Saturday update from Japan

Well more bears made and more bears have found new homes!

Here is Rieko modelling Jonny,

and here she is with George who was finished today.

These two bears went off to new homes today...

and here are Patrick and Lucy, 2 other English artists here, with some of their work behind them.

The bad news is, I have gone down with shingles today. I started to feel unwell yesterday evening and by today it got worse and worse. I knew by the afternoon that it was definitely shingles and am feeling very ill. So that's a bit awkward to say the least!

After the Typhoon

Well I am delighted to report that the dreaded typhoon which decided to come early and was forecast for last night, then also chose to swerve away from Tokyo at the last minute and hit them further up north. Sorry for them, but very relieved for us. It was still a very wet and windy night although Reiko and Yuki slept through and didn't hear a thing, I only got 1 hour sleep so its been a bit of a jet lag day again. I am very relieved though. It was still very windy earlier on, but cleared now, and all is well!

The lady who tried to climb on my shoulder to watch me sewing the other day, came back again today. I think she is lonely and likes to chat which is amusing as I don't do Japanese and she doesn't do English, but it doesn't seem to stop her. She is fascinated with my hands and keeps grabbing them and squeezing them for some strange reason. Big Ben, the bear I made yesterday went happily off with some new owners today, so that was nice.

I had quite a few nice chats today with people who DO speak English (and some English people too!) and one lady of 80 had just decided to learn it, and was amazing already. So it was a busy day and I didn't get a bear finished today, so will have to work harder tomorrow. And on that note, its time to get some sleep.

Still in Japan

I thought I would upload a few pictures from the British Fair at Mitsukoshi in Tokyo for you to enjoy and see where I am and what I have been up to.

A happy new Warren Bear owner with Yuki

and another new owner who seems very pleased with little Samuel.

(A name that sadly proved very hard for them to say.)

Here are the 2 new bears so far.

The one in the blue duffle coat is Big Ben and the other is Marlborough (another tricky name for them!) He looks a bit cross in the picture but its just cos his fringe is squashed down.
This is Reiko and Yuki, the two ladies who are selling the bears for M's Collection here and looking after me so well.

This is a sweet little girl, loving the bear,

who then wiped her mouth on it straight after this photo was taken!!

She said "Hallo" so nicely too!

The typhoon is scheduled for 3pm tomorrow (Thursday 8th) so I hope I will still be here to let you know what it was like! I had an encouraging email from a friend who said he was here in a 45 second earthquake that knocked his beer on the floor and broke a fish tank of piranhas in the restaurant (I presume they are no threat floundering on a dry floor!!) and the local people took it in their stride so I hope they look after me tomorrow. I feel like its having earthquakes all the time. Its a strange thing I always get with jet lag, feeling like the world is rocking and swaying. I know it isn't cos I keep checking all the cabinets around me and they are all very still and not shaking but I swear they should be, it is rocking so much!

And all without the aid of drugs

(well apart from anti biotics but I don't think they can do anything exciting like that!)

Today was fairly quiet - still raining constantly - and I was able to try out the umbrella machine. Everyone here has an umbrella, even just about every man you see, and at the shop there is a special gadget that you put it into and it wraps your brollie. Its just like the Christmas tree wrapping machines and I felt that it ought to be tried out whilst I am here!

So I did!

Anyway, more tomorrow......

In JAPAN

Well hello from Japan (as you do!)

I didn't get chance to write anything after the show at Hugglets as I went down with the dreaded swine flu at the actual show. By the time we got home, I went straight to bed and was ill for a week and then had the complications in the form of a stubborn chest infection which is on its 3rd course of antibiotics and only just easing. So all my plans to have 3 calm weeks before travelling to Japan never happened. The long walks with the dogs, the various things I wanted to have time to go shopping for (saved a fortune!) the food I was going to cook and leave in the freezer, bears I needed to make ready to bring etc etc. It just never happened. All I did was go to the doctors 3 times! And then get up for my first full day on the day I had to fly 12 hours. Not ideal but I managed it and I am here and finished a nice little 13" alpaca bear in a peachy colour today.

People seemed to enjoy watching him being created, and I even had one lady virtually sitting on my shoulder watching the nose stitching from behind me. I was worried I would poke her in the eye with the needle if she got any closer! Lots of nice people practiced their English on me and all apologised that it wasn't very good - which is a shame they feel like that when my Japanese is non-existent. That was another thing I was going to do in that 3 weeks.... Oh well.

So no photos this post but just to say hello from a different side of the world this time and let you know what is happening.

Apparently we are getting a typhoon tomorrow which doesn't seem to alarm them in the least but I have to say I am absolutely terrified. When I asked what will happen I was told it will rain very hard and be a hurricane, and be dangerous to be out but we still have to go to work. Wish me luck please cos I am very scared.

Will let you know (hopefully!) how I survived!

Bye for now.

Ready for Hugglets on September 13th 2009

Well, at last I am ready for the BIG SHOW tomorrow. I can't believe what hard work it has been making all the bears, and then getting them all ready - photos, labels, layout, packing etc but its all done now! Phew. And I just had a lovely lunch and coffee out with Keith at a local Italian deli just down the road. The table wasn't big enough for all the plates! Getting ready for a show makes you hungry!

So here they are for your delight!

I thought it was about time I did a theme again so welcome to the

GARDEN COLLECTION

Willow 21"

very long and dense mohair in cream and gold

(On the lace collar it has a commemorative bear badge

but you could use your own keepsake if preferred)

Lily the Panda Cub who sits or lies down

13" dense mohair

Magnolia 13"

dense and fluffy white mohair

Jasmine 17"

dense and fluffy white mohair

Sweet Pea 13"

cream kid mohair (incredibly soft)

Capability Brown 17"

vintage quality luxurious dense cocoa alpaca

Radish Little Handful 10" Honeysuckle

soft grey alpaca 13" dense cream and

gold mohair

Briar 11" Poppy

sparse gold mohair 9" caramel and beige alpaca

Lavender 9"

Sparse white mohair

and then because I promised you a picture of "Meg's pond" (and she has just this minute been bathed again following a swim this morning!) here is is looking quite settled and established although with less fish than Wednesday following a visit from a Heron on Thursday!

Another month has flown by.....

Hello again, yet another month has whizzed by. I must be getting old because it doesn't seem like a month since I updated my blog.

I am having trouble updating my website so although there are lots of Warren Bears, none of them are there for you to see. Sorry about that!

I have just sent another large box off to Japan

and now I am working on some bears for Hugglets in September. I haven't left myself much time!! I have a lovely dense, wavy, white mohair cut out for a larger 17" bear and am in the process of stuffing a 13" panda cub who is looking very cute. I found out that I didn't have another bag of stuffing up in the loft as I had thought I had, and then had to wait over a week for a delivery of another 25kg consignment of it as the factory was on holiday! Its unusual for me to work on more than one bear at a time, so I am not sure which to do first! I have a head full of ideas but not very much time, so must get cracking.

We just had a wonderful 2 weeks down in Cornwall and completely relaxed and enjoyed the beaches and cream teas, fresh seafood, pasties and sunshine etc etc. I really didn't want to come home this time. The dogs had a great time too, racing along empty beaches, barking at peregrine falcons and hang gliders, and Meg tried desperately to catch a seagull which was very entertaining!

We also had another great trip to the zoo this weekend to visit the new Orang utan that has come to keep Rajang company. He was a real sweetie but very shy, and went about with a blanket over his head all the time!! Most cute. We loved watching the antics of the squirrel monkeys too, and the chimps. It was a really fun day with just us two grown ups. It felt really strange not to have some sort of child with us, so Keith had a children's lunch pack from the

cafe instead! Actually it was nice, and healthy too.

Anyway, enough of this, as its not getting those bears stuffed! I will put up the pics as I make them so you can see that I am making an effort for Hugglets!!

Its nearly the end of July! Where did this month go???

Oh dear, I hadn't realised that it was a month since I last blogged - sorry. Where has the time gone? Oh yes, thats right, I had shingles again so that was 2 weeks wiped off, but since then I have been very busy. There are a few new Warren Bears sitting on the shelves taking the place of the ones who went to Japan last month. And a new little Warren Bunny has happened too, just for fun! Here he is, wanting to show off

as only bunnies do (Bears are much more modest and happy to wait until I get around

to taking their pictures) and also a certain friend of mine in Welsh Wales was impatient to meet him too. As yet he hasn't got a name, so any suggestions will be welcome.

I have been loving doing reflexology treatments and some Tibetan Acupressure head massage too so life has been fun, busy and I seem to be constantly tired.

It's been lovely to get out for a few walks with the dogs again too, despite the rubbish weather. What happened to the "Barbecue Summer" they predicted. It had better heat up a bit before I hit the beaches of Cornwall. It won't be quite the same in a raincoat!

Anyway, the pond is getting more naturalised now, pics coming soon, it has a smart path to it too so I won't have the horror of worm casts all winter (I really hate them!) and Meg is no less fascinated than she was 2 months ago when it was dug.

"She will soon get used to it and ignore it" from he who thinks he knows it all, is as accurate as the amazing summer weather forecast!!

So there we go, July in a few sentences. Beary pics and pondy pics will follow in a day or two I promise.