WOYWW #219

Hi everyone and a very happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - nip over to see Julia at Stamping Ground if you don't know what I'm on about - especially if, like me, you love to snout around other people's workrooms and rummage in other people's drawers ..... :o)

If you happened to see my WOYWW post for last week, you'll know that I was packing for a crafty weekend away in Banbury near Oxford with the girls (crafty as in cuttin and stickin of course, not crafty as in devious). We just got back yesterday evening, so there isn't much activity on my desk, but I have strewn it with all the goodies I brought home so you can see what I collected/bought/totted on our travels.


I love the yummy Cath Kidston fabric-covered buttons (when we spotted the shop in Oxford, we briefly considered just licking the window but in the end couldn't resist going in)
There's a pile of brochures, beer mats, postcards, tickets and so on, some of which will end up in my Smash Book, and a roll of beautiful wrapping paper with pictures of book shelves from the Bodleian Library shop. On the right you can see a gorgeous scarf handknitted for me by Polly - she made a different one for each of us - here's a close-up of mine so you can see the little sequins (of course I kept everyone's wrapping paper too) ...


If you look very closely, you can see a wonderful 12th scale mini book which Emma made me ...


It has a faux leather cover with a raised leaf pattern and she filled it with pictures to illustrate our stay ... here you can see wine and a pasty, because she brought pasties up from Cornwall for our supper.


In the centre of the picture is the beginnings of a needle felted heart which Michelle was helping me with - I never got to finish it because Disaster Struck on our last day, but I really enjoyed having a go


Amongst other things, you can also see some fab wooden buttons, a fat quarter of fabric printed with vintage adverts and some beautiful flowers from the Crafty Cow stall in Stratford Market.

We enjoyed Oxford so much that we went back for a second visit on Monday, saw the Magical Books Exhibition at the Bodleian, had a delicious lunch, wandered about ... and intended to spend our final evening finishing our projects, tidying up and packing. However, at about 4.30 I happened to notice TEN MISSED CALLS on my mobile!!! OMG! I never get that many calls PANIC!
To cut a long story short, it turned out that we should have vacated our rented flat that morning, new people were due at 4pm and the owner had been frantically trying to contact us all day since the cleaner went in that morning.
Our stuff was strewn EVERYWHERE and we had no idea what would happen if the new people had already moved in. We had to run for the next train back so we could get our stuff and then try to find alternative accomodation for the night.
So I thought I would make things even more interesting by having a FULL-ON ASTHMA ATTACK - thank goodness for the kindness of strangers - a lovely man on the station platform gave me his spare Ventolin inhaler (previously used, but I didn't care a bit by then).
Eventually we got to the flat, to find a Spanish couple and their daughters had moved in - they were also very kind and helped us find our stuff. Everything had been piled into the hall cupboard so we had to take it out on the landing and repack as best we could. We ended up in a Holiday Inn for the night and as far as we know, all we ended up losing was some shampoo ... and all the Tangles I had drawn over the weekend. Never mind, could have been so much worse.

When I got home my DH had put up bunting and left me a lovely card and a box of fudge :o)


All's well that ends well - we're still planning to go again next year :o)xxx
Don't forget to check out Stamping Ground - have a good old nosey around some much more productive and inspiring workdesks than mine! Cheerio for now.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wonderful desk! I love that tiny book... so sweet :)
It sounds like you had a wonderful get-away.
If I have time, I need to check out that CSI... sounds very interesting!
Cheers, and thx for stopping by :)
Jana #79

Unknown said…
LOL, oh dear - good job all that juicy stash made up for the last day, whoops!!
lots of great things, but I was drawn to that wrapping paper.

Lynda #89
Lunch Lady Jan said…
Omg, what a final day! Your heart must have sunk when you read that message...thank goodness it turned out ok in the end.....
And anyone who does illustrations of pasties is ok by me!!
Hugs, LLJ 60 xx
Unknown said…
Hello, I wanted to get right back to you this morning.. but our friends place was on fire just about the time I was doing this. I posted it to show people I would be back AFTER I had some sleep.Funny last week you couldn't leave psot and this week I just couldn't get back to them. But Im awake now. Glad you had a good time and the tiny book is just a trip- how cool is that.
Thanks for stopping in.. It's been a crazy week. Roberta 55
Whimcees said…
Hello!

So many wonderful things to look at! Wishing you a happy day!

Hugs,

Barbara Diane
Anonymous said…
That scarf is lovely but oh, the teeny tiny mini book is just the sweetest.

Don't let one bad day ruin the memory of all the good ones :)

Happy (so late) WOYWW!
Mary Anne (37)
Anonymous said…
Happy WOYWW. OMG - what a stressful end to your wonderful break in wonderful Oxfordshire. I spent 11 years of my childhood living near Chipping Norton (in between Oxford, Banbury and Stratford - so thoroughly spoilt for wonderful shopping and scenery) and my mum has lived in Banbury for the past 23 years. Oxford is fab - must take my hubby there, he has never been. Love the little book and all the other wonderful crafty stuff. Ali x #56
glitterandglue said…
Oh my word - what a weekend! A whole mixture of fun, chaos, crisis, panic - you name it, you went through it! What lovely gifts you have - and what a great way your hubby thought of to welcome you home. Trust you are fully recovered from the asthma attack.
Thanks for visiting. Yes, I trust Friday evening goes well - catering numbers up to 80 now!
Have a great week.
Margaret #69
Julie Lee said…
Well, it sounds an eventful weekend!!! Poor you having the asthma attack and how stressful having to gather all your belongings in such a rush. I love all your bits and pieces that you brought back and Oxford sounds like a great place for a crafter to visit! Thanks for your visit to me earlier! Julie Ann xx #39
Tera Callihan said…
Happy belated WOYWW!! Thank you for your kind comments on my Blog, Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, What a crazy Week It's been! Love your table full of goodies!!

-Tera #101