a world within

Anna Maria Garthwaite (1688 - 1763)
Cut-paper work 1707

I look at this for a long time,
trying to absorb every detail,
and wonder at the exquisite skill.

I try to imagine the initial vision,
the fierce concentration
and the determination to complete.

I remind myself that even
the most ambitious of projects
are completed one tiny snip at a time.

Home Alone (remix)

Yes, that IS my supper
Yes, there are NO vegetables
Yes, that IS butter - the high calorie version
Yes, that IS a green melamine plate
Yes, it IS a poached egg

Anything else you want to know?

(just for the record)

If you were me
you would have met
these students today:

1.
four early birds
waiting at my door when I arrive
with essays hot off the press

2.
a finalist who needs to borrow books
urgently

3.
a late bird who delivers his essay
dressed in pyjamas and slippers

4.
a very tall, athletic lad with a limp,
(tendon problems, apparently)
accompanied by two very small admirers

5.
an anxious first year
who has missed the deadline
to pay for the field trip to Spain

6.
a new PhD student from Canada,
delayed by visa issues,
but here at last,
smiling

7.
an exchange student sending greetings
and a warm weather report
from the University of Arizona

8.
a student with a complicated medical problem
weeping with frustration
at the inconvenience of illness

9.
a beautiful young Belgian
collecting a red rose
delivered by an admirer*

10.
a vivacious PhD student
with long blonde hair
and fabulous black nail polish
left over from Hallowe'en

11.
my lovely South African friend
who asks about MasterM
and knows how far away he is

12.
a Masters student in Peruvian bobble hat
coming in to start work as I leave

*****

*actually, that wasn't today
but I thought that you should know about it

the naming of parts

In the churchyard, after the service,
the sunlight slides across the sides of gravestones,
illuminating the carvings.

On the way home,
I think of the word 'to'
and I ask MrM what part of speech it is
and he tells me it is a preposition
or a grammatical particle.

MrM studied Classics
so the parts of speech
and the rules for their correct use
are embedded in his brain.

I remember that when I started writing
it delighted me to begin sentences
with conjunctions and break those rules.
It made my writing very jagged and abrupt
but each word was carefully chosen
and the style was deliberate.

I write differently now
because my objective is to capture
the sound of a voice:
my daughter, my son,
my mother, my father,
my husband, my friends
my own.

It is a frustrating hobby,
like trying to catch cobwebs.

But when you get it right
the sound is there forever.

Generation Gap

I like my flapjacks:
they are reliably golden,
buttery and slightly chewy.

My mother's flapjacks are much more exciting:
sometimes they are sticky as tar
and sometimes they are hard as rock.
You never know if your teeth will survive
and I have learned to be cautious.

MissM has the careless optimism of youth:

"Once you have a taste for them
Grandma's flapjacks are curiously addictive...
I think it is the element of danger..."

Whence and Whither

The Sunshine Roof

Cyril Power created these images over 80 years ago
as he experimented with the new technique of linocuts
but the experience of commuting in London
is still immediately recognisable:

The Escalator

the steamed up windows of the bus,
the surge of people joining the escalator,
the frustration of arriving on the platform
just as the train departs.

Whence and Whither

I think of MissM on her way to work,
hurrying down Piccadilly,
wrapped up in her coat and scarf

The Tube Station

and I remember the thrilling feeling
of being a part of that great bustling city
because I was only a little bit older than her
when I started my first job in the City.

The Tube Train

the world comes to me

Septentrionalium Terrarum descriptio
Map of the North Pole/Arctic
Mercator (1595)

The brilliant young ice scientist from Denmark
is visiting to give his annual lecture.

He tells me about the silent ice world that he works in,
flat, white and bright with constant daylight.
After a while you lose track of time
and the only thing that breaks the monotony
is the wild party that is organised every Saturday.
The scientists set to with chainsaws and create an ice bar
which is loaded up with an impressive amount of alcohol,
the musk ox steaks start sizzling on the barbecue
and then the party begins.

If his outrageous Nigella impression
is a glimpse into Saturday night life on ice
it would be serious fun to be around.

In my next life I am going to be an ice scientist.

Shopping with MissM

'so...this man came in and he wanted to buy a fedora and I didn't know what a fedora was so I said "I will just check if we have any in stock" and then I went into the stock room and asked what it was. Then I came out and gave him one to try on. He asked me what I thought and I said "It matches the inside of your Barbour perfectly" and he was very pleased but then he said "You don't think it is too Town for the Country?" and I said "Oh no! It is the perfect hat for the weekend when you want to be smart in the Country." Then he said "Is it the right size? Are you sure it is not too small?" And I said "Can I suggest that you take two steps back from the mirror so that you get the full effect?" And he did and he was delighted. I think that he must have been short sighted but anyway he was so pleased that he wanted to wear it right away.'

MrsM suspects that the Inuit people would enjoy buying ice from MissM.

A Splash of Silver

I am not just about obsessive china collecting

Oh no...you have misjudged me...

I have a sideline in obsessive silver collecting
...specifically, jewellery made by the lovely Emma...

This is my latest Silverpebble acquisition:
an antique locket embellished with a crystal clear bead,
rice pearls and a hand-made ivy leaf.

Just the place to keep a breath of sea air.

Much Ado About Nothing

MrsM
Errr...I bought another camera...

MrM
I know.

MrsM
Oh!

MrM
Does it make you happy?

MrsM
Yes!

MrM
Well...that's alright then...