Off to Darlington today to teach my Peacock Flower necklace. Or I would be if the trains didn't try to thwart me at every turn...

Leaving home at 5:30 am I was hoping I would manage to sleep for a bit on the 3 hour train journey. But, as we pulled out of the station and then seconds later came to a standstill (in the dark and with no heating) it soon became apparent that my journey may not be as easy as hoped for.

90 minutes later, and with no sleep as I was too worried about missing any announcements, the faulty power source was fixed and we were on our way again, for a while at least...

Near York our train came to a now familiar stop and we ran into the same fault hundreds of miles away. Fortunately, after a long wait, they let us through and I arrived in Darlington just 2 1/2 hours later than expected.

More fortunately this class begins with some plain peyote stitch beading so I had been teaching a virtual lesson, via text and email, and by the time I rushed into the classroom we were all ready for the 'more fun' bit and we hit the ground running.

After lots of fun beading, delicious cakes, and funny chat, nearly all the pendants were finished (or almost finished) and we played with other projects before I set of for the thankfully much easier journey home.

Excitingly today I also got to see my first Love Heart Star in person and it was absolutely gorgeous. I love getting to see my patterns done in different colours and different variations - it's always such a treat.