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!!!

Alesund

Our final destination stop was Alesund. This is a very pretty town in southern Norway built on a peninsula. All the houses are painted pretty colours and a lot of the architecture is all very Art Nouveau based. This is because the town itself was completely burnt to the ground In 1904 by a fire for which they never found the original cause. The whole town had to be rebuilt and this became a huge National Effort and a lot of prominent and up and coming architects flocked to the town to stick there 20 pence in. Consequently the town is very heavily Art Nouveau which was very fashionable at the time. There is this wonderful Museum just off the harbour which is a very beautiful Art Nouveau house. It has amazing panelling, doors, wallpaper, and it's all furnished with beautiful art Nouveau Furniture. It also house a collection of of enameled Art Nouveau Trinkets,boxes, spoons, jewellery, very very beautiful. There is an interesting collection of old books and paintings a...

Autumnal Garden Days

I love these (rare) warm sunny late summer days and there is all sorts of lovely things going on in my garden... I counted 12 red admiral butterflies whizzing around the over grown ivy which I had been about to hack down but then left until the flutterbies have finished with it... The late blooms add a dash of colour and the daisy strewn lawn is littered with autumnal leaves, debris from my brief half an hour of slash and burn and the stone wall is covered in glorious soft moss all shiny and tactile with a few late nasturtiums loitering. I've hacked out the brambles for this year, sadly I missed the fruit as we were away, ditto the strawberries, we never seem to get the fruit before the birds so I've made space and moved the plants that were getting swamped and so not performing to their potential - hopefully next year they will literally blossom now they have light and room to flourish.

Goodbye Dissertation!!!

The dissertation is finished... it took me ages to do all the detail stuff Harvard referencing ect... the simplest tasks were starting to drive me mad!! I cant believe how long it took me to work out how to number pages excluding the first two pages aagghhhh... I suppose I should be grateful that its not like the olden days where you had to get it typed and bound before hand in - this essay has been a hard slog, a subject which I felt was interesting - how the digital explosion is ruining traditional creative methods turned into a fairly unexciting - pretty boring unexceptional topic! there will never be a next time but my advice is think of something funky - does Danny Boyle like garden Gnomes - Racoon meets Lady Gaga - anything that might surprise you but not too grown up!! I have worked hard and will be rewarded with a mid grade because there is no passion in this essay - the hard slog is evident as is the lack of enthusiasm - C'est la vie you cant win them all....

Planet Ruby Starrs

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