Elephants on parade # 1

Smitonius:

There is an exciting new outdoor exhibition in London called Elephants on Parade, where over 250 elephant casts are painted and placed around the capital. So, we set off first of all to the City of London armed with a camera and the list... all in all we managed to locate 23 elephants. Only a few more to go.... ejem!

The first one we came across is called Izzy, after Isambard Kingdom Brunnell. All over quite a witty bit of painting (her rear view becomes a tunnel)

and, not only that, but there is a mouse to be found too:

There are so many different styles out there, look at these eyes:

And one elephant even has a city inside it:

Right, now to upload my found pachyderms onto Flickr... along with all the other elephant hunters and gatherers.... I wonder how many I will manage to see over the next few weeks?

An Average Sort Of Week , Give Or Take ....

Sonata :

an enforced computer-free week hasn't led to wild creativity and a rediscovery of Great Literature or even a quick dabble in Macrame For Beginners . I haven't even caught up on way overdue letter-writing , written my half-year report or filed the last couple of months' pile of Don't Throw Away envelopes , unless you count knowing roughly which piece of furniture they're resting in .

But I've watched a football match on television and demonstrated a knowledge of the offside rule which surprised even me . I've shared a space with rainbow crystals and Baby Boomers . I've twice survived an Art Project with visiting artist with a surprising amount of finger paint , ice cubes , food colouring , feathers , sand paper , glitter and bongos with a dozen three-year olds . And I've watched Julie/Julia with very good friends , good wine and impeccably low-fat delicious nibbles .

With the rest of Holland , I've celebrated the Queen's birthday in customary style . The country becomes a giant open air Flea Market and I joined the rest of the population strolling around in the hope of finding undiscovered treasure .... or at least an orphaned button or two .

No luck but I did find some great books

and some vintage fabric

including a little piece of this lovely fairy-tale material

with a tiny Cinderella and a Prince with attitude .

I bought this which we enjoyed greatly

easy listening , circa 1750 .

Which brings me neatly to my apology to any of you who may have been expecting Naked Willie's "Bring Me Sunshine " to be startlingly risque or humorous . No , what made me laugh so much was the fact that , whatever else I'd expected from this ponytailed , pot-smoking Country and Western icon , it wasn't a Morecambe and Wise impersonation .

But , don't worry . I got my comeuppance .

I took Willie and two other c.d.s back to the library and fed them into the maw of the machine that registers returns , whereupon it told me that I'd returned 2 items .... NO! . So I went to the Help desk , with which I'm not unfamiliar by now . Nice lady said "I'll check ", then returned to tell me I'd returned only two from my total of borrowed items . "I can't find Naked Willie ", she bellowed to the growing queue behind me , "Are you sure you returned it ? " . I felt like doing my Frankie Howerd impersonation , "Titter ye not ", but didn't , you'll be glad to know . Finally exacted her promise to let me know by post . So I can expect a salvo of postcards about NAKED WILLIES from the local library , then . Should raise my profile locally .

And now I'm off to Amsterdam for a couple of days . If I remember to take my camera , I'll take a photo or two , I expect .....

ancient crafting

Smitonius:

It is that time of the year again, when sunny (or not so sunny) week-ends mean camping in our mini camper:
We were joined for breakfast by some feathered friends (but we didn't tell them what was on the menu):

And we stumbled across an Anglo-Saxon village: a recreation in West Stow Country Park.

It was like stepping back in time, though I have no doubt that the past was much dirtier and smellier that this! It was possible to step into the reconstructed houses, and one was a weaving room, with plant dyed skeins of yarn hanging on beams and lots of weaving looms:

I decided that I would stick to the present, despite the tempting idea of all that crafting... there would be a lot of back breaking work as an anglo-saxon maiden! And, heck, all the plant dyes in the world do not produce as lovely yarn as this:

On our way back to London, we stopped at a pub, and opposite that pub was an old forge with a sign on the door that said open... and inside that forge there was lots of yarn lovelies for sale hand-dyed by Paula at The Yarn Gallery (do check her stuff out!). Aha, time to get that spindle out again, and reconsider sock knitting.

No Large Scale Production Awaited .

Sonata:
Interim report

I think I could speed up with practice ... but whether I'd want to take up peg doll making on a regular basis is another matter . The alacrity with which I shot out of the door to wander round town and have a beer on a sunny terrace probably answers that ( mind you , sunny or not , it was cold ) .

But it was fun to rummage around and see what I had that was tiny enough to decorate them with .... though rather alarming to realise that I'm still a Scot at heart . The Tartan Army football supporters' bunnet on Doll One was unintentional .... I had been aiming for a little Gallic beret .

And , on a more cultural level , the Judi Dench book is good , I'm enjoying it , though her sheer niceness is chastening to those of us who are less so . The C.Ds are all good , including an odd handful picked up in the library . Just one thing : If you ever have the opportunity to listen to the Willie Nelson c.d. , "Naked Willie" , be sure to be sitting down before his rendition of "Bring Me Sunshine" . If you happen to be standing in the kitchen , chopping an onion , it might take you by surprise , you might laugh till you hiccup and crafting fingers could be at risk .

Endeavouring To Be Crafty

Sonata:

Having had this sort of week ( it's all relative , I know . My mad rush might be a walk in the park to you ! ) , which culminated in dropping a large bowl of Ratatouille on the carpet , I'm looking forward to a weekend of a bit of this and a bit of that . And a lot of this

C.D.s by old favourites like Cesaria Evora and Tito Paris , two Cap Verde singers of great charm , a really good North African selection including Tarik Lamirat's La Foule , the soundtrack of "The Chorus", and Mercedes Sosa . All easy-listening , all "hum-along-able" .

Plus a biography of Judi Dench whose fan I've been since I saw her in Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet at the Old Vic in 1960 . And a couple of films which looked good , "En La Ciudad Sin Limites " , a fraught Spanish family drama , and "Sunshine Cleaning" , a strange American comedy about a cleaning company with a difference by the people who made "Little Miss Sunshine" .

Having just finished my umpteenth miniature quilt , I wondered if it mightn't be time to branch out craft-wise , so went to the library on the way home . There used to be a large Hobby section covering every thing from making greetings cards from the little envelopes tea bags come in ( seriously! It used to be BIG here ) to Photography via Dry-stone walling and Origami . Today I found 3 shelves of " Pimp Your Mobile Phone " and PomPom making and was directed downstairs to the Children's Section .

After a day spent with 2-4 year olds , I obviously lack the gravitas to be considered Adult . Anyway , I like the tree house in the corner .

The How To Crochet books still looked too difficult but I did find a copy of Vivienne Bolton's The Doll's House Decorator . The section on doll house dolls made me realise I had all this at home

so I seem to be making peg dolls this weekend . And you?

Blossom and other signs of spring

Smitonius:

Have spent the late afternoon sitting in the garden, enjoying those rays of sun at last, and the plum tree is shedding blossom like a snow cloud. This little chap by the pond is grinning on his 'hey ho, it is off to work we go' sort of way:


The pond has welcomed back the newts and the odd frog or two (they never breed in it, but just bask about in the sunshine - or the rain). The woodpecker has returned, and - although I have not yet seen his lady wife - a young juvenile is with him, rat-tat-tatting on the tree trunks and pecking at the fat blocks we have put out.

The camelia is flowering, though many of our plants did not survive the winter.

We appear to have lost three beauties so far, a rose, a passion flower and a plant whose name I never learnt but flowered prettily and kept the bees amused for hours. But what a fine excuse to find others to take their place.

Back In The Land Of The Living

Sonata :

Pinchito spices from Barcelona arrived in the post today from Smitonius . So chicken pinchitos (brochettes ) tonight then .

And lemons from Marcel's aunt's little farm in Corsica brought back via Husband will form a bed of lemon slices for baked mackerel tomorrow night .

Don't you love edible souvenirs !

Then , having spent all last weekend feeling decidedly peaky , and after a fraught week at work .... the boiler and power keep on dying and , even if we could entertain preschoolers in a freezing room , the lack of a telephone makes it illegal ..... I'm ready to PARTY !!

Well , Sonata-style anyway . I'll be sewing this evening , keen to finish this ....

which reminds me of this ( stained glass in a Haarlem cafe )

now I have a good look at it !!

And on Saturday a Collector's Fair beckons .

Have a good weekend ...