Friday 28 September 2007

Bit of a Blog Game

To stop my little grey cells shrivelling too fast I decided to write about some themes of current pertinence to me using letters that will also spell out one of those themes.
Yes , it's entirely pointless - but what the hey ??


B - for Bears obviously , and in particular Bear Artists Online . The next online show is Nov 3rd , so I've been spending all my time creating exclusive mini bears for this . I need to really plough on with it , as the photos have to be sent by the 27th October . Yikes , I wish there were at least 3 more hours in the day , and where can I cut more corners with housework ???

E - Education : what with the 11 yr old joining High School and now firmly ensconced in the conventions of that institution , it leaves me to observe for the third time ( two other sons having been through the doors ) that as a parent you become suddenly detached from the whole process . Input is required from parents at Primary level , but the stage 4 curriculum is so ..."now" . You feel ever more irrelevant and start to hear yourself saying "in my day.." or "when I learnt this we did it this way .." Yes, that's you speaking. Not your own parents ! Even the key workings of the school itself remain a mystery - never destined for enlightenment . Maybe that's just a boy thing ?

A - is for Autumn naturally . I can include a good textural pic of our garden ivy . It is lovely to see the golds and reds starting to come through . I think it's also time to rip out the dishevelled remains of the Summer planters and baskets ; now gone beyond "sad" . Hang on a minute though - it feels like we already had Autumn didn't we ? Oh no , my mistake it was Summer wasn't it !

R - Relics ; I think we might be in trouble if we don't manage to get Brett to the Tutankhamun and Terracotta Warriors exhibitions in London at some point . After all , he is going to be an Archeologist y'know.

F - is for Fairs - Bear ones in particular . This is totally on my mind at the moment . I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the Teddy Bear Artist Event (June 2008) which is being organised by Samantha Potter of Mary Myrtle Miniatures . The venue will be the Town Hall in Stratford upon Avon . This will be a complete first for me as I have never done anything similar - although I have been on the other side of the tables many times ! I am completely honoured to have been invited and it means an awful lot to me . I'm already wrestling with how the table will look , what pieces to make , whether to order bags or boxes . I have developed an obsession with T K Maxx , which has wonderful paste board boxes to use in display ... more on this over the coming months I'm sure ...

A - as my niece on my husband's side has just had her baby girl I am now officially a Great Aunt . Oooerr ; feels like I should start wearing furry squashy hats and gloves , and caking myself in unlikely orange face powder !

I - this one is Interesting ! Son no.1 comes home on a Thursday night and tells his Dad that a friend's uncle is driving the tour bus for Incubus in this country , and he can get 2 tickets for tomorrow night's gig , at Nottingham Ice Rink . Hmmph - So off they went , in time for the 6.30pm open doors to have a brilliant time at the "best gig ever!" , and Max even caught one of Jose's drumsticks ( surely it should go in a glass case or something ? ) Well phooey !! I just love Incubus :0( Whilst I might have smiled at the video clips on Max's phone inside I was childishly sulking !

R - last word has to be "Relentless" , as that perfectly describes the hands on the clock ; they appear to be positively spinning round !! Won't be long before June 2008 is here ....

Oh yes , of course the words are BEAR FAIR !

Ta Ta For Now ..

Ruth xx



Tuesday 4 September 2007

A New Start

>
It was time for my youngest son to start High School today ...
the Primary school he used to attend is just a short walk up the road ; I can see it from my bedroom window . Now , Brett has opted to cycle to school ( ONLY 3 and a half miles away on hilly , narrow , winding , people-mover packed roads !) and his older brother , Guy , who is in the last year of the school , has taken on the responsibility of shepherding the tender "newbie" on his way . After testing out the route a couple of days ago with Guy and his friend who are cycling veterans , Brett declared he could "easily" manage the distance/effort every day !

Seeing Brett standing there in his brand new school uniform (leaving aside the question of the hair - which in fact has been cut !) I finally got to "see" more than just the turned up blazer sleeves , and re-hemmed trousers , the you-don't-want-to-know-how-many sewn in name labels , and other minor alterations - easily my least favourite sort of sewing . He looks .... older . Yes , he's gotten older this summer . Taller too.
So that's that.
Ping goes another apron string !


T.T.F.N
Ruth xx




























Brett's summer persona !