messing about near boats

Took Hattie the dog on long walk along the river bank, didn't mean to go so far but the sun was so bright and the trees so shady. Excellent reward as the posh marina we eventually stumbled into were willing to serve coffee to those lesser mortals without a centreboard.
It's coming up to the end of the school holidays so the river is like a particularly juicy cabbage covered with fluttering white butterflies as they get as much water and wind as possible before returning to land duties

But some of the dingies are keeping lonely vigil on the green still hoping one day their prince will come.

Big Sister

I am watching Big Brother nominations. They are down to two weeks now, seven of them left to nurture their conspiracy theories and desperate survival strategies. It is remarkable how different "real" people are from fictional people. I am not sure what it is that makes the difference. We real people are less tidy and don't have a smooth script...........or skin.......
Wandering bemused thru my ruminations this morning to find that BB is to be axed next year. Probably wise, I usually only watch the beginning and the last few weeks, it is fascinating for an only child to see a big noisy load of pseudo siblings fight and cavort, without getting involved. Probably why I ended up a teacher, tho that is possibly more of a gender issue.
I wish them all well, at least they have the courage [wise or not] to have a go at changing their lives. Even tho young adults are more savvy these days about the media, and it's power for good or evil, I do wonder just how much some of them realise about what is going on in this modern "Colosseum" as many BBs seem so clueless outside their own bubble, can't even place Britain on a map etc.
Wot is happening to education, it used to be the way to change your life, or maybe for the poorer families it rarely was.......ignorance may get passed on, the habit of recognising consequences of actions and choices, abstract thought is not developed.......same amongst the landed gentry.
BB was taken up enthusiastically in 70 countries it seems, so I feel a bit less of a freak for watching it, but no less guilty.

Audrey and me

After the visit to Norwich to see Lorina's work [see Embroderer]I am trying to develop a piece of my own.
Also I bought a DVD of one of my fave fabric artists, Audrey Walker - so I am very primed to start my new project.
Unfortunately I am not confined to the lunatic wing of the workhouse as Lorina was, with very little in the way of resources in so many ways.
I am in a "room of my own" up to my knees in bright threads and fabrics and mostly in my expensively educated right mind. Terrible conditions. Choices, every which way, multi tasking may be a female trait, but it plays havoc on "focus", as does insufficient testosterone undermine "drive"
Encouraged by the spirit of Audrey [she is now in her 80s and somehow overcome these difficulties] I have lightly painted some fabric and given it a bit of a stitch.
I have a seated Big Woman in mind, she will have frustrated dreams in her mind - so we have much in common.

thirsty

Possibly the hottest day of the year here in the SE, the garden is turning into the Serengeti altho the plants seem to be just about OK, the ones in pots tho are under extreme stress, especially the sunflowers. One broke in the wind [before I realised they needed string, and lots of it to stop them swaying and snapping] a few weeks back, but has regenerated and has flower heads just about to open so we are trying to keep it dampish as it has had such a difficult life.
Next door have bought a pump for the well we share, and set up sprinklers in their garden. They have offered to share but RP needs to "do it his way" eg stubborn.
All very trivial compared to the suicide bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq today, and seemingly every day.
Have just finished a novel on Scipio, lots about the atrocities [my eye slides quickly down the gruesome paragraphs] of both the Roman and Carthaginian armies - does give a context I suppose.
Humans can be horrific, but in the main we're not, mostly we rub along without doing each other in.
But I have seem to need my share of violence in three more novels this week. Ritual by Mo Hayder was very bloodthirsty, not many laughs.
Ann Cleeves' Raven Black was recommended by mother, well written and only two murders in the Shetlands, but the murderer was totally unlikely, very annoying.
Michael Marshall's Blood of Angels was so addictive I spent most of today racing through, lots of dismembered corpses [hands cut off - reminiscent of one of old Hannibal's reposte to the Romans]- so partly I wanted to get it over with before bedtime.
So another day passes.

imprint

Thanks for the good wishes. The second one below was done by hand-stitching the background [fields and sky?] and then computer printing the couples photo on some organza and sticking it on top!
I thought it kind of reflected the faint imprint we make on the land............or a quick way of finishing a project.......so you can tell that the size is A4.

I am fond of my old couple, I would like to make them some friends, if I can get it together.

Likewise this couple, They can have this commission like it or not after the exhibition, and give a donation to charity, so that will be a load off.

Tall story

It says in the Sunday papers that the best way to remember that i am "happy" is to keep a weekly list of things/events/whatever - for which I am grateful.
This sunflower is one, it reminds me to be persistent, even when it hardly rains.

treasures

Took Hattie the dog and RP for a walk across the farm and down to the river, sun came out, birds asinging - smells asmelling.
A bonfire was in full choking smoke, then new embattlements of horse manure marched alongside the fields. They were bad enough, but I suspect it changed to pig manure and that was much worse, olfactorily speaking.
I have almost finished the work for the next exhibition, towards the end of the month.
The Guild has booked the local Masonic Hall, which will be a fascinating exploration in itself. from the outside it is an elaborate dark and brooding Victorian building,secluded in a small lane but in the centre of town where IMO the pompous and vain-glorious businessmen roll up their trouser leg and give each other funny hand shakes to seal deals and dress in drag supposedly for charity.
As I understand it Masons used to be a powerful country wide clique/network, perhaps to say a very English version of the KKK is going too far, most high up policemen used to belong and it was all a secret network of middle class power and intrigue.
I am not sure how much it works these days, now that women are allowed inside and it is all regarded as a bit of a farce....but who knows. That usually happens - any profession or plot that belatedly allows women to belong is usually already on the slide ..........
Father once joined the something Order of Buffalos, he had a little blue and white leather apron that I suppose was part of his regalia. As far as I know it was a short lived aberration, probably only entered into to annoy.
He also once briefly declared himslf a communist for the same reason.
The exhibition is called Suffolk Treasures and doubtless much of the work will be. The Guild has about 80+ members and some of them can stitch lovely stuff; one category is for a 6" x 6" competition, but i can't do anything that dainty/precise............
I had a commission to do a double portrait of some London friends, they have moved again now after about 15 years being shining lights of the village - whether the community wanted them to shine so brightly was never asked. E soon ran the WI, local Hospice etc, and L chaired everything else.
I am entering their piece as a Suffolk Treasure [at least it made me finish it]- the county is ful of in-comers throwing themselves into their new life with a vengence,and they are a new kind of treasure.
I suspect most of the treasure themes will be based on Sutton Hoo, Constable and general rural beauty, so hopefully my interpretation will nor be able to be compared, and found wanting.
I am putting in two little fabric figures, which I learnt to do at a Guild workshop as well as the bloody Arches which hopefully someone will take home with them.

flower time

Woopie doo, summer!
Pity about the migraine..............

books

We have a new library van; it trundles up every two weeks for those poor souls too whatever to make the six miles into town [main library]. After many years of grumbling the library folk have extracted a digit and mixed the books around a bit, plus some new ones, so I came away with six to defend me from myself.
Picked up the newish David Peace about Brian Clough, first one to get it out - not surprising as most clambering onto the van are even older and greyer than me.
I picked half a dozen books, probably mostly rubbish.......now that's not a nice thing to say about words that some poor tortured mind has bled over. I would love to write a novel, but when I have read a really good one, polished off in a few days and go on to the next it hardly seems respectful to the author. At least my stitchings hang around longer - literally.
I am reading a brilliant one today, Denise Mina's "Still Midnight" I wasn't convinced at first [I have avoided her previous ones as too miserable] - but this one is very well observed and gathers speed as it goes. Even a smile now and then.

flutterbies

Many, many Painted Ladies by the seaside. Tried to capture them on camera, but they are very fluttery.

beside the sea

A sunny day

So we went to the sea-side.

School holidays, so we, and the crabs, were not alone. Next week is the World Champion Crab Catching Contest.

Given the untrustworthy habits of the weather roofs are coming off all round and being replaced, this was a rather attractive version, I have not seen the reeds waving from the ridge before.
We had a lovely couple of days, tho with all the healthy sea air and walks Hattie the Dog and I needed an afternoon nap. Then of course I was awake and reading till 4 a.m. having mucked up my body clock. Hattie seemed to cope OK with sleeping whenever required.

The clear colours of the salt marshes and the sea and the blue blue sky............shame about the nuclear power station just along the coast. There it is lurking on the horizon, they are talking of building a newer sparklier one next door. No use complaining as the French have them all along the coast only 20 odd wet miles away.
Why we can't have wind turbines and even wave machines machines instead.
At the mo there are wind turbine makers who have taken their factory hostage to stop it being closed down, the only joint that makes them in this country.
Fortunately the Dutch seem to have got the idea, the country could practically take off like a helicopter squadron - so maybe we can buy some from them, eventually.
No good having a small one on this windy hill, the chimneys are too rickety.
We could do solar panels but RP is slow to invest in change (and kerfuffle] and I am too lazy to persuade him. Should really; neighbours have and say it keeps the water at a warm temperature so it costs less to heat to hot when necessary, thus saving money and the world.

forecast

Sometimes it is sunny

and the garden grows

but into each life a little rain must fall, usually when hattie and I are trying to take a walk.

facts and fictions

Lots and lots of these meadow browns on the lavender today, but then the rain came back. So now I know four, with a few more fluttering at the edge of memory.
I always said I would learn the names of all the trees...........and types of clouds. Still don't, I do know a few trees, a few butterflies, a few birds.
Brain is a bit fey this evening as I spent a deal of the afternoon between two fog horns, M and ma. I am watching Midsummer Murders to settle down, nice and undemanding.
M left me the new Jeffrey Deaver, which is likely to be a bit more exciting, she swopped it for my Icelandic crime latest by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Quite a flurry of Scandanavian crime books at the mo. I have just read Karin Fossum [Norwegian]- very good, a satisfyingly mature story even tho in the end she doesn't confirm who "dunnit"
I am enjoying a Bill James now, he's a very mannered writer of baroque 1980s criminals,[no mobile phones to ease the plot]. with the police - Harper and Isles- confusingly as bad at times.
Wolf Hall, my favourite so far this year, has made it onto the long list for the Booker, very pleasing. M claims she is reading it but tucked the Icelander away with swift glee, so i think Cardinal Wolsey may have to wait.
And waiting in the wings I have the first Fred Vargas [published last] I love these stories by the oddly name French woman; and the new Denise Mina whom I am giving a try, hoping she has left incest and accompanying nastiness behind. should get me through the next few days without too much reality.

nature notes

>
Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths.
- Bertrand Russell

Thanks to Google page for this thought, not to say chortle, provoking quote.
Today we threw caution to the winds and went out for lunch in an effort to cheer me up and avoid having to cook tonight..
It worked. The sun came out, the pea and bean risotto was good [with truffles which is vaguely exciting if not that tasty]in one of the oldest pubs in Suffolk....500 years.
As RP had walked Hattie the Dog in the rain earlier [such a bold knight] we went for a wander in Wolves Wood as that is a Bird Reserve and does not welcome woofers, no matter how long in the tooth.
The wood has been "coppiced" which i learn means - chopping it about so the light gets in and wild life flourishes. Worked for me, but not so much as a tweet or a leaf shiver from any LBJs - as i believe they are technically called [little brown jobs].
We did see some butterflies flutterbye, there seem to be more this year, don't know their names.........these were little orange and brown jobs which may have been Meadow something, or maybe Marsh, the book is in the other room.
Still waiting to see some Painted Ladies which are supposed to be massing on the borders,yet more South Africans to critise our rugby......
Have been delivered of my books at last. Just finished the Behaviour of Moths,by Poppy Adams. Quite good in a weird way. Should have taught me more about moths than seems to have been retained. I do remember her squeezing the virgin moth to get the juice to attract male moths, no change there then

the pics are better on the wireless

On a Sunday morning i have Radio6 on in the background. The guy plays cheery music and people text in to report Good Deeds they have done during the week, so it is a change from all the negativity around.
On Saturday morning I listen to Adam and Joe for the music and the banter, but they are on holiday at the mo and I will accept no substitutes.
I always have the radio on during the day, drives RP mad, but i was bought up in a wireless household. G'ma had a set in each room, and g'pop fixed up speakers to complete the coverage in every other nook and cranny.
Mostly i listen to Radio 4 and 5, which does tend to make newspapers redundant, but the Guardian has a good section of thoughtful pieces to get me thru breakfast; radio is on in the background, but I only hear it when something in my brain picks up on some reference.
RP is thus convinced we women can split our attention equally whereas in his experience men are either doing the crossword or switched off. I don't understand this neutral position where he claims he is not doing anything. I am always buzzing, and in a in a way the radio has to be on to absorb some of the whizz so I can relax and concentrate on something else.
Wireless guy is asking for Reasons to be Cheerful........I did think this morning how glad I was that I no longer get as many spots. That is a very adolescent angst that still reverberates obviously. Auntie C and Uncle R are pootling over this afternoon from Romford as it is their 56th wedding anniversary. C was engaged throughout the war, then he dumped her when he returned. Both younger sisters were married and with child by then so she was stuck at her parents' home with the baby sitting and work at the GPO to pass the time.
Eventually in 1953 she pulled the young electrician who worked up on the corner of the main road and toddled off to their new home - never to move again.

They are both over 90 now.
Strange to think that when my friends such as Coffee Spoons knew my g'parents, they were younger than this their daughter.........one day my lovely g'son will be looking at pics of us.........or do computer pics get passed on? We back up occasionally. A few CDs better than those drawers, cupboards and boxes of unlabelled photos my grandma left us.

not for sale

Met S in Old London Town.
We walked from Waterloo to Tate Modern but spurned it's advances as it seems particularly boring at the mo, so we caught the fast boat to the other Tate and gave Richard Long another go. S was being very brave as she does not enjoy being on the water, but it was a swift, sunny trip, past a few landmarks for the country lass

S particularly liked the mud painted walls, I did too as they reminded me of textiles. The show was a mix of stones, words and photos plus mud of course. He is a remarkable man if only for the distances he hikes. Very little seems to have changed since he was first around in the sixties, a gentle soul but very solid.

Another day we went to the coast, I made a bit of a twit of myself as RP was driving my car as his was in dock. I had a fit of the vapours and we had to pull into a lay by and let me drive. I just felt so panicked not to be driving my own car, even tho I don't like driving, fortunately he is a good natured RP
The sea was brown even tho the sky was blue, all the sand dredged up by the windy waves we supposed.

We went to a couple of exhibitions and RP invested in a small green lino print called Abandoned Greenhouse, it is calm and satisfying. Once before he fancied a painting of boats when we were in ?Devon. I wasn't supportive enough, I always think "I could do that", so this time I was more forthcoming. It cost less, mind you, and I liked it more.
I could still do that........maybe.
We then went on to our exhibition which had not sold well at all. The small items in the shop sold well, but the bigger pieces sold not at all, so not a success, even tho some work was of a very high standard and widely admired. It is all accessible work, no question of "but is it Art" which is concerning some people about the living sculptures on the plinth. Whether it is Art or Craft may raise a discussion tho.
More to the point I think, "is it any good?"
.
The third exhibition was also not doing well, but the standard of work was not as high as usual so not so surprising.

consider the sunflowers......

Every shed should have it's sunflower

Today has been gorgeous - somehow it hasn't rained on the cricket and they are doing well at Lords, if cautiously. If they ever let the Aussies back in they may even win, instead of a boring but thankful draw.
I have done a bit of painting in my shed, I watched a programme on Francis Bacon last night, and as I am between stitcheries I thought I would have a splosh. He stimulated/scared me into painting several small canvases streaky blackish and then I thought i might try some figures.
My shed has photos pinned all over,one of my ma in her wedding dress caught my eye so I decided to have a go at a sort of ghostly b/w bridal image. I think i may try and find other wedding pics and extend my series of funereal celebrations ............ it just is sad seeing her then and now, so happy, so in love; makes me think of my time passing. Paint quicker!!
Maybe it was one of the Plinthers sent me on this trail. She was very exercised about Botox and why women used this poison to cling to their youthful looks, which didn't last and had to be repeated, so they peed it out and we all drank it in the water.........oh dear.
We have RP's parents coming for lunch tomorrow, plus my ma. Very dodgy, it will probably go quite well but we both feel so tense, me hoping I won't say something without thinking very carefully how to phrase it, or even say it at all. They possibly feel the same way, but they are practised at not saying what they mean.
Maybe it is the generation gap, those that were brought up before the war, and during the war - us who evolved in the sixties and flew away.
Somehow we see the world differently.

wet and windy

Phew that was some storm last night, lashing rain, thunder and lightning, power cut everything. All the electricals have to be re-set. The storm seemed to sweep up the river, revolve around this hill top, sweep off then just when you thought it was all over - rush back and roar.
Checked the plinth people out this morning, they seem to be present and correct, don't know what they did overnight. Being English we are rather ignoring all the lamentable exhibitionism it entails.
At the mo the woman is drawing attention [quietly in writing] to the children of Darfur. Oh now she is getting a bit showy and throwing roses [with tied messages] to peeps below.
We bought this delicate oregano plant when we were are Hampton Court, pale pink bracts [such a nice word] and now tiny mauve flowers. The seller warned us not to leave it out in the rain as the stems are very brittle and would break. Seems an unlikely way for a plant to behave. We put it's pot in a fairly sheltered position, but I assumed I would find firewood this morning, but it is fine. Obviously knows what it is doing.
The golf is swishing along in Scotland so i listen vaguely to that on the wireless [Tiger isn't doing as well as expected but hopefully he will pull thru, tho I do quite like old Padraig Harrington, a good name too].
Then the Test Match starts at 11am. on Test Match Special, I love listening to them chunter on, one day I would like to make a quilt with all the names of the field placings "Silly Mid On" etc.
Saving that till I am even older.
We did so well in cricket yesterday, and then we didn't. Aussies were cock a hoop as you would expect, I suppose we will collapse into a humiliated puddle , or a real one, it is at Lords so presumably got wet too. Tho I suppose the whole country got soaked; however the storms are due to return this afternoon so maybe that will save us.
That is why we pay such attention to the weather, it plays a significant part in the country's history.
Spoke to daughter last night, she is having a 90degree summer, but the roses still manage - with lots of irrigation. No hose pipe ban there, none here yet, but i expect there will be.
We have a well in the garden and next door have purchased a pump, [goes down about 40ft] to water the garden as they are on water meter.

plinth news

Now there is a woman spinning on the plinth, with a spinning wheel, not rotating. How craft worthy

plinth web site

I have been watching the "granny" on the plinth today, knitting.
There is a continuous streaming of the plinth people on www.oneandother.co.uk I recommend it for what ails you/me.

muse and musing

It was quite a long day, stewarding at the exhibition, tho the gallery is open and bright and we did have over 200 "footfall". Unfortunately the "feet" led more positively to the shop-side where we do smaller bits and bobs, and handed over about£250, but however complimentaryly they wriggled their toes I remain the only Exhibition seller so far.
This should not lead to great hubris as I priced my pots at £7.50 each to make sure they passed beyond. The beautiful shibori above was £900 I think.
My wonky Arches are £95 but I suspect mother will be the lucky recipient, should work as she has macular degeneration.

We hung H's cheery patchwork on the wall opposite the door to encourage a positive response to those brave enough to poke their heads round the door.

R's subtle landscape abstract was huge, and hugely satisfying. The framer did a good job with this one, but left wrinkles in her other piece which is a bit desperate.
We had a stitching group from Cambridgeshire, which was invigorating, and I was talking to one who also writes a Stitchey Blog, so we shall have to wait and see if she turns up here.

M's print and stitch on silk organza was much admired and really should be bought by the concert hall, if they ever took any notice.
It was a lovely sunny day, against all forecast. To gee me up I wore my Fat Face dress with asymmetric hem and leggings. Very sprauncy. However in the heat the leggings had to come off and expose my poor bristly pale legs to the public.
Pricing is always a matter of contention - to grab a cliche. Some believe they should be paid by the hour invested, which could add up to as much as the national debt, and takes no notice of the quality of the piece.
Some makers rely solely on their earnings, so selling cheap gets outrage as they feel undercut. Mostly we charge less than we ought as textiles is not a respected medium, water colours seem to successfully charge around £150 a pop with no embarrassment.
Some pieces I charge up to about £200, usually cos I actually don't want to part with them yet.
My rusty containers pleased me, but there is not a spare window sill in the house so I decided to down price them so that if someone really liked them they could afford them. I don't rely on the money, so I am happy to sell at whatever suits really, it is great to feel people will invest a significant amount to live with something I made. But the fact that someone just wants to have it in their life is very rewarding, so if C or G ever see anything they like I am happy to send for cost of postage, if not I will feel quite able to say so.
So far the Disco dancers are still dancing on the wall marked down to £20 as I need to make space; likewise Angry Woman. One elderly lady gazed at her with delight yesterday, I think her maculars may be degenerating too as the face is very nasty really.
PS a double click on the pic will enlarge it on my machine

potted exhibition

This vessel was the most eye catching I thought. Certainly was a deal straighter than my Arches, which when viewed from a distance are shamefully still wonky.

Sadly the pink lady lost her pot when some idiot reversed into the plinth, I have put the shards back up so now she looks a Sad Weed.

This lady had already melded with her pot to ensure total security

My quieter containers sold almost immediately, should have charged more.