All Hallows Eve

It was hard to believe it's the end of October until it got dark before five. Just finished cutting the shapes in the pumpkins for the children before they're out trick or treating. I prefer the older traditions of Hallowe'en when it was still considered more of an end to the year.

Del has been creating some fantastic Hallowe'en pictures recently - check out this link https://www.facebook.com/delthorpesdrawings?ref=hl. And I'm not above using any excuse to post pictures of skulls and skeletons and other scary stuff so here we have a photograph of pumpkins, dresses and cushions made out of fabric appropriate to the season and Vicky's rather wonderful "Things that Go Bump in the Night".

And just in case you don't come across anything scarier than small children this evening (and let's face it, they can be quite scary at times), here's a genuine grave experience - clearly not for the faint-hearted.

A Bunch of Flowers

It was grey and gloomy all day today but the temperatures are more like the run up to the May Open Houses. I keep feeling I should be planting flowers rather than preparing for winter and Christmas so here's a bunch of flowers to enjoy.

The first three are my photographs. I've always loved foxgloves and I love the bee on the lavender but my favourite is the picture of the hydrangeas, a plant my husband hates (old lady flowers, apparently) but my late grandmother's favourite. The sunflower is one of Ruth's mirrors, a new piece I'm really looking forward to seeing, and the picture at the bottom is Leonor's bluebells. I love the intensity of the blue glass and the bubbles in the water. And, of course, they are bluebells...

Flyers have been ordered

Missed posting a few times over the last week but much has been going on behind the scenes. I was out all day today chaperoning for Bugsy at the Barn Theatre in Southwick and last minute buying of ties for Fat Sam's Gang. There are a few seats left if you're in the area and looking for something to do over the next week. Tickets are available from http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/citytheatreco. Opening night is tomorrow.

On the Open House front, the brochure has been proof read and will be available online at http://aoh.org.uk/home from early in November. The flyers have now been ordered and will be arriving this week so here's a sneak preview.

Definitely Autumn

Glad I finished the silk painting last week as today has been so chilly. It's time to get knitting and start thinking about the more Christmassy stuff although I'm not sure how much I'll get done in the next couple of weeks as my eldest daughter is in the City Youth Theatre production of Bugsy Malone over half term and I'll be doing a lot of chaperoning.

So, in honour of the changing season, here's a section of my photos and Margaret's collagraphs of autumn leaves.

Summer Came Back

Well, possibly an exaggeration to say summer's back but it stopped raining and it was warm enough so the last two days have been spent having fun painting silk scarves in the garden.

I get my silk very wet before starting as I love the unpredictability of the shapes and patterns which I don't fully see until the silk dries. So I paint in an abstract manner and concentrate mainly on the colours. Sometimes I use gutta but, because I like to use so much water, the gutta doesn't completely resist the dye. This creates a fantastic dragging effect along the gutta with more of an appearance of texture and depth. The scarves looked gorgeous with the sun behind them but my phone didn't like taking pictures into the sun so I just did my best (with the oh so glamorous pegs keeping the scarves fairly straight).

And, while waiting for each scarf to dry, I started bottling up my flavoured vodkas and gins ready for the private view. I love the intensity of the colours in the sunshine.

Summer sunshine

After days of interminable rain during which I've been trying and failing to get some silk scarves painted outside, I decided to mount some of the photos I've taken this summer. It's great to be reminded of just how good the summer was, even if it wasn't always completely reliable. For the first time in four years, we managed to visit Groombridge Place without getting wet and were rewarded by peacocks sunbathing. (I actually have a phobia of birds so it's always good to take pictures of them without the camera shaking!)

Our trip to Scotney Castle started damp but ended with lots of sunshine and reflections of blue skies in the lake.

As ever, our first night in Newquay had the most gorgeous sunset to be followed by pouring rain the next day. After much perseverance, I finally managed to get a photo of a surfer standing up but he is completely outclassed by the colours of the sky.

Helen Chong

I've known Helen for years now and asked her to join the Open House last Christmas as I love the gorgeous handcrafts she produces in her limited hours between being a psychology teacher and looking after her children. Utilising her knowledge of children and psychology, Helen created the Worry Bean, a small creature that works on the same principle as Guatemalan worry people. Children tell their problems to the Worry Bean; vocalisation of the anxiety diminishes it.

More recently, Helen has been sourcing vintage charms and creating beautiful jewellery with them. Her necklaces proved very popular at the May Open House. Each item is unique and they are very reasonably priced so perfect as gifts. Many of the charms are sterling silver; the necklace in the bottom picture features a vermeil gold heart charm.