This could be a bit boring, an indulgent string of holiday snaps to remind me of what I got up to!
1. The holiday cottage, it's along the side of Derwent Reservoir in a barn conversion but no view of the water.
I liked the look of this place because it was contemporary, uncluttered and clean looking, everything my day to day living environment isn't! I always take pics inside holiday cottages I like for ideas for when I have my own holiday cottage.
2. Alnwick, I've been to the castle before so this time visited Barter Books in the old station which I hadn't experienced before. A mega place if you like second hand bookshops.
http://www.barterbooks.co.uk/
3. Holy Island, Lindisfarne. My third visit and it never fails to spook me as you drive over the causeway soon after the tide has parted.
There was even a bagpiper togged out the same as Bob!
Couldn't resist this cottage!
The drive back with the rescue hut if you get cut off!
4. Bamburgh Castle
5. Blanchland Village, a wonderful, quaint, estate village, most estate houses had red doors.
The tearoom was in an old chapel.
5. Kielder Water
6. Warkworth Castle
7. Coast near Amble
8. Corbridge, a lovely Roman town with independent shops, gallery, vintage shops :)
This is inside the Balman Gallery, a fab place for a snack and I had the most delicious milkshake ever, peanut butter, banana and local vanilla ice cream float, heaven :)
Also spotted a lovely bakery in Corbridge with these amazing, colourful, huge meringues. Don't worry I didn't have one after that milkshake!
9. A quick nip into the Scottish Borders.
Jedburgh has an abbey, the gaol below with pink clock tower and independent shops
10. Kelso, has the largest cobbled market square in Scotland and some lovely independent shops and stylish gallery type shops, very nice place
Phew that's it, didn't manage a close up or any snaps of Hadrians Wall on this trip.
It's turning out a strange old year and the complexities of many projects have not allowed us to plan much in the way of holidays other than the odd long weekend here and there.
So I took the bull by the horns and decided on finding a last minute deal. A full week away in a cottage and a time to de-stress, a week were we wouldn't be tearing around the country looking for houses or escape plans which is what most of our trips have been the last I don't know how many years.
I opted for Northumbria, I like the north east and haven't spent more than a couple of days there in years so I was delighted to find a lovely cottage at a very cheap rate as it's the end of the summer season.
I have a couple more posts to follow which will be sightseeing and then shopping/vintage/arts things as I found two amazing vintage retro type shops to share with you.
Signing off now as lots of emails to catch up with, had very little wifi all week so I think that helps with the de-stressing process.
Castle above is Bamburgh.
Normal day to day design work has taken priority of late and I have a couple of interesting logo designs on the boil which I will reveal when they have been decided on and finalised.
In the meantime here are a couple of crafty things recently completed.
I do quite like making sewing needlecases and I've indulged in having some of my own books from when I was a toddler in the late 60's, printed onto fabric and stitched into a book style.
The first was a favourite fairy alphabet book. On the front cover the little fairy with the orange skirt at the left is Fairy Tinkerbell and as a long time believer in fairies, I used to have a fairy Tinkerbell who visited me as my tooth fairy.
Here are some inside shots.
The next needlecase is a kitten fairy tale book.
Here are the inside pages.
