Light at the end of the tunnel.

There has been little of interest to post here for some time, but we are settling into our new routine and life is getting easier.

A few weeks ago I treated myself to this book by Roxanne Evans Stout.   I have been fascinated by collage for some time and have dabbled with it in a very minimal way but since reading this book, suddenly I have an idea for a small book of collages to celebrate my special relationship with my maternal grandmother.  I always need a reason for making something before I can start.

Like many techniques everything appears to be simple, after all I will only be cutting or tearing papers and fabrics and sticking or stitching them down to a background.  But, choosing the right elements in the right proportions and arranging them in the most effective order is the tricky bit.

I have started gathering together fabrics in blue, as blue and white was a favourite colour combination for my grandmother.

She made rag rugs so that has to be included.  This one appears in one of Kaffe Fasset's books but as I will not be parting with my book when it is finished I am not worried about copyright.  She also made crocheted lace.

I have collected various images from magazines - granny kept bees at one time and her favourite soap smelled of Devon violets.

I may include some stamping - the meadow reminds me of long summer holidays spent crawling through the long grasses of Granny's paddock looking for ladybirds and grasshoppers.

This is just a mock-up at creating the first page.  The photo is of me aged about 18months old with Granny on a lovely summer day.   I think progress will be slow and I must not let my enthusiasm run away with me as I have done so often.   There is so much to think about and each memory seems to trigger off another one.

It is lovely to have time to think about doing some art work again.   At last my husband seems to be making real progress and I have a bit of spare time to play.  

A very special birthday present.

This is one of the pages from the wonderful gift one of my daughters made me for my 80th birthday last month.   I had no time to post much then as my husband came out of hospital the day after my birthday and I have been kept rather busy ever since.  I am the night nurse as well as the day nurse so you can imagine that not much housework is being done other than the occasional 'lick and promise'.

The book starts with my birth details, then my parents, grandparents and so on.  She also included pages giving details of their various occupations and trades, and the meanings of the various names.

Above is a map of where my ancestors came from.  As you see we are mostly from the south east and London area with one little dot in Somerset and another in Yorkshire.

This is the cover which I actually loaded first but for some reason has jumped down two places.  It is a revamped small binder and during construction one of the rivets broke.   My daughter's father-in-law is a real Mr.Fixit and supplied two replacement rivets which came from a Spitfire about the same vintage as me.  I am very proud of my rivets!

At the very end of the book is a page for me to continue, with spaces for the details of our children, and their husbands and children, and so on.

Perhaps in another 10 years she may have discovered more ancestors and we can add further pages to the book.

It has been such a beautiful day today.  I tried to do some weeding but the soil has a texture rather like an overcooked rice pudding.  I suppose it will get dry enough one day to do something useful out there.