Round-up / Wind-down

Well it's the end of another year and we all survived the end of the world, which has got to be a good thing! At the end of 2011 I did a challenging list of things I wanted to complete before the said end of world, and I've successfully completed precisely none!

In fairness it's been a challenging year all round ... my marriage finally disintegrated in mach, and I started dialysis at that time too. Then in April I got pretty ill with peritonitis, a dialysis-related infection, winding up in hospital for 2 weeks and deciding that I'd be better off back in the UK where I had family and friends in case of emergency, and to help me get out and about and doing fun things :)

So all those things came and happened and got in the way of any quilting. Then in november I got another mild case of peritonitis, followed by a not-so-mild recurrance that landed me in hospital again for 3 days just a weekend shy of Christmas ... luckily under an extended dose of antibiotics it seems to have cleared the infection and won't need more drastic treatment! Phew!

But enough of the excuses, the short story is that I haven't sewed a stich this year ... but I do hope to re-visit this year's to-do list in 2013 and complete at least a handful of the projects.

... And to help me in that I received a nice giveaway prize from the Talki' Tuesdays twitter chat, which is a scrap pack from Jan DiCintio / DAISY JANIE organic fabrics for hobby & home. I had a choice of scrap packs from her website, and after some very helpful advice from Archie the Wonder Dog I decided to leave the selection up to Jan herself! I mentioned being able to see strong contrasts and geometric shapes, and the pack I received was, i suspect, hand selected along those lines. I am delighted to be able to see the general patterns on all the pieces, which are a really good size so I should be able to get several squares from each piece, and they all fit well with the fabrics in my stash picnic-basket so should quickly find thBeir way into a quilt! .. So what better way to end the year than with a photo!

What the postie brought

Yesterday and today have been rather good! it's always a good thing when the postie brings nice things ... I had been told I was to expect parcel but had no idea what was going to be in it ...

Today I was looking forward to a trip to ken Picton's hair salon in Cardiff Bay for a haircut, and I'm really pleased with the result! They always do it nice, but the girl who cut my hair today has got it perfect I think!

As you can see in the photo, I'm holding a very lovely handmade cushion ... it really is fantastic and came all the way from Sarah Narcoleptic way up north in the Shetlands. i can confirm it is an incredibly comfy cushion, and i was only thinking the other day how much I needed one to rest my back when i'm leaning against the radiator, and my head when lounging on my bed listening to audio books, so it is absolutely perfect! ... one of these days I'll get my quilting engine in gear and rattle off some nice handmade goodies of my own because there are lots of people I would like to make things for and feel pretty rubbish for not having been able to!

At the moment I'm preparing for a test trip on the train ... I've booked the assistance service to make sure I get on the train and find a seat and get off again ... if all goes smoothly tomorrow I'll be undertaking a more exciting trip next week to see the band Orbital in bristol, so that train trip is a little more complex! if you don't hear from me for a couple of weeks you can bet I'll be stuck at Bristol temple Meads trying to find the right platform to come home! lol

What they really think of me ...

Homework for my writing class was to describe ourselves as writers but from the perspective of somebody else ... So this is my homework, written by somebody who knows me very well ...

My writer

I really don't understand that thing he keeps tapping away at, all clickity-clack and noisy fan, though it's nice when he makes it say 'Bix Cool,' because I am quite a cool cat if I say so myself, and Bix is my name, or at least it has been since when I stopped living with that strange old lady who called me "Bumpkin Vectis," which had something to do with my pedigree name; it certainly made me feel a bit simple. I much prefer being a Bix and not being kept outside in that wire enclosure; my human is the best and I've known him for over 10 years now, which is 70 in cat-years, so I should know.

I don't think he can be all that good as a writer though, because every time I fancy a fuss he stops what he's typing and obliges without grumbling; a real writer would carry on and world be damned. If cats were writers Romeo and Juliet would have been a couple of scenes, plus a break for lunch, a couple of snoozes and a rub-a-dub-dub of a fuss at the end. I wonder how many published writers have cats? You have to admit it's no easy task being a creative writer and the human to a cat. I guess I make it easy though because I'm always a good boy, sometimes a very good boy! I know because he stops to tell me at least once every 10 minutes. I must admit I get a little confused though when he asks, "who's a good boy?" and I think, well I am of course, have you forgotten?

Sometimes I think I purrrr too loudly, but it doesn't seem to bother him. Maybe it's like background noise, other cats tell me their humans like music or the picture box on when they're doing things other than listening to the music or watching the box. What does stop him tapping away is if I stretch out so I'm up close to the black tappy thing and put my paw on his arm; especially if I do that but forget to curl my nails away! Sometimes he says Ah!"" when I do that, but in a short sharp way, not a nice soft "aaah" or "awwwww" that means he's happy.

When he says, "I'm just popping to make a cup of tea, I'll only be 5 minutes." I Sometimes try and improve what he's writing; I'll push the buttons and make it say qqqqqqwsssgfgfgxxxxx, which makes him laugh. My record is seventy seven perfect number 1s. Occasionally he says I've been trying to send e-mails or order catnip from the internet, though 'catnip' is the only word I recognise in that sentence.

I’m not sure what poetry is all about. He writes a lot of that and seems to spend as much time changing one word to another, and then another, and then back again as he does writing the main thing. He’ll often mutter about poetry that isn’t really poetry, like there’s a set of rules and poems that he calls “really prose” have broken them all. The more i think about it the more I realise he spends an awful lot of time just staring into space, occasionally humming and ha’ing. If it’s a good day inspiration will bite him like fleas bite my non-pedigree friends, and then he’ll rattle off a few lines and look rather pleased with himself. I have to admit though, poetry isn’t really my thing.

Oooh, tuna! Do I hear somebody thinking about opening a tin of tuna?

*** Human Edit: this is the creative monster behind this post!

Sunday afternoon hooker

Being a Sunday afternoon hooker (thanks to Katie Thistle for that snappy title!) was what I wanted to be telling you about ... there was a beginner's crochet class at the local craft shop and I turned up hoping to take the class.

But I got there to discover an almost full shop! i was a little annoyed because I was running 10 mins late and there was one space for somebody who hadn't turned up yet ... but they didn't suggest I wait and see if she did show or not ... Maybe I imagined it but I did feel there was a trace of "how would I show a blind person how to crochet?" in her voice, which is what really disappointed me ... especially as I bought a crochet hook and thread there a month-or-so ago ... maybe she didn't think that but sometimes you just get that kind of feeling ... the same one you get at a job interview and you just know by the way they ask the questions that they're just going through the motions and you aren't really in with a chance at the job, pfffft.

But in news of the more fun kind ... I won another giveaway at the 2nd anniversary edition of the Talkin' Tuesdays witter chat ... I won a scrap pack of what I think is organic fabric ... it's by Jan DiCintio who designs and produces organic fabrics in Reading, PA. I will take photos as soon as it arrives :)

... In other news, I have had a pair of insoles made by the hospital ... apparently I have very high arches ... the insoles have a metatarsal bar across the middle ... personally I think that's a fine name for a bar ... can't you just imagine wearing a t-shirt to your next sewing retreat saying "I got drunk at the metatarsal Bar!"

And finally, by next time I post there's a very good chance I'll have entered quite a high-profile poetry competition. You submit a booklet of poems and from that they shortlist 4 poets who get invited to submit a book-length set ... the winner of that gets published (the competition is in association with WH Smiths, which for US readers is a UK national chain of newsagents and book seller) ... the competition judge is Simon Armitage ... so keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

Men Quilt Too!

Foiled again ...

I've always had issues with Blogger, mainly that most of the buttons simply don't work with my screen reader meaning I have to manually do the html code to make things bold, linked or insert images. ... that explains the several posts that were missing paragraph breks when I forgot to add them manually!</p>
<p>You may be thinking I've stopped reading all your posts lately, given the total absence of any comments from me ... this is not by choice, so I thought I'd better do a quick post to explain myself!</p><p>
Blogger has apparently changed something in its templates ... for the last month or so, if your blog opens a new window for people to leave comments, that new window stubbornly refuses to cooperate with my screen reader. I simply can't get into the box to type my comment, nor does the submit button work ... in the very rare instances I can get into the comment box and remember to copy my comment to the clipboard, then at least I get the chance to paste it into an email and send you that when the submit button doesn't work .... but in most instances I'm not even getting that far.<>/p<>pSo, in a nutshell, a big BAH! to Blogger ... I wish I was able to leave more comments, but I'm certainly still reading all your posts! ... hopefully Blogger will de-change whatever they changed but I'm not holding my breath! ... Maybe they did it because they didn't like my helpful message I sent them explaining how much trouble people were having with their spam prevention random words thing, and how both visual and audio challenges were verging on the impossible ... I had a helpful suggestion on how they could adapt this system but I guess they don't like constructive criticism ... I'll save my breath in future! ...

eye spy ...

I have had quite a productive week writing-wise. I went to the little town of Usk (Brynbuga to give it its Welsh name, which as you can imagine lends itself to some unflattering pronounciations by people not so sympathetic to Welsh language!) ... they have a small community college and it has a creative writing class starting next week ... it's really a beginners level class but there's a more advanced group meet too, so hoepfully the tutor will allow me to jump straight in with that ... I shall find out on Monday when I meet the tutor!

i've been working on a little website to support my booklet when it's ready to launch ... very soon! i've got the bio page about done and the reading room page which has some excerpts to whet your appetite! Just need to finish up the front page and sort out a sales page ... but it's all getting there :)

I've also got a couple of volunteers proof reading to make sure I'm either spelling in English or American, not a random combination of the two depending on where I was living when I was writing individual bits! ... I've also got a potential offer of help from a graphic designer with the cover, so the booklet might even look decent!

Future plans still include a descriptive quilt reference, outlining the history of traditional quilt blocks ... ideally with modern examples drawn from the blogosphere quilt world! ... I want to write what i want to read - a book that doesn't just show pictures but also describes them for the non-visual reader, and gives some history and stories behind such quilts. I know similar things have been done before but I think the descriptive angle would make it a good addition!

Finally ... for future work, if you're walking around where you live, or somewhere you're visiting ... why not jot down a few words describing its character - the colours, sounds, smells, sights that make you love (or hate) it. It doesn't have to be full paragraphs, just standalone sentences or even one-off words ... email me them or comment and I'll try and write something that reflects the place .... I might not be able to see them myself but I can use other people's eyes! :) ... no timeframe on this, it's an open invite to scribble down anything at any time!

In quilty news I won a giveaway on the Talkin Tuesdays quilt chat on Twitter last week! So a package from the lovely Fat Quarter Shop (who are regular sponsors of Talkin Tuesdays) is on its way ... I'm very excited! ... especially as I have a couple of small projects I'd like to make a start on - it's been hard to get started on things with not feeling so hot in June and July, but August has been a lot better and hopefully that'll continue through September!

Oh and I'm off for my hair cut at Ken Picton's salon in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday so yay to that!