Exist Independently

I saw this quote the other day, by Professor Vlatko Vedral, and it got me thinking.

"You could say that objects don't really exist independently in their own right until they have exchanged information with other objects, which then confirms their existence."

Vlatko Vedral is Professor of Quantum Information Theory at the Universities of Oxford and Singapore.  He has written many 'papers' and also several books, and is well respected in his field.

David R Hamilton Phd has a fabulous book called  "CHOICE POINT: Align Your Purpose"

in which he sights Vedral.

It all made me think about the old theory that nothing exists if it is not observed first.

what do you all think?

Yarndale

I'm still trying to catch up ...... so I'm still blogging about what I did in September.

we are now on Saturday 28th September......

oh it was a brilliant weekend!

some wonderful people in Skipton had organised an amazing festival at the Skipton Auction Market, in Yorkshire, England, featuring all things yarn-like.  there were different types of yarn to buy and lots of crafts and demonstrations.

here is the poster advertising the event

M and I planned to arrive at mid-day on the Saturday as I had arranged to meet up with two lovely ladies that I met online and have been talking to for a couple of years.  but traffic was terrible as we got within a mile or so from the venue.  

tempers were frayed as M is a typical man and doesn't like waiting in traffic..... but we finally got parked up and walked to the entrance and were greeted with an amazing sight of loads of bunting wrapped around trees.

bunting on a tree near the entrance

bunting in the entrance hall

 this was the sight in the main entrance hall...... with bunting made by people from 30 different countries..... miles of it!!!

bunting with list of countries that participated

the knitted picnic

it looked like we had arrived just in time for cake!   :-)

knitted sweeties

..... and there were plenty of sweeties too.

bunting everywhere

house bunting made by Lucy from Attic24

this house bunting was fun at the Knit and Natter where I met my friends

Alpaca

I even met, and made friends, with an Alpaca :-))

Lucy Attic24 cosy corner

it was great to meet and chat to Lucy from Attic24 as she has been such an inspiration to me (you will find her blog to the right of this under 'My Blog List').  unfortunately it was so crowded around Lucy that I couldn't get a great photo of her section but she has put some on her blog..... so nip across there and have a look.

I want to thank M for taking me and all the organisers for putting on the festival....

a very successful event!  and a great weekend


more adventures soon
blessings, Willow x

A Good Spring Clean!

gosh!  it's been a long time since I posted.... sorry.

as you can see the blog page has had a Spring Clean.... a fresh new look ........ but I've had a different sort of Spring Clean for myself........

well.... I'm still having investigations into the pain I'm having in the same area as my gallbladder was in before I had it removed.  Since I last blogged I've changed consultants and had several more tests.  yesterday (Wednesday) I had a colonoscopy.

my appointment was for 2.45pm so I had to take a fast-acting laxative on Tuesday and also on the day of the proceedure and was allowed nothing at all to eat from 1pm on Tuesday.  

the proceedure wasn't pleasant but was tolerable.... and took 45 minutes.  I watched the whole thing on a big colour monitor.  I asked the doctor to tip the screen a bit my way as I was struggling to see it..... he replied that it was for his use and not mine and laughed.  I was really interested in the whole proceedure and the doctor was brilliant in answering my questions about where the camera was in my body and what he was doing.  

he removed a small polyp and took a biopsy or two.  totally fascinating!  watching it on the screen made it feel strangely not inside my body..... until he started to remove the polyp and told me I would feel a slight tug.  what a weird sensation that was!  not at all painful in any way.... but I just felt the tug and saw what he was doing at the same time lol.  

there was no sign of diverticulitis.......... so it seems that damage was done when I had my gallbladder out 18 months ago.  hopefully in time that will heal.... or perhaps I will have to live with it as it is now.

results will be sent to my GP in about two weeks, and will then see the consultant again.... but that could be a month or more away. 

anyway..... for now..... no more tests :-))

blessings to all of you, Willow xXx

Waiting for a Shaman

on Wednesday the 17th there was a knock at the door........... "Stonewylde!!  my new book!!!"  I thought. 

I opened the door and there stood my lovely neighbour 'B' with my copy of Magus of Stonewylde in her hands, the first in the Stonewylde series by Kit Berry. "I'm returning this...... I've just ordered the rest of them..... thanks" she said. "What have you done lending me that book?!?!?!..... I'm totally hooked!!!"  she continued.

I was really pleased that 'B' enjoyed the book enough to buy the other four .... but I was wanting Shaman of Stonewylde to arrive..... of course.... the last book in the series of five.  the postie arrived a little later with only a letter for me.  I was bitterly disappointed.

although I was out for the evening ... Wednesday night I returned and made a cuppa and sat down to finish my re-reading of  Shadows at Stonewylde in readiness for Shaman being delivered on the next day.

Thursday morning seemed to drag so much .... but at last there was a knock at the door and I could see the postie's red jacket through the glass in the door.  (little squeal of excitement)

I unlocked the door with a shaky hand and there stood our lovely lady postie with only a big pile of letters in her hand..... no Shaman.  for a second or two I wondered why she hadn't just put them through the letterbox and was so disappointed that my Shaman was still not to be in my hands.  

then she smiled and reached into her bag and pulled out this.....

I was all of a flutter.... and beamed like a crazy person and exclaimed "my BOOK!!!...... oh thank you thank you thank you!!!"  .... clutching it like a miser with his gold I closed the door and sat down and cuddled it ... rocking with glee

here is my first glimse of the book itself........

.... with little Leveret and Magpie just showing...............

............. and now here she is in all her glory.......... 

(not quite sure why I called the book 'she' but I'm going with it)

with the beloved book in my hands at last I hastily made myself  a cuppa and then sat and READ!

I read and read and read..... only coming up for air to make more tea, get a snack, or have a 'comfort' break. 

the tv wasn't turned on at all on Thursday night..... and I read until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

Friday morning I woke..... made some tea..... and picked up Shaman..... and read!

I finished at 11pm Friday night after the most amazing roller-coaster ride ever!

I laughed.... I cried my eyes out.... and held my hand to my mouth aghast.  that Kit Berry certainly knows how to tell a tale!!!  

I'm not giving away any of the plot..... you'll have to read it for yourself.  get ready for the roller-coaster :-)

until next time, blessings, Willow xXx

The Magic Continues

just a tiny blog today :-)

as you know I am working through Rhonda Byrne's book, The Magic.

on Day 5 we worked on money.... getting more of it (that is what the £5 note is for)

......... later I went to the supermarket and saved £5.34 and used a £1 coupon I already had....... so that was £6.34 saved and then received a £1 coupon to use on my next shopping!

yesterday (Day 7) I won a small amount of money!  not much... very small amount actually, only £3... but still a win.  which all together will have added just about £10 to my purse.  now that might not seem much but it is still more than I had before

so thank you Universe for the extra money in my purse.... thank you

please let me know if you decide to buy and work through this book coz I would be so interested in how you find it and if it is working for you.

with blessings til next time, Willow xXx

The Magic Begins

Last weekend I went to the Harrogate Health and Healing Fair and there I spotted a book by Rhonda Byrne. 



The Magic really grabbed my attention and I read the first couple of chapters right there and then. 

it is one of those books where you work through it for 28 days.... so I flicked through the rest of the book.  I've bought those type of books before and given up after a few days, sometimes due to boredom, sometimes due to the fact that they were too complicated, and sometimes because I had difficulty finding the items needed for the tasks.

It looked simple enough

..... so I bought it.

"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it" wrote Roald Dahl

I want to change my life and bring magic into my life.... so.....

I believe, I believe.

I'll blog later this week to let you know how my first days are going.

with blessings, Willow xXx

Lovely Kitty Campervan

I thought you might be interested in my campervan, Kitty.  She's an old girl.... nearly 20 years old.... but lovely.  She is a transit van with a factory conversion and elevating roof.

I bought her in May and the very next day I drove her down over 200 miles to Avebury for a week camping in her (will blog about that soon) doing a round-trip of 500 miles!  All I had time to do was to wash out her cupboards and fridge.  Being desperate to decorate her on the outside I had to wait for some rain-free time.

Here is what she looked like when I first bought her...

she already had the blue and gold stripes down the side and said Campa on both sides and on the front



I ordered lots of lovely stickers from Hippy Motors and waited for an ideal day.  the weather was terrible on each day that I could spare the time to decorate her.
 
I really wanted to get her done before I went on a meet-up with friends in Oxfordshire at the Rollright Stones (blog coming soon)

the 20th August was the day!  sunny but not too hot..... no rain..... no wind..... so I could start. 

I first decorated the side panel....

with a golden hare gazing at the moon.

the next thing I did was start decoration on the bonnet and I decided on Kokopelli

but the day was so lovely I had to make the most of it and headed off to some local lakes... which is where the above bonnet photo was taken.

so the next part of the decorations had to wait until the 28th August.... just in time for going away and meeting friends on the 31st.

I added a little guardian angel to the bonnet under Kokopelli.

if you have ever driven an old campervan, or been stuck behind them on a hill, you will know how slow they are. 
so the next sticker to go on Kitty was.....

"If you think this is slow wait until we hit a hill"

..... and then...... "Home is where you park it" which had been bought for me by M several years ago when I first voiced that I wanted to 'Live the Dream' and buy a campervan.

I managed to take off the word Campa from the bonnet as it was tatty .....

...and decorated with squiggles to cover where it used to be.

I'd had an idea for the side panel with the hare so that was next to be finished....

..... with stars, fairies on mushrooms, and fairies flying through the sky.

close-ups of fairies on mushrooms........

....... and fairies reaching for the stars

But the passenger side still had nothing on it..... I loved the fairies so much that I decided to repeat them on the other side.... but much bigger and bolder....

..... with a cute little Hippy Motor's car and driver.

I finished off her bonnet with some lovely silver stars.

So this is Kitty Campa's decorations............. so far :-)

Now.....dare I go onto Hippy Motor's website and order more stickers???  LOL.

Hope you enjoyed meeting my lovely Kitty.  I'll blog about her interior next time.

with blessings, Willow xXx

Dreadful Sunday

oh dear........... I've messed up my blog by changing the name of it :-(

what an idiot I am!!!  I didn't realise that all links to it would be broken if I changed the name.  I do hope everyone can find it now.

I've also lost all my lovely blogs that I follow.

off now to go hunting for all the lost blogs.......................

with blessings, Willow x

The End ..... or Not?

Some friends and I went to the cinema on Tuesday.  Before the movie started there were a whole load of trailers for other films to be shown later in the month.  I can't even remember what movie this was from.... but I want to share a quote with you.

"It will be alright in the end.  If it isn't alright.... then it isn't the end"

I just thought that was a brilliant uplifting line.

blessings, Willow x

Creations.... Ta-Dah!

As some of you know I have been incapacitated for a few months due to problems with my gallbladder.  Well I finally had my gallbladder removed in October 2011.  All was well for the first few days after the operation and I was allowed home on the Friday.  But on the following Tuesday I began to feel really ill.  To cut a long story short I had an infection and needed to be on antibiotics for 10 days. 

I've taken a long time to recover ... and I'm still not 100% so I have had to fill my time somehow.  As you can see from my blogs I am doing some walking this month and feel better for it.  But most of my time has been spent doing crochet projects for Christmas presents and for my Folksy and Etsy online shops.  Here are some of the items I made in November and December 2011.

Plum scarf.... I made one of these for my Folksy... and one in blue for my brother.

One of these was for my sister in law.

This scarf was from a pattern I found in a craft shop.

close-up of the scarf above

This pink scarf is my own design for my Folksy.

One of these was made for a dear friend and one for Folksy.

This is my own design and I've made a lot of these in different colour-ways.

Another scarf of my own design.

I've still got some sewing up of ends of some other projects which I'll show you in another blog.  I loved doing the curly whirly scarfs..... watching them twist tighter with each row of crochet.  But I suppose there soon won't be any call for 'woolly' scarfs if the weather continues to be so mild :-(   .........  I need a new project.  Any ideas?

with blessings, Willow x

Just blogging

Gosh!  I’m really getting into this blogging thing.  I spend up to an hour a day searching and reading other people’s blogs ~ at first it was to get a feel for blogging ~ but now I can’t stop coz I am so ‘hooked’.  I’ve found some amazing blogs and bloggers.  Crafty people; gardening people; family people; and just plain talented people!  You can see for yourself what I mean by clicking on one of the bloggers in ‘My Blog List’ on the right-hand side of my page.

hours!

well it has taken me over 2 hours to get to this stage and STILL I'm not happy with my page LOL.  never mind... tomorrow is another day :-)

haven't a clue!

I've never done a blog before so bear with me please while I find my way around :-)
yesterday I spent the whole day foraging for hedgerow fruits to make into drinks and jams and actually washing and preparing them.  collected elderberries, rowan berries, sloes, wild plums, hawthorn berries and crab apples.  we now have 8 kilner jars with fruits steeping in vodka...... hic!!!  and a couple of pounds of fruit in the freezer to make more.  today it is raining so not venturing out for more just yet.... hopefully it will be fine tomorrow and I can forage in a different area for more :-)   I've been away on holiday so I think I've missed all the blackberries.  the fruit is all early this year compared to the last few years when I've been out foraging.  last year my most successful concoction was elderberry vodka..... it was like a lovely port wine so taking advantage of the lovely elderberry crop this year and hopefully have some ready for the Yule celebrations.