Saturday 21st March

Well it's 9.45 on a Saturday morning and I am sitting calmly before the storm. This afternoon, I am going to our Thinking Day gathering - there will be up to 200 girls, aged 5 to 14 all joining in the activities. I've been allocated to the crafts corner where we'll be making oriental fans, henna hands and funky friends. For those who don't know, Thinking Day is a celebration of guiding when we think of all our sister guides around the world. One hour after this afternoon celebrations finish, I have to be all dressed up and looking glamorous (!!) to accompany my beloved to a dinner dance. I think there might be a chance that my nose may end up in my soup.
Kevin's been on holiday this week, but we haven't done much. We had a day in Derbyshire on Tuesday and had a little walk and then looked around Bakewell, which is a nice little town. We found a new art gallery and ended up buying a new picture. We haven't bought one for ages, so that was nice. Kevin saw a beautiful one, but, at £2,500 it was out of our pocket and it was so large that we would have needed a VERY large house to show it off.
Yesterday, we went a walk nearby. It is a hill called Werneth Low. It's not that high, but you get the most fantastic views for miles around. It was quite clear and we could just see the Welsh hills in the distance. It was good to be out for a walk again, as I haven't been able to go far with this cough.
I've been working on my portrait. It's coming on but I don't think the Louvre will be hanging it any time soon.
There is a programme on TV at the moment. An artist is painting portraits in the style of famous artists. Last night he painted a rock star from Stone Roses in the style of Cezanne. It was really interesting even though he only had a few hours to complete it. The artist used to be an art forger and has spent some time in prison for forging old masters.
Anyway, I'd better make a move on and get something done so cheerio for now.

Weds. 11th Feb

Well, it's nice to be out and about again! I went to my art class today and began a portrait in oils. I can't believe that I am even contemplating such a task. I have chosen to work from a photograph of a young girl from northern India. I've already done a practice run in pastels which looks OK ish so I hope that I can manage it. I've never really used oils before so it should be interesting! I've just looked on our friend's blog and she has put a lovely painting on - maybe one day I shall be famous too ha ha!!
The snow is melting at last, although I thought we were in for more last night. I went off to WI and had quite a nice evening. We didn't have a speaker so were able to chat to each other. One of our members is a young mum who is registered blind. She brought her Guide dog Becca with her so I spent most of the evening cuddling her! These dogs are absolutely amazing. As soon as their harness is on , you can tell that they are 'on duty'. Becca's mum is in training for a half marathon in order to raise funds for training more dog.
It's almost time for Coronation Street so I shall finish for today.

Sunday 6th feb.

More snow today! I stayed in again because the cold just makes me cough, poor dear. Since I've been stuck in the house I have become more attached to the radio. I used to listen to it far more than I do now. This morning I listened to desert island discs which featured one of our more distinguished actors, David Suchet. He is probably most famous here for his portrayal of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, but, in fact is a fine Shakespearian actor. His father was a surgeon and didn't approve of one of his sons going into the theatre, but eventually accepted it. David spoke about being sent to boarding school at the age of 8 and how he hated it. He was beaten for having a chocolate bar in his cupboard after a visit from his mother. Can you believe that? Every Sunday the headmaster would get the boys in a 'crocodile' and walk them into the sea. they only managed to do it by holding hands and singing 'You'll never walk alone'. Hopefully, none of them drowned. I wonder if the headmaster did a risk assessment before he took them down to the sea - you can't breathe now without a risk assessment in England! I also watched a debate on TV. The two questions were, can you be a christian and believe in the theory of evolution - it is Sunday after all. The other was are working mothers selfish. (This follows a report from the children's society which says that children in the UK are the unhappiest they have ever been). The debate was interesting and some good points made. There were some extreme views expressed and some arrogance shown, particularly by one Cambridge professor, who labelled anybody who didn't agree with his points as intellectually lazy. I do like the radio as you can listen and get on with other things if you need to . I remember when I was little, our granny lived with us and she loved to listen to the Saturday night play. Mum and dad would go to the cinema and granny would let me stay up reading or playing as long as I didn't disturb the play. Then it was up to bed as quickly as possible before mum and dad got home! I have also done some painting so have had rather a good day!

Thurs 5th February

Well, I'm still coughing well and now I can't hear very well. Apparently this is a side effect of my antibiotics 'particularly in the elderly'!! I certainly don't think of myself as elderly so I'm a bit miffed! I've done some washing and hoovering today and then decided to try some drawing. I found a lovely photograph of an Indian girl and tried to copy it. My drawing doesn't look a bit like her so I'll have to keep trying. I think I'll try and paint her in watercolour and then try it again in oils at my art class. I'm determined to get on the 'good table' at my class! Kev's out again with the boys, so it's just me and the telly. I think I may just get my book to read.

weds. 4th February

Still coughing and spluttering and feeling sorry for myself. It's still very cold outside so I haven't been out as I lose my breath. Poor old me! I had to miss my art class, so I decided to spend the morning finshing off two of my pieces. The first one is a pastel drawing of a blue tit and it doesn't loo too bad. The second is a watercolour of a sky scrape. I' m not too happy with that. Like my last watercolour, the sky is quite good but I don't like the buildings. I don't think I've got the angles right and that's down to draughtsmanship. I was going to show them here, but then I looked at my friend's blog and hers are so much better!!! So I won't. Next week we are starting an oil portrait.which I think will be hard for me, but we'll see. I think that I'd better practise drawing faces this week. Nothing else to say - I'm in the middle of a novel which I didn't think I'd like, but am actually quite enjoying. I can't remember the title or the author off hand! Time to go for today!

Tues 3rd February

It's a beautiful day today - the sun is shining and we have at least 6 inches of snow outside. The little ginger kitten next door doesn't quite know what it's all about and is running in and out and having great fun. The children are sledging in the park and me? I'm sitting inside feeling proper poorly! I've had a bad chest infection for a couple of weeks and yesterday the doctor gave me some different tablets and they're making me feel a bit off. Still, I have read a couple of books which is always nice. I enjoy reading biographies and the two I've read this week are Michael Parkinson's and Paul O'Grady's. Other people's lives are always interesting. Last night I watched a TV programme called 'Who do you think you are?' The programme helps a well-known person to trace their roots and sometimes finds some amazing stories. This is the third series and has inspired my K. to trace his father's family. His father died before he was born and his mum didn't really keep in touch with family. K was doing quite well until he started being busy again.
We went out to Manchester Art gallery to see Anthony Gormley's latest work. It was a good job K. was with me because the sculpture is oused in the newest part of the gallery - glass stairs, glass lift, glass walkways which are not good for people with vertigo! I liked the sculpture but I'm not quite sure what it represents. I think that everybody has their own response to art anyway. Well, I'm going to have a cuppa and try to amend the mistakes in my latest materpiece.