amoebas are us

Listened over night, as I couldn't sleep, to Obama's speech about changing the American Health Insurance System.
Now, this afternoon he is commemorating 9/11. Both depressing, tho hopefully something good will come out of both.
We were on holiday in Cornwall when we saw the TV when we returned from a happy trip out in the sunshine - to see, what at first, i thought was a disaster movie.
When I realised some of what was happening, looping thru again and again, we made frantic phone calls on our poor little mobiles, such a seemingly fragile connection, to our kids in the States. Neither were in New York but at the time no-one knew for sure what was or was going to happen.
I note Coffee Spoons is reading old magazines about the Second world War. We have g'dads big red mock-leather books here [badly flood damaged] binding together magazines about the First World War.
I have started and now stopped reading a book about Churchill/Stalin/Roosevelt at Yalta; too much detail of unbelievable cruelty as armies crushed and re-crushed Poland, to want to continue.
But, although it is all ghastly and we may end up wiping ourselves out as Margaret Atwood suggests in her new book, I still think in the main we try hard.
We are just animals, in the paper today it says even amoeba betray each other!! so each time one of us does a generous thing it is a tick and I will cherish it as long as I can.

making a mark

Arrived safely in Cambridge, the gallery looks quite nice but not on the main drag, so we may have to "drag" people off the buses as they trundle past. Saw plenty of passengers peering out of the top deck windows down into the brightly coloured gallery windows.
initially we were made to feel very Female/useless as there was no electricity,the fuse box looked forbidding and there was a note about the air conditioning having blown a fuse the previous day so we called for the electrician.
Fortunately he was the jolly artisan sort, made it work and left clutching a poster. I nearly said "for your wife" i was so mired in the little woman role.

This lion was a protective male symbol for the rest of the day we ladies stewarded. I remember I once as a kid drew a card for my parents anniversary where my dad was a lion and my ma was a thistle. Hmmmmmmm.
I really like these "vessels" and actually have her book, but so far haven't managed to read the instructions sufficiently well to exploit the idea.

M was stewarding with me, but became incensed very soon when she spied that they had hung her four pieces in the wrong order and charged the wrong price. Whoops. As work was screwed to the wall it wasn't something that could be rectified. Goodness knows what happens if someone wants to buy something and take it home. Fortunately there was little danger of that as we took 50p [postcard] before the lights were turned on and about a 310 I would reckon for the rest of the day.

We were closed in the afternoon tho, for a Private View to be opened by Mary Cozens Walker, textile artist, easily recognised as her husband and she are both members of the RA and he paints her and himself in "amusing" situations.
She said some nice things about being true to ourselves as artists which is all very well but I would guess that many of us feel we are so many people/roles fighting or conniving for survival, especially of the identity that makes time for "making" as opposed to making do.

Elizabeth's stitched words.

I am so excited as i received a reply from the V&A today with the full transcript of Elizabeth Parker's stitched words attached.
If anyone is interested I have put it in full on my accompanying Embroderers' Blog.

East to West

We had a windy couple of days, but only one rainy day. Grass is yellowing all over the county, trees are looking autumnal already. This spindly old tree gave up the ghost and collapsed across the path by the boat yard.

The big plastic tents on the right cover several boats in the yard. I know in the States houses are covered like this so the termites can be fumigated, [the people leave for a few days I suppose]. I think I have heard tell of some termites down in Cornwall in old buildings and we have "death watch beetle" in the timbers of church roofs, but I think these boats are just being laid up
Hattie the dog and I just trundled round the Long Fields and didn't pay much more attention.
Today we delivered my and M's work to the gallery in Cambridge. A very busy town on a sunny Sunday, the traffic is ghastly. I guess it must have been as bad when we used to go to college near there, but I think that then my mind was on young men in punts most of the time.
The gallery looks quite sophisticated, smokily engraved windows, white walls, but it is a little off the main drag, I would guess only those who know of it will go past.
I have put the dancers in
and the Three [Dis]Graces
The Dancers look pretty heavy in their frame and I very much doubt that anyone will want to shell out £175, the price I plucked out of the air.
The gallery will take 30% so I figured I would just go for it.
I have put the Three Disgraces in Not For Sale, because I like them. I have to pay £25 hanging fee for each piece so it doesn't make a lot of sense, but I have tried putting a large price on a piece so I can show it without losing it, and the bugger always sells.
I took the camera and the movie camera thing with me, but as I am now an old lady I totally forgot to take any pics.
I have to chug back again on the train next Wednesday and steward for the day, so i guess i will have time to record the scene at my leisure.
It is No 1 [and only] son's birthday today so I will ring him soon. The time change to California means I have to be careful not to wake him up............and now I have just remembered he is hunting deer today in Nevada with his sister, bro-in-law and my baby grandson.
Oh my lord.
Hopefully he will have forgotten to turn the ring tone off and if I time it right the noise will startle and save Bambi..

fruit and veg.

Finally got some rain last night, but altho more was forecast today it missed us again.
The chillies [potato family] in the greenhouse are flashing warnings that they might be getting pretty hot, we dry them in a very low oven and then use them throughout the year to perk up the cooking. They can be rather variable in strength, one day one will be mild, and the next an extra half will be fire in the blockhole.
RP doesn't like surprises in his cooking, only known herbs and spices and maybe a dozen or so recipes - unless he is cooking, when he sometimes likes to experiment, following a new recipe like a chemical experiment.
No complaints here, it usually turns out OK and after years of family meals [variants of vegetarianism, carnivore, everything except cannibalism] led to me often cooking 3 different meals at each sitting I am sanguine now with serving up successions of chops and roasts.
When in the midst of the chaos of a young family it all seemed vaguely manageable, especially if I took Delta the dog for a calming walk in the park opposite after slaving over hot pupils, then snatched a 20 min snooze while the kids watched Blue Peter. Looking back I am amazed I stayed sane, but glad we had that bustle and togetherness.
The tomatoes [potato family] have done well in the garden thanks to a lot of water carrying. I have read that the potato family is bad for arthritis so I don't eat many, which is a shame as they are brilliant little jewels.
Cucumbers are OK, but I prefer aubergines which we haven't grown this year [potato family]

fire and water

At last it is raining, hopefully it will carry on all night and maybe tomorrow, sinking into the sandy soil to be sucked up by grateful roots.
It said in the Guardian it has been raining on the Isle of Skye for the last 47 days, maybe that is a bit much I suppose.
The Los Angeles fires are on the news, Athens too, but maybe the result of arson. Sometimes, it seems, they start these fires to get rid of protected trees so then they can build houses. Bastards
Now they [TV] are talking up swine flu again, why do I watch the News, it is rarely fun
This morning I went to the monthly textile group meeting, no doubt it was very ordinary but by the time I got home I was screaming with frustration. There is a lot to be said for the artist isolated in the traditional garret. I am tempted but I guess I would soon be screaming with sense deprivation I suppose.
To cheer me up we went out for a curry. We both took books so we could relax without having to endlessly entertain each other after all there is no good news. I have started the new Sebastian Faulks, a "Week in December" which promises much cleverness, but decided i needed to be gripped by a more demanding plot so started the new John Harvey "Far Cry" which is definitely all consuming.
Haven't seen the new Ian Rankin yet, the reviews haven't been totally enthusiastic, and i didn't think much of his last caper, so I am feeling the loss of poor Rebus.
The new Lee Child is also available in hard back, but they are such a frantic, tense read that I hate to spend all that money when it will all be over so quickly.

head case

Chalkhead my son's lunatic friend and fellow bicycle messenger in San Francisco has managed to have a head on collision with another biker. There was some discussion as to whether this was the safest part of CH to damage, as his skull is reputedly solid bone, however he ended up in intensive care in a coma, so smart remarks were pocketed for a while.
Fortunately CH's grandma left him a sizable legacy so before doing a round the world trip for his honeymoon, he bought medical insurance, - hopefully the Scat scans etc will be covered.
He is awake now and back on the general ward with various broken bones and a headache, they are keeping him in for another week. He is refusing to see or speak to anyone but his wife, so there is some concern in case the head injury has affected his personality, but hopefully the hospital is just keeping him quiet for a while
The arguement between USA medical insurance and UK NHS seems to be getting quite explosive at times. Neither system is perfect, but I worry for my son, as he regularly gets stopped suddenly by car doors opening as he cycles by, and my daughter is concerned that her husband may be made redundant just when they hope to have a second babe, what happens when they can't afford insurance?
The NHS takes a lot out of ones salary each month, but at least when it is needed it is there.
Now I am an old girl I don't have to pay for prescriptions - or bus fares. Sometimes I think I and my mates were really lucky, we missed the war, got free education, fairly good employment prospects, largely paid off our mortgages and in the main look forward to a decent professional pension. I never imagined it would all change.

Suffolk Treasures

The local Guild booked the Freemasons Hall for the show, Jane,Su and I stewarded on Thursday afternoon, occasionally there were more of us than there was of them which gave us time to wander round and see what there was.
No pins allowed in the walls etc so work was either hung from the top ridge of the forbidding wooden panelling round the room, or attached to the wonky white fabric suspended on posts in a hotch potch of rickety room dividers. It looked rather like laundry day, with lots of brightly coloured pieces festooned amongst the crumpled sheets like exotic lingerie.
However it is a salutary lesson that people I sometimes dismiss as, Lord help us, boring, can have rich imaginations and superior skills compared to my bodge jobs.

I was present when this piece was in the planning stage,some years ago, so it was satisfying to see that Sandra has finally bought it to a triumphant conclusion.It is taken from a large mirrored building in town, which has the saving grace that at least it reflects what is left of the medieval buildings that weren't demolished to make way for it.
This great landscape was one of my friend Ruthie's.
This box was interesting; it was called Hadrian's Wall and very trustingly had several authentic roman coins inside.
This an arty piece by Mary, it is a metre wide and about 6" deep; she calls it Hide and Seek, it is oddly compelling.
The Freemasons look on benignly.

plastic poem

There is a person on the plinth today in Trafalgar Square [ www.one&other.co.uk ]writing dreams and hopes on helium balloons and letting them float away. It is very romantic, tho probably not good for the environment/birds.

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.