M & M (Mistletoe & Mulled Wine!)

Tonight is the first night that I am truly in the mood for Christmas. We'd been to the Christmas Markets in Manchester (where I stocked up on lots of Dutch goodies) and visited the one in Chester. We'd organised a Busy Betsy Christmas Market and I've been to numerous nativity plays and concerts but I suppose due to all the work and a certain amount of stress I couldn't really relax and get in the mood.

Tonight however I have put my feet up after finishing wrapping presents for friends and delivering the last of the seasonal wishes by hand; feeding 6 little ones and making sure they had a good time. I don't think they are all asleep yet but at least I can't hear them at the moment.

I have put up my feet in front of the fire, enjoying a cup of mulled wine and 'macarons de Paris' that are now available in my local supermarket. They are my favourite treats and they have finally reached the UK! Meanwhile I can't stop looking at my tree, I totally love it. It was purchased again at Golden Days nursery where I believe they have the best trees in the South Manchester area. It even had a pine cone on it:

I usually let the kids decorate the tree. Sometimes I give them a colour scheme and other years I leave them to it. They've decorated my tree in red and orange, red and silver and also multi coloured but this year I'd asked them to decorate in red, white, blue and turquoise and they did a fantastic job! The picture does not do it justice and I hasten to say that I have put a big ribbon at the top above the apples but girl monkey liked them so much and got upset when I suggested we change the composition slightly that I just had to run with it. The red and white gingham ribbon on the top inspired me for the colour scheme next year: red and white gingham and green decorations.

As a final touch I have put up some fresh mistletoe tonight. Now let the festivities begin!

I shall throw another log on the fire and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and the very best wishes for 2011!

Have a merry green Christmas

I am so excited just a few more days until Father Christmas comes. I love this time of year; I've got a roaring fire going, the lights in the tree are sparkling and there is snow outside. Sitting in my comfortable arm chair I can't seem to get a permanent grin off my face looking at all the decorations and the tree.

The last two weeks have been extremely busy. For Busy Betsy this is the most hectic time of year with most orders coming in last minute. We've finished them all for the week and are now enjoying some quiet time, roaming around the Manchester Christmas Market (apparently it rivals the German ones!).

In order to get the house ready for Christmas I tend to do a fair bit of sorting out, with trips to the recycling bins and charity shops. And on that note I had to say goodbye to my favourite pair of Joules wellies. They cheered me (and many onlookers) up on rainy days over the past few years but the many holes in them now make them totally unsuitable. It seemed that all Joules wellies have sold out everywhere so I had to content myself with another brand but as they are zebra print with pink lining I think they will be equally cheerful.

Tonight I had to do some proper cleaning and I wasn't amused. The former Mr. B. looked after the monkeys for one day and stayed at the Betsy residence which includes a cat. Never been keen on the animal and not really knowing how to look after them he'd closed the door to the poor thing's playroom and therefore she used the kitchen cupboard as a toilet! All our baking and lunch box equipment was stinking and I think I may have to replace a shelf in the cupboard. More hassle than it was worth but one lives and learns. Thankfully I had the Ecover sprays ready to make it smell a bit better. My friends at Ecover sent me some fabulous green tips this week to get us through the festive season. I think they are helpful and hope they can trigger some green thinking with others:

• Get some eco in your Christmas wardrobe – why not rock the office Christmas party eco-style this festive season? Visit www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk for a list of eco fashion labels
• Buying a real tree? Visit the Forest Stewardship Council website to make sure your precious pine has been farmed sustainably – www.fsc-uk.org
• e-Christmas cards – why not try Facebook, Twitter or email rather than snail mail to send your seasons greetings?
• Recycled wrapping paper is a really easy way to score ‘green’ points at Christmas and doesn’t cost the earth. Try the selection at www.ethicalsuperstore.com
• Banish those stains – red wine, gravy, cranberry sauce stains are rife on Christmas day. Remove them with ease Ecover’s Stain Remover – so effective it’s been awarded a Which? Best Buy
• Turn off the fairy lights at times when you are out of the house or in bed – it’s both safe and energy efficient!
• Treat your guests to some eco luxury – pop some Ecover Hand Wash in the bathroom and try Ecover Room Fragrance to keep your house smelling fresh
• Travel together – try car sharing with friends and family or taking the bus to the shops to do your Christmas shopping
• Once you’ve filled up on turkey, yorkshire puddings and brussel sprouts, wash the dishes with Ecover Washing Up Liquid (Busy Betsy thinks this really smells the very best, honestly I have tried them all!)– you can even use your grey water to feed the Christmas tree!

Having done all that cleaning I am looking forward to opening this lovely bottle of Shloer on the mantle piece. Nothing better to keep you in the festive spirit than a bottle of bubbly! Don't get me wrong I do appreciate an alcoholic version but this time of year it flows too freely and I need a 'clean' day every now and then and Shloer is the best choice. If you’re looking for a little more sparkle for your Christmas entertaining, Shloer is on hand with some mouth-watering ideas to keep the food flowing and the family happy – whether that’s a traditional roast, or a lighter alternative. Simply visit the official Shloer Facebook page at www.facebook.com/shloer to find recipes, shopping lists and information on the latest promotions. You can also pick up some tips on how to roast the perfect potato from one of the many Shloer fans, who are always on hand for a pointer or two! A number of my friends do not drink at all and pouring either white or pink Shloer in a champagne glass doesn't look any different and doesn't make anyone uncomfortable having to come up with excuses why they are not drinking.

I am going to put my feet up and open that bottle!

25 Chocolates until Christmas

Yay it's the first of December and I am really getting into the mood for Christmas. Christmas cards have started to arrive (seems to be earlier every year) and today the monkeys and the cat opened their first door of the advent calendars. Yes you read that well : cat! Never knew they had these for four legged creatures too but she was all too happy to get her treats. Strangely she got six in hers and the monkeys only got one.

My first trip this morning was to the local hardware store to buy a shovel. It was much needed today as I could hardly back up onto my own drive. I love snow and it is very early this year, adding to the Christmas feeling but I am worried about the roads. Last year it was total mayhem with me and a few friends trying to turn a car manually so I am now a bit more prepared for icy roads and pavements.

I had a really homely day today. Lots of baking and decorating done with a house full of friends. Today was my friend Jo's birthday and we got to christen the dining room. I have mentioned this before but it is kind of ready now, missing a few chairs still but we've got enough to have friends round.

I am very pleased with the result. It was not exactly a minimal effort as the painting took some time but it was done on a very limited budget and I think that the team who filmed the house last year would be very surprised to see the change to this:

From this:

After school we had friends of the monkeys round and we all had a lovely time playing in the snow. With baked potatoes in the oven and a freshly baked cake it felt like a proper winter's day from long long ago when I lived in a little village with my mum and dad. This sounds quite sentimental but I suppose it is the time of the year.

Tomorrow I will be engrossed in photography and Friday it is back to preparing the Sparkly Busy Betsy night that is coming up next week.

I am back

It is hard to believe that my last blog post was before the summer. An awful lot has happened and I have valid reasons for not having posted. Busy Betsy has been very busy with several big projects but all has calmed down and after a fabulous Halloween and Bonfire party I am now getting ready for Christmas. There will be a Busy Betsy Christmas Party soon and for that I really want the house ready. I think this year might be a red, white and blue Christmas. A little trip to Ikea last week helped me in getting some decorations for the theme!

Even though I have concentrated on several projects I have not sat still around the house and have put some layers of paint on several items and walls here and there. In the last few days I have been working on getting the dining room ready and have finally painted an old wooden towel rack that I picked up in a Liverpool furniture dump some time ago. I shall be posting some pictures soon but just wanted to let all you lovely followers know that all is well in the Busy Betsy household!

From Victorian to Modern on a budget

I think I have set myself a challenge now by trying to transform all the rooms on a budget.

Next on my to do list was the very oppressive dining room. The men who lived in the house before me really loved the Victorian colours and decorations. When they lived here the dining room was full of heavy Victorian furniture, display cabinets and frames. There were lots of pictures and prints on the walls and the doors were dressed in heavy curtains with fringes. Girl monkey thought it was fantastic! She felt she was living in Buckingham Palace she said. I had to tell her it was all going......

So my project of last week was to repaint the room in white and ivory. What was a very dark room that I avoided at all times and used as a dump is now a lovely light room where I would like to spend all my time.

However it doesn't have any furniture. The wonderful over mantle mirror was a find by BB2's lovely mum. It arrived covered in paint splashes (still is a bit) and it was dark brown wood. As I found a lot of paint in our magic cellar the costs for decorating so far are under £20. Not sure if I can manage to find furniture for around £30 but I can only try. I am doing very well so far I think.

Many friends have suggested I should sign up for a decorating programme on TV but I don't think they'd be interested in me. Last thing I heard was one of the channels was looking for couples. They were interested in their decorating skills but more so in their arguing. Reality TV at best I suppose. As a single white fairly well behaved mum I do not fit that category....

Next up I think is dressing on a budget. I am fashioning a skirt out of something at the moment. More about this to come.

From dowdy to nautical on a budget

I think we all know what that means. No one has ever said they were doing their bathroom on a budget when it involves thousands of pounds. I could have put on a shoestring particularly since I didn't have a fixed budget. Suppose I've been reading too many make-over stories and am now using the lingo!

Anyway the bathroom in our new home was quite old fashioned, beige fleur-de-lys wall paper with a gold and blue border and a broken blind in the same pattern. The bathroom is in good condition really and although I did not like the six flower tiles scattered above the bath it would have been too much of an expense to replace those.

My friend had a stripper (why do I find that such a funny word? I keep calling it steamer!) and I got to work with that for a few days. Then off I went to B&Q for white bathroom emulsion and milky white gloss paint for the dark brown bath surround and the shelf. I replaced the brown toilet seat with a lovely tongue and groove number (reminiscent of beach huts) and found some stripy white and navy fabric from Ikea in my cupboard to sew a lovely new blind.

The tricky bit was dealing with the hideous flower tiles but Ebay came to the rescue. As it happened the only tile stickers that fit my size tiles came in a packet of six and had a nautical theme! Perfect! The monkeys then put their souvenirs from Anglesey and Holland from last year on the shelf and we had a lovely new nautical bathroom.

And the budget? Under £50. I wish I could do every room under £50. It would be a challenge but I could always try....

Global Art Project for Peace

Every two years the Global Art Project for Peace organisation encourages people around the world to create a work of art for peace. By signing up you'll get partnered with someone from another part of the globe and the idea is that all messages of peace are being sent simultaneously at the end of April/beginning of May to create a movement of peace. I was a little late in sending mine, due to circumstances beyond my control (the former Mr B is really the cause of the havoc in my life but let's not go there), but the message was there nonetheless.

I really love the project and this year I took part for the second time. It was only about four years ago that I found out about the project, but then it was too late to register, so I got my first 'taste' in 2008.

I love the anticipation of receiving something from somewhere at some point. All that is known is that it is a message of peace. Although I had the contact details of the other party, we had not been in touch so I had absolutely no idea what I was going to get this time. I couldn't have been happier though. The parcel that arrived was beautifully wrapped and addressed. The letters of my name were individually cut out and stuck on the outside; a work of art in itself.

After that first layer of paper I found this box:

.... girl monkey was very intrigued; she had no idea what a double zipper was and looked concerned a the picture of steaks on the box. When we unwrapped what was inside, we found this beautiful collage on panel:

It is beautifully executed, with lovely messages and in my favourite colours! It is going to have pride of place in my new home.

With love and in peace I have sewn this cushion for my partner. I hope she will enjoy this token for her home.

Pottering in the garden

After some drilling and sawing I finally had the chance to potter around the garden today. It was yet another glorious day in sunny Manchester and the monkeys had all their sports equipment set up in the garden leaving me to deal with my own things.

My lovely friend had come over from Chester and got me these Sweet Peas, apparently they can grow up to three metres. I am not really a gardener but I am learning as I go along.

I am a lucky girl because I have a shed where I can keep all my little pots, seeds and tools and I was very happy organising it all on the shelves and hooks. I can now see how happy my father has always been in his shed.

Having grown up in the country side in Holland I added some sentimental touches to the garden: I found an old brush in the cellar and got the old wooden clogs out. I have said before my cellar is a treasure trove and after some rumbling around I found a sweet little hen that I had hidden amongst the plants but when the monkeys found her, they made a little shrine for her.

I then spotted an old wind lamp that I put on the "new" garden table.....

... and then we found a little treasure in the garden too:

a beautiful mushroom. I told the monkeys not to touch it as I heard that mushrooms in the garden can be poisonous, I think we better get a garden guide and wise up!

Candyfloss

For years girl monkey had wanted to choose her own colours for her bedroom but I always had to tell her that the landlord might not like her choice of decorations. Now finally she is allowed to have what she likes. I never thought I would agree to paint her room pink but she really deserves to have the room she wants.

The colours throughout our new house are a little dull (apart from the salmon pink hallway!); they are all shades of beige with a hint of mauve although it doesn't really show in this photo. I have got great plans for the rest of the house but had to start somewhere so I started at the top. Girl monkey helped me a little and is now really proud of her 'new' room.

After a few days of decorating this is the result : a candy floss room ....

.... and I put up a family tree decal. The little picture frames with family photos will go up later in the week and I will have to repaint some of the woodwork but so far the work has been appreciated.

Of course I now need to start planning boy monkey's room. He'd like a football room and has settled on a red white and blue theme as these are all Manchester United colours. I am trying to find some classy wall paper though, perhaps striped or some vintage wall paper. I really liked the Cath Kidston football wall paper a few years ago but sadly that is not in the collection any more. If anyone knows where to get it, please do let me know.

I think I have overstretched an arm in the process as my shoulder is a little sore, I might run a relaxing bath in a little while but for now will enjoy the Comedy Gala on C4. Awaiting my favourite comedian.....

Jellytot toasting

Although there seems to be no change to my daily routine (still getting up early and looking after the monkeys, thinking about work, doing the chores and coming up with new designs) I do have a holiday feeling. The last few school holidays were really hectic with work and/or moving house but this time it seems I have a bit more time on my hands.

I was able to paint a few more walls today, thanks to the neighbours who were looking after the monkeys and cooking me a lovely Sunday lunch.

As it was such a nice day again the little ones spent the whole day outside. They put up a tent in the garden and even persuaded my neighbour to sleep outside with them. I happily declined, it is far too cold still to sleep outside. The monkeys were very keen however; they'd never been camping before. They had made a little pantry in the tent and taken food for breakfast and their midnight feast. They'd also taken about all the cuddly toys and cushions from two houses to make the tent cosy. Nicely wrapped up in about 5 layers of clothes with about another 5 layers of duvets/sleeping bags/blankets and a hot water bottle they were all ready for bed. Well nearly anyway. What else is needed for a camping adventure? A campfire! So as the hot chocolate was being made the little ones gathered around the campfire to toast jellytots (in the absence of marshmallows). It was getting dark just after eight and by half past eight they were all nicely tucked in.

I then went back home, feeling slightly sad to miss out on the fun but feeling more sorry for the neighbour who was leading this adventure on her own. It wasn't to last though.... half an hour later I got the first phone call to say that boy monkey wanted to come home to mummy and five minutes later girl monkey came crying in as one of the other monkeys had made her scared in the dark.

Bless them. Not sure if there is going to be another camping adventure soon. I think next time I will have to come along but will only do this when it is warmer. Call me a Sissy but really it's got to be more exciting than sleeping in my own back garden if it is going to be 0C!

Happy Easter everybody!

Wood Craft

It was a glorious day today in Manchester. I had planned to paint girl monkey's bedroom but after the ceiling I needed a break. Her room is not of the straight forward 4 walls and a ceiling kind of variety but has an alcove and many different nooks and angles. Besides I wanted to join the wood folk for a bit of fun in Paupers Wood.

A truly unique place where children can run around a wood without having to stick to the paths and be worried about where they are walking. Here they have the experience that we had when we were little. Building dens, finding bugs and simply running around the trees and bushes. It is a wonderful place to teach children about nature; you can even have a party here. The lady who runs the woods is such a lovely person and she has really made this into a community project.

Today there was an easter egg hunt. This wasn't just a chocolate egg hunt but the young ones had to spot different colour cardboard eggs that had a letter on them and guess the word they made once they'd found them all. For the little ones there was a hunt for role play eggs that were collected in a basket made from an egg carton and a lovely little glittery handle. At the end they all got a medal. Again this was home made, from gold plated clay and string. Everyone thought it was the best prize.

There was also willow weaving. Local crafts girl Juliette Hamilton showed us how to make several willow items. I truly hope she is going to run some courses because she had the most gorgeous items on show. The kind of things I'd see when I go back to Holland everywhere but never see here.

I made this little basket that can hold a tea light. I proudly hung it in my garden. WIth my recently acquired wooden garden furniture it feels like the garden is turning into a real outdoor room. I am hoping to turn it into the most adorable garden based on the place where we stayed last summer. I can only try.....

Make do and mend

The Easter holidays started yesterday with a trip to the DIY store. I needed to get shelves to build a cupboard, a curtain rails for the utility room and paint for this little cupboard. However I only came away with a few pots of paint; turquoise for the chest of drawers and Candyfloss pink for girl monkeys bedroom. The little thing has never been able to choose a colour for her wall but now that she has her own room she'd want to put her stamp on it. I let her choose whichever colour she wanted, even though I am not a fan of a pink bedroom.

I forgot the measurements of the shelves and couldn't find a nice curtain rails, and just as well as I found a lovely one with glass knobs in the cellars later on.

My first project of the weekend was this chest of drawers.

One of my friends is leaving the country at the end of the month so she is trying to get rid of many household items and furniture. I was in need of more storage so I picked this one up earlier in the week, I knew it needed a lick of paint.

I started with a pale blue (Dulux Seahorse Blue) as I had planned to give the chest an antiquated look by rubbing some paint of with steel wool.

Once dry I gave it a few coats of turquoise and put some antique doorknobs on the drawers that I picked up in Portobello Road several years ago. I was really pleased with the effect so in the end did not sand of any paint around the edges to show the first layer. I know it is there so if I ever wanted to do that I can.

Tomorrow girl monkey and I will start playing with the Candyfloss pink, can't wait. It is great to put my stamp on the house too!

A spring cleaning kind of weekend

It was yet another glorious weekend in Manchester City. The first few years I moved here I often thought about the beautiful sunshine in London and found the rain hard to accept; however with all the changes in climate it seems Manchester is now sunnier and warmer than it is in the capital; smiles all around.

For once I had a fairly calm weekend, at times the monkeys were looked after by neighbours and friends so that I could get on with things here. I unpacked yet another few boxes, measured cupboards to fit shelves and worked out a painting and wall-papering schedule. My sister is coming over on her first ever flight in a few weeks time so naturally I like it to look very homely here.

WIth boundless energy I spent a lot of time scrubbing indoors and outside, starting with the car.

Ecover had sent me a few lovely bottles of laundry liquid to try and I was all too happy to do that today. The products were concentrated so less packaging which pleases me and for the first time ever I was happy to try out a bio laundry liquid. My little monkeys are very sensitive to cleaning products so I have to be very careful with what I use. A friend of mine said this week that she always bought whatever product was the cheapest on the shelves but for me that is false economy. I tried that once or twice (and not even with the cheapest products) and the poor things came out in rashes. So now there is only one brand for me and that is Ecover.

I always love the smell of Ecover products and as I was in the mood for cleaning anyway I got out the Ecover floor cleaner as well and cleaned all the floors. Lucky me I did this twice this weekend! Well not by choice though.... The monkeys wanted a little project for Easter and remembered a puppet show they did for fathers day several years ago so they got out one of the big removal boxes, got the paints out and made a lovely Punch and Judy Easter show. They were not the only two in the room however.... the little kitten joined in too and within minutes of stepping in a big plate of blue paint she managed to get all her little blue paws all over the white kitchen floor, the new white kitchen table, surfaces, plates, you name it. I wasn't impressed. Thinking back it looked quite funny, like what you would see in an advert but I got in a panic as the monkeys had used cheap poster paint from the pound store and I was worried that I couldn't clean it up properly. Again this purchase was false economy as I found out some time ago that the paint wasn't washable even though it says it on the pot. If you buy cheap, you buy twice! Oh the wisdom of Mr Orange!

Now I also did some painting myself. Before the previous owners lived in the house, it was occupied by two ladies who'd lived here for more than 60 years. When they moved out they left some pieces of furniture that remained in the cellars ever since. I love pieces of history of places where I live (I could never live in a new house) and brought up one little cupboard as I needed storage for all my toiletries. Once cream it was now absolutely filthy and covered in cobwebs. The size was just what I needed though and the sides are made of pierced metal, really lovely.

With a little TLC, some cleaning, a lick of paint and a small piece of wall paper I now have a lovely 'new' item in my bathroom. I was "well pleased" as the monkeys would say.

I have to try my patience as I only have two hands but I really hope I can get all the painting and wallpapering done by the summer. I will keep you updated on progress....

Was hoping to put up my feet tonight but the BST has confused me a little and I realise that it is nearly 11 PM. Might just squeeze in a few chapters of the book I am reading (My Life in Orange).

Happy New Home

It has been a while. Many things have happened in the past few months the most important one probably being that the monkeys and I moved house. Well we moved into another house, removal men moved most of the stuff although I did make quite a few trips picking up the last bits and bobs. It was a long and hard process but we got there and we are already feeling very much at home.

There is lots to do and no doubt will show some of the changes here. I really enjoy moving house, it always gives me a real thrill, starting afresh, making changes to the home and I love the smell of new paint. The monkeys however are not so keen on moving house and have been really unsettled for a number of years. They feel so much happier now that they think (who knows?) they can stay here forever.

The house has a wonderful history and feels very homely. The fact that we feel so at ease has been helped by the lovely neighbours next door and across the road and the sellers. I was always afraid of the process of finding a property in the UK as I find the whole situation daunting. Everyone knows horror stories but luckily I have found some very lovely sellers who have been on stand by in the first few days to see if everything was OK. They've even come to do the garden!

The neighbours have been very welcoming. The first weekend here we found a lovely surprise on our doorstep: sunny daffodils and heart shaped home made biscuits. Isn't that lovely!

They have also been all so helpful, especially last weekend. I had the first mother's day in the house and to be honest mother's day without a father really isn't the same. It basically is like any other day but of course there are the lovely gifts made at school. To be honest the monkeys did try to make it very special for me. In the absence of a father girl monkey had gone shopping for breakfast with the neighbour and the two of them had organised a little something with BB2. On the day itself they made me a lovely breakfast (girl monkey is a master barrista!) and made the day super special by getting up early (!) in order to organise this.

Since moving up north I have really started to value my neighbours and over the years all of them have made my life so much more fun, bearable and practical. There should be a neighbours' day in honour of them!

Since moving in I haven't really had much time to myself so I am now going to put my feet up and read.

Today I made a .....

Christmas time is over again. This always makes me feel a little sad. I love the lights and the trees and particularly the Christmas spirit. Everyone seems that little bit nicer in December. Today however was the last day of Christmas; all the decorations have gone, the tree is in the garden and baubles packed away for a little while again. Funny how quickly this time went. Initially, after I put the tree out, it felt like my lounge was twice the size (my tree was not only six foot tall but also 6 foot wide, just a bit too big for the house!) but amazingly it now feels quite normal again after a few hours.

I'd realised that Christmas had gone when I went shopping last week and saw all the Valentines gifts out at one of the department stores. I was reminded of this again on Sunday when I saw the Easter eggs and bunnies at the check out at the country's leading grocery store. I wish I was exaggerating but I am not. Is there no time to reflect anymore? No time to just enjoy a lull; instead we are rushed to another festivity. When I was little (ooohh I sound old!) I was really looking forward to all the decorations in the shops, eagerly and patiently awaiting the right moment. We are now faced with an overkill and greed sets in too quickly; I can already imagine the monkeys telling me which egg they'd like in 4 months time. And really I cannot blame them; retailers are simply brainwashing them, they can't ignore it.

Enough sentimentalism. We did enjoy a few lovely days playing in the snow. One day back at school and yippee back home again for a couple. It still looks magical outside. Whilst the monkeys were entertaining themselves with snowballs and sledges I found some extra time to start working on the collection of cushions soon to hit the shops and I made a monster. Boy monkey didn't think he had as many cuddly toys as his sister and wanted something from mummy's shop. He was very pleased and did not let go of it for the rest of the day. Always nice to have happy customers!

Undercover

Happy New Year to all of you. It is only (or already?) the 3rd but I believe we can say this until the middle of January; I am sure there is a rule in someone's book about this.

Today was unfortunately the last day of the fabulous Undercover exhibition at Nexus Art Cafe in the Northern Quarter.

I love Nexus and wish I could spend more time there apart from the occasional meeting and I was totally impressed with this exhibition. There were some wonderful works on display; I wished however there was more information about the artists.

This dear head was one of my favourites. I have been looking for one for a while and if I could would have loved to buy this one. It was created by Laura Mullen, can't wait to see more of her work.

My absolute favourite work however was this window installation. It looked good from the outside but just stunning from the inside. It was created by Annie Harrison and it is sad that this is going to be taken down. I realise certain pieces of art can not remain forever but it is just beautiful.

I could have kept looking at this for hours. I couldn't explain why but thought it was genius; suppose my love of textiles and all things white and circular may have been an influence.

Hope these artists and Nexus will put on a similar show soon.