THE HOLIDAY IS OVER

Hi everyone

We have been on holiday in Malta for the last week and the weather has been glorious.  The temperature during the day around 22 degrees and about 16 - 18 degrees at night.  Hard to believe it is November - being a typical Brit we went prepared for cold weather, but did have the common sense to pack summer clothes - just in case, and thank goodness we did.  The fleeces and long-sleeved tops returned home unworn and leaving them at home would have made our luggage so much lighter.  Our apartment was in Valletta, seconds from the harbour and the views were amazing.  I haven't had a chance to make a card for Handmade Monday, but thought I would post some of the pics I took in Malta.  

The view from the balcony

Our apartment is in the centre of this picture, on the second floor

Parking in the town of Valletta is almost impossible, and definitely impossibly expensive.  The best way to get into town is to walk - from our apartment it was uphill all the way, about 60 steps - much better on the way down.  However, the picture above shows another road into Valletta and climbing this one was definitely not on my list of 'must do's.

 We took a harbour cruise whilst away, and access to the leaving point was by ferry.  On the return ferry I was able to take this shot of the sunset.

Lots of gorgeous boats and yachts are moored in the Grand Harbour of Valletta - we saw one that had three stories!

Another view of boats, but slightly smaller ones this time.

As you know Malta was awarded the George Cross in recognition of the Maltese peoples bravery.  The above picture is of the plaque outside of Valletta's 'Buckingham Palace'.

We haven't been to Malta for many, many years and although so much has changed one thing has remained the same: the lovely people.  They are friendly, helpful and go out of their way to make visitors feel welcome.  We had a great week, so many beautiful buildings in Malta and I took a lot of photographs which I am planning to use in my card-making.

Have a great week everyone and don't forget to check out the other blogs on Handmade Monday   

Jill

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS

Hi everyone

Is it winter already?  What a horrible day yesterday was: rain, wind, cold.  I had really been hoping that September would bring an Indian summer and I just don't want to believe that the warm and sunny days are a thing of the past.  How long until Spring?  Weather really hasn't improved much today - wet, windy and chilly.

On top of yesterday's grotty weather, we also had a power-cut for about 3 hours.  Great fun - well not really because it was pretty dark and wet at the time.  Glad when it came back on as card-making in the dark may sound romantic, but it is pretty hard going.  Hard to believe, just as I had finished the last sentence, the power failed again!  Someone has got it in for my blog, so I had better get writing and posting pretty quickly before it happens again.

I have been fairly busy crafting: made some cards, also worked on new ideas and promotional material.  I will reveal all after my first event, and also everything will be in my website (yes, you know the one, the one that has been in production since time began).  Here are a few of this week's makes - they are from my small card (5" x 5") range.

Jazz and Daisy haven't been very happy about the weather either.  Jazz sat on the window sill looking forlornly through the blinds, hoping the rain would stop so he could go outside - no doubt to catch something with four legs and a long tall and bring it in for us!  It is very kind of him to think that he has to give us presents, but I would really prefer something other than a  mouse.  Daisy also sitting on the window sill, but asking the question 'who is prettier, me or this pot of roses?'  Definitely not a difficult decision - both very pretty, but Daisy wins hands-down.  Well, enough cat-talk, as much as I like to talk about them I think it is time to get back to work.

A big thank you to my blog followers for their comments on my last post - I love to receive their messages and know that as busy crafters finding the time is often not possible (er, that's really about me feeling guilty for not posting on other people's blogs as much as I would like to).

Don't forget I am still collecting and looking for contributions to the Craft Event blog on 21 September - so either add a comment on the blog or email me.  All comments and contributions will be acknowledged and I will also add your website or blog address - just let me know which one you would prefer)

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone - I will be back posting on Sunday.  Let's home the weather is drier and warmer by then.

Jill