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Monday, January 31, 2011

Stars, Take 2

The computer has been busy today, restarting over and over; checking settings, repairing itself and barraging me with error messages. Meanwhile I was pictureless in Blogger. I have no idea which action resulted in a change to the situation, but now at the end of the day, after one more restart, I have pictures. I was tempted to just forget it. But, no, it's worth celebrating, so here are the stars I wanted to show you this morning.

Stars

I had planned to celebrate Australia Day last week by making some beaded stars. They're for the quilt project at the Newlands Community Centre, which is coming to a close. We've decided to represent the Australian flag with stars on a blue background. The countries of origin of the women involved will be represented with coloured ribbons. It tickled my fancy to mark our national day with a conscious recognition of the multicultural nature of our society.

As it turned out, my day was complicated by various difficulties and my creative plans had to be shelved. I'm hoping the stars will be made this morning. I'm also hoping I can sort out the glitch with Blogger, which is refusing to upload my picture. Meanwhile I'll get myself packed and ready to go before another hot hot Melbourne day sets in.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Complementary

Blue lobelias and orange marigolds--another perfect complementary combination. I received a planter-full of this combo the other day. The marigolds are yet to flower, but my imagination is filling in the details. We're expecting a Melbourne heat wave in the next few days: forecast of 40 today last I looked. To get that in perspective if you're not used to Celsius temperatures, it's a good few degrees above a healthy body temperature. I'm going to have to protect my little seedlings from the worst of the heat. Oh, and I planning to protect myself too. I'm patting myself of the back for my decision to pay the extra for airconditioning in the studio.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Colour Conglomerate

I received a couple of these Tibetan felted coasters as a gift from my friend A yesterday. Each is a flat disc made up of tiny felt balls, just threaded together. There doesn't seem to be any science to the way the colours are combined, except that each colour is different from its immediate neighbours. The result is bright, cuddly and fun. There's a spot on my new sewing table that's just right for either a cup of coffee or a pin-cushion. These cuties could serve as either or both. It's been a rough week for me. I won't go into details here, but bright, cuddly and fun is just what I needed.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Another Purchase

I bought a TV cabinet yesterday. Flat packed, of course. That gives me the prospect of another 3-D assembly puzzle to keep myself occupied today. I couldn't resist the opportunity to spend ten minutes in the store's Bargain Corner. There wasn't anything I needed, but I just had to pick through the shelf of textile items, just in case. What did I find?. . . about three metres of this blue stuff. The back of the label tells me in 31 different languages that it's 100% polyester. Each language is carefully labelled with it's international abbreviation. All but ten actually have the same word, with slight variations in spelling: "polyester", "polyestria", "poliestre" . . . so I'm left in no doubt as to the fibre content. The front of the label tells me what not to do. I'm not generally fond of synthetics. At $1.50 though, I decided to bring it home. Maybe I was just in a contrary mood. After all, the fabric seems innocent enough, despite the extensive warnings and the apparent impossibility of cleaning it in any way. I'm not sure what I'll do with it. For now it can sit with my foil jersey fabrics in the "possibilities" department.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Back to Basics

I bought this yarn on impulse the other day. At 50 cents a ball I figured I couldn't go too far wrong. I thought I'd include it in a blanket I'm planning, but when I opened up the packaging I found I'd made a couple of fundamental mistakes. For starters, the yarn was thicker than I'd expected and therefore the yardage was less than I'd hoped for. Secondly, and more importantly, the fibre was tough and harsh on my fingers. I'd let the bright colours and cheap price wow me into buying without my usual checks.
I decided to go with the strengths of the situation rather than bemoan my hasty purchase. Here we have a bathmat nearly finished. The tough yarn should mean it's hard-wearing on the floor and the bright colours will give the room a lift. The thickness of the yarn means it's working up nice and quickly. A couple of balls to go and I can move on from this little glitch.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Bargain?

I did a quick trip to my craft superstore the other day to top up my supplies before the quilt working bee for flood relief. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of neutral coloured sewing thread. Denim needles were also on the list. Right on the bottom shelf, I saw these boxes. The label says, "denim footwork kit". When I had a closer look I found that each box contains a walking foot and a seam support attachment. A couple of denim needles and a few plastic bobbins round out the set. The sale sticker said $15. I would normally expect to pay about three times that much for just a walking foot, but I had no way of knowing if this one would fit my machine, or more importantly, my students' machines. I took a box to the counter along with my other items to see if I could negotiate the option of returning it if I couldn't make it work. Imagine my surprise when the cash register brought the price up as $1 rather than $15! The sales assistant couldn't believe it either, so she rushed off to get a manager's ok on the price while I ran back to the shelf to collect the remaining two boxes. We met back at the counter and agreed on $1 each as the price, with the proviso that the option of returning them for my money back was off. I haven't had a chance to test them yet. Either I've paid three dollars for half a dozen jeans needles and a few bobbins or I have the biggest bargain of the year. Obviously I'm hoping for the latter. You may be wondering why I'm keen to have three extra walking feet . . . well, it means I can add them to my class set of equipment and allow my beginner quilting students to try them out before commiting to buying a walking foot of their own. Obviously I'm hesitant to do that at the regular price, but at $1 each it would be a real winner.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Bunch of Flowers

Some years ago my friend L had minor surgery. By the way, I've heard "minor surgery" defined as "surgery that happens to some-one else"; whereas "major surgery" is "surgery that happens to me" Leaving such definitions aside, I wanted to do something for my friend at the time, but the traditional bunch of flowers didn't take my fancy. Instead I bought a dress length of cotton-linen fabric and dyed it up in one of her favourite colours. You can get an idea of how many years ago by the fact that this colour was nowhere to be found in the shops. Over the years, the fabric has been destined for a summer dress. First L had to trace off the pattern from her favourite sundress. I think it took the following summer for her to get to cutting it out, and another year later it was mostly done.

This week L's back at work and now that the rain has stopped, she's wearing her new dress--and matching ladybird earings: It looks great on her, and she's receiving compliments left, right and centre. The sight of her wearing it makes me smile, and the "bunch of flowers" tag has stuck, which just adds to the brightness.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Quilt and Quilt

Today is a two quilt day. Nothing like getting into things 110% on my first official day back.

This morning I'll be back at Newlands Community Centre with the Arabic Speaking Women's group. I only have a couple of sessions with them this year before that project officially winds up.

This afternoon it's Sussex Neighbourhood House and a working bee to make quilts for some of the flood victims. We're joining in with Jan Mac's Oz Comfort Quilts project. I spent some time in the studio yesterday sorting through fabrics. There are several boxes of options near my front door. I'll have to wait for a break in the rain to load them up. There's another working bee planned for next Tuesday afternoon, so let me know if you'd like to join us and I'll send you the details.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Weaving Puzzle

It was good to catch up with my weaving buddies at the Handweavers and Spinners' Guild yesterday morning. It's hard to believe it's been three years since we first got together for our first year of the Certificate course. I have to confess to having barely done any weaving since the course finished, but it turns out I'm not the only one, and I'm still sufficiently involved to enjoy the work that others have been doing. Maybe this year I'll get back into the swing of some regular weaving.

One of our members brought along this piece of fabric for us to analyse. I decided that my macro lens would be my best contribution, while others threw around possibilities and ideas for reproducing it. My baby loom had a great reception! You would think it was the cutest fluffy puppy or kitten from the way people clucked over it and wanted to know all about it. R went home with it tucked under her arm. I'm glad to know it will be well looked after.

Today I need to somehow pull myself together and prepare for a busy week ahead. I said to myself that I would need to sleep for a week after my adventures in Queensland, but I didn't expect that to be as accurate as it has turned out to be.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Bye Bye Little Loom

I got this little loom several years ago. I thought I'd be able to use it for samples, but as I learned more about the process of weaving, I realised that important issues like beat and tension would be so different on such a tiny specimen as to be virtually useless in predicting how the structure might behave on a full-sized loom. I've kept it as a bit of a mascot. Moving into my new studio and making room in my house for the anticipated foster children has made me more ruthless about the use of my space. Still, I'm fond enough of my baby loom to want to find it a good home. I spoke to my friend R at the Guild. She does some demonstrating of spinning and weaving in schools. This little darling would be great to allow little people to have a go at really weaving. And it's small enough to fit into her car along with all the other bits of equipment she needs for her travelling textile show. I pulled it down off the shelf this morning. Of course it's covered in dust. It's time for me to leave for my weaving group catch up. But I'd rather spend the time posting an explanation and farewell than cleaning it up.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Better

Here's yesterday's fabric overdyed in Landscape "grevillea" and "galah". This is more like the sorts of colours I was looking for. The landscape dyes are named for Australian flora and fauna, but in my mind this is very much a fruity-berry colouring. Now to do some measuring to see if there's enough fabric there to follow through on my plan. It wouldn't have been worth doing the measuring before the dyeing--even though that would seem logical--because I had no way of knowing how much shrinkage I'd get. Even though the jumper was already "felted" in the washing machine, it's now had three sessions in the dye pot and two more spin cycles in my front-loader. And, yes, I do realise I haven't mentioned what project I have in mind . . . I'll wait until I've measured it before I commit myself.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Boiled Cable

Getting back into routine at home: out came my dyepots. I've got an idea for a project and I think this felted cable jumper might do the trick. It started off a dullish mulberry colour. Yesterday I boiled it up with a big dollop of marine blue. I'm always amazed at how much dye a piece of felted wool will take. I rinsed it out last night. I wasn't convinced I had the colour right. This morning it will go back into the pot with as much magenta dye as it will take. I'll see how it looks after that and take the next step.

Meanwhile I've got a new crochet project going to keep me company with my morning cup of coffee. And I have some quilt projects to get started. Yep, I'm home!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Wedding Essentials

A flurry of questions from loving friends yesterday reminded me that I'd forgotten to provide some basic information about the wedding day in my blog posts. Here are the essentials:
  • The weather was perfect
  • The ceremony was meaningful and went smoothly
  • The bride and groom were beautiful/handsome and happy
  • The five children in the bridal party (that's right five) were remarkably cute and well-behaved.
  • The reception was a success, so much so that the bride and groom were reluctant to leave.
  • . . . and yes, I have hundreds of photos for those who like that sort of thing, but I won't be posting them here.

Now, today I need to finish washing and putting away my holiday clothes and visit my friend R, who unfortunately was re-admitted to hospital while I was out of town. Then I'd really like to start on some creative work of a different kind.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

OK

I'm home safe, though very tired. My task for today is to start to unpack and reorient myself here. There are plenty of pics still to sort through from my time away, and there will be plenty more to come as I get back into the swing of my usual life. Just now, though I can't find the cable for my camera, nor can I find any of the several card readers I own. I don't know if it's my state of mind, but my initial attempts to slot the camera card into my computer tower have also been unsuccesful . . . but wait! It seems to be working now.

An amusing bit of incongruity: 15 year old E couldn't decide which identity she wanted to assume when she headed out to catch up with some friends the other night. Pretty girl or shocker scientist? Which was it to be? Then again, who said she had to choose? Pink tulle diamante hair clip and eyeball hat. Why not indeed!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Next Day

Most of yesterday was spent recovering from the big day. After an early burst of activity to pack and clear the reception venue, we all did as little as possible for the afternoon. My friends went over to dinner with the family who had done most of the make-up and hair on the day--good friends of theirs. I didn't feel I had the social battery power required, so I stayed back. My reward was an unexpected couple of hours with the newly married couple who dropped in to finalise documents and other last minute preparations before heading off on their honeymoon.

Here's J on her way to pack the last things into their car. After a day of "princess" finery, she seemed comfortable in a red and white gingham sundress. Turns out the easiest way to carry a bridal veil when your hands are full is to stick it in your hair.

Today it's my turn to pack and go. I can't quite get my head into the space where my everyday concerns and responsibilities operate. I guess I'll find it sometime after my feet hit the ground back in Melbourne.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Mission Accomplished

I'm in that slow form of semi-stupor that comes after a BIG day and late night. This morning we cleared out the reception venue and now everything has ground to a halt. We didn't even get as far as emptying the cars after we loaded them and drove home this morning. I feel as though I've been hit by several busses . . . or was that wedding cars?

Friday, January 14, 2011

It's Tomorrow

No time for chit-chat just now. We're off to set up the church and reception venue for the big day tomorrow. Here are my tablecloths all laid out and ready to go:
I picked up a hire car yesterday, so I have a bit more flexibility for running around. There's a small army waiting for us at the Community Centre, ready to move, arrange and decorate. We're off!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bonus Find

One of the tasks I've taken on in the flurry of wedding preparations is organising the tablecloths. I figure that I may as well indulge my love of textiles while contributing to the overall effort. Having said that, the most efficient way of covering the dining tables for the reception was to buy several rolls of synthetic curtain fabric in the theme colours. Measuring and hemming those is not exactly an inspiring task, but that's fair enough. With that mission nearly accomplished, I turned my attention to the other surfaces that need to be decorated: cake table, gift table, guest-book table, etc, etc . . . I thought I was doing quite well, having collected a variety of cloths from various family and friends, when all of a sudden an extra three tables were added to the list: two of them an unusual oval shape. So the hunt for more cloths was on.

My friend D and I spent an hour or so last night systematically searching through every possible hiding place for cloths of any kind. D loves fine cloth and handwork and has quite a collection of lovely items, which are treasured, but rarely used. Amongst them is a lovely white damask cloth which we thought might work for the signing of the register at the church. We turned this place inside-out looking for it, but so far it has eluded capture. As a bonus, though, we came across this: This indigo dyed cloth was a gift to the family from a Japanese exchange student. I couldn't resist pulling it out of the cupboard and enjoying it's complex beauty. I've done enough rough and ready shibori dyeing to appreciate the talent and effort that goes into creating something like this.

Today I need to pick up a hire car and wine glasses for the reception. Hopefully I won't find water blocking my route as it's rather unfamiliar territory to me. I'm also going to drop by an old family friend's house to pick up some tablecloths from her collection. They may or may not fit the bill, but at least it will be fun to see what's there.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Wedding Outfit Revision

. . . and the rain came down and the floods came up! The bridge from which I took a pic of the flooded park for yesterday's post, was half under water by the time we went shopping yesterday morning and fully under by the time we were on our way home. Thankfully there's an alternative route.

The shopping trip started off as an expedition to get some gumboots and umbrellas for the bridal party. The hardware stores and other usual sources of such commodities are sold out and diverting any incoming supplies to the flood relief effort. Even so I had some fun and friendly conversations with various shop assistants as I rang around in search of something to keep the girls' feet dry. I've learned that gumboots belong in the "power gardening" section. After checking the availability (or not) of sizes, I was put through to the paint department to consult on ways to turn black rubber boots into something that could be used in a wedding photo. Silver spray paint seemed the obvious answer, but getting it to adhere to the boots was going to be a challenge. Then came the suggestion from Leon at one of the hardware superstores, that he'd seen some cute gumboots at an accessory shop when he was shopping with his girlfriend on Cup Day. I'm sure that sort of tip off is not part of his job description and I was suitably grateful. A few more phone calls and we'd managed to locate the store.

Unfortunately, this family has big feet and I was the only one who found something to fit me. I decided I couldn't pass up the opportunity to wear these on stage at the reception: I may need to hold off on the cute "I Love Rain" brolly I picked up to complete the set, though it does have a very Melbourne black trim. I think I'm the only interstate guest, so maybe I'll get away with it.

By the time we'd tried on the boots and chosen our matching umbrellas, the situation was starting to look more serious. Shops were closing, mobile phone coverage was dropping in and out and we'd received a message that the bride and groom's home was to be evacuated. As it turns out, their place seems to be safe, though other areas in that suburb are on alert. Our focus switched quickly to stocking up on food supplies and getting home while we could.

I haven't turned on the news yet this morning. The constantly repeated images of raging waters, smashed cars and distressed people from the flash flooding in Toowoomba were really hard to take yesterday. It takes so long for real news to come through and filtering out useful information is difficult. I'm going to try to stay up to date today without overloading my coping strategies. Meanwhile there are still plenty of pretty wedding tasks to occupy me. The combination is really strange, but that's the way it is.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Photo Opportunity

It's raining heavily. We've woken to the news of severe flash floods in Toowoomba and other centres west of Brisbane. It feels very strange to be planning such a joyous event in the midst of this sort of devastation. Yesterday the picture was a bit more lighthearted--at least locally:This riverside park was one of the possible locations for picturesque photos of the bridal party. When we drove past yesterday it was well and truly flooded. One half of the road bridge will most likely go under, but there is another bridge with a higher profile which will ensure that traffic, including the wedding cars, can get through. We are safe and sound and able to adjust our plans to the changing weather conditions, but others are not so fortunate.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Essential Items

On the sidelines of the general preparations for the wedding, we've been setting aside items for an emergency kit: bits and pieces which might be required at short notice to patch up members of the bridal party on the big day. My big blue umbrella won't be a just in case item, though. I felt a bit silly bringing it with me from Melbourne, but as it turns out, it hasn't stopped raining here for weeks. In amongst all the other activities yesterday, there was the constant humming of the clothes dryer. I tried hanging out a few things that were nearly dry under cover, but soon found that they were gaining rather than losing moisture from the saturated air. I joked a while ago that I should find some matching gumboots for my wedding day outfit. Now I'm seriously considering that possibility. Thankfully there's no sign of any local flooding, but things are certainly very wet.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Other Duties

I'm at a friend's house deeply involved in the last couple of weeks of wedding preparations. I expected my duties would mostly involve textiles and papercraft--as well as lots of talking, laughing, planning and various forms of organised chaos. What I didn't expect was this: The band for the wedding ceremony and reception is meeting to rehearse today. Last night--well after my usual bedtime--J was struggling to get the music together for them: piano, guitars and electric bass. J and her Dad are both guitarists of some talent. J reads music some, her Dad (A) not at all. I, on the other hand, couldn't play more than one guitar chord to save my life, but I do have some musical training and a fair bit of experience with Church music--in a former life, some dozen or more year ago! Without getting too technical, let's say we had the hymn for the piano and congregation in sheet music, without chords. The rest of the band needs chords, which in theory can be worked out from the sheet music. That was my challenge, but before tackling it from first principles I decided to approach my good friend Google. That provided a partial solution. Instead of working out the chords from scratch, all I had to do was transcribe them from one form to another and go through some detailed cross-checks to make sure it was all compatible. Then I held up the music in front of A and sang it through a couple of times while he picked his way through what I'd written out. We decided it sounded good enough.

In other news: I've been asked to be MC for the reception. That will involve crafting of a different kind . . . I can't wait to see what else will come up in this last week!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Getting to Know You

I've got a lot of sewing to do in the lead up to the wedding. I'm staying at my friend D's place--in her rumpus/sewing room to be exact. She and I have a long history of making things together so I'm quite familiar with her old sewing machine and overlocker. Unfortunately, her old overlocker is no more, and she hasn't got a replacement yet. Enter D's friend P. P brought her overlocker over for me to use. It's a Huskylock, 4-thread. Similar enough to the Janome I have at home to do the basics, but the controls are all in different places.

My first step when getting to know new machine is to thread it up from scratch. This time I used four different colour threads. That way it was easy to see which tension dials needed to be adjusted.

Having done that, I've got the overlocker working happily with me on ordinary seams. The skirt I'm making for the wedding, though, has a silk chiffon flounce. I'd like to do a rolled hem to finish it off nicely. So far I haven't managed a nice narrow hem with the Huskylock. I'm hoping to get hold of a manual in the next few days and see what I can manage. Failing that it will be back to the ordinary sewing machine's rolled hem foot--and a fair bit of practice for either D or me to get that hem looking as neat as possible. Meanwhile, there are more tablecloths to be cut and stitched. That's straightforward sewing and a great way to get familiar with new machines. I've also promised myself a creative break some time today. I've got some pretty paper and stamps and I'd like to make a Wedding card before things get too crazy here.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Brain Craft

J came over yesterday evening to work on decorations for the reception. It seems that bird pictures will be a feature. I don't want to let out any secrets, but the estimate was that we would need about 100 bird cut outs. Step one: a template. I suggested quilters' template plastic. There's none in the house, but what about old x-rays? They work well. It did feel rather strange though, hunting out and cutting up an old CT brain-scan! The patterning on the templates is interesting as a result. A couple of hours sitting around the table tracing and cutting had us well ahead with that job. It's amazing how much can be achieved with half a dozen people working together, chatting and joking.

Earlier in the day I'd done some sewing--one skirt finished, two to go. More on the skirt project today, plus I need to get started on a dozen or so tablecloths for the reception. I'd better get on with it.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bling Thing

Here I am at the Bride's family home. The place is littered with pink and glittering finery in various stages of completion. Oddly enough, with so much to do, it was a rather insignificant basket which caught our attention yesterday afternoon. It needed prettying up and the name of the game is "bling".In the morning I'd gone with R to pick up her bridesmaid dress. There was a bargain box on the counter. The diamante star caught my eye and I decided that for only a few dollars it needed to come home with me. I have images of it adorning a simple black t-shirt. When it came to dressing up the basket, I ran to my room and brought out my bling contribution. Decorating the basket was fun, though way out of proportion to its priority status. Today on the other hand I've made myself a list of tasks. Tablecloths for the reception are high on the list, as are some skirts for my friend to wear. I'll have the challenge of getting to know a new sewing machine and overlocker to keep my mind focussed.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Flight Mode

I had a two hour flight yesterday evening. As the flight attendant went through the usual speil about turning off electronic devices etc, etc, etc, I smiled to myself. Then I pulled out my personal in-flight entertainment:This is my second version of a flight-mode drop spindle and it was a great success. The makings are simple: a bamboo chopstick and a small plastic wheel. My friend R put it together for me. Not only did it keep me happily occupied for most of the flight, it gave me the opportunity for some friendly conversation with my neighbour--an embroiderer and knitter--and the various staff members who stopped to ask questions. Now I'm staying with friends, in the thick of wedding preparations. It appears that there will be no shortage of textile tasks to keep me occupied here. I'll keep you posted.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Lists

I'm heading out of town later today. I have a friend's wedding to prepare for as well as the usual holiday bits and pieces. In these situations I just love to have a list of things to do. I wrote one out before going to bed last night. That minimised the urgent mental reminders which would otherwise have interfered with my sleep.

The extra twist on holiday preparations for me is keeping my dogs happy. I have a friend coming to look after them, so it's all good from that point of view, but they have an uncanny ability to detect any form of packing activity--even if I don't pull out my suitcase until the last moment!

As for the clever reminder gizmo, I picked it up from an office supply store a while back. It hangs on the front door knob to hold my keys and any other bits and pieces which I want to have to hand just as I head out. It's not nearly big enough to handle today's lists, though.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Too Much of a Good Thing

I've just picked a huge bunch of this rosemary and hung it to dry. There's at least twice that much again--and that's just the branch that was damaged when my little cedar shed was being loaded on a trailer last week.
I've been told it's will make a lovely flavouring for oils and vinegars, but of course that would mean storing all those bottles, which is not going to happen. And besides, with a huge bush in the front garden, why would I need to do anything other than go out and pick a sprig when I want it? Despite the abundance, it just seems wrong to let any go to waste, so if you're interested in some lovely rosemary, let me know. There's plenty here for the taking. Now if I could use it somehow with my wool . . .

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Sleep-over 101

S and I managed to squeeze a fair bit of fun out of just one day. I couldn't believe how much energy she had, considering that New Year's Eve perhaps wasn't the best choice for a first time sleep-over. Our neighbours seem to have collected an unusually large stash of unofficial fireworks, which they let off throughout the evening. Every new barage startled my two dogs. Their desperate barking was loud and long. Then we'd try to get to sleep and it would start all over again.

Regardless, S woke early and ready for a good day. We were out the door with the dogs on their leads by 9.00am. The night's adventures hadn't slowed them down any. Then off to the park, as promised. A nearby Scout Hall provided some extra interest. There was a succession of tired adults coming through to clean up after the night before. We watched a jumping castle being blown up, wiped down and packed away. The swings and monkey bars were a perfect vantage point. One of the cleaners collected all the surviving balloons and handed them over the fence. That provided some extra entertainment. Back home I didn't bother taking off my running shoes--practically or figuratively speaking. I hadn't quite realised how many different amusements I have sitting around waiting for a child's eye to catch upon! I surprised myself by keeping up with little chores like the washing up, a load of laundry and even a bath for my smallest dog. Apparently the fun and energy is somehow contagious--at least in part.

This morning I've started much more slowly. It's time to smile at the little memories, tidy up the little messes and recharge my batteries. I hope we can plan to do it all again, perhaps minus the fireworks! I know I've learnt a lot and have much more to learn. And the thank you hug from S's dad when he picked her up at the station told me that the night out had given him a chance of fun which he doesn't usually get to enjoy.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Pretty

I have a young friend staying over at my house today. She came for a sleepover at New Years. I told her that I usually write a story on the computer in the morning. She offered to help me. I told her that I usually write about something pretty. We had to decide if we would write about the prettiest girl or the prettiest flower. S said, "actually we think that the prettiest flower." Here it is. S and I are going to play at the park now.
written by s&c