Wandering wanderers

Nomadic. That's been my life for the past two and a half months. And there's more to come. We're back in the Jo'burg/Rustenburg area after a wonderful month or so in Port Elizabeth and surrounds, and will be packing our suitcases again today – we head east (towards the Kruger Park) tomorrow to visit my sister and her husband in Hoedspruit, and then we all move on to Hazyview about an hour and a half's drive from there for my stepbrother's wedding next weekend. It's going to be a big family affair, where we all stay on for a week afterwards to catch up with everyone who lives scattered around the country/world.

On the stitching front, I've taken a few small steps along the way. I've struggled a bit to adapt to working on the move. I'm missing my studio, even if it was just a table in the spare room that I had to share with my husband. But I'm slowly learning to work flexibly, which should stand me in good stead in the future (this is me looking for the silver lining).

Nonetheless, since arriving back in South Africa I have managed to get an issue of the Stitch and Thimble out and start work on the next one, albeit just ideas at this stage. My free Flutter By range of embroidery designs is complete, although my brain has yet to let me know what it's thinking in terms of a new range. And I've met some great women on my travels – shop owners and a guild committee member – who have given me much good advice and been complimentary about my work (a boost for morale).

I'm also working on two new designs, which have been a long time coming. They're finally traced on and ready for stitching after living way too long on paper! And I'm slowly getting things in place to expand my range of products.

Oh, and my online shop front over at The Secret Arcade is now "open". Many thanks to Samantha and Denise Allan for the design and slog work to get it up and running. It's all rather nifty.


But I've spent far more time travelling, socialising, exploring and generally pottering about than I should have. Once the wedding and subsequent family gathering are over, the hard work needs to commence. For real. Hopefully the coming of spring – with its bright colours, lengthening days and warmer weather – will help keep me on the straight and narrow. And hopefully my next studio space will be a little closer to becoming a reality.