Today is all about love

Not cold, not wind, not hail nor frozen fingers.
That was yesterday
This is Friday when I got my tomato plants ready for the plant sale yesterday.

Beeston in Bloom plantsale started with rain and ended with freezing hail, but, as you can see, we did get customers and I sold 30-odd of my tomatoes.  So with a bit of luck and better weather the rest will go at the next one in a fortnight.

Thursday was haircut day for Angel.  The ham bone came wrapped in a shank from Morrisons.  The boiled ham was pressed for me.  She got the bone and this is how it looked after a day.

and here it is today, all done - the last bit of marrow wheedled out by me and Angel enjoying an after-snack snooze.

Why is today about love?  Johathan, our visiting vicar, said so.

A favourite

This is lovely to sing.  Doesn't sound bad either.  Thanks to YorkshireKaren for posting it.  I'm on the front row - can you see me?

Don't bank on it.

What a week for learning not to take for granted!
Monday was singing rehearsal and I didn't miss it last week because there wasn't one because Gary's partner is so ill that he can't give us the time, so..
extra rehearsal on Saturday and Andy conducting and Mark piano playing.  Don't mind any of this, just hope that Gary is OK. 
Tuesday, I decided to book for the printmaking only to find that the Wednesday group had been cancelled.
Never mind, there was one place left on the group on Thursday.
Turned up on Thursday, no Jonathan.  Instead the group is being run by the woman who was the technician for half of last term (the one who stood and read the old newspapers used to cover the clean up bench,) whose speciality is screen printing and her technician was someone borrowed from textiles, who is also a screen printer and who turned to Keith for advice to give me for etching - Keith, who is on his fourth term as a customer. 
Thursday, I also went to see Edith as usual.  The door had it's 'check with the office' notice up and it was 'd&v' on Edith's unit - d&v = diarrhoea and vomiting, so I didn't visit, just left her the 'Woman's Weekly'.  On Saturday, Edith's daughter knocked to say that her Mum had been in hospital since early Thursday morning.  I wonder what they would have said if I had gone to visit and found that she wasn't there.
The upheavel may be tiny, but it is, I think, why a dream woke me up and had me making myself a cup of tea at half past five this morning, much to Angel's disgust.  The ladybird I found in the bed didn't look to happy either.
And the internet keeps crashing on me.
And, though this should not surprise me, statistics about exam results are managing to wind me up.  I was going to rant about them but I do not have the energy and/or accurate enough information to be anything but ranty on the topic, so I'm letting it go.

 
My head might be in a bit of a tizz, but spring is being beautiful, regardless.  I took this on Saturday when I was going to blog, but the sun was out. 
Sunday was the concert and it was fantastic.  I didn't even mind being in the front row just behind the bass trombone.  I think I could have resung the Christmas Concert and no-one would have noticed.



The buzz was even better than last time, cos I wasn't so scared of hitting the wrong notes - not just because of the trombone, my ability to keep hold of a tune is -well I wouldn't say reliable - firmer than it was.

This is the camelia that Susan got Mum a few years back - now I think of it, the violets came as an extra in a plant pot from Susan's too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wood anemones in Miggy Wood when me and Angel went for a walk yesterday:

 

Making stuff

This is the top half of the first picture, as against poster, that I bought.  The shop is long gone and it fell off the wall and lost its real frame a couple of years ago.  It isn't a good photo, but I took it cos I'm using it as the starter for the landing side of my bedroom door noren.  Why do I need a noren for the door?  Because I like to sleep with the door open, and my neighbour likes the landing light on and the landing windows are directly opposite.  Diz says I should shut my eyes, but I like a dark bedroom.

So, noren it is, then.

And Susan brought her sewing machine up with her, so I can machine sew the strips for the rocks. 

I've completed one piece of copper for the start of the new term of printmaking too.  I'm trying a thicker line and as you can see on the Dansette, have given up on the idea of aquatint to add colour.

 

Springing

I got the feeling that it was never going to happen - the cold wind would blow forever, the sun would never shine, the hyacinths would stay stunted and then Friday happened:

and by Sunday morning, it was warm enough for...

... breakfast in the garden.

Susan came up on Sunday and we 'did' the art gallery yesterday. I'm not going to go on about arches - I'm going to have a go at drawing some when I've finished this - but aren't they lovely and what I think are called vaulted ceilings:




Susan is doing an oil painting course for three days - that's why she's here - and she brought her textile sketchbook with her:

 





Happy Easter

British Summer Time, Easter, and two days of sitting-out-for-a-cup-of-tea warm weather all happened at once.

We started the week with snow:
It was on its way out though and by Saturday it was warm enough to tidy out the greenhouse and start on the hedge.

 I even got the path swept and carried loads of spent compost round to put on the front garden for a mulch - as per Monty's instructions.