Gas Street, BCN

My first stall at Bert and Gert's Vintage Market in the Great Western Arcade, Birmingham.  Not very successful.  I didn't cover the costs of my table.

White, square, card blank, black panel matted onto orange and yellow card and a 3D topper of ghosts in a pumpkin cauldron.

Gas Street Moorings, Worcester and Birmingham Canal

Sorry for going quiet for so long. When we got back to our moorings in Birmingham we had some disturbing news that another company wants our mooring for themselves so we were pretty much on a downer.

But things seem to be looking up now so I will fill in some of the gaps since last posting.





Hatton Flight was fairly smooth, we did not meet a boat coming down until the 5th lock from the top, and then there was a boat in each lock coming down. We spent the night at the visitor moorings at Weston Hall. Couldn't get the boat parallel to the mooring as the water was so low.












Then it was on the the Stratford Canal, a pumpout at the junction and then up the Lapworth Flight. I know I keep going on about it, but the owners of this ex-lock cottage really do not want you to use their side of the canal do they.

Just around the corner we passed Granny Buttons, so I knocked on the door to say hello.

We spent the night just past Hockley Heath when Graham went past with two boat loads of Girl Guides. He managed to hit us again!



On the last day we stopped at Lyons Boatyard for diesel and I also bought some new mooring ropes, nice silky black ones to replace the hard blue ones we are using now.

Sarah was back at work and bought another batch of canal cards from me.

And then it was up to Kings Norton Junction. The damage to the bridge shows how difficult this turn seems to be.



At Selley Oak we had to wait while the man working the lift bridge went to the toilet.

And so we we back on our mooring by mid-day and the big adventure for 2010 was over.








Since we have been back I have joined the gym in the Hyatt Hotel and been swimming every day. Started a diet (and kept to it for 4 weeks so far!) and been on a Crafting Retreat to learn how to use by Black Cat Cougar Cutter.

We have had lots of traumas and setbacks. David's expensive Stressless chair broke again and we had to buy a new one (not a Stressless this time). The condenser in the washing machine/drier packed up and we are waiting for that to be fixed. The rug we took to the cleaners is suddenly not coloursafe and may run and the chimney has started leaking. Still, the boat is gradually getting put right.




Three cards to show you today.

This one is a bear topper which was free with a magazine. I stuck it onto a piece of card with sticky fixers and matted it onto white card which had been cut with deckle edged scisssors.

A green velvet ribbon was tied around the bottom of the yellow card blank to finish it off.
















On this one I used some clipart which I mated onto white, light blue and black card. I printed out the sentiment on the computer and matted that in the same way as the picture.












And finally, a Haloween Card (well it's not thar far off). A black base card with a strip of orange deckle edged card across the bottom half of the card and a very narrow strip of orange card along the bottom.

A yellow wooden star is stuck to the top right hand corner and a decopaged pumpkin is stuck to the bottom of the card between the orange strips.

Gas Street

We seem to get a lot of people coming here to feetd the Canada Geese, consequently the geese have started roosting on the lock island and making their usual mess. We asked BW if we could have it power washed and were told that "It was not their responsibility". Then when the Conservative Party came for their conference last week we got railings painted black and white (but not by our moorings which were promised and really need it) and then two men turned up with two brooms and a small plastic bucket on a piece of string.


Trouble is - it needs doing all over again already.

David and I have just had three days in Poitiers, France. Lovely place, tiny airport (just our Ryanair plane) and close to the city. There are two lovely cathedrals and lots of interesting architecture - and David got to ogle the girls again and eat lovely food.

Here are some Halloween cards I have made. They, and others, are available from my shop here.

Gas Street

Day two of the Make Mr David a Beautiful Boat Again Programme. David painted down to the water line on one side with black gunky stuff and the gunnels with other black gunky stuff.

All the wood that we collected on the way back from Marple has been sawn and chopped into neat kindling or logs and is ready for next winter.

And I washed all the towels that David uses for his man-jobs. They have to be washed on their own as they are usually covered in oil or black gunky stuff.

I am going to have to take all the curtains down and wash them too - but I'll put them off as long as possible as I hate having to sew all the buttons back on when they go back up.

I also managed to get in another day of shopping in.

Someone on the towpath once said to David that "It was a good life - you don't do nothing." Well I don't if I can help it. Oh! you noticed!!





Two pictures of cards today. Both Halloween cards. I love making them, but I don't know anyone who sends them and I certainly never have.