friends of Artemis

It is so cold today, we left the heating on all night for once.

After a week in Norfolk - East coast, East wind - I would have thought I would be acclimatised, but I guess I am not so active now I am home.

Just sent Retired Man out on dog walk on his own, which i wouldn't have done on holiday when I expect myself to muck in and "enjoy" myself. Double glazing behind this computer doesn't seem to keep out the draughts, but when it is warm enough to examine the seal round the periphery i forget the problem.
Now Peterson and the cricket coach have thrown their handbags out of the pram, oh dear, just when we stood a chance of winning the Ashes back. What a fiasco.
Should have gone to my Textile Group meeting this morning, but wimped out because of general icyness, so now I feel I must take advantage of this time to set The New Year into gear......hmmmmmmmmmmm
Lots of stitching to be organised. I have to [yes I do] "interpret" a section of fabric design sourced from the Warner textile Collection. We each get a different copy of a piece of fabric from the collection, and are asked to "Do" something creative it.

This is a competition. Last time I won the category Most Amusing entry, which i think is probably a double edged compliment.
My source is a detail of flowers, big blousey pink roses and chrysanthemum type flowers arching across the page. Immediately i thought of big blousey pink ladies cavorting [as I do] so I have to meld the two in some fashion. I think i can silk paint a scene of ladies within petals, like obese flower fairies. Someone has to!
Then I have to finish off the piece for the Long Shop Museum. I have left some prints of the women who worked there in past times and I would like to do another piece with those and clocks..........loads of ideas. Just lack the lackeys to carry them out for me.
What i should be doing is adding to my Dance Series. I have this wondrous mass of unfelted but combed wool, dyed in fantastic shades of deep bronze which I want to embellish with really fat dancing ladies, but for some reason I keep pushing it to the back of the queue, where hopefully it is marinating.

I have been asked to do one of my portraits of this elderly couple, but they may not last long enough to receive it.

This one I did of two stitching friends,

and this is the back view of the elderly couple, now they want their front done.

Also Artemis awaits..................inspiration, I hope to make something as impressive without becoming too "amusing".

ancient and modern

We are staying in a small cottage described as Grade II listed, altho the inside has been ripped up, turned round and plaster boarded out of all recognition to the builders who put up the row of tiny terraced houses in 1825.

King George IV was on the throne [going noisily mad?] when the first people moved into it's one up, one down, plus privy and wash house out the back.

Now it has another bedroom, kitchen and bathroom grafted on. The only original space is probably the chimney space where the range [cast iron stove] was set. I understand people often used to rent then, and moved up to bigger things, as and when they could afford it, as the family [inevitably]increased. So sometimes they would own/rent collapsible ranges, which they would pile on the cart and trundle up the street to the next home.

When I lived in Carlisle with 2 children [in a similarly extended house] I found it rather cramped. Mr Graham next door thought me a total lightweight [for several reasons], he had been bought up with 8 other kids in his family in the same space.

When I was home tutoring in Carlisle, the mother would stick a shovel in the roaring coal fire and carry it next door to start another in the grate for the lesson. Of course they were Council houses, built to certain rules which made sure tenants had good sized rooms and houses to live in, unlike modern mouse traps. Carlisle had one of the largest number of council houses in the country, was told, proudly. Then Mrs Thatcher enabled tenants to buy, and the money wasn't ploughed back into the system...............

Graylag Cottage, our Norfolk abode this week, is flint faced and maybe from the front looks much like it did nearly 200 years ago. The walls are very thick, we haven't heard a peep from either side, and once you get some heat going it is very cosy.

Out back there is a yard and outhouses and then some fields with horses and pheasants doing sentry duty. There is also a rather nice summer house, but not comfortable this time of year, which is a shame as it is very calm out there.

The road is called Freeman Street as it was a toll free way of getting into the town. During the day it is a road busy with cars, but at night it quietens, the stars come out and the Xmas lights add to the glow.

Twelfth night tomorrow, all decorations must come down or mayhem ensue, so we have to whizz home and make sure Hill Cottage is free from curse for another year.

Today we drove to Holkham Beach and marched through the few spats of snow till we got too cold and bored.This an authentic flake of snow.

These are the most interesting sights on a cold beach






Retired Man and Hattie the dog.






















Evidence of past potterers.

to dongle or not to dongle

Here we are in Norfolk, mostly at 0 degrees [centigrade for foreign readers who use the measurement I was taught as a child] it is bitingly cold.
I am wearing a vest, 2 jumpers a padded jacket and a padded coat, because it is not a nice dry cold here, it is horribly damp and invasive. hattie the dog is obviously dressed and ready for anything at any time.
The much vaunted "dongle" does work, but only if we go to the pub on the hill[Him Who Is Now Retired] swears he has not fixed it thus. It just refuses to receive it's signal down in our cosy cottage by the shore.
We have walked all the byways and beaches within reach in true British fashion, best foot forward - whatever the weather. The sun is a low white disc on the horizon glittering thru the clouds with a raw nervous energy, rarely chasing shadows.
That's it really, long healthy walks, some fairly nice food, regular beers and coffees and the routine migraine that appears whatever the weather, also.
Have read 3 books, really enjoyed American Wife. P complained as it is based on Mrs Bush, and she doesn't know how accurately. I wasn't bothered as I thought it had some nice observations on the compromises necessary in a marriage. Next 2 books covered the necessary strategies necessary to catch your serial killer. I could do with my Mrs Gaskell now as an antidote, but have left her at home.

Figures of Speech

Couple of shiny days keeps good humour aloft at home, but not in the Gaza Strip, or many other places if I could bear to pay attention.

Are they all hot and sunny, does the Northern Hemisphere at least encourage us to stay indoors - and watch old war movies........

Spent some time today trying to clear back the stitching detritus ready for the New Year, many many pins and a varied selection of needles found their way back into the correct place.

In the never ending search to improve on the Venus of Wollendorf I made a very sturdy female, who is now my pin cushion. I can happily stick pins all over her - except the breasts and head. Too close to home to risk any voodoo.

I am making a trio of Big Women, which I May call the Three Dis-Graces, as i find it hard to resist a quip. I would really like to make one 6' tall, but I need a Sponsor! or at least someone willing to give it a home.

If our Big Women Exhibition comes off next year I will at least be able to offer many and varied Tummies, plus a few Pot Bellies from my clay days.

I am desperate to make a large Artemis too, at least my obsessions are mainly harmless, not genocide or ......................

Chrimble

This is actually the tree from 2006, but as we are still using it, I decided to take a short cut. Jo, a friend from the next village, is a willow weaver so she made this for us. It looked much the same this year except it was in the conservatory this time.
Xmas day was cloudy, wrinklies turned up and seemed to have a good time, except ma in law forgot to bring our Xmas presents - but that is what it is like to be a wrinkly, as I am finding out.
Today is a real gift as it is sunny, if with a cold N wind.
Lots of people in their Xmas knits walking happy dogs round The Clamp. Hattie agreed to leave her Xmas toy behind and accompany us, she was also happy to return to said toy and the knowledge that there is still much turkey and ham awaiting consumption when we got back. Always a helpful doggy.
Skyped with young mother, father and baby in his Santa outfit. Lots of snow in Reno.
Son has not yet got round to getting a web camera, so got his phone call passed to his g'ma when the pics of smiley baby arrived.
Son says he and the other "orphans" [those without a partner to organise a Xmas for them] are gathering at the local bar to deep fry a turkey. He thought he would take mashed potatoes, but no means to reheat except deep fat fryer so i expect they will go in too.
I have new scarlet slippers, too soft to click, a dongle so I can get on line when we are away, a silky bed spread and lots of book tokens [once the last lot limp in].
I am reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld at the mo, Amazon sent me 2 [my fault, impatient finger] and as i am enjoying it have given other copy to Noisy Friend. Usually we totally disagree on films and books, it will be interesting to see if this one brings us together.
Friend in the West Country sent me an Eco Diary which is very absorbing with lots of sky, earth, flora and fauna info. Very complex, but very simple, hopefully I will finally be able to identify more than Orion's Belt.
Sherlock Holmes play is about to come on the wireless, so shall stitch a bit and listen, except Dylan is doing one of his music pics on this station........................choices.

dark side of the moon

The main colour here in the country is brown. Even tho the ground here is light and sandy the cold relentless rain has managed to transform it into a scene reminiscent of the trenches. The leaves have mostly abandoned the trees and fallen into the thick glutinous mess of decay, glimmering paley in the deep sodden ruts, before they succumb to brownness.

Or is it me?

The full moon was huge last week, menacing close to earth every14 years. It shone into the strange dark shadows of the fields piled high with small mountains of muddy sugar beets, waiting for the lorry to escort it to the sugar factory.

We are, as ever, protected by the holly and ivy, still green. That's why it is used in Xmas wreaths to hang on our doors it seems. Ancient peoples used to believe it must have magic powers to stay green and shiny when everything else had dried up and fallen to the ground.

Perhaps if I got round to making some tomorrow it would encourage Xmas cheer. Have to be red bows tho, as the birds seem to have made short work of the berries.

I shall go and light the fire, that still works its magic for ancient and modern peoples.

In Nevada the kids light a fire in a big oil drum to warm the garden BBQ and cut designs in the sides. I ate so much meat and drank too many milkshakes it seems, as my cholesterol count has shot up from 5+ to 7+.

still moaning

Jet lag is a nasty thing, - Go West, young woman is fine, - coming back is torture.
One tip is to ask for an Asian "special" meal. I can't stand the cubes of something they dignify as meat, nor the squishy cheese lump that passes as vegetarian. But Asian means i get spicy vegetables and rice, almost enjoyable. Tho the hostesses do seem non plussed by my lack of burka, and search far and aisle before accepting it really is for me; probably get myself on the Homeland Defence list for person of interest as well.
I watched 3 films and read 1 book on the daylight flight out, lots of activity to divert me from my fear, but driving home in the dark, above the clouds is ghastly, lonely and horrid.
I did manage to cram a book into my eyeballs, tho I doubt it troubled my brain much, can't remember what it was. Yes I can, Jesse Kellermans last one, fatal flaw - unbelievable plot.
Also watched Hancock, which was mildly amusing but not as good as when he had a HHHalfhour on the wireless.
Man Who Works decided to get a heavy dose of flu as soon as we got home, so he hasn't as yet turned up at the office. As he is soon to retire he will become Man Who Doesn't Work Any More, which will be a change of life style for us both.
Apparently both offspring separately developed Winter Vomiting Virus as we left, and it seems many hospital wards here are closed because of same, so i am clinging to my health with whitened knuckles.

Hopefully the Young Mother has recovered from the squits and not passed it on to Young Father or youngest member

Big women have their uses

I am so jet lagged, I feel as if I am made of very thin glass that is just about to shatter. The first night home I slept well, at approximately the appropriate time, but since then [2 nights] I don't think I have slept at all, except when I conk out, delirious, mid afternoon for an hour.

Fortunately the Test Match is on, [us v India] starting at 4am, so I can put the ear piece in and relax, except when Sehwag is batting obviously.

Tonight i must search out the Valium the doc gave me for the flight home, didn't send me to sleep then, but surely it will work in the safety of my own bed.

I ventured out to walk the dog for the first time today, [she seems to have enjoyed her holiday with Mother and visa versa] - it is astonishingly cold and wet, great muddy puddles and an ruthless wind.

It seems Reno now has snow [but of course as everyone chants it is a different kind of dry coldness] shame we missed it, but Driver is probably relieved not to have to negotiate the mountains thus decorated.

When with daughter i returned to type quite quickly and unravelled the wires involved in supporting some of her Shower gifts and made a "pregnant woman" .

Wrapped and stitched with a spare skein of wool. Unfortunately Daughter felt she should keep her facsimile, to remind herself of what once was, which was a bit of a shame as we have an exhibition planned called at the mo "Big Women", but I guess I can repeat the experiment.
We are charged to make a "vessel" for another exhibition, perhaps I could construct a Big Woman vase.
A functional piece of art is often easier to sell than a wall hanging, that people worry about how to keep clean; - answer - blow on it occasionally.
A linked group of women could surround a vase.
I do so enjoy making soft sculpture, but I need to find outlets or sink beneath the woolly limbs.

San Francisco

Another location, fairly familiar, but later in the year and thus colder than we are used to. Cable carred down to the Wharf, followed by a our clam chowder in a bread bun, a first for son, even tho he has lived here for 12 years, I guess you don't do the touristy things when you work every day in a place.My objective, not achieved last time, was to see the pelicans.

Pottered onto quay 9 and there they were, stalking high above on the fishery buildings waiting for the trolleys of fish to be maneuvered and to drop some tasty cargo, obviously we have timed things wrong, before.

First time I was here was in 1969 I guess, -with Him Who Shall not be Named, now consigned to the devil, hopefully not literally, but I hope he singed his conscience on the way through at least. For reasons best known to twenty year olds we had hitched across America in a matching pair of deeply fringed leather jackets and too little impulse control, but then that is befitting our age. Little would get achieved unless young [even older] people did daft things at times.

It was daft and dangerous, but we survived and stayed in SF for about a month, a bit late for the whole Haight Ashbury experience, didn't even get into a Grateful Dead concert. That might have changed our lives - instead after too much speed we decided to change our plans not take up the offer of a place at Albuquerque University,but to Greyhound back to New York, but return to Europe and an archaeology degree at Durham. Quite a contrast.

SF hasn't changed that much, they were putting in the ground work for the Subway then I think, and I swore never to descend into the depths, but of course one does in the course of a life time, several times.

Now each time we visit I am amazed by the sudden eruption [not the earthquake] of new, exotically shaped buildings, emerging shiny and purposeful defying any thought that life could ever have been fulfilled without them.

In contrast the numbers of crazy people muttering the streets seems to proliferate, it makes for uncomfortable tourism, counter intuitive to ignore the urgent, if private ranting of intense, and mostly, black faces.

mum,uncle and star of the show

Today we drove up to the mountains to visit with friends of daughter. L and L bought 40 acres way up in the sage brush and lived in a caravan there for about 3 years till they had built the house of their dreams.
When we last saw them they were feet deep in snow, with a leaky old fire and a mad cat [he was very opinionated, L had to throw paper balls up the far end of the trailer for him to chase, so she could scramble out of the door without being attacked, he didn’t like to be left alone I guess].
Now they have this wonderful adobe style building full of light and comfort, and wonderful views. Around the house hop blue jays, chipmunks, rabbits and ?grouse. L feeds then every morning so it is like a Disney cartoon with them scurrying around.
The two bathrooms [and sauna] are wondrous for English eyes to behold, the living room has floor to ceiling windows crystals hang reflecting the clear mountain light, bet that cat wishes he had shown better manners, they regretfully had to have him put down when the paper balls stopped working.
Second visit was to dinner in Reno with other friends, and their offspring and relative’s [one mother and g’mother] offspring comprising four babies under 3 plus our own wonder babe of one week. Very chaotic and convivial, guess this is what only children miss out on.

Travis cooked us stuffed chicken breasts........stuffed with what he called pineapple sausages, wrapped in bacon with a slice of pineapple, and salad, excellent.

The living room and kitchen were joined around the fireplace, if you see what I mean, so the kids and our young father could run in screaming demented circuits, until the kids gave in and collapsed in happy heaps. Some older people expected tears before bedtime, but young father kept his end up OK.

This is now Saturday our last full day, "onesies" [what I call babygrows] have been painted for posterity to enliven Baby's days in the future, the fairies have been finished on the nursery wall and a BBQ is being prepared.

Tomorrow we drive to San Francisco with son.

sand dance

The desert casino theme is becoming a habit, last time we visited daughter we first stayed for a couple of days in Las Vegas - in the Luxor glass Pyramid. An amazing edifice which shut even our sceptical mouths, or rather let them drop open.

No dollar had been spared to cover the joint, even the lifts, with Egyptian slant eyed maidens offering food to the gods. Only by stroking them [when safely lone in the elevator] could one tell it was a stained/coloured fibre glass? copy.
Sphinxes and huge enigmatic cats abounded on the floors, Ramses strode thru the halls of one armed bandits. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the endless corridors smelled of something like formaldehyde but I am not sure that was intentional.

[Sadly this is the nearest we have been to the real thing, our previous Nile Cruise was spendiferous but only visited the wonderul palaces; having not read the literature I expected pyramids, next time maybe.]
The casinos in Reno are less culturally aspirational, there is no re-creation of Venice [including gondolas] or Paris and the Eiffel Tower; the Sands was the nest for Frank Sinatra and his acolytes, built in 1947 it has two towers these days and claims to have 18 floors, but there is no 8 -11 and of course no 13th floor.
We explored the Eldorado and Circus, Circus……..pretty boring, just lines and lines of one armed bandits, endless variations on the theme of how to lose your dollar. Small enclaves of black jack, craps, poker.
The Silver Legacy was perhaps the most enjoyable with a beautiful art deco glass ceiling and a huge pseudo mining tower stretching up into the cloud painted dome.
Casinos in Nevada are exempt from the no smoking laws so they stink in a way we had almost forgotten, but they feel totally safe for all ages, sexes ages, even cosy. Not in the least exciting, but then I don‘t gamble. Maybe not all classes however, I would suspect only blue collar at the tables and machines here
Son arrived yesterday and stayed up till 3.30am giving the “house” his hard earned cash, tho hopefully not too much of it, and seemed quite happy at the outcome.
He got his first ever full house or whatever on his machine, [took a photo to prove it] so won $75 for his quarter, but soon ploughed it back playing twenty one.
When he went out this morning at 11am an Alaskan woman and her mother he was playing with, were still at the table. They come here once a year and this is what they do.

Sleep can sometimes be a difficult trick to pull. What seems so easy to achieve in the morning can be nigh on impossible at night with thoughts spinning on a loop, obsessively burrowing and exploding at arbitrary times.

The casino has perfected quiet rooms, in spite of piling floor onto floor but the concept of a soft bed is beyond them. Maybe it is all part of the campaign to get guests out of their room and down onto the machines.

The rooms are seemingly hermetically sealed, which is appropriate for it's desert theme, I have not as yet been inside a pyramid, but the TV does suggest a sarcophagus. They are heated by blowing hot or cold air machine according to the Pharaohs' own appreciation of the situation, so at 2am you can wake up freezing, and then at 4am sweating.

I have always hated giving in to sleep, I regard it as resented hard work and am relieved to scramble out of bed at 7.30am. Strangely I started waking at this time here, regardless of the altered time frame, but lately the total slippage of routine into what Baby [and daughter] needs has completed confusion.

Today I was awake at 4.30am, drinking tea and reading the spurious Memoirs of Jane Austin, but then I closed my eyes and it was nearly 10. Breakfast at the coffee shop, lunch disappears into a biscuit, and today we are promised Tofu burgers. This is a meat eating household, often personally dispatched by the New Father, but the fridge is full and has to be mollified.

Last night we ate in the Diner again, hotdog and banana milk shake, almost as good as the peanutbutter milkshake I had on a previous trip.

Why do hotel mirrors have that strip light above them which turns every face into a Plague victim?

I am suffering doubly, as many many photos of the new baby are being taken - some include his granny. Comparisons between his beautiful skin and my aged body cover cannot be avoided.

Our diet is somewhat out of our control, sometimes we cook, but mostly daughter and son-in-law make the decisions.

Last night we had authentic burritos from a Mexican joint that only seemed to serve other Mexicans, so we were interested in widening our culinary experience.

Hmmmmmm - mine contained a grey mass that might have gone neigh, if it could get itself back together. The very large rectangle reminded me of the suet pudding [with jam] we used to be served at school, and dubbed "dead baby in a blanket". I didn't think it was appropriate to mention my wander down memory lane at the time.

I guess it was the equivalent of a Cornish pasty, but this one at least was not as tasty.

I bought some fruit to up our vitamin C, this included the biggest sweetest Granny Smith apples I have ever seen. The Supermarkets have so much and such varied food we stand in awe. Much of it seems to include corn syrup however, it is difficult to find anything "plain".

Last night we took daughter to Target, a huge store where they have everything, if only you could find it. hours of wandering aisles later she had collected pile of baby necessities and I got some moisturiser. The weather is still lovely, but the air is very dry, or maybe I am just drying up.

the kraken wakes

Reading the news from home I see that there is snow and sleet, which feels very strange, as here we sit, higher than Ben Nevis, yet bathed in sunshine. I do have on several layers so i suppose it isn't exactly sunbathing time.
Around four o'clock the temperature plummets as they say, but the snow on Rose's Face [Mount Rose, - she has a fine female profile viewed from Reno] has yet to reach the other mountains that enclose us.
Baby decided to become a monster last night and screamed with enthusiasm most of the time he wasn't feeding it seems, so new parents took him for his first checkup to make sure he wasn't a werewolf or similar.
Nope - he is a fine specimen of humanity, doing what he should.
When he has tanked up now we will rock him while they have a sleep, then we all go shopping, joy! I shall get some moisturiser, this mountain air is dry.
Saw 3 eagle like birds this morning wheeling above the pigeons, above the river, some guy told us the were Umac birds, which is a bad joke I half remembered so we didn't get too badly caught.

warning - bears in the woods

Baby and parents have survived the night and are moving towards the stage of familiarity, I already feel redundant, which I suppose is good.

New father is fashioning a beard from an abandoned Halloween party costume, so he can take a photo of baby thus enhanced, as all his friends were convinced his offspring would emerge as hirsute as his father.

Baby's auntie came today, with her just out of Boot-Camp-Marine-son. He is on a short visit before flying off to confront the men with serious beards. He looks almost as young as Baby, and has even less hair, as he is shaved to the brain. A very sweet agreeable young man, but I guess if he can get thru Boot Camp he is sterner than he looks.

We don't really know the news here, television is almost unwatchable with adverts so often. We caught a glimpse of the bombings in India, it did make the front pages of most newspapers, even saw a small titbit about Gordon Brown and his pre tax budget, but on the whole we are floating in a bubble.

My sleep pattern got awry last night so i read a whole noisy murder book, thus a trip to barnes and noble [i am now holding baby and so cannot do capitals,] where i loaded up with a mrs gaskell to give the gore a rest, plus 3 other paper backs - excellent store.

Fire eater

Baby having finally put in an appearance this morning, I can at last use the time honoured phrase "we are a grandmother".
He was only five days late and only put his ma thru seven hours of torture, contractions coming on too quick and strong for the promised epidural, so daughter ploughed on womanfully and produced "au natural" which as a g'ma I could smile smugly and say "by far the best way dearie".
The midwife was very sweet and supportive, daughter had to request I exhort less loudly so she could also hear what the midwife was advising.
Now we have 10 days to pass on the lessons of a lifetime before leaving the little family to fend for itself.
It is a gloriously sunny day today, after a couple of cloudy rainy ones, the blue skies twinkle in my celebratory star earrings
Having fended off 3 sweet looking ??Jehovah's Witnesses, or maybe another variety, I didn't really give them time to get into their stride, I will blog on.
I have the house to myself, as all are engaged elsewhere at the mo, except for 2 dogs and ?4cats. I am sitting on the verandah/porch and the birds are making their usual din as they settle for the night in the garden trees.
If it wasn't so cold it would be idyllic, but it is November, which makes baby a Sagittarius, I don't know many of those.
Daughter, Man Who Works and I are all water signs, new father is a Virgo like my son, an earth sign, but new babe is a Fire sign, hmmmmmmmm just as well I don't believe any of it, except MWW and I always live and holiday by water, well almost always, g'mas are allowed to be a bit addled in their logic I expect.
We will go back and see the fiery little chap in a while, hopefully he will have latched on by then, which is all he needs to achieve for a while.
The ancient inherited family cot/crib sprung a crack this week when stuffed with a new mattress, so we have splinted it for now.
When we went to BabesRus or whatever the huge emporium was called I was flabbergasted at the amount and expense of doodahs one can buy for a new person these days. Awesome as they say, repeatedly, over here.
Young father was keen to spend up all the vouchers, given at the baby shower, before the shops went bankrupt in these uncertain times, but I suspect babies will keep appearing, and the habit of bedding them down in a drawer and handing down clothes seems to have been abandoned.
So i guess the remaining vouchers will still be bankable in a few weeks time, when daughter needs a bit of a pick you up. Altho daughter has been given piles of Onesies, as they call baby grows over here. by young mothers who swear they will never need them again.

waiting game

Here I am in Reno, a surprisingly pretty "biggest little city in the world", one day when i have the technology I will post some pics to prove it.
At the mo I am using my daughter's Mac laptop, which she insists is easy! but they do things differently around here.
The journey in all ways was straight forward. Virgin were their usual chirpy selves, I was allowed my stitching paraphernalia without fuss, but as I watched 3 movies and read one book I didn't get much done.

Pause while daughter's computer died, husband's Dell expired on flight over, so he impulse bought a Eee, whatever that is.

Small is what it is, but mighty.

Daughter is still awaiting birth, as is half of Reno to judge by today, many friendly grins and questions as we make our rotund way around.

We took Ishtar to a dog park which none of us enjoyed much. A bleak field, no trees [imperative for doggies on would have thought] and lots of woofers, little, large and larger careering around.

Ishtar [a beautiful but elderly chow] did not appreciate the variety of noses shoved up her bum in an enquiring manner, so we did not stay long.

Another day [who knows what day it is] we took a walk with Ishtar along the Truckee river right in the centre of the city, lovely golden trees in the autumn sun, ducks and geese and "strange fruit"

moving on

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. - Gustave Flaubert

Maybe that is why I am a bit miserable at the mo, I am not stupid enough.

Here I am about to be a grandma and all I can do is whitter and slither, and wish I could stay here and watch "I'm Celebrity get Me out of Here". Excitement and risk from a safe distance.

I am stupid.

Proved by gleefully watching such rubbish.

But not stupid enough - to get onto that plane and sit comfortably miles above the jungles without a care. I don't want to get into that tin can, I don't want to leave the ground.

Flying is the safest way to travel, even driving to the next village to the mobile library van just now, was probably more risky but I chatted cheerfully all the way, blissfully [stupidly] at ease.

And when i get there........at least the new generation will look at me slightly out of focus and not judge me, yet.

What will my two make of their aging p? Will I be calm and steady, rock like in my support through post natal depression, chef like in dishing up eatable meals to all and sundry.

It is universally acknowledged packing is a pain, and I haven't started yet. What to take, what to leave. Against all instincts there is a huge book shop in Reno, and a small second hand book shop within walking distance. But I can't make up my mind which books I Need, to make sure I have with me, and should I keep them safe in hand luggage or risk them in the hold.

Grand-baby has a rather large new shawl I have crocheted, that must travel with me; auntie [grand-auntie?] Cinders' teddy bear can just busk it in the hold; I guess my mothers knitted bootees and helmets should go with shawl................decisions.

M newly back from Bogota puts me to shame, all cheery and bright from her colourful experiences, she has given me a security blanket to lull my nerves. Doesn't double as a parachute however, so it won't.

Shoes!!! how many? Daughter has battalions, roughly my size, but all have high heels which my feet will no longer sustain.

Oh dear.

destination nevada

I had a Mrs Bean of a morning.

Started by stopping by the bins awaiting collection, to add one more thing. Car door swung further than I expected, bumped into our bin which in turn toppled neighbours bin. Garbage all over driveway.

At docs I tried to avoid garrulous acquaintance and failed when she inadvertently managed to ignore all other chairs and sit next to me. Newspaper did not provide sufficient cover, and it is the Guardian too. Failed in this case.

Doc gave me some ointment for sore eye, and doggy and I cavorted off for walkies, avoiding bins, till screeching to a halt, having remembered I hadn't picked up the Working man's pills from pharmacy.

Return to docs with disappointed dog.

No Money.

Scuttle to Post Office and have to queue for centuries behind jovial mad man depositing his life savings in small change plus as many merry quips as he could dredge up.

Finally collected pills and arrived at river bank where a change into wellies at last achieved our dream.

Back home in the afternoon i argued with mother to keep us both in trim and became Disgusted Customer when the two jumpers I ordered have not turned up, man on phone said he wasn't allowed to reveal possible delivery date....................helpful.

We are somewhat nervy this week, contemplating what to pack for the trek ahead, not two new jumpers obviously.

M advises taking full luggage allowance, then when a big dirty pile of worn clothing has been compiled, post it back home and buy lots of lovely new clothes to pack in the space made available for return flight.

Probably not, with the state of the £ v $ at the mo.

We have had to upgrade the hire car to a 4x4 when we remembered we have to drive over mountains up to 8000' to get to daughter, that's an extra £300. Not that they ever give you the same car they promised.

Poor Working Man has to remember how to drive an automatic on the wrong side of the road and get us safely out of San Francisco at the same time.

Daughter says she is 1cm dilated, but head isn't engaged, much the same here.

conference

There has been a mighty Forum formed, mostly of ladies of a certain age and freedom. To give ourselves the confidence and status of how things are done we have conferences.

The last one recently was "How to make money from your work", fairly basic one would have thought, but us ladies aren't that sure we actually want to soil our hands with trade, no that's not true, more likely we haven't the confidence to put our creations to the test.

Or maybe we just want to continue to be creative in our later years and the garden is cold in the winter and the grand children really are very tiring at times. Stitching is such an adaptable activity, can be put down at any time when any one elses priorities intervene..........had a big argument with a member who denied my fears that the cost of membership and fees might be too much for some women.

She insisted we/they must get their priorities right, with which as a demanding female myself I concur. But I can remember when i had kids, and later was a single parent and all the other permutations women have to deal with.

I insisted we could keep our costs down to ensure we were accessible to stitchers who may not be able to place our work at the top of their list.

Funnily enough there aren't any men in the Forum! I also notice that more men are using textiles in contemporary art, or at least they are the ones we hear about, obviously they are able to sort out their priorities. Hunter gatherer syndrome I suspect.

The winner of Business woman of the Year gave us a lecture about presenting ourselves and our work with panache.

We spotlight two members, one produced some of her quilted pieces, totally home grown never had a lesson in her life.

This one was inspired by a friend getting mugged, and he heard Chief mugger shout the vertical line in black. "There had better not be blood on my trainers"

The other Spotlight was based in stitching on dissolvable, where Carol had taken the design key from Tudor lace, and produced crowns, tiaras and 8ft long columns of metallic "lace".

But her most evocative pieces where made after she heard a story about a 19th century husband who decided his wife had been replaced by an evil spirit because she was not being as agreeable as usual.

The cure for this was to torture the "fairy" out of her body which after 14 days resulted in his wife's death. Carol noted the words the poor woman said as she was protesting her innocence and again on dissolvable stitched the words into a long pillar of white.

We saw it through our tears. I will add a pic if I can get one as it was also truly and terribly beautiful,

Barry, Gordon and Sarah go adventuring

Stayed up to hear Ohio, then slept till 5 am when I woke in serendipity to hear Barry's speech, lying in bed tears leaking down my face.
That poor man sure does have a weight on his shoulders, I saw him with some of his new proposed colleagues next day and suddenly had a flash of a defeat. Can anyone achieve what he must?
Here our great leader had a rain-check on his ignominious surrender as he won the Scottish seat we all assumed he would lose. I guess his status has swelled as we see him striding thru the financial morass where he feels comfortable and capable.
Maybe he will develop the confidence and transfer some of that good judgement to not introducing things like the 10% tax debacle or the future fiasco of trying to introduce identity cards.
Meanwhile what of Sarah Palin, a welcome target for misogynists and her own lack of............education? Who knows, she could find a home in Fox News I suppose, become a shock jock or maybe just read a few books, or even newspapers before she tries again in 4 years.

Had a good birthday few days in Walberswick.

A November sea, glistening with sunshine, it didn't rain, us Scorpios have to take what we can get.

Doggy enjoyed it greatly, which is obviously the main thing.

Bought a fitted indigo quilted jacket from Blue Willi [Scandinavian they can't help it] and a "boiled wool" capey coat from Oska - also foreign and all the better for it when you look at what is in the High street these days, mutter!

That's more or less the end of the birthday money, tho i may squeeze out a pair of boots.

Followed up with yet another Textile exhibition. We SLAPPERS [Stitchers, Lacemakers And Patchworkers Practice Embroidery in Suffolk] motored over to Braintree and saw Zero3, which was interesting. This person's was my fave , she paints and prints with bleach. With this one sh had just "marked" the cloth with a felt tip, felt a bit guilty there was no stitching and machined some lines. Always a dilemma for a textile artist oh dear, I have not done any sewing, is paper fabric? etc. The last was done in layers and prints from very old children's' clothes pattern packets, if you see what i mean.

radio news

I am still suffering [well it is tender] from my pneumonia jab. Is it because the needle did go in as efficiently as the painless flu jab, or is the pneumonia a bigger bug? Who knows.
It is a funny jab to have, as i guess it is to guard against me getting debilitated in my old age with a survivable illness, and then popping off with the pneumonics instead.
I would guess some old persons are quite relieved for the quiet escape it affords, if they have been in a terminal position. I shall just have to bang my head on the wall instead.
There is a woman on the wireless today trying to get the Law Lords to clarify the Suicide Law, in that if someone helps you to achieve it they could go to prison, at least the suicidee is no longer a criminal in the afterlife.
She has progressive MS and says she either has to do away with herself while she is still able, or cling on till she finally can't stand it and have her partner escort her to Switzerland where she can be assisted to die, but then Mr Plod would come to call.
Although i guess a Catholic might still wag fingers, and what do Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists etc. say........................it all makes total sense to me, except it is the old "slippery slope" argument.
Maybe she has to do-it-herself earlier than she would wish rather than open the opportunity for the old or weak to be bumped off early by others.
This news item seems to be rated of less relevance to our ears by the BBC [Big British Castle] than a huge furore about 2 comics who said something salacious on a late night radio show. They did go too far, leaving messages on another actors answer phone during their programme saying one had screwed his grand daughter [she does sing in the Satanic Sluts, but her g'father does not!].
Not nice, bullying, should never have been broadcast [it was pre recorded and could have been edited] but now there are 10,000 complaints [only 2 from those listening at the time] and the country is in uproar, and the 2 stupid blokes have been suspended [not by their goolies - yet]- whoops - I hear the tumbrels being oiled.

on show

The Credit crunch doesn't seem to have reached Suffolk yet. Local artisans gathered under the high eau de nil ceilings [embossed with intricate blindingly white plasterwork from an earlier era] of the nearby posh school to show our work this weekend. For some unknown reason persons flocked in and we took a record amount of boodle, nigh on £3000.

My earnings were a small percentage it is true but still it was a warm feeling to be swished by the waves of approbation, increasingly swirled by the sharp elbowed under current of bargain hunting .

Our strict Baptist farmer always benefits from these predatory urges to find a classy Xmas present that looks classy and costs so much less than if you were shopping in London. He turns wood, and produces remarkably beautiful bowls and vases, excellent to send as unbreakable gifts all over the country. Monkey puzzle trees are his current prey.

This bowl is "spalted" [elm or sycamore maybe] which means, I learnt, that the tree dies and a fungus sets in amongst the grain. It has to be killed as the spores can be carcinogenic [as is so much it seems] and then when the wood is turned you end up with these impressive markings.

Recently villagers have complained about his wood pile, as mixed with other farm detrius it was accused of bringing the neighbourhood down, so he had to sort and display it in a more refined manner. Didn't stop them coming and snapping up his bowls of course.

His Baptist life style means he can't steward on a Sunday, but I notice that as his bowls play an increasing part of his income he now bowls in on the Sunday evening to pack the remainder up and totter home. On Saturday he wore scarlet cordroy trousers, black shirt and scarlet patterned bow tie, that's new too.

The potter here is a German lady, Usch, who throws these wonderful jugs and then glazes them in startling colours. I couldn't resist taking the photo with Maggie's quilt behind, stunning.

Maggie sold the quilt to her plumber when he came to do a job at her house, not sure which way the money went in the end. Mags usually flies to Houston for the quilt fair around now with empty suitcases and comes back with them full of fabrics and one or two cheap tracksuits from the A&P that clothed her while she was there.