Bewitched Bernina?

What do you do when your sewing machine just starts working all by itself?
Well, you panic a bit, pull all the plugs out and then start un-knotting the thread that is wrapped around the bobbin case. Leave your sewing machine unplugged for a couple of weeks in the naive hope that the next time you plug it in it behaves.
2 weeks pass....
Plug sewing machine in. It behaves - great. Use it, and forget to unplug it. Get in the shower, and after a few minutes, wonder what on earth the noise it that you can hear above the shower. Pull back shower curtain. Shout and swear. Get out of shower and run to sewing machine being careful not to slip over or drip water in the plug socket whist yanking it out. Open the windows and remove Cat from sewing room because burning smell of bewitched sewing machine is foul. Be thankful that you were at home when this event happened and that you didn't need to call fire brigade whist sewing room is on fire and you are in a towel with unshaven legs.

So, what to do? I cannot believe my trusty Bernina is misbehaving. Perhaps this is an all out protest because I've never had her serviced since I purchased her (second hand) and she is very old.
I found this sewing machine repair guy via google. Has anyone used him?

Also, do you want to vote for my blog? Pop over the the lovely dorset cereals website and vote for me to win


I still have some of my cards on offer if you missed it in my last post. I'll leave it another couple of days and then draw the recipients.

shelf stacking

I just read my last post again. I'm glad I'm not feeling like that today! I've been feeling a little more energised these last couple of days thankfully.
I didn't press the button incidentally (although I am watching Lost on DVD at the moment!). I've skimmed speedily through my reading list without commenting as I usually do but looking at most of the pictures and reading some of the words and it made me feel better.

so, aside from work this week, I have managed to do a bit of a shelf stacking with some jumper kitties and some of my new cards which came back from the printers a couple of weeks ago I'm really happy with the cards - they are printed on 100% recycled card, and come with recycled brown craft paper envelopes.The printers actually gave me a few more cards than I had asked for (how nice) so I'm going to give a couple away. If you fancy them then just leave me a comment and I'll use a random number generator to pick a recipient, or two.

mindfulness?

I've just been reading about 'mindfulness'. I don't usually actively seek out things like this to read, but today I'm having one of those days when it just all feels like a bit too much. I've had a really crubbish day.

So back to the mindfulness thing:

"Mindfulness is the practice of becoming more aware of the present moment, rather than dwelling in the past or projecting into the future. It generally involves a heightened awareness of sensory stimuli (really noticing your breathing, feeling the sensations of your body, etc.) and being "in the now." While mindfulness has origins in Eastern philosophy and Buddhism, there is no necessary religious component to mindfulness -- anyone, with any belief system, can enjoy the benefits of mindfulness"

Sounds good in theory.

I have 1000+ blog posts to read. Google reader has stopped counting and just says 1000+! I have no idea how many that actually is. I do want to read all of these - I enjoy it, but it feels like standing at the bottom of a big mountain, and it would be so much less stressful to press the 'mark all as read' button. What to do?
I think I'm going to bed to practice some 'mindlessness' - everything feels better after a good sleep. sigh.

cornwall in pictures

we had a fab weekend Cornwall, despite the weather, which was glorious one moment and foul the next, with little warning between changes. It was hard to know what to wear. T-shirt's and umbrella's were the best combo.
We stayed just outside St Austell which in itself was not too pretty, but it was surrounded by lots of pretty places, so we ventured to Mevagissey, Pentewen and Fowey.
We camped for one night, and slept on the floor of my sisters holiday cottage another night (gale force winds and heavy rain = miesrable camping conditions).

we took lots of pics so here are a handful of my faves:

chips (that went with a pasty)

Surely not?
Mr Monda picking the buoys out of the sea
We are tall!
A bit of fun with beach debris

I've got some crafty goodness to show - this will have to wait till the next post though...

absenteeism

Please excuse the absence over the last week. My day job is crazy busy right now and I'm spending (too) many hours in the office - so not much time being creative.
Handm@de Winchester was a really great day. I met and chin wagged with some lovely fellow bloggers (both stall holders and visitors). My new little monsters seemed to be very popular, but I didn't sell everything - the nice result of this is that I have some new items to go into my shop.
I'm planning a shop update over the course of a few days next week.
This weekend I'm going camping in Cornwall - a little break and a change of scene is definitely in order.

Also, something quite exciting is in the pipeline, but still very much a wip for now...

do you remember...

when Blur looked like this:
I do. It makes me feel old. But not so old that I can't go and jump around a park in London this afternoon/evening watching them play live.

Also today, Kyoko was kind enough to feature me and my moggies on her blog- thanks for your kind words Kyoko.

I'm going to pretty busy this next few days so no blog posts from me until next week now. If you are in the vicinity of Winchester on Sunday do pop in and say hello. I'll be at Hamdm@de Winchester along with some other very clever crafty peeps.