Blood swept lands...

Completed this page a few times before I felt happy with it, I just couldn't get the right photos on it to look right.

We visited the Tower of London last year to see the amassing art installation "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" it was breath taking to see all the poppies and each one representing a British military fatality during the war.

888,246 ceramic poppies filled every inch of the mote and I must admit it felt like there was also that many people there with us on tower hill!! but despite the crowds I was so glad that we got to be there to see it.  We went back to visit the tower a few months later as it was so busy when we went the first time and we didn't get to see everything. Seeing the mote after the poppies have been taken up was very moving, the mote had gone from a sea of beautiful red to a sea of mud and to me it brought visions of the trenches and the loss of so many, but then this was what it was all about. During the time that the poppies were there many people campaigned for them to stay in place for longer than was planned but the message of the instillation was that all those people were lost, that they were all taken down, as beautiful as they were, and as much as others wanted them to stay.

There are a few things on the page that are about the subject more than the aesthetics of the page.

I chose the brown / sepia tone of the page in reference to the mud of the trenches, the tower is famous for its ravens and I have a cut out photo of a raven on the page along with the Keys for tower and a crown for the Crown Jewels that are housed there. The raven made me think of the poem Nevermore that I thought was quite apt for the subject, and so this is also stamped in the background.

As I struggled with photos to put on the page, I realised that I had sitting in the corner of the room one of the poppies from the mote that we had managed to buy before they were all sold out .. so out came the camera and problem solved!

Has it really been that long!!

Well another new year has rolled on and having had some time off work and time to chill and take stock I thought I would do two things...

1. do some crafting
2. update the blog!

So firstly the Crafting: 

 

Its been a while, but I dusted off the scissors and this is what I have made this week, the photo is my Father-In -Law and his wife taken in the year before he passed away, I thought that I could frame it and give to her as a gift next time we visit, we don't get to see her often due to distance and taking time off work. 

I used Prima papers and a few different techniques- embossing powder resist, paints and stamping. Most embellishments are cut out of patterned paper. I used hot fix crystals to embellish the mini pegs and some pins and flowers from the stash. the frame and the key are made from UTEE melted in the melt pot and molded in Martha Stuart or Mod Podge silicon molds, glossy accents on the paper butterflies. 

now all I need to do is keep it up and post at least every month!!! not every 3 years. 

If you want to know why no post for 3 years following is a bit of a ramble about the last 3 years and what I've been up to.......

 

having done some crafting for the first time in a long time, I then logged on to find I am as good as updating the blog as I am at keeping a paper journal... has it really been so long, the last post was this time 3 years ago, and boy has a lot happened in that time (probably why the blog has not been updated!)

So why no post in the last 3 years? the first and main reason would have to be that for the first 2 of those years the business running the pub really took off and being a land lady kind of leaves no time for anything else.

We ran the Wheatsheaf Public House for 3 years and as hard, and as time consuming, as it was I wouldn't change it for the world. We had some of the most fantastic highs, and our share of lows, and got to know and serve so many wonderful people in our community. Being a landlady was so much fun (and hard work) and brought blessings that I could never have imagined. Many of our customers were young men who I am sure thought I was their mum!! and to be honest they were my boys and I would look out for them and defend them like a mother, and tell them off like children when they were out of line.

My boys having won the Sunday football league 

 One of our Pool teams, and a few trophies!!

 

 The boys in their new kit with our name on it :O)

We were there through births and deaths, looked after the old and the young and shared in the celebrations and the the sad times too. We saw two of our loved bar staff take on cancer and beat it. We cared for and supported all that needed our love. People think that a Pub is a place where people go to get drunk... its not, its place that people go to to share the ups and downs of life and be with each other. I will always be grateful that I was part of this, and will always look on these times with a happy hart. 

 good people, good times

 Tess our prettiest customer!

Beech party in October!!

Sadly on 21th November 2014 we had to leave the Wheatsheaf, this was one of the hardest time that Chris and I have had to go through together, we had only a few hours notice to leave and it was due to no fault of our own, the business was thriving and our customers were as upset as we were, however the people who managed the leasing of the building had other plans. It was very sad and very stressful at the time, I felt like someone had taken my family from me, but we can never lose the memories we have and the wonderful friends that we made.

the day we had to walk away :O(

In the year that has passed from the time we left the Wheatsheaf my job has changed and there is no way that I could have managed the changes with my work and the pub at the same time, I know that everything happens for a reason and that there are times and sessions in life.

So with work being full on and getting to grips with a new management role I have kind of thrown myself - full on - into work, this is probably due to losing the Wheatsheaf and filling that gap.

So a year on I am now trying to get the balance right again, hence the crafting that has not been touched for some time. With the new year now here, here come new promises to my self:

1. Do more crafting
2. Take more time out for life and the important stuff - its not all about work!
3. Update the Blog at least once a month
4. Eat more vegetables
5. Make more Cake :O)

So Happy New Year to everyone, lets make it a good one :O)