The life of a textiles teacher: This is how the summer went......

Well, this really does seem like an age ago now, and we are absolutely into the swing of things with the new term, new students, new ideas, a rapidly growing Noah and Christmas fast approaching! Our summer was a good one though! It went far too quickly and whilst I achieved relatively little in terms of house or creative stuff, I enjoyed having a proper stretch of time with Noah and Ivan (Mr Bicknell), lovely times with friends and family and a bit of a rest! Feel completely exhausted already now though! There were a few surprises this summer too - firstly the wonderful Tweseldown Artisan Market has ceased to continue which is a disaster - not really because of what it brought in for me but the wonderful community that it created and the fact that I could share an entire day every single month with terrific people. The WONDERFUL lady who organised Tweseldown has had a horrible time over the last 18 months with a nasty accident and her partner suffering a heart attack, the fact that our market can no longer continue will allow her the head space to focus on the road to recovery with her man, and that's a good thing but a whole load of red tape in this instance has been the culprit and it's a terrible shame. Whilst sunning myself in Spain I learned that my Father had developed a serious condition called supraglottitis - look it up it's hideous. It arrived very rapidly and not to be one who does things by halves, my Dad was hospitalised and told that had he not rocked up at A&E when he did he might have died..... just what you want to know when you are stuck in a completely different country! Fortunately my blossoming flower arranging skills (see below) were not needed for the wrong reasons!

So here we go from the beginning to the end of the holidays.....

We ended with a sea scape - err yes, this is what this actually is! I am not allowed to continue this term, but watch this space - hell, I am probably in that middle age bracket now......!

We said thanks to Noah's lovely Nursery staff for a great year!

We welcomed the newbies at Welcomefest at college and like, you do, we built towers to mark the occasion!

The shows were taken down and buckets of clips were collected

The art staff moved! Below is where my desk was.......

And this is a little bit of the rubbish I (all by myself) left behind!

Oohhh look! Sofas and space - yes, I can tell you're impressed!

My new space - even more impressed? I thought so.

So the house didn't get anything new, but the garden was (sort of) loved and nurtured! Hooray! Our cherry tree actually came up with the goods!

We grew strawberries and Noah scoffed them.

Actually, If I am honest, this has developed into pretty much nothing, but an actual real-life aubergine actually began to grow!

The tomatoes however were winners!

Pots and pots of sweet peas!

Climbing clematis

And talking of climbing......

And of course, you have to climb up to get the really good cherries!

Yes, well, he might have had a point!

Nothing like a freshly picked pea!

Special dinner with special friends - they must be, we shared our precious cherries!

Noah got a treat - I have never seen anything like it! Thanks G! X

So the holidays means absolutely NO TROUSERS and Lego towers!

It also means trips to Peppa Pig world again!

Not so sure who had the ,most fun.......

Ah, now I do!

Visits to the wonderful Glasto and down time with the lovely Grandpa Renchi.

And we LOVE Grandma Nessa and Grandpa Renchi because they took Noah and I out for the most wonderful afternoon while someone climbed some rock or other! Starting with lunch here....

Where there is pudding, there are smiles - my little sweet (toothed) boy!

At The Chapel is in Bruton in Somerset and by golly it is worth a perusal!!

http://www.atthechapel.co.uk/

Now I would like to stay the night.......... Hmmm, I think we might have a 10 year anniversary next year......Are you listening Mr Bicknell?

This was swiftly followed by a bit of culture at Hauser & Wirth - we saw a great exhibit and had fun in their amazing grounds!

http://www.hauserwirthsomerset.com/

Who knew Somerset could be so posh!

We saw the Jenny Holzer exhibit - not for the faint hearted...

For people like me....

Amazing grounds

Outdoor theatre

Always a good idea to wear the child out! Now which one do I mean????

Always happy to find a mirror!

Hmmm, you have quite a wait ahead of you MR!

Love it when I look skinnier than I could ever hope to be!

Bathtime fun!

A bit of light relief for someone at Clarks Village on the way home!

And, he sleeps!

We (Mr Bicknell and I) had a whole 24 hours flying solo..... So we did a bit of culture!

The Cornell at the RA

A wander through Burlington Arcade to Cork Street

And OMG the McQueen at the V&A at Midnight! An exhibit I am SO SO SO glad I saw, I have never felt so utterly enthralled.

We met up with our the original gang who began our adoptive family together - we are all now proud parents, still in touch and uber happy!

Noah was just as impressed with the Boat that sold ice-cream!

a break-through moment - Scratch played with Noah - I am happy to report that this new-found friendship has continued to grow!

My runners ran!

It was a lie - the wretched thing dropped off and died!

These look great at this angle, but only extended about an inch below ground and spread wider on top!

I lucked out with the lettuce

And the peas!

What we didn't luck out with though was the couple of thousand wasps who chewed through the ceiling into my studio in the middle of the night - thank God fro the lovely Elliot who came and saved us! The aftermath took a great deal of hoovering!!

The hay baling began!

I went on holiday! Back to Spain with Bex.

When life gives you lemons......

make a G&T and if there aren't any lemons use limes

Bex at her happiest!

Tapas

Lovely anniversary flower from Mr Bicknell - 9 years already

Noah's awesome LIKEaBIKE - spoilt!

We do love a bit of Alice Holt

And then the festival began.....

So we had to be comfortable!

And of course blow-up mattresses are awesome to bounce on!

Special drinking vessels - Michelle was impressed

1 of the 2 BBQ's we managed - why cook when you can eat Artisan?! Merryn wasn't very impressed anyway!

A day at Rhossili Beach with our lovely friend Robert Lloyd! Noah had him working hard right away!

Michelle and I made a car

Oh yeah, and Ivan (Mr Bicknell) climbed.....

Ned and Michelle got sandy in the sunshine! Sorry Ned....

And he climbed a bit more,,,,

Noah wanted to drive - Isaac said NO

They made up over ice-cream (Noah's favourite thing!)

Festival ready!

Late nights and glo-sticks!

Another day out at Dan Yr Ogof caves and dino park

And then the bubbles and the fun began!

Well, if you like being covered in bubbles that is!

The clouds gathered - but we didn't care!

The crowds didn't! Well, they did later!

We learnt about all things green...

Ate too much sugar!

Had more glo-sticks and late nights

Made silly faces

Got soggy

Got stung by another wasp - see puffy face - and played with ball runs

Marveled at jellyfish umbrellas

Made the most of the little folk area

And got right up on stage!

And told a joke - Knock, knock......

We slid on "curly" slides

Went on the big wheel

Made more silly faces!

Marveled at clever green crafts

Hung out in the walled garden, listened to music and ate Artisan food

Shed our wellies when the sun shone (which it did, sporadically)!

Let our children fall asleep under the stars

While we enjoyed the tunes!

And the bubbles floated by

Missed out on the burning of the green Man though because of stupid work (but at least we still have a job)!

Jumped in muddy puddles!

And another great thing about Green Man? Hot showers EVERY day and the loos were pretty sparkly!

Scary reptile man in Einstein's Garden - Noah was in love!

This little (but surprisingly heavy) guy was a compromise - he wanted to wear the boa constrictor!

Lucky it rained so much or what would Noah have had to drink?!!

There was so much fun to be had that we didn't HAVE TIME (can you believe it?) to visit the hot tubs and the spa!!

The views

The dancing - yes, that is what they are doing!

All of us!

Ivan (Mr Bicknell) was too busy dancing for this one - but, YAY Ned, you survived!!

And then it was time to go.......

Nearly time to go back to work after Wales but we had a last fun weekend at home - open air Robin Hood at Alice Holt - an interesting experience keeping a 3 year old focused.....