The fern Drapplique

 

Back on Track

It's been a week or so and I'm finally back on track. The few days in Tasmania visiting friends was super and an enforced rest... But home again, I plunged into daily tasks and finally hit the wall yesterday, I could barely get off the settee and succumbed finally to a migraine.
It's nice being able to do the mundane... Washing, cleaning my car, bathing the dog and a little cooking....(not too much mind you.) I was congratulating myself on no time schedule... and you guessed it, a gift of work came in today that needs to be completed by next Friday, so it's all go again.... In relaxing a little I watched Martha Stewart make scented rice bags for fabric stashes on the "How to" Channel so I whipped out an old Japanese silk Obi and gave it a try... and lo and behold a scented bag went home with delighted Daughter Rachael tonight.
I spent the day listening to classical music that I purchased in Covent Garden and completing a drapplique fern.... It's lovely, almost looks real.
I caught up on some more research, did a little editing and writing and folks I think I am back to normal. Well as normal as can be expected....

what can happen in 24 hours

Feeling tired and jetlagged in Hong Kong I wrote a blog that I just couldn't bring myself to put to air.... writing is a powerful therapy... however, 30 hours later I feel more able to express myself. Many of you know me personally, and would therefore be aware that our Son Matthew had a terrible accident two years ago. His partner Karen was killed. They happened to be in the way of a car that was out of control and sadly it has taken two years for the perpetrator to be taken to trial.
I arrived home on the final day of the trial and went straight from the airport to the court. I was able to witness the Judges final summation to the Jury. Then later in the afternoon hear the Jury find the woman not guilty on all 4 counts. It was ironical that I had just returned from overseas, my head felt like cotton wool, my judgment was severely impeded... I would never drive a car in that situation.....Ironically the woman who caused the accident had just arrived home from overseas; she had not slept for 30 hours. She chose to get into a car and drive...she chose to drive in that situation. Ultimately the decision was that she fell asleep at the wheel and ended up on the wrong side of the road and took the life of Karen and the heart of my son.... the law states that because she was asleep, she is not legally responsible... and is not guilty. Our lives have changed forever. Karen died. Matt lost the use of his right arm and suffered terrible injuries.... but no one is responsible... !!!!!! Our laws need to be revised.....We faced the barrage of cameras, questions and press as we came out of the court... but made no comment....Just 5 hours later we were to be on TV again... this time trying to secure our office in the event of a flood that rushed through the hills town of Aldgate... computers and files were shifted in haste as the river behind the office rose alarmingly, in fact to 1" below the window.... the water seeped into the rear of the office and then through the front door where a rushing river raced down the main street...2.00 am we finally got to sleep, office secured and the days events over... and a day to be remembered in many ways....!!!Life brings us a lot of surprises sometimes....The plane trip home was interesting also.... given my previous trip, I was given an exit row seat and no one sat next to me. "Super..” I thought... but a young man joined me after the plane took off.... I wasn't surprised because he had very long legs and it was a prime seat... but honeys did he have to take his shoes off.....!!!!! OOOOh my.Off tomorrow to Tasmania and a 5 day holiday with Keith.... Josh cooked dinner tonight.. I've visited with all of my kids and caught up with a few friends... I have no voice... due to asthma on the plane... (Maybe it was the shoeless feet) and I've had the nails done folks... all in the space of 24 hours….

Plane travel is jut one of things we Travelling Quilt Teachers need to put up with.... I've chosen to make it as pleasant as possible... upgrades where possible... Qantas club etc... but occasionally something goes a little wrong.
I booked a seat that is normally behind the business class because on BA I can't upgrade..... I had the right seat.... but the wrong plane configuration..... !!!!!
OK, not too bad it's an aisle seat.
Ha, the plane was chokkers.... every seat taken. There was a small guy sitting in the window seat and a very large lady sitting in the middle... I spent 11.5 hours leaning sideways...
I don't like rubbing thighs with and unknown lady.... her arms took over my space... I had to eat balancing my meal halfway in the aisle.. I tried to put my pillow down by the armrest so I could have some leg privacy.... that didn't work either. I tried to sleep to make the time pass quicker... but every time the gal moved so did I. I felt sorry for her, it must be very difficult and I figured that as this is my 59th flight this year... I think I've done pretty well....
It's been a busy year. I've missed too much at home this year and 2006 will be a little quieter as far as travel is concerned... 2007 even more so as I concentrate on a couple of very important projects...

Finished in London

Well my time has finished in London… and what an experience. I’ve not mentioned that we attended the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Visited Westminster Abbey… partly as a tourist, but I’ve found a family connection that is quite exciting and without talking too much about my current project, visiting the Abbey was part of my research….We spent a morning lounging in leather settees reading books in London bookshops…. The luggage is a little heavier for the experience.
A visit to Reading Museum to view the breathtaking English version of the Bayeux Tapestry and yet another family connection…!!!! it’s all a bit spooky really…. I have enough research material to last me a lifetime… wonderful images to enthuse my creativity… 100’s of pictures of walls, tiles, sky, trees, all inspiration for a fabric line… now I just need time at home to get it all done.. Keith has booked us a holiday just two days after I return home… so it will be a while…
It’s been made even better by sharing with friend Di Mill a seasoned and fun loving traveling companion…
I’ve met and stayed with extraordinary folk…. and learnt an enormous amount. Now to have the hair trimmed, final pack and off to Hong Kong…

Sarastro

 

Tower Bridge

 

It's a good day

St Pauls Cathedral was built in 1675 by Sir Christopher Wren. I learnt about this magnificent structure as a child of the 60’s. We had to draw it I remember, and describe how it was built. “What a stupid thing to get a kid to do”, I thought…. I guess the Teachers knew what they were doing… they sure fired my imagination. As a child I never entertained the thought that I would ever get to see it. The architecture and beauty of the installations are almost impossible to describe… but I can say that Di and I sat under the great dome, we laid back in our seats and gazed up until our necks ached. Then climbed as high as we dare, up 370 steps to view the mosaics and paintings at closer quarters. There was a wonderful smell of roses and incense. 3 ladies were installing huge vases of flowers for the memorial service to the victims of the recent bombing in London to be held the following day. Lord Nelson is buried in the crypt…I touched the cold marble surface of the cask, my small connection to history.
Lunch in an Italian restaurant over the road then a short bus trip to the Tower of London…. History tourist style, but nevertheless informative and easily accessible to the general public. The sun shone and we were privy to a Turner Sunset framing Tower Bridge… Back to St Paul’s for evensong and although I’m not religious I enjoyed the ambience of the ceremony.
Now a few evenings before Di and I found an amazing restaurant, Sarastro….As Di was reading some info on London… up came the restaurant, and within a few minutes we had made a booking.
After the piety of evensong we changed to the flamboyance to the restaurant. We were soon joined by Cathy Miller (singing Quilter) and Husband John who are also touring Britain. First it was great to catch-up on the news of the past year… We meet in the most interesting places around the world, Houston, Fargo ND, Arizona, etc, etc. The restaurant is rather famous for its unusual décor…. I’ll not discuss the illustrations in the ladies loo !!!!, but the furnishings in the building alone just make you smile. We were entertained by a four piece chamber suite… and then a little opera… finished with a Romanian troup playing Mexican style music….. The Japanese pianist for the opera singers almost flew off the seat in her passion for her music… and she received a dramatic kiss on the hand from the man in the booth next to us!!!!!! The food was super, the entertainment wonderful and the company unsurpassed… what a great day.

This is the day of my departure from London and I finally have time to go through the events of the past few days…
Why do I write a blog.? It’s mainly for family and friends… who have a choice as to whether they read it or not. On the other hand it is also my year book. For the past 4 years I have diarized a book on the years events… it includes photos, letters from friends, patterns, musings and illustrations… and it’s great to go back and read it….. I print off a few and give one to Mum and Dad and close friends…. However, this years is rather large… over 120 pages so far….
I’ve been writing a diary for many years now, there are so many ideas in my head that I need to get them down on paper…. Of course there is more in my heart and on paper than I actually write publicly…. But this is a small part of my life that I share….

Pearl S. Buck:
“I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work”

Harrold

 

London Transport

I woke this morning dreaming of a hedgehog with red rubber boots holding a yellow umbrella. I do think it was the influence of going to a talk by Janet Bolton last night. Just getting there was an adventure in itself. We had a bus ride through busy 5.00 traffic and then a train ride. In fact we got off the bus at the end and walked the rest of the way because the traffic was so bad….We almost ended up on the wrong train but a young man put us on the right track…(so to speak). He watched us run, bags flying and coats dragging as we wound our way through the throng… then gave us the thumbs up as we turned in the correct direction…. “Which carriage”? for petes sake… they were falling out of the doors… finally we squeezed on, hanging on for dear life to the handles of the seats….. but talk about sardines…. Not for me, I can’t ever imagine doing that every day. It was a strange situation… the train is very quiet. People watcher, I observed that everyone wore black, grey or tan… the train is quiet enough to hear the buzz of ipods and the occasional mobile phone conversation… “Hi, just waiting to see if you are still on for tonight? Oh great, see you then. giggle” I was the only middle age gal with no ipod and a red suit on….!!!! Glad I’m different….It was pitch dark when we arrived at Beckingham but we found our way to the Methodist Church Hall and as we were early we located an Italian Restaurant to have a coffee and bowl of soup. Janet spoke with the quiet dignity of an English Lady…. She has a shock of very curly grey hair that cascades over her face… no she doesn’t look like an ipod train gal…. We journeyed through her life story of creativity and saw slides of how her work evolved…. It was a super, but a rather quiet and sober evening after the night before. There was a supper of coffee and a dozen or more cakes to choose from....
Our trip home was chilly and a little scary… I sure wouldn’t have done it alone….we were freezing when we arrived back at the hotel… but full of self admiration at being so brave on the London Trains…. !!!!

The V&A

A Journey through history at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. The V&A is the worlds greatest museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity.
We wandered through layers of time. I will return home with the information I need for several current projects and of course yet more ideas. Sensory overload, - time for lunch just down the road and I wanted to introduce Di to the ambience of a coffee shop I had visited on a prior trip. Patisserie Valerie The original cafe first opened its doors in 1926, in nearby Firth Street, when a Belgian born Madam Valerie decided to introduce a taste of the continent to the English. When the Luftwaffe bombed Patisserie Valerie the intrepid management moved to Old Compton Street where the present cafe is still sited. The decor is left over from the 50's with a unique atmosphere, complete with its now famous Toulouse-Lautrec cartoons. We sampled wonderful snacks and finished by sharing a chocolate profiterole….. Heaven on a plate….
On to Harrods and we jostled through the crowds… rode the escalators and walked through the amazing display of Christmas decorations…opulence on a grand scale, but beautiful to the eyes….A final visit to the V&A and armed with new research books we journeyed home upstairs in the big red bus.
We were privy to very loud discussion by a group of young men who got louder and louder as they forced their opinions on the entire bus…. As the discussion turned rather serious… I made the comment that “I hope they don’t have guns”….!!!!! One never knows.
Dinner at a local restaurant and the end to a wonderful and less energetic day…