Cats

A clowder of cats and a kindle of kittens

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Some Memories from Primary School

Yesterday, while looking for a particular book, I stumbled upon a copy of “A First Aid in English, Revised Edition”.  I’d forgotten that I’d bought this book several years ago simply because I stumbled upon it on Amazon and it brought back warm memories of primary school.  I remember with fondness enjoying working through it, working neatly in my English book, while left to my own devices while everyone else in my class was practising for the competitions for the Urdd Eisteddfod.  I wasn’t with them as I wasn’t deemed good enough for any of the competitions; my accent was too English, I was too clumsy and uncoordinated to dance or act, and was told I couldn’t sing either.  So, I was left with maths and English work to do in the classroom by myself.

Fond memories of being left by myself?  Yes, that is the case.  I have always enjoyed learning, working, and producing beautifully written notes/work.  I guess this was something I could excel at when everyone else thought I couldn’t excel at anything else.  Also, I had and continue to have a love of words and phrases, and the First Aid in English fed that love.

Other fond memories crop up, such as being able to choose a photograph from a huge, numbered collection to use to inspire story writing.  This could be done once the set work was completed and while others will still working on that.  I’ve occasionally remembered about this activity and thought I could use it now as a source of inspiration for creative writing.

Anyway, once I found the book, I had to sit with pen and paper and work through some of the exercises, and found great pleasure and comfort in doing so.  I realised how much I’d forgotten, and how much the book seemed to have been cut down compared to the one I used when I was in school, but that may just be the warping effect of time on the memory.

I know, it’s sad, but it’s also true!

Similes

And this is where the title of this post comes in!  Clowder is apparently derived from clutter, which would describe a pile of cats all together, very much like a furry cloud!

Kindle is more obscure, coming from Old Norse ‘kynda’ which meant ‘to kindle’.  Maybe it’s just a cute sounding word to describe a pile of cute cuddly kittens making apt use of alliteration.

Golden brown … teenie tiny textile work

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Golden brown

Golden Brown 23 Feb 2011 © Angela Porter 2011

I have just finished this little piece of textile art.  It measures just 7cm x 7cm.  I’m not entirely sure about it, as the shapes/patterns are not my usual kind of organic spirals and curves, but … it was different to do and I’m actually proud of myself that I didn’t give up part way through the process.  There was a point where I was going ‘yeuch’ mentally about it, but it seems to have worked out ok.

I also used matt embroidery threads in this one to get a different kind of texture involved, so this is really more of a test piece, an experiment to see how things work out.  I’m also glad I went with the metallic purple/brown/blue/dark gold/green beads in places as they give a nice contrast to the gold that is used in so many places.

So onward with the work …whatever will appear next, I wonder?

Interesting work …

I found my way to First andFifteenth -the website/blog of Steve Powers who does some rather interesting stuff with words and pictures.  I particularly like the plays on words that he makes.  It’s different for sure!  I found my way via a mention given by Neil Gaiman on Twitter.

Another blog I found my way to, again by Mr Gaiman I believe, was Whodunnknit, run by DeadlyKnitshade, another denizen of the rather puzzling thing that is Twitter.  I do wish there was such a group of knitting guerillas/graffiti knitters nearer to me *sigh*, yet it seems such great fun!

Finally … destressing at last!

I actually feel more like myself today, calmer, more relaxed.  This is good.  Mind you, I woke at stupid o’clock this morning and managed to get back to sleep over an hour later after trying reading, puzzles, and finally meditation, which did the trick.  When I settled back down to sleep, the purryfurryone had already given up trying to bounce and clamber all over me and had fallen asleep and was snoring, just to add insult to injury!  I must say, however, I absolutely adore my pusscat, he’s certainly one of a kind, totally neurotic, insecure but he does seem to be very attached to me, sometimes quite literally so!

Proudly presenting the letter ‘i’ (and some jewellery)

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The letter ‘i’

Initial 'i' © Angela Porter 21 Feb 2011

Approx. 5cm x 13 cm worked using wires, metallic threads, beads and custom made ‘sequins’ on black felt.  The colours are silvers, blues, greens and purples.  Again, my poor photographic skills do this a disservice, but then again, no photography would capture the way this shimmers and shines and catches the light in different ways as you view it from slightly different angles.

I’m quite pleased with it.  The letters are a much more rigid format than I’m used to working with, but there’s still scope for so much embellishment and patterns within them.

The bonus is that it’s very relaxing for me to do this, almost meditative in nature.  That can only be of benefit to me.  Also, it’s been nice to be cwtched up under a fleecy blanket whilst working both this letter and the jewellery.  It’s a chilly day here, with heavy rain from time to time.  It’s nice to hear the rain on the windows and know that I do not need to go out in it.  It was doubly nice this morning as I was sat in bed, the purrfurrball (cat) draped over my legs, purring loudly, as I could hear the rain on the windows.  It was a very comforting place to be.  Also, it is the only place that the cat will sit on my legs/lap – his favoured spot is upon my chest, head nuzzled into my neck or shoulder, and that brings an end to anything that involves using my hands!

The Jewellery

Jewellery 21 Feb 2011 © Angela Porter 2011
The earrings are approx 2cm x 3cm.

The pendant is approx 3cm x 3.5cm.

Both worked with silver beads, purple/green iridescent ‘sequins’, silver threads.  The earrings have purple beads on them.

Just a few little items made for a friends’ daughters’ birthday this week … they didn’t take too long to do either, just a couple of hours, simply because I kept the design simple and not over embellished.  The pendant has a different ‘edging’ to  my usual over-stitched beads; I’ve used bugle beads sewn close to the edge of the felt so that there is a black border around them.  I don’t know if it works well, I’ll see what the feedback is from my friend!