I think they are breeding

Today’s photo is a result of a bit of tidying in our back garden .

You may wonder why a pair of sportsphobes [I’m sure there’s a real word for that] have so many footballs.

So do we.

They appear intermittently in the back garden, but no-one ever comes to claim them. I knew there were four but when I tidied up another three emerged from the undergrowth. [Our garden being the sort where you can easily hide three – or more – balls in the undergrowth.]

You may wonder why we don’t just lob them back – but 6 [!]other gardens back on to ours and we are not sure where the balls come from. Demographically there are  probably only two possible sources, but we don’t know which of the two has a footballer – possibly both.

And to be honest, if the erstwhile owner[s] can’t be bothered to come round and collect them – I can’t be bothered to try to find out whose they are.

The young rugby players in the bottom garden come round and ask politely for their lost balls, so why can’t the soccer players?

Ronaldo the wonder dog would probably like the smaller one, but I think the others may be a bit big. We have already given some to our immediate neighbours, who have 13 grandchildren to entertain, but there are too many even for them!

In complete contrast - if you have some time to waste - this is quite entertaining, although they haven’t included the work of Susie MacMurray.

The site has gone into my ‘favourites’ category entitled ‘Things to do when I’m bored’!

Thanks for the commiserations

about my finger – it is slightly sorer today than yesterday and I am still typing with my middle finger [even more hunt-and-peck than usual], but it could have been a lot worse.

As I have achieved very little today, it’s straight to the daily photo - H for Hardanger hearts. I find it possible to contain my enthusiasm for Hardanger – I like it when other people do it, I just don’t like doing it myself. I think this needs a border but I suspect it will just be satin stitch!

If you are squeamish …

you might not want to read the next few paragraphs.

Look away now

This afternoon I did something I have never done before. I sewed through my finger. I did have a foot on the machine but I still managed to get the finger under the needle.  Fortunately I missed the nail - I just have two puncture marks, about half a centimetre apart, on either side of the fleshy part of my left index finger.

Equally fortunately, although the needle broke, I seem to have located all the bits. The machine, of course, is fine. And I'm right handed – the only problems I have encountered are inserting the bobbin into the machine, which I do left handed, and typing.

So far, it isn’t even very painful – like the time I dropped my rotary cutter on my foot and only realised I’d cut myself when I looked down and thought ‘I don’t remember spilling red paint on the carpet’.

Resume reading here

When the unfortunate incident  occurred I was free-motioning these. [You are allowed to say ‘What the heck?’]

This is the next stage of Carole and Linda’s class – couching down fibres to add texture. [This is not on the pieces I made yesterday.]

As we are going to add colour  later, it didn’t matter what colour fibres I used. A good opportunity to use up some of my left over knobbly knitting wool.

Of course Carole and Linda recommend not worrying about a design source, but when did I ever do as I was told? I also omitted the suggested Vilene as I have a Vilene shortage at the moment and I couldn’t wait. That’s why they are a bit curly.

These are going to have hand stitch and Xpandaprint added, and possibly some beads.

It’s a great course, by the way – lots and lots of ideas, enough to keep me quiet for weeks. Can’t wait for their book.

Today’s photo is G for gold work grapes. I did this before C&G so would possibly do it more elaborately now.

Mmm – better make a start on L-Z soon!

Busy – but not much to show for it.

I've started this on-line course with Carol McFee and Linda Monk – which is looking good. I've spent the day putting emulsion paint. moulding paste and wallpaper on fabric – and I've tried taking photos but all I've ended up with are images of white blobs. They’ll be better when I’ve added a bit of colour!

This is the only one that looks like anything. Being me, I got experimental [with a used Colour Catcher], so the paint and moulding paste show up.

 

So straight on to the daily photo – and back to the alphabet.

F for a Florentine  fan. If you think it’s Bargello – I think the two are the same – unless you know better!

 

 

P.S.

Just found my ‘new’ book here. It’s a PDF of a scan of the whole book – links to other volumes in the same series here.

Mine appears to have been written by one of the Therese de Dillmonts[didn’t know there were two of them before] circa 1895.

I wonder how much a book with so many high quality colour plates would have cost then!

Why I love charity shops – an occasional series.

£1.50 – still with his original ‘Build-a-Bear’ label. I shall remove the collar until Babybel is a bit bigger and won’t try to eat it. The white blob on his arm is a label which says ‘Press Here’. If you do he sort-of-barks, sort-of-laughs. Larks? Baughs? Perhaps not.

 

 

 

£3. OK, it’s in French – and my French is rusty to say the least – but look at the plates.

 

There are about 20 of them, and diagrams as well.

No date, but I would think it is about 100 years old, judging by the William Morris-ish / Art Nouveau-ish designs.

That was the good bit of the day.

I did finish this – but after three attempts using different threads I’m still unhappy about the long stitch binding.

 

 

 

 

  I’ve done long stitch before and liked it – I think it’s just not right on this book.

I may have another go tomorrow. Or maybe not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it has been another sunny day – another photo from outside. Not our garden, I'm afraid, just a quiet corner near the Cathedral.

OK, I admit it …

I have been whingeing a lot about the weather recently.

But today has been beautiful.

So we went to the seaside.

 

 

 

 

To be honest, we’d already decided to go to Bournemouth whatever the weather.

We spotted these wonderful things on the railings by the path down to the pier.

 

 

As it was a lovely sunny day – we went inside. Here.

We’ve been wanting to visit the Russell-Cotes Gallery for a while – even before Jeremy Paxman included it in his programmes about Victorian art. Today we finally made it.

The interior is even more amazing than the exterior – middle class High Victorian at its gob smacking highest.

If you saw Paxo’s programmes you may have got the impression that all the paintings were Victorian soft porn – which isn’t completely true, although the nipple count is quite high, including Venus Verticordia by Dante Gabriel Rosetti.

And for something completely different there is a delightful temporary exhibition of mosaics by Cleo Mussi, entitled ‘A Hand Book – A-Z’ [with accompanying book.]

We weren’t surprised to discover that Mussi trained in textiles, as I had gone round thinking about how like embroideries her pieces were …

The gallery has the necessary nice cafe, and a small but very pleasant garden.

Which brings me to my picture of the day.  The fountain in the garden, from the grotto.

According to the information leaflet you can order a picnic lunch from the cafe to eat in the garden. Wish we’d known that in advance.