Tag Archives: collage

The Long Wait is over!

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I’ve been away for a while again because, out of the blue, I received a phone call from Southampton Hospital on Friday 5 December advising me that T’s operation was scheduled for 17 December. T had just gone out to see his therapist when I received the call so I had to wait until he got home to tell him. I was really pleased that it wouldn’t be necessary for us to travel to a foreign country to get it done now, but he immediately went into shock and subsequently through the whole spectrum of emotions before we got to the hospital. By the time he went to the Theatre for his op on 17/12 he had come to terms with everything and was mentally in the right space.

His operation went really well, he spent one night in Intensive Care, then a couple nights in the High Dependency Unit before returning to a normal ward. He had to be put on a 12 hour drip because he was so dehydrated and they also sorted out a couple of other problems. Although the op went well the surgeon accidentally broke one of T’s ribs (he apologised when he did he ward rounds and saw T after the op). The new valve has settled in nicely and his heart is functioning better than it has for years. Unfortunately the pain from the broken rib is delaying his recovery a bit, but it gets slightly better every day. He was discharged from the hospital on 24 December and we got home at about 4:30pm. The trip home (which involved a half hour taxi ride from the hospital to the ferry terminal; a short wait then a half hour fast cat ferry ride to the Island – the sea was rough that day which caused T more pain and caused me to feel sea sick!; then a slightly longer taxi ride home) he was exhausted by the time we got home and in need of more pain relief then went straight to bed for a rest.

The lovely cats were pleased to see us and we were pleased to see them.

Christmas Day was very quiet, T slept and rested most of the time. I took the opportunity to go and visit my Mum and when I got home I cooked a ‘sort of Xmas Dinner’ in the evening.

Each day things are getting better and we are optimistic that he will be healthier and able to do more in the future. However he is still in heart failure, that will be treated and hopefully improved by medication, the pace maker, exercise and diet.

While T was in hospital I was able to stay near to him in Heartbeat House again. I am so grateful that place exists, it’s clean, warm, safe and full of other people away from their homes and caring for relatives who are heart patients. Some of the people I made friends with at HBH had to stay there over Christmas but I know they will have supported each other and it’s important that our loved ones are looked after and helped to recover.

So because of all of the above I haven’t had much time for creativity again in the past month. Today I am sharing a small project I did earlier in the year – a birthday card for my friend Claudine. It’s called an Explosion Book (or Squash Book). The two images above show both sides of the book/card ‘exploded’ but it all squashes down to a small square. I forgot to take a picture of it squashed!

Here is a quick YouTube tutorial on how to make one There are longer and more detailed tutorials available if you search for them.

For anyone who is reading this I hope you had a lovely Christmas. People who know me well know that I’m really not a big fan of Christmas but nevertheless I hope you all enjoyed it. I do however wish you all the best for Good Health and Happiness in the New Year.

Big Love from me
AJ xxxxx

See you next year!

A Bit of this and that!

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Hello, I hope you are keeping well and enjoying life.

Things have been a bit hectic for me since we got back from our successful trip to London.

T has been sleeping a lot because he is tired all the time now. He wrote to the hospital in Southampton (who have told him he will get his ‘urgent’ heart surgery ‘some time’ in the next year) to ask if they will be monitoring his heart in the meantime. He got a rather abrupt and unfriendly answer to say that no they will not be monitoring him but if he becomes unwell he should report to our local hospital for emergency treatment.

He is losing all confidence in the team at Southampton now. Luckily he is seeing the local Heart Failure Nurse early next week and he finally got an appointment to see his GP the next day.

When he was first told that his only option for surgery was Transapical TAVI, (a very specialised and complex type of keyhole surgery) he was told that he was not ‘optimal’ for the surgery at that time because his Aortic valve was functioning ‘OK’ (apparently 25% performance is deemed OK!?) but if it was left too long there might be too much damage to his heart and then he would be unable to have the surgery. So the fact that they don’t want to monitor him is naturally a bit worrying.

T has been researching other options. He first looked into being transferred to another UK hospital but they all have long waiting lists for NHS patients. Although going private could probably expedite the surgery to a few weeks, the cost in the UK is prohibitive. He’s now considering going abroad for private surgery, which, including return flights for two and accommodation, is about half the price of having the operation done in the UK (still a lot of money though). I have told him he needs to investigate what the insurance cost will be as I’m sure it will be very high with all of his other health problems which all have to be declared. I want to be sure that if he needs a medivac flight to get home one will be available.

Naturally I am very anxious about all of this (the delay, the lack of ‘customer service’ from the team at Southampton, the difficulty of getting care from the NHS – due to years of underfunding from successive governments, etc. etc.) and I am pleased he will be seeing the two local professional people who know him and appear to care about him.

When I’ve managed to find a bit of ‘me time’ I’ve been trying to finish a Junk Journal I started in 2014 as well as making a box to contain it. It’s completely made from junk and rubbish and I’ve filled it with quotes that are meaningful to me (the delightful content). I’ve just got one more page to finish and a few tags to decorate and then I can mark that one as ‘complete’ too. Hopefully I will get it done before the end of the year as I’ve already noted on the box that it was started in 2014 and completed in 2025 🙂 Here is a little glimpse of the inside and the box:

Yesterday we had our very last session of the Arts and Craft group run by CarersIW. It’s a bit sad it has come to an end because it was a lovely group of carers and we all supported each other through difficult times. Often the room was filled with laughter. Yesterday we decorated cardboard gingerbread men for a community Christmas tree.

Back Row L-R Cheryl, Debbie, Denise and Julie
Front Row L-R Lucy (who led the group until recently) Marcus who took over from Lucy, Sarah and me!

The group used to be a lot bigger but in recent months the numbers have dwindled and the decision was taken to bring it to an end. Very sad but I think it was the right decision. I have been invited to join another group on a different day. The Self Care Cafe is centred more on the individual and includes things like mindfulness, breathing, meditation, calming music and sometimes there is also a craft element. This week we made ‘natural weaves’. My effort is at the top of this post. The frame is made from driftwood tied together, the warp is made from paper string and the weft includes all sorts of bits and pieces collected from the beach and gardens and some extra bits tied on. It was a really lovely exercise to do and I was quite pleased with the result of mine. Everyone did something different and they were all lovely.

The weather in the UK got colder recently and I remembered some time ago (probably a couple of years) I purchased everything I needed (fabric and mechanisms) to make two Roman Blinds for T’s room. He has 2 large windows in his room one south facing and the other east facing. They already have curtains but the blinds will improve the insulation. I thought making the blinds would be a quick and easy task afterall it just involves sewing straight lines, but it’s turned into a bit of marathon.

Part of the problem is getting into his room, because he sleeps a lot I don’t like to disturb him but I also need daylight for measuring and fitting, there’s a bit of drilling and hammering involved, climbing up and down step ladders and quite a lot of groaning and swearing! Currently it gets dark at about 4pm so my window of opportunity to get the job done is limited! Sometimes he stays in bed until early afternoon! Today I should get the first blind competed and then I am hoping that the second one will be quicker as I now know what I need to do and hopefully won’t make as many mistakes. The blinds have blackout and thermal linings to keep the heat in during the winter and out during the summer. If I ever need more blinds I’ll pay someone else to make them. I’ve realised that now I am a ‘senior’ things that used to be quick and simple take much longer and seem more complicated!

My other exciting news that I will tell you about nearer the time or maybe after the event is that I have signed up for a 5 day Art Retreat in the south of France with my favourite artist next summer. It sold out almost immediately and I was lucky to get a place. I am so excited about this 🙂 ❤


That’s all for now, keep creative friends 🙂
Big love from me
AJ xxxxx ❤❤❤

Inspired by dinosaurs

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Hello friends

I hope you are keeping well and happy. I didn’t realise I’d been away so long again, I am struggling to get back into regular blogging. Also very little time for making art, which is a shame because the more I make art the easier it becomes and when I don’t do it I find it difficult to get back into my flow. But sometimes there are more important things to do in life and that’s OK.

So I thought I would share the image above with you, it’s a project I finished over a year ago. The picture is about A3 size and I made it as a house warming present for some young friends who had just bought their first home.

The project started when I bought a children’s book about dinosaurs:

It’s a lovely book with great illustrations and and a wonderful colour pallette.

First I created a background.

Then I added a collage border and focal point using bits cut out from the dinosaur book.

Next I added shading using Inktense water colour pencils.

Then outlined everything with black ink.

Using paint pens I altered all the collaged elements. Although I use elements cut from books I use them as inspiration but I always want to make them my own with my own mark making.

Finally I added the beautiful Apache Blessing and some swirly bits and put it in a frame. I hope they like it, they said they did, but people are very polite and to be honest I wasn’t entirely sure about it. I do love the colours of this piece though and and the Apache blessing. “Walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life”.

It’s summer and the weather is hot, I LOVE it! The garden is thriving, it takes a lot of watering which is time consuming but worth the effort. Whenever I can I use water from the water butts and when they are emtpy the plants get a splash of tap water, just enough to keep them going until the next rain.

Our cats are as gorgeous as ever and I am happy to have them in my life.

Jack in his castle, it’s an ornate tomb in the cemetery, but he’s claimed it as his own.
Bill just wants his tummy tickled 🙂

I am TRYING to blog more regularly, but at the moment failing spectacularly, I’ll try harder!

I am trying to stay off politics because the situation in the UK (and the world) is driving me crazy. It really does feel like the lunatics have taken over the asylum. I could easily slip into full raging rant mode, but I won’t.

I’ll be back when I can and in the meantime take good care of yourselves.

Big love

AJ xxx

Mindfulness

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MindfulnessHello friends

I hope all is good with you in these challenging times for all of us. Sometimes it feels to me like the whole world is going mad, there is a monumental shift taking place and I feel so out of synch with it all.

I can’t change the results of the referendum or the US election, or the way other people think, and I understand that our political systems have failed and disenfranchised so many, but this shift to isolationism and xenophobia is really worrying me.

So I keep reminding myself of that quote by Mahatma Ghandi ‘Be the change that you wish to see in the world.’  I know I have to be the very best version of myself that I can be.  I try every day to be a good, caring and thoughtful person.  I’ll be honest with you admit that most days I fail miserably, there is usually some point in the day when I get angry or upset about something or someone I don’t agree with, but every day I start again and try to improve.  I don’t know if I will ever be the person I truly want to be and I realise if I can’t even do that for myself how can I expect the rest of the world to be the caring, compasionate, inclusive world I want it to be.  Just got to keep trying…..

Practising mindfulness is helping and I am getting some clarity and calmness from it.

The image above is the back page of my 6″ by 9″ journal and it is to remind me to be mindful.

Back cover before and after

When I was 18 years old in 1973 T and I set off to travel overland to India, our first stop was Amsterdam where we spent a few days waiting for the Magic Bus  to leave.  The bus was actually going all the way to India but we only took it as far as Istanbul, and travelled the rest of the way on public transport.

While we were in Amsterdam, killing time, we were wandering about the city one evening and we came across the Stedelijk Museum of contemporary and modern art.  It was a cold and miserable October evening and it was dry and warm in the museum so we went inside.  There was hardly anyone else there and we had a great time looking at the amazing art.  There was an exhibition of machines made by the artist Jean Tinguely.  These machines were fantastic and playful, I had never seen anything like it before in my life.

The Stedelijk Museum currently (until 5 March 2017) has another exhibition by Jean Tinguely called Machine Spectacle.  If you happen to be in Amsterdam before 5 March I recommend you visit, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed:

Take care of yourselves and I’ll see you soon.

Big LOVE

AJ xxx

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2011-2016 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Life as Play

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Life as Play

Hello friends

It’s been pouring with rain most of the day today so I’ve been in my room painting, I’m very close to being half way through my big personal project. (So still several months to go before completion)!

Last weekend the weather was much better and I spent it out in the garden on a different kind of creative project.  I built this raised bed in an attempt to make growing vegetables a bit easier for T, as he’s struggling at the moment.  I’ve got two more to build.  Now that I know how to do it the next ones should be easier.

Veg plot before KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

I’m also trying to eliminate the weeds from the paths by killing them then covering the area with cardboard, membrane and gravel. I bought some preserver to paint the wood too, but ran out of time last weekend and the weather is not good enough this weekend.

The image at the top is another page from my small 6″ x 9″ journal, I finished this page off on Monday when I had to go for my check up at Southampton hospital.  It’s a good job I took something to do as they were running an hour late by mid-day when I was supposed to see the doctor and I’d already been there for a couple of hours as I have to have a blood test at least an hour before my appointment.  Anyway I saw a nice young doctor and all is good and I’m still in remission 19 months after treatment finished.  🙂

To celebrate here is a lovely video by Thomas Blanchard I found on the internet this week, it’s mesmerising and I could watch it over and over.  In fact I have watched it over and over again.  If you enjoy it as much as I do perhaps you could leave a comment for Thomas? :-).

 

 

When I posted this I could see the video, but now I can’t? Just in case you can’t see it either just click on the link for Thomas Blanchard and the video is called Kingdom of Colours.

I hope all is good with you, I’ll see you soon.

Big love

AJ xxx

 

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2011-2016 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A new approach

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page-14-after-penwork

Hello friends

I have been trying to figure out why I’ve been so reticent to blog this year and I’ve decided to try a different approach and see if that gets me restarted and remotivated.

From now on there will be much less personal stuff and I’ll concentrate on my favourite subject – visual art.  Afterall that’s what it was supposed to be about in the beginning.  Mainly to document my art and see if I ever made any progress (the jury’s still out on that one).

I’ll be posting my own art and some of my photographs and I’ll be sharing some of the amazing art I see online, but that’s it folks.

So if you are not interested in art and only visit my blog to see what goes on in my personal life (I really can’t imagine why anyone would find that interesting) you’ll be disappointed.  But hey that’s life 🙂

This image is from my small journal and was completed in June this year. I like it because it’s bright and cheerful and has a good message.

And here is a video of one of my favourite artists:

I met David in May 2015 at a workshop he did at Morgan in Clerkenwell (Link) shortly after that he flew out to Turkey and painted this beautiful mural. Film by Babylon TV

 

I hope you are keeping well and making lots of lovely art.

See ya soon (maybe)

Big love

AJ

 

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2011-2016 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Dance with your Heart

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page-12-small

Hello friends

Hope things are good with you, I am absolutely fine.  I still can’t find enough time to do all the things I want to do, but I’m not stressing about it.  If things don’t get done it’s not the end of the world.

I have been quite creative recently and that’s always a good sign.  I am slowly working on my ‘secret big project’, I reckon at this rate it’s going to take another 18 months to 2 years to complete.  That’s as long as I keep at it, but to be honest I do have a history of starting things and never finishing them so we’ll just have to wait and see if I can keep at this one.  It doesn’t really matter though because I learn as I go along so all is good.  At some point in the future I might have to share it with you just to check if it’s worth continuing with.

I was going to share another black & white page from my Tikis and Totems journal today, but I just couldn’t have two b&w posts in a row, so the above page is another from my small (6″ by 9″) journal and the page was completed several months ago.

I am really curious to know why colour is so important to me, most creative people I know are really into music I think most people who are creative listen to music when they create.  While I don’t dislike music, (afterall you need music to be able to dance), left to my own devices I would never think to listen to music.  To be honest if I never heard any music I don’t think I would be too bothered.  But colour, now that’s a different story – if I can’t feast my eyes on beautiful colourful images every day, then things get a bit weird and I suffer from withdrawal symptoms.

I did wonder recently how I would cope if I ever lost my sight.  Initially it seemed that would be the worst thing that could  happen to me, but then I realised that the eyes are just the windows that let the light in and I have an amazing imagination so even if my eyes didn’t work I am pretty sure my brain would adjust and I would just ‘see’ things in a differnt way.  Don’t worry there isn’t anything wrong with my sight, other than I now need glasses for reading.  It was just one of those random thoughts that come out of nowhere, but I was reassured by the ‘solution’ my brain came up with.

Here is the before and after image:

page-12-before-and-after

When I was younger I loved dancing but I’m a bit rusty now and I have nowhere near the energy I had even 10 years ago.  Still Hoopfit class starts up again next week, that’s fun and good exercise so I’m looking forward to it.  Got to admit I’m not much good at hooping though, I spend a lot of time bending down to pick the hoop up! But the teacher is lovely, it’s definitely a giggle and it’s always easier to exercise when it’s fun.

Hope life is treating you well, take good care of yourselves and I’ll see you soon.

Big love

AJ xxx

 

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2011-2016 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

What is Life?

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Page 3 What is Life collage and penwork small

Hello friends

I hope everything is good for you and you are keeping well and happy.

I am back!  We went away for a couple of weeks and I had a total digital detox – we had no phones, no internet, no blog, no Facebook and no television (although the tv bit is not so unusual for me) for 2 whole weeks – it was great.

We went away in the Bongo (campervan), it was a bit touch and go right up until the last few days whether or not we could go in the Bongo as it was in the garage waiting to be repaired until the Friday before we left and the garage were not sure they could get the part to fix it.  I had a ‘Plan B’ if the Bongo was not fixed and that was to go in the car and take the ordinary tent.  The weekend before we went I put the tent up in the garden just to check everything was still there and I knew how to do it.  Camping for 2 weeks in that tent would have been difficult as despite being big enough for 4 people neither of us can stand up in it so we would have come home with bad backs from two weeks of stooping.  But fortunately the lovely people at the garage were able to fix the campervan in time for us to take it away, and we had no problems during the two weeks.

We went to WOMAD (World of Music, Art and Dance) festival at Charlton Park in Wiltshire for the first long weekend, then to another small festival in Hampshire for the next weekend. In between we stayed at a campsite near to Bath and had a visit from one of our oldest friends while we were there.  That was lovely.  T and S were best friends when I met them when I was 15 years old and 46 years later, even though we hardly ever see S these days we are still good friends and always enjoy seeing each other.  Being away for 2 weeks and doing 2 festivals was pretty tiring and T’s health was not very good while we were away so at times it was a real struggle, but I really like the outside living, even when it rained I thought it was OK (although I’m not sure T would agree).  I broke my camera on the first day so was not able to take any photos, but in a way that was good too and it felt like part of the digital detox.

I finished the page above while we were away, it’s a page from my Tikis and Totems journal – all the collage and most of the penwork was already done so I just added the quote. I’m not sure the quote really goes with the image but the colours reminded me of a sunset so I used it anyway.

Here’s a comparison between the page with just collage and the finished page.  All the collage elements came from a children’s book I meant to make a note of the title and the illustrator, but unfortunately I forgot!

Page 3 what is life before and after

While we were away we put ‘The Furry Boys’ into the local RSPCA boarding cattery.  We felt awful about doing that but at least that way we knew they would be safe.  We could have just left them at home and got a friend to come in and feed them, but because they don’t like each other and sometimes fight we were worried that either one of them would get injured or that one of them would decide to move out and go and live with one of the neighbours rather then be in the house alone with his brother! We both thought about them every day while we were away and worried about them in those small pens at the cattery.  So as soon as we got home we rushed to collect them.  We thought they might be angry with us for abandoning them for two whole weeks but they were so pleased and excited to see us and it was great to all be back home together.  They have been very affectionate and while I’ve been at work they have both brought T presents every day – either a mouse or slow worm (often dead).

Bill and Jack

Bill and Jack – the Furry Boys

From now on I will be back at work full time and just have my normal quota of holiday so hopefully at long last I will start to get back into the swing of full time working.  I have had so much time off work in the last couple of years – 8 months sick leave then a phased return to work then almost double the amount of normal holiday in the last year – it has been difficult to get myself settled back into the routine.  I think I needed all that time off though because even after I finished the treatment for cancer and have been in remission for over a year now, to be honest the bit after treatment has been, in many ways, more challenging than undergoing the agressive treatment itself.  Finally, I think I am getting my head around it and can move on with my life 🙂

Just recently I have been getting more creative too and that’s always a good sign and good for my soul.

It’s a beautiful sunny day here so I’m off out to enjoy what will inevitably be the brief but pleasant British Summer so I’ll post this later when I get back.

Take good care of yourselves and I’ll be back soon.

Big love

AJ xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2011-2016 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

Stingray

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SringrayHello friends

Well here we are week three of my return to blogland and already I’m slipping with the posting!

I meant to post something yesterday but it was sunny (actual real summer sunny) and I was busy doing other stuff.

I haven’t got much to say at the moment so here is a page from my small 9″ by 6″ journal, this page was completed in April 2015 just as I was coming to the end of my cancer treatment.  It’s a strange page about a stingray.  Ever since Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray people have been scared of them, but they are really beautiful and gentle creatures and if you are lucky enough to go swimming in an area where a stingray lives, it is going to come and check you out.  It won’t attack you (unless you surprise or hurt it) but it will swim all around you and come up close to see what you are up to.  It’s a truly incredible thing to experience and I’m lucky that it has happened to me on more than one occasion.

Anyway here is the page with just the collage and then with the penwork:

Before and afterLook after yourselves and I’ll see you soon.

Big love

AJ xxx

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2011-2016 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Happy New Year!

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Page 6 7 & 8 sHello!

I hope everyone is doing well.  I hope too that you all had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all the very best for 2016!

I knew I had been neglecting my blog but i didn’t realise it was four and half months since my last post!  I guess I just needed some space to get myself together after the cancer treatment.

The Bongo!

On the one year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis (mid-September) T and I did something exciting and possibly crazy, we spent a lot of money and bought ourselves a Bongo.  In case you don’t know what a Bongo is here’s a picture of ours:

Bongo! s

It’s an old vehicle but it’s in really good condition and it has everything we could possibly need for our planned adventures.  Inside it has been converted into a campervan and has a fridge, 2-ring gas stove, sink, loads of cupboard space and the seats convert into a bed. The roof also lifts up and there is a tent/bed up there too.  It also came with an awning/tent which can be attached to the vehicle, when it is parked up.  We think it will be perfect for us and it’s great to drive, so far we have only been out for day trips, but we are looking forward to going camping in it in 2016 once the warmer weather and longer days come back.

Making a space for another vehicle

Having got the Bongo I needed to create somewhere to park it.  There was space to park one vehicle on our land and I needed that for my car. While I am working I still need to keep my car. So T had to sacrifice a piece of the garden so I could create another parking space. It took me about a month to do that and it was REALLY hard physical work – digging out shrubs, removing about 4 car loads of soil and transporting them to the local landfill site, then building a low retaining wall from heavy blocks and filling the space with 1 tonne of gravel and more blocks.  T offered to help, but I was worried he would put too much strain on his heart so I did most of the work on my own.  Here’s the end result, unfortunately there was not enough room to make the new space for the van so my car is now parked here and the van is parked where the car used to go.

Here’s the space after the fence was removed and most of the soil taken out:

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And here is it finished 🙂

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This is the old parking space where the Bongo has to be parked now, I also built that wall along the side of the path.  The garden used to slope down to the path, and by building the wall I was able to level out the garden with some of the soil I had to remove for the new parking bay, that saved me a couple of trips to the local landfill site, but boy oh boy those blocks were heavy to move about!

DSCF7597 s

All the while I was doing this work the weather was great, in fact perfect camping weather but I had to get on and finish the project and by the time it was done (mid October) the weather was much cooler and the nights were drawing in. So still no camping for us.

Taking a break from the local history group

In mid October I stood down from my role of Chairman and committee member of the local history group, Ryde Social Heritage Group I am still a member of the group but I felt that I needed a break from the total involvement I’ve had with the group since we formed it in 2002 and I’ve been Chairman since 2007.  I started the group with two friends in 2002 and have seen it develop and grow into an award winning group.  It’s something I’m really proud of, but after 13 years of it being a high priority for me I realised that I had left much of ‘normal life’ for T to sort out. It just wasn’t fair to expect him to carry on doing the lion’s share of the house and garden work. It felt like we needed to be spending more time together.  But I am confident that the people remaining on the Committee are as committed to the success of the group as I was, so I know it’s in safe hands and will continue the good work started all those years ago.  I have quite a bit more space in my room now that all the history stuff has been handed over, but I must admit it’s still untidy and chaotic in my room and there is still far too much ‘stuff’ in here!  That’s something I shall be addressing in the New Year (she said).

Decorating

After a short rest following the building work I decided to start another project and we redecorated our living room together: we stripped the walls, repainted the ceiling and woodwork, then repapered the walls.  We finished that job just before Christmas. Actually there are still some shelves to put up but we finished it enough to be able to use the room again over the Xmas holidays and at least it is looking fresher and cleaner now.

In Remission 🙂

I had another meeting with my oncologist earlier in December, it was a good meeting and I was told the usual ‘Everything looks OK, come back in three months’. It had been bugging me a bit that other people I know who have been treated for cancer have been told that they are in remission but no-one had ever said that to me.  So I decided to ask the doctor if ‘Everything looks OK’ means that I’m in remission and she said ‘Yes it does, I’m sorry but I can’t promise you that you will never get cancer again but at the moment there are no signs that you have it, so yes you are in remission’. So I left the hospital feeling considerably lighter and happier.

T’s health is still not 100% he has been off work for another two months and we are not sure he will be able to return to work, but most of the time we are both doing OK and mood-wise at the moment we are fine.

The strange Christmas Tree

I decided not to have a Christmas tree this year as I had seen this really cool idea on Pinterest so on the weekend before Christmas I went out in to the Cemetery (my house is just inside the cemetery gates) and collected a load of holly, ivy, yew and spruce cuttings and then spent a day decorating my dress form.  So for Christmas we had this headless and armless ‘festive’ lady standing in the corner of the room.  The cats were not sure what to make of her, but then Billy Kat discovered he could get underneath her skirt and there was a magical cat cave inside 🙂

Christmas 2015 1 s

Unfortunately I didn’t realise quite how heavy all the greenery would be and by the time Christmas was over the skirt had dropped a bit, but apart from that it did look quite effective.  If I do it again next year I’ll make sure I fix the rabbit wire skirt more securely to the torso so it will stay in place.

Art

The building and decorating projects, health issues and my return to full time working have meant that I have had very little time for art in the past 4 months, but I consoled myself that I was nevertheless still being creative even if I wasn’t making ‘my art’.  The project with my radiotherapy mask is still ongoing but it was stalled for a long while and is not complete enough to share at the moment.

The image at the top of the page is from my small journal (6″ x 9″) and was completed in April 2015 when I was having radiotherapy.  Because I had to travel to the mainland for the treatment, it meant there was a lot of hanging around waiting for ferries, buses and treatment so it was good to have a small journal and some pens with me.

Here is what the 3 page spread looked like before I played about with the pens:

Page 6 7 & 8 collage only s

So that’s all my news, in a long an boring post!  Don’t suppose anyone has managed to get through all that text (I wouldn’t have) but that’s OK because this blog is for me more than anyone else.  So that in a few years time I’ll be able to look back and say “Oh that’s what happened in 2015”  as I will probably have forgotten.

Hope all is good with you in your part of the Universe.

Big love AJ 🙂

xxxxx

 

 

 

 

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