What I Saw Yesterday.

Sunrise.


Sunset.

Dearly.

Well, there I was thinking that the weekend away was my birthday present, as I floated around the exhibition on a light but thrilling breeze of sheer delight at actually being there, when Jay turned around and asked me which piece I liked...! Yes, I nearly fell over.
In some ways it wasn't hard to choose. This piece is a wonderful example of Julie Arkell's work that I first discovered a number of year's back. Endearing is the word that comes to mind generally around her work and no more so than her little rabbit people. On the whole, the entire show was so beautiful. Jessie Chorley's work was gorgeous too and is next on my list of heart's desires. Also showing were Cleo Mussi who made delightful ceramic mosaic figures, and Jeanette Orrell whose work is lovely delicate wire-work. See here for info on the show.

So I am one happy girl at the moment. And Jay has earned himself some serious credit!

A Weekend Of Pictures.

So I'm back. Back here on the couch blogging, trying to keep warm, listening to little ones coughing in their sleep, wondering how it's possible that only yesterday I was in some other world?

We had a wonderful time. I got to do and see all that my heart desired, and more. The weather was perfect (for this time of year that is!) cold, clear and crisp with a scattering of snow on our last day. The only bad thing was Jay waking up on Sunday morning with the horrible flu My Only Girl had when we were leaving. Bless him though, it didn't stop him. And although it felt the whole weekend we took at a leisurely pace we actually fit in quite a lot. All thanks to clever hotel booking on Jay's part, and the brilliant Underground. The Smallest was a dream and was quite happy to be snuggled up in his buggy when out and about.

So in lieu of my Week of Pictures, here's some images from our weekend.












And tomorrow I will show you a picture of something very special...

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

London Calling!

I am very excited to be telling you I am off to London at dawn! Myself and Jay are off for a few days with just Sweet William in tow. It's my belated birthday present, and well worth waiting for! We have a very loose itinery, with the only absolute must being this exhibition.

Well, of course there's Portobello, and Covent Garden, and I'm sure we might squeeze in Camden... oh and all those galleries Jay wants to visit... sigh... we'll see what happens.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and see you on Tuesday!

The Grandmother Memory.

This is a wordy post. I apologise. But it's something I have wanted to share with you for sometime. 

I believe in the Grandmother memory. The possibility of 'just knowing' things. Memories that we inherit from our Grandmother's Grandmother's. It explains the things I cannot explain. The things I have always just known. And I regret the word of mouth knowledge I have missed out on. My father's mother died before I was born, my mother's when I was a teenager and running a house was a distant speck on my horizon.

I often think about what it must have been like for my ancestral mothers, the hours they spent in their kitchens among the quiet sounds of running water, the breaking of an egg, kneading bread. I imagine a world scented with the strange and wonderful smells of orange peel, roses, spices and herbs. I think about the seasonal year, the turning seasons, the tasks, the making, the baking, the preserving. They were preserving their lives in each of those daily offerings. From their morning ablutions, to their night time prayers and every small task throughout their day. These women lived with routine and ritual their constant companions.

I do have one thing though. I have my Nana's notebooks. Her Household Book and her book of collected recipe's. I hadn't known of these when I started my own book of collected recipes about six or seven years ago. When I mentioned it to my Mum she produced these gems. I couldn't believe it! It was amazing to read her so familiar handwriting, to read recipes I knew well and associated with her, with family gatherings in Nana and Grandad's house, gatherings that are long distant childhood memories now.

Her household book is filled with things like paint codes from different rooms of the house, cooking temperatures in fahrenheit and centigrade, quantities of food for diferent numbers of people, E numbers, recipe for playdough, home cures for ailments, knitting needle sizes, things borrowed and from whom, phone numbers, spellings. My favourite though is her list of things to do in the week before Christmas. It makes me realise how some things don't change, although her list is a lot more extensive than mine!

I adore this little paragraph, both for it's humour and because it is such a sweet reminder of my grandparents.

"If when cutting up meat there is no room in the fridge, make sure that parcel of turkey etc is clearly labelled so it won't be put out as refuse! as in - 1976".

At this point I would like to say a huge grateful thank you to my Mum, for she is now the Grandmother. And she has taken the role to a whole new height. Far beyond what any of her ancestral mother's could ever have imagined. She is a shining star example to me and my daughter. She is an amazing role model to have. I am so grateful to have this. 

I like to think that each of us in our own way are recording a little piece of family history for our daughter's and their daughter's. It means so much to me that I am aware of this. That this child paced time in my life will have meaning to someone in the future. Maybe even has meaning now. That we are creating family traditions of our own, to be passed on and learned from. 

We are a link in the chain. All of us. And isn't that incredible!