The Squiggle is Dead

Today has been one of those days that will stay with me forever.
An afternoon packed full of blessings so large and yet so often unseen!!
Sadly I don't have any photos so this blog is all just going to be written. I need to share it because it was so beautiful.....

Sandra, who last year started working for me, has two gorgeous little girls. I think they are about 5 and 7 years old.
Today was Charlotte's 7th birthday party. An Alice in Wonderland Tea Party.

I am struggling to put into words just how awesome the whole party was. From the little pink and white candy stripe straws in miniature glass drinking bottles, to the crust less cucumber sandwiches. This was every little girls party dream.

Sandra's husband was incredible and sadly that is an understatement. Sandra was the party designer but it was her hubby who ran all the games for two hours with 13 tiny little girls. From games of 'pin the tail on the Cheshire cat', to picking up smarties with a straw, right through to ribbon dancing, he certainly made the party just magic. I feel so blessed to have witnessed a young man so able to connect with so many tiny little girls.

I think I could write a book on all the beautiful small and yet so huge blessings I was able to be a part of today.

In every true collection of memories there must always be a funny one to complete it properly.
So here is to the gorgeous one for the 'olds' like me LOL....

Sandra had set up an activity for the girls, complete with a hot pink apron each, where the task was to paint and decorate a teacup and saucer. Of course this one I was into 'big time'!
(I'm not one to leap and dance with ribbons too well, as I was laughingly told by a 5 year old today but I can paint :-)

I need to tell you that I have a real bee in my bonnet about people telling children to 'rub out' as the artwork is not good enough and they need to start again. So when one little girl started to rub her painting off as it wasn't good enough, I just HAD to 'put that to right'....

I immediately started my story to the young artists that every mark could be remodeled into something else. I used my son Matthew and his cartooning as the example, and this is how my 'Collection of memories' were made complete....

Me: ' now girls I need you to know that there are no mistakes or messes made here. Your cups are all beautiful and you don't need to rub any paint of.'

Child 1: 'but it's not pretty'

Child 2: ' but every blob or line can be made into something more beautiful'

Child 1: 'but mine is really awful'

Me: ' there is no awful, Mr Squiggle turned all sorts of 'mess' into a beautiful picture '

Child 4: ' but who's Mr Squiggle and what did he do?'

Me: we'll he was just like my son, he would be given a piece of paper with a mess of lines and blobs and he would make it into something really great. My son turns lines and blobs into cartoons'

Child 1: ' but that's really hard!! And I've never seen Mr Squiggle'

Me: 'well he was on TV and he was really cool. Maybe he has gone now as he was on TV when I was little'

Child 5: 'oh don't worry about him then. Just rub it out. He's dead by now'


For the first time in my life I felt a small part of what it must be like to be a Grandma.

- when ever you can, go find or make a memory....
Nikki

Awkward (orchid) meeting

Now for some of you, orchids are just orchids. Around here however they are taking over.....


This one was fantastic and very unusual at a show.


I'm telling you this because they have become an obsession for Mike and tonight I am at an Orchid Meeting.


Similar to a stitching night except the 70+ men far outnumber the women.


I have to say, whilst its not really my 'thing' its worth coming for 'show and tell'


Is there any wonder why so many of the stitcheries I am working on, involve flowers.