Recycling at it's very best...

She is very very old...even older than me
...some might argue that point!

She is made of brass and iron
... and lots of chipped paint...

She is mechanical... Low maintenance..
No electricity is needed.
(sounds like I'm describing myself)

Have you guessed what she is yet?

I am now the very proud owner of a small book binders press.

My first drypoint plate.. not looking too bad
considering that I haven't done this for a long long time.
First print....... disaster!!!
How could I be so rubbish at this?

This is what I managed after several attempts

My little seahorse looks quite happy with herself and so do I.

'Blue sky moments'
(The story of how I became the proud owner of a book binders press)

During the very dark week that I had at the beginning of the month, my daughter and grandson rescued me and took me out for a little drive to a lovely village just a few miles away... mainly to scour the charity shops and see what bargain's could be found... A good distraction technique you don't have to buy anything just get out of the house and out of your thoughts. We could have just gone for a walk, but my daughter loves charity shops, we laugh and say that she is obsessed by them.

Any way getting back to the point... 'The press'... We were just about to leave and decided to have a quick peep in a second hand shop that we had missed, what was in the window waiting for me... you have guessed, some would say that Samantha had something to do with it, in some strange way I can almost believe that she might have, her degree at Winchester School of Art was in textile design, and lots of the work that she produced was with print.. so there is a loose connection or maybe it's a strong one who knows........ If she led us to the press that day....... It was definitely a blue sky moment for me..... It has cheered me up no end........

Thank you my darlings for rescuing me that day xxx