Green Wonderland



Swing Card published by Santoro Graphics Ltd London

If I look out of my window I see green plants and Summer flowers. I am wearing something warmish because the wind has picked up the last few days and the rain is a constant visitor. All very different from my usual situation, where it is now sizzling hot, and at this time of the year most plants have given up except for the Mexican Firebird and some foolhardy Lantanas. I'm not sure if I am glad to miss the heat in the desert, or if I have traded it for something that, in its own way, is bothersome.

When I take Athena for her walk, we pass green pastures with black and white cows, and a field with sturdy and beautiful beef bullocks, who look up warily at Athena, who is not interested at all. The sheep, across the road are far more interesting, but only fleetingly because she is smelling the 'news', and takes her sweet time doing this.

When I was in Chiang Mai recently, I found the tiniest glass bottle, and a publication of 'Alice in Wonderland', printed on Saa (Mulberry) paper for Fleur.  The tiny bottle made a big impression. At times, a very simple and inexpensive gift sparks more of the imagination than a toy that apparently has everything. We played many Alice stories, some by Lewis Carroll, others our own.

Fleur's birthday is coming up soon and when I saw the Swing Card, I knew that it was for her.



She used to be a beautiful baby.

I bent down to plug my laptop into a socket which was inconveniently tucked under a piece of furniture. Instead of repositioning myself, I just tried it anyway, and soon felt my one leg sliding slowly away from the other. It was all in slow motion, and I had time to realize that if I let this continue, I could easily split down the middle. Too late to bring the leg back so I dropped my rear end to the floor. Far less painful than being split in two.
I looked up to see Athena in her usual position in the bedroom, sleeping most of her day away. 

I wondered that if I was in a really disastrous situation, would she come and save me, so I gave a plaintiff cry for help and I added a little whine for good measure.

She opened her eyes and raised her head; her paws one draped over the other most elegantly. I whined again, and in the bubble over her head I saw her think: "What in heaven's name are you doing on the floor? So unlike you". I think she blinked once or twice before she decided that it was impossible to continue holding her head up, placed it on her paws, and went back to her mid-morning snooze.

If I ever end up half-dead in a ditch, I think I can only expect a sympathetic little sniff from her, before seeing her tail jauntily disappear in the distance. So much for that.

Here she is wearing her rosebud baby collar and her favorite worried expression, which is totally fake. She never worries at all!

Flat stitch embroidery.

 

 

 

 

Look what I found! It pays to tidy up the boxes tucked in the back of a cupboard. I made these little posies years ago. Little is the word, because they are each less than 2 inches big, flat stitched on tightly woven cotton seed bags.

I grew up surrounded by women with ever busy hands and so it was natural that I started doing the same at an early age. I learned a bit of everything but became the mistress of nothing. Still, I am glad I had a chance to learn so many different things.

It's so nice to see the returned interest in handmade things. I subscribe to many blogs written by (mainly) women who create by knitting, crocheting, sewing and many other techniques.

In a world where mass production leads the way, originality is hard to find except..................when something is made by hand.

Naturally, I embrace the new trend in handmade things. I have begun to notice that it's okay that something looks handmade. In fact, it should look handmade because it is. None of that perfectionism to emulate a mass produced item. Totally my cup of tea.

 

All these great items can be bought on Etsy, at SeeJaneKnitYarn, Sineminugur, TheRullofFabric, Boojiboo, TeaPartyHats, AshAshToys, Artwallah, Asherjasper and TheSittingTree.