Nicola and the girls  Happy New Year!! How are you all? Have you survived the Festive Season? I hope that you have great things to look forward to, something simple like starting to knit a new jumper or maybe a larger project? New Year saw me and the girls (my dogs) staying at Clasheen with my dear friend Nicola Brown for a few days. We go there every year. It's a great chance for us to catch up properly, talk about things that have gone well, and some things that have not gone so well. When you work for yourself you are always learning . .  It rained almost continuously, so we didn't get any long walks in, but it was very good to sit in Nicola's cosy lounge or kitchen and just chat about anything and everything. Plus my dogs generally get on well with Pip, Nicola's dog. A very different view from Nicola's house Those of you that have been following me for a while, will know my house has views along the west Clare coast. Pretty amazing. Nicola has a wonderful view

Nicola and Pops I have just returned from a few days away staying at Clasheen in Carlow, Ireland with my great friend Nicola Brown. Nicola and I met when we were both teaching at Geelong TAFTA Forum in Australia in 2015 and have been good friends since. We tend to get together 2 or 3 times during the year depending on how busy we both are and if we are traveling a lot. Nicola is a brilliant eco printer, eco dyer and feltmaker. She works without traditional powdered mordants to create her beautiful eco printed and eco dyed fabrics. Nicola has a huge amount of information on her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@clasheen , you can follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicolabrownclasheen/ With me being so interested in synthetic fabrics and distressing them with a heat gun and soldering iron, you might wonder why I would want to learn about eco printing . . Nicola told me I could eco print on nylon. My head exploded with ideas when she told me this! It's great at N

   And so the journey begins . .  I am traveling in Ireland for a few days. I am here to start getting an idea of which area of County Clare I would like to move to. I have had a wonderful time exploring, wandering off wherever I fancy. I knew I wanted to be somewhere near the coast - no more than half an hour away, and no more than an hour away from Shannon airport. I THINK I have an idea of where I would like to live now. It will of course, depend on where the house I would like to buy is situated. I may have to compromise. Ideally I would like to live in the triangle between Lahinch, Ennistymon and Milltown Malby.  Lahinch beach, very popular with surfers. You can walk for miles, it is very beautiful. There is one very narrow road in and and out. The beach at Lahinch is stunning but will be busy in the summer so not too near there. Ennistymon is a lovely, very colourful town. I will need to be close to some kind of amenities.   Ennistymon high street.