Brrrrrrrrmmmmm!

Guess who?

 Yup,that's right, it's me! Or it least it was me last weekend at the TI Rally School in Yorkshire. 

The day was a gift, last years Christmas present actually, from my husband, and I can honestly say it has to go down as one of the best presents I've ever received. It was absolutely fantastic. I doubt very much if he will ever be able to cash in the brownie points earned on this little jaunt.

So why the rally driving experience?  I'm not by any means a petrol head (as far as I'm concerned torque is a type of neck jewellery). Nor am I an avid rally fan ( if not for the power of google I wouldn't even know who Sebastien Loeb is ) but having caught a bit of the world championships on TV, one of those channel flicking moments, I remember saying it looked like fun and I'd love to give it a go. 

Which just goes to prove he does listen to me occasionally ;o)  

Spot the lone female amongst all the raging testosterone!

Post Wedding Holiday Holiday

Eek! Where did the last three weeks get to? We arrived back from our holiday, which included the wedding, on the 19th and I had every intention of taking the time the following week to let you know how the ' killer heels ' had performed. But it would seem I needed a holiday to recover from our holiday ( does this happen to anyone else? ) and it's taken me longer than expected to get back in to the swing of things. Still, better late than never eh? 

The wedding was wonderful, a truly joyous event. The bride was radiant, the groom jubilant ( or was it the other way around?), and I swear it was almost possible to eat the accumulated joie de vivre with a spoon. I think I may just have enjoyed it a smidgen more than my own.

Living so far from home it must have been hard for my sister-in-law, planning the event without the usual input and support from family. Then again she's a bit of an organisational genius so it was no surprise the day went so well. However I'd love to know just who she spoke to in order to arrange the appearance of this particular phenomenon after the ceremony. Clever girl!

I was asked for a little help a few months before the big day. She was in need of two ring bearer pillows and hadn't seen any she liked. Initially the design was going to be a bit fun and quirky, much like her, but then I was sent a sneak preview of the dress and decided to go for something a bit more elegant. You can see why!

It was doubtful that my limited beading skills could match such stunning embellishment but I thought I could simplify it slightly. I focused on the shoulder detail of overlapping leaves and the simplicity of the front of the dress.  

A brief forage in the garden provided me with birch leaf templates to work from. Yes, yes, I know, I could have found any number of templates online but I was feeling a little bit sentimental. My Sister-in-law used to live in our house, many of the birch trees in the garden grew up with her, and I wanted a little bit of home to be with her on her day. Okay, so it's a tad lame, what can I say? Everyone gets to be as gooey as a toasted marshmallow sometimes.
Anyway, here's what I came up with and fortunately it did the trick. 

And as for those shoes of mine?  Well, I didn't fall over, not once, not even when clambering up a gangplank ( long story that doesn't involve handsome pirates so not really worth the telling) which I feel is always a good thing to be able to say of any days events ( the not falling over bit, not the lack of handsome pirates).

Now you may have guessed that I'm not keen on posting recognisable photographs on the web thingy but since I've been asked so nicely for a view of the dress here it is. 

So the fabulous footwear behaved itself and I managed 8hrs before I finally succumbed to the fanciful flatties I'd taken with me just in case.

I shouldn't have worried though, not when there were three generations of handsome men on hand to lend a supporting arm if required. Who needs pirates :o)