Today

I didn't intend this to become a weather blog.  Neither did I mean to document the dull and frankly, rather boring, details of everyday life.  So, fired up with the enthusiasm that results from a re-entry into the world after almost a month of hibernation at home, it's time to place a marker or two about where I am right now, creatively speaking.

Charlotte's Web is taking shape nicely, though I've got to the part where doing one row takes forever.  With only fourteen more rows to go, I'm aiming to get it finished sooner rather than later, because I have these in mind.

Or possibly these.  Who knows, I might even knit both!

Yes, it's that kind of day.

The Christmas Journal is complete and resulted in a bumper edition this year.  Finishing all the details on that, including a couple of pages from Mark about his week in Umea means that my "paper" workspace is looking pretty good right now.

That could be because most of the creative output of the last few days has been taking place elsewhere.

Spotlight has been on the sewing machine, which has been red hot, creating one or two samples for a little project I'm doing with some online chums.

When not sitting at the sewing machine, I've been at my computer, working through an online class exploring the nether reaches of Photoshop.  Time to get the Wacom out and get scribbling.

But my first few pieces of work bore a fair bit of resemblance to Athena posters of the 1970s, so I went a bit off piste, preferring the result of yesterday's creation to previous efforts.  Sometimes, I find it hard to strike out and do my own thing when a class is as prescriptive as this one, but if I'm to learn anything from it, then I have to apply the processes learned in my own way.

 

 The weaving's fine.  I've got myself a copy of a more helpful book.

I now need to work on my posture, for I find that weaving for anything longer than a few minutes leaves me with an aching back.  Not having back trouble of any kind so far, I don't want to start now!

Finally, there's the piles of guilt.  The larger-than-expected quilt top, which I'm building up courage to deal with.  Can I realistically expect to be able to machine quilt it myself?  Should I identify a manageable means of handquilting it?  Or should I cut my losses and get it quilted elsewhere?  There's also the halfway house option, of getting it professionally basted and then doing the quilting myself.  Decisions decisions!

There's also a pile of christmas fabrics sitting on my bench.  Now, wouldn't January be the perfect time to begin on a  couple of small Christmas quilts for 2010?  I have plans for something simple here....maybe a stacked coin design?

Not to mention the piles of books.

Recent reading has been easy, difficult to get into but fine when I did, quick and very entertaining and currently, thought-provoking.  I have my next book group title still to get into, never miind the pile in the photo.

Finally, somewhere in the middle of all of that, there's work to be done.  After all, who couldn't fail to be persuaded into exciting opportunities to hear about the latest vision, presented by dynamic practitioners?

You mean to say you wouldn't be influenced by the venue, a local rugby club?

good to be home

We're even (more or less) awake.

We left Japan feeling exactly how we've felt on earlier visits - we need to return. 

Soon! 

The Japanese way of doing things hits the spot with us every time, it seems.

At the airport, there's a huge origami exhibit and any spare time before a flight can be used to take an origami lesson with an expert.  Sadly, I found this out only minutes before boarding, but next time....  For after all, what better way to spend time cooped up on a plane but folding paper?

Yes, I quickly chose a kit to fold some cherry blossoms and envisaged folding a whole tree load in the next 12 hours.

As we left Narita and flew above the clouds, Fuji-san was there peeking through.  Magical.  I scrambled around trying to find the window with the best view and fewest reflections, more or less succeeding before we had left Japan behind and were over the sea, making our way over Kamchatca.

The rest of the flight was comfortable and, thankfully, uneventful.  I watched Duplicity, a film I'd never have chosen unless, as yesterday, there was little choice and I wasn't 100% awake.  I found it reasonably entertaining, though the size of Julia Roberts' lips is a bit of a distraction when the screen is mere inches from one's nose!

Did I fold paper?  Of course not.  I ate, slept, watched one film and then muttered my way through this months book group title which was a waste of anyone's time, in all senses! 

Now we are home, there are one or two things to put away.

Not only that, but because we left on my birthday, there's a pile of new books and other stuff to amuse and entertain as well.

I am a lucky girl.

Serious Things

My book group choice this time was Serious Things by Gregory Norminton.  Technically it had been my choice, since I'd cut out a review and handed it to Jackie, our librarian member who can sometimes get a title in sufficient quantity to save us all a purchase.  Surprisingly, there were enough copies of this to go around which caught me a bit on the hop, because I wasn't sure if it was going to be my cup of tea at all.

I was wrong.  It turned out to be a fairly easy read, beautifully written in a gentle and atmospheric style.  Fairly economic - some said sparse - use of words which nevertheless conveyed more than a first reading suggested.  Our discussion highlighted many events and characters that we'd forgotten along the way - so many small points were brought into the story and left undeveloped.  Having been irritated by last month's choice which tied up every loose end so conveniently (and completely unbelieveably) it came as a breath of fresh air to find that not every author sees the need to do that!

Recommended as one of those books which will stay with you, which will provoke all kinds of thoughts and queries for days after you finish the final page.  A good read.

Reading

I picked this book up in a 3 for 2 deal just before coming away, having heard someone in my book group recommend it.  Due to time being on the short side, I didn't read reviews of it and any publicity associated with it winning the Costa prize went straight over my head.  So, I dived in and found it a rather rocky read - at times I was turning pages quickly, enjoying the vivid descriptions and admiring the fine writing.  At other times, however, I felt adrift in the history and politics of the setting and had to ask Mark for clarification.  There are reviews and critiques all over the web (here, here and here for example), however, so I won't add my thoughts to the heap, with one exception.

I groaned at exactly the same place as everyone else, it seems.

Stunning read

I want to thank the author of the blog which sent me in search of this amazing book.  It took me a while to track her down - I felt sure I'd seen the book reviewed here and was a bit flummoxed when I couldn't find it.  Fortunately, I could remember asking for it in Cheltenham on a particular day - the 19th February - so did a trawl of likely blogs around that date and BINGO!  Thank you Badger!

(Go on, you're impressed at my detective skills, aren't you?  I was!)

Anyway, it wasn't an easy book to find.  Cheltenham Waterstones told me that it wasn't available to them, it was available only via Amazon uk Marketplace and at the time I wasn't that bothered. 

I should have been.

I found it, quite by chance, in the NK department store in Stockholm and remembered it because of its beautiful cover.  As one of the Amazon reviewers comments, the beauty of the cover is only surpassed by the contents - it was a remarkably satisfying read and one which left me feeling the richer for having read it.  Yes, nothing much happens, there's a cast of only two principal characters and the overwhelming feeling is one of quiet stillness.  But there is a true beginning, which gripped me from the first page, a real middle where the story develops and the characters are fleshed out and best of all, a satisfying conclusion.  In contrast to the book chosen by my bookgroup this month which irritated me on almost every page, Astrid and Veronika will be one of those books I will remember and cherish for quite some time.  More about the book on the author's page here.

Oh, and quite incidentally, my copy is a US Penguin edition, bound in a way which allows single handed reading and an intact spine simply due to the quality of the paper used.  For this reason, I really enjoy reading US paperbacks - wish UK produced books behaved like this.

(Does anyone know what I mean by this?)