boatingbelle

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Updated 27.10.10

I am a retired laboratory technician still young at heart. I live in a small village in Bedfordshire, UK. I have three grown-up children and 1 wonderful grandson who is the love of my life! I started making ATCs after my daughter showed me some of hers and have been hooked ever since.

Favourite things include dark chocolate, snow, sunsets, warm bread, cats, other peoples' dogs, reading in bed, wild flowers, gardening, and cruising the canals of England on our narrowboat. Hence Boatingbelle!!

I like cool colours, blues, greens, pale yellows etc, autumn reds and golds and black and white but am not too keen on dayglo or sugary pinks.

I like coffee but dislike tea of any kind, including fruit teas - uurgh!!

I wear very little jewellery and never ear-rings.

I like anything from the 60s, old crooners (Sinatra, Crosbie, Perry Como, Dean Martin etc), covers of classics by modern singers, (especially Rod Stewart), Johnny Cash and most male C and W singers. Also Meatloaf, Katie Melua, Nina Simone, David Essex, I could go on for hours. Basically I like a bit from each era but not everything from any one. I have recently re-discovered Leonard Cohen.

I love all musicals especially the old ones, Fred Astaire, Busby Berkeley etc. Also Butch Cassidy, the Producers (the original not the recent remake) and The Sting, absolute favourite has to be Singing in the Rain.

I love a good gripping drama, Dawn French, Victoria Wood and similar comediennes. I hate Big Brother and 'Get me out of the Jungle' type shows. They all seem so contrived, I'm sure they all go back to a hotel after filming!

I've always enjoyed sewing, knitting and cross stitch (a legacy from my mother) and also like card-making. I love making ATCs and have been happily swapping them for about 2 years now. I like to hear from other swappers about their methods of making and it's also nice to receive a few lines about their lifestyle.

I like to have a go at other crafts and have several books that I will get around to 'one day'. These include lace-making and three dimensional embroidery. Clay modelling and digitally altered photography also sound interesting.

Dislikes include tea of any kind (I am a coffee addict), swaps with little effort, cold, wet days, junk TV and spinach!

My recent reads include Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Connolly, John Connolly and Mark Billingham. I loved Cold Mountain and Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island and have recently read The Time Traveller's Wife. I've also enjoyed The Kite Flier and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Husseini.