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Goodness me! What a VERY long time it's been since I put anything here. A rather dusty, cobwebby space it is. I'm taking part in the @MiddleYearsMonday #MYM100dayproject for the third year on my @KittyWittering Instsgram page, aaand the @JoanneHawker #MarchMeettheMaker on my @Needlesmiths Instgram page and thought I'd share here what I'm doing there too. Plus a few other pieces that take my fancy. I'll explain in another post just why I've not been around here but today here is yesterday's day1 post.  Day 1 #MYM100dayproject
Monday 26 Feb Well, I didn’t get off to a good start on this project did I? This is Day 2 Tuesday. In fairness to me (& I’m not often that) yesterday was a Glasgow day, taking Mr B to a hospital appointment. By the time we got home again, I’d cooked, & we’d eaten, dinner, it was almost time to do meds, dog's suppers & walk, & bed! I simply didn’t have the energy to do typing. I will say now that I suspect I might do my long-hand writing each day but posting daily may be a case of catching up from time to time. It’s just the way life & my energy goes. Thank you for your comments & votes. It was a mixed bag of results. So, in the end, I think that this might just be a mixed bag of writing. Some diary/commentary, a poem or two when inspired & bits of novel, which is, after all, how it’s being written. As the driver I couldn’t take photographs of the lovely pink mackerel sky that changed to purple the further west we drove, & the rest of the day wasn’t very picturesque at all. The truly awful Queen Elizabeth University Hospital & Sainsbury’s. Mr B has to attend various hospitals for various reasons. My heart always sinks when it’s at the QE. Stobhill is the nicest & right next door to a lovely park for dog walking in. No such useful facility at the QE. Why is it that there is never enough parking allowed for at hospitals? This visit we noticed how many people had parked on the pavements & in bits of flower bed, outside bays in the carparks, on yellow striped lines… Heaven help the fire brigade if they ever need to attend. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to go there often & it’s lovely Stobhill next month. I’ve decided I’m also going to do a 100 day clear out again. Last years didn’t get completed because I went on my road trip, so I’ll try again. There were several unexplored cupboards from last time that I will tackle this year. First up and out is an oatmeal-coloured cardigan. Shrunk & felted, & not even worth using as a ‘work’ cardigan. I think it’ll be in the scrap bag for the charity shop, recycling rather than reusing. The photo is of the sky on my evening dog walk Sunday eve Achnabreac. I’ll post something for Day 2 later on.
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 Artmap Argyll 2019 Open Studios in the Studio Barn Argyll  Artmap is a difficult weekend emotionally & physically, the highs of plaudits, the lows of disinterested glances, even though you know you’re not going to be to everyone’s taste you still take it a bit personally. Being an exhibiting artist is exhausting, you have to be on duty all day, ready with a smile to welcome to everyone who comes through the door, ready to explain the why & the how many times over.  I never expect to sell a piece of artwork or lampshade so I'm always surprised and delighted when I do. Behind the calm façade & fumbling fingers as they struggle with the string turn up the parcel there's an excited little happy dance going on inside!  Several people asked if I sold lampshades online… & I do so want to! But it is only me wearing all the hats in my business and with rural broadband not being what it could or rather should be, it takes a while to get to that point. Slowly, tooooo slowly, it is being worked on, and I hope to have the proper shop up soon … (ish!) Meanwhile do visit us on the hill! Kx     For the first time I made clocks, which turned out to be very popular.   Taking advantage of the sunny weather to dry fabric and sort it out into size.
However, Rowan has just had a growth spurt and her pyjamas are now too short for her already! Some extensions will have to be stitched on... She made her apron from some remnant cotton with a piece of sheet for the pocket. We used washing line for the ties with some built in extra for growth  The 1st of May is a Birthday .... No not mine, that was in April. It was the second birthday of WRENS the Women's Rural Enterprise Network Scotland W.R.E.N.S. came about following several chats with friends who run their own businesses, about the pros and cons of running a rural business, and how lonely that can be, however much we love what we do, sometimes you need another eye to look something over, someone to bounce an idea past. Even with the most supportive family, is quite lonely and family aren’t always the best people to give impartial advice. We felt that a networking group would be useful, to share the strains and the successes, and get general support and advice from like-minded women. It can be isolating working for yourself, especially if you live in a remote area. With Facebook pages and other social media platforms it is easier than ever to belong to a focussed group ‘virtually’. However, sometimes it’s the face to face, real people thing, that’s needed, especially if they are in the same locality and, thereby have the same trials and tribulations as each other even though each business is unique. The name arrived in my head one morning whilst in the shower! I wanted to create a name that would describe what the group was, i.e. Female lead, business orientated and rural-ly located, but that also became an acronym that could be easily remembered. I know the Scotland on the end sounds a bit grand and nationwide, but I couldn’t think of another useful ‘S’ word! WRENS meets on the first Monday of each month at the Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Campbell St, Lochgilphead, and is open to all women running their own businesses. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/WRENScotland  Our first meeting 2017  Our First Birthday 2018  Our 2nd Birthday 2019 I was asked if I could make a new alter cloth to replace the rather disreputable Victorian one that Christ Church Scottish Episcopal church in Lochgilphead, currently uses.  The embroidered medallions, although worn in parts, are still rather lovely, the embroidery silks and appliqued fabrics have faded gently.  The tasseled silk edging was apparently made by hand in France and now cannot be replaced in this exact pattern. We will have to choose a new one. Can you see the fren knots dotted around the cord spirals, almost like little bees.  You can see the french knots more clearly here, and some of the many darned patches.  The central panel, below. This is going to take a while to unpick & restitch!   This strange goldy brown fabric of the side panels was once green.  We have asked a local curtain maker to make the frontal and I will be unpicking the embroidered pieces for transferring on to the new cloth. Not sure yet when I'll be beginning this job. I think it will take quite some time!
are gathering, weekend offs have been arranged, routes planned, picnics packed. I would like to join the throng, but I also wouldn’t. If we went to any of our favourite spots today they will be busy, full of adults and children being happy and I don’t want to be around people. Being bright and breezy is beyond me. I have no energy to smile and be cheerful. I just want to sit and write, or sew, or best yet sleep.
But even the sight of the Daz white lambs didn’t lift my spirits.
So, we came home and, I went to bed for an hour. The glums are staying in residence today. Hopefully they’ll move out tomorrow.  It was a gloriously sunny morning this morning even with frost on the grass and the car said it was 4.5c, walking in the sunshine was hot. Rosie and I went out and about for a walk & a bit of shopping before heading back home for a morning of computer work as my studio didn’t have any electricity until the afternoon  Even after my lovely day, or perhaps because I had had such alovely day, I had a bit of a difficult evening last night, as I said on my Facebook page; "You know that way when you've a lot to do, a lot you want to do, a lot you need to do, and you don't know where to start so you keep standing up and turning around then sitting down again then your brain fires off another idea or remembers something unconnected but you need to do that too and then you go outside to call the cat in and it's lovely and sunny and you'd like to do some gardening but actually you've got backache from too much tension it's almost time to start making dinner and then there's washing to do and you come back in and can't breathe any more. Well, you know that... That's me that is!" I really was in a bit of a panic about how much there is to be done, I daren't write the list. I had lots of lovely supportive comments from people saying how they felt the same way and wishing me lots of love, luck & hugs. It made me feel much less alone. This morning I did feel a bit better and although I didn't get up as early as I wanted to, (I will keep reading until the early hours!) getting out for a longish walk first did help. A bit of mind calming before the storm of the to-be-done stuff. When I got back to the house the postie had been and my new organic calico had arrived. Really looking forward to seeing how this behaves with my painting as it is a bit heavier than the fabric I’ve been using until now. It’s a really lovely quality and the palest biscuity buff colour. I might use it for making clothes. Once I’ve washed some and found out how much it shrinks first!   This morning began with pots of tea and fruited flapjack at the @thecrinanhotel with the lovely Carole from @lazysundaycatering and as usual wiiide ranging discussions from parents and family to writing (we're both working on books & writing projects) through painting and food, memories and recollections to realising that the morning had passed and we do have work to do. I popped back home to pick up Rosie and was delighted to find a parcel waiting for me. It had my first order from Firain inside. I came across @Firain after reading the newsletter from @jessicarosewilliams in which she mentioned oatmylk soap-on-a-rope that she had bought from them. A quick surf later and I was following on Fb and Instagram and had been shopping on their lovely website. I got some @soapdazedevon Ginger&Mandarin with exfoliating poppy seeds soap-on-a-rope with no plastic packaging, and the 'Jwrnal'. I squeaked with excitement! What a gorgeous publication! I aspire to make my Needlesmith Journal look like this one day. I am really looking forward to reading it this evening. Probably after a shower to use my new soap! Totally inspirational, recycled & recyclable packaging, a sprig of Rosemary and a beautifully hand written thank you card from someone who has checked me out and also thinks Rosie is adorable! This has absolutely made my day. Thank you Jo at Firain Small businesses are wonderful!    Birthday morning feet up in the sun! Oh my goodness! Where does time go… ? All I seem to write in here are ‘updates’ because I haven’t written anything else recently, this is a sadly neglected blog! Here we are in April 2019 and the last time I officially showed up in here was September 2018. SO much has happened since then that I’m not going to try and write an update and instead of feeling guilty and harassed and giving myself a hard time about what I haven’t written I’m just going to draw a line under it and start again. I’ve back dated a couple of posts, and added some poems, I’m not going to promise to show up in here every week although I will promise that it is my intention to make it here at least once a month….. however, you can find me a little more regularly on Instagram and Facebook. And I am writing the second edition of The Needlesmith so there will be more in there. (It's now on Issu and will open as a magazine if you click the link) I am ab-so-loot-lee certain, that there are no longer seven days in a week. I keep reading articles, blogs, listening to podcasts about a simple life, slow living, slow travel. Maddy from aslowadventure.com, Kayte at www.simpleandSeason.co.uk endorses simple business plans, Jane www.Snapdragonlife.com is going to be having a quiet month experiment, Becky Cole www.beckyocole.com focuses on slow natural living... ... sometimes I think they must all have extra days in their weeks to be able to live slowly. As I feel that I am at least three days short in a week and often 4, it can be a bit frustrating! However, I do prefer to be busy, and at the end of a difficult week, a cup of tea with a dear friend this afternoon, an hour and a half of talking about anything and everything, writing, and things we’ve read and listened to, seems to have gently cleared the blockage and my fingers are itching to write & type and paint & sew again. To Get ON! So I’ve made a start this evening with this piece, and some plans and a couple of outlines of articles for the journal. I’ve ordered some fabric tonight , oh and some handmade in Wales soap-on-a-rope from Firain www.firain.com as recommended by Jessica Rose Williams www.jessicarosewilliams.com in her newsletter this week, so I'll be sitting on the doorstep waiting for our grumpy postman soon! Well, until next time I pop in, may your needles stay sharp and your thread not snap. With love Kx  PS. Talking of sharp things.... my brother has been over from Glasgow this week with his 6 month old ferret called Dora such a pretty wee thing but boy are her teeths sharp! Further sharpened on my index finger and dad's thumb!  She also climbs....... fast!
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Author - Me!
I am a ‘Creative’ - designer/maker/teacher/writer. Vintage sewing notions accumulator; Textile artist & painted lampshades maker. A reader, writer, dreamer, dog walking tea drinker. 
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