all doing well, till next time...

~ Ros ~

 

Happy Valentine's and Hello

 Hello there friends

I know it's been such a long time since I posted and I don't yet have anything photographed to share but I'm working on that.

It's been as hectic as ever with appointments and I had carpal tunnel surgery in January

 

Whilst it can't eleviate the nerve pain in my hand, it has saved me losing the use of it totally. So that left me out of action for awhile.

I am still receiving draining for the seromas since the mastectomy operation and I have been diagnosed with lung fibrosis from the radiotherapy I received so I am waiting to see a lung specialist but quite frankly it has changed my life.

I can no longer go to my exercise class and the simple things leave me breathless but I'm accepting the things I cannot change and still doing what I can including painting and sewing.

We've lost a few friends this year and yesterday we attended the funeral of a really lovely guy but there were so many people at the crematorium that we had to stand until someone gave me their seat. Unfortunately my husband became dizzy so we went out to the foyer where he collapsed. It was dreadful and I was so grateful to the people that came to help including the undertaker from the next funeral waiting to come in. 

He is fine now, and it's one of those things that can happen to him if he stands for too long - He is tall and the blood struggles to pump to his brain then he ends up fainting. It hasn't happened in a long while but this time I thought I was losing him and in the crematorium of all places with funerals arriving and unable to proceed. Somewhere there is humour in it all...

I really hope to get back to blogging more often but for now I will leave you with this 

~ Ros ~

Christmas 2023

 Hello again...

I managed to get a few cards photographed, though not great shots...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm loving sheep this year and atmospheric skies, all painted on cardstock. Oh and there is a lot of sparkle but I couldn't pick that up

Hope you like them

~ Ros ~