the patchwork dress

a new sign

When we moved in to the cottage, there were a few times delivery people couldn't find us, mainly because the sign on an old piece of wood was badly faded.

I'd been waiting until good weather to repaint something - and decided to do it straight onto the stonework of the cottage, no fuss working out where to hang a sign.

I thought I'd share the steps, just incase anyone felt the urge to do the same!

First of all I drew the image to the size I wanted in Illustrator and chose a font. You could also do this in Word or any programme, as it fits on a sheet of A4 paper and can be cut down. I then cut it out, drew round it on the wall and masked off the outside with masking tape. Then filled it in with Weatherseal paint - a grey mixed from black and cream.

Then I reused the template, rubbing on the back of the letters with white pencil. Repositioned on the wall, I just went round the outline with a hard lead pencil so that the white pencil would transfer onto the wall - knew those primary school techniques would come in handy one day!

Then, with cream weatherseal paint and a thin artists paintbrush just fill in the lines... You could use this technique for a sign, just some words or a quotation - or even a smaller version with your name. I quite fancy painting the birdtable with something next! My lines may not be the neatest, and the photos are also a bit blurry! But a friend did remark on the new sign, and I instantly earned a commission to do his!

looking up

Last Sunday I did one of my favourite things to do..

Went into Glasgow on a Sunday morning before the shops open, sit in a café and watch the world go by..

At that time, before the shopping crowds, it feels very cosmopolitan. You get the tourists and visitors who have just left their hotels setting out for the day, or the odd hen night now en masse with their wheelie suitcases as they head for the train.

I like to sit and watch the people passing by, wondering about their lives, what they might be thinking, guessing what they might be about to do. Who's happy, who's sad, who's preoccupied. The Big Issue seller gave loads of mileage - he smiled and spoke to everyone, cleared tables, studied things around him. At one point we were both just looking up at huge seagulls that swooped and glided above the precinct - while inside the café Goldfrapp played over the speakers, and the whole moment became like a beautiful piece of cinematography... but was life.

The proscenium of the window became the archway to watch all the coming and going, and activity as it got busier. I particularly like the buildings opposite and was just thinking how they look much better in sunlight, when the shadows cast by the reliefs in the stonework bring them to life, when the clouds parted and the sun came out, just enough for me to take these shots.

therapy

A moment when we saw the evening sun in the garden this last week! It's been raining on and off - mostly on for what seems like weeks now... so the other evening when I got in brain dead from staring at a computer all day, it was so therapeutic to get my hands in the earth and do a bit of repotting.

I like the fact that you can do lots of little short tasks in the garden that feel as if you are accomplishing something. I'd been looking everywhere for really plain simple cheap pots to put my sunflowers into, as the plan is to train them up one wall in the garden. Eventually I bought these black pots online for the magnificent cost of 84p each or something. It actually cost more in postage to send them. But weighing up the driving around looking for things, with the time factor - it was the simplest thing to do, and the pots arrived the day after I'd ordered - very efficiently!

here are 'the girls' all lined up!...

Another online purchase was by N. He noticed there were a lot of wasps, attracted to one particular hedge in the garden, but very close to the composter. He'd read about this device that you can hang in the garden that deters them. Wasps are (apparently) very territorial and they think this looks like a wasp's nest, and will not invade another wasp territory.

So he thought he would try it as an experiment. Needless to say, that evening the bush was full of wasps merrily buzzing around completely oblivious to the odd looking thing the humans had hung in the tree!

Looking forward to a mini-crop of tomatoes, courgettes, herbs and lettuce which are all underway... The other night we found a wild strawberry growing in the corner of the garden - which was just plump and ripe for picking. It tasted fresh and fragrant - a subtler taste than a supermarket strawberry, with plenty of water in it... no wonder after these rains!

eco sneakers

Hello! I don't feel like I've got much to blog about at the moment - have had my nose down in work and writing for another assessment due in tomorrow, which has been extended until Monday. It throws up the conundrum of whether to keep working on it over the weekend - but as I was looking forward to a weekend off for once, I think I will just reread and cast an eye over what I've done already before submitting it. I need to play! - but it does mean instead of slaving over an academic email tonight, I can write my blog!

This is something I've been meaning to mention for a few weeks - I recently bought, and am very delighted with my Simple Shoes Eco Sneaks which you can at last order online in the UK here.

I also ordered a pair of shoes which were a bit small and returned, but I was particularly pleased with my boots as they were (are still) in the sale, and because they look very neat - you know how some trainers can make your feet look big? But these are dainty enough to be worn even with a skirt.

But what I like best is that the soles are made from car tyres, and they say they use the most environmental processes they can and non toxic glues etc. Some of the other shoes do appear to have leather on them, but generally they are a friendlier type of shoe. (apologies for the fluff on the sole in this pic!)

Hoping for some sunshine this weekend so we can get outside. It has been pouring with rain and dark skies all week, all rather humid. I hope wherever you are you are having a sunny weekend, or the weather that is right for you.

shetlands

...what's that?...how many legs?

Ah! now I see...
Wonder if you would come a bit closer... so I can take a photo for my blog...

...but I'm a bit shy to have my photie took right now...

...oh, alright... just a quick...

...wash...and brushup...

...there ...how's that?

big ideas

I heard about this guy through a colleague, and that he had made a video to the Radiohead song Nude using old computing technology as part of his Edinburgh degree show...

the result is quite astonishing and worth waiting for as it builds (takes a minute to get into)... what I love most is that he created something so amazing as a second use of what is otherwise redundant technology..

edinburgh part 2

Not surprisingly the past few days have been quite intense, with the midpoint of my post-grad course in Edinburgh, combined with the Edinburgh film festival.. and what with the highpoint of the solstice, it's been quite emotional too. The peaks and troughs of writing, along with the 'self' exposure, can leave you quite raw... so just as well I discovered the lovely Falko German Konditorei for a bit of a treat!

We were just talking at work recently about the German afternoon tradition of 'kaffee und kuchen' - and the ritual of really well made cakes - so I had to try a piece of the baked German cheesecake! That's the cake with the piece missing...

I love how they have set out this shop, down to the detail of the old german till in the window.

I saw 2 films that I really enjoyed - the Taiwanese God Man Dog, which, although slow moving in parts had some fantastic visuals if you like the imagery and kitchness of Bhuddas, Gods and Quan Yins mixed with Christian. The best film though, and one that will be in my top 20 for sometime is Man On Wire, a documentary about the tightrope walk done by Philippe Petit between the Twin Towers during the 1970's. Totally illegal, the attempt was planned like a heist - and the account by Petit and his accomplices is so engaging and surprisingly moving!

edinburgh 9am

at last... a holiday

a week off... freedom!!

...to do what I want and go where I want!!
Writing this quickly before I rush off to Edinburgh for a few days to begin the next stage of my course... and catch some of the EIFF on the day of the solstice tomorrow.

new openings, and just generally an extended 'artist's date' to get some new perspective and recharge...

thanks for all your lovely comments over the past few days - catch up soon!

garden

my blog seems to have turned into a gardening blog all of a sudden - it's the place I've been spending all my spare time lately - am so tired after work, even 5 minutes out there makes you feel as if you've done something, and I find being outside so therapeutic, even though I am a novice gardener.

These are the sunflowers that Melissa sent me last year in this post..

the tomato plants I bought a month or so ago from the Red Cross Plant sale in the village, are now up to my shoulders! The first flowers are coming out, and I have been getting tips about growing tomatoes from a chap at work. I was just commenting to N last week about how quickly they are shooting up - and that I'd been advised to pinch out any new growth between the stem and leaf - when he told me he'd kindly been pinching off the flowers to help. The tomato growing has consequently been left to me, and I also gained some courgette plants from a friend.

today I have been out madly tidying in the garden, and replanting an old trough - moving the plants I wasn't so keen on, to turn it into a herb garden. In there are parsley, basil, some coriander and one or two lettuce... The parsley marker was bought at Potfest on the last foray. I really like the typewriter typeface on it!

Speaking of forays I have had a couple of good finds at work. During the week I savalged 3 old wooden pallets from a skip, as since N had seen an article about this designer in Dwell magazine - he'd wanted to make one of these...

I am so delighted with my recycled sun lounger. (By the way, if you like this kind of thing, check out Scrapile as well.) Had been needing some garden furniture to add to the 'bench' and had been planning an expensive trip to Ikea - so the next day he made a table to match!

which also doubles as a footrest and another sitting bench. Total cost £0 - from 3 pallets.

I hate having to work on Saturdays, as it means a 6 day week and I miss my morning of R4 and pottering in the house. It knocks the system, which I don't think recovers without a break - so thank God I am having a week off later this week. However, being at work did have some payoff as I was given this Cath Kidston fabric by a colleague - with another piece in beautiful roses.

All I need is some time to do something with it!

Bon appetit!