Has anyone seen my mojo?

I’m finding it difficult to complete my latest travel journal.  I know from experience that unless I get on with it during or immediately after the trip, I’ll find it hard.  But in spite of good intentions, here I am again, trying like mad to complete it before I move on to the next thing.

I got off to a reasonable start, recording all of those small details which tend to get forgotten or overwritten by events.  I spent time in Hong Kong drawing the framework so that I could do a bit of colouring in when I had an odd five minutes and of course, waking up early is a good time to sit quietly at the desk and draw.

I managed to keep it up for a few days in Myanmar, relying on my favourite ways of incorporating a wealth of ephemera – yes, the turkish map fold appeared about four pages in!

But as soon as we embarked Ananda and began a tight schedule, following a daily programme of activities not to mention enjoying the company of our fellow travellers, we were simply doing too many interesting things to keep up and the result is a few blank pages.

A lot of blank pages, in fact.  Because once I’ve let it go, it’s doubly hard to keep up.  After all, do I work on today’s page or return to the last one I was working on? At the end of another busy day, with my head buzzing full of the most recent experiences, it’s hard to think back.  So, I focus on my blog and keep that up to date as much as I can, so I can rely on that to remind me when it comes to creating the journal page.

At least I scribble in a few topics for the day and on this occasion, I printed out some page titles too, which means that I can dip in and out when I come across something which can be stuck in there.

So when we had a sea day and I wanted to have a quiet hour or two, I could complete a day or two in the middle, knowing I was on the right page, if you see what I mean.  But there remained quite a few empty pages to fill.

I’ve tried to tackle the project methodically, so began in Bagan (isn’t that a song title!?)  After a few short bursts of drawing, painting and sticking, I’ve moved on a bit and have completed several pages.

This morning, I made a page about the Bamboo workshop and used a photo to record the journey.  No prizes for identifying which one!  I don’t have that much ephemera to fill the pages though, so the pages are quite sparse.

Not quite as sparse as this one though.

Perhaps that’s the answer for getting it done?

Anyway, in between visiting classes (three this week – should have been four but one was cancelled), writing reports and attending meetings, I am making a real effort to fill some of those empty pages.  After all, soon, we’ll be off on the next trip!

(no, not that soon, really)

In the meantime, if you should see my mojo, please box its ears and send it home.

I wonder if it got packed up after last weekend’s show?

Set up

I was up early this morning to collect Marion and make our way to the showground.  We kept our fingers crossed that the rain would hold off at least until we’d unloaded the car.  Thankfully, it did.

Over the next couple of hours, from a heap of bags and boxes, some order was created and the story of a century of craft in the WI took shape.

The early years were illustrated with Lady Cripps’ beautiful pulled work, a few pairs of handmade gloves and a beadwork valance which my m-i-l Bettine found recently, probably worked by her grandmother.  The story was one of exquisite needlework skills then, including the blue embroidered nightie too, not shown in my photograph but referred to in this blog post from last year.

The story continues throughout the years when materials were hard to come by, when WI speakers toured the county showing women how to make footstools from empty tins, when my grandmother did some beautifully regular crochet around four men’s handkerchiefs to make a tablecloth and small scraps of fabric were used to make lampshades and table mats. 

A few vintage knitting patterns, a rushwork stool and a marquetry picture illustrate the 1950s with a few small bits to fill in a gap here and there.

New materials, new colours and Marion’s Kaffe Fassett scarf and a beautifully knitted tam o’shanter brighten the story a little with a few kanzashi flowers leading through to the story of how our travels and the internet led to our trying all kinds of new and different crafts.  I’d hoped for a macrame owl to include here but it seems no one valued them enough to hang onto one!  There was, however, just enough room for my small patchwork pincushion, the only evidence of Laura Ashley design I could find anywhere, though at some point, we must have had quite a few patchwork cushions.  I wonder where they went?

Temari, kumihimo, kusadami and Australian Cross stitch might provoke a conversation or two.  We’d originally planned to place the appropriate books alongside but by now, we were fast running out of space.  There was room to squeeze in a little dressmaking and a crochet shawl over a paint effect stool, but with a couple more important developments to record, we had to be choosy about what to leave in and what to take out.

There was room for my willow pig, a tatted collar and my silver brooch, all made in WI classes and useful illustrations of how the organisation enables women to acquire new skills.

That just left about eighteen inches at the end for the future, when computing skills will probably be integral to developing new crafts as digital cutters, sewing and knitting machines begin to be used in conjunction with traditional hand crafts.

We stood back, returned to tweak one or two things and heaved a sigh of relief.

Did I say “done is better than perfect” ?

Getting it together

You might have noticed that the Women’s Institute – the WI – is celebrating its centenary this year. 

My own WI, Avening, which has been meeting on the second Thursday in the month since October 1930, joined in the celebrations whilst we were on our travels.  The baton in our President Gwyneth’s hand is being passed to every WI in the country during the year and she held it tightly as she hopped into the Ferrari to take it to our friends in Tetbury last month.

Other celebrations are planned – we are looking forward to going a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in June hosted by two WI members, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex.  A couple of days later, the Queen and the Princess Royal – both of them members themselves – will be there at the Albert Hall with more than 5000 members (me included!) at what will surely be the most memorable AGM.  What will we wear?

In the meantime, a small pile in my studio is growing in size by the day.  Some time ago, in a mad moment,  I agreed to put together a small display of crafts for the RHS Malvern Spring Festival.  This “small” display has evolved to three six foot tables, which will need a little more thought and consideration than I’d first anticipated.  (Serves me right for applying my usual rule of saying yes first and wondering why later). 

My friend and colleague Marion and I have been sifting through various archives in preparation for another, larger exhibition later in the year, so we had a few things in mind to tell the story of “A century of craft”.  Sadly, the beautiful Guild of Learners badge above isn’t ours to include, but as you will imagine, the WI does have a long and very interesting history when it comes to enabling and encouraging women to pursue all manner of craft skills.  But time is short, the security of an open, public show is unlikely to be quite as tight as the museum space where our “real” treasures will be exhibited and the space would be more effectively filled with larger, more visually appealing items.

Cue the pile of things by my desk in the studio (and the even larger collection of things in Marion’s garage not to mention the boot of her car…)

I spent yesterday putting the exhibition labels together and made a mental note to myself never to buy Hobbycraft brand spray adhesive again.  It might be cheaper than the branded alternative but oh my goodness, it’s a nightmare to use!

Today, I’m writing notes to myself, “small paint effect stool”, “silver brooch”, “don’t forget wicker pig”.  Not only that, I keep eyeing other things up and adding them to the pile: A small digital book in an Altoids tin fits the digital craft bill perfectly and I’d forgotten about that small quilt which will be easier to stage than a huge one…

Tomorrow, we’ll be setting up and from Thursday to Sunday, it will be open to visitors.  Here’s hoping for sunshine or at least, calm, dry weather.

Oh heck, the pile just got bigger…

Look a little more closely…

It was exactly a year ago that I chose to go over to the Dark Side.  I had finally tired of Apple filling my ipad with updates and messing about with my music.  I no longer wanted the challenge of frequent itunes updates and I loved the idea of being able to scribble on a screen and to save as many things as I wanted to save by slotting in a micro SD card.  I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note and loved it from the minute I took it out of the box.

Shortly afterwards, I made the next step and replaced my iphone with a Samsung Galaxy S5.  I no longer use any i-thing regularly and have never regretted my decision.

Except about three weeks ago, I noticed that the exceptionally good battery life on my S5 phone wasn’t quite as exceptional as it used to be.  In fact, it was beginning to be pretty dismal and I began to look around for causes and possible solutions.  This morning, I popped into the Samsung shop in Cribbs Causeway, our local mall, to seek the help of an expert.

Just as I was beginning to get a little rattled at the suggestion that I could extend the battery life by removing apps and switching off some of the features (which are actually the reason for having a phone in the first place, n’est-ce pas?)  especially “those three games which send constant updates – they’re not really free you know”;  the chap wondered out loud if I might need a replacement battery.

Now, I’d never taken the back off my phone, even though I knew that I could put a larger micro SD card in it and possibly do other, useful geeky things.  I’ve been more than happy thank you, so have left well alone.  But the change in tone of the guy’s voice suggested that the answer to my problems might lie here.

A sharp intake of breath followed.  Did I know that this battery is a fake?

Well, of course I didn’t!  It’s the one which was fitted in the (very reputable) phone shop when I renewed my account almost a year ago.  How would I know, anyway?

Well, here you are.  The Spotters’ Guide to a Fake Samsung battery.

Firstly, that little red and white quality control sticker?  No, that’s not a Samsung thing.  Never seen it before, said the Samsung chap.

Next, those contact points?  Not only are the four of them a bit inconsistent, if it were a genuine Samsung battery, they’d be recessed and not raised above the surface of the plastic at all.  Now, of course, looking closely at them, they don’t look so good, do they?

Third, see how thin this battery is?  The genuine Samsung battery would fill the space and be level with the recess.  Not only that, but the expert was confident enough to try bending this battery and yes, it “gave” a bit in the middle.  The genuine article is as tough as anything and does not bend one bit.

So.  What to do?

The answer was to trot along to the red and white phone shop where I have my contract and explain the situation to the two young men on duty.   What did I mean, a fake Samsung battery?  “It can’t be, because it says Samsung on it”, said one….

They simply weren’t that bothered.  Oh yes, they’d order me a replacement battery free of charge but it would take a few days to arrive.  Might take even longer because of the bank holiday, in fact.

Not wanting to detain them any longer from their busy schedule (we were the only customers at 9.15am on a bank holiday Saturday) we left them to play with their phones and continued on our way feeling grumpy.  It would have felt better had they at least pretended to believe me.

It would have been better still had Marks and Spencer had at least something to inspire instead of this horrible orange, yellow and white theme they have going right now.

Thankfully, customer service operator Pranav redeemed his company’s shortcomings by taking my complaint seriously during our online chat this afternoon.

“ Thank you for sharing your concern today and as I can see that you are our valued and fantastic customer since long, I can help you with credit of £10 as a gesture of goodwill for inconvenience caused to you over the store.”

It wasn’t the £10 that made me smile, of course.

Still here

I’m still here.  Haven’t gone off on another adventure (yet) but instead, have been taking every opportunity to get out and about and enjoy the marvellous Spring weather we’ve been having.  there’s nothing like going to some far flung place to make me appreciate how much I love being in England!

Yesterday was just the kind of day I enjoy.  Some work took me out through the most glorious countryside in the early morning and I timed it specially so that I could drop into a favourite place on the way.  The light was perfect for capturing those fresh Spring greens.  Mary, I missed you!

A little further along the way, I happened to drive along this elevated section of road which had the most amazing hedgerow.  Full of blossom, I regretted the fact that I had a white transit van behind me and just had to keep going, because there wasn’t anywhere to stop.  My reward came later, on the way home in the late afternoon.  Though the light wasn’t as good, I was the only car in sight, so simply pulled over and got the camera out.

No time to stand and stare, but simply driving through such surroundings lifts the spirit and makes me thankful.

If you are curious, I was here, on my way to Stow on the Wold from Great Rollright, looking northwest.

Today, I am at home.