Busier than a one-armed paper-hanger

(Dolly Parton, Steel Magnolias).

Some people have been doing a lot of this:

while others have been creating more of this:

There was some dispute after the last pictures I put up of my table, with people suggesting it wasn't really mess.  So here's a close up.  The screwdriver has been living there for at least a week, not sure what it was used for but it obviously needs to be kept handy.

Reassuringly, a theme is emerging:

Blue.  Lots of it.  Hmmm.

But I've moved on from "big" things to "small" things, easy wins (I hope):

These now have assorted dingle-dangles and are little brooches.  I've only just stitched the pins on, and I'm supposed to be getting ready to go and teach (last session of the year) so I'll have to post a pic of the finished ones another time. 

And if my East Sussex public don't feel the need to adorn themselves with embroidered felted dingle-dangles, I've signed myself up for an Etsy shop - to be launched post-Art Trail!

I'm in heaven

or at least I soon will be.

We've finally made the decision to go here again this summer:

Deciding where to go wasn't really the hard part.  After all, this will be our seventh year going to the same place: the Girl doesn't remember spending summer holidays anywhere else.  Depressingly, the decision rested on whether Mr Gonecycling had had just a little too much time to go cycling this year and not enough time writing words in exchange for hard cash.

But in the end it was this weekend's weather that swung it for us.  Wrapped up in waterproofs for our whippet walks, with the drizzle dripping off the end of our noses, someone sooner or later pipes up "Camping, anybody?" and we know we just have to go again.  It doesn't always rain...and if we do get wet, someone will dry us off with big fluffy towels:

And so, despite having a mountain of preparation to do for the Art Trail, part of me is in heaven already.  I've dug out lists and notebooks from previous years, packed full of indispensable advice such as "red fruity teabags are good", "take a large ginger cake", "bottle of cold rosé from the bar 7€" and not forgetting gems such as "Best baguette from yellow bakery 1€, exploding bread 85¢".  I've even got the drawing I did of how we packed the car last year.

And most fun of all, I've started a chart of Eurotunnel crossings, arrival times and estimated driving times, taking into account the time spent queuing for every single blimmin' autoroute toll on the way home last year...

Bliss. 

From the ashes

Well, not ashes as such, just the general scene of destruction and chaos that is my desk:

which has also spread, somewhat...it is like a tide of messiness, now lapping the shore of the remaining clear bits of dining table...we will surely drown in messiness....this little arrangement next to where I sit to eat has been growing steadily all week:

I'll just have to eat off my lap "in front of the box" as Granny used to say.

How did we get from ashes to floods to TV dinners? 

Anyway, from the ashes springs new life - I have been busy sticking stuff in frames to make it all look a bit more "pro":

and spot the difference:

I found these frames locally, and I've also rescued a fair few from the charity shops.  I intend to strip those ones back and take the glass out, and have spent countless hours perusing the interweb looking at framing equipment.  (Why isn't Gonecycling "Gonecarpentering"?  He cuts wood like I cycle up hills - a lot of moaning and effort, and ending up all hot and bothered).

OH YES.  I forgot to mention.  Remember this?

I came second!  Hooray!  I lost to a rockpool...

Cake and culture

I've been meaning to post for what seems like ages, but I've been busy eating too much of this:

There isn't any left now: we ate large chunks from a tupperware box, washed down with tea from a cardboard cup, whilst perched on our wooden seats at the Globe on Saturday.  My favourite production there so far, and it was a delight to hear the Girl chuckling and giggling all the way through.

And if that little slice of Shakespeare wasn't enough, someone wrote a sonnet for me.

I only get one every twenty years, so I'm feeling a bit choked up!



Half term report

It all started quite well, with the creation of a button babe for Granny:

And Granny was duly chuffed.

I proceeded to make a little seascape on a canvas (new idea for presenting work):

I was quite pleased, but remain confused as to how to finish the back.  In galleries you can't just take stuff off the wall and see how other people have finished things and rigged up a hanging mechanism - which is a shame as I really really want to know!

Then it all went downhill, with my sudden urge to play with plaster bandage:

At least I ended up with a finished bowl, entitled "Are we nearly there yet?". 

And yes, there's a double meaning in that...

Having my fill of plaster and acrylic and glue and all manner of sticky stuff, I then got all in a lather and made some felt:

And so it remains: I haven't got any further with it.  It's loosely based on a cross-section of a plant stem.

During all this, the Girl was being wonderful and creative and exceedingly well behaved.

Shame I wasn't.  I got in a huge temper on Friday and slammed the airing cupboard door, so the hook that holds the ironing board (what's that?) got half ripped out and so I had to clear out part of the wardrobe to store it elsewhere.  In so doing, I had to dig this out:

It's my "metre piece" from my City & Guilds Diploma. 

It's now going in the Art Trail and may just save the day.

(It is also loosely based on microscopic detail of plant stems and cells).

Temper has improved now, and I have moved on to other things, much to the relief of the whole family.