April Showers

Our Californian friends, here for a few days, enjoyed the weather forecast yesterday, which predicted “sunny spells with intermittent showers”.  Well, we are in England, and watching and commentating on the weather is our national sport, isn’t it?  We’ve watched the storm rumble in over the valley but thankfully, it passed over without trouble and our days have been happy and full of joy.  Just how we like them.

There have been a few surprises, starting with a day in Birmingham where the new library was a great place to begin our walk around the city.

The bright, modern structure offered a few surprises of its own, including the Shakespeare room

 

and the Secret Garden, from where there are magnificent views of what we’ve always regarded as Britain’s second city.

Next time we visit, we’ll give one of the Dozens and Trails a try.  Sounds like fun.  However, we already had a plan for our day and the next stop was the Grayson Perry exhibit at the Museum and Art Gallery.

As an introduction to British class and culture, it was hard to imagine anything better and the conversation which followed proved to be a theme for the week.  Such clever observation, so well depicted, we were glad to watch a little of the TV programme where the artist gathered information for the tapestries as well.

Of course, we had to sneak a quick look in Selfridges on our way to visit the Back to Backs, where a one hour tour turned into a rather longer guided survey, as such and the afternoon was whizzing by.

Interesting as it all was, we were keen to move on, because we had plans. 

An early supper by the canal and then…

Another blast from the past, almost as nostalgic as the Back to Back houses: a performance of Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Rick Wakeman! 

We drove home humming that tune, hoping the late night would kick the jet lag into touch

Another night out

Barbara rang to ask if I’d like to go with her to a new WI which has just been formed in Horsley the other night.  Never one to refuse a fun night out, of course I jumped at the chance, particularly when I heard they were going to have a model for a life drawing session.

I knew they were an arty-crafty bunch so took my chicken along, too, in case they were looking for an idea for a future meeting. 

They meet in Horsley church, which has a large, open space and proved to be a really comfortable setting.  After a glass of wine, we added a few more chairs to the circle already there and gathered our concentration, our pencils and our drawing pads. Andy, the model offered a little drawing advice as he posed, setting several challenges of short, 2 minute sketches and longer, ten minute drawings.  I couldn’t help but wonder what inspires a chap to potter about naked amongst a bunch of women all evening, but potter comfortably about he did, with only an occasional use of his sarong to preserve what little modesty remained.  I had to admire his ability to maintain that one-legged pose, holding his left foot in his hand, whilst feeling thankful that we had the side view to draw because two minutes isn’t really long enough to go into too much detail, is it?

We had such a fun evening with this lively bunch of young women and enjoyed the chance to do a bit of drawing too.  All or Muffin WI has a Facebook page with more photographs and information about their meetings, if you are inspired to go along and join in the fun!

with the Textile Treasures

I’ve had the date in my diary for ages.  It took a bit of effort to pin eight busy women down and find a time when we could all get together but somehow, Pat sorted us all out, booked the hotel and made the arrangements for our shindig.  We met last evening and shared the news over dinner, so that today we could focus on the task in hand and not spend the day gossiping!

First step, make three rings from three pieces of willow.  Actually, those pieces are called “rods” or “whips” and I ought to have acquired the correct terminology, because we were working with our friend and colleague Norah, who is an expert in such things.  We were at the Ardington School of Crafts, owned and run by another friend and colleague, so felt very much at home the whole time we were there.

One thing we loved was how well everything in the school had been thought through, even down to the shelves under the table for stashing bags and stuff.

We were all absolute beginners and didn’t expect to achieve a great deal, but as the morning wore on, we became more confident in selecting the right kind of willow and using the bodkin to create a space through which to push the rods.  Norah was on hand though, to reassure and to explain.  We couldn’t really go wrong!

Her help was definitely needed at this next stage because it was going to be crucial to the successful outcome of the project. The angle of those two rings was going to form the characteristic shape.  Can you see what it is yet?

I’d never really seen a chicken as a “U” shape before, but tying the two ends together and bringing up that front piece at the right angle created the neck and the tail and immediately, i could see where we were going with this.

In the meantime, on the other side of the room, a couple of piglets were taking shape!

By lunchtime, we’d filled in the framework of our hens and our piglets with “scribbling”, or weaving thin rods of willow in and out at random, creating a solid shape and hopefully, building a structure which will withstand the weather.  We left our masterpieces in the workshop and went for a sit down and a yummy sandwich lunch, but all the time, couldn’t wait to return to our work.

Further 1:1 tuition needed, for creating beaks and trotters.

Do they have to be the same size?

There were other appendages to create, too.

During the next couple of hours, we created colourful tail feathers, wrapped a few rods of thin willow to create a head and placed a piece carefully, to create an eye.  Fixing the legs securely wasn’t easy; balancing the body  with that heavy tail was impossible, but somehow we persuaded our creations to stand against the wall and considered Norah’s suggestion of placing a heavy stone inside once we were home.  We stood back and admired our handiwork before setting our creations free in the garden.

Five fat hens and two piglets posed on the gravel for their moment of fame!

Easter Sunday

After a few gloriously sunny Spring days here, sad to say it’s rather chilly and overcast, but at least we can bring a little sunshine inside!  Bettine’s coming for lunch today and so the three of us will sit down to a traditional Easter Sunday lunch.

Being in London last week means that we have a few superior Easter eggs to enjoy.

But of course, we simply can’t resist the old favourites too.

Happy Easter!

Over the border today

I’m feeling a bit like a pinball, bouncing around from one side of the country to another but simply can’t resist it when an invitation arrives, offering me a chance of a day spent amongst like minded friends.  So, this morning, as the gas fitter Alex drove from Newport to complete the fitting of our new boiler, I did a kind of exchange visit and spent the day there, judging the staging and interpretation of Gwent Federation’s entries for the Royal Welsh Rose Bowl competition. 

Now, I’m looking forward to a few quieter days at home!