He's leaving...

I won't miss being woken up at 3 am
as you come home after a night out.

(a little too regularly of late)

I won't miss making you a meal, that you then don't come home for.

I won't miss the fact that you still manage to eat me out of house and home.

There's plenty that I won't miss...

But I'll still miss you more than you will ever know.
I'll miss the laughter, the fact that you are easy to talk to, that we don't ever really fall out, that you are fun and kind.
I'll miss your wonderful approach to life...
enjoying every minute, living life to the full.

By this time tomorrow Joe will be on a flight to Delhi... just two weeks before his 21st birthday. He's off travelling again with three of his friends, this time to spend a year in the Far East followed by possibly another 6-12 months in New Zealand. I hate to think I might not see him for two years but I know he'll have a brilliant time.

Stay safe, have fun!

I love you Joe.

Crazy...

I forgot to mention that one of the other things in this busy week was Young Embroiderers today. At my very first meeting as leader, nearly two years ago, we made "Crazy Crows" and today we made some more as we are going to have a display at the Embroiderer's Guild Regional Day in Letchworth on 10th July.

Not many of them got finished today as several of the girls were using the crows to try out different embroidery stitches... a sort of modern day sampler! It was quite labour intensive.

The splendid chap below was made by Charlie...

This was Charlie's first ever time at YE so I think she did really well.

As ever, Molly, our youngest member did her own thing and decided she'd rather use buttons for eyes... I think it works quite well! I love the way she always manages to put her own slant on whatever we do.

Fancy trims...

More embroidery, buttons and feathers...

And yet more embroidery stitches.

I'm sure you'll agree, they will make a fabulous display when we exhibit them in July.

At our next meeting we are making a Crazy Scarecow from which to hang our crows... if you live near Letchworth and know any young people who would like to join us... just drop me a line...

PRISM

Next week is going to be a busy one for various reasons... work, a special family meal, an early morning trip to Heathrow, an outing on Friday... and an exhibition.

In preparation, pieces of work have been mounted...

or stapled onto frames.

I've had postcards printed...

and labels have been made.

And I think I'm just about ready to deliver my work to the Mall Galleries on Sunday for this:

PRISM

evolve:evoke:expand

an exhibition of contemporary textiles

1 -5 june 2010

the mall galleries

the mall, london sw1

10-6 tues, wed, fri, 10-7 thurs, 10-4 sat

I will be there from about midday on both Tuesday and Thursday so please come and say hello. It is well worth a special visit if you are interested in contemporary textiles.

What???

"...At what might be the most general level of all, art history has consistently sited visual meaning in the fully abstract, derealised domains of optics and of signs and the salient historical context of this meaning in the domain of articulated, rationally managed disputes about ideas of institutional policies and in wider social affairs."

For two days I've had my head buried in text books, absorbing theories about gender and the body in art, trying to establish what I think about it all.

For two days I've jotted down notes and looked things up.

For two days I've felt quite pleased with myself, feeling on top of all the reading and research. And then I got to the sentence above. I've read it and re-read it so many times I've lost count but do you know what... I haven't a clue what it means!

So, I've given up and taken a wander around the garden instead and have come back with some goodies... my first radish this year and some freshly laid eggs. And so I think I'm going to leave the books for today and take refuge in my kitchen.

And as for the quotation above... answers on a postcard will be much appreciated!

Alternatively...

... instead of bread and cheese rations for the next few months

... we can always eat more cake (although we may have to improvise on candles)

...after all, it is a birthday

Happy 25th Birthday Sam!

Escape

This is where we escaped...

... to The Land of the Midnight Sun with stunning fjord views in glorious sunshine (cold but bright!)

... and beautiful waterfalls

... a chance discovery of a wedding taking place in the cathedral

... where we were treated to the sight of elegant ladies in traditional Norwegian dress.

A lazy afternoon wandering around old Stavanger

... where all the wooden clad houses are painted white with beautiful little gardens and planted pots everywhere.

A fun weekend spent with good friends...

... and as I tackle the mountain of laundry and clean up the slight stickiness that only three boys left alone for the weekend seem able to create, I'm trying not to dwell on the facts we may just have missed the British summer while we were away and that Norway is so horrendously expensive, we could be on bread and cheese rations for months after this weekend. Instead I count my blessings because after all, we're lucky to get to visit such beautiful places... and I still appreciate coming home despite the chores!

Let Them Eat Cake

We're escaping for a few days....

But I've left provisions for the boys!

Pass the Book - A Winner!

Thank you for the interest in Silverpebble's Pass the Book game. All names were scribbled down folded up and a draw took place at breakfast time... we know how to start the day with a bit of excitment in our house!

And as you can see the winner was Fiona. If you email me your address Fiona, the book plus some other bits and bobs (not photographed because I haven't decided what other bits and bobs!) will be on its way to you very soon.
Sorry the rest of you couldn't win too but the good thing about this giveaway is that you get another chance to play!

Getting carried away?

Never one to resist a beautiful notebook, I recently treated myself to this gorgeous little sketchbook from Contemporary Embroidery.

Constructed from watercolour paper and filled with little mounted samples of Karen's embroidery it is delightful... and very precious.

I couldn't possibly imagine sullying it with drawings and scribbles of my own!

But then Karen challenged those of us who own one of her little books... she said we must use it. She has posted lots of wonderful ideas of how we might do this... and so I got brave...

and after my walk yesterday morning I came back and made a little watercolour sketch of some apple blossom, trying to match the colours to the embroidery.

Not perfect but enough to bolster my confidence.

So that this morning I came back from my walk and made another little sketch of one of the last of the cowslips (the conservation area behind our house is covered in them)

and another of some bluebells...

Do you think I might be getting carried away?

Will I know when to stop?

A Grand Day Out

You might think I went to London...

to see the Elephant Parade...

or possibly to see the Quilt exhibition again...

and although I did both of those things, the real reason I went to London was to meet some friends.

Friends, who although I had never met either of them before, felt like dear old friends (and I use the word "old" to mean familiar as both were clearly MUCH younger than me!)

And as we laughed and chatted it didn't feel at all like we had never met before... but then that is one of the amazing things about blogging!

Alice and Kristina... I had such a lovely day. Thank you!