working on the women

Still working on my Waving or Drowning and have started on Monstreous Regiment of Women. That's the original spelling of the quote but may just be too tricksy ..........or peeps will enjoy correcting me .

I think sing and Shout Every Day may be finsihed but don't know how to mount it, as usual it is a funny shape ie long.

time for sons

Son sent me this image of these Big Bottomed Ladies from long ago, dug up in France.



Happy occurrence all round. Son doesn't find it easy to relate to his stitchey old ma, unlike Daughter with whom many chats and discussions are possible.



Son's father was an archaeologist, we spent many a summer in a caravan on a dig, son and daughter gathering shards of pottery and bone, laying them out on a plank in an attempt to sell them to visitors.
Somewhere there is a pic of Son sat on his potty in front of the Finds Hut. Mother was inside preferring to clean mud from finds rather than from Son's nether regions.
The photo was pre-computer so he may be saved from further exposure; at the time he was very exposed to a wind that seemed to blow straight from Siberia onto the Welsh coast. Have no idea of the geographical veracity of that statement, and could care less.


Son is fast approaching 40 now and looks somewhat like father, including the cigarette.
Of course we would have more to talk about if he collaborated with some lass and produced g'children.
Maybe I should be careful what I wish for.

back from hols

Cold but sunny, so a good week on North Norfolk coast. Missed Hattie tho; lots of dog walkers on the beach, no poo restrictions, a village full of dog walkers grinning behind their hats and scarves.

Having no doggy friend of our own we concentrated on staying upright in the wind looking for mermaid's purses and stones with holes in them.

Miles of sand and dunes, blue skies and flashing waves. The seals were gathered on the rocks as they were having thier babies and baby seals aren't water proof so mums and dads have to loll about in the sun waiting for them.

Village pub did huge meals with piles of chips, but

Fortunately all the beach combing seems to have kept the weight gain down to manageable proportions.

blue

Just coming down from mild hysteria, as I went to my first Life Drawing class for several centuries. I felt far more exposed than the model, I was so inadequate.

It was a small group arranged in a studio just down the hill. I have been moaning I should brush up my life drawing for ages, but every class I could find was on the wrong day, or too far away, or whatever excuse I could come up with.


Then I found one had been set up within 10 mins wander.


If I didn't sign up I would have to have wimp tattooed on my forehead.







Annabel was the artist mentoring, she is big and noisy and does some quite enjoyable paintings. These are two of hers, the second possibly expresses her personality more.


There are about 7 or 8 in the group, I was too nervous to count accurately. We started with 1 minute sketches, worked up to 5 mins and ended on 20 mins.


It was exhilarating to be drawing again and torture to be doing it so badly.


Everyone else drew big and bold, I was tight and small.


Annabel has a special pencil thingy called a clutch pencil which has a great big thick carbon lead, so I came straight home and ordered one. Pathetic.


Our model was a rather fine woman called Blue [yes Blue] she was very good at posing in interesting ways. She looked very strong and "noble".


Good to draw if only I could remember how.

shock & awe

Quite an eventful few days, starting with me machining [sewing] thru my my left hand middle finger. Shock and awe, rather than pain. Turned the wheel and pulled it out, followed [more like a bad joke] by the thread still threaded thru my finger. Happily I just missed my finger nail so clenched teeth and plasters, + hot sweet tea were all that was required.

My advice - don't try this at home.

Finally got to see the Gorgeous G'son, via Skype, he is growing up so fast. Daughter starts as a classroom assistant at a posh private kindergarten next week, GG starts in the tinies class. Last week they had a preview, daughter got on OK, only briefly distracted by flash out of corner of her eye of GG racing across the hall pursued by hapless tinies class teacher.

Fingers crossed that they both settle.

Went to my first two stitching groups of the new year and both were very convivial, Xmas spirit still surviving apparently, even I was cheery.

Did some printing making a stencil with plastic stuff ironed onto silk organza, using the result as a kind of screen print. Quite mucky, but got a result, as did we all, so good start to year.

Windiness has meant loss of electricity for friends; a tree down from our garden, into the lane below, for us.

Latter was alarming as RP entered from the wind, rain and darkness with the information and the look in his eye that he expected help.

Once I would have revelled proving I am as strong and able as any gent but I am an old girl now and we have our pensions to pay unemployed youngsters to do for me. However it seems he was concerned someone would imminently drive into it. What are headlights supposed to be for.

Snarky words ensued. I compromised by using my bad temper to stamp off the ivy clad branches and tugging out of the way. IMO the trunk was neatly aligned by the side of the lane and could wait till morning. RP felt as a good citizen he should tug it up the lane onto a grassy bit.

I left him to it.

Decided my rage was probably misplaced and would not cover me with glory so held my tongue about whatever it was that had upset me.

Silence often speaks loudly, even shouts.

getting a handle on it

Gertie decides she wants to go out. Not this time the handle is stiff, but she breaks into our bedroom repeatedly

Out and about

I am not sure if this will frighten the horses, however this is the result of an horrifically social week culminating in several gin and tonics.

Xmas was quiet, just me, him, mother, 2 cats, Miss Haversham [our Xmas tree drooping with fading garlands in the corner] and a large turkey.

The in-laws Diamond Wedding anniversary was ..........decorous, contained, respectable, mediocre food and forced chat. I could go on, but brother and sister in law did that ...went on endlessly, so i won't.Did you know you get a card from the Queen for your 60th anniversary, with a picture of the Queen on it and special instructions to the post man.?

New Years Eve was cheerier; we had a meal with friends on a gun boat in the harbour. It was built in Bruges in 1898, was interned in the First World War; sunk and seized by the Germans in WW2 in 1940, recovered and returned to Antwerp and became a hospital ship in the 50s...not sure which war, Korean? and then in the 70s fitted out as a "party ship". Rather degrading but maybe it enjoyed a bit of frippery.

Now it is a French restaurant.