Coidan’s Christmas Letter 2018






  I know I say it every year; but where have those 12 months gone?

It seems not that long ago that we were planning our book on beading - the one that was going to make us stars. Loads of people were interested in it. Amazon was even advertising it on their site and it had been pre-ordered by quite a few!
  Pic: Lesley is greeted by the cats on her return from a weekend away

Except...our publishers had no idea what we were about. We spent ages writing the text, choosing the pictures and illustrations and the bastards had the cheek to change it all. On top of that the editor in charge owned up to knowing nothing about tambour beading! We were pulling our hair out. So we parted company with them - having messed us about for months on end. They didn’t have the nerve to ask for the meagre advance they made to us.

So self publishing here we come: if we get time from our hectic business.

In March Barry and his mate Peter headed south to Antarctica. He seemed to have enjoyed the cold and ice. He even went kayaking...making friends with whales, seals and penguins! In fact he so enjoyed the experience that in April he signed up for a kayaking course near Canary Wharf.  “Yes I kayaked in the Antarctic” he proudly boasted before he turned turtle and was heard to say “I’ve fallen in the water.” That put the damper on his grandiose plans to kayak up the Norwegian fjords in the summer.

And what a summer! Blistering heat week in, week out. I don’t know about you I could hardly move. Well in fact we didn’t for most of July. We cycled all the 3000 odd kilometres vicariously as we were transfixed by the Tour de France on telly. Our little legs were pumping away as we sipped red wine getting quite expert in the ins and outs of the peloton. We were there as Geraint Thomas cycled up the Champs de Elysee to win it for Britain.

Poor Barry, during the summer he was on his allotment most days watering his parched plants. But it paid off - we drowned in fresh tomatoes and figs: an unusual combination I thought.

At the end of June I organised a walk around Walthamstow- visiting the Village, the Vestry Museum and old St Mary’s church which was a delight with some of our group climbing the church tower to gain a fabulous panoramic view of our great city. It was so hot that we missed out the visit to the William Morris museum. Subsequently, I was asked to redo the walk and we managed to include the museum. I learnt so much about the area researching for the walks.

Couture Beading and Embellishment - is still alive and kicking. We’ve done quite a lot of theatre work this year for “Tina”, “Kinky Boots” and “Aladdin”, as well as running classes and courses at our “altelier” and across London. Mind you the Council who now own my studio tried hard to force me out by hiking up our rent by 100%. We fought back and the agreed increase was just over 50% - loyalty counts for something- I’ve been there 8 years.

The cats prosper. Usual trips to the vet, lots of oohs and ahhs from the nurses when our four turn up for their medicals. They continue to delight and destroy the furniture.

And that’s it: 2018 done and nearly dusted. Now all we have to do is survive and enjoy Christmas. All the best to you in 2019 and hope you have a restful Christmas. With love and kisses from

Lesley, Barry, Ginja, Sylvo, and Pixie and Dixie

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