Next step

Leaving the 205 at Liverpool Street, I gathered my bags and headed for my other favourite bus in this part of London – the 23.  Thankfully, it starts right outside the station, so I was not only assured of a seat, but one with room for my suitcase too.  It’s an absolute bargain of a sightseeing tour as it passes through the City to St Pauls, up Fleet Street and past the High Courts, Somerset House and along the Strand to Trafalgar Square.  It continues through Piccadilly, up Regent Street and Oxford Street to Marble Arch offering a perfect view of the Christmas lights and the wonderful shop windows, so lavishly decorated at this time of the year.  The last stretch along Edgware Road isn’t so interesting but nevertheless, it’s a great spot for people watching and in my opinion, there’s no better – easier - way to get to Paddington.  Patience is needed, however, because the traffic doesn’t always flow quite as smoothly as one might hope!

Unlike the regular passengers who spend their journey time on the phone or reading the newspaper, I’m always looking out of the window.  As we passed the Bank of England, I caught sight of a familiar character through the stonework.  I’d forgotten that there’s a Paddington Trail to follow and this young bear was clearly part of the fun.

Needless to say, I found another in the station which bears his name

For the next part of my journey, my ticket was a screen on my phone.  I’d paid dearly for it this morning: it’s reputed to be the most expensive rail journey in the country, so when I saw it was very crowded indeed, I was determined I was not going to stand!  Eventually, I found somewhere to sit, accompanied a firm but polite request with a hard stare and the young man moved his rucksack from the last remaining seat in the carriage.

The Chief Scout was waiting to greet me when I arrived at Heathrow!

(Almost) anything is possible

The day got off to a rather good start.  When ordering my breakfast in the Pret A Manger just down the road, the barista didn’t respond immediately to my arrival at the counter.  The manager happened to be watching and “rewarded my patience” (I had to wait all of ten seconds) with a latte on the house.  What’s not to like?

Hannah was ready to start when I got there and we were soon reviewing the small triumphs of yesterday – buttonholes, buttons and the magical tapering facility which I had not even known about.  OK, so some of my samples needed a little more care and attention, but hey, I got that square almost right!

Today was all about embroidering and using the machine’s inbuilt software to design and modify stitches.  I’d played around with the stitch regulator yesterday to create this little bit of free motion quilting – that clearly needs more practice too.  So, until I can manage that process reliably, I’ll need to learn how to program the machine to do it for me.

Well, ok, it’s no masterpiece, but the facility of being able to scribble on the screen of the machine, to press “go” and then to sit back and watch the scribble turn into a stitch is a great trick to have at my disposal.  Still, I’d have preferred those scribbled curves to have been smooth and not jaggy, just as in my drawing.  I searched for a means of making the stitches smaller but although I could reduce the size of the whole pattern, there wasn’t an obvious way to increase the stitch count.  Hmmm.  Well perhaps my super duper machine does have its limitations after all!

After lunch, I explored the ways in which embroidery designs can be modified without returning to the software and how the most basic of stitches can be turned into interesting (and sometimes messy) patterns.  Throughout the day, I’d had so many opportunities to have all my questions answered, to find out more about some of the accessories and see first hand what can be achieved with them and best of all, to establish contact with and learn from the real expert. I’m looking forward to setting aside a few days to work through the pages of notes I took and to spending time reinforcing what I’ve learned here.

With my head buzzing I stepped out along Goswell Road, admiring the colours in the leaves which were blowing around my feet.  In amongst the many was the one…

Lovely!

A few minutes later, my vehicle of choice was approaching and I was on my way back.  Not home, but to collect my luggage for the next stage on the adventure!

In a class of my own

I headed out to Bernina first thing this morning for the first day of training for my sewing machine.  The joining instructions were clear: there would be just half an hour for lunch so sandwiches should be brought en route and allowing plenty of time for two stops on the tube and a seven minute walk, I rolled up with ten minutes to spare.

I was surprised to find I was the first to arrive.

I was even more surprised to find I was the only one booked in for the class! 

Even so, there was a programme of instruction to be followed, starting with essential maintenance – cleaning and oiling.  Hannah and I were already acquainted having met at the Festival of Quilts, where she’d offered some support when my hero was upgrading the Bernina software.  So, it was more of a friendly run through the details rather than formal tuition which was particularly enjoyable for me.

It meant I could ask specific questions too, without fear of taking up valuable time from others who might have more pressing needs.  I’d had difficulty adjusting the bobbin tension when using some 30wt thread to stitch denim recently but all became clear once it was demonstrated at close quarters.  The changes from my last Bernina are many and the new bobbin system has taken some getting used to, being not so immediately/obviously/conventionally adjustable (until now).

The day was spent mostly on the basic functions of the machine and the practical applications, many of which were already familiar.  However, Hannah had a few new tricks up her sleeve to show me and I was glad to have had the time to explore some of the things I hadn’t discovered so far.

With such focused attention, the programme for the day was complete by 2.30pm, so we called it a day so that I could follow up Hannah’s recommendation of a visit to Raystitch.  I was pleased to have had chance to take a look around this amazing emporium where the stock was so much to my taste, I could have selected it all myself!  The Nano Iro Japanese double gauze is lovely but needless to say as soon as I stood in front of it, I couldn’t remember what it was I had thought of using it for.  Some lovely linen here too plus an amazing range of basic haberdashery including the irresistible Merchant and Mills pins – I had to have a box of entomology pins!

Anyway, the 205 bus is my friend and to-ing and fro-ing during the last couple of days has become second nature – I’ll always take the bus in preference to the tube.

After a quick wash and change, I was off out again, taking the chance to sneak in a quick look in the National Portrait Gallery before meeting Edward to go to the opera.  There wasn’t enough time to do anything serious; I reckoned I had thirty minutes at the most, so I simply visited a few favourites, of which I’m not sure this sentimental monstrosity counts!

I much prefer the completely unsentimental pose of the handsome Albert Ball, born in the same year as my Grandad and whose story is told beneath the smallish bronze on a simple plinth.   I don’t recall the full sized monument in Nottingham at all, but I think it must make an even more striking tribute to this young man.

 

I smiled as I passed the Grayson Perry exhibits dotted around the gallery, having enjoyed the TV programmes.  But what really caught my eye was a small exhibition of Catherine Goodman’s portraits.  All worked from life, these heavily encrusted paintings were so skilful in capturing the personalities and each one had layers of stories built into the final portrait.  I wished I’d had longer to spend in these two rooms alone.

I particularly liked Emma Freud’s statement alongside this portrait of Stephanie Pierce, The Headmistress:

“I have yet to understand how some particles of pigment suspended in linseed oil are able to reproduce a life lived long and fulsome”.

Sadly, I was turfed out of the gallery shortly afterward – not for bad behaviour but because it was closing time!

Just time to meet up with Edward then, to take our seats for The Marriage of Figaro and to enjoy a really outstanding performance at the Coliseum.  The production was super, very funny in parts and beautifully sung.  We both declared it to have been a great choice.

Another late night then, and another day at Bernina tomorrow to look forward to!

Bright Lights

The next phase of fun has begun with a few days in London and a rich assortment of activities to keep me on my toes.  Another complex packing challenge is complete and with just one more “adjustment” to be done later in the week, so far, so good.

Checking into the hotel yesterday brought back memories of a rather special day three years ago when we held an amazing party in this space.  Now, a bunch of bankers were convening for a buffet lunch and we left them to it and buzzed off to make the most of our time here.

We enjoyed an afternoon out in the fresh air, taking a wander around Spitalfields where the remains of this paisley pattern on the pavement was representative of all that’s left of the rich textile heritage of the area.  Not much going on in the market either on this Monday afternoon – plenty of sellers but not many buyers at all.  We made our way through the office towers trying to dodge groups of smokers under the canopies and the fug that surrounded them.

Thankfully there are still a few trees in amongst all that steel and glass and the we admired the beautiful autumn colours on what was really a dreary afternoon.  We returned to the hotel to put on our glad rags and meet up with Edward, Amy and our Kiwi friends, Fiona and Wayne for dinner over the road at Galvin La Chapelle, one of our all time favourites.

Today, we enjoyed a fun lunch at the Park Lane Hilton where the 2014 UK Bus Awards were presented and the decisions we made on those warm summer days in Victoria were announced.  It’s always a lively do and made all the more interesting because we see so many old friends there and this year was no exception. 

Afterwards, however, my hero and I went our separate ways.  He went off to Paddington to catch the train home whilst I took off the party shoes and put my flats back on to walk through Mayfair and on into Oxford Street.  I visited my usual haunts – Blink to get my eyebrows done, the magazine counter to see what’s new there and a quick whiz around M&S to see if there’s anything more inspiring in the Marble Arch store than we see at home.  (There isn’t)

The shoppers were out in force and clearly, Christmas has been switched on all round here.  I know, it’s only 30-odd days to go but I’m not really ready to embrace the idea yet.

There’s something about Scandinavian style decorations though, isn’t there?

I hope I’ll have another opportunity before Christmas to come and savour the richly decorated windows, but for now, enough.  I was meeting Edward again tonight, he’d booked a table at one of his favourite Italian restaurants and I needed to get to Highbury station.  Trullo was every bit as good as he’d said it would be and it came as no surprise that it was packed, even on a Tuesday night!

So, here I am with a huge hotel room to myself and hoping for a good night’s sleep.  Tomorrow, I’m going to need all my powers of concentration because Bernina friends, the fun is nigh!

Turnaround

It’s changeover day here.  The washing machine is working hard and we are up and downstairs, sorting things out and asking “have you  …?”

The answer to this question was yes!

We had a fun couple of days in Wrexham.  Neither of us had been there before, though I’d been to a conference somewhere nearby a few years ago.  Anyway, all went according to plan, my work there was worthwhile (I hope) and both journeys were trouble-free.

My workshop took place in Oriel Wrecsam where the exhibition of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” drew my attention.  This little arrangement on the wall appealed to me – something about the proportions and the limited use of colour, I think, though the relevance to the theme of the exhibition left me wondering.

For me, it was the traditional Ardizzone illustrations which proved the most appealing however.  They bring back memories of schooldays, of “silent reading” in draughty classrooms and books borrowed from the Junior Library in Hull.  Lovely.

With a full day workshop to teach on Saturday, the idea of exploring beyond the town centre was a non-starter until I was told that I needed to leave the gallery before they closed at 3pm.  Workshop content was quickly adjusted then and off we went, mid afternoon to look for the aquaduct at Chirk.

Telford’s masterpiece of engineering carries the Llangollen canal high over the Ceiriog Valley and alongside is a similar construction bearing the railway line.

The canal was closed so there was no traffic, sadly.  It must be spectacular to watch the boats crossing, I think!  WE peered through the closed tunnel and could just see a little daylight at the other end.

On such a still, Autumn afternoon, it would have made a lovely walk – not for the faint hearted though.

So we peered along the waterway, crossed over the border to read the sign

and crossed back into Wales again.

Meanwhile, just down the road, this was taking place.  Who knew?

(Oh, and if your Welsh is as good as mine, you’ll need the translation in order to answer the question, “Have you paid and displayed?”  Normally, we have a good chance of guessing the meaning of a sign, even when we don’t speak the lingo.  Here – no chance!!)