Not a lot to show...............

............... for a long weekend but a great deal of looking, listening and sampling went on as I tried out new techniques on that lovely workshop at Hawkwood.

I had gone with the intention of using flowers as my design source but caught sight of the designs for the Isle of Lewis chess pieces on someone else's table and remembered they were in this book which I had taken with me.   No-one else was working with that particular design so I changed my plans, having wasted a morning making flower prints, and made a start on the chessmen.   I just love their mournful expressions.

I will be making more borders and may use the two square motifs as end paper designs.  The print blocks are made from Funky Foam which is a thin sheet of foam with a sticky backing.   It holds any firm impression made on it - I traced my designs directly onto the foam then went over them with a pencil pressed quite firmly to get a good clear result.   I will cut the foam as near to the design as possible then peel off the backing and stick each design to a piece of thick card trimmed to size.   Then I'll be ready to start work again.

These are my pages - just old sheeting dyed with tea.

Some pages will be patterned - this one has been dulled by rubbing over it with a Derwent Inktense block and brushing with a little water to spread the colour.   The image has been printed on plain fabric using colour from an Inktense block then bonded onto the patterned background.  The page will have a border of some kind down the right hand side.

This was going to be the cover for my book but I made the mistake of not making it larger than the rest of the pages to allow for their bulk, so it will have to be a page and another cover will be made to fit.

I must get on with my online coursework which is on hold while I try to restore partial order to the bedroom and shower-room.   We are having our shower-room updated and I turned a blind eye to all the bits on the floors and stairs last week but work came to a sudden halt on Thursday when the plumber found that the cistern and toilet unit were damaged when he took them out of their packing.    I decided I'd have a tidy house for the weekend and clear up again after Monday when he will be back to finish the job.   It never ceases to amaze me how far the disruption can spread when just one room is being decorated or worked on.

I am also trying to get the garden in order by autumn and plant the seedlings I am bringing on before the weather begins to get too cold.   They are supposed to be hardy and the weeds are all doing well in spite of my best efforts so a few more weed evictions will give me enough room to plant my new babies.   I had no idea I was running a hostel with full board and lodging for snails and slugs until evidence was discovered among the seed trays.   I try to be organic but I can't manage without slug pellets.

I don't really want the summer to end but of course it must, and there are benefits to having cooler wetter weather - no trudging up and down the garden with watering cans for a start.