Why Blog? Why Journal?

 Sometimes I think it is a selfish thing to blog....maybe even rather "self centred" but I have never wanted to portray that as it is such a public forum. I know it can be an effective platform to advertise sales and I too do a little of that with the promotion of the William Morris Tours. I have to say that working for Helen Bertram at Whitecroft Tours for many years, this blog became incredibly effective and very successful with seven sold out tours to the UK! I will never be thankful enough for all that Helen did to facilitate all of that and of course my heart overflows with all of you who joined us. I am hopeful that our William Morris in Adelaide Tour will go ahead in just under 3 months as well........

But I digress.......why blog? Why journal? I know Judy does it as a historical record resulting in printed journals as a record of her life for her family. I started blogging almost 14 years ago instead of paying out mega dollars to set up a website! But over time it has probably become a little personal - after all it was supposed to be "Keeping the genius of Morris alive"!! But I also know so many of you have enjoyed my ramblings by the feedback you have so kindly sent me. While life is "on hold" for so many of us as we work through this very long pandemic it means the blog has changed as there is no exciting travel full of memorable images to share. .....

Everyone has their fair share of ups and downs and we have certainly had that too, and so while all might seem well it is often behind the scenes that it isn't. But we are all okay and making the most of what life throws at us. I started writing (in pen!!), a journal today and found that very cathartic. I have done this in the past and have certainly had the need these past few years but it has often ended up scribbles on bits of paper. So I hope the blog is a positive thing for both you and me with hope for us all. We took the two older children to see the new Granite Island Causeway last week. It was a very hot day so we walked out to the island and came back by the horse drawn tram. Sadly the cafe on the island is "permanently closed" and that was tough as so many of us were ready for some refreshment!......

I got a 'bee in my bonnet' a week or so ago when I decided I wanted to paint our front door black! I have so many memories of the stunning front doors in Boston when we visited in 2012....gosh that is 10 years ago and I clearly loved the black doors...in fact I have enough images for a coffee table book! Maybe it was the halloween decoration .....

So off to the hardware shop and all I purchased was a one litre can and we had enough to do even more around the house including the garage door, although I did need to get a can of spray paint to get into the nooks and crannies of the cane chair!.....

The black trim on the piano even got a touch up but I purchased a special wood stain for that.......

These summer days we enjoy sitting outside for breakfast but there is one spot on the verandah where the morning sun is quite glary, so with this satisfying experience of repurposing what we already have I decided to make a bunting from some old serviettes! I have had these since we were married so that makes them nearly 44 years old. But we rarely use them - in fact they haven't been used for years. I couldn't bring myself to cut them up so with a little folding and some hand stitching they work a treat......

I am embarrassed to say I have a shelf full of beautiful old table linens and I have no idea what will become of it all. So many beautiful serviettes with some from our visits to the UK.......

And these embroidered treasures that I purchased years ago from an antique store. I love the thickness of the thread and often wonder who the skilled person may have been and where he or she may have come from as I was told they came from overseas. I have thought about turning them into a quilt but I don't want the hand crocheted edges destroyed. So for now they just sit on the shelf in the linen press and I look at them from time to time!......

In the past few weeks I have also completed the beautiful embroidery kit that I purchased from Kasia Jacquot that I mentioned in my last blog post. I have thoroughly enjoyed stitching on linen and it was a new experience for me using the entire 6 strands of thread. I think for me Kasia's embroidery is flowing and free...maybe the word organic that is used a lot these days says it all?!! I also love the sense of freedom of not having to be a perfectionist and the design builds up so fast....most satisfying for me! I am thinking of doing several different panels and perhaps turning them into a bag. Thankyou so much Kasia x

Of course quilting is never far away. I was given another uncompleted top that had been donated to our group so this time I designed an appliqué border to make it the size we need with my design reflecting one of the prints in the quilt top. It is all now quilted and bound by wonderful Faye and will be donated to a worthy cause.......

It still amazes me that I spend hours cutting up other people's scraps but they are donated and unwanted bits and will eventually be turned into more charity quilts. (Larry does a bit of cutting and pressing from time to time too!).......

So I have managed to fill the blog with more ramblings from home, so thankyou again for your emails and messages. Take care and stay safe. (and an image of when the three younger members of the family got together a couple of weeks ago).......