Workshop Deco.

Apart from Gek's face looking down at me as I work away on the new dollhouse, I have a couple of Polly's art works hung on the walls.    Doubly untidy, as it is an unfinished work.  Very appropriately, as this is the last of her figurative paintings.  Couldn't be bothe..r....e...........d...................

And so on to this,  one of her first abstracts.  Love them both.

Book Binding

This book binding lark is very time consuming.  After printing out the pages in A5 booklet form, the pages that make up the 'signatures' of the  'text block' have to be folded and compiled.  For this book, each of the 19 chapters forms one 'signature'. Of course, every time you print the text off, you notice a mistake in your typing.  Very, very annoying is that.

Next is the sewing of the 'signatures' together to make the 'text block'.    The spine is then covered in acrylic glue to hold them all together. This method is called Kettle Stitching.

 Making the hard cover is not so time consuming.

For this copy I even put in a book mark and those funny little cords at the edges of the 'text block'.  How technical is that??

New Wheels on the Drive.

The van is with us no more.  A small automatic Hyundai that Gek can handle.

The Garden

A good few roses this season

Peas looking perky.

 Potatoes plodding along.  Going to be a good harvest all round this year.

Gek Getting Ready for German DH Fair

You know who with his bandaged ear.  In a couple of weeks we depart  for the Rhine valley via a doll house fair in Rheda-Wiedenbruck.  This is one big event with over 200 stalls.  It is going to be very interesting to see the different slant the northern Europeans have on miniature making as a craft.  And whether Gek's efforts will be as much appreciated as they were in Milan.  Surprisingly we can fly direct from Cardiff to Dusseldorf.

Has Summer Arrived?

Lunch in the garden.  Must be summer. 

Staick House, Eardisland, 80 Years On

 Finally we have cleared the loft at the Litchard bungalow and retrieved Granddad's original photo album of his Border counties cycling trip, dated July 1939.

And the man himself, Wilson.

Granddad did selfies.  This is 1939, a selfie with his trusty bike.

 Me in 2017.  A little over grown in the interim.

The oldest part of the house dates from the 13 hundreds.  We trespassed to get the photo, not aware that someone still lives here.

Eardisland 80 Years On

 Bridge over the mill stream.

Perhaps the trees are a little more mature?

By the mill stream.

The day of our visit it was a little wet, to say the least.  Hence we had some difficulty finding the right position to shoot from.

Pembridge 80 Years On

The New Inn in July 1939.  Granddad's black and white.

May 2017.  Much the same, save for the car.

The Bell Tower built in  the 14th century.

Again, not much change.

Book - Russia

All you need to know to understand the Russia of today.  Oddly, Martin and I may have been in Moscow at the same time, back in 1972.  4 on the door for this work, a surprisingly easy read, given the complexity of the subject matter.

Ystrad Mynach Quilters Biannual Exhibition

Hosted by the Llancaiach Fawr, Nelson, a four day event.  Gek's contribution, the light green bolster cover on the table.

 Gek has two years to create a full size quilt.

Pinner Visit

Lawyer turned  sculpter.

 Revisit Gek's painting from her time at Emerson Collage,

 enjoy the spring garden,

and, of course, part take of fabulous food.

Richard's Birthday

 With the van parked in Pinner, we trained it across London to Greenwich.  Futuristic Canary Wharf station. 

 Tough looking doods. The birthday boy.

Richard invited forty of us to cruise the Thames for a couple of hours on our own boat, The Edwardian.

 All the iconic structures visited.

A bonus to see the bridge opening.

The lads had prepared a speech to honour their Dad, delivered by Toby to fits of teared laughter from the rest of us.

2nd April 2017

 Dawn.  The sun catching the morning dew on the fields,

 before hitting the bungalow.

Made 10 small canvas for Gek's miniature paintings

Took a two hour stroll to Penalta Park

Snapped Hengoed hill, bottom left corner, on the return.

Caught the setting sun.  That was the day that was.

University of Birmingham

Spring was sprung on the campus.

Even though I have spend six of my years at UoB,  I do not recall ever going upstairs in the Barber to view the art there.  Free concerts in the small theatre of a lunch time, yes, but never the gallery.

 No mater, better late than never.

More of the masters for Gek to copy.

To round off a brilliant weekend, lunch with Mary-Ann.  Old Joe, ever present.

With Diane

Whilst at the NEC, we had the chance to spend our evenings with Diane, a friend of Gek's from her time as a student at the LSE.  Diane traveled to Birmingham just to see us, which was much appreciated.