Sunday, November 26, 2006

Living Dangerously - Time Magazine


I have just found an article on "Time" magazine, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562914,00.html which I found both amusing and thought provoking.
While the article suggests a governments duty I wonder if he has underplayed (ignored) the media's responsibilty in over-hyping "scares". I feel it certainly is the case in the UK when the tv evening news will be full of "special reports" and the tabloids will banner headline it and drag up every tenous link they can find.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Beading and me....




In the last lesson Sharon asks us to examine what we feel we have learned. I now know that I am rubbish at working with beads. All the blocks would be finished if I didn't have to keep crawling round the floor picking up microscopic pieces of glass!!!! It doesn't help that as soon as I am settled my ancient old gentleman cat wants to sit on my knee. I have done all the things one is supposed to like a tin lined with felt but I ALWAYS manage to drop it. Ah well...back to the floor. The picture is a page from my skinny fat book.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Block one finished.....I think


I thinkthis is finished, I have said this about ten times over this weekend and each time I have gone back to a dd a little more. I have added a little suprise to it under the bead that is supposed to represent the crystal ball.

I still am amazed how the piece took on its own identity and suddenly found myself thinking of a poem from childhood, I could only remember the line "Old Meg she was a gipsy..." I had to look it up and found it was a poem by John Keats called Meg Merrilees. Just incase you can't remeber it all this is it.
Old Meg she was a Gipsy,
And liv'd upon the Moors:
Her bed it was the brown heath turf,
And her house was out of doors.
Her apples were swart blackberries,
Her currants pods o' broom;
Her wine was dew of the wild white rose,
Her book a churchyard tomb.
Her Brothers were the craggy hills,
Her Sisters larchen trees--
Alone with her great family
She liv'd as she did please.
No breakfast had she many a morn,
No dinner many a noon,
And 'stead of supper she would stare
Full hard against the Moon.
But every morn of woodbine fresh
She made her garlanding,
And every night the dark glen Yew
She wove, and she would sing.
And with her fingers old and brown
She plaited Mats o' Rushes,
And gave them to the Cottagers
She met among the Bushes.
Old Meg was brave as Margaret Queen
And tall as Amazon:
An old red blanket cloak she wore;
A chip hat had she on.
God rest her aged bones somewhere--
She died full long agone!

I wish I had remebered it earlier because it would have helped with the motifs. Perhaps another day......

Saturday, November 18, 2006

This is the er....news




This is ...........er.......Fred....er.......Bloggs.....insome...er....town.....somewhere.....er.....in...the UK. I am supposed to ...er...bring you......er....some sort of....er...news report......but I haven't bothered to.......er.....prepare what I was going to ....er.....say ......as it was warmer in the..... er...pub this afternoon.

I would have thought that one of the main qualifications for a television news reported was the ability to string together a sentence!!!!! It ranks along with sportsmen(paticularly footballers) who say "you know".....don't get me .....er...started!!!!.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Nearly there





Week five of the encrusted CQ course. These are my four blocks before the last stages of beading.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

We will remember them.......


Today is Remembrance Sunday in the UK, when we remember those whose lives were cut short by war. Four more British soldiers were killed today in Iraq. Yesterday many young men of Iraq were killed as they applied for work. Where is the reason? In over two thousand years mankind has learned nothing! At my age one knows only to well the shortness of life.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Block progress



These are the additions to block#s two and three?

Hussif

I have given my daughter the hussif which I made for her so I can now share it with everyone. A hussif is a corruption of the word housewife and is simply somewhere to keep all your sewing requirements. (Well not quite ALL as most of us have whole cupboards full of the stuff)
I would like to thank the contributors to CQ Magazine http://www.cqmagonline.com/index.html where I first heard of a hussif. If you link to them and search for hussif you will see the beautiful things that inspired me.



Sunday, November 05, 2006

Ugly Bug Ball

Another great day with Sam Beresford at the Sevenoaks Embroiders Guild. This is my bug after some skilful surgery by Sam.

I like to think that I will finish the second one.........

Sewing frenzy


My husband must think my needle is welded to my hand!!! The third of Sharon's lessons arrived and this is the result on the first block, (Gipsy gold). So now my gipsy has a basket of pegs, a caravan and a violin , the motif in my corner made me think of the signs gipsy's used to leave on gateposts to show whether a house was friendly or not. The centre and the corner are waiting for lesson four!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Visit from a stanger



A very colourful visitor to our bird feeders, unfortunately in my excitement didn't manage to catch his wonderful red beak.