Monday 23rd November - Silence?

 That's two days in a row I haven't chalked a word outside the house.

Why?

I don't know - maybe it was too cold, maybe I couldn't think of one, maybe I wasn't in the mood?

I'm reading a book called 'Amazing Grace' by Kathleen Norris, one very short chapter at a time because I don't want to spoil it by reading too fast. She takes words from her childhood experience of church and unpacks them; so far I have read her chapters on eschatology, the antichrist, and, this morning, silence;

Here, she is describing how, when teaching creative writing, she used to let the children make a noise at their desks until she held up her hand, and then they had to be silent, and listen to the silence; 

The nugget is right at the end of this chapter...

'and in a tiny town in North Dakota a little girl offered a gem of spiritual wisdom....' 

I often sign in for an online journaling workshop on Monday mornings. There tend to be a rather long time of chit-chat and reading out people's comments and saying hello and so on before we get down to the writing bit. Today the starting point was silence... synchronicity?

I usually find it difficult to stop and be still, but, for once, today was the day, almost to the point of wanting to sit and listen to the silence more than I wanted to journal about it. A new experience for me.  

Sunday 22nd November - Stir up Sunday

Having finished all my 'work' (I think - there's always something overlooked) I had  lazy day today. Which also meant no words chalked up outside the house.

And, in spite of it being 'Stir up Sunday' I didn't get around to doing any stirring, not of cake, or puddings, or trouble.

The cat and I shared a peaceful morning upstairs. She slept, and I read, listened to music, and did some Christmas card thinking

Though how I turn these into lino cuts is another problem. I've had a go at using the narrowest blade, but I find it very hard to control.

I started carving this one out yesterday with the fine blade, but soon changed to a broader one which has made the lines coarser than I wanted.;

I made a very rough trial print using coloured felt tip pen instead of getting out the proper ink which is why it is so faint;

but it is enough to show that the white lines are thicker than I wanted. More practice - live and learn. I'll have another go tomorrow, maybe. 

Saturday 21st November - Coffee!

 

I was struggling to stay awake all day today - 'More Coffee! seemed like the right words.

I managed to get through this morning's teaching (three lessons), and compel myself to write up the lesson notes and email them before I stopped for the day, which did please me. Last weekend I left the write-ups until Monday, which was a bit of a disaster as I teach four lessons on Monday which meant I was stacking up the lesson notes at quite a pace.

This evening has been spent watching 'Brokenwood' on tv - a detective series set in New Zealand which I enjoy for the humour and scenery as much as the plot. I usually have some very simple and mindless knitting on the go while I'm watching tv; tonight's effort was finishing off some knitted bunting

using up a ball of pink variegated yarn which I don't want to knit into anything to wear. It was left over from this 'granny squares' blanket  which kept me and my godmother company all last year.

She was fascinated at the way the colours changed, and it provided a topic of conversation when we were visiting her in hospital or at home. I managed to join all the squares over the course of this summer and I'm currently wearing it over my shoulders like Uncle Bulgaria in The Wombles. 

Today has been cold and damp in that English November fashion. We've had the lights on all day; it has felt like twilight since about 3pm.

Tomorrow is 'stir-up' Sunday - the last Sunday before Advent. I made a dozen mince pies because that seemed like a good plan. Eating so many of them over the course of this afternoon and evening doesn't seem like such a good plan now.