St Albans

On Saturday 25 May from 1pm - 6pm The Courtyard Cafe and The Yoga Hall are holding an event, Inside Out Open Day, in support of the charity Mind in Mid Herts. I will be having a stall with my friend Sue, if you can come along and support a good cause.

On Friday I went to the Courtyard Cafe, St Albans , to a preview evening of local artists.

The Courtyard Artists 20 Apr - 31 May 2013

The Courtyard Café
, 11 Hatfield Road, St. Albans AL1 3RR

Opening times 8.30am to 5.00 pm Tuesday to Saturday

While searching in our garden shed for something (mosaic nippers to be precise), for a friend, I found some mosaic pieces. I have to brace myself for this task, the shed is full of garden furniture and old toys, you get the picture a general dumping ground. Well right at the back, along with the nippers, I found mosaic pieces I had totally forgotten about. My friend Susie and I use to teach mosaic and so needed to have examples to show students. Finding the pieces made me want to dabble in mosaic again, but as they say be careful what you wish for!

It was a weekday but with this glorious late september weather and everyone at home a family trip was on the cards. We decided to go to Butterfly World for the afternoon, only a ten minute drive from where we live. The final Phase and main structure, the Biome, has yet to be built but don't let that put you off going there's still lots to see and do especially for children.

After studying the Hertfordshire's Open Studios brochure a couple of friends and I decided to have a trip out to see the studios of Adele Pearce (Village Arts) and Hazel Godfrey (Willow). A few factors came into play on this decision, firstly I like mosaic and willow, secondly never visited Kings Walden before, but the real lure was a studio in the garden of a pub, bonus!

It was Larks in the Parks yesterday and the theme was 'Seaside'. My friends and I had a stall at the event and the weather was just perfect! I like these community events because they are social and local, a chance to chat and meet old friends

A couple of Saturdays ago Alice and I were in St Albans market when we noticed The Odyssey cinema stall, giving out information about the renovation of the old cinema

If you live in St Albans a new free publication, St Albans Quarterly, may have dropped on your door mat. You may also have noticed it has a craft page featuring my lanterns and instructions on how to make them. If you don't live in St Albans you can find the instructions on my website here