New Year ,New House

So a new year and a new house. Also my small island is a some what larger small island and my business a little in limbo. So a time of reflection and creativity I hope. I shall be re jigging the banner and investigating a new city. I shall be looking at how to continue my business and what craft fairs are out there.That plus painting and decorating ,settling the kids into school ,reacquainting myself with driving ,settling husband into London ,meeting the neighbours and walking the dog. Hectic,just like I like it . Happy New Year to you and yours! Lets stay in touch as it looks like it's going to get busy around here.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

View from our bedroom

just a small fishing town

shopping for Christmas food

lovely shops

tempting displays

new Victoriana

service to match the decor

guess what we got for Christmas

Ah Hastings! It may be small and parts maybe a little run down and dare I say tacky, but you will always have a place in my heart. Especially the old town which has had a heady infusion of Downton Abbey style since last I browsed those cobbled streets. So of course we had to buy the carpet beater and the dado rail extendable brush!

And so the time has come....

 When my husband saw this view he questioned why we were moving. Certainly looks damn fine but move we have. As I write this I am at the table in my beloved kitchen in Hastings. Admittedly it is 3.30 in the morning( A curse to jet lag and children) but I am happy.

The house on packing day

my life in boxes

small bored dog

large bored owner, made 500 of these and this was the best!

 my work room

kind of New York looking, leaving party at the beach

Drowning not waving

Someone throw me a life buoy I am over whelmed by stuff.

Christmas card

I know this is quite a dark picture and its also not been cleaned up but this essentially is the Christmas card, Dim Sum Christmas Basket. They sold well at the fair and what with my private orders and Banyan Houses Christmas fair I hope to leave these shores cardless!

Happy Thanksgiving !

So I am not American and I have come to Pumpkin Pie rather late in life. However now that I have my family have all embraced it with open arms. I have to admit to tweaking the recipe a bit.Mine is more influenced by the Asian use of pumpkin in deserts. Think of pumpkin cheese cake and pumpkin pannacotta. I can't say I'm keen on the cinnamon in the original pie so I have omitted that and I make the filling more like an egg tart with my preferred Pumpkin being a butternut squash which is not really a pumpkin at all! Anyhow then instead of marshmallows on the top and I know that even that is not traditional, I use white chocolate buttons or as in my photo white chocolate maltesers. Yummy!

Also I would just like to say hello to any new viewers out there whom I met at the fair on Sunday. Hello! It was a lovely day and very successful. Sadly that is my last fair in Hong Kong but keep a look out for my partner in crime Nicola from Rice Bowl Republic who will be selling her lovely cards and wrapping papers at the Island School fair( my old School) on December 3rd I think it is.

Lamma oh Lamma

Gosh you wait around for a blog post and 2 turn up at the same time. What up with that?However I was inspired by looking back at the old photos on my computer.

I do love the Hipstamatic feature on the i Phone. It makes all my pictures look good! I have to say that when I see Lamma like this it makes me forget the jack hammer which is rocking our world right now at the Green Cottage, and the piles of building rubble . That said I shall miss very much the South China Sea and especially the ferry which affords such fantastic views of some of the 200 odd small islands which make up the territories of Hong Kong.

Something I will miss

Actually this meal was not the greatest , but it looks good and I will miss Chinese food especially eaten with friends.
The jelly in the background is jasmine tea jelly and was perhaps not as nice to eat as it looked but it was a very pretty way to end the meal.

Something I won't miss

I am having a nightmare with the internet. Something I hope will be better in London. So this picture from Halloween is a bit late but there you go!

Things I will miss

Hong Kong. Love it or hate it you can't forget it. One of my most favourite things is the Star Ferry. I try as often as I can to grab a coffee and travel that journey always sitting at the top in the middle by the rail. No airconditioned cabins for me it just wouldn't be right.

Christmas is coming

So a little sneaky peak at the Christmas card I am working on. It's an idea I have thought about for a while. The problem is filling the steamer.It is a work in progress so this is not the finished product by a long way. I am hoping to post some more of my new designs as we get closer to the fair. I'm working on some new Tea Towels some notebooks as well as the old favourites my bunting and lavender bags.

Summer past

looking towards Beachy Head

Pevensey Castle

Brighton Pier

It has been feeling more autumnal here with the typhoons bringing cooler weather and it made me go back and have a look through my photo files. I know it was generally considered a rubbish summer weather wise in Europe but it looks good in the pictures!

Handmade fair

It seems so long ago now. I attended the Handmade fair in Discovery Bay with my partner in crime Rice Bowl Republic. Hello to anyone who is visiting me on this site that met me at the fair.

 I showcased my mice for the first time. Alas no sale but I thought he looked very sweet floating there above the table. It was actually a very successful day. So we have booked for the next fair which is in November. More information on that closer to the time

Shanghai

Sience and Technology Museum

So with our countdown to leaving Hong Kong at Christmas suddenly feeling very near we decided to use a long weekend to visit Shanghai.
We had really enjoyed Beijing and had no idea what to expect in Shanghai. We stayed in an art Deco Boutique hotel which was apparently were Noel Coward wrote Private Lives. It was true luxury and the vast bathrooms were bigger than my bedroom in Hong Kong.

We spent a lot of time in the French quarter as well as visiting The Science and Technology Museum , the Aquarium and the old part of the city.

All in all it was an amazing city to visit.

The Aquarium

From a poster

Starting again part 2

 Frustration at the slow nay non existent internet at home has sent me scampering to The Green Cottage in the village. It feels like a long time ago that we were in a strangely cold and wet France. That meant a lot more time was spent exploring towns and sitting in cafes with a Grand Creme than in and on the rivers as usual.

 I added to an already over flowing collection of pictures of door and windows with some textures .

Looking into the kitchen in France

Lunch

on the menu snails

Start again

We had some news back in May which made us consider living in Hong Kong. We spent the summer school and house hunting and come Christmas 2011 we will be living back in the UK.
We spent the summer in England and France as usual and as usual I documented lots of doors windows and a few snails. Alas can't get the photos to load!

Small things

I have been invited to sell at a private sale on Tuesday and these two will be on sale.

I have to say I have had great fun making these and all praise to Ann Wood whose patterns and blog clearly prompted these small things. Thanks Ann!