Heartsease I foundwhere love-lies-bleedingempurpled all the ground
Friday 31 March 2023
Heartsease
Thursday 30 March 2023
What I've Been Doing On Tuesdays...
Wednesday 29 March 2023
Of Poo And Porn
Warning; ranting to follow
Tuesday 28 March 2023
It's In Her Genes...
Jess never met her great-great-aunt, but she appears to have inherited Peggy's secretarial skills...
Jess enjoys being in the office!Monday 27 March 2023
For Peggy
Sunday 26 March 2023
He Who Steals My Purse...
- You can steal someone's stuff [their purse, their car etc]
- Or their time [wasting it, or causing them to have to fix your problem]
- Or their good name [damaging a person's reputation]
- You can steal their work [copying or cheating, or claiming it as your own]
- And you can steal their confidence [`gaslighting' or bullying]
Saturday 25 March 2023
Dinner Is On Me - Literally!
In the difficult days while my aunt was in hospital, and afterwards, my lovely daughters were eager to help however they could. "Please keep sending me pictures of the children to cheer me up!" I said. And bless them, they did! The cheeriest baby in Manchester is weaning now. For sometime he has been very interested in his brother's food.
But he is really enjoying his own menus, and certainly makes mealtimes a whole-body experience!
Friday 24 March 2023
Not TikTok, But Chesstok
At the beginning of the month I posted about trousers. Steph had passed on a pair of jeans, described online as 'ripped Mom jeans'. The dictionary tells me that "ripped" can mean torn, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or possessing good muscle tone. I am not a 'ripped mom' [Steph has good muscle tone though...] How was I going to repair the eight rips on the thighs and right shin?
Visible, creative mending is very 'on trend' at the moment. I considered Japanese techniques [sashiko and boro] and the Indian kantha, [more patching and embroidery, using rags] And then my search ended up just 3 miles from Steph's front door, with the discovery of A & E Chesstok's "Speed-weve, Lancashire's smallest loom" How did I not know about this little miracle before?
In 1963, when I joined the Brownies, we had to learn to darn - we even had the original WW2 leaflets which showed us how to do it. Stitch round the hole, make a series of vertical 'warp' threads, then weave your 'weft' across to cover the hole. Well, it turns out that the Chesstok brothers had developed a gadget to make this process much easier - creating very even darns. These were made in Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, in their factory in The Trocadero Buildings [which sadly burned down in the 1970s]This site is a good place to start, although I bought a less expensive loom online which is working fine. And here's an American video showing the method,
Thursday 23 March 2023
Three Years On...
Wednesday 22 March 2023
The Dementia Darnings - Stitched With Love
Thank you Nicky for suggesting we went together. Do look out for this exhibition - definitely worth a visit.
Tuesday 21 March 2023
Nicky Came To Norwich
Three things I greatly enjoy
- Sharing the things I love about Norwich with a visitor
- Going to some sort of art exhibition, and a companion to enjoy it with me
- Meeting a blogfriend in person and feeling as if you've known them for ever
Monday 20 March 2023
Christopher Robin Went Down With Alice
Sunday 19 March 2023
A Bittersweet Sunday
Saturday 18 March 2023
Seventy Two Lives
Friday 17 March 2023
Holey Moley!
Thursday 16 March 2023
Wednesday 15 March 2023
Thank You
I am so grateful to all of you for your kind words on yesterday's post. Things are very busy round here right now - all the family issues to be sorted out, and continuing preparation for the Holiday Club in Easter Week, plus a service to prepare for this coming Mothering Sunday at a local chapel. And the housework is piling up, and the garden needs tending, and, and ... I'll get back to proper blogging shortly!
Tuesday 14 March 2023
Difficult Days
Monday 13 March 2023
If You Want To Get Ahead...
In her thirties, this gifted young woman is building a reputation across the world for her stunning creations, re-interpreting baroque and rococo ideas in carefully sculpted paper. She is also using her international connections to enable her to set up programmes to help children and young people of Ukraine who have been displaced by the war. The hats may be crazy, but the woman behind them has her head screwed on and her heart in the right place