altering thoughts

And then....

2012-01-29T09:00:00.000Z

I played some more.

Thanks to the Graphics Fairy for the clip art.

Insy winsy spider......

2012-01-29T08:12:00.000Z

I do hope I have the opportunity to see the Golden Spider Silk Cape at the V& A, there till June so I might make it but in the meanwhile you can watch here. Just amazing. Thank you to Mary Corbet for the heads up. I always hate it if I have to break a web, you know when they build one right across the path. This one was caught when the greenhouse heater backfired.

I played a bit

and then a bit more.....

Christmas.....

2012-01-15T21:39:00.001Z

.....was a little late(or early) this year. Because our daughter was working in Canada we waited until she was able to join us (our son's idea), so for us Friday 13th was Christmas Day and a jolly good day it was. Well worth waiting for. I was too late for Fortnum and Mason's Christmas windows but at the moment they are going with a show girl theme. I didn't have my camera with me but I took this on my i Pod and then I played.

Daughter is off on her travels again so now, unfortunately, I have no excuse for putting off all those jobs I have been thinking about. Tidy workroom,....... turn out some cupboards, .....watch the NFL playoff games.....start new cloth......start new fabric book.....play with new toys......decisions, decisions.

Freedom...

2012-01-05T08:51:00.000Z

Today was the first session of the Magic Diaries it was full of the excitement of new beginnings. At one point Jude took a pen and drew directly onto a corner of the cloth, it made me gasp but then I realised that this is Jude's gift. She gives freedom. I shed many tears and not a little blood in my Domestic Science lessons at school, I never seemed to be able to do anything to the satisfaction of the teacher. I have been patronised because I haven't done my City and Guilds Embroidery (only by one person but in such a way as to make me feel inadequate ) and then Jude takes a Sharpie(no less) to a cloth made of interwoven pieces which I watched her make and when someone commented she replied "it's only cloth". Brilliant. Today I'm growing.

Cloth book

2012-01-03T20:05:00.000Z

For ages I have admired the cloth journals made by Ro Bruhn. I don't aspire to even match her journals but I really had the best time making this. I am trying to justify the amount of "stuff" in my workroom. This seemed like an ideal way to use papers, UFO's and other experiments and basically anything that came to hand.

The back, I made it with a sort of left handed fastener. Loops from front to back.!

So happy that part 2 of Jude's Magic Diaries has begun. It has become so much a part of my daily life.

Two posts in two days. It must be New Year. Have a good one.

Time.....

2012-01-01T13:19:00.000Z

I had a reminder that I was contributing to Sandy's Ideas of Inspiration blog and had fallen by the wayside, as indeed I seem to have done here. So full of resolve (not resolutions) when I saw the first idea of this new year "Time". I was immediately reminded of the clock we had seen in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The Peacock clock.

This is a close up of the peacock,

because of the light it was difficult to photograph. You Tube to the rescue.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-q0FAYE0_1Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>
I apologise for the cross posting but I wanted the video here.

Space update...

2011-12-01T08:56:00.001Z

This morning I spent some time clearing my blog list of blogs which hadn't been updated in some months, then I realised that someone was probably doing the same to me. So here is the present state of Space.

I found this commercial fabric at the Knit and Stitch show and though it ideal for my space animals. So this is the great bear and the little bear between Jupiter and Saturn. Astonomically incorrect I am sure but that is were they wanted to be. I learned how to the star "maps" in the "Sun, Moon and Stars" workshop with Jude. Some of them are real constellations reversed and some are just pure invention.

More animals, the southern hemisphere seems to have a more interesting collection that we do, living on the edge of London it is very difficult to see stars at all. So here they are swirling around. I may rest this cloth for a little while as working on the dark cloth is difficult in electric light but I know it has a long way to go.

Jude is to talk about eyes, I had already added one to the whale(apologies for fuzzy photograph) but I am sure the other animals will benefit.

A friend sent me this.

Play day.....

2011-11-23T06:14:00.001Z

Yesterday was fun. Inspired by this , Painting in the Round on Ro Bruhn's blog we decided to have a little go yesterday. Just so we didn't get carried away we decided on a few rules, the shape would be circles and we would each only use two colours. We painted for ten minutes and then moved round. This is the first round.

A bite of lunch while it they dried off and then we added black for a bit of drama.

It was very interesting how the first marks inspired the second and how different they all were. Sparked loads of ideas for "next time" .Thanks girls.

Ro Bruhn is proving to be a bit of an inspiration at the moment and hopefully assiting me to reduce the ridiculous amounts of "stuff" I have aquired over the last 20 years.but more of that later.

"Space" is coming along nicely and I will post soon, delighted that Jude is going to continue the Magic Diaries next year.

I was really thown in my blogging routine by the loss of Slide. Still searching for an alternative.

But will it stay in place,,,,

2011-11-08T08:03:00.000Z

I need to wear a scarf when it turns chilly, so when I was fascinated when I saw this saw this on Michelle Ward's blog .

Now which version will stay put best?

It was great....

2011-10-27T09:42:00.002+01:00

I loved my first live American Football game, the whole experience was such fun. This is me on Wembley Way, you can see I didn't intend to be cold but in fact it the weather was just right.

A lot of the day was about flags, giant ones were passed tround the crowd

Everyone had one to wave.

National anthems

Cheer leaders

and the game

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18 - Chicago Bears 24

Goodnight Wembley, hopefully see you next year. That was some birthday treat!

NFL comes to London....

2011-10-22T21:09:00.000+01:00

and this time I was there. Every other year the Fan Rally in Trafalgar Square has clashed with an EG meeting and of course there has bee no contest........this year I was ecstatic when my friends pointed out that I could attend as we don't meet until next week. So this morning found me in Trafalgar Square. I think I have explained before the thing that hooked me onto American Football was seeing what is known as a Hail Mary pass in one of the early televised games in the 1980's. I have been always useless at throwing and especially catching (always the middle in "pig in the middle")so this as far as I was concerned was magic.Today I threw a touchdown pass to Wes Welker.......well.....to be honest it was a picture of the delectable Wes and he didn't really catch it but I did put the ball through the hole.This has to be one of high spots of my life. I know,.... simple soul.

It was a great day. The weather was literaly sparkling. There were all kinds of fun things going on.

and it was great to be entertained by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheer leaders

and the Chicago Bears drum band

to see some of the players and coaches

and to see Cecil Martin up close.

It was a fun day and I am even more excited for tomorrow and the actual game.

Mars...

2011-10-22T07:57:00.000+01:00

the red planet, the god of war and memories of Journey into Space. Who else remembers sitting close to the radio, riveted by the adventures of Jet, Doc Mitch and Lemmy. I have never thought about it before but that is probably where my love of science fiction started. Before that was Dick Barton, Special Agent, eat your heart out James Bond. Dark winter nights and a cup of Horlicks before bed. But I digress, or perhaps I don't, perhaps this is part of what belongs to slow cloth, the time to think or reminisce. Here is the my red planet, with canals

and with explosions

Only one more sleep to the NFL game at Wembley, as neither the Bucs nor the Bears are "my " team I'm not sure who I will shout for, probably both if they make it an exciting game.Must be careful not to have son disown me.

A detour at Venus....

2011-10-16T08:44:00.001+01:00

Over a week now since the Knit and Stitch. I enjoyed the show this year, wasn't going to buy anything...but couldn't resist this...

from The Crochet Chain, enough to make a sweater in one huge ball, just perfect for watching Australian Master Chef!!!!

All the planets are in place on Space but it needs a rest at the moment. This is Venus at the start, Goddess of Beauty, she is soft and a little bit sparkely.

Goddess of Love she sends it out into the universe.

Other diversions were my most successful tarte tatin ever...

and yesterday under sky of the most amazing blue, a walk round the park and through the woods at Knole

where we collected chestnuts and acorns and saw wondrous things...

and at home more wonder....a rainbow on the carpet.

Excitment mounting because it is only one week to the NFL game at Wembley, my first live american football game, a birthday present from my son.

Mercury.....

2011-10-01T07:38:00.000+01:00

The planet nearest the sun and the first one to be put in place on "Space"

Images of Mercury from theMariner 10 spacecraft show losts of craters and I was pleased how these turned out with just simple stitich. Mercury was of course the messenger of the gods so I gave it some wings.

and here it is in place.

I have actually placed all the planets, I have missed out Earth because I have this dream in my head of making it the other side of the cloth. We shall see.

More feathers...

2011-09-26T08:50:00.000+01:00

These I have been made for some while but involve a trip to the post office and queues but I promise to get them off this week, Jude put up a brainstorming sheet here.. I spotted "the tear" and thought that could be read two ways so here are the tear as in cry

and the tear as in rip

and this is just a feather and some flowers.

These pieces are all about 4" long.

St Petersburg-TheCatherine Palace -not

2011-09-25T10:04:00.002+01:00

On our second day we were driven out through the city to visit the Catherine Palace. Be prepared for a serious gold overload.

Well this is as far I went before I discovered that Slide has ceased to function. I was going to show you all the gold work in the Catherine Palace and link it cunningly to the fact that to day is our Golden Wedding Day.
Here is one of the pictures, it was amazing.

There is quite a good tour on You Tube here.
Does anyone know another good slide maker?

St Petersburg, Hermitage Part 2

2011-09-22T12:38:00.000+01:00

These two slides shows represent just a fraction of what we saw and an even smaller fraction of the whole collection.

One thing I didn't capture in the Winter Palace was the way the marquetry on the floors reflected the design of the ceilings, quite amazing.

St Petersburg - The Hermitage

2011-09-20T10:10:00.002+01:00

I first became interested in paintings, living in Paris in the 1960s . As I discovered new (to me) artists it seemed that many of the pictures they painted where llisted as being in The Hermitage Museun in St Petersburg, at that time completely out of reach.
How fortunate then to not only visit The Hermitage but, thanks to a Golden Wedding Present from our son and daughter, to be provided with a personal guide, Tatyana. At the beginning we were the very first people to walk through the magical galleries. It brings a lump to my throat even now, the sheer wonder and excitment of it all. Students are allowed in before the crowds arrive to study and copy and as we saw as we left the crowds are huge. The Museum has a very good web site with the history and virtual tours which can show you details and object which we didn't see.It is made up of three palaces which are painted different colours on the outside,I liked the idea of colour coded palaces! The first slide show is the Winter Palace.

The Slide had cropped this photograph, this corridor is inspired by the corridor in the Vatican.

St Petersburg begins

2011-09-18T20:15:00.000+01:00

Ships that pass in the night

I may have missed sailing into Venice but I made sure I was up and about for the arrival in St Petersburg. This was somewhere I have wanted to visit since I first discovered Tolstoy, a very long time ago.
This was our arrival..

If you click on the slide it will take you to a closer view and yes, we were that close to the bridge!

Helsinki

2011-09-15T18:29:00.001+01:00

Impressions of Helsinki on a shining, sunny day. Not enough time to see much of the city but what we saw we loved.

Altered books,,,,,,

2011-09-13T07:55:00.000+01:00

I came across this little mystery story today.....and lots more photographs here.

All at sea.....

2011-09-12T08:53:00.000+01:00

The second day of our trip was sailing from Copenhagen to Helsinki, time to explore the ship and admire the art work ...

such wonderful texture

the handle reminded me of the prow of a Viking ship

We made friends with the dog

we gazed at the sea

and we ate

Copenhagen

2011-09-07T08:38:00.000+01:00

Our holiday began with a text which said "turn on skype", I did and there was our daughter who said "Pack!" Just when we thought there was no chance of being able to join her, after a summer of trying, there was a last minute cancellation. A frantic 28 hours later we landed in Copenhagen. We fell into bed and the next day just had time for a quick walk before we joined the Sojourn. The first thing we saw was bikes, they were everywhere.

and elephants.. this was my favourite, reminded me of Elmer

My views on forward facing pushchairs are well known so I thoroughly approve of these and just look at those breads.

A few more bicycles

and a very comfortable looking fishwife

the last part of our walk took us down this road,

past the famous Tivoli Theatre and Gardens

until we saw the man himself.

Who remembers the Danny Kaye film? I liked the manhole cover nearbye.

Also nearby there was a very imposing beast.

One snall disappointment was that we didn't see Little Mermaid, too far from our hotel to walk in the time.
I played with a photograph of the Palace and of course the bicycles. A postcard for you

and I leave the rest to Danny Kaye

Feather

2011-09-06T17:43:00.000+01:00

Before I start the holiday I have to show you what was waiting for me when I arrived home.

My very own Jude feather. It is my birthday present to me. I have tried several times to aquire a piece of Jude's work but because of the time thing I've always missed out. This piece is about 4"x3", a precious fragment and look what else was in the packet, some magic thread, which so often is part of Jude's work. Now to find the perfect way to display it. So happy.

Gold leaf and windmills.....

2011-09-04T17:14:00.000+01:00

We have just arrived back from an amazing trip, one, that until two weeks ago today, I didn't know we would be taking. We managed, with two days notice, to join the Seabourn Sojourn for a Baltic cruise. I will not be showing you all the 1500 photographs I took but for my own sake I will be putting some of them here for a reminder.

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my last post, I will try and answer them all when I've done the washing!

Making space, contd....

2011-08-15T13:12:00.000+01:00

I have finished assembling the background pieces for Space and not the scary bit begins, to start translating all the ideas which have been floating around in my head. This is almost how it looks, can't get the colour exact

I am going to place the "planets" one by one. The little circles on the right were added to that stip during the Sun, Moon and Stars workshop. They may stay as part of an "asteroid belt" we will see.
This was the moon last Friday, playing hide and seek......

I just loved the colours.....

Feather brain......

2011-08-08T09:13:00.000+01:00

As opart of her Magic Diaries Jude shared with us how she makes little feathers which are such a feature of her work. Jude's ideas are never static and her original sharing has now extended to an open invitation here.
Since she first mentioned them I have been seeing feathers everywhere. On my doorstep, on the way to the library, caught up on a tomato plant and this tiny little feather which presented itself at my feet out on the Swale Estuary

and I turned into this

This is the feather I am sending to Jude. I was thinking about my cloth, which seems to be calling itself Space at the moment. And I figured that a feather in space would have no colour, coudn't make an ivisible one so this happened.

Trees...

2011-08-04T09:24:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a day of trees.

What's this ........

2011-08-01T11:41:00.000+01:00

Can it be .....Tacking ?

..never been known! Attaching space to my black hole and making planets. Mars is the first one to be made.

They won't be in relative side otherwise Jupiter would probably cover the whole cloth.

Kites...

2011-07-27T08:46:00.000+01:00

This were my contribution to our display at SE Area Day.

Thank you for asking Jackie.

Making space...

2011-07-24T08:45:00.000+01:00

This week the Tour de France has provided a marvellous excuse for lots of stitching and the Big Bang has started to spread into space.

and I have been making "space" .

My scanner refuses to produce the proper colour and even tweaking in Paintshop Pro didn't work but you will have guessed that it is various shades of indigo. I have even started on the planets but I am trying not to get ahead of myself. I am loving this process and listening to Jude's thoughts which gently set your own in motion.

And as for the Tour de France, I have marvelled at the incredible stamina of these men and enjoyed the spectacular pictures from the helicopter. I didn't know there were so many camper vans in the world and it revived happy memories of holidays in France in the days when we had our own van.

The Big Bang...

2011-07-19T17:25:00.000+01:00

After the Black Hole there was an explosion...

beginning the journey in Space.

Proud parent....

2011-07-18T05:37:00.000+01:00

well that's what I feel like. It was the SE Area Day at Ardingly on Saturday and I am proud to announce that the Sevenoak's Branch came Second in the Challenge Cup. The theme was Flight and this was our contribution.

Beginning.........

2011-07-12T07:24:00.000+01:00

The Magic Diaries have begun. I don't think I have thought so much in years, my head has been whirling with ideas and I have been fighting my usual impatience to see the end result. In the day when I used to make clothes I would always confuse myself be reading to far ahead in the pattern instead of just taking it step by step. So here is the beginning, a Black Hole!

First lesson learned, soft velvet is not the best fabric for making a base!!!

Just a few more....

2011-07-09T06:20:00.000+01:00

images from Kentwell. You will have gathered by now that I really enjoyed my day.

The animals

Still life

the people

the children

and cloth

The rag picker....

2011-07-07T08:35:00.000+01:00

Near the end of the day at Kentwell (see below) we saw a bent figure shambling along the grass, as we watched the figure sat down with all the signs of fatigue.

After a little while she took a piece of cloth from her basket and examined it closely

She then began to pick at the cloth until she had hold of one thread which she painstakingly loosened and then withdrew it, so careful not to snap it.

Then she wound the thread round the handle of the basket.

As I stepped forward to speak to her someone who I imagined to be some sort of upper servant stopped me and told me to have a care but I asked anyway. The old lady told me she picked the threads and hoped that someone would exchange the for some bread as she was very hungry.
I know it was all role play but for a moment time was blurred, this meeting touched me deeply. It depicted the hardships of our ancestors but there are people still in the world who have to pick rags. How fortunate are we?

Inside the house...

2011-07-06T09:10:00.000+01:00

While the gentry waited in the dining hall

food was being prepared in the kitchen

Upstairs we found the stillroom, a delight for all the senses. Where potions and salves were prepared

and the sick attended to

after dinner there was entertainment

and the kitchen staff could eat their meal.

The Bead makers......

2011-07-05T08:44:00.000+01:00

In the woodland men laboured mightily!

and round the corner in a clearing we found the potter and the beadmakers.

There was a very friendly looking green man

a wonderful beehive kiln, I thought the roof had a touch of Gaudi about it.

A pretty picture.

and a cloth which I am sure I could have found a use for.

Time travel.....

2011-07-04T14:55:00.000+01:00

yesterday I stepped back to 1553...at Kentwell Hall. I took over 100 photographs (so I will edit them a bit) and even then now realise the ones I missed.. The Hall and the grounds are given over to a recreation of life in Tudor times and great pains are taken to achieve authenticity. The vist kept us absorbed for nearly five hours and kept the conversation and questions going all the way home. One thing was evident though, for us the day had been about cloth. For rich and poor, the making, using, wearing and mending of cloth was an intergral part of life. We saw the spinners and weavers

Add caption

the felters, cross I didn't take a picture of the hats.

The dyers, (so taken with the results I missed taking the vats).

The laundry had been done.

and in the house the seamstresses stitched their linen with linen thread.

and everywhere people wore clothes which had been made to create as nearly as possible the clothes of rich and poor in those times.

(Mask on the last two thanks to skeletal mess)
There was one more personto do with cloth but for me she was very special and deserves a post of her own.

Dragon on the lawn....

2011-06-29T08:31:00.000+01:00

I have been making lots of pieces in preparation for the Magic Diaries which starts next week. This piece got a little ahead of itelf.....

I love him because I drew him free hand. I don't think he is finished, we shall see.

Sun, moon and squares

2011-06-19T09:04:00.000+01:00

The weather having turned into the typical British summer I have spent my time stitching,
A sun....

a moon....

and some squares.....

I am just picking up cloth and seeing what it turns into..so soothing. I hope all these elements will eventually come together but if they don't it doesn't really matter , the pleasure is in the doing.

Thinking...

2011-06-10T07:30:00.000+01:00

..outside the button box. Ever wondered what you could do with all your spare buttons. Here's an idea.
Found on Craft

Sun, moon and stars....

2011-06-04T09:31:00.000+01:00

The course with Jude has come to an end and I shall miss her daily "whisperings". It was fascinating and thought provoking, I loved it. This little piece (about 8" square) is what I have made on the theme but a lot of other stitching has gone on too. As my forward birthday present to myself I have signed up for a series starting in July, how could I resist something called "Cloth Whispering/The Magic Diaries."
That is my hand sewer taken care of and this months Workshop on the Web speaks to the mixed media child in me. Lynda Monk and Gina Ferrari have articles which require investigation and experiment.

I have decided that watching Andy Murray is akin to watching Dr Who, it is so nerve wracking you need to watch it from behind the sofa.

Prism...

2011-05-26T19:50:00.000+01:00

Annual visit to Prism today. As I walked down the Duke of Yorks steps I heard military music, now I am a sucker for a brass band and/or soldiers marching especially in London so imagine my delight when I found there was a full scale rehearsal for the Trooping of the Colour taking place. Sorry no sound which was very stirring.

I really enjoyed the exhibition this year, there was a great variety and many pieces I liked very much. For me the highlight of the day was meeting a delightful lady called Bea Sewell. We fell into converation admiring the work of Debbie Williams.Unfortunately I cannot find a link for Debbie.

No copyright breach intended please advise and image will be removed.

Later in the conversation I realised that Bea was responsible for the exhibit which had kept me captivated for a long time.

No copyright breach intended please advise and image will be removed.

All the samples on this tree are a result of natural dyes and over on the right are the most enchanting little note books which had examples of her natural dyeing experiments. It's a good job they were tied down or else.....the little pots around the tree held examples of the plants and berries she has used. The whole experience was a delight, I hope to see her again at Kentwell which she told me about and which sounds a fascinating and entertaining day out.

I really found this an inspiring exhibtion this year. Next year they have to ajust their times to fit in with the Olympics, they will be a week later i think and we will have beach volley ball on Horse Guards instead of soldiers....

PS. When I came out I was going to take a picture of a rather magnificent Stars and Stripes I had noticed but President Obama must have left Buckingham Palace while I was in the exhibition becasue it had already been taken down.

A day at the seaside....

2011-05-19T20:05:00.000+01:00

Yesterday (on the one cloudy day this week) I went to the seaside, to Margate, the home of the brand new Turner Contemporary. The building looks a little like a big tin shed so I took pictures of the sea instead.

and the harbour wall indicating something special was nearby.

I could have happily have spent the whole day playing with this window!

which made full value of the nothern light which Turner loved so much about this town. i would have liked a movie camera to capture the stange effects of the replestions as people walked to and from the window,

In the galleries upstairs there was of course a Turner of the Volcano which you can see on the website, my friend and I stood before it and both felt as though we were being drawn into the painting so that details which at first were hidden became clear. The whole painting filled with more light as we looked at it. I have never experienced this before and would have thought it was imagining it, if my friend hadn't confirmed it.

My favourite of the artists on show in the gallery was Russel Crotty this may be because of my present interest in Sun, Moon and Stars or because of my old love of geography, lettering, the sea........whatever.....I liked it a lot.

Do click for a closer view, you will be amazed.

Margate is a town in need of a lot of TLC, so sad, but hopefully the Turner Contemporary will help fill the empty tables.

Excellent Fish and Chips at Peters Fish Factory.....good day

In control.......

2011-05-14T09:25:00.000+01:00

I would love to have this control over my machine. this from P Nosa via Craft. Might be fun trying.

Clever....

2011-05-05T08:44:00.000+01:00

I don't know who created these pictures of Johhny Depp and Angelina Jolie as there is no credit on the Damn Cool Pics site , you can see more here. Fun.

Fragments for a Wedding....

2011-04-27T18:44:00.000+01:00

These two pieces are pure serentdipity. I was having a much needed clearing of my workspace. combining it with sitting in our unaccustomed warm April sunshine. I came across two pieces.One was an experimental building which I made when following the Beasts workshop with Jude and the other was some pieces I had put together as part of the Whispering Hearts class I am taking at the moment. The church made me think of the Royal wedding on Friday. I reached for a needle and this is the hearts.

Given the weather forecast for Friday the "sky" seems appropriate.
This is the "abbey"

If you click on it you can see the little fragments of bridal lace which have been moving around my workroom for some years! The tree on the righthand corner was made on ages ago on a couronne which of course also translates as crown.

Is this the answer...............

2011-04-27T07:24:00.000+01:00

These potholes have been on the roundabout at the end of my road for over a year.

This morning on Craft I may have found the solution.

Not only could I mend the road and save wear and tear on my little car but I could solve that age old problem of how to reduce my stash!!
Incidentally how come outside the MP's offices in London they can have new pavement involving this amount of work

when all we need is a bit of asphalt?

Heart cloth....

2011-04-24T07:23:00.000+01:00

This is the sampler I have made following Jude Hill's Whispering Hearts. I was quite pleased with it and then I held it up to the light.

and I was even more pleased. The base of this cloth is one of DH's old handkerchiefs dyed with avocado skin and topped with a piece of scrim from the same dye bath. I love the band of light (because I didn't plan this and hadn't started in the exact middle). Now you know why I was frantically searching for my cord winder! I wound a long length of cord and then cut it to make the fringe. The little white heart in the bottom right is someone else's heart. I found it on our swaps pile at EG, someone had been practising stump work I think. It wasn't complete so I finished it off in a different colour silk. I like having it there. Heart Whispering has been a lovely experience,as well as video it has lots of little audio snippets where Jude just shares her thoughts, very soothing and inspiring.

My secret's out.....

2011-04-18T08:06:00.001+01:00

In September 2009 I saw this on Sharon Boggon's blog and I wanted one. At the same time we started to plan our 10th Annniversary exhibition at Sevenoaks EG. I decided to make that my deadline. 18 months. No problem. Having no idea what I was doing I set about making blocks and it all turned out bigger than expected. I finished two weeks ago! It is also rubbish to photograph.

It does not have the level of embellishment that I would like.

I will put it away for now but I intend, perhaps next winter to add some more seam treatments. At least it will keep me warm.

Our exhibtion was a very successful. I will try and get permission to post some photographs, it really is great to belong to such a wonderful group. I was delighted to have Lynda Monk visit. We had a super workshop with her and hopefully she will be coming to us again soon, in the meantime I am looking forward to her article on Workshop on the Web in June.

It's been done before.....

2011-04-14T08:12:00.000+01:00

but not by me. Tuesday was the last day of our sunny weather so I prompted by a picture in the paper I took myself off to the nearest place to find bluebells to photograph. I was a bit early the Ranger said but pointed me in the right direction and this is what I saw.

This magnificent tree is about 300 years old

It is home to many I'm sure

and it holds onto the earth with giant fingers

Come back in two weeks they said

Ah! Spring.

A small thing.....

2011-04-11T20:04:00.000+01:00

but my own. Another unseasonably warm sunny day today, the last for a while we are told so i made the most of it. A couple of weeks ago at EG we have an interesting and amusing talk from Helen Deighan, she spoke about dyeing, making coiled pots and making braids. So armed with her book and some of her special "washing line" I sat in the sun and made a small pot.

I was fascinated how you can alter the shape just in the way you place the coils, using the same stitch all the while.It is only about 5 inchs across.

I found myself wondering about those first women made such things. Perhaps they idly twiddled grasses in there fingers or twisted plaited grass. Who know but I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. Here is is, serving the purpose for which it was made, to hold my thread bundle.

Beautiful day....

2011-04-06T20:38:00.000+01:00

Glorious day here today , I spent the morning sitting in the sun stitching hearts.

and it was the perfect day for dying my papers for the journal course.

Hearts......

2011-04-03T19:12:00.001+01:00

My mind is full of hearts....the Whispering Hearts experience had started and I am thrilled. I call it an experience rather than a class because Jude's presentation is so intimate it is like having a friend gently talking to you. For some reason my very first thought on the subject was "two hearts as one" and this is the result, both these hearts have one inside the other.

You may recognise the cloth from my dyeing experiments. I don't want to give too much away because that is not fair to Jude but I am so excited with the way my mind is working. After the last few months, which have been quite stressful, it is lovely to be able to focus and let my mind relax and wander. I have also started my Journal making class but due to the fact that I couldn't find something this morning my plans to make my pages went by the board.

I have lost my cord maker. It looks like this.

I have searched my room, it was always kept in the same place and it has vanished. I thought, blow it I will buy a new one but when I found out they were £15+ I decided to look some more.It is so frustrating.because I know that two months down the line, when I am looking for something totally different, I will find it. Grrr.

P.S. Sitting stiching hearts last night when I suddenly jumped up, went to my room looked in the box where I keep my wires and stuff and there it was. Hurrah.

Silk

2011-03-31T17:08:00.001+01:00

not our usual kind but a law based drama on BBC. Best series I have watched for ages. As there were so many loose ends I hope that means a new series....soon please. If you missed it there is still a chance to watch it here.

and this had me chuckling,

Dream on.......

2011-03-31T09:40:00.000+01:00

Last night I dreamed Jude Hill came to my house. She came with a group of my friends, they were all stitching but she had nothing to do so I offered her my bit box which she started to sort through

When Jude left she promised to come again, which would be lovely. Nice dream. It probably all came about because I am looking forward to joining in the Cloth Whispering Hearts which starts tomorrow. Before I went to bed I had started to make a cloth which I thought might make a background ,

I have finished the project which I have been working on for eighteen months, I can't show it yet because it will be in our 10th Anniversary exhibition in a couple of weeks time.

Put the flags out......

2011-03-28T13:35:00.000+01:00

I had a nice suprise this morning, this little book dropped through my letter box.

It is full of lovely ideas from decorating shelves to pretty wedding decorations. Published by Search as part of a series called "Twenty to Make" you can find the details here. It has a lot in it for a small book.
The rest of the titiles are here
With big birthdays and anniversaries coming up this year it couldn't be more timely. Kate's website is here

Citra solv

2011-03-25T18:18:00.000Z

Thank you to the people who have commented on my last post. I really can do no better than point you to the instructional videos on the Citra-solv site just click here. There are others on You Tube. It is incedibly smelly so it is best used out of doors unless you want your house to smell like a marmalade factory.

This is the one you want, as they make a lot of other products, but you need the concentrate.

I have read that the older National Geographics give a much stronger effect, it is something to do with the method used for printing but I was happy with the results I achieved on the current issue. Thank you all for your interest, enjoy.

PS There is a lavender perfumed one as well I believe but that is also out of stock on the Ecohip site.Please note I have no affiliation of any of these companies.

Just my luck...

2011-03-24T09:21:00.000Z

Ever since I read about it some years ago I have been wanting to try Citra solv. A couple of weeks ago I found it was available through Amazon so I ordered a small bottle and bought myself a copy of the National Geographic magazine. i was delighted with the results and immediately ordered a large bottle only to find that the suppliers Ecohip were out stock so I will have to wait before I can experiment further but this is a sample so far.

I loved this one

and played with it in PSP. and liked it even more.

I then took a selection from it and it became this

A sort of Tolkien landscape, I think.

I hope the new stock comes in soon.

Japan

2011-03-13T20:51:00.000Z

As I look at the pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan I wonder, as I have done before, why we have divisions of religion and politics when Nature can reduce us to nothing whenever it wants.

Inspiration...

2011-03-04T09:39:00.000Z

I have just posted my contribution to this months theme of "crescents" over on the Ideas of Inspiration blog. It was a photohraph I took some years ago at the Millenium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place.

and of course I had to have a little play.

The boys....

2011-02-24T09:56:00.000Z

My son has adopted two young cats from the RSPCA.

They are called Heimdall and Tyr, both named after Norse gods. This is Tyr

As all good grandmothers do I made toys

which I am happy to report were a great success.

The toys were made from and article in Cloth Paper and Scissors by Diana Trout way back in 2009.

February grey.....

2011-02-19T08:45:00.001Z

...again. Wet too. Yesterday I received a comment from a name I didn't recognise so I followed the link Elfi Cella has two blogs, one elf2main is where she shows her minatures for famous painting and the other elf2mani which has her other painting and photographs. Both are well worth a visit and made me open of Paint Shop Pro to play.

I turned this

into this

and then into this

Hopefully Mother Nature will soon change it back again.

A fun day.......

2011-02-17T08:42:00.000Z

of which I was feeling much in need after a nasty week. "Us girls" all had a play with the Wen Redmond technique from the last post. I love it when you all follow the same technique and end up with something totally and uniquely yours. Look at these Val, went for wonderfu, vibrant brights, Marien made lovely, subtle, earthly colours and I went for chintz.

Unfinished with lots of playtime left.

I came across two, new to me, blogs. Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made has this tutorial for a shrink plastic bracelet, she also provides downloadable PDFs of the ephemera. She has lots of other interesting projects.

On a quite different note is Spitalfields Life. If you are interested in London this is full of past and present doings in this old part of town.

Juggling.....

2011-02-06T10:04:00.000Z

things are a bit hectic here at the moment, our Youth Theatre production of "Nine" is racing towards us, so lots of long rehearsals. Equally our Tenth Anniversary of Sevenoaks EG is also coming soon, (April) and prjects have to be finished. Eeeek! However the last issue of Cloth,Paper, Scissors(34) made me put all that aside while I tried out the article by Wen Redmond, "Fabric collage Mail Art". Here are four of the eight I made all in one go. Mass production, marvellous.

I also managed to put my Ideas of Inspiration post up this morning, the theme this month is Square. This is a church window in Ravenna, Italy, I played with it a little(PSP) and love the effect on the glass.

2011-01-22T11:30:00.000Z

Looking for something else entirely this morning I found this copy of The Morning Post dated January 21 1936.
I bought this paper in an junk shop sometime ago and had forgotten about it. Having just seen the wonderful film "The Kings Speech" and it being the 21st January yesterday it was too serendipity-ish to ignore.

I thought you might like to peruse (or use) a section of the Personal Column. Rivetting stuff.

(Click to enlarge)

Death of a Snowman...

2011-01-11T09:18:00.000Z

A study in disintigration. This was the snowman built by our neighbour, I wish I'd noticed what was happening a little sooner.

I love the stage where it looks like a demented diva giving her all.

Here we go....

2011-01-01T10:30:00.000Z

a new year. No lists of resolutions but a firm resolve to clear my workroom in the hope that I might be able to get in there and actually produce something. It is going to takes some time as this time...... things are going to be ejected!

In the meantime I have been having little digital play. The first two are from my holiday.

and a London statue placed in a sky

The sky was actually an underwater photograph taken by my daughter and regarded, by her, as a dud!!!!

I now pass it on for you to play.

I would like to thank everyone who left a comment and stuck with me through 2010. I am going to send my wishes for 2011 in the words of Neil Gaiman

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself. Neil Gaiman

Ravenna and Venice.....

2010-12-18T08:58:00.000Z

Well the snow is back so this seems like a good time to take a final look at my holiday. The last visiting stop was Ravenna in Italy. The port is quite a long bus ride from the city but when we started our wander there was no doubt we were in Italy.

The old town of Ravenna has cobbled streets and the bicycle is the preffered mode of transport.

I would hate to be caught in the rush hour, I wonder if they have blue lights!

We had only a few hours to take in the sights which of course in Ravenna means the mosaics.In the three churches we visited they were on the floors, the walls and theceilings. We gazed in wonder at the colours, the detail and the overwhelming richness of millions of tiny pieces of stone.

Here are just a few.

I loved this little window.

I am not sure of the significance of this golden bale but I loved it anyway.

Back on the Odyssey I discovered that my daughter had arranged a massage for me. This is the ante room to one whole hour of heaven.

This was the sad sight that greeted us as we returned to our cabin on the last night.

and this was the sad sight that greeted me when I woke of the next morning.

The only disappointment of the trip. I had missed our arrival in Venice which I had been pleasurably anticipating. The only time on the whole trip that I didn't watch our arrival. I shot out to my favourite deck and there in the distance you could just make out the Campanile and the dome of St Marks.

Fortunately I have been to Venice a couple of times but I would have loved that view from the yacht.

(This photograph is from the Seabourn site, no breach of copyright intended)

It was a wonderful holiday, so many sights and impressions of so many fascinating places. If I did something like it again (if I win the lottery) I would tack on an extra day at each end. That way we wouldn't have had the stress of any possible travel delays and we would have been able to

spend a little time in Istanbul and Venice.

One more image from Ravenna.

Hallelujah....

2010-12-11T09:57:00.000Z

I just had to pass this on...

Thanks to Michelle Ward

Snow on snow.....

2010-12-02T08:56:00.000Z

More overnight, still snowing now, the light powdery stuff. This is the garden this morning

and the road

I am waiting for Hansel & Gretel to knock here

Soft south and snow beast....

2010-12-01T09:01:00.000Z

Well this is a change from sunshine cruises. Yesterday I woke up at 6.30 to what is our usual amount of snow (when we have any), it was still snowing and it continued snowing without stopping for the rest of the day. There were three types of snow, quite big flakes and then a kind of tiny hailstones and then a fine powder which came in blizzards they just kept alternating all day. I have never in all my years known such a prolonged downfall,

I spent a happy half hour trying to catch the birds as they whipped in and out of the tree by my kitchen window.

blue tits don't stay still long

It was easir to catch them on the feeder which is further away

and I was delighted when a robin arrived.

He came onto the tree later and seems to be saying"Do you mind if I camoe in for a while?"

This was the garden this morning

The bench is in there somewhere

and I think my car is still under this

Not one snowmen but a line of little snow goblins

and the chimney across the road is getting a loving hug from a snow beast

It is 9am and it has just started snowing again!

Triluke Bay......

2010-11-28T10:09:00.000Z

Where?... a tranquil bay off the coast of Croatia and as it is -3 here this morning it is good to remember the warmth. I had never heard of Triluke Bay but I was looking forward to it because it was my birthday. This is early morning as we glided among the many islands in the bay.

When we left the Odyssey the marina was already out behind for the enerjetic people but we took the tender to the island.

There was a road leading away from the harbour so intrepid explorers that we are we took this past the little church

and the house with the bird curtains

until we caught a glimpse of the other side.

A path lead down to the waters edge and then we followed it all the way back to the harbour. It was one of the loveliest stolls I have ever taken. Past glorious tangles of rocks

rock gardens

rocks with eyes

and rocks with lips

lovely views

and sparkling clear water

we strolled on

and in the bay the Odyssey waited

the tender ran back and forth

You can't live near the sea without rust, we found this little tractor

and I think this was a hydrant but it could have been some king of alien!

Eeventually our walk returned us to the harbour and to this tiny memorial chapel to a son lost at sea.

The tender waited and returned us to the ship where very important decisions had to be made as to what flavour of ice cream today?

This was the sunset on my birthday

and here is my dessert and my birthday cake,

but it wasn't fininished yet, in our cabin this gentleman waited with a bottle of wine and a birthday card.

Thank you Diana.

Would you believe.....

2010-11-23T21:21:00.000Z

this sheep is made from car parts? By James Corbett, his website is here. There are owls and dogs and horses and insects and . Amazing. And while you are at it have a look at the post-it note art of Don Kenn, who has a blog here. Thanks to Damn Cool Pics.

Dubrovnik....

2010-11-21T10:42:00.000Z

This was the day the sun deserted us. Not anything unusual for our holidays but it was quite a shock on this one. Apart from Venice, I don't think I have ever seen so many tourists in one place.

War torn only a few years ago it was easy to see the new roofs among the old.

but very little other evidence of the damage remains.

and good use is made of every space. I think you would call this a multi-purpose court.

The walls still stand as a defence against the sea.

and this gives a whole new meaning to sea side cafe! Click to get a closer view.

Every narrow street seemed to be lined with cafes

and there were some interesting windows

This iron wooden ship sailed passed us. I lovel the building behind.

This one was getting underway with the washing already done.

and as we left I couldn't resist a swoosh

Kotor.... Still here...

2010-11-21T08:56:00.095Z

I having been having very weird blogger troubles, still on going but I am going to try and put the rest of the holiday on while it is working . This is the entrance to Kotor Montenegro.

At 6in the morning the indefatigable Odyssey staff had a table of pastries and hot coffee as we started the fascinating journey into Kotor. How anyone found it in the first place is a mystery. Bear in mind that I was right on the pointy bit at the front. For about an hour or so we just kept sailing towards these walls and thinking this must be it and then suddenly a gap would appear and we would sail towards another "wall" I lost count of just how mant wists and turs there were.

Finally we arrived and parked!

There are a lot of steps in Kotor

and we climbed hundreds to reach half way. We were told there was another 500 to reach the ruined castle at the top

so we settled for the view from this point.

Going down

In the church there was a little museum with some lovely embroideries and lace

and this door reminded me of one of a journal page.

Back on board a spot of afternoon tea!

Dessert was pretty that night too.

and late at night we slipped away trying not to wonder how the Captain was going to manoeuvre all those twists and turns in the dark!

Corfu.....

2010-11-06T14:34:00.000Z

The tiny part of Corfu we saw was Shady Cafes

and Shady shops

I love this building,

and I'm always on the lookout for an interesting window.

and rust. Here is lots of rust.

These two photographs made me think of Seth

There was a bit more rust here

There was no rust on this ship

and off again

Pylos

2010-10-30T20:48:00.000+01:00

Beginning of week two. A fascinating approach to Pylos

These rocks seem to pose an inpenetrable barrier. It fascinated how people managed to find some of the place we visited. I love rock formations and the entry to Plyos was a delight.

After Athens, Pylos was a complete contrast a small town set on the hillside above the harbour. The gradient of the hill makes for some interesting sights. Like this parked car.

How? What? Of course it is another road running above the one we were on. I don't want to give a false impression of Greece but you do see some wonderfully distressed buildings.

There was a little church at the top of the hill,

I love the way that all these chuches have a shady area, designed for gentle conversation out of the glare of the sun. Imagine.

From the top of the hill we could look across the roofs to our floating home.

Beautiful isn't she?

Every town we visited in Greece had its shady meeting point to share a coffee, a beer and some pleasant converation and of course a game of backgammon!.

Leaving Pylos was just as stunning

Some tiles to play with

Athens......

2010-10-24T09:56:00.000+01:00

End of the first week of our holiday. Now this is a city which needs way, way more than a flying visit. The Odyssey docked at Piraeus and we were taken into the city by bus.

Our first stop was the stadium where the first of the modern day Olympic Games were held in 1896. A much simpler affair than the transormation of east London which is taking place right now..

We then drove past many imposing buildings and caught just a glimpse of the famous Evzoni.

Our next stop was the amazing Museum of the Acropolis It is built with glass floors above the ruins of the older city.

eventually this older part will be open too. Inside where photography was strictly forbidden, we were made very aware of the pieces that are in the British Museum, known as the Elgin Marbles.

Our final stop was the Acropolis itself. We strolled up the wooded hill

and I caught a glimpse of this gentleman. I would have loved to seen him face on.

We paused at the first stone built theatre,

and kept climbing with our goal in sight.

finally reached the Parthenon.

The top of the Acropolis is one huge restoration site and was crowded with tourists like us so I am quite pleased with this photograph because, I managed just one and a half people. Memo to all tourists, please do not wear bright red, I so often find that I am just going to press the button and someone wearing brilliant scarlet appears in the viewfinder!!!!
I don't know if any other city in the world has such a viewpoint as this, which ever way you turn the city spreads out before you.

As you can see one day could not do justice to the amazing city.

I liked this reflection in the building behind our mooring

Navplion contd...

2010-10-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

We arrived at the folk museum just twenty minutes before it closed, I could have spent a day. Here are just a few of the wonderful costumes on display.

and something for the gentlemen

There was beautiful lace

and I loved these purses

on the way out we liked this window

This is just a fraction of the museum. Wish I had

had more time.

Just time for a stroll through the square,

and a delicious ice cream

and a last look back at the town from the harbour.

Obligatory texture picture!!

I am still having problems, this post has taken over an hour to write. I hope they fix it soon, Can't cope!

Navplion...

2010-10-18T21:53:00.000+01:00

I had never heard of Navplion , what a delight. Elegant houses, some looked like Venice and the streets were made of marble..

Interesting shops full of beautiful clothes, shoes and jewelry and in one street this shop which was in its own little time warp.

How I wish we had one of these in our town.

The town is dominated by the castle on the hill,

but on this occasion we decided not to climb to the top and walked to the beach instead.

One of the highlights of the day was the wonderful folk museum which i will save as the new blogger system for adding photographs is driving me nuts. At the moment I can only load one photograph at a time and then I have to exit and go to edit before I can add the next. Why is "new improved" usually a recipe for disaster?.

Milos.......

2010-10-10T09:10:00.000+01:00

the voyage continued. Milos is another volcanic island. There is a lot to see on the island and we were spoilt for choice. We chose to go to Plaka the main town where we climbed the hill for a great view over much of the island.

and this was the view from th top

Exhausted we retired to The Patio for lunch and then watched the energetic people on the ships marina.

As we left we had a view of one of the fishing villages

and we had the satisfaction of saying "we climbed that hill"

Ah, time for dinner

When you least expect it.....

2010-10-01T19:53:00.001+01:00

stuff happens. Today I went to help steward The exhibition that the EG South East Area are mounting at Hall Place, Bexley, Kent. Weather wise a totally dismal day.

Whoops, I was interrupted and posted the above instead of saving it!!!!!

Yesterday was not a good day, after I left the exhibition I went to do my weekly shop and the clutch on my car snapped. That will curtail my shopping at the Knit and Stitch this week.

Apart from the exhibition I was going to tell you about my visit to the British Museum this week. I haven't been able to follow it on the radio but I have been fascinated by the idea of the BBC series A History of the World in 100 objects from the British Museum. Armed with my booklet and map I set off to find these treasures. Here is the oldest object in the Museum

A chopping tool. Nearby there was a lovely lady with a similar tool and you could actually hold it. What an amazing sensation, to hold something that had been made and used nearly 2 million years ago. It fitted the hand perfectly, I wanted to keep it but the lady said no.

This is a very poor photograph of textile fragments from Peru, dated about 300BC. Each one is only about 3 inches square

You can examine them closely here

Again a not very good photograph of a double headed snake from Mexico, covered in a mosiac of tiny chips of turquoise.

again a better picture here..

I only managed about a quarter of the objects in my four hour visit. Mainly due to th fact that I kept being side tracked by other wonderful objects.

This beautiful gallery, The Age of Enlightenment, would take a day on it's own.

Great day, can't wait to go back and do some more. Here's a bit of ancient texture for you.

Santorini cntd.......

2010-09-28T18:22:00.000+01:00

I seems the beauty of Santorini is too much for some of you but if you find it irresistable you might like this property which is for sale.

This is a peek through the door

It only needs a little renovation!

Gardening space is scarce in this part of Santorini

and you need a head for heights,

but with views like these

who would care.

For you

Why I was taking this mystified a gentleman passing by!!!

As though they knew I would be unhappy at leaving they threw a party on deck,

and then we slipped away from the island. The snow had turned to diamonds.

I had a lump in my throat then and I have it again now, I do hope I can return one day.

Santorini......

2010-09-27T12:42:00.001+01:00

A dream come true. So often places can disappoint but this magical island was everthing I had hoped. There are many more spectacular photographs on the web than mine but these are for my memories. This is one of the first views, with the villages looking like snow on the top of the cliffs.

We had to go ashore by tender and we landed very close to what I immediately named "Shirley Valentine's cafe".

We could have walked up the cliffs or taken a donkey but we opted to queue for a while and took the cable car,

This takes you up to Thira but Oia was were I wanted to be so we took the bus which gave us a good view of the other (flatter) side of the isand.

And then Oia

A tumble of steps and little narrow passages filled with intriguing houses and tempting shops.

My daughter spotted this little conversation piece.

I could live here

or here

More tomorrow

Bodrum....

2010-09-24T20:58:00.000+01:00

After the excitments of Ephesus a relatively quiet day, Bodrum is a bustling little town and was busy with tourists. We missed out on the Underwater Museum because of the crowds and then found that by all accounts we had missed a treat. We did however visit the busy market,

and admired the pepple mosaics

back for lunch

a game of golf, it may look small but it was fiendishly difficult

leaving in the evening, this reminded me of the wedding in Mama Mia

The sunset for you

and one I played with

Went to bed in anticipation of visiting Santorini, somehwere I have wanted to go for about 15 years.

Kusadasi and Ephesus.....part 2

2010-09-22T08:51:00.000+01:00

There were some things that were more of a social thing than they are now. Our guide demonstrates.

Perhaps the most iconic building in Epohesus is the Library facade,

there is only an entrance room behind but the actual building stretched over a hundred yards behind. It must have been a true wonder.

The last part of our visit was to the large theatre,

Back in Kusadasi we visited a carpet maker, we were shown some beautiful carpets which can take a year to make. We had a quick look round the town trying to avoid the over zealous shop keepers. I am sure they would sell more if they would let you look before they pounce.

Then it was back to the ship for R&R before returning to Ephesus for a classical concert in this magical setting.

As though all this was not enough we ended the day with a movie under the stars. What else but "Mamma Mia"

For you

and here's one I made earlier.

Kusadasi and Ephesus...Part 1

2010-09-21T07:09:00.000+01:00

An early morning breakfast in the Colonnade and then by coach to Ephesus. Our first sight was the smaller of the two theatres.

There is restoration work going on all round and our guide told us it will take 400 years to uncover it all. All the hills you see around hold secrets.

At one time it was the second largest city in the Roman empire and when you look down this main street you just need to replace the tee shirts with togas and you get a sense of what a bustling place it must have been.

This is what our guide described as the "Bond Street" of Ephesus, small luxury shops with wonderful mosaic paving out side and a shady portico overhead.

Next to the shops were the terrace houses, homes of the very wealthiest people. How beautiful they must have been.

This room was described as the biggest jigsaw puzzle in the world. The marble wall is being painstakingly rebuilt. The tables hold thousands of fragments.

A bit of peeling paint and rust for you.

Day 2.....

2010-09-18T09:01:00.000+01:00

The Sea of Marmara and Dikili. Could a non sailor ask for a calmer sea than this. We had to keep checking to make sure we were moving.

This is the whirlpool on our deck, can you feel the heat?

A little more exploration found the corridor to the main restaurant

and the library

Another visitor to Dikili, one of the Wind Star yachts.

There was trip to Bergama Pergamon but we were saving ourselves for Ehphesus.

This is deck 8

The "round window" is the roof of the spa and in the bottom left are the tables of the Patio. Lunch here was perhaps one of my favourite parts of the whole journey. A glass of ice cold pino grigio and a buffet with everything from gaspacho to beef burgers. Salads, pizzas, dips the choice was bewildering but the chips(fries)......aah the chips, simply the best I have ever tasted. We tried to find the secret but all we could get was that they were fried and then dipped in some magic formula and then fried again. Oh, I miss those chips.

As we slip away from Dikili in the evening sun

I leave you with this detail from one of the sculptures on board to play with.

First day.......

2010-09-13T21:26:00.000+01:00

This is the easiest method of spreading a flavour of our wonderful holiday among my friends, so here goes. I will try to include at least one "arty" photograph which you are welcome to download and use in any way you want.

Day one: we flew to Istanbul. If we had been wiser we would have gone the day before so that we could see something of the city!. As it was we had a bus to the yacht. In the bay I have never seen so many commercial ships in one place. I lost count at 48. Do click on all the photos for a closer view.

At the port we were welcomed with cold towels (something which became a feature) and a cool drink. ID photos were taken and then we were welcomed on board.

We joined our luggage in out cabin which you have seen and this is the bathroom.

We found our daughter and then went out on deck to watch the departure from Istanbul

Then a tour of the yacht to get to know it.

The tables in the bottom left hand corner is The Patio which became our favourite lunchtime spot and served the best chips in the whole world.

First of many wonderful meals in the restaurant and then bed,

Every evening these were the sights that greeted us at the end of the day, with the addition of a few suprises (as you will see) provided by our wonderful strewardess Diana. On the board was the itinerary and menus for the next day.

An today's "arty", this is the central staircase.

Have fun.

Holiday of a lifetime........

2010-09-12T21:35:00.000+01:00

that is the only way to describe it. Because our daughter is presently working on a cruise ship I stifled my dislike of water and we joined the Seabourn Odyssey in Istanbul for two weeks of sheer heaven. One of the reasons for my prolonged silence is that I was so terrified that we wouldn't be able to get there because of the possibility of a strike at the airports I couldn't think of anything else.. Happily all my worry was for nothing . I promise not to show you all of the 1762 photographs I took but here are just a few to give you a taster

The Odyssey in Kotor, Croatia

Our suite

and just one of the stunning places we visited.

This is Oia on Santorini, a dream of mine for many years which didn't disappoint. I have pictures of our favourites, peeling paint and rust but for now back to the washing!

Who is GaGa me or SAGA?...................................

2010-08-24T17:45:00.000+01:00

It is a long time since I had a rant!... Three weeks ago DH renewed our car insurance with Saga. Two forms, one cheque in the same envelope. He received his new cover note but I didn't. We waited a couple of days to take account of the variance of 2nd class post and then I telephoned to find out if my car insurance was on the way. No!...........because he had paid on one cheque "they" decided that he had overpaid and they were returning a cheque for the over payment. No one could explaine what had happened to my original form but they would send me some more forms. They sent the forms which we completed and sent off with a new cheque. As of today still no "over payment "cheque! Another phone call tomorrow!!
That was yesterday. I was told that I had now been insured and the second cheque would be returned to us. Today my cover note arrived but another phone call had to be made because, on checking the bank, they had cleared both the original cheque and the second one. I was told it will take TEN DAYS to issue the cheque for the money they owe us. Luckily for you words fail me and I won't even start on the press this button, key in this number calls I had to tell the bank we were going on holiday.

Photo is me as Old Min in "The Matchgirls".
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Beast and birds.......

2010-08-04T18:04:00.001+01:00

Last week my friend Annie came to stay and we went walking. I won't mention the 145 almost vertical steps, on our first walk, the pain is still too close......We took a lovely walk through the woods from Westerham, around past Chartwell and back to Westerham. I am really enjoying my Patchwork Beast class with Jude Hill at the moment and some sort of heightened awareness had me finding "beasts" at every turn. Camel anyone?

A horned beast

I had put together a cloth in the Spirit Cloth class and was going to add a Beast but the cloth had other ideas.

It is called "Love at First Sight".......... I don't know why, it just is. I am loving these classes.

Here is me best beast find....a little green man sleeping with a baby dragon....

honest...click and have a close look.

Snow in summer....

2010-07-28T06:07:00.001+01:00

Last winter I tried snow dying, now in the summer I have been using some of the cloth. This was mainly from the second batch which wasn't as vibrant as the first.

This is my Doodle Bag, it was made for the EG South East Area Day. I outlined the colour areas on the cloth and then filled each one with a different stitch. The bag is made from purple dupion lined with lime green.

The odd bits of cloth have been joined together as part of the classes I am taking with Jude Hill and form the base for the piece I am working on at the moemnt.

More seaside.....

2010-07-16T08:01:00.000+01:00

The Spirit Cloth workshop has finished, this is my first completed cloth....

or as Jude would say "what if it isn't finished?" Is that a star fish or is it the man who fell to earth?

My thanks to my friend Gudrun who gave me the lace piece which was the basis of my story. I have a book full of notes and a head full of ideas and fingers itching to stitch and build.