After a couple of years of forgetting, we finally had our chimney cleaned. Hence we have been enjoying the intimacy of a real fire over the Winterval. I have had a lot of wood off cuts to burn, so there has been much rifling through shelves and bins in my workshop. Come the Spring I want to have an almighty clean up and chuck out in my workshop. By the end of which I'm hoping it will be less congested with a much simpler layout. In the meantime I've been indulging in a bit of therapeutic arson.
I have not been in my workshop much this year, for the obvious reason. All of which has meant I was quite surprised recently to discover a rat was in the process of setting up its winter home. Every time I opened the workshop door I saw it, fleeting in a relaxed scurry disappearing into the eaves. Its nonchalance, made it all the more alarming. I could see where it was getting in, so I bought a small bag of ready made cement and blocked up all visible points of entry. It appeared to be nesting between the eaves and troughing, venturing into the workshop to use it as its appointed poo and pee palace. Rats, they are such fastidious creatures.
Next year I'm planning to step back a bit more from Cottonwood Home. I'll continue being Hubby's general pattern cutter, but reduce what I personally make. I want to concentrate more time on developing an art practice. I'd like to work at breaking a few personal conventions my creativity has got set in. As it is, the progress of osteo-arthritic inflammation in my hand joints has meant I can no longer execute work requiring fine brush detail. So I've been forced by this handicap to become looser and less controlling of my finish in execution.
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| A recent small experiment |
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| Another One |
All of which is I believe is good. I'm also moving away from using gouache, which has been my chosen medium for decades, and gradually getting to grips with the possibilities of acrylic paint. All of which means there's been a need to improve the quality and colour range of acrylics I have. I've acquired lots of student grade acrylics over the years, which are not that great once you actually start to work with them. Unfortunately with artist materials the cheaper they are, the less you'll be able to do with them. Quite often when folk say they don't get on with a particular artist medium, paint quality is often, in my experience, a major factor. So I'm in the process of upgrading mine. There have been Christmas present requests for particular Liquitex colours. Its many years since I ran my own art shop. I was I thought, used to how expensive artists quality paints are. However, its nearly thirty years since I had my shop in Diss, and prices have inevitably dramatically risen. Some quite basic colours are now over twenty quid a tube, which is phew, wipes brow of sweat and hyperventilates.
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| recent purchases |
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| Holkham Church in the mist |
So we were able to go to Holkham Hall for a walk on the Saturday. We were wandering in the mist and dank fog that hung over the country during Christmas. It was dam cold, but bracing shall we say. The fog so thick buildings and churches were not visible until you were almost upon them. The North Norfolk coast has a particular evocative quality when shrouded in mist. It reminds you of the creepy atmosphere of a M R James ghost story, shadowy and ethereal.
I also start out the coming New Year with a replenished book stack, which should see me through to the Spring. My early morning routine I've changed recently. I'm trying to read more, and view You Tube less. Currently I'm reading a poem by David Whyte, and a short chapter from his book Consolations, everyday. After meditating I usually write in my Gratitude Journal, which I'm finding particularly beneficial. I've also set a time limit on my smart phone use of two hours a day, which I am finding is a good discipline.
After celebrating New Year in Nottingham, we decided, on the spur of the moment to come back via Lincoln. To break the journey home, but also to check out what new fabrics Fat Quarter had. We came away with three which we are keen to try this spring in our craft business, a couple of mid century modern designs and a seaweed inspired pattern called Tides. I love the Cathedral Quarter of Lincoln. Its the only city I know whose retail hierarchy is banded according to its topography. Top end retail and tourist perch on the escarpment around the cathedral, national chains at the bottom of the escarpment, beyond the railway bridge nail bars, tanning salons, Asian supermarkets and more scruffy and dubious looking tertiary retail outfits.
This time we didn't venture far, only half way down Steep hill. I didn't want to push my heart never mind my luck, by doing more. Since our return we have been trying to chill out, in full knowledge that at the beginning of next week we will need to start pulling out self assessment tax together. It is one of those time consuming but essential tasks we spend a large part of January sorting out.
Whilst in Nottingham I picked up one humdinger of a cold, which was well on the ascendant by the time we'd reached Lincoln. Since then, I've had the full flood from my nose of murky ponds of greenish phlegm. Today, this same phlegm is forming a semi occluding value around the top of my wind pipe, which has kept me awake coughing most of the night and during the day. I've been coughing so much all the muscles in my torso ache every time they erupt into the air from my throat. This is clearing up, but slowly. In recent years since Covid, its been more typical for me to have a very persistent viral chest cold. Which are harder to treat by virtue of them not being a true cold. This is the first really old fashioned cold I've had in a long time, and my god I don't remember producing such vast quantities of slimy goop from and orifice before.
