Whodunnit

We've been out in the garden all day, sorting out things ready for the summer. Mark's cleaned all the outdoor furniture, jet washed the paving stones and paths and I've sorted out all the picnic stuff we keep in our summerhouse - you might say that we are prepared for some sunshine!

This viburnum was looking so gorgeous in the sunshine, layer upon layer of frothy white flowers. We're not really gardeners at all, but it's lovely to see things growing and thriving. Our pond was positively heaving with life - tadpoles, newts, dragonflies, pond skaters, water snails and every so often, a frog would pop out from under the water and sit and take the view in for a while.

A veritable hive of activity as we all went quietly about our business for the day.

So, when I went to put the broom away, I was staggered to find that it had not been all peace and quiet for some. At some point during the afternoon, whilst we were happily getting on with things, a murder took place, the evidence being a large scattering of pigeon feathers but no body (thankfully).

Whodunnit?

We have no idea. Surely, we would have spotted a fox strolling through our garden as they do frequently - but not usually when we are outdoors. Perhaps it was a sparrowhawk or similar? The last time that happened, however, the sounds of squawking and horrendous squeals from the poor victim (a blackbird) upset me no end. We didn't hear a thing.

So, we have no idea. Just goes to show though, that on a peaceful Sunday afternooon in a Cotswold garden, all kinds of dark and mysterious goings on occur without our knowledge. We'd better be careful!

Brum with Paulene

Earlier in the week, an email dropped into my inbox with an irresistable invitation - "I'm going to be in Birmingham on Saturday and fancy going to the Art of the Stitch Exhibition - want to come?"

You bet I did.

I met Paulene in New Street Station this morning and we spent a fun day looking at art of all kinds in the warm - no, HOT! - sunshine.

We started as planned, at the City Art Gallery with Art of the Stitch, which kept us occupied until lunchtime. Fascinating to see the trends and what's catching the selection panel's eye this year and all the better to have a like-minded friend to mutter a few thoughts and opinions to! Surprisingly, no wearable art this year with almost all of the exhibits being wall-hung. We found that machine stitched drawing is hot right now (Andrea Cryer's "Kath". Suzanne Gregg's "Vases", Rosie James "Durer Stitching" amongst others), especially with the loose ends dangling. In my (our?) opinion, Shizuko Kimura still had the edge though with her hand stitched sketches executed in the studio ("Studio View. And the cat came too!) Colour was generally subdued and restricted to neutrals (all of the above, plus Ilaria Margutti and Rosalba Pepi's "Mend of Me", Beck Knight's "Drunkard's Path" and Kyoko Nagasawa's "Search for Pouring Down", for example), although there were the exceptions of course (Eleri Mills' "Yr yr ardd" and Zara Merrick's glorious "Queen Berenice's Hair" along with a few others) - those were most noticeable when standing at the far end of the gallery and looking back - could the exhibition hanging panel have done this deliberately to conceal the colour?

Another trend seemed to be that of stitching into a digital image of stitching. It's interesting to see how technological advances create opportunities for artists to explore pathways which open up as a result - and how many similar concepts bubble up at the same time independently of one another.

Just one or two more three dimensional pieces, including one of our favourites, the stunning "Grandmother" by Gintare Pilypaite, gorgeous Ruffs by Jill Flower and the staggering "84 Hours" by Sarah Brown which revealed tenacity beyond belief.

Of course, no photographs, so you'll have to make do with the links and the gorgeous tiles in the lobby.

..and another wall poem. Seems to be quite a trend for those this week.

We headed off towards Brindley Place in search of lunch but were distracted by several large groups of ladies wearing uniforms of some kind - they were heading for the UK Womens Barbershop competition and oh my goodness, some of their uniforms were.....well, striking!

We admired the matching manicures sported by this group and wondered if the Stuart Singers might be tempted by this idea? Jade green nails might be just the thing in Minchinhampton next year!

Lunch was delicious. We sat outside the Ikon Gallery and enjoyed a cool glass of sangria and some tapas nibbles whilst our paella was prepared. The 50 minutes needed for that soon passed since we had plenty to chat about, of course.

A second jug of sangria was called for...

and sadly the paella didn't last long enough to be photographed, but it was delicious!

Inside the gallery, there were exhibitions by Jürgen Partenheimer and Ruth Claxton. I didn't quite "get" Partenheimer's work so was glad to have Fine Art student Paulene with me to discuss it with. I was rather more taken by Ruth Claxton's "Lands End" and enjoyed the dynamism of circles and mirrors, especially the last room which contained a huge number of densely packed spirals, circles and mirrors creating a wondrous view of pattern and shape whichever way one looked at it - great energy and flow and a superb installation with which to finish our visit.

On the way downstairs, we got another view of the IKON gallery window, which I thought rather fun.

A walk along the canal, by the Gas Street Basin and a few photos of reflections inspired by Sue's photographs of Clevedon this week.

Through the Mailbox via another gallery and along a busy road ( amongst traffic for the first time today) to get a glimpse of the new Bullring.

I hadn't noticed these bricks in the wall before.

We ended our afternoon in Selfridges, having ogled the dotty exterior first. Inside, we had time for a quick view of Dale's new E-PC too - though they didn't have pink ones there! As always I looked up in slight dismay, for though I love the exterior of the building, I question some aspects of the interior - the ceiling in particular.

Finally, back to New Street Station, across the road, from where our trains were leaving in ten minutes.

Thanks Paulene, for a great day! We must do it again sometime...

Busy week

Retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be...

Of course, I haven't retired completely - only relieved of responsibility for one aspect of my life! It has, however, freed up quite a large chunk of my time and I'm finding I have the time to do things which I perhaps wouldn't have squeezed in before. That's fun.

So, for example, I was able to meet Maggie and have lunch in Stroud before going to a couple of the Textile Festival exhibitions as she reported on her blog. We were both committed to work in the afternoon however, so we headed off to Cinderford in the afternoon to challenge ourselves with some computer software and stuff.

On Wednesday, the weather was going to be more of the same - glorious Spring sunshine, so Mark and I headed off out for the day and pottered about the Cotswolds. We began with Naunton, where the village church was looking picture perfect.

Inside the church, all was peaceful and calm. The beautifully stitched kneelers caught my eye - of course - all the same pattern but the different colours chosen by the people who made them added a touch of individuality to each one.

In the porch, a notice about the local WI meeting caught my eye - well it would, wouldn't it?

We enjoyed a short wander about the churchyard, mooched about the gravestones and marvelled that the time was exactly right - give or take an hour's British Summer Time.

The forget me nots were in full flower in the lane as we walked back to the car - I just had to have a photograph of that gorgeous blue which shimmered in the sunshine.

We made the most of our day out, for the following day I had to attend a meeting and then some training for my work.

And then today was rather similar - even though it was a different set of people in a different location, the view was remarkably similar!

But tomorrow is Saturday, I'm meeting Paulene in Birmingham where we're going to an exhibition and maybe explore one or two other places too, of which the Rag Market might just be one...

Watch this space.

Problem solved

Ever since our garden room was finished, there has been an empty space above the double doors which lead into our sitting room. In direct sun for much of the day, this was not a place to put textiles or anything precious - in fact, we struggled to think of what to put there at all. But a large gable end is a big space and we always felt the need for something there.

We once saw a quirky wire sculpture in Brewery Arts, Cirencester, but we dithered and dallied and it was gone before we had made up our minds and of course, we've never really seen anything we liked as much. so, the wall has stayed empty.

Until now.

Whilst in Basel, at the Vitra Design museum, we spotted this Algae and fell for it immediately. It's made of individual components which fasten together with pegs and can be arranged in whatever shape suits. It's simply plastic and could be used indoors or out - in fact, since we've been home and done a google of it, we rather wish we had bought more...but of course, we had to limit ourselves to what we could carry.

Now, I think we might rather like more and wish it would grow a bit, though maybe not quite as fast as its living counterpart in our pond. Perhaps we'll just have to make another purchase.

Weird but gorgeous

It's been raining on and off all day, but in between the showers, the sun has come out and a little fresh air was called for. Wandering around the garden, in search of a 365 photo for today, I spotted two or three little clumps of tulips amongst some rather bigger shrubs. These were planted the year before last and I'm fairly sure they were pink when they came up last year.

This year, however, they are rather strange. Some parts are more leaf than petal, and the structure of each flower doesn't seem quite how it ought to be.

But I don't really care, for the overall effect is pretty gorgeous, and the colour is fantastic - my favourite rhubarby combination.

I think I need to get the Inktense crayons out!