Enjoying

There haven’t been any posts for a while as I am pretty confident you don’t want to see the admin mountain I have been working through.

February always brings the start of a new term in my OU teaching life and this year I have an unusually large workload, with the added bonus of a new system for our online classes. Because we all love having to learn a new system and adapt all our teaching materials to work with it, don’t we? Anyway, while that process rumbles along, there has nonetheless been enjoyment in getting to know my new students and in a few other things I thought I would mention here.

If you haven’t seen A Stitch in Time on BBC4, catch it on iPlayer while you can! It is one of the best programmes I have seen in a long time. Our fearless heroines work to recreate garments from the past as seen in portraits of the wearers, with lots of insight into materials, techniques and social history.

And speaking of sewing, I have been seriously enjoying the fact that my new sewing machine (thanks, mum!) threads its own needles. I mean, really. How long has that been a thing? The last new-as-in-brand-new sewing machine I had is now more than 30 years old, and even the new-to-me machines I subsequently added must be well into their teens, so I guess I missed a few developments.

Then last weekend I treated myself to a day of willow weaving at Off the Rails Arthouse, where we made fruit bowls.

Alas we only had three apples left in the house when I put my fruit bowl into action, but at least you get a clear view of the weave. I had intended to take more pictures of it to share with you here, but then I dropped my phone and smashed it: one of life’s less enjoyable moments and the cue for yet another item on the tedious-but-necessary to-do list.

In other news, plans are taking shape for exhibitions and activities later in the year which I look forward to sharing soon!

“Enjoying” was posted by Cally on 11 Feb 2018 at https://callybooker.co.uk