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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