Inspired Naturally – Kate MacAndrew, artist and school workshop leader based in Derbyshire

This was the sight we were met with as we walked through Hyde Park, not quite sure what to expect from a marathon walk in the dark. As you can see from the photo the tent (if you can call it a tent – it was the length of 3 football pitches!) was H.U.G.E – We couldn’t believe our eyes! It was then that the enormity of what we had signed up for really hit us…..we were about to stay up all night, walking 26.2 miles through the streets of London with thousands of other people all raising money for breast cancer. Wow.

The tent became illuminated as the light began to fade and we eagerly and nervously anticipated the start. We had our showtime costumes on: waistcoat, tales and decorated bra. We were all set to go – the photo below was taken just before we crossed the start line in Hyde Park. We were the second of 4 groups let out, crossing the start about 23:30, the last group to go would cross the start at midnight.

To be honest, most of the walk is a blur to me now – it was fantastic in lots of different ways but oh so very tough. It is hands down the hardest thing I have ever done. I don’t think I had actually thought about how far 26.2 miles actually was. I had, along with my walking buddies, trained hard for the event – We had upped the milage each week and made some fantastic costumes. The big difference was the amount of people – so many people meant waiting to cross the road, (the course was mainly along pavements – the roads were open as normal) sometimes for 15/20 mins at a time and the same for queuing for the toilets. This meant our previous goal of completing in 8 hours just wasn’t realistic. There were marshals at every crossing and they did wonders for moral, cheering as every one continued on. There were points when I thought ‘I’m not going to make it,’ I was so tired, so exhausted and at 22 miles my right knee packed in. BUT I had promised myself I would do it, complete it, raise money for a great cause and finish with the rest of my group. So with the help of my friends I hobbled across the finish line…..I have never wanted to see a sign so much in my life!

We crossed the line at 10:15 the following day. It took us 10 hours 45 mins, we made up 2 hours after the walkers thinned out and we were able to get into our normal pace. It was an amazing experience and the weather held until the last 300 meters! After we finished we ended up getting a taxi back to the hotel where our bags were because none of us fancied the 1.5 mile walk there!

Since getting back home I have been very busy at work, with my cat painting and catching up with how my stand at Shottle Hall went at the Summer Fete. I am traveling to Scotland tomorrow for a weeks holiday so won’t be able to post due to a non-existent internet connection – or phone signal for that matter! I had hoped to schedule a couple more posts to go live whilst I was away but I just haven’t had the time. I will have the posts in my head now and all the exciting sights from Scotland posted when I’m back. Until then have a great week!

Hello every one!  It’s been TWO whole weeks since I last posted here – it feels like a lifetime! I had hoped to post before I went to London to complete the London Moonwalk but ran out of time and since then have been working 100mph on other things and not had chance to blog about them! I am going to Scotland on Friday for a much needed week away so before then I will make some time to share with you the last two weeks: Moonwalk, Summer Fete and a painting update….phew!

I also relaised yesterday, the 24th May, was a year to the day that I started my inspirednaturally blog – a whole year of learning how to share things with an online community  I have grown to love this and am looking forward to the year ahead

The above photo is just one of the photos I took using my iPhone whilst completing the Moonwalk, I will share more in my next post!

Today I have had the pleasure of being featured on one of my favourite blogs, Going Home To Roost. This blog is run by the super talented Bonnie Forkner and is “dedicated to everything handmade and anything homegrown.” Please take a look at my feature but also be sure to check out the rest of what Bonnie has shared – it is truly a beautiful collection of creatives, ideas, products and anything else inspiring!

I have been working hard getting the last few things together for the Summer Fete on Sunday before I travel to London early Saturday morning. My new card/small print stand arrived today and I have looked to see roughly what it will look like when it has my products on it…(sorry about the poor photo – not very good lighting after dark!)

I’m pleased with my new stand and think when my cards and smallest prints are presented properly they will be much easier to see. This is always a challenge when you have a limited display space.

I will try and post again before I leave for London, until then have a great week everybody!

Today was the Darley Park 5k Race for Life. It was gloriously sunny and everyone was in great spirits as we queued up at the start of the race. Despite running for a few years now I have never ran in a Race for Life event. It was a great experience and it’s fired me up for the 10k Race for Life I’ve signed up for in July!

I have also spent this weekend getting the final bits and pieces ready for the Summer Fete a week today. I’m hoping the weather will be nice so lots of people turn up – I know Deb the organiser has gone to great lengths to organise a great day out. I will have fine art prints, cards, badges and tote bags available. For the first time I will also have information about commissions I am accepting.

I also completed my last Moonwalk training walk on Saturday - 5 miles this time – no more walks for me until the big day! I’m going to miss the training sessions because we always managed to find a picturesque route and we have also been very lucky with the weather which has helped! Having said that, I will have  runs to replace the walks so I won’t be short of physical activity to do!

I hope you have all had a good weekend, more soon!

The Summer Fete at Shottle Hall, Derbyshire is nearly here! This is an event that I’ve been working up to for some time. It has been organised by Deb, the creator of fabulousplaces and I have been invited to exhibit! If you look, the date of the fete is 16th May…..which is also the date of the London Moonwalk I’m participating in (technically it starts at midnight on 15th) After the initial shock and despair at the thought of actually missing out on exhibiting I have been able to arrange to be represented!  So I will be there in spirit and hopefully physically there at the next show!

The Summer Fete promises to be an excellent day out for all the family so I highly recommend it if you live locally to Derbyshire. I will have many items available, including my popular cotton tote bags, greetings cards and fine art prints.

Changing the subject (quite dramatically!) I wanted to share with you my surprise love of the film below:

Whilst I have quite a broad taste in films: comedy, romance, thriller etc I didn’t, for whatever resaon, feel drawn to going to see Avatar when it was out at the cinemas. My friends and family all said I would like it but I resisted. This last weekend, as I spent time resting like the Doctor ordered I ended up watching Avatar on dvd….      

And. I. Loved. It.   

So much so I watched it again - as someone who has studied Animation for a time at Uni I appreciated the level of special effects and graphics – they are totally out of this world. The world the Na’vi live on is so detailed and stunning, you lose yourself in the film. This level of detail, mixed with a gripping storyline makes it no surprise that the film was/is so successful. So my lesson learnt is not to judge a film until you’ve seen it!

The weekend was also full of more reading and looking at blogs and also receiving these as a ‘Get Well Soon’:

and doing some of this:

As part of my Life List I’m trying to grow my own fruit and veg – I managed to get outside for a few minutes and stake my tomato plants to help support them as they grow. I’m still keeping them indoors overnight so they don’t get caught by the frost. The peppers are yet to be staked because they are no where near as tall yet. I’m enjoying learning how to grow these and there’s something very satisfying about seeing something grow in your care!

It’s Saturday and right now I should be out with my powerwalking friends completing our last long training session before the Moonwalk on 15th May. Instead, I am sat curled up on the sofa feeling extremely frustrated! Despite resting, resting and more resting since seeing the Doctor I am still under the weather. That said, I thought I should take the opportunity while I can, to blog at the weekend! I don’t know about you but I always think weekends go incredibly fast. All week you plan what it is you would like to do, see and get done and when it arrives you either do all those things (and feel exhausted by Sunday evening) or you end up doing other things and wish you had more time. I have got better at organising my weekends – one of the key reasons for this more recently is the fact I’ve had to schedule long walking sessions somewhere to get the mileage up ready for the Moonwalk. After this event I’ll be swapping my mid-week and weekend powerwalks for runs, in preperation for the 4 events I’ve signed up to between now and September.

On a more creative note, I have started progress on my ‘Life List.’ I know it’s a bit earlly for buying tomato and pepper plants if you haven’t got a frost-free greenhouse to keep them in but…… I couldn’t resist! I’ve had these (see photo) for a few weeks now and they have steadily got bigger. Sometime over the weekend they’ll be repotted and moved to a deeper windowsill. I’ve asked people’s advice and I’m planning to plant them outside come the end of May in the hope the frosts will be gone. I’ve also been given some strawberry plants which I’m hoping to find a home for soon.

Enjoy the weekend!