Oh my life ….. ….. Lucy and I went down to London to see the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park this weekend and it was everything we hoped for and more. It had been a long time coming, and the anticipation intoxicating. When The Stones first announced they would be doing a series of concerts Lucy said that she really wanted to see them as they had been her dad’s favourite band, she wanted to experience them for herself, however the ticket prices were exorbitant, and though she had had them in her “checkout basket” for the O2 and the Hyde Park concert on the 9th July …. she had let them go … because of the cost, however, when they announced yet another concert on 13th July I said it was an omen, and that we were “meant” to be there!
Andy and I had seen The Stones together several times over the years and he had seen them play before he met me. He would play their music all the time when he was in the office working late, would never miss a documentary on them and had all their music in vinyl and on CD, having one copy for the car/van and one for the office and he absolutely loved Keith Richards, who really was his hero!
So on Saturday we got into London at around 2 o’clock and decided it would be rude not to have a couple of cheeky margaritas to celebrate, before checking into out hotel ……
…. and then strolling down to Hyde Park … about fifteen minutes away ….. to sit in the sun and soak up the atmosphere …..
Finally, when the countdown started and the music erupted I found it very emotional …. because had Andy still been with us …. we would have all undoubtedly been standing there together, he wouldn’t have missed this experience……..
Andy wasn’t a mover or a shaker …. he would have stood perfectly still, occasionally lighting up one of his small cigars and his eyes would have been on Keith most of the time, with Ron Wood second …… drinking it all in, in his very, very quiet and considered way ….. he wouldn’t have said much …. but you would have known he was absolutely wrapped in the moment and would talk of it for years after ….. in that “do you remember” kind of a way.
What more can I say …. I admit to shedding a couple of discreet tears on the way home ….. not sure if they were for me or Andy ….. The next couple of months will bring a few more bittersweet moments …. including my keeping of Andy’s Las Vegas promise to Lucy and the THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR!!! I just thank someone somewhere for making me the way I am, looking over me ….. and constantly poking me!
I’ve had two of these envelope punches for years, one punches out square envelopes and the other oblong ones, and to be honest they are very underused. If I got my finger out I could probably sell punched out mini envelopes on e-bay by the dozen, like I say, if I pulled my finger out!
I’ve not been over precise and finicky over the spacing and writing as I wanted the card to have a real “homemade” feel ……
….. simple, not over embellished ……
There has been a flurry of knitting in our office of late …. we are sooooo on trend! And it would have looked rude of me not to join in …. so when one of the girls bought in a lovely pattern book I decided to tackle this gorgeous and very simple little cardigan, that you knit in one piece. I decided to do it in a denim blue wool as I don’t done whites and pastels for babies!! However, as someone who likes to see her knitting grow very quickly I am finding the size 10 needles a little frustrating …… I seem to knit for ages, row upon row and then find I have only done an inch or so!!
So this could be the answer to my frustrations ….. or the cause of it …. don’t be fooled by the picture above …. this wool is seriously mahooosive!
I bought a pair of size 15mm needles to knit with, but I don’t think I will be able to lounge as I usually do when knitting …. I think that they will demand that I sit up straight! 
The little blighters were a devil to “pluck” with my eyebrow tweezers and then put into a small bottle (The Works 99p for 6), every time I breathed they went everywhere …
I added a little Hunkdory Diamond Sparkles for a little extra magic …. but it seemed to cling to the sides of the glass rather than to the seeds … so all in all, a little disappointing ….. 
The sentiment circle comes from Craftwork Cards.
Something very less is more today, using my trusty old sewing machine, who decided to have a bit of a crisis when I was putting the card together …. all my fault …..
…. I put the background of the card together first, using a little glue to hold it in place to stop it slipping ….. but unbeknownst to me, behind the card all sorts of shenanigans were going on …..
….. aghhhh, all down to some decidedly shonky threading up!!!
However, I decided to turn this negative as a positive, and rather than start again used the excess thread that had accumulated to add dimension to the card, no one need ever know, well only you!
It’s easy to miss these paperweights in Poundland because until you really pick them up, it’s not that obvious what they are, but it really is worth popping a few in your basket.
It’s all very simple and no skill needed whatsoever …. just a fine liner pen, five/ten minutes doodling …..
…
…. followed by a bit of therapeutic colouring in!
But then ….. me being me, I just couldn’t resist adding a sprinkling of Hunkydory Diamond Sparkles ……
