Some happier stuff...
I mentioned a few weeks ago that, during the various Lockdowns, I'd taken up two new hobbies...
One is learning Polish with Duolingo.
Polish isn't a language. Polish is a relentless mental torture. But I keep telling myself that a) I know a lot more Polish now than I did before I started, 430-ish days ago, and that b) it's just a matter of keeping going. Just keep going. It's not like I'm taking an A Level and have a deadline. Every word, every phrase, every time I get the ending right... everything I manage to learn is a bonus. Plus, I do get ridiculously happy when I'm looking at a Polish website, or at the label on my Polish hat or my Polish pottery, or I'm watching a Polish TV series on All4, and I actually understand something!! Like this:
Niedźwiedź to nie Miś
which is from the Tatra National Park and, according to me, means 'A bear is not a teddy bear' (very good advice), or, according to Google translate, 'A bear is not a bear' (not particularly good advice).
One weird thing is that, although it has all of those scary strings of consonants, I almost find it easier to spell in Polish than in English because Polish spelling is very regular. Everything else about it, though, is bloody complicated.
The other new hobby is needle felting.
Ages ago, I bought this book by a Japanese lady called trikotri, because it's absolutely lovely.
(It's relevant, I think, that trikotri is Japanese, because only a Japanese person could do something so disciplined with such a light touch, and make the whole thing look so effortless).
Anyway, as usual, it took me a few months of stalling before I finally got round to buying all the wool, the string, the eyes, the glues (two sorts), the pom pom makers, the felting tools, etc, etc, I needed, and started making animals. Trikotri uses very little needle felting; most of her shaping is done using scissors, with just a little bit of felting to stiffen the snout. I made one -- one -- pluszowy miś following her instructions:
(and I'm very proud of him -- he's really soft and cuddly) but then I sort of branched out on my own.
I'm much more heavy handed than trikotri, so my designs entail a lot of shaping by needle!
What I like about felting is that it's a bit like pencil drawing: you start with a blank piece of paper (or foam pad), you make 2-dimensional marks (or use 2-dimensional strands of wool), and something 3-dimensional gradually emerges. But I find it quite difficult to think in three dimensions, so it's pretty much a case of stab-stab-stab-stab-stab until I get what I want. (I do stab my own fingers quite a lot. And I have, on at least one occasion, stabbed my knee).
Here are some of my earlier ones, which still stick fairly close to trikotri's patterns but are much more heavily worked:
The sheep was for a sheep-collecting friend who was going into hospital for an operation. You can see trikotri's lovely, effortless version at the bottom left of the first picture.
The cat was a birthday present for my sister-in-law, hence the box. I used a photo of her cat as inspiration.
Three stages of a red panda -- not entirely happy with how he turned out...
Here are some rather more adventurous ones, done directly from photos of the animals:
When I took the picture, the hammy was still missing his ears!
The first picture of the elephant shows how strange he looked when his trunk was the correct length relative to his head!
And here is my latest thing, felt brooches/badges:
I still need to attach the backs.
My designer-brother, P2, is helping organise another Christmas Cornucopia, at the end of November, so I'm hoping to sell some there... P2 has designed me a really nice logo -- I've always like the idea of Cabbages and Kings as a name for an art/craft business -- and he's mocked up a picture of the finished product.
...
After the Christmas Cornucopia, assuming it goes ahead, we're hoping to go to Krakow for a few days.
P2 and his wife have just got back from Krakow, and it was reasonably straightforward. They had to go into various offices to sign things relating to their property there -- which was the reason they couldn't put off the trip any longer -- but, otherwise, they stayed outdoors as much as they could and, of course, they did lots and lots of tests, which all proved negative.
If we are able go, I don't plan to say anything in Polish, but I will be listening to every word and reading every sign!
...
You know how new fandoms have a habit of sneaking up on you? And then you can't work out exactly how or when it happened? Well, I'm suddenly obsessed with Kylo Ren and his beautiful face complicated psyche. (I’m always way behind the curve). And if there was ever a character who needed his story arc -- his story sine-wave -- sorting out in fanfic...
He keeps throwing tantrums because he wants me to write about him, but, until this morning, I was reasonably safe because, although I don't by any means dislike Rey, and there's a lot of interesting stuff going on in their relationship, she didn't speak to me in the way that Eowyn, Hermione, or Charlotte Wells do. But last night I watched two excellent YouTube videos discussing the psychology of Kylo Ren, Rey and their relationship, and this morning I woke up with a conversation in my head, in which they each explore the other's body -- and share their previous experience of sex. (In case you're wondering, Kylo has had quite a lot of fairly superficial physical experience, and Rey has only seen things but is rather less repressed).
It's bad, bad, bad, because amongst all the crap that's been going on, I've actually started writing again! I've finally got back to my current WIP, after having being blocked for two years, so I must finish that before I start on anything else. I got a huge new lease of life when I randomly selected a spot on a 1754 map of London, and discovered that the alleyway I'd chosen for my kidnapping was called 'Dirty Lane' -- seriously! -- and led not to one but to two timber yards*, which Mr Haxby and Charlotte will be visiting in the next chapter, with Charlotte -- very disturbingly, as far as Haxby's concerned -- disguised as a beautiful young man (again)...
*Cue lots of research into the mid-18th century timber trade, furniture making, and the navy. I'm happy.
...
The other day, I was thinking about the little dog I sponsor, Seamus, and how he must be getting quite old now... Then -- honestly, it seemed like less than a minute later! -- the post came with a letter from Dog's Trust. I tore it open, and out fell a 'certificate' and pictures of a new dog, called Fudge.
It took me a good few moments to pluck up the courage to read the letter, but it turns out that Seamus has been adopted. Fudge lives a long way away, at Dog's Trust, Evesham, but he can't be visited anyway, so that's OK.
One is learning Polish with Duolingo.
Polish isn't a language. Polish is a relentless mental torture. But I keep telling myself that a) I know a lot more Polish now than I did before I started, 430-ish days ago, and that b) it's just a matter of keeping going. Just keep going. It's not like I'm taking an A Level and have a deadline. Every word, every phrase, every time I get the ending right... everything I manage to learn is a bonus. Plus, I do get ridiculously happy when I'm looking at a Polish website, or at the label on my Polish hat or my Polish pottery, or I'm watching a Polish TV series on All4, and I actually understand something!! Like this:
Niedźwiedź to nie Miś
which is from the Tatra National Park and, according to me, means 'A bear is not a teddy bear' (very good advice), or, according to Google translate, 'A bear is not a bear' (not particularly good advice).
One weird thing is that, although it has all of those scary strings of consonants, I almost find it easier to spell in Polish than in English because Polish spelling is very regular. Everything else about it, though, is bloody complicated.
The other new hobby is needle felting.
Ages ago, I bought this book by a Japanese lady called trikotri, because it's absolutely lovely.
(It's relevant, I think, that trikotri is Japanese, because only a Japanese person could do something so disciplined with such a light touch, and make the whole thing look so effortless).
Anyway, as usual, it took me a few months of stalling before I finally got round to buying all the wool, the string, the eyes, the glues (two sorts), the pom pom makers, the felting tools, etc, etc, I needed, and started making animals. Trikotri uses very little needle felting; most of her shaping is done using scissors, with just a little bit of felting to stiffen the snout. I made one -- one -- pluszowy miś following her instructions:
(and I'm very proud of him -- he's really soft and cuddly) but then I sort of branched out on my own.
I'm much more heavy handed than trikotri, so my designs entail a lot of shaping by needle!
What I like about felting is that it's a bit like pencil drawing: you start with a blank piece of paper (or foam pad), you make 2-dimensional marks (or use 2-dimensional strands of wool), and something 3-dimensional gradually emerges. But I find it quite difficult to think in three dimensions, so it's pretty much a case of stab-stab-stab-stab-stab until I get what I want. (I do stab my own fingers quite a lot. And I have, on at least one occasion, stabbed my knee).
Here are some of my earlier ones, which still stick fairly close to trikotri's patterns but are much more heavily worked:
The sheep was for a sheep-collecting friend who was going into hospital for an operation. You can see trikotri's lovely, effortless version at the bottom left of the first picture.
The cat was a birthday present for my sister-in-law, hence the box. I used a photo of her cat as inspiration.
Three stages of a red panda -- not entirely happy with how he turned out...
Here are some rather more adventurous ones, done directly from photos of the animals:
When I took the picture, the hammy was still missing his ears!
The first picture of the elephant shows how strange he looked when his trunk was the correct length relative to his head!
And here is my latest thing, felt brooches/badges:
I still need to attach the backs.
My designer-brother, P2, is helping organise another Christmas Cornucopia, at the end of November, so I'm hoping to sell some there... P2 has designed me a really nice logo -- I've always like the idea of Cabbages and Kings as a name for an art/craft business -- and he's mocked up a picture of the finished product.
...
After the Christmas Cornucopia, assuming it goes ahead, we're hoping to go to Krakow for a few days.
P2 and his wife have just got back from Krakow, and it was reasonably straightforward. They had to go into various offices to sign things relating to their property there -- which was the reason they couldn't put off the trip any longer -- but, otherwise, they stayed outdoors as much as they could and, of course, they did lots and lots of tests, which all proved negative.
If we are able go, I don't plan to say anything in Polish, but I will be listening to every word and reading every sign!
...
You know how new fandoms have a habit of sneaking up on you? And then you can't work out exactly how or when it happened? Well, I'm suddenly obsessed with Kylo Ren and his beautiful face complicated psyche. (I’m always way behind the curve). And if there was ever a character who needed his story arc -- his story sine-wave -- sorting out in fanfic...
He keeps throwing tantrums because he wants me to write about him, but, until this morning, I was reasonably safe because, although I don't by any means dislike Rey, and there's a lot of interesting stuff going on in their relationship, she didn't speak to me in the way that Eowyn, Hermione, or Charlotte Wells do. But last night I watched two excellent YouTube videos discussing the psychology of Kylo Ren, Rey and their relationship, and this morning I woke up with a conversation in my head, in which they each explore the other's body -- and share their previous experience of sex. (In case you're wondering, Kylo has had quite a lot of fairly superficial physical experience, and Rey has only seen things but is rather less repressed).
It's bad, bad, bad, because amongst all the crap that's been going on, I've actually started writing again! I've finally got back to my current WIP, after having being blocked for two years, so I must finish that before I start on anything else. I got a huge new lease of life when I randomly selected a spot on a 1754 map of London, and discovered that the alleyway I'd chosen for my kidnapping was called 'Dirty Lane' -- seriously! -- and led not to one but to two timber yards*, which Mr Haxby and Charlotte will be visiting in the next chapter, with Charlotte -- very disturbingly, as far as Haxby's concerned -- disguised as a beautiful young man (again)...
*Cue lots of research into the mid-18th century timber trade, furniture making, and the navy. I'm happy.
...
The other day, I was thinking about the little dog I sponsor, Seamus, and how he must be getting quite old now... Then -- honestly, it seemed like less than a minute later! -- the post came with a letter from Dog's Trust. I tore it open, and out fell a 'certificate' and pictures of a new dog, called Fudge.
It took me a good few moments to pluck up the courage to read the letter, but it turns out that Seamus has been adopted. Fudge lives a long way away, at Dog's Trust, Evesham, but he can't be visited anyway, so that's OK.