Ode to the M8

Hi folks...with the worky stuff done and dusted...woohoo before I knew it was Sunday and I was heading off to Damselfly Crafts for a much anticipated treat...a little bit of me playtime with the fabulous Finnabair but you know me...there always has to be a little bit of drama attached...so make yourselves a cuppa...find a comfy sofa and let me share with you all my "would I ever get there" saga. I can't believe that I travelled from home to Edinburgh no problem...travelled onward to my hotel without a hitch...made my way to Hobbycraft with ease...got myself from Edinburgh across to Glasgow with only a little moment of terror at the 4 lane notorious Sherriffhall roundabout but yet the simplest journey of the whole weekend...a quick 7 minute drive from the hotel to Damselfly Crafts turned into an absolute nightmare...what was meant to be a quick hop onto the M8 and a quick hop off again at the next junction ended up in a "going round in circles" tour of city and suburbs. Whether it was excitement or I wasn't truly awake but I took the first slip road onto the motorway instead of the second and found myself heading south instead of north...knew something had gone wrong the minute I saw signs for Carlisle...oops time to get off at the next exit and pray I could dig myself out of this particular hole. Not being acquaint with Glasgow...the fact that I was now at Cathedral Cross and near the Royal Infirmary meant nothing to me but I was sure if I doubled back on myself there was bound to be an exit back on to the right side of the motorway but the traffic lights had other ideas...No Right Turn here and No Left Turn there...time to admit defeat and enlist the help of a nice chap sitting at a bus stop. "No problem you are only one street away...take the first right...follow the road round and you'll see the sign...you are only 2 junctions away".  Silly moi for thinking that the dramas were behind me...I'm back on track but only momentarily as it happened...due to the crazy "busy even on a Sunday "traffic I was stuck in the left lane...blame the low in the sky sun and vision restricted a bit by the sun visor but I didn't see the sign to stay in the middle lane to continue on the M8 until it was too late and didn't fancy the prospect of becoming another road statistic so here we go again...I had no choice but to merge on to the M80...the road that leads home. At this point I seriously considered throwing in the towel and heading home or dumping the car and calling a taxi but as luck would have it...at the next roundabout I spotted an exit back onto the M8 albeit heading south again...yep I couldn't make it up if I tried but hey I'd been this way before so once again I exited back towards the Royal Infirmary...did think of booking myself a bed in the "I'm having a nervous breakdown" ward but thanks to my "been here before...remember that landmark" skills I managed to negotiate my way back round like a native...thankfully the man at the bus stop had gone and before you could blink I was back on the M8...yippee going the right way. I stuck like glue to the middle lane until the elusive Junction 17 came into view...exited successfully...crikey I can't describe the euphoria and relief when I finally arrived at Damselfly Crafts half an hour later than planned but with still 10 minutes to spare.
The moral of the story is that folks from country bumpkin land should not be let loose on 3 and 4 lane scary motorways and perish the thought...without some divine intervention and a little bit of lady luck I could have been doomed to travel the M8 forever.
I would have been devastated if I had missed the workshop with the lovely Finnabair...it was beyond fabulous and worth all the blood sweat and tears to get there but I'll be back tomorrow to share with you all what we made...in the meantime I'll leave you with a sneaky peek of our "packed with lots and lots of gorgeousness" class kit.

I'm currently working my way through the mega marathon of the Fiskars Workshop kits for the NEC...well and truly back in my comfort zone...a piece of cake compared to negotiating motorway exits...time to pull on my big girl knickers...get the kettle on and start up the cubbyhole production line again.

Hugs Kath xxx