This is the book that I am currently reading for my French classes.
I saw that there was a film in the festival about the same characters so I thought I would see it to improve my French pronunciation.
I loved it, but even cartoon characters speak quickly. I wish there was a go slow button.
This stitch reminded me of a picket fence, a white picket fence. But, dead white against red isn't to good , so I used grey, which is still a bit stark. Then I imagined a garden in the afternoon sun, with apple trees, flowers and birds. It is interesting working on such a small scale, difficult to fit all those things in.
We are having a French Film Festival here at the moment. Last night we saw a movie called "Voys n'avex encore rien vu" which was translated as "You Ain't seen Nothin Yet!' (horrible trnaslation)
It was really about Orpheus and Eurydice. I learnt this role in Gluck's opera many years ago and now can not stop singing this aria. I won a competition singing this a long time ago. Love Kathleen Ferriers rendition. I know she is mainly heard singing this in English but I learnt the role in Italian and that is the only way I can sing it.
As a young person by main love was music. I studied piano gaining my letters at 16 years of age but my great love was singing. I was offered a scholarship at Sydney Conservatorium and thought this would be my life's career. But, it was not to be.
The first time I heard Kathleen Ferrier sing this aria "God have Mercy" from St. Matthew's Passion by Bach I cried. I had never heard anything so beautiful. It hold all of St.Peter's anguish at having denied his lord.
It is an old and scratchy recording but still beautiful.
It is nearly the end of the APT7 and this exhibition had so many pieces and was so complex. One of the biggest sculptures was the skeleton of a snake, (it reminded me of Harry Potter's basilisk,) that hung in the entrance hall with the reflection moving sinuously in the water.
On a number of occassion that I visited the gallery there always seemed to be a gaggle of children trying to draw it.
I wonder if they thought it was that basilisk?
They actually made a good subject for a painting themselves.
Along with the mother with four little children. (I was jealous of the way she had them so under control.
The little girl running in the garden with such abandon and delight.
And the two ladies deep in conversation.
Sometimes the people at the exhibition are just as interesting as the exhibits.
This class is running for the first time in the Easter School Holiday break. I wasn't sure how it would go but we only have a few places left. (You can find the class registration form here.)
The details are:
DATE: Tuesday 9th April 2013
TIME: 9.30am to 2.30 pm
COST: $25.00
Included in the cost is lunch, (Children should bring their own morning tea), Tuition and the kit.
In the kit are all the materials and instructions for making the scissor keeper.
There are a number of designs. From the very simple for our beginners.
To the more complex for our more experienced stitchers.
One of our students, Tara, has finished her embroidered bear that she started last year. Not only did she stitch it herself but she designed her own embroidery, selecting the layout and the stitches.
But before she could stitch the bear she had to learn how to do the stitches and 'Cast on stitch' is not the easiest of stitches to learn. After a lot of practise this was the result.
Not bad for a ten year old. Seeing the pleasure she derived from doing this makes all the time and effort worthwhile.
I think I would have been better served by using a cotton or silk thread of this stitch than the rayon thread that I choose. My reason for choosing it was that I was able to match the colour of the cushion. Also, working on a curved surface makes it difficult to weave. Still, I'm not unpleased with the result.
A friend donated her grandmothers wedding dress to the Guild Collection. It had been in a box that they had put away and forgotten about. It is a treasure from 1914, the year of the start of WW1. It is made of the most beautiful silk crepe.
There is heavy beading on parts of the dress and the back must have ballooned down at the bottom of the skirt.
As the dress was altered, to make it a ball gown, I'm not sure if the other beading is not also an addition. It looks more typical of the 1920's and not what you would see in 1914.
On the bodice, along with that little black net edging,
and the skirt. There seems to be a difference in the design.
The veil is made of a very light weight lace and the beading would have sat close to the face.
On the train the lace has been pieced and beaded to accentuate it's shape.
The women who donated the dress said that if they had known it was there when they were children they would have used it for 'dress-ups". How lucky are we that they didn't?
I loved getting the mail from the postman when I was a child and things haven't changed. I still love getting parcels from the postman. This one is from the USA.
It is my bunnie kits that I ordered from Alicia Paulson.
I just love the colours and the Liberty fabrics.
I am going to have to buy some extra wool , I just love this little cardigan.
There were some lovely cards in the parcel as well.
I'm itching to get started but I can't start them just yet. Too many other dead lines to meet. But, I don't need to finish them until December as they are going to be Christmas gifts for my grandaughters.