ripcurlgirl blues

Issue 16

2008-04-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

It's my turn to edit again. Have decided to go for a small version, which I have lifted from an actual japanese book. I like the holdability of it. Here is the template and the stickers I used for the packs.

RIP Greg Daville

2008-04-03T01:38:00.001-07:00

Our friend and fellow artist Greg died the day before yesterday. Very sad.

Family photos

2008-02-01T03:02:00.000-08:00

The first pic is my beautiful grandmother on the left, her Auntie Cath holding my mother.

The second is my mother and father.

The third is me and my fathers brother.

My iMix

2007-12-11T05:13:00.001-08:00

Music today

2007-12-11T05:10:00.000-08:00

Gigs and stuff

2007-11-07T06:48:00.000-08:00

At the Point in Cardiff Bay:

Kate Walsh
Iron and Wine

Wales Millennium Centre

Marc Rees - Gloria Days

New Sketchbook

2007-11-07T06:34:00.001-08:00

I have been bookbinding like mad recently, and am now on complete book no.4. The latest effort is a new sketchbook, that is the size of the old daler ones I used to like, but which are no longer available.

And also one of my drawings from said sketchbook.

Stuff I want to see and have seen..

2007-08-22T01:24:00.000-07:00

Two films I would like to see, Ira and Abby is by the woman who did kissing Jessica Stein I think - which was a brilliant film. Also found a great sight and blog for Free People clothes. Firstly I love there clothes and the style of their website is lovely too.

St. Ives

2007-08-10T08:47:00.001-07:00

Paul and I had our annual St. Ives pilgrimage recently, but due to the terrible rain we had been having I managed to persuade him that camping was not such a great idea. So we ended up staying in the Pedn Olva hotel, with the most fantastic views of the sea and the harbour. Although the weather was pretty crap - we had a gorgeous time, being lazy and relaxed, we ate in our favourite places, looked round the shops, visited our favourite spots and beaches. Saw a good exhibition in the Tate, called "if everyone had an ocean" - very interesting. Treyarnon beach where I wanted to swim in the rock-pools is really busy these days, and they have knocked down the little surf cafe that was there and now seem to be building holiday homes. Bah!!

Issue time again..

2007-08-10T05:42:00.000-07:00

Heather's turn to edit 1ssue, and this time she gave us a theme, which was "calender". I worked on more collages.

Long time no blog...

2007-08-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

Been very bad recently doing work and concentrating on home issues like broken boilers and building IKEA wardrobes. See below, except mine is white. I am very happy with this and have had to colour coordinate my clothes so that they look lovely hanging up on it. Even Mouse has found a way to turn it into a snooze opportunity by taking possession of the basket I was planning to keep my bags in.

Drawing

2007-04-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

J thinks I should start doing my drawings bigger. Maybe I will.

Selvedge magazine

2007-04-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Selvedge is a very expensive and very beautiful mag all about textiles and stitchery- it is a guilty pleasure because it's price is really quite extortionate. I bought this one at Chpater yesterday while waiting for E. Saw quite an interesting exhibition, but a little whimsical I felt.

Recently I have mostly been...

2007-04-23T05:28:00.000-07:00

..listening to The Smiths, reliving my youth. This album takes me back, quite literally so that I am once more walking down Albany Road on my way to The Spice of Life, stripey T-shirt hanging off one shoulder, huge earrings...

..going to see strange films with my best friend

..and painting. More of that later.

New drawing

2007-04-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

Finished this drawing at Druidstone, eating my lunch with a cold beer, looking out over the cliffs and able to see Paul surfing in the sea.

My hair is driving me mad!

2007-03-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

I am mighty sick of my hair at the moment. It is just all wrong and I don't know what I should do to remedy it. These women have great hair. I am taking these pictures to the hairdressers to see if I can be saved from my bad hair days.

Crosshatch Showcase

2007-03-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

One day when I am old I will be famous for my marvelous crosshatching.

This month I am mostly listening to...

2007-03-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

New Drawings

2007-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Been drawing like a crazy drawing thing recently. Once I dreamed that I was walking down Wellfield Road with a pram, and people kept looking into the pram to admire my baby - but I was really embarrassed because my baby was an orange and I didn't want them to find out. (Hence the orange drawing).
What the hell was that about?

Scotlandia

2007-03-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Issue 13

2007-03-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Issue has been a good one for me this time, with sewn collages from bits of ephemera from my collection. I really like these and did 13 individual pages too, so everyone gets an original.

Studio/Shed

2007-03-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

My little red room is like my shed, except that I cannot keep everyone out of it unfortunately. I have been looking at lots of magazines and being inspired by patterns and colours.

Flotsam & Jetsom

2007-03-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Monknash Beach is one of my favourite spots on the coast. I first came here as a student for picnics. We like to walk on the beach and listen to the waves playing tunes with the pebbles. This day was particularly good for interesting debris. Including the most fabulous wellington boot ever which was also huge.

London New Year

2007-03-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

Crane Wife

2006-12-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

The Crane Wife is a fabulous old chinese story I think, about a man who saves a crane that has been wounded. Shortly after this a beautiful woman turns up on his doorstep. They marry. She has the ability to weave the most fantastic silk which the man sells and they become very rich. She only stipulates that he must never try to watch her weaving, but his curiosity gets the better of him and one nights he creeps up on her and sees that she is really a crane. She flies away and never returns.

And the reason for this story is that I have recently been listening to the Decemberists and I love their new album The Crane Wife.

Vampire trouble

2006-12-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

My nephew Kai has bee in trouble for biting people in school, due to his current vampire obsession. He drew me a Dracula card for my birthday too. But this has inspired me to make him a vampire rabbit zombie for Christmas, and I made him his own birth certificate.

This week I am mostly...

2006-11-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

...listening to this music:

Sun Kil Moon
Tori Amos
Califone
Josh Rouse
Josh Ritter
The be good tanyas
The Weepies
Papas Fritas
Gillian Welch

A NEW BOX!

2006-11-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

The little red room has been a place of much busy-ness and cutting and gluing involved in the making of a box. I am very pleased with this new one, although this picture is in it's unfinished state and doesn't do it justice. It started off completely different and it had been incubating for a very long time, but I lost the thread of where I was going with it so ended up destroying it all. There were some nice bits to it, but I am pleased with the new version. Will try and get better photo when it is finished off.

Islands Show

2006-10-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

The show at Canfas Gallery was great. All the work looked really good, and the opening was a chance to catch up with lots of people I hadn't seen in ages. Adrian has done an excellent job of hanging the show and there were also some beautiful glass cases with all sorts of ephemera related to Islands. A. and P. and I went and A. had a lovely time, though clung to me like a limpit and then we took her to Chapter for tea and cake.

Saw a great show in Chapter.. nothing in it!!

THIS WAS THE BLURB:
Chapter Arts
Exhibition Sat 7 Oct – Sun 5 Nov

Simon Pope invites you to recall, from memory, a walk through a gallery space, and explore the spatial, social and professional relations contained within it. you are asked to summon-up these remote spaces - through memory, body, speech and movement – so that they exist at two locations simultaneously, both here and there.

All are welcome to ‘walk and talk’, recalling a description of a familiar gallery space, as if you were walking through it. Simon Pope questions the consequences of this for the gallery as a ‘site’ of artwork? Can the gallery be ‘empty’ space waiting for work to fill it? What does it mean to think of this ‘place’, not as unique and differentiated, but rather deeply related and connected to other ‘places’? What is produced when professional ranks, such as curators, administrators and trustees other than the artist, are invited to be itinerant in the production of an artwork?

This exhibition has received generous financial support from the arts council of Wales.

Simon teaches on the Design for Interactive Media BA/BSc (Hons) programme at CSAD and is a research associate at Goldsmith’s College, London and Transmedia, Hogeschool Sint Lukas, Brussels."
------------------------------------------------------------
I am sorry but this was well and truly taking the piss, and as an artist who actually makes things I get so grumpy with this kind of crap. A. (10) thought it was shtoopid!! And P. was just completely baffled and thought I was pulling his leg and the show had not actually been hung yet.

Diane Arbus

2006-10-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

There is a new film about the life of Dianne Arbus coming up, with Nicole Kidman. Looks quite interesting, and worth a peek when it comes out.

The Spiders and the Acorn

2006-10-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

N. told us that Spiders are frightened of Acorns. I can't remember if the acorn is supposed to be poisonous to the spider, or if there was originally another reason. It has all become so entangled with various theories and silly stories that we cannot now unravel fact from fiction. Me an A. made up some great stories about how the spiders became enemies of the acorn..little knowing that they grow into Oak trees. Also myths of the Spider women..

Kept us amused on a rainy blustery walk on the beach at Penarth.

Summer Holiday pics

2006-09-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

More inspiration

2006-09-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

Someone else likes red crosses..a recurring theme in my own work.

The amazing and wonderful Joseph Cornell.

John Soanes House, Lincolns Inn Fields - one of my favourite places in London. Go there if you are ever nearby.

Groups of pictures in lovely colours and a studio I would love to have. Sadly not mine.

Islands

2006-09-29T01:50:00.000-07:00

I have been working on the canvases for Adrians Island exhibition at Canfas gallery. I want to expand on this and have lots of ideas. Years ago I seen a really fantastic exhibition in New Zealand, and there was a wall of little cavasses in black, terracotta and brownish dhades with white. Little detailed paintings, massed together but they were all totally gorgeous and I have wanted to do something similar for myself. As a collector and closet archivist the idea of multiples really appeals to me.

Surfer boy...

2006-09-29T01:46:00.002-07:00

P has been surfing like mad recently to take advantage of the last few summer evenings before the dark of winter sets in. Hence we have had some lovely evening at Southerndown, with beautiful sunsets.

Inspiration

2006-09-29T01:43:00.000-07:00

Issue 12

2006-09-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Time has come around for Issue 12, deadline for the pages is this weekend. I have been multifariously inspired this time, as many new and gorgeous things have been percolating through my creative juices. Paul and I went to the British Art show in Bristol, and though I hated the show mainly, there were some lovely things in the bookshop, mostly Japanese graphics books that I loved. Anyway this sent me thinking down a whole new path on the creative front which I feel full of enthusiasm for. I have been busy sewing and making now for weeks.
I also have Adrian's Islands show coming up and have completed a tryptich for this, which also needs to be dropped off this weekend. Busy busy bee!!

Going on holiday

2006-08-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

we will be off on holiday to Cyprus, land of many childhood memories. I have long put off going there as I thought it would have changed too much and I would be sad. But paul wants to go there and I really want to see the places I remember as a child. All the places that inspired me and taste the food I loved, and and and...

Bliss!!

2006-08-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

Treated myself to World of Interiors Magazine this week.

This magazine has been one fo my favourit things for years and I have stacks of them at home. They are great for all the pictures of Chairs if nothing else, but also for the excellent articles. To wit:

BACK TO THE WALLS
Art critics balk at anything but white walls for modern art, but Howard Hodgkin uses colour as an atmosphere framing device for his powerful paintings. Text: Richard Calvocoressi

Howard Hodgkin is also one of my favourite painters...

His paintings are so beautiful and lush and full of feeling. I like the way they have such specific titles and obviously for him convey a particular day, memory or event.

1ssue 11

2006-06-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

1ssue 11 has had a good response so far with everyone seeming to be pleased with it all. I really enjoyed the editorship of this one, the work seemed to go together really well. It had quite a wacky feel this time.

Some fabulous women, I admire and wish I could be like...

2006-06-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

All my adult life I have loved Bette Davis, I think it goes back to watching all those black and white films with my Nana, eating Turkish delight curled up on the sofa on a wet Saturday. I love the smoking and the tart wit, she is always so fantastically sarcastic and wicked. I do have a sharp tongue myself, and maybe I identify with her for that. One of my favourit actresses of all time is Louise Brooks, who could not love her - so beautiful, and the others are just gorgeous, grown-up women with opinions and attitude that goes beyoond their looks, and they are inspirational for me. I want to grow old like them, still sexy, still funny and not afraid to express myself.

Elizabethtown

2006-06-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

We got this film out of the video shop last night. I really enjoyed it. It has had some fairly stinky reviews, but it was really lovely without being schmaltzy, and the soundtrack was excellent. Reminded me how cool Susan Sarandon is. She is one of my major role models.

CelticKiwi

2006-06-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

CelticKiwi

Balloon Juggling balls

2006-06-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we made juggling balls with A. Nathan seems more interested in the actual learning to juggle bit though. They are really easy and satisfying to make. You need some good balloons, a funnel and some rice, along with a pair of sharp scissors.
1. Firstly inflate balloon to size of required ball and fit over the mouth of a funnel. (this can be improvised with a plastic drink bottle).
2. Pour in rice to fill to the required size.
3. Cut off top of balloon, rest carefully on surface.
4. Cut neck off another balloon and stretch over first to cover hole.
5. Continue up to about 5 layers

Last few layers you can cut more holes in the balloons so that the other colours show through.

Morning Coffee and art

2006-06-26T02:33:00.000-07:00

Every weekend E and I like to get together for Coffee and gossip, recently our favourite haunt has been the Washington Gallery as I am a Penarth Lady now, and the Washington Gallery is so nice. We get to look at all the nice and awful paintings, admire the jewellry and ceramics and drink nice coffee, whilst catching up on all the trials and tribulations of the week just gone. E usually has some fantastically dire stories to tell me about work, and I fill her in on the vagaries of family life as it is lived in the W household.
Yesterday we also decided to vist the Turner House Gallery and see what was going on there. Downstairs I was thinking "Oh God, another boring installation, but then we went upstairs and saw the film, and I got the whole point.

Here is a bit I found about the artists:

Paul Harrison and John Wood

John Wood and Paul Harrison have been working collaboratively in video since 1993. Their work is an on-going collection of experiments, a kind of reference catalogue of diagrams researching human size, scale and movements in relation to the immediate surrounding space and architecture. They combine elements of performance and sculpture and exploit the dynamic, often comic, possibilities to be generated from a set of precisely articulated events and actions.
"Since they began collaborating in 1993, John Wood and Paul Harrison have created a series of playful and beguiling video works which are distinguished as much by their droll sense of humor as their unerring economy of execution. Played out against a minimalist, monochrome backdrop, or within the sealed off space of the monitor itself, each of the works involves the presence of one or both of the artists, either as the butt of an extended site-gag or as the trigger for a spiraling, visually-surprising conceit." —Leeds International Film Festival 2000

Summer garden

2006-06-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

The weather is gorgeous and yesterday evening when everyone was out I had my supper in the garden and then took some pics. It is all growing like mad just now. There seems to be a colour theme, which has been largely unintentional but just shows how much you go for certain things. I do try to think of what plants are already there and what will look good with the existing planting. The lilies are fantastic and monstrous - I have to keep then under control, otherwise they will block the light from the little plants underneath.

Some wedding pics

2006-06-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

20th May 2006- Fabulous day! What more can I say. These pics were taken by my proud dad, who cried, as I knew he would. My lovely mum cried too, but that is to be expected. I don't think I did cry, but I was just in a happy daze the whole day and it was bliss to have all those beloved people around us, and it was like a party, which was what we wanted.

My hair was falling down all day until I had had enough and took it all out. Millions of pins!! Don't we all look happy!

St. Ives Food

2006-06-06T05:56:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would take some time to let you know about the gorgeous food that we ate in St. Ives. This is such an important part of our visits to Cornwall, sitting in Cafes and restaurants, whiling away the time and chatting- I love it.

The Blue Fish
P had: Panfried Megrim Sole with a white wine sauce
I had: Sea Bass with a crab crust and red pepper coulis (the coulis was gorgeous and the fish was really lovely, esp the crab)

Onshore
P had: Rocket and Olive Pizza
I had: Roast vegetable Pizza
And we shared a starter of Chargrilled Mackerel fillets which were fantastic.

The Wave
P had: Pan fried Halibut on baby fennel and leeks with a saffron and smoked haddock chowder
I had: Grilled John Dory, with roasted artichoke mash, chargrilled asparagus with vanilla and lime butter (this came with chopped tomatoes and flat leaf parsley.
This feast was followed by the best cheesecake I have ever tasted. Mango and Passion fruit.

Honeymoon

2006-05-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

We went down to St. Ives for our honeymoon and had a really lovely time, it rained, and was windy, but we sat in lovely cafes and restaurants and looked at the beautiful St. Ives harbour and ate lovely food in bijou little restaurants. We stayed in a little apartment on The Terrace overlooking the bay - you could see across to Gwythian too. Nice place, but noisy tocddlers upstairs woke us up at 6.30 every morning. Went to the Tate and had a look at the John Hoyland and Tony O Malley exhibition, which was very interesting. I liked Bryan Pearce too.

Surfed at Gwythian, and had a good one to one lesson with the lovely Giles, which was very helpful and he taught me a new way of popping up which is much better that I've been taught before. He said I hadn't learnt any bad habits and was generally very encouraging.

Just married!!

2006-05-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

The wedding went really well, and a gorgeous time was had by all. Much crying, and smiling, more later when we have photos.

Snowdonia in Winter

2006-05-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

We had forgotten about these pics we took in Snowdon when we went in February. One is of me on the top of Moel Eiliol, and the other is P, at the end of the Precipice walk.

Inspiration

2006-04-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

These fabulous tibetan ladies are like the photographs that I have from a little dark junk shop in Greenwich. I found them on a random google search for something or other.

bigger steps..

2006-04-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

What a good weekend, it is amazing how things get better by such little degrees that you do not notice them. At times I have found it hard adjusting to my new life with Alex and Nathan, and they have no doubt found it hard adjusting to me, but this weekend I realised that we were becoming a family and that there was a comfortableness about our interactions that just seems so have evolved. Alex is much more easy with me, and seeks out my company now, and we made a fire in the chiminea on saturday night, after a good afternoon of pottering in the garden, and Nathan and I have a really good relationship. I really enjoy talking to him, and I also know that if I need to tell them off about something they will not bear a grudge against me (as long as I am fair, which I hope I am).

Sunday Alex and I met Elin for a coffee in the W. gallery, and then to Ikea, for more home-making on Elins behalf. her house is really taking shape now and looks cozy and calm. It is lovely to see Elin so enthused about her new house. I had a lovely time sorting out cupboards at home when P was out surfing on Sunday.

Spring is sprung..

2006-04-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

..the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is. Some say the bird is on the wing, but that's absurd..the wing is on the bird.

A liitle rhyme of my Dad's for the new season. It is also his birthday so Happy Birthday Dad!

Non, je ne regrette riens..

2006-03-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

I am feeling sad at the moment because my impending nuptuals have caused a breach with a friend who is very dear to me. Don't wish to go into reasons, but it is hard to think that this thing which I feel so happy about could be the cause of such difficulty.

Have started to work in a new sketchbook, one I got from Seawhite last year. It is a lovely chunky book with a nice square shape. It is always hard getting into the swing of a new book, the pages stare back at you and your mind goes blank, and you feel scared to make a mark, because the page is all so pristine in it's emptiness. Also I never know what tone the new book is going to take. Each one shifts a little in style from the last, and sometimes it takes a few awful pages before you can find it.

2006-03-17T06:33:00.000-08:00

Scarily trying to view my blog but it says Forbidden. What has happened?

Recently

2006-03-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago P and I went to North Wales for the weekend. We stayed in Llanberis in a lovely B&B, and walked up Moel Eilio, and the Precipice Walk just outside Dolgellau. The latter being my favourite, as the views were so beautiful. P wanted to go up the Glyders but it was too icey and we would have needed ice picks and crampons. I know he was mega disappointed about that but I am glad we didn't. It was minus 20 with the wind chill factor at the top of Moel Eilio as it was. But a fantastic walk. We also made a flying visit to Portmeirion, which is lovely and strange.

New drawings..

2006-02-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

New drawings inspired by some really odd dolls seen lately. I have always found dolls quite scary anyway. Did lots of horrible doll prints years ago, which were very fetishistic.

At home

2006-02-15T01:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the dining room and computer table, with the new curtains and blind. P and A are deep in Google, I don't know what they are up to, N was in a bad mood and therefore not in the shot.

Studio

2006-02-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the lovely studio at home, I have been reorganising it recently and trying to rationalise the space so that I can find things easily and get some work done. Most of this is procrastination I know and delaying tactics, it is one of my bad faults. But I also need to be comfortable and orderly. Mouse is in his usual place on my table, where he likes to sit while I work.

Issue X

2006-02-15T01:32:00.000-08:00

Just had Issue 10 back from Richard, and it is lovely. Richard said that he thought my pages were really stonking. He also included a goody bag, as part of his redistribution project so that was nice too. And I got an email from Phil and he really like my pages too, so I felt very pleased with myself.
It is my turn to be editor next so I need to decide who to include and also, what format etc.

Inspiration

2006-01-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

Found this wonderful little stool in a magazine and want one. They look quite simple so you could make one quite easily I think. And the kitchen picture just makes me want to put up all my little pics in a similar arrangement. There is no space in the kitchen to do it, but I could do it in the studio with a little resuffle. I could also put my boxes above the piano. Good idea. I love the colours in the kitchen, they are very similar to our colour scheme in the kitchen.

Scandinavian homes

2006-01-23T05:42:00.000-08:00

Getting more Nordic with every day. At the weekend I changed the curtains in the dining room to white voile ones, so we now have a lovely pale room, and dusty green book cases. lIke these gorgeous things by ochre. Find them at www.ochre.net

Fabula fabulosa

2006-01-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

Found a really lovely site for Fabula. I think their stuff is gorgeous, and makes me want to redecorate the house all scandinavian. The colours are really calming and like the Japanese celadon glazes that I love. My bedroom at Coral's house used to be that colour and one day soon I will paint mine and P.s room in such a shade.

Invitations

2006-01-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

More wedding stuff..

2006-01-19T12:41:00.000-08:00

Been trying to think about wedding plans, but it still seems like there is plenty of time to worry and get in a flap. I am probably kidding myself and need to get busy, but we really don't want all of this turning into some mad marquee thing.

Rob Green

2006-01-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

Rob's funeral was last week and we all went from work. Terrible sad day. Rob could be, and frequently was a complete and utter pain in the bum, and I had my share of rows with him, but I will still miss him at work, and it is a terrible tragedy that he should die so young, with so much ahead of him. His two sons looked brave and beautiful at the funeral and it was really sad talking to his girlfriend Suzy.

New music!!!

2006-01-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Found a fab website last week which I have been availing myself of every day.

www.pandora.com

If you love music this is the thing for you. I typed in Sufjan Stevens first and ended up with a huge list of new things to listen to.

Wedding plans

2006-01-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

Been trying to think what kind of thing I wanted to wear for my wedding and NOA NOA have solved my problem with their beautiful things. This is exactly the kind of look I want. They have a shop in Bristol, and A. could come with me to choose her dress too. She is v. excited about all this, and pleased at the prospect of nice hair and new shoes etc.

P's mum keeps trying to persuade us that we need a marquee, but we seem to be holding her off.

Wassail

2005-12-22T04:53:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
1 qt. apple cider
1 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 cinnamon sticks or 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. orange juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
2 tart apples, thinly sliced

Directions:

Place cider, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, orange juice, sugar and apples in a large pan. Heat thoroughly but do not allow to boil. Strain and serve

Internet Inspiration

2005-12-22T02:34:00.000-08:00

Just a few examples of some of the beautiful things I have found in my wonderings through the ether. I will attempt over Christmas how to set up links to these fabulous people's blogs.

Happy Christmas!!

2005-12-22T02:18:00.000-08:00

The Christmas tree is up, and decorated tastefully in keeping with the tone of the nieghbourhood. Lights are strung up, mistletoe too, presents wrapped, cards sent. Whoopee!! I went shopping to Waitrose yesterday, I was like Bree from Desperate Housewives. No poor people shop in Waitrose Darling, and it was lovely, calm, full of delicious food, and the staff were fabulously helpful. Of course it costs, but hey, its Christmas.
We are going to P's mums for Christmas day, with the children, I am really looking forward to it. And especially spending time with P.

Had some new ideas, based on all the collages I have been doing in my sketchbook recently. I am going to start doing them on wood in the new year.

The Big Smoke

2005-12-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

Just got back from London, visiting Al and Tomo and Kai in The Eagle. Had a great time, nice food in the pub, Kai was gorgeous as ever, getting more beautiful every day. Did lots of lovely shopping and P got me an engagement ring. I am truly blessed. Happy Christmas one and all!!

Discovered a great shop in Exmouth market, called Family tree. Bought a t-shirt. Lots of Christmas shopping done, and fell in love with Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil.

Still drawing and stuff, so feel quite positive creatively.

Christmas cards

2005-12-13T02:33:00.000-08:00

Finished making my cards last night. Have kept them really simple this year, but have a recipe for German Gluwein or Wassail inside.

Sketchbook pages

2005-12-08T08:32:00.000-08:00

Been doing some more collage/drawing in my sketchbook. Very inspired at the moment, just wish I had more time to play.

Music - Calexico and Iron & Wine

Elin's playlist

2005-11-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

Made a playlist for Elin recently after she came to my birthday party and really liked Hem. This one is really lovely, moody and melancholy - just up my street.

Baby steps

2005-11-24T02:35:00.000-08:00

I need to reassure myself with thoughts of Cornwall in the summer. I need to bolster myself up with the idea of time with P. that is not fraught and filled with difficulty.
I have been living with P. and the children for 2 months now. It is amazing how time flies when you're stressed out of your head. I am now in the throws of trying to get as much information as possible about the pitfalls and difficulties of becoming a step-parent. I have read loads of things and tried to make sense of it all, but the overwhelming thing that comes across in everything is how hard it is. No!
I was used to having time on my own, space to do what I wanted to do. When I came home from work I could unwind and listen to music, cook, watch TV. Some nights I would see P and that would be something fabulous to look forward to; we spent our time together well, because we knew we weren't going to see each other all the time. I am worried that now the time we are alone, is spent recuperating from the kids. When Paul and I were not living together I was a refuge for him, but now I need a refuge too.
My relationship with the children is evolving, some things are getting easier, but some things are harder. I must try to keep my head and talk to P about the things that worry me. But I need to feel that it is OK to feel bad and that we will work on it together and support each other. I need to also know that we will continue to have a grown up relationship separate from his children.
It is also hard because I don't want him to feel like I am on his case, I want to support and help him with the things that he may find hard to cope with on his own.

Want one!!

2005-11-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

Coral gave me a lovely diary from Paperchase for my birthday and a notebook from Miquelrius. So I googled stationery and found a great site for Skripta in Paris and they do mail order notebooks. Bliss!!!

Needful things..

2005-11-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

Every day I come to work, armed with aselection of absolute essentials to get me through the day. Sketchbook, pens, little box for carrying all around in and then luxuries like magazine, if I'm feeling flush.

Issue 9 pics

2005-10-31T09:20:00.000-08:00

Got the new stuff from Richard about 1ssue 10 in the post. Deadline will be January 6th, but I need to start thinking about this soon. Here is an example of the pages I did for Issue 9. Really pleased with that one.

The Mouser as a kitten

2005-10-31T09:15:00.000-08:00

The children are mad about Mouse and made me find photos of him as a kitten, which they have now got copies of to admire. He is really unimpressed by them I'm sorry to say and tolerates any attempt at affection before either running off outside or hiding under the bed. As soon as they get in, they go in search of him, and try to entice him out to play with them.

Playlist for today..

2005-10-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

1.Let Go-Frou Frou
2.We Began-The Flies
3.Summer Skin-Death Cab For Cutie
4.Mill Creek-Darden Smith
5.State of the Union-David Ford
6.volcano-damien rice
7.Rebellion-The Arcade Fire
8.Nobody's Fault but My Own-Beck
9.Revelator-Gillian Welch
10.woman king-iron & wine
11.Last Goodbye-Jeff Buckley
12.Caleb Meyer-Joan baez
13.The Acrobat-Johnathan Rice
14.I Would Rather Hide-Joseph Arthur
15.Factory-Martha Wainwright
16.Let Me Kiss-You-Morrissey
17.Vampire Blues-Neil Young
18.Look For Me (I'll Be Around)-Neko Case
19.Sunset-Nitin Sawhney-Prophesy
20.fake plastic trees-radiohead
21.My winding wheel-Ryan Adams
22.I Can't Wait-Shearwater
23.Sevenswans-sufjan stevens
24.You Cut Her Hair-Tom McRae
25.Rabbit In Your Headlights-U.N.K.L.E.

Playlist for today..

2005-10-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Arcade Fire
Beck
John Martyn
Nitin Sawhney
Ben Harper
Vetiver
The Innocence Mission
Stevi Nicks
Coldcut
Deathcab for Cutie

Beautiful St. Ives

2005-10-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

Thinking about St. Ives today.

Granola recipes from my "Pulse" days

2005-10-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

1. Great Granola

5 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup walnuts
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup apple or pineapple juice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped assorted dried fruit such
as apricots, raisins, figs or apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together oats, wheat germ, bran, seeds, nuts and cinnamon in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, blend together honey, juice and oil. Add to dry mixture and stir until all ingredients are completely coated. Spread on baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes. Stir a few times during baking to brown evenly.

Let cool, then add dried fruit.

Autumn Garden

2005-10-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

This week I am mostly listening to..

2005-10-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

The Arcade Fire. Read a strange article in the Guardian or the Observer and they sounded like a complete bunch of nutters. But they make good music, very cool. "Who killed the Zutons?" are a recent find too. Have not been doing enough listening to music recently, since moving in with the surf dude in fact. Firstly the house layout is different and my CDs are in a strange place, and then when we have the kids it's too noisy and we are both busy doing something food or chores related. I need to sort this out so that I find the time for my own stuff. Mouse is till sneaking around trying to find some peace and quiet where he can, and slowly getting used to our new home. I really like living together though, just the logistics of the space that I haven't yet got my head round, I had got so used to my little house in Llantwit, with all my things around me. Maybe this weekend we will get all the boxes sorted out.

So, as to the music listening..catching up in work plugged into iTunes, headphones on. Antisocial, but necessary.

Sketchbook pages

2005-10-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

Spent a good part of the weekend sorting out what will be my workroom. It is small but lovely and I have managed to fit in my plan-chest. The best thing is having a view out to the garden, and the worst thing is the slugs that seem to creep in under the door. I think we need to do some serious sealing or something, as they keep eating Mouse's food.

Issue 9

2005-10-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Heather dropped off the new pocket sized Issue the other day. We now live just round the corner from each other. Really liked the format and some of the pages were great.

Friday Workspace

2005-10-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

This is my pinky workspace. Nice huh?

Enough with the chairs already

2005-10-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

The chair drawing obsession grows. Scouring interiors magazines for sexy chair pics that inspire me. INTERIORS is the best, closely followed by HOMES & GARDENS.

Music and stuff

2005-10-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Keep seeing Nissan Figaros around the place. I have fallen in love with them.

Listening to some really interesting new music at the moment, seem to be getting a bit folky in my dotage. This all started with the film Garden State and buying the soundtrack. Absolutely excellent songs and I have been working my way through most of the artists, and then they have led on to other people I had never heard of. iTunes has made a huge difference to my musical enthusiasm. This is my most recent playlist

The Acrobat-Johnathan Rice
Lost Cause-Beck
Romulus-Sufjan Stevens
Receiver-Hem
You Cut Her Hair-Tom McRae
Summer Skin-Death Cab For Cutie
We Began-The Flies
Nobody's Fault but My Own-Beck
Night Like a River-HEM
The Lakes of Canada -The Innocence Mission
You May Be Blue-Vetiver
Mill Creek-Darden Smith
Night Like a River-HEM
Sevenswans-sufjan stevens
One more mile-Tom Macrae

Big changes

2005-10-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

Handed over the keys for the house in Llantwit yesterday evening and picked up my scruffy old blue chair that Paul hates, my brabantia bin and last little bits and pieces, including the little glass droppers that I had put up on the lights at Christmas.
So now I live in Penarth. It was sad leaving my old house, but this morning I woke up feeling all excited about my new home. I will have to get used to living with children, as in my life up until now, I have been able to do what I want, listen to music, watch what I wanted on the TV. The kids are noisy and they don't leave you alone, they grumble and complain before they will do anything. They bicker and deliberately annoy each other and they poke around in your stuff. All very hard things for me to get used to. I knew all these things would be hard, sharing my space etc. I don't want to be an outsider, but I feel very aware that they are a family, and I have just landed in their nest because of their Dad, and I don't yet fit.

ripcurlgirl blues

2005-10-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

One of the Williams sisters sent me a schtoopid, parranoia inducing chain email about not sitting on cinema seats in case some evil person has put an HIV infected needle in it with a nasty note attached should you manage to puncture yourself. Which reinforced my particular and burning hatred of chain emails. One they are pathetic, and often they are nasty, and if someone wants to email me, why can't they just send soething nice. It's like junk mail on the internet. I decide to trawl google to see what other people felt about them and found this:

"Hello, my name is Alfonso Merkin. I am suffering from rare and deadly
diseases, poor scores on final exams, lack of sexual activity, fear of
being kidnapped and executed by anal electrocution, and guilt for not
sending out 50 billion fucking forwards sent to me by people
who actually believe that if you send them, that poor 6 year old girl in
Arkansas with lung cancer brought on by second-hand smoke from the
cigarettes smoked by the big bad men who kidnapped her and took pornographic
pictures of her for use on their child pornography web site will get 6
fucking cents every time you send me the letter.

Do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give you and everyone
you send "his" email to $1000? How fucking stupid are you? Ooooh, looky
here! If I scroll down this page and make a wish, I'll get laid by every
Victoria's Secret model in the catalog! What a bunch of bullshit.

So basically, this message is a big FUCK YOU to all the people out there
who have nothing better to do than to send me stupid chain mail forwards.
Maybe the evil chain letter leprechauns will come into my apartment and
sodomize me in my sleep for not continuing the chain which was started by
Jesus in 5 A.D. and was brought to this country by midget pilgrims on the
Mayflower and if it makes it to the year 2000, it'll be in the Guinness
Book of World Records for longest continuous streak of blatant stupidity.

Here's how it goes:

*Send this to one person: One person will be pissed off at you for sending
them a stupid chain letter.

*Send this to 2-5 people: 2-5 people will be pissed off at you for sending
them a stupid chain letter.

*5-10 people: 5-10 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a
stupid chain letter.

*10-20 people: 10-20 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a
stupid chain letter.

*20 to 674951 people: 20 to 674951 people will be pissed off at you for
sending them a stupid chain letter.

Thanks!!!! Good Luck!!!

-------------------------------------------------------

Chain Letter Type 2

Hello, and thank you for reading this letter. You see, there is a starving
little boy in Baklaliviatatlaglooshen who has no arms, no legs, no
parents, and no goats. This little boy's life could be saved, because for
everytime you pass this on, a dollar will be donated to the Little
Starving Legless Armless Goatless Boy from Baklaliviatatlaglooshen Fund.

Remember, we have no way of counting letters sent and this is all bull. So
go on, reach out.

Send this to five people in the next 47 seconds. Oh, and a reminder-if you
accidentally send this to 4 or 6 people, you will die instantly.

Thanks again!!

-------------------------------------------------------

Chain Letter Type 3

Hi there!! This chain letter has been in existence since 1897. This is
absolutely incredible because there was no email then and probably not as
many little 8 year olds writing chain letters. So this is how it works.

Pass this on to 1,5067 people in the next 7 minutes or something horrible
will happen to you like:

Queer Horror Story #1

Miranda Pinsley was walking home from school on Saturday. She had recently
received this letter and ignored it. She then tripped in a crack in the
sidewalk, fell into the sewer, was gushed down a drainpipe in a flood of
poopie, and went flying out over a waterfall. Not only did she smell nasty,
she died. This Could Happen To You!!!

Queer Horror Story #2

Dexter Bip, a 13-year-old boy, got a chain letter in his mail and ignored
it. Later that day, he was hit by a car and so was his boyfriend (hey,
some people swing that way-"not that there's anything wrong with that!").
They both died and went to hell. They continued to suffer in hell where
they were both cursed to eat adorable kittens every day for eternity. This
Could Happen To You!!!

Remember, you could end up like Pinsley and Bip did. Just send this letter
to all of your loser friends, and everything will be Ok.

-------------------------------------------------------

Chain Letter Type 4:

As if you care, here is a poem that I wrote. Send it to every one of your
friends.

Friends

-A friend is someone, who is always at your side,
-A friend is someone who likes you even though you smell like poop,
-A friend is someone who likes you even though you're disgustingly ugly
-A friend is someone who cleans up for you after you've soiled yourself
-A friend is someone who stays with you all night while you cry about your
loser life,
-A friend is someone who pretends they like you when they really think you
should be raped by a monkey and then thrown to vicious dogs,
-A friend is someone who scrubs your toilet and vacuums and then gets the
check and leaves and doesn't speak much English, no sorry that's the
cleaning lady,
-A friend is not someone who sends you chain letters because he wants his
wish of being rich to come true.
Now pass this on! If you don't, the mutant lizards will eat you.
Remember, the moral of the story is, if you get a chain letter, ignore it. If it's a joke or something, send it, sure, but if it's gonna make people feel guilty (i.e. the willieless boy from Baklaliviatatlaglooshen) or nervous (i.e. Miranda Pinsley who ended up in a waterfall of shit) just delete it. Do yourself and everyone else in the world a favor and say, Fuck chain letters!"