All fiction, of course

A beautiful day, yesterday.  Just perfect for being out and about, enjoying the fresh air and the prospect of some thought-provoking discussions at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.  I’d booked a couple of events, thinking that they’d fit nicely in with my work this week which takes me to the outskirts of Cheltenham several times a day.  With one classroom visit planned for 3.30 yesterday afternoon, and another scheduled for 6.30 in the evening, I could comfortably fit in one session in the morning and another in the early afternoon.

So, yesterday morning, I joined the well-dressed ladies and generally elderly couples who were also headed for The Salon, to hear a discussion entitled What is Memory?   Fascinating stuff, for sure, and definitely something to read more into, it was a great start to the day. 

I buzzed off for a bite to eat at lunchtime, but wanted to find the Great Tapestry of Scotland, which I knew was hanging somewhere in the Festival area.  As I suspected, it was on show in the Town Hall rather than one of the temporary buildings in the park, so I spent a happy half hour looking at selected pieces from this magnificent project.

 

Hanging above head height, along a corridor, I was really pleased to be almost by myself in the area, because when it’s busy and in between sessions, I can’t imagine how anyone is going to be able to stand and stare.

Fortunately, it being lunchtime, there were few people around and I could take photographs too (though the light wasn’t so good for that)

The work is wonderful and each panel is so beautifully embroidered, though I wish the term “tapestry” hadn’t been used.  I cheered when the young historian describing the Bayeux Tapestry explained on TV last weekend, that it too is not actually a “tapestry” as such, being embroidered not woven, and can imagine that this is going to be another prompt for a similar explanation.

But hey, on such a beautiful day, who wanted to niggle?  Well, me actually, because the second event I’d booked: Are all Memories Fiction? failed to live up to the same standard as the morning discussion.  Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to allow an eminent professor to come to a conclusion that yes, of course they are in the first five minutes?

Oh well, I think we all knew that anyway, in our hearts.  The absolute facts might well be recorded somewhere, but we fill in all the other details ourselves, don’t we?  I’ll return to some of the topics discussed in a future blog post, but made sure to scribble down some notes at the time, so that I might at least get some of the facts correct.  My memory might just not be that reliable.

Instant Gratification

I’d spent the morning writing lesson plans and other, similar programmes when I looked at my watch.  11.30am and I’d more or less completed what I needed to do so I looked forward to an afternoon to do as I wished and clicked Pinterest on my toolbar thinking I’d mooch about the internet until my hero was ready to go to the pub for lunch.

Well, it is Friday, isn’t it?

Oh, those are fine green shoes…and hmm, my friend Jordi has posted a video.  What’s all that about, then?

Butin Collar cast on?  What?  I think I need to investigate further.

As usual, Ravelry has the answer and this is looking interesting.

Ten minutes after seeing that little video on Pinterest, I’ve bought the pattern, paid for it using PayPal and am downloading it.

A couple of minutes later, it’s printing out and I’m looking in my bead drawer for #6 and #8 beads.

I think I have some, somewhere…  I’m pretty sure I have the needles and the yarn as well.

Well, that’s what stash is for, isn’t it?  Why we keep these things on hand?  And, having assembled the “ingredients”, we went off to the pub for lunch. 

No, don’t be silly, of course I’m not wearing the necklace this afternoon!

It’s blocking on the ironing board

Ordinary days

Thursday must be “my day”, because I just opened my blog to write a new post and see that it’s a whole week since I last had anything to blog about!  Well, that’s probably not strictly so, but I’ve been working the last three days and in between the report writing, class visiting and meetings, I’ve been assessing portfolios which the postman has been delivering at regular intervals.  I enjoy keeping busy, am always pleased to see days filled with mixed activity and like to tick things off my list.

Are these “ordinary days” then?  Days with nothing special to write home about, as my Nan might have said?  When the only photograph I take all day is a little heap of fallen leaves, blown into a heart shape by the wind?

Or when the news of the day is that one tree over the valley has turned the most amazing shade of fiery red?

Today was “my” day, once I’d finished a heap of assessment work and tied up one or two loose ends of admin and I was pleased to spend it at home.  The rain was pouring down until an hour or so ago when I snook out into the garden for ten minutes and enjoyed “the sweetness of the wet garden”, a phrase which brings back days of a Cat Stevens LP and a Dansette record player in my bedroom.

I wasn’t the only one to be making the most of the break in the showers – the caryopteris was abuzz with activity and I only had to take around twenty or so photographs to get one with a recognisable bee – the others were just a blur!

But in between the files and folders, I have done a bit of broomstick crochet as promised.  Not a great deal, but then I’m not sure that there’s much to learn, once the basic principles have been grasped.  I’ve done enough to recognise that yarn choice is key, however, and that a fairly loose twist cotton isn’t the best one for a beginner.  Anyway, I pinned a few ideas on my Pinterest board and we’ll see if I feel inspired to do more or not.

So for now, let’s hear it for quiet days like this.  Days when we have enough to do but are not overwhelmed.  Days when an email from faraway friends arrives with exciting suggestions and plans for sunny days to look forward to, when there’s apple crumble in the oven, I’m in the middle of a good book and there’s something good on the telly!

Who needs excitement?!

Around to it.

I finally completed my road trip journal.  Not bad – only a month and a bit late!  I might share a few pages here in due course, but for now, I’ll leave you with one of my favourite pages because I’m sure you will feel better for a little Schiller.  Auf Deutsch, of course. (It’s from Wilhelm Tell and was scribed on the wall of the steamer we took on the lake that afternoon)

So, with an afternoon to myself, I cracked open the box of goodies bought in La Droguerie, Lille: the makings of a scarf.  Everything included, this should be a breeze, I thought.

Aha!  En Français!   Pas de problème!

I knew how to “surfiler”, bien sûr. 

But what about the colours?  “Bleu Canard”?  “Bleu Klein”?  My hero was brought in as a second opinion and we studied picture and materials and worked it out together.

Actually, I’d already sewn the pieces together by then and fortunately, had got it right!

The ends of the scarf are finished with a double piped edge, really clever, especially when someone has already done the first step of the piping!  I stitched one edge in place before realising that this is tricky – the fabric was stretchy and needed more care.  I got out my Clover clips and found them very useful indeed as I had another go, taking it slowly and carefully.

Actually, I needed several goes before I could get the stitching close enough to the piping cord for it to look acceptable.

Having completed all four piped ends, I sewed one long edge and pressed the seam open, as per instructions.

Time to apply the spots.  Each one was cut from fabric with a thin vilene backing.  Having sorted them out and distributed the colours, I pinned them in place ready to sew.

So far so good.  I considered getting out the 505 spray adhesive instead of pins but thought I’d continue as the instructions told me to.  With hindsight though, I ought to have done that – it would have made the next step much easier.

Zigzagging around circles isn’t easy.  The small, one inch circles especially so and having completed two or three, I wished I’d handsewn them, or even done some more free-style embroidery scribbles instead.  Never mind.  In true blogging tradition, I have included the photograph of the best one.  Just imagine they are all like that!

Twenty four circles later, and I was glad to be finished with that.  Time to sew the other long edge up and finish the ends.

The piping is a really neat feature of this scarf and it’s something I’ll keep in mind for future.  Not only does it add a little personality to the otherwise simple rectangle, it adds weight to the ends and also conceals the hand stitched closing seam.

Weird colours in this photograph – it really is the same scarf!  But it shows the end result with the double piped seam.  Neat!

And there it was, done!

I’m really pleased with the finished scarf, not only the colour combination but the individuality too.  La Droguerie do come up with these good ideas with a little French “pizazz” and elegance.

Best of all is the fabric.  It’s cotton sateen, has a rich sheen and depth of colour and was very enjoyable to sew.  Worst thing was stitching those pesky circles to a single layer of fabric without any stabiliser.  Next time, I’ll add another layer of something underneath, just to hold it all together a little more.

Not bad for an afternoon’s work though?

Seasonal colours

It’s the first “cobwebby” day today.  A heavy dew and a misty morning, typical of the season but in this unseasonally warm and humid weather we’re having right now, it came as a surprise.

I love to see the hammock-like structures there in the garden even if I’m not quite so fond of the creatures who were clever enough to build them!

Anyway, we thought it time to bring in some of the fruit which has been weighing down the branches of the trees for the last few weeks.  It’s a bumper crop out there and we have an abundance of apples and plums. 

Not only are they there in quantity, I can’t remember there being such a glorious wealth of colour in previous years.

The sight of these beautiful rosy red apples hanging from the branches was like an illustration from a child’s story book.  They taste a little too perfumed for my liking, but they bake well and they’ll find their way into one or two pies and crumbles in the next few weeks, I know.

The plums are so pretty too, with that bluish haze on them.

The leaves haven’t quite begun to turn yet, but the colours of autumn are here in a different form, for sure.