Finished!

The last pages of my journal tell the story of the last few days quite well.  I’ve learned quite a bit and it turned out to be easy to identify a clear focus each day.  Samuel’s visit on Wednesday revealed what we all know already, but forget: How fast babies grow!  My visit to the dentist on Thursday was a rare reminder of how it feels to leave needing no further treatment…for now.

Friday and Saturday provided the last double page spread of the book and the greenish brown collaged surface was perfect for the photograph of Martin, which featured on the order of service for his funeral.  I was able to tuck the details behind the photo, because at some point in the future, I might look at the picture and wonder who?  what?  why?   But as I recorded in my previous blog post, the service taught me to take every opportunity to listen to the stories people tell of their lives – as well as to make the most of every day we have. 

The large purple splodge on the facing page might have been formidable, had I not created a purple card during a demonstration in the class I taught on Saturday.  Pure coincidence, serendipity, whatever, but with a clear message not to forget to have fun in the middle of all the form filling and administration that’s required in any adult learning situation these days.

The final page records our friend’s birthday party.  She will be ten this week and I provided the craft activity for her friends at her party yesterday afternoon.  When I was first married, I taught in a girls’ school and had a class of thirty ten year olds, so sitting at a table chatting to a couple of them about dragons took me right back to those happy days. 

I completed the journal with a list of the events which prompted the journalling.  I know that at some point I’ll need just that bit of extra information to put the page into perspective, so added a short sentence for each day.  I printed it out in my handwriting font…good fun and just a bit spooky, because although it looks just like my writing, at the same time it doesn’t really look as though I wrote it.  Hmmm.

So that completes the Learn Something New Journal for another year.  Tomorrow, as well as beetling down to Exeter to work for three days, I am going to begin a new project.    I have observed (and indeed, been a little bored by) so many blog posts recording their everyday life in this way, but ultimately, my curiosity has been piqued too.  So, I’m giving it a try between now and the end of the year and if it proves a comfortable and effective alternative to my photo a day, then perhaps it’s something I’ll continue.  Though I bought the “kit” to use during this first stage, I envisage including all kinds of things and will probably break free of the formula at some point.  We’ll see.

In the meantime, I’ve put everything away from the four bags full of things I took to my class on Saturday and now need to begin to pack for the next one.  I really am coming back as a French teacher in my next life.

Who knew?

We just come in from a funeral.  A friend’s husband died suddenly whilst enjoying a walking holiday with a group of people from their village, just two months after his 65th birthday.

We knew Martin well.  We’ve spent time in his company and over the years learned a little about him from the conversations we had here and there.  We knew he was a gifted linguist, that he loved his vintage sports cars and had gone to the same school as Admiral Lord Nelson.  But sitting listening to his cousin speak so eloquently in a packed country church this afternoon, we realised we didn’t know the half of it.

I know, we all have hidden depths and secret lives, but as we walked from the church I could only think about the conversation I would have loved to have had with Martin, had I but realised.  Sad to think that I won’t get the chance.

Update on Friday, September 28, 2012 at 6:27PM by Gill Thomas

I'm trying to recall the exact figure quoted by Martin's cousin for the total number of miles he ran.  I can get as far as nintey six thousand four hundred...and?   Well, if we rounded it up to 96 500 it would be pretty staggering, wouldn't it?  Regardless of whether it was miles or km, I think that's a tidy sum.

Progress

The phrase “Going forward” is one of my bêtes noires, especially when used in business-speak (and I’m not alone, it seems).  Things are progressing though and at times, it’s good to observe the changes.

The porridge season is upon us, with a tablespoon of condensed milk to celebrate the first cold morning.  We lit the stove for the first time on Sunday, but having made that first step into Autumn, we’ve not felt the need for it since.

The journal’s ticking over nicely and the pages shaping up.  The happy accidents of the pre determined backgrounds are working really well and I’m delighted how it has come together.  Next time, perhaps I’ll write directly on the page – don’t really know why I didn’t do that this time – because I’ll certainly make another journal like this before long.

The samples and preparation for a class I’m teaching this weekend are coming along too, though it’s a bit like pulling teeth.  I’m juggling three similar projects right now, and trying to focus on any one of them is proving quite a challenge.  I really don’t like running things right up to the wire and would much prefer to have it all set out well ahead of time, but on this occasion, I think (hope) it’s all going to come together in the last 24 hours.  I had it all sorted (have it all sorted), but decided to change the running order around to make it work more efficiently and that means working out a few different timings and so on.   Usually, when I dither about like this it means I have too much time on my hands, because, like many of us, I work best under pressure!

Anyway, there was more important, interesting and rather gorgeous progress to note today.  The last time we saw these little hands they were rather smaller and not quite so good at holding giraffes.  Watching Samuel flexing his muscles and discovering how to roll over, I suspect that there’s soon going to be a good bit of progress on that front too!

The visit of our sweet friend and her lovely son was the perfect excuse to stop work and enjoy a couple of hours with them this lunchtime.  Unfortunately, having just waved them goodbye, I think it’s time to set to work again.

As soon as I finish this blog post ;-)

Postage

It’s my dear friend’s birthday this weekend and I need to post her card.  I wasn’t sure of the current price to send a card to Europe but my hero googled and found it’s 87p.

Time to get out the stamp box.  It’s a smart crystal glass box, given to us a few years ago as a Christmas gift  by the company chairman, who was an MP.  It’s a bit battered and cracked here and there, but we’ve always kept our stamps in it, so in spite of the sharp edges, that’s what we continue to do.

Would we be able to make up 87p from the odds and ends that are inside?  I’ve always admired the skill of the assistants in the post office, who can juggle all the combinations of stamps to create the correct postage in an instant, but expect that’s a declining skill now they simply print a sticker.

But look what I found when sifting through the stamps!  A very valuable 2p stamp, created long ago by a small boy who knew exactly where it should be kept.  I love coming across things like that, so sweet!  Quite how long it’s been there, who knows? 

Of course, having retrieved the 87p’s worth of postage (two 20p and one 47p stamp…how lucky was that?!)  I carefully returned the precious 2p stamp to the bottom of the box for another day.

The Gift

Our weekend in London was prompted by an invitation from dear friends to a celebration at The Goring hotel on Monday evening.  To mark forty years in the travel industry, a very small (and very select!) group of us looked forward to sharing a delightful evening together and we both felt a commemorative gift was very much in order.

I had mulled over several ideas.  I’d perused the Spoonflower site, thinking that I’d find an appropriate vehicle to depict in a cotton fabric and whip up a couple of pairs of boxer shorts.  Of course, I’d do that in no time at all, they’d work out perfectly and be an overnight success…

Or?

Perhaps I’d left it too late.  I thought again.  How about getting a metre or so of moquette and making a cushion or two.  Better still, how about buying a couple of ready made cushions ?  But these wouldn’t be personal to our friend, and even though I don’t notice that each company has a specific pattern, I was mixing with people who Knew About Such Things.

With less than a week to spare, inspiration struck.  The “Subway Art” project I’d learned in an online workshop last year would be perfect and with Mary here too, I’d have some useful support (she had worked through the same class as me).  With help from my hero and a few pertinent questions we gathered the names of the various workplaces and last Tuesday morning we cranked up Photoshop to create a masterpiece.

Ta Dah!

(and now what?)

The answer was found thanks to google and a little imagination.  In the space of an hour, I’d uploaded the artwork, spoken to a delightful lady at Meshtex who reassured me that my order would receive speedy attention and they’d turn it around as quickly as possible.

She was as good as her word.  Less than 48 hours later, a courier arrived at the door with a package containing these

Two tea towels (Made in England!) and an apron, perfectly printed with the design I’d created.  To say we were thrilled is an understatement.

We weren’t the only ones, either ;-)