Kinda good, kinda bad...

... kinda happy, kinda sad.

Up until my last post, you'd be forgiven for thinking we were still away in North America. There's been a period of silence around here: not much blogging, even less drawing, and no writing at all. Shortly after we came home from our wonderful trip, we were thrown for a loop on life's rollercoaster, and over the course of ten sad days we said goodbye to a grandmother who was very dear to us both.

It's been a couple of weeks, but time contracts and extends. It flexes and coils, so that sometimes you are crawling through each day and other times you find yourself thinking it was only yesterday, I was there, holding her hand. Enjoying the flowers together. Or snorting with glee about the latest crazy fashions and sewing patterns, and just talking 'girl stuff'.

Some families pull together for the mourning process: others don't. We've had a couple of weeks in full riot-gear and the fun never stops. I'm old enough to realise that just one or two individuals can spread toxic poison, that you can't hide from all of the tricky people in your orbit and you need to draw in and look after your own. With the bombs flying, there's been no time for words or grief, or for memories and sad joy that we had a good friendship. And that, my friends, makes even pacifists like me just a little bit angry.

I hope we turned the corner this week. We're looking forward and thinking of good things. We love each other and will protect each other. Some of our family is fantastic and I give thanks for them every day. But I'm tired, and there are no words and the drawings are few and tentative. We need good soil, gentle breezes, sunshine and soft rain to grow again.

Things I like

Sunday morning, up early and baking cakes. There are a few things I like about a quiet Sunday at home.

• An early walk with the dog. We've got the streets to ourselves and we can admire the sunlight sparkling through the trees. Be nosy and stare at things in gardens, mutter to ourselves (should we wish -- the dog's good at this), and generally slouch around the block. 
• Time to sew. Well, when don't I appreciate this? 
• Quiet. Quiet all around. And more quiet.
  

Ironically, I was awoken rudely, early today, by an obnoxious bird sitting in the tree outside the bedroom window.

He/she has been there every morning this week from 5:30 to 6AM.

Squeek-SQUONK, SQUEEK-SQUONK, SQUEAWK-SQUWONK!!

Honestly, I never knew birds could shout so loud. Must be spring.
He's probably yelling:

"Look at me, ladies, I'm a hunka-hunka birdy luuve, and I've got this here tree ALL TO MYSELF. 

Ladies!?

LADIES?!! 

%?$%#!!" 

Etcetera.

Mr. Tacc asked me why I thought it was a he. "Maybe it's a she", he said.

Hmm.  

Who said birdies sat in trees and delicately twittered? Hah. Damn fool, them.

I've got a linen jacket all cut out and awaiting the very important decision about lining. The jacket is heavy linen, dark blue. I'm thinking batik, red and white gingham or some crazy floral glazed cotton I've got somewhere. It's a casual short sleeved jacket. I've never made a jacket before, so wish me luck. If you don't see photos, even progress shots, you know it's all gone badly and I'l be making a quilt with very small linen triangles in it, all in a nice coordinated blue...

Now, for a piece of warm cake, a cup of coffee, and I'm off to give it a go!

Please pass the salt and pepper...

... or could that be, the kitsch?


What delights! Our first stop in Amerrr-ica included a Saturday in Seattle, and while he went off to the Museum of Flight and the Flying Heritage Collection, I went to Pike Place Market.

Now, I admit that I am a spoiled girl, with Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market right on my doorstep, and so while I enjoyed Pike Place Market, it wasn't a life-changing experience (You see, I had that, in the Queen Vic, and I went back to the UK and applied for a visa. That's definitely life-changing.)


So, you can see why I wished that the girls of blogland and the TCB could be here with me when I hit the motherload of all salt and pepper kitsch. An entire shop devoted to crazy character salt and pepper sets.


(I'm sure they're used to women circling their windows and aisles, giggling quietly to themselves.)

But I wasn't sure if they'd want me taking pictures, so there are just a few.

B

Looking and thinking, travelling to some summer

I've been playing out in the wide world, looking at the colours and thinking of pictures and creations. As usual, getting away reminds me of who I am and of all of the images and ideas, colour and creations I want to be part of my life.


Travel opens possibilities. It wipes the veneer of weekly, daily, monthly work and routine out of my head and reminds me that life is short and is here to be lived to the full. Bloom and fade: celebrate and burst with colour.


The things I see make me want to draw all day, paint all evening, dream all night.

I did do a little painting on this trip, and lots and lots of drawing. Constant doodling. I made the commitment not to worry if it was any good; just to do as much drawing as I could. Even though we're back and the wind is wuthering (and we've got the traditional post-air journey sniffles), I'm doodling most days. It feels great.

And this is one of the photos from the trip that I find most wonderfully, richly satisfying.


Doesn't that just make you tingle? They look rich and full but pokey and prickly all at the same time. Can you see how big these barrel cacti are? I purposefully poked my toe in the bottom of the photo so you could see just how bloody enormous they are. I imagine if you sat on them, they'd pop. Or slump. (And poke billions of little cacti-holes in your delicate derriere.)

These photos were all taken one sunny fine day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as I went around the botanical gardens and sculpture park. Big thanks to my lovely host, Jennifer, for suggesting it -- somehow I never fail to find inspiration in a great garden.


Especially one with vistas like this that remind me of the summers in Canada and big fields of wildflowers.

Now all I need is a big floaty dress and a sunhat. (Too bad they lost my luggage and all I had was my Melbourne winter black. But that's all forgiven and in the past now, right?)

Ahh, holidays. > dream <

Homemade In Epicure

HomemadeInEpicure
Originally uploaded by smallcloughs

I'm on holiday at the moment -- did you miss me?

I'm on the patio, sitting in the sun in Canada, enjoying the summer breezes, the prospect of more barbeques and swimming in the lake.

Meanwhile, at home, the little cookbook we produced for the bushfire benefit has attracted some attention and was in Epicure last week. Yay!

If you don't already know all about it, go to www.handmaderecipebook.com. (I promise you it's delicious, I edited those recipes and some of them looked great...!)

More soon, just wanted to share the (belated) news. If you'e already ordered a copy of the book, apparently they have arrived and will be shipping very soon if not already. Double yay!

xx
B

The wedding quilt is finished!

I've spent nearly every spare hour these past few weeks stitching on this quilt, which I can finally reveal to you! It's an exciting day when a quilt's done, mingled with sore fingers and pride. And I'm really, really happy with this one -- super-snuggly, just the right size for sofa sitting and curling up in style.


I made this quilt as a wedding present for a very dear friend and her husband. It was started many months ago just after they ran away to Italy to get married in a fabulously romantic rush. (A proper elopement.)

I had already decided that red would be the main colour, when she and I went for a shopping spree in Amitie one summer day. She oohed and ahhed as I oh-so-casually unrolled bolts of red fabrics across the table. 'Ohh, this one's nice! What do you think of this one?' Apparently, she didn't suspect a thing: I'd already bought half of the fabrics and had them in my bag. Little did she know that we were choosing the other accents to go with the red and large print floral. Should it be dark blue? Grey? Or even sage green?

I settled on a scheme of red and white with little bits of pale blue. Sky blue, a lovely colour.

And then the sashing: I'd been thinking very dark grey, or that sage green, even maybe a linen or linen blend, but the black with a subtle pattern, well, that just sang.

So, lots of hand quilting in sweet silver perle thread, a backing of black and white check, and a white bird appliqued on the back as a label. Red, red binding. A red, black and white quilt to go with their modern apartment and their big red and black Italian poster. Yay!

I was sewing the last stitches on the bird label today when she arrived. Oops! After the presentation, I had to take it back and set the last few stitches. But that's quilting to deadline!


Faithful to the end. >Toby thinks: Perhaps jumping on the sofa right now would be a BAD idea. Can I have a biscuit instead?<

Whew. Now I can concentrate on trying to get ready to travel halfway around the world. Only 6 more sleeps!

B

Sleepy Sunday

Ribbon that's good enough to nibble...

Sweet stitching, working on a project I can't show you yet (she reads the blog), drinking tea with a lovely friend while kids go wild on an old pogo stick out in the yard. They're popping up and down on the path and they occasionally hit the grass, where the pogo plug takes out a round ball of grass and dirt. Surreptitious looks at us inside, pretending we don't notice as they quietly pat the grass and dirt back into place. Nice kids, her pre-teen and a friend.

I've had a headache all day and it puts me in a dreamy space. Not unpleasant, not really, apart from the ache and the way things sort of -shift- as I look at them. Won't be on the computer for long.

But what I have been doing is astounding me with the beauty of what people create. Look at this.

Illustration by Finnish artist, Hanna Konola - whose quiet little people are deceptively simple.

And this, also by Hanna Konola.


And so many things at the Buy Olympia site - such as

- Papercuts by artist Nikki McClure, who inspires and delights with her intricate and quirky 1930s-looking papercuts of people, trees, and the world.

- Or these gorgeous cards from Jill Bliss and Saelee Oh. How tempting to order up big and have them delivered to my North American address, for happy hopping all the way home with me...

And planning for travel. I've been researching gorgeous crafty destinations in the Seattle area, as it turns out I'll be there for the weekend, the weekend after next.

Hunting online for markets, studios and interesting places. Finding out about neighbourhoods (seeing as I choose the hotel, I'm choosing one somewhere near a good market, right?) And great suggestions would be welcomed! (I've never been there before and so it's a solo craft adventure while Mr Tacc admires aero-planes.) I find a weekend on my own in a new, foreign city inspires me with equal parts anxiety and glee. Excitement at exploring; fear at not knowing how things work and where they are, but mainly concern that I would miss something WONDERFUL, AMAZING, FANTASTIC.

Do you get like that at times, too?