Cornwall & Devon

Last week I spent a few days in Cornwall and Devon. I managed to get a cheap train ticket by booking ahead which made the journey worthwhile :) In Cornwall I stayed in Penzance and did the obligatory sights - St Michael's Mount, Land's End and St Ives. In Devon I enjoyed a couple of days with my friend Norah in Totnes. Here are a few pics. It was quite grey and stormy at Land's End, but my last day in Penzance shows how lovely the weather can be in Cornwall!

This is a typical beach near Penzance - not so much sand as stones!


A glorious day in Penzance:


St Michael's Mount viewed from Marazion:

Of course I have to have a photo of the signpost at Land's End - the westernmost point of England:

Barcelona

I've just spent 4 days in Barcelona with my friend Carol. I've been to Spain before, but this is the first time I've visited Barcelona and can really recommend it. It's a lovely city located on the coast. There's plenty to see and do and even in January the climate is very pleasant - quite a bit warmer and drier than the UK! Here are a couple of photos of the central city area:





The city is home to a number of buildings designed by the 'Modernista' architect, Gaudi, like the Casa Batllo


and the Sagrada Familia church, still unfinished after over 100 years


I also appreciated the local work with mosaics (this well-known dragon is located in Park Güell)

Hi from London

Hi from London



I'm having a great time catching up with family and friends. It's 7 years since I was last here so there's a lot of news to catch up on! I enjoyed Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law and am now based with friends in South London. When I first arrived it was very cold, but has now warmed up slightly - still coat and scarf weather, though :)

Tui in the garden

Here is my latest mosaic - a tui paver for the garden.

Working with glass

For my next project, I decided to work with glass tiles and do something with this old table that has been hanging around in the garage. It has a nice shape and is still in reasonable condition, but it would be nice to do something interesting with the top which is a rather boring beige formica. The legs are wrought iron and just need a bit of new paint.


And here is the first stage done. I've gone for shades of green and something that looks like a leaf - I think it works well. I found the glass tiles quite easy to work with. Have a great glass cutter that works well - managed to cut and shape the tiles quite quickly.


The next step is grouting - after the glue has dried sufficiently. This is the grouting in progress - I decided to go for a dark grey this time.


And here is the finished table - I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I think it's a big improvement on the formica!

and a close up view


Now I just need to paint the legs and we'll be enjoying using the table on the deck this summer :)

The finished paver

I've been having a 'smashing' time working on my paver - smashing and cutting light and dark brown tiles for the background. The light brown tiles have a very interesting mottled look, but the glaze cracks easily, so I'm not sure how well they'll last in the garden. Still, I think the combination is nice.


And here is the finished paver (well, nearly done - just have to seal the grout so the paver can go outside). Overall, I'm really pleased with the result.

The next stage...

Thought you might like to see the next stage in making the paver - this time I've filled in the koru shape with dark and light green. The colour of the light green tiles is called 'kiwifruit' so I thought that was quite appropriate :) Now I'm starting work on the background and hope to finish that at my next class. The last class in the course I'll be learning how to do the grouting - watch this space!