Today chez moi ....

Its been a while! I've been busy  ... so a quick catch up mostly in pictures ...

.

The transformation of 6m of white cotton to a beautiful set of colours for  my next stitching project  well, that was last Friday and Saturday taken care of ..

So relieved that all the buckets and bags remained whole as I drove home ....

Its hard work rinsing and washing all that fabric but exciting as the colours emerge

Some sunrise colours here

and the black to pale grey set will be perfect for pavements and stone walls ...

Finally, I found them a nice resting place  .... but they won't be there very long.












One short flight on Sunday and now I'm enjoying some late autumn sunshine at home in France .... there are five dogs, two people and walks twice a day  ... so twice along the quiet back road in the morning and twice around the lake in the afternoon. Lots of steps and lots of time for reflection.

In between my kennel assistant routine I slipped in some sedentary jobs. So, big news here, today I sent my novel, well, the first three chapters and a synopsis, out to several agents.

It felt the right time and I now have to wait for, what? Well, who knows. Fingers crossed ...

But doing that leaves my mind free to continue with what at the moment I am calling Novel 2.

That felt a big thing to be doing so in between  I tacked a small quilt ready for, yes, you've guessed, quilting. There was a slight hiatus in this gentle activity when in the middle of the morning I lost the thread and scissors.

They were there when I went out to feed the hens and gone when I returned.  The fabric was undisturbed, my pincushion was there but no scissors and spool of tacking thread

The culprit was Naomi ... loveable and naughty and very fond of chewing ... and eventually I found the evidence.  She now has a hard(ish) rubber ball to chew and I have learnt not to leave temptation in her reach!!!


There's a book review coming up in the next post .... do read on or is it up?

Walking is one foot in front of the other, isn’t it?

And it’s easy, isn’t it.

 Well, yesterday walking section 4 of the London Loop was easy, more than that it was a pleasure. Under blue sky, through deciduous woods, along leafy and green paths with lots to look up at, each step came naturally.

But, it’s not always easy as I found on Monday during my first game of walking netball, see https://www.englandnetball.co.uk/my-game/walking-netball/

Am I running? Can I walk backwards any faster than this? Can I walk over that line when I’m in this position?

The coach and experienced members of the team were very understanding about my need to learn the rules, the opposition were a tad competitive (ouch) and thank goodness, my one chance to get the ball in the net was successful. Not so my passing of the ball which led me to questions like can I walk fast and keep an eye on where my teammates are walking to, on where someone is about to throw the ball from, on someone who is asking for the ball?  More next week ... it could, might, who knows, become a habit!

Writing and Stitching in the digital era ...

Good morning

Days, hours, where do they fly to? So, a small taste below of happenings in yet another blog gap.

In my stitching life I'm beginning to see the shape of my project about walking the London Loop with a group of friends. I created a separate notebook using the Paper App on my iPad to mirror possible pages in a fabric book about the walk. I'm adding photos taken on the walk with those of the work in progress (there is a lot of that) that the photos have inspired. My first Paper app notebook on this project has lots more detail about the  methods ... memory joggers really ... and  I needed a second notebook with a shape that might be that of the finished piece.

The app is very useful, and its easy to use -   do have a look at it, more details here https://www.fiftythree.com/paper.

the beginning of a railway arch ... 

In my writing life I've been editing my novel after a chat, and with the so very useful notes of, wonderful Jane - the first of my beta readers. To give me hints and encouragement in while I'm doing this I joined an short online course about the writing life. It has audio snippets that are good for just before sleep and when I wake up listening and thoughtful questions at the end of each brief 'lesson' .

It was a good decision and here's the website of the writer who put the short course together and has lots more to support fledgling writers   https://janfortune.com.

I feel I'm close to sending my first book out into the big wide world so have been researching how to do this via an agent and the possibility of self publishing.  This Saturday I managed to listen on-line to some of the presentations at a Self Publishing Advice Conference. More details at http://selfpublishingadviceconference.com. There's lots of good stuff on their website if you're thinking of self publishing.

And so good to  rejoin my Saturday morning yoga class at Yoki Studio http://yokistudio.blogspot.com
...    and to get out in the garden where this small creature had found its winter home

A gift .. wonderful English autumn sunshine

 ... warm and sunny is just how we like it for our London Loop walks and the weather delivered yesterday as six of us completed the Chingford

to Chigwell section.  Milage was up as we had to negotiate more of the London Underground than planned and diverted to Buckhurst Hill for lunch at the very lovely Green Owl.

 There are some amazing green and watery spaces in the City's suburbia and we enjoyed this one in the late afternoon sun.

And below, a first, a plaque to tell us about our next walk which we plan to do in two weeks time.

 Our minds are already on where to walk when we finish the Loop. Only 7 sections to do now.


In other news, I'm catching up with all my wonderful local friends after the summer break, resuming the gym (ouch) and thinking about joining a walking netball team.




And, I'm writing. My short break last week to do more in the Enmatte garden was fruitful. There is nothing like cutting back a wilderness for thinking abut things in different ways.
I've signed up for an Indie Authors online conference next week and I'm looking at alternatives to the usual route to publication. Anyone with any experience of this please let me know what questions I should be asking about this way of producing and marketing your own book.  Thanks.

Back soon.

Walking and boats

Summer has come to my part of the UK, days just right for waking and exploring.

So briefly and in pictures Tuesday took us along the London Loop, from West Drayton to Harefield. Eleven miles of walking alongside the canal and river, with insects and birds, barges in use and in repair.

Our lunchtime entertainment at the boatyard 

Another hidden gem of a place amongst the city's light industry 

Wednesday was the first of the 2017 birthday treats family and friends have arranged for me. It was a blue sky day, perfect for a boat ride to Greenwich, a tour of the Cutty Sark, lunch and a climb to the Meridian. All perfectly arranged by my dear schoolfriend Rita. I'm feeling blessed. 

The conservation of this ship is fantastic -everything about it shines

My version of a selfie

Feasting on the east of London 

A beautiful day for walking

... more of the London Loop. This time from Malden, through Kingston to Bushy park https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/bushy-park.

Springy grass, muddy paths, pavements, local wildlife and the splendour of a reflected tree ...

Scalpel, stitch and poetry

Title says it all really!  Firstly, a poem for a dull day  ... comments welcome.

How many candles will we need?

On the third day of fog, I light the red candle.

Inside and outside shouts for brightness

in this repeat of yesterday’s white envelope.

The day before the blanket drifted away

and the sky was sunlit until setting time,

we lifted the cloches, walked the long way

around the woods, you said midwinter has passed.

In contrast, it was a sunny as we walked another section of the London Loop (https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/loop-walk) on Tuesday, this time 17 km from Banstead to Malden. As always there were landmarks ... a prison built about 1770 and a fungi covered tree trunk

The Watch House in Ewell, more details at http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/WatchHouse.html

Possible stitch patterns ... 

There was quiet in the studio on Weds as we 

played with cut outs. I've posted two pics of results below; so glad to have lots of odd pages to ruin in this way. 

I'm now looking for an old hardback book to use the same technique but that first cut is going to be very hard. Cut into a proper book! It feels bad enough to write in one. 

And finally a glimpse at my latest stitching project. A line a day, a variety of threads and running stitch on a very light (and forgiving of a large needle) scrim. It was inspired by seeing lots of folk from many places and cultures waiting in line at US airports.  Often this sort of thinking will result in me writing a poem but instead this time I'm  stitching.  

Two days, two lines,

Good stuff on small journeys

I'm writing this with an eye on the flurry of long tailed tits feeding on suet balls in the garden and wondering if, at last, I'm comfortable with the flapping of birds' wings!!  The robin is also there, defending his or her winter territory and yesterday Mr Blackbird came along. What joy.

And I'm feeling very relieved to have rinsed, washed, ironed, and logged the 24 pieces of fabric that were put into dye baths three weeks ago.

 The record keeping was a bit tedious but now I have colour recipes when I want a particular colour and shade.


Not sure how i'll use them yet, somewhere that'll show the great patterns from the more or less fidgeting I did with the fabric while it was in the dye bath.












Maybe the fabric will come into its own for a piece based on some of the ways that lines have - I'm collecting lots of pics of lines, like these on a walk around Bloomsbury last week.

Lots of blue plaques en route (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques)

and some inspiration for stitching patterns ....













Finally, a couple of pics from last weekend in Dorset: I slept under this ancient beam and the first snowdrops bloomed under my window.








Have a good weekend all. My to do list includes mushroom soup and drafting a poem for the first workshop of a Poetry School (https://poetryschool.com) online course called Re-writing the Map.
This fits wonderfully with the work I'm doing on journeys at Inspiration to Stitch  -almost too good to be true.

One week: a short time in weather

We had snow, it left quickly so no photo, that's all!   Very glad the roads were clear for the first of 2017's first Inspiration to Stitch day with Terri and Hazel see http://www.institchestextilecourses.co.uk,

I made a start on sketchbook pages on the theme of journey and did some printing for the last one to go into the Autumn book.

And today the magical experience of choosing a date for a walk weeks ahead that then turns out to be a blue sky day.

We walked from Coulson South to Banstead - along the green paths of suburbia with London on the skyline. All part of the London Loop, for more details see https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/loop-walk

The weekend rain that made my drive to Kent a very unpleasant experience of spray and fog had  turned the bridleways (shared with LL pathways) close to Epsom Downs into mud baths. Thank goodness for good boots and good chat with good friends as we made our way along the northern ridge of the Northern Downs.

Our route out of Coulson took us under the wonderful walls of this new railway bridge  and
we reached Banstead over an old railway bridge with some slate 'roof tiles'. Two more examples for my collection of patterns I might, someday, stitch.   I just love the weightiness of the slate.

Finally, more lines in the evening sky as I close the blinds .... hopefully a good omen for tomorrow when I'll be dyeing fabric with the Institches fabric wizards.

Posting poems

Those of you who spend a little while with my blog know that, in the past, I've occasionally posted my poems on one of the header pages that is titled A Small Collection of Poems.

This explanation goes on for a bit so by way of light relief I'm posting photos of how the drop in temperature in the last few days has wrought its magic on our garden and the adjacent farmers track.

Just for a change, a winter leaf 

I love how the leaf skeleton is highlighted here 

Usually I kept back poems that I planned, one day, to send to magazines or perhaps and rather grandly, that might have been part of a pamphlet.  In doing this I was following poetry tradition and custom as poetry editors don't want a poem once its been published elsewhere and a personal blog counts in that respect.

Maybe a stitching pattern here

This year I plan to share my poems in a different way by publishing many more on this blog. Once a poem is on one of these general pages I'll add it to the Collection page and  look forward to your comments. I'd love for this to be a way for me to hear what you think, how the poem looked and sounded to you etc., etc.

Yippee, no more hours in the poetry office, more hours to enjoy the writing and rewriting and for reading and commenting on the poems posted on the sharing poems Facebook closed page I'm part of following the 52 project.   Its a  decision that feels a very good one to have made as a new year begins.

Answers in the comments secant please ... 

A slow walk today with my wonderful new camera (thank you, James) and some useful hints from Paul about how to keep still while pressing the shutter resulted in these and many other photos that I hope will be valuable for my new Inspiration to Stitch sketchbook.


Then we all had a fast walk with the dogs, off road, in and out of the sunshine, tracking the changes underfoot between the shady and sunlit verges.


Finally, here is today's poem (not that there will necessarily be one tomorrow). This is draft two, draft one was longer and I have some very good poets friends to thank for pointing out the repetition and the value of this particular poem being short.

 In fog

there are fewer lines to follow,

no place else where

other people live.

The smell of fog is full

of your own breath and

your ears hear you and you.

After a while the blanket

becomes a parcel and people

live in a pared down world.

And to close a glimpse of a scattering of seed stitches ...  a needle, thread and slow fingers