And Now the End is Near...

I am minutes away from submitting my final module for my textiles degree. I have been proof reading all day and correcting my appalling spelling etc.. and its ready to go!!!

The relief to have finished is palpable, yet - I can't quite let it go!! It feels so final and what am I going to lie awake at night thinking about? What will I do to fill my lockdown days - Its a very bizarre feeling - I've never been a very good completer - I'm definitely a starter, explorer, doer but not a finisher, it feels so complete and final and I don't care for for finality - its unchangeable, unalterable and fixed!!! not that I do change very well either, I just like a constant flow, a bit of spontaneity... but this chapter of my life is as good as over - and what a blast its been- these last two years have been such a learning curve and soooooo much fun. So I have very mixed feelings - a sense of achievement, relief I've completed , and sadness that it is all over. I will miss college and the stimulus and people and atmosphere of creativity - and I'm so sorry not to have got to say a proper goodbye to all those people I've shared the last 2 years with.

Covid 19 has scuppered any chance of a degree show, our graduation has been postponed, new designers is a virtual affair but I feel the biggest disappointment is that we as a student body don't get to share our final designs as a group... I love seeing the studio on hand in day - theres a buzz as everyone panics in different degrees and the work in the individual bays starts to come together until we have a mini show. Its riot of talent, hard work, colour and texture and its what going to college everyday means for me - and we have been cheated of even that little display of dedication.

However in the scheme of things it is only a minor disappointment - to my best knowledge my peers are well and mostly their families are safe - these unprecedented times will pass, in spite of the doom and gloom which feels a bit all prevailing at the moment a 'new normal' will emerge and this may herald further exciting times - who knows what lies ahead - no one could have possibly foreseen how these last few months would pan out.

In reality I'm looking forward to some down time, spending it in the green house inhaling lovely compost and dampness, pond dipping and chatting with Jarvis the frog and watching the taddys change almost daily. It will probably start to rain every day but I'll sit in the shelter of my fabulous copper beech tree and drink tea and gin... and possibly continue to de anaglypta the interior of our house... we are hoping (but its unlikely) to travel to South America at the end of this year for a wee jaunt and a bit of eclipse chasing so there is some planning (or not) to there.

And then....I need to get my self into gear - sort out printing scarf options, and get my designs on line and for sale..... I'm fairly organised - I have the product, the support packaging and a modicum of ambition but I still need and sensibly priced printing option or I have no profit margin at all - I'm already only paying myself minimum wage and nothing per hour for administrative (and hemming) time which is not really sensible but necessary as a new entrepreneur!!

Another little adventure to start planning while I drink tea and eat cake all summer!!!

RubyStarrs in Paris...

Finally we have made it to Paris. It was a bit of a long travel day - we decided to come by train so we could experience the full glory of British Rail or whatever it's called now which actually delivered perfectly on time... and then the Eurostar which was incredibly disappointing! All that beautiful St. Pancreas Station and the Eurostar is sited in the dungeon... overcrowded, dark, lousy facilitated space... and then the train was an hour late it felt like a long time before we got any fresh air - but eventually we wound up in gay Paree... We navigated the metro and found our airbnb gaff. A mere 70 steps to the fourth floor on a rather lovely winding wooden staircase to a very nice roof top flat which is comfortable and gives a view across a lovely Courtyard with some obviously much posher flats. It's located really centrally about two minutes away from the Opera Garnier so a very good location for getting everywhere...

Funchal

So after three days at sea we finally hit Funchal in Madeira. An escape from the ship, and I have to say it was very pleasant indeed. First of all the weather is really splendid. Especially when you know that everybody else in the UK is suffering grim storms and vile winds.. Over here it is between 22 and 25 degrees is really quite warm. Funchal is a pretty city. It's built on a hill it with lots of lovely white houses with stunning red roofs. In order to get the best of it we walked along the sea front until we got to the cable car and we took it up the hill. It was a really good ride much longer than we imagined and it's quite weird because it goes right through the town - completely over everybody's house... So not only do you get a lovely vista of the bay but you can view the beautiful rooftops and get to look in everybody's gardens and to look at their picnic sets.. clean washing nice plants... scratty backyards.... We got off th

Another Day in Norway where our Trusty Traveller finds Tromsø, Trolls and Totally misses Aurora....

Tromsø - the most northern city on the planet... Its quite a pretty little town with lots of wood fronted shops, but of course like everywhere like this, it is just one big tourist hive and every shop is selling 'indigenous' gifts- didthe Sami make aurora themed mugs and fridge magnets? Nearest I'll get a polar bear (i hope) Although I have to say I did like the big stuffed polar bear and black bear and I am presuming that these are either not real (unlikely) or culled as they sometimes have to be. But most of the stuff is just northern lights tat or Troll tat. Peer Gynt.. famous worldover To be fair the best bit of Tromsø for me was the Troll Museum! We went to the art gallery which was quite interesting (see instagram account) but not astounding, but I always like to look at the local art. We had a mooch around town in the snow and then we went to find the Trolls. This museum was absolutely crazy daft... it was totally dedi

Planet Ruby Starrs

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