Ta dah!

Well as you can see from the banner above I managed to make my deadline with about 42 minutes to spare.....maybe the deadline of midnight did help me even though it was self-imposed and therefore artificial.....I am glad to finally have my banner in place and now I feel like my blog is really ready to get going. My colour pallette on the banner was inspired by my very first piece of tiramisu ....it was a beautiful pristine square of cocoa-dusted cloud like cake, a perfect pink sugared rose petal floating atop...what more could a girl ask for?

Happy Birthday Eleanor!!

Five years ago today my little pickle, Eleanor, was born in our bathroom at 11 o'clock at night. Her Mother, Madeleine, a sweet French bulldog, was VERY surprised by the arrival but proved to be a wonderful Mum to her five healthy puppies. Eleanor couldn't breathe so I gave her mouth to mouth and soon she was squirming and full of life. She has been such a joy to live with these past few years, she is happy, funny and oh so very cute. Here are pics of her with her sister, Daisy May, and being coy for the camera. She is definitely an inspiration to me.

Why is it so hard to design for yourself?

For the last couple of days I have been trying to design a banner for this blog and I am finding it really hard to get the right look for myself. When I am asked to come up with concepts for a client the ideas flow so easily and abundantly but for ME I end up getting stumped and wonder how I ever do this for anyone else. I do have an idea in my mind but it just doesn't want to come out....maybe a cuppa might help? Any suggestions? I am determined to have this done by the end of the day so do drop by later and see what I have finally come up with!...maybe the pressure of a deadline might help me!

Our little town

Today in Belfast, Maine we celebrated the launch of three Hereshoff 30 foot Buzzard Bay yachts which were restored by our amazing local boatbuilders, French and Webb. The boats are each over one hundred years old and Belfast being the old boatbuilding town that she is many of her citizens showed up to watch the triple launch, which in and of itself was a tour de force....co-ordinating three lorries backing the boats simultaneously into the harbour...madness I tell you but it was accomplished with narry a bump or scratch!!

James and I are fond of Belfast Harbour as we arrived here by boat and lived on the dock for a couple of months before setting roots down in this great little town at the top of Penobscot Bay.....The weather today was beautiful and to see the flags flying from the masts, the floral wreaths on the bow sprits and smell the fresh sea breeze mixed with the perfume of the salt roses that line the harbour made the festivities complete...smooth sailing to the boats and Bon Voyage!

Bronze tiles and Plum Blossoms

Here are a couple of photographs of James' (my partner) new work which he just finished, he took his inspiration for these two tiles from an antique Japanese iron kettle. The sculptings you see here will be turned into molds from which bronze tiles will be cast by our friend Jay Gibson at Metaphor Bronze in Morrill, Maine. Whilst he is imagining them as tiles I am thinking about them as chocolate bars!!!

Another rough day at the office with Eleanor!

The only thing that could improve this moment for me would be a piece of cake and a cup of tea....

My first post...

I have just tried twice to do my first post, and somehow I failed to get it on my blog...what a sad beginning...now I must go to bed and refresh my little head. Any words of encouragement or wisdom gratefully recieved if you stumble here unexpectedly....Good Night!