Went to Kent.

Had a lovely week in Cranbrook, very gorgeous, didn't realise so many people owned such beautiful big old houses, many white clapboarded. Little sign of Credit crunch in this neighbourhood.

Gardens were all in Spring flower, daffies, forsythia, primulas and all the trees with delicate green buds. Sissinghurst wasn't covered in blooms as it will be later but neither was it deep in coach parties, so we enjoyed it.

Vita did her writing in the tower in the garden, I sneaked a pic. It was glorious sunshine all week, amazing.

Our cottage address was 2 Horse Entry, reached down a little passage way between shops leading to a mish mash collection of cottages and houses built every which way. Tiny old place, 3 floors, attic bedroom reached by a ladder, fortunately there was no falling out - [or off] requiring a separate bed.

Would have liked to visit Great Dixter too, but it didn't open until 1st April, totally ignoring our anniversary requirements.

Did make the trip to Hastings, [Retired Person again refused to let us move to the Old Town, so unreasonable] but we did get to see the new Art Gallery opened this week [better timing]. The fishermen still have their posters up agitating about losing their fresh fish trade on the Stade. One told me all he saw was people with cameras, not bags of money. The gallery fits well next to the tall black net huts and the views of the sea from the windows are even better than the work on display. they have a local artist Rose Wylie, and a general exhibition of paintings, including an Augustus John and Stanley Spencer so I was happy, even if the fishermen weren't.

code

I suspect those weird slanty letters codes we have to copy to sign into the computer to prove we are not one, are really to weed out the old and crumblies who can't quite see any more, one day soon that will be me.

Woodbridge library

TAGS one of the textile art groups I belong to put a small exhibition at Woodbridge library for this month.

These are some of the Artists directories we made, each page being for each artist in the group 20+ women, stitching away.
We had to make 4 books each. They didn't go too well at the summer show, so we are giving them another outing at the library, seemed appropriate, but at £15 each I think we may be pushing it a bit.

I put Shadow Dance up, and Sea horses, plus In the Night Garden, of which I have omitted to take a picture, and Hollyhocks , which I do not like - so I do hope somebody else does.

It was along afternoon, stretching and teetering putting the stuff up above the library shelves, of course the librarians moved some of it afterwards. Wish they had just put it all up in the first place.

We put up Lizzie's tea bag coat, which looks magnificent. She dyed and painted and stitched the tea bags onto a sacking coat after studying African designs. It truly is strange and wonderful.

It is also a very light and lovely little library so everything looks fresh and artistic in the main.

fortunate

Can avoid my short story this morning for reason no. 567, there are men in the garden.........putting in a new pipe for the water. Much noise and disruption and lots to look at through my window behind this computer.
The buildings here are originally Victorian and so are the pipes I guess. When they put the water meter in some years back, [which we refuse to have connected just cos we want to make a stand for expensive self defeating individualism], they showed me the connecting pipe, two thirds full of gunge. Yuk, explains our dribble of water pressure.
Some years later after losing continuous arguments with Water People, we have ganged up with the 2 neighbours and are paying for same Water Board sub-contractors to put in a new pipe privately.
Police, NHS, Education - private enterprise is all the rage.
Just fortunate that we can afford it.
Quite funny yesterday tho, we had agreed with church that it will be OK to dig pipe line across church yard. Yup, they checked, no funerals, christenings, weddings [no income at all] so we had the go ahead.
Sadly they had forgotten the Women's Day of Prayer.
Irate woman berating bemused pipe men as they drilled and dug right outside.
Just fortunate I was out.