One thing leads to another

I have been making slow progress with my little bag - mainly because I have been making it up as I go along which rarely works out first time and usually has to be unpicked and done again!

I put a little pocket on the back and then discovered that it wasn't deep enough and would likely mean that anything put in it would fall out but as I didn't have any more of the cream leather effect fabric I couldn't redo it deeper and so put a magnetic press stud on it but that then meant I had to unpick the bottom of the bag to get at the inside of the pocket lining ..... and so it goes!

I still need to stitch the base and to make a lining for the bag plus some kind of strap but I think it will work eventually.  Whilst working on this I came up with a couple of other ideas for different bags I might make and realised that if you are creating something you are then more creative if you see what I mean and one thing leads to another in the ideas department!

You may remember I told you that I had met up with Carol when we went to the Tate Britain?  She had a little notebook with her containing odd sketches and notes and when I said how I wished I could draw or paint she suggested that it was a good idea to do a drawing each day - she has written a post about this here.  I took her advice and here are a couple of sketches I made ....

Steps outside the back door

I have to admit that I didn't keep it up every day but it was a good exercise as even if my drawing didn't improve any it made me look at things properly which can only be a good thing.  I will try to get back to a daily drawing but I am not promising anything and nor do I think I will be showing you any great art!

Nothing to do with any of the above - I have fitted a little emergency exit to the bird bath/drinking water dish having had to rescue several black beetles I have found paddling furiously in the water!  Hope they will find the way out next time.

Another trip to London is in the pipeline for this coming week!  I'll show you where we go later in the week if you are up for another guided tour?!  Thanks for you kind comments on the previous post - I must admit I couldn't do it every day and was tired and ready for early roost that night but I love London and never get fed up with it as there are so many interesting places to see. 

Another day - another city

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my previous post.  Well done those eagle eyed followers who read the labels and noted that it was Exeter we went to!  The photo in my current header is the Lock Keepers Cottage on the Exe canal which I have written about having visited it in July last year and again this summer too.

Yesterday saw me heading off on the train to London where I was to meet up with a fellow blogger I'd never met but had exchanged e-mails with - Molebags whose lovely blog I enjoy  - and our mutual non bloggy friend.

We met at the station and then headed off along the South Bank which was packed with tourists and like struggling along Oxford Street or maybe even Weymouth beach!

 Here is where we were going.

The Garden Museum is housed in a disused church and has a lovely little cafe where you can eat outside in the one time graveyard which is now a lovely quiet garden.

 If you enlarge this photo by clicking on it you will see the tables where we sat with our lunch under the trees on the right - lovely and one could forget that the busy main road was just yards away.

 After lunch we crossed the river - aren't those clouds beautiful?

 Looking back you can see the Garden Museum just where the red bus is and Lambeth Palace just hidden behind the trees alongside.

 This is where we were off to - the Tate Britain - we had tickets for the Folk Art exhibition.
 

Loved this beautiful stairway all done in black and white and shiny chrome - we all wanted to float down the stairs in ballgowns like Hollywood movie stars!

I just loved the patterns it made.

The exhibition was interesting with all kinds of exhibits including paintings, needlework, wooden ships figureheads, shop and pub signs and so on and one of my favourites was this chicken made by a prisoner of war sometime about 1800 using bones from the kitchen for all the feathers - this photo doesn't do it justice you'd have to see it to realise just how clever it was.

And of course I found a piece of crazy patchwork!  This unfinished cushion cover took my eye and made me want to do some more.

I noticed these windows in the entrance hall on our way out, after having had scones and tea and a nice sit-down in the outdoor courtyard, and I thought made a delightful restrained change from stained glass...

... what do you think?

Our walk back to the station took us along the river and past the Houses of Parliament where this sign caught my eye and made me smile!  For more about Black Rod check the link here.  Back at Waterloo I had to dash for the train or wait another hour - just caught it but it was packed and standing room only for the first half hour but eventually I did find a seat and was able to relax and enjoy the journey home especially as the shadows lengthened and the sun slid slowly down in the west painting everything especially the corn fields with a beautiful apricot glow.  Yet another lovely day out - how lucky am I to be able to get out and about and to have so many friends with whom I can visit such places and how lucky to have my home to return to at the end of the day and Mr M waiting at the station to take me there..

Communication II

I didn't realise what a rich seam I was mining when I wrote my previous post about letter writing!  It seems I am not alone in wishing that just occasionally the postman might bring a real letter for me. Thank you all so much for your kind and interesting comments - all read carefully and much appreciated.

Last week I received not one but two hand written missives from bloggers who knew my postal address.  Of course a handwritten letter or notecard requires a hand written reply and those have now gone in the post to Simone and Lesley.  I realised however that since I rarely write real letters I didn't have any "proper" writing paper so apologies for that but I did write them both using a fountain pen and ink.  I also discovered how much easier it is to write using a keyboard - being a touch typist I can more easily get my thoughts down as fast as I think them whereas with the pen I was lagging behind as it were and my writing was getting worse as I went along!

Lesley mentioned coloured inks and the etiquette surrounding this.  I did remember learning that it was "correct" to use blue or black ink but not coloured ink but couldn't remember the details.  Some research on the internet unearthed a website which said that apparently red ink can be seen as aggressive and should not be used and in some cases it is believed to foretell death!  I hadn't realised that there were so many different inks available - on line of course as in the town shops when I wanted some there was Quink or nothing!!  See this web page for some of the different types available - ink is obviously alive and kicking still!

Then of course there are the pens available to use.  If you plan to write in ink you need a fountain pen or a dip pen (who remembers those from school?)  I still have the pen my aunt gave me on my passing the 11+ exam - it had been given to her by her Canadian Air Force boyfriend so was a treasured gift!  It needs repairing now though as the rubber inside seems to have perished with age so I am currently using a Shaefer fountain pen which my husband gave me.  See my propelling pencil and pen still in the little bag I made for it nearly 60 years ago still with ink on it from back then!

As well as pens and ink there were other accoutrements required such as blotters - my writing case has a blotter seen above.  Blotting paper came in various colours and qualities - I remember pink and green as well as white which is what I have here. Again who remembers blotting paper being stuffed into the ink wells at school so that it might be used as a missile when flicked with a nice bendy ruler when nobody was looking?!)  Then there were pen wipers which were used to wipe the nibs of dip pens to prevent them going rusty and also of fountain pens to clear any excess ink after filling them. I came across this web site for all things to do with pens and ink etc - do check it out it's fascinating there are Sevres porcelain ink wells, blotters, leather cases for pens etc.

You may remember me showing you this book ages ago?  Well I got it from the library again recently and have been enjoying reading it - in it the author speaks of writing letters and of having to cut quills to use as pens and making ink using elderberries (not too successful apparently as it was too pale) and oak apples cooked in a rusty iron pot - thank goodness we don't have to do that these days.

One last tid bit - I read recently that using plastic throw away biros is very ungreen both in their manufacture and disposal - I guess reusable is always going to be beter in the eco stakes.

A subject which would produce enough "stuff" for a small book - you'll be glad to know I won't be writing one though and certainly not here!

On a different note - remember this photo taken from the bus to London?

 Well when I looked at it again I thought that it would make a good tapestry or maybe even a small piece of felt.  I searched my stash of fleece and yarns and could find no red so poppy fields were out unless I bought some but then I wondered if I could do a crazy patchwork of it.

 I sat in the sun and finished embellishing this piece yesterday whilst DH sat watching the Tour de France (how wonderful is that that in Jubilee year and the year that London hosts the Olympics we have a British winner?) I don't really know what to do with it now though other than toss it in the back of the cupboard and found it difficult to get effect I had in mind.  I had no suitable ribbon to do the hedge as I knew it was neither black nor green so I used narrow cut strips of fabric - what a lot of misapplied labour I thought last night when I had had enough of it! Without the photo you'd never guess what it was meant to be would you but hey I enjoyed my couple of hours in the garden under the umbrella (yes it was so sunny we needed to have some shade).

I'll stop waffling on now and if you are still with me - thanks and congratulations you deserve a medal!

December colour post

Brrr! It's freezing and dull here today so some December colour is definitely called for. I had this post all ready as a draft and when I posted it just now it appeared below the last post and was dated 28 November - is there a way to move a post? I ended up deleting it and am doing it all again!

These flower photos are from the archives although I do still have some geraniums in bloom in the unheated conservatory which is very cheering.

Here is some colourful ribbon weaving in progress - was hoping to make some tree decorations like the ones in the photo below to take to Surrey with me for a get together on Friday but I gather they have had snow all day yesterday so maybe I won't be going!

Thank you for all your kind comments on the death of my camera. I don't think Santa is going to come up trumps this year since as you may remember I resolved not to give any presents this year and so cannot expect to receive any either! However this afternoon we have a lady coming from ELSA (English Longitudinal Study of Aging - research into aging which we have been involved in for nearly 10 years) to interview us and as it takes a couple of hours we get paid £20 each so my cheque can go towards a new camera can't it!! Some advantages in getting older eh?!

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Hope those of you in the UK are keeping warm - remember only 3 more colour posts till Spring and the days will begin getting longer in just under 3 weeks - can't be all bad can it?!!

Antiques and Collectibles at Shepton Mallet

We went to the Antiques and Collectibles Fair at Shepton Mallet (courtesy of some tickets sent to me by The Washerwoman ) Thank you so much Lizzie a little Thank You card is in the post to you - it was great to meet you and have a little chat. I did come back to your stand as we were leaving but you weren't there!

I was amazed at the number of stalls there were, many of which were for serious antiques hunters with wads of money to spend and displayed inside but the most interesting stuff for me was outside and I really felt for the stall holders as it was bitterly cold in the open although the weather did at least stay dry. I didn't spend much but I did buy these tiles (neither antique nor collectible) which I thought I might be able to make into a casserole stand perhaps.

These pretty vintage cards,

and this lovely bowl (pity I didn't dust it before photographing it eh?!)

It is Havilland and made in Limoges - I don't know why it is but every time I spot a piece of china I like it turns out to be Limoges and more often than not Havilland. This little bowl was very slightly chipped so I got it for £1!!! I don't care about the chip - I just love it for its pretty delicate design.

I didn't buy this but wished I could have done - isn't it fabulous? I was going to save it for the Monthly colour post as it is so bright but decided not to wait. It was hanging over the balcony and many of the patches were torn and damaged but the workmanship in it was amazing but for £200+ I had to leave it behind and just be inspired to have a go at a quilt myslef using crazy squares. Don't hold your breath though will you as I have the little jumper to finish first - am just sewing it up now and hope to get it in the post before the 24th as requested. Hope to do a Ta da post very soon!!

September

September mornings have a special beauty all their own - summer's blowsy bright colours are gradually giving way to the softer more subtle palette of autumn. The term autumn colours often brings to mind the wonderful gold, crimson and orange shades of the changing leaves but it has also a softer scheme of pinks and mauves - think of michaelmas daisies, asters, spindleberries and so on.

Here amongst the hips of the rosa rugosa are a few last brave pink roses and behind in the wood the tall spires of rosebay willowherb are gradually losing their pink flowers and instead are covered in fluffy seeds ....

The leaves of the clematis montana have turned to a lovely subtle shade ......

The hydrangea flowers are slowly fading and none the less beautiful for that. It reminds me that youthfulness is not the only sort of loveliness and that age brings with it it's own beauty both for the plants and indeed for those of us who are in the September of our years!

Everything is now seen through a feint veil of mist - things are no longer quite so sharply defined as before (is that why many of us now need to resort to glasses!). I love the soft mistiness of it all with the thin spire of smoke drifting slowly upwards.

Again the colours are not now so bright but they have their own beauty in their soft shades. No longer can I see clearly the distant hills they are lost in a veil of blue/grey mist.

Yet the skies are still as blue ...

... and the days are still warm and sunny but now they are shorter and we don't get as much done before the chill of evening comes and gradually darkness falls. I would hate to live somewhere where the days were always the same length and I like the darkening evenings when I can find time to snuggle down indoors with some craftwork - I don't think I could keep up the pace of long summer days and evenings spent watering the garden! Bring on autumn!!!

September for me speaks of new beginnings, though it is many years since I began a new year at school, and I decided that if a new year is about to start I should finish off some of the UFOs I have had hanging about so yesterday I set to and made a couple of cushions from the pieces of crazy patchwork which have been waiting for months to be made into something (the turquoise one was actually made at the patchwork group I attended in France and the other one is made from some lovely silks from a sample book I bought for £1 at a flea market) .......

....... the smaller bits I made into cards. I wouldn't win a prize for neatness but they will be sent with love so maybe it won't matter too much!