Closer to the bees than the butterflies...

"We are closer to the bees than the butterflies" (or words to the same effect) were the 'thought of the week' on my old school's daily bulletin just before the summer holidays one year. It's stuck in my mind as I am definitely happier being a busy bee than floating around like a butterfly! I do enjoy a good relax, especially if it involves a lovely sunny garden, a comfy seat, some peace and quiet and a good book, but I soon feel that I *ought* to be doing something, and I do like the sense of achievement I get from a job well done.

Anyway, all that was to say that I have been a busy bee over the last week, but I have been a lazy blogger - sorry! I know I need to catch up on a few things blog-wise, including letting you know who has one February's earings and showing you the ones for March. One of the reasons for the lack of posts is a virus on the laptop that has slowed our internet connection right down. The horrible thing won't even let us download anti-virus software, it just blocks access to helpful website. It has been so frustrating at times that I could have cried. Anyway, the nice things that I have done over the last week are:

• finishing a magazine article. They sent me the beads as a challenge - it was definitely a challenge as they weren't my first choice of colours, but it was fun! Hopefully I'll be able to show you the end results soon.
• working on some new designs - I'll be able to show you some of those tomorrow when I've edited the photos
• doing some work updating the website. I'm pleased that I've made a start on it, but there's still quite a bit more that I want to do. Mind you, there's always a lot I want to do on the website!
• completed some commissions, mainly bangles
• quite a bit of knitting and crochet! You can see how much my crochet has grown in the picture below. I had to carefully arrange it so that you wouldn't be able to tell what it was in case the friend who it is for comes on here and sees it! The colours are brighter in real life, as I took the photo on my iphone.

Today has been a busy, satisfying day. I woke up in a bit of a blue mood, mainly because of how much time this computer virus has wasted. A chat with Nicky and a good day working in the workshed has put me right though, thankfully, as has a nice notonthehighstreet order that came through this afternoon. The picture at the top of this post was the state of my desk at the end of the day - I think my first task tomorrow will be having a good tidy! The thing that I like the best about having such a productive day today is that I've still got another work day tomorrow!