Shiver Me Timbers at The NEC...

Hi folks...it's hard to believe that a week has gone by since I was sitting on the plane in slightly chilly Aberdeen waiting for the de-icing man to do his stuff and get on my way to what I thought would be warmer climes at The NEC...

but I can't begin to describe how cold it was when we landed in Birmingham...for someone who lives hundreds of miles nearer the Arctic Circle and is used to the cold...I was ill prepared for the biting icy blast wind...it never occurred to me to pack my Nanook Of The North cosy winter jacket or suitable footwear..shiver me timbers and no mistake and the halls at The NEC weren't much better...with all the doors standing wide open to allow the retailers to unload their stock it was teeth chattering shivery...setting up the tables and chairs...unpacking the tools box and sorting out workshop kits isn't easy when you're still dressed in outdoor gear and reluctant to remove your cosy gloves...nothing else for it but to have frequent trips to the lovely and warm on site restaurant for mugs of hot chocolate to fight off the hypothermia...

by the time I got to the hotel I was chilled to the bone...time to wallow in a hot bath until circulation was restored...normally I find my room too warm and turn off the radiator...on this occasion I had the thermostat bumped up as far as it would go and even enquired about a hot water bottle...I might have known that was a request too far for the lovely "nothing is too much trouble" staff at The Hilton...Health & Safety...burst bottle...wet bed and scalded guest put the scuppers on that. But worse was to come on Thursday night...the wind was so bad that my patio door rattled all night and I'm darned if I could find the gap that the wind was whistling through and Friday morning brought an even bigger surprise...a snowy winter wonderland...

and a slippery slidey stroll to work...

with my lovely Fiskars teamie Hina and believe me I would have mugged her for her cosy Nanook Of The North Coat and boots if I thought they would have fitted...

and you would have thought that once all those crafty folks had packed into the hall...things would have improved...not a bit...so it was time for drastic measures...they do say that layers are the way to go so I tucked my shirt into my 2 pairs of knickers and wore 2 pairs of socks along with pop socks...at least my feet and bum were slightly warmer than the rest of me.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom...there's nothing like lots of fun and laughter with crafty buddies to help you keep your chin up...it was great to meet up with friends Enfys and Carol again...to finally meet my bloggy buddy Anne and my Fiskarette buddy Pia from Finland who brought "woohoo" CHOCOLATE and to spend a fabulous fun Friday wintry evening squashed on a comfy sofa with my Fiskars teamies...Hina and Rachel...my bestest crafty buddy Enfys and the lovely Sue and Julie from Craftwork Cards....missing them all already.
I'll be back tomorrow to share my "had no intentions of buying anything apart from stocking up essentials" "had to sit on the suitcase to get it closed" crafty purchases.

Hugs Kath xxx