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This blog post was supposed to be written on the first May bank holiday and all of sudden here I am on the second at the end of the month.
It started with Cheddar Arts Trail (Chaff!) I went to school in Cheddar and always held the assumption that nothing much creative happened locally. Except for me, what a village idiot I am!
Cheddar Arts trail was the most enlightening day, we wondered around the village visiting artists studios that were inspiring, cool, filled with talent and interesting work that I would have loved equally in Venice, Paris or New York.
Here are some of my favourites, I didn't get round to them all. 
Polly Mabel Illustrator in the prettiest studio and with the prettiest illustrative work on flowers and pattern. Polly explained to me she had grown up in a house full of decorative arts, delft tea cups and this is what comes out. Polly has a unique style that filled my eyes with joy. Unpretentious and highly skilled, I find myself looking forward to her next paintings.
Cards and prints are printed by the wonderful Pennybatch fine art printers in Wells, Somerset.
Check out Polly Mabel Illustrations here. 
Brimble Studio - Ceramicist designing and painting the coolest pieces for your home. Have nothing in your home that isn't useful or beautiful said William Morris, Brimble Studio's work ticks both boxes.
I treated myself to a highly coveted matchbox and would like Jo's ceramics all over my home now, such a joy.
Check out Brimble Studio here.
Katie Jones - Beautiful portraits and miniatures on vintage vanity mirrors. Incredibly skilled and interesting.
Sara Parsons - Stunning studio with equally stunning art works full of texture, movement and life. I especially fell in love with a white textured painting upstairs inthe perfect setting.
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The Met Gala happened, not sure what to say about that.
The social media comments section were entertaining and then I felt a little grubby for enjoying so much shade on one particular person. Shade only where shade is due?
Watching the Devil Wears Prada 2 the Friday before was a delight and may have positioned Anna Wintour as an incredibly smart diplomat reading between the lines?
Donation to the Met ... tick
Film explaining what I really think of these people whilst being polite ..... tick!
Life be more like a great film ..... here's hoping.
I loved some interpretations of the artworks and design from Prada, Dior, Thom Browne, Steve O Smith, Erdem and Chanel.
Reminder to self to draw up designs for the next Met Gala if there is one??? With a focus on humility. Even the most beautiful gowns became ugly in Versailles.
This is my favourite design of the evening - Chioma Nnadi editor of British Vogue in Steve O Smith. (image Vogue)
More from Steve O Smith here. 
A lovely customer had bespoke belts added to vintage buckles she ordered on the website, I loved her colour selections and descriptions of how she'd style them!
In the studio ......
Sampling new dresses for Deadly is the Female. A new design for summer and new fabrics for winter, looking at more cottons, bamboo etc. I still love the 'Claudia' design, especially in gown length, styled well it can be timeless.
I finished an order and then completely rearranged the studio. Part procrastination and part tidying my brain. I'm someone who can fill any space with stuff and am finally realising less things, more space, better workflow!
Working from home I can get distracted easily and was trying to float around areas with my laptop. A dedicated desk space in my studio feels much more focused again.
Now time to tackle the fabric store.
In the sketchbook - Prom dresses, I'm making my niece her prom dress and we went prom dress shopping to get some ideas. I quietly hoped she would like a red strapless pleated taffeta gown with full skirt but that was instantly rejected as looking like a tampon! Harsh!
The lovely shop in Illminster had hundreds of gowns, big ones, slinky ones, lots of sparkly ones and even glow in the dark ones, all giving 90s barbie vibes alongside a throne.
Prom has become even more serious in the last few years, like old fashioned debutant balls crossed with a pageant.
I have my ideas of what prom dresses should be, teenage clients over the years have been really cool and I've loved working with them. Some chose vintage and some had simple bespoke dresses which could come back and be chopped or sold on, they were all fun.
Working with family or friends is slightly more pressure, to my suprise my niece chose to go big in tulle which I love. Trying to convince her of a slightly better design, prettier embellishment, a bit more tricky!!!
It's got me thinking about prom dresses again and designing / sourcing vintage with a little more joy.
This month I've been mostly .......
Doing .....
Walking in the countryside
Watching -
Sophia Loren films 'Marriage Italian Style' - style galore
Rivals, isn't it fabulous!
A Month in the country
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Listening -
Giles Peterson Miles Davis special on BBC Radio 6 was gorgeous - listen again on BBC Sounds.
Switching off the waffle for a bit, clearing my mind of politics and gossip.
Reading -
Finally finished Gone to Earth properly, what a book! The descriptions of nature are incredibly beautiful and the ideas Mary Webb explores on religion, humanity, animals, nature are nearly as radical now as 110 years ago. What would she think of the violence on the natural world that still prevails.
High Functioning by Judith Joseph - learning to understand my brain a little better.
Learning -
How to photograph flowers in water, to be patient, to stop overloading myself and maybe not to cut your hair mid strop.
Grateful for ... Somerset, it's so incredibly beautiful right now. The hedges are all full, wild roses, poppies and cow parsley lining the roadsides, the grass is green and the sun is shining. How lucky. 
Pickings from the garden, early May.
Attempting to photographs flower in water, I love the way the water holds the petals in full bloom.
Just the grass looks stunning right now.
Douglas Elston exhibition of ballet photographs at Weston Museum.
All my ballet dreams come true in photographs of ballet from the 1950s.
Besides the Sea Photography exhibition at the Common Room, Weston Super Mare. What a delight to see young photographers in Weston photographing their town, seeing it through their eyes and displayed beautifully. The small exhibition was described by someone next to me as like stepping inside a photobook. It give me hope.