Window on Wednesday...the last one for 2010

I really like this window...the soft sandy colour of the wood....the blue and white cloth used for a curtain adds a touch of serenity...

Remembering my New Granny - 23rd December 1913 - August 1990

Christina - Smith - Mrs Mac

I met my New Granny for the first time at the age of four....she lived in Natal when we lived in Johannesburg...because of some family differences (there were always differences in our family at one time or another) our meeting was delayed. I remember my NG's house was filled with animals of none sort or another...her house always smelled of fresh lavender...my NG's favourite herb...when she died, my father and I found brown paper packets full of lavender, stuffed in amongst her underware, sheets and blankets.. I remember opening her fridge and smelling toffee...she gave me a houshold tip..."I always sprinkle a few drops of vanilla essence on the wipe down cloth after I have cleaned the fridge...that's what makes it smell like toffee!"

My NG always looked her best even when she was feeling her worst, she never grumbled about anything (though she had plenty to grumble about) and I never heard say anything bad about anyone. Her hands were always busy with something, be it knitting, sewing or gardening. When she wasn't doing any of that she was reading...she was never bored and I was never bored when I visited with her.

Happy Birthday Gran...in my heart always...

Window on Wednesday...

Nearly did not make it this week...our internet connection has been really bad....

The Girls....aka " The Ugly Sisters"...

These squares of fabric have been lounging in my fabric box sinice way back when...having gained some confidence drawing faces I thought I would give it a go here...sadly though I may have lost my way as I think I have created a collection of "Ugly Sisters"!

Window on Wednesday

The Windmills of Your Mind

Words & Music by Alan & Marilyn Bergman & Michel Legrand

Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel,

Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel,

Like a snowball down a mountain or a carnival balloon

Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon,

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face,

And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space,

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.

Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own,

Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone,

Like a door that keeps revolving in a half-forgotten dream,

Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream,

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face,

And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space,

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.

Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head;

Why did summer go so quickly? Was it something that I said?

Lovers walk along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand;

Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?

Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragments of a song,

Half-remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?

When you knew that it was over, were you suddenly aware

That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair?

Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel,

Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel,

As the images unwind, like the circles that you find

In the windmills of your mind.

It's December....again!!

There are many reasons why December is a great month....
I was born in this month...
My granny was born in this month..her birthday, when she was here on this earth, was the day after mine..
Then there's Christmas day...a very different kind of day for me now...
Another year is almost at an end...a sign of new beginnings...new things to come...new adventures to experience...

As the years pass I seem to spend more time thinking back to when I was really young..when we lived in a flat on Sunny Ridge....when we used to have a real Christmas tree with pine needles that pricked my hands when placing decorations on it....when my father left a glass of milk and a plate of biscuits under the tree on Christmas eve for Father Christmas...when I was so excited I could not sleep...when I waited impatiently for my old granny and grampa to arrive on Christmas morning....I can hear her now as she came into the kitchen from the car on  the drive ...."come on chummy" that was her name for my grampa....he would be following her laden with bags filled with gifts and cake tins one of which had the Christmas cake in it...poor old grampa how he managed all the parcels is still a mystery...everything seemed to be so easy in those days...

This we will spend a very quiet Christmas together, my dearly beloved and I...it will be good for our souls...no mad rushing here and there getting caught up in the madness of the silly season...

Window on Wednesday

These windows were taken in Leicester village...one of the oldest villages in Freetown....the EU(Eurpoean Union) have a farmers maket project in this area...some of the vegetables bought in Freetown come from this area...it is marginally cooler in this part of the peninsular as it is situated in the "mountains"....

It is 00:50 on my computer clock ...I have been at the sewing table all day and a good part of the weekend...pictures to follow...

Window on Wednesday

Today my impression of a "bod os" window.....

A weekend spent camping at the beach.....

 Life here in Freetown is not the easiest and at the moment it is particularly bad as the roads are being upgraded and everywhere is mess, traffic congestion, people congestion and construction work...when the roads are completed it is going to be a pleasure but until then it is awful beyond words...so when a friend suggested a weekend out of town camping on the beach the dearly beloved and I jumped at the opportunity....

...our home for the weekend....with a sea view...

Almost a full moon....

...peeking through the rocks...

...this one is a bit grainy as they were far out to sea....

...this little chap sat on this rock with one leg hiding almost all day...

...this is the "little egret"...such poise...

...what a wonderful way to forget the hustle and bustle of Freetown.....

Oniond skins....Sierra Leone sun bake onion skins



A few weeks ago after having collected enough "clean" and "dry" onion skins I gave the onion dye another go. The first attempt here in SL was very wishy washy and dissapointing after the rich colours I had experienced when i dyed with o/s in the UK. This attempt was a little better but the only bit of cloth to pick up the "yellow" colour was the silk velvet, actually this picture does not do it justice at all, the colour is rich with the highlighted bits looking like gold....anyway....the other bits of cloth dyed all came out a pinky colour...no there were no hangovers from the avo dye in the pot....so the explanation for this colour? only Mother Nature knows....

Window on Wedneaday

Wednesday window taken at Leicester village...Freetown SL...



My Ghana bead stash…

Before I left for Ghana a friend told me about the huge bead market that assembles outside a town called Koforidua…upon my arrival in Ghana I started making enquiries about this market…some people did not know what I was talking about ….some people said yes they had heard of this market but did not know how to get there and then there was the information from the High Commission driver who informed me that to take a taxi to this market was going to cost a lot of money…he said I could take the buss but in view of the fact that I was new to Ghana and did not know where I was going he was not sure I should venture out on my own…so sadly the bead market will have to wait for another visit…maybe….
But with beads on my mind I did venture into town where I found some beads being sold by vendors on the pavements…I also visited the craft village somewhere near the hotel we were staying in and have to say that I was ripped off totally…the long string of blue “disc” shaped beads set me back £30 where as the selection of other beads picture here cost me less than £10….but I am happy with my little stash and the mind is racing with ideas of what to do with them….

Farewell Accra….

So time marches on and our time in Accra has come to an end…here we are sitting in the lobby of the hotel waiting for our transfer to the airport….I have enjoyed this sojourn. I have been really impressed with the crafts I have seen…progress is evident everywhere here…most encouraging…unfortunately i did not make it to one of the bead markets i have heard so much about…but who knows maybe next time if there will be a next time…

The beasts taking shape…

Some time ago I took Jude’s Beast on line class here are some of my creations…. 

Windows on Wednesday

Windows are the eyes of a house...the bod os windows here in SL have captured my imagination.... It is my intention to post a window (Internet permitting) each Wednesday...sometimes they will be my artistic impression and at others they will be photographs taken by me...

Here is the first wow...




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:wow

Accra Ghana…..

Today we were retracing foot steps….my dearly beloved’s foot steps…we visited the Aburi Botanical gardens…where as a very young boy, he and his parents would visit for a day out….now nearly fifty years later…nothing is familiar and yet everything is familiar….

 

Red and green... beautiful African colours....

Survival of the fittest or in this case the persistant....

A wonderful morning spent wandering around the gardens...

......only in Africa!

Clothtocloth - Coconut ice and some sugar plum faries



...the star....



 

the shift...visited by a couple of sugar plum faries

coconut ice detail

....and then some more....

this little piece of card weave desperately wants to be part of this cloth.....

Clothtocloth - coconut - ice

I have been working quietly on my cloth some new ideas and some distractions…. 

…and then there have been more experiments with the avo…….

I added bicarbonate of soda to the boiling pot and this is the result….:-)

the dark pink is satin velvet the other pieces are bits of cotton cloth…..

Holiday flowers

This picture of a new sunflower makes me think of hope…helps me to get through the day here…hope… that is….this is a hard country to live in…Sierra Leone..that is…

These are hydrangeas' taken at Stour Head church…near Warminster in the UK….this picture reminds me of a wedding gown….love…something I feel everyday…how lucky can this person be?

Packing….I hate packing…

…..it means the holiday is over …. it also means that my dearly beloved and I have some very serious discussions about how the cases should be packed…when I was a one this was very easy and even if I say so myself I do believe that I am a very good steve-a-dore (sp) (one who can pack large amounts into tiny spaces without damages). My dearly beloved, though he may think he can pack, he can’t and will not admit that he can’t…so the dilemma…I have retreated to the computer to keep the peace…and to say a silent prayer that all our possessions will arrive in Sierra Leone on Monday evening in one piece !

Test post from windows live

Everyday I learn something new…

Avocado leaves and peels

Hi Kaite this post is in reply to your comment. On the left is silk velvet, cotton and some silky see through fabric ( need to study up on types of material) the background fabric is a canvas type fabric which we in South Africa, call bull denim. These peices were dyed with leaves picked from an avocado tree on the compound. The lilac peices on the right were dyed using avo peels, now I don't know if this happened because the avo was well passed it's sell by date or there was something in the material I just don't know. Perhaps your elderberry witch was sitting on the side of the pot. The stippling effect on the background fabric happened when I placed the cloth on the top of the washing maching to dry, there must have been some washing powder crumbs on the top that I did not notice...anyway I quite like the result...

Sierra Leone Brewery....Star Beer

Sierra Leone Brewery

When I was told that we had been signed up for a tour of the local brewery I have to say that my first thoughts were "I'd rather be home sewing!" But then I was told that we would be travelling through a part of Freetown we had not visited before (a post for another day). Interested in what is happening in and around I was in for the journey. Upon our arrival at SLB we were ushered into the company pub where we savoured the delights of the product of the brewery....BEER!

The local brew "Star Beer"

Beer bottle soldiers..

I have to be honest and say that upon reflection.... a really entertaining afternoon was had, thanks to the warm welcome from the staff at SLB and the great company of our colleagues.... this visit will be a fond souvenir of our time here in Sierra Leone.....

SLB's "greening" contribution...

The Face Challenge

I have entered a face challenge set by Susan ......this face was found on one of the footpaths on our compound....I had to do a little primping and preening to get it alltogether as she was a little dishevelled having weathered a storm in the night...I hoped that passers by would see her before the gardeners swept her away....

My face for the Face Challenge

 While out looking for the face, I came across these little chaps waiting for a new life and now they have it...in a beautiful little bowl on my desk.....a lovely greeting everytime I sit down to sew at my desk.....

Little faces found in the undergrowth