trimmingthesails

The Perfect Travelling Companion ...

This might just be the perfect Traveller's Notebook for scrapbookers - and you might be able to spot some clues below about where it came from and where it's going. A soft and flexible kraft cover ready for personalising; crisp, very white paper which looks as if it won't bleed through in the way other thinner papers do; interleaved with a dozen plastic pockets just waiting for photos, tickets, postcards ...

Courtesy of The Stamp Spot, and a not-too long journey across the oceans, it arrived a few days ago - perfect timing for something which hadn't even been envisaged when it was sent for. My lovely family are making it possible for Himself and me to have a week's break in a beautiful old city by the sea and we're off today (the first time we've had more than two nights away together on our own for the last ten years), and the notebook is coming with us ...

Looking forward to filling it, and catching up with you all in random cafés and parks over the next seven days :). Off now to find my other perfect travelling companion and make sure we are ready to go!

Memos, mail, me (the not-quite-May-Monday edition)

Hello! and waving to you all with happy mail from afar: different continents, ages, gender and purpose and such a welcome change from the usual Insurance-For-The-Over-60s leaflets, the Book-Your-Holiday-Now-Before-You-Kick-The-Bucket brochures, and the Hearing-Aid-Test with the Free-Add-On-Brain-Scan offers. (OK, so I lied about the last bit). But warmest thanks to Natalie for such a lovely surprise card and message: anything with tea in it is greatly enjoyed ...

And, of course, the delight of a trip in June to a special celebration for our much-loved eldest grandson - did you spot the youthful block capitals? (I might just need to rescue those leaflets and brochures from the recycling basket.) Did you notice the scissors and thread? Somewhere underneath is my sewing machine manual, open at the page headed 'Basic Stitches', so long is it since I did any serious sewing. The mossy-leaved fabric with the soft pink roses? An impulse charity-window shop buy in the process of alteration. Memo to self: think hard next time. What looks like a quick taking-in of side-seams, adding a bit on the bottom and shortening of sleeves can morph into a total de/reconstruction and an ouchy pin-filled floor. Not to mention soaking up the little pockets of time you have so that nothing else gets done ... (That's a heart-felt apology for absence; and Dad needs such a lot of care right now).

By the time the lovely Sian hosts her next inspiring Mail, Memos and Me over at From High In the Sky (do pop in, you will never ever be disappointed) I am hoping that a long-awaited little package from Down Under might have safely landed, and that I'll have had time to do something creative with it to share with you :). Wishing you all a happy and sunshine-filled few days ...