Too much of a good thing ....

I don’t usually leave it this long between posts but I’m still recovering from spending too much time on holiday!

I took my husband and my father-in-law on a 17 day road trip. We had a couple of nights in Glasgow (to see daughter Jess) then took the ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast (husband and father-in-law taking full advantage of the free food and wine in the Premium Lounge). Five nights in Belfast. The Titanic Museum (very good and very good food in the restaurant). The city bus tour (me and father-in-law on the open top deck got rather cold and wet). Drives up and down the coast. The Bushmills whisky tour (husband and father-in-law taking full advantage of the fact that I was driving). Then across to Derry for one night (enjoyed The Tower Museum and eating ice cream in the sun). Then on to Donegal town via Giants Causeway which ticked a box but I was expecting the individual rocks to be bigger so was a little underwhelmed. Two nights in Donegal (fabulous Indian meal, boat cruise of the bay on a lovely day and time spent in pubs). Then on to Salthill on the outskirts of Galway for three nights (lovely walks along the prom, great meal at Blackrock House on the front, a day trip into Galway city plus drives out along the coast west of Salthill). Then across to Bray which is south of Dublin for three nights (met up with family, took the city bus tour in Dublin and another wonderful Indian meal). Then back home via the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead (husband and father-in-law were a bit to knackered to take full advantage of the free wine!).

Three days at home (mostly spent doing the washing!) before husband and I headed back up to Scotland, this time spending a week in Largs which is on the Ayrshire coast west of Glasgow. Although we won’t be moving until next year we used this week to start ‘fine tuning’ locations for house hunting. Absolutely fell in love with Largs but I’m trying to keep an open mind. Had some lovely walks along the prom which earnt me an ice cream sundae most days at the famous Nardinis. Daughter suggested that we shouldn’t be basing a very big life decision on the availability of good ice cream but I beg to differ! Got the ferry across to Cumbrae and brought a couple of bottles of gin from Isle of Cambrae Distillers which is run by five genius women. Needless to say the boys had brought rather a lot of whisky back with them from Ireland so I was feeling left out!

2035 miles of driving later it was a relief to get back home properly. Own bed, own shower and most importantly - my studio. I really missed it and a little bit of me wishes that I could have split myself in half and spent the time making art as well as enjoying good company and new places. Ho hum.

So I had a couple of days to recover from being on holiday before I taught my five day Breakdown Your Palette workshop last week. I loved every minute that I spent in the company of five brilliant women printing wonderful fabric but the last few weeks have reinforced our decision to relocate and downsize. I desperately want to have more time to make art, I want to walk by the sea every day and to enjoy a leisurely ice cream sundae.

Before then though I am still running workshop in my studio this year. Most of the summer classes are full but I do have two places left on Luscious Layers (3rd to 7th June) which would be nice to fill.