Swimming March

Avon lagoon 16/3/2024 

Avon lagoon 17/3/2024

Avon lagoon 19/2/2024 

Avon lagoon 25/03/2024

Little Denny 30/3/2024

Avon lagoon 31/3/2024

Look no rash vest!

March furtle

 So!!! How dud March shape up?? Pretty well thank you for asking! 🤣🤣🤣 March started off with an in person sashiko workshop with Kazue Yoshikawa in her atelier in Kyoto!!! I couldn't believe that there was a class on when I was there with spaces available too good to miss.

This was my Sashiko coaster, I love it! I now want to delve back into the 24 days of Sashiko project that Kazue put up during lockdown 

Coming back to in person sewing at home was great fun, especially when my weekday sewing group has such fab biscuits 😍

Getting back home it was a challenge to get back into sewing, getting over jet lag combined with a bug I picked up meant that motivation was low. That's where the fettle list comes into play! I knew I had to crack on with the marbled fabric top

Looking good!! If I say so myself 😊 next up was a fun improv block for my Siblings bee, now me n improv dint always get along but I did love making this one!

Ahhh yesssss this 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 hmmm ok Well this had stalled, I hadnt made a Dear Jane block for months I couldn't figure out what the problem was, then I was chatting with a chum and it came to me it's the sashing... the black was really beginning to overwhelm the blocks far too much for my liking 

So I unpicked 6 rows 🤣🤣🤣 I know I know, what am I thinking! But it's the right thing to do, for me anyway I know others may disagree there was a lot of debate when I first asked about sashing but this I th right thing for me

And fear not the black stripes already have a new purpose!!!

And a very late addition! My swimming group has a craft evening where we used sea glass to make pictures, mine isn't finished but I gad a lovely time and that's what it is all about 😊

Many thanks as ever to Archie The Wonderdog for the monthly furtle 😊

Random musings on social media and seasons

So! I've deactivated my twitter account I have 30 days to change my mind but I don't think I will. Lets see.

I was a very early adopter of twitter, probably joined about 2007? It was not long after I left EU

It was the origin of my social media name - Budsmam because in the early days it was all about the dogs, Archie, Floyd, Mr Inch so much fun and banter, then I started using it for work, there was so much joy in that! Connecting sharing information hope fir the positive potential of Social media.

And I suppose a lot of that did work out? But a lot of toxic stuff joined it, not good stuff.

Twitter was always heavily associated with work as well and not always in a healthy way.

So flash forward to now, im exhausted from jet lag and getting over a bug, I'm low and down due to a mixture of things but SAD is real and I'm feeling it a lot more in retirement I think, I dont have work as a distraction. 

I dont have the attention for reading so I'm doom scrolling through all the social media,  mostly OK but twitter isn't good any more, it has too many associations with last job and that's not good, I started to remove all those followers but then just thought - deactivate just deactivate... so I did and there you go.

This is a new season for me in my life, literally and metaphorically time to cut sone unecessary ties with the past.

And as of today 24th March I've deactivated threads, the whole Kat Middleton debacle was the end for me

Seasons 2024 March

A little bit later this month but I was in Japan so I forgive myself 😆😆 so what is March bringing us? I've been squinting at these pics and I think the main difference is the light, I do see a difference in the light here. Its raining today so that may be making a difference, not sure? But lighter days are coming and I'm now bursting with garden ideas after Japan so lets see how this goes

January

February 

March

Trip home Japan 2024

Aaaww farewell Hotel Sasarindou, you have been brilliant, especially while I was ill, my room was supposed to be cleaned on a day I was in bed so I popped do not disturb on my door. So they cleaned it the next day which they didn't have to do. The room was fab loved it, especially the bath.

Docs 😍😍

This was the corner where I got my train. A junction of many happy memories 😊

My room

Some glimpses of the train journey to Osaka

I got the Hello Kitty haruka to the airport!!!!!

Kansai airport,  lovely but I had to wait for ages for the gate to open, no bag drop available, but I did get to the front of the queue!

Walking around the airport it was beautiful 

For one brief moment I thought I was going to get three seats to myself... alas not, two ladies were rushed on last minute and came and sat next to me ... I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but omg they were a nightmare,  clambering over me while I was asleep, going out to loo while I had my food tray in front of me, I tried to give benefit of the doubt etc but jeez ....

I managed to watch a couple of films  I started with "Killers of the flower moon" absolutely astounding film loved every minute of it. I then started Transformers Rise of the beasts, really loved it but was so so tired I had to try and get some sleep, I could finish it on next flight (or so I thought!!!)

I was a bit worried about the transit at Dubai which did feel a bit rushed and I'm still nit sure why I had to go through security twice 🤔 but I got to my last flight ok and in plenty time unlike the first leg!

I settled in and had saved up two fun fab films to watch! First I wanted to finish Transformers but they didn't have it in this flight 🤦‍♀️ so I started with Barbie which I totally adored! 

It was so much fun but then an hour in .... the TV stopped working 😱😱😱😱 I could see everything subtitles etc but not the video, I tried EVERYTHING  but nope nothing worked, the flight attendants were now serving meals so I gave up on trying to ask them. I broke out my kindle one read a book 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I figured if this was the worst thing to happen I was lucky.

Flight landed all on time, picked up my bag then got scooped up by Scoobs in departures,  Japan was incredible awesome simply the best, but the best bit? Coming home to Scoobs 😊

Japan day 14 last full day in Kyoto

So you may have noticed we skipped days 12&13 ... that's because I was laid up in bed with a bug 🙄 thankfully not CV. It was an anxious night waiting for pharmacy to open so I could get some tests, I felt unwell during my trip to Enkouji temple and it really came on in the evening I phoned up the kyoto number but it wasn't terribly helpful.  So I opted to self test first. Lovely pharmacist very helpful 

Two negative ones! Phew!

These were both medicinal foods although I hadn't fully read the description of the cheese below 😳 before I bought it 🤣🤣

So day 14 I wanted to see how I felt out and about also the fresh air would be good for me!

This was the shrine I couldn't find last time, it almost eluded me this time too!!! But thanks to Google maps (and OMG how fab was Google maps on this trip!) I found it!

Cute wee shrine. My photos not the best but I was ill 🤣🤣🤣

I almost didn't get my stamps 😱 it wasn't obvious where to go, there were 2 closed doors but signs only in Japanese,  I was so torn I thought I might be closed! Thankfully there was a lovely chap who was waiting for his stamp and he was so kind and helped me out. Told me where to go and what to do, lovely chap called Xavier and LOOOOOOKKKKK I got my skull stamps 😍😍😍😍😍 plus one other seasonal one. 

On the way back I popped in past the Nishiki food market it felt fuller and busier than before, it was nice revisiting it