Halloween/Protection/Awareness

This month's carnival is an interesting mix, but probably not for the reasons that are immediately obvious.

I want to begin by relating a little story.

The story begins somewhen before 1999

Here in the UK Halloween was not celebrated until fairly recently.  As a family we never celebrated, preferring to do other things.  We 'celebrated' in our own homes - usually by not actually doing anything because as far as we were concerned it was a 'non event'.  However, things changed in about 1992 shortly after my father died.  At the time my mother was still living in their house and became the target of some very unpleasant Halloween 'pranks'.  From that time on we determined that she would never be at home alone on that evening, and so we developed the habit of having our own alternative celebration at our daughters' home some distance away.  This would involve a lovely family meal and an entertaining and amusing video, so that all thought of what might otherwise have happened would be avoided.

All went well until the fateful day in 1999.  The plans were made as usual, but this time, as I was working, other arrangements were made to transport my mother from her home to that of my daughter.  I arrived a little earlier than anticipated and wasn't surprised to find that Mum hadn't yet arrived.  By the time the dinner was ready, however, we were all somewhat concerned.  We now discovered that we had all telephoned at various times during the day and on each occasion there had been no reply.  Unfortunately the distance was too far to rush back, so I telephoned  friends who lived a short drive from my mother.  They had an emergency key and a short while later I was summoned in great panic as the police had been called.  I knew no more than that as I drove as quickly as possible. I arrived at about 10pm to a state of total mayhem.  I didn't recognise my mother who was being treated by an paramedic.  The police were going about their business very efficiently, but I couldn't understand what had happened at all.

When is a friend not a friend?  That is a very hard question to answer.  An apparently very good friend of my mother had offered to drive her to the 'party'.  She had known this man for a number of years, and he also attended her church.  He was smart, had a good job and was very well respected.  What no-one knew was that he suffered from a mental illness which was controlled by medication.  For a completely unknown reason he had decided to stop taking his medication, and when he arrived at my mother's was in no fit state to drive, or in fact to be anywhere other than under medical care.  Suffice it to say his behaviour left a lot to be desired.  My mother was forced to remain lying down and unable to move for a considerable length of time during which he did some very strange things, including walking all over her. 

I won't go into any more details, but it was sorted out, although not very satisfactorily, and my mother got on with her life, even managing to forgive him.  However, a couple of years later she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy.  The link?  We were told that the extreme stress that she experiences accompanied by the injuries that he inflicted on her upper body were probably the cause of the cancer.  She coped with the whole thing admirably, and although she is frail and her health is failing fast she is now 92 and still with us.  We will no longer get together in the same way at the end of October as now Mum is far too weak to travel.  We do, however, support Breast Cancer Awareness, and here is a photograph from last year

I wrote about it here.

Christmas Traditions

This year we are spending Christmas Day at my brother's home.  We are taking my mother there and it will be a quiet family occasion.  This will be the first time that we have done this.  My brother and his wife have only been married for a couple of years, and last year my mother was not well enough to make a journey of 60 miles in one 'sitting'.  This year, although very frail, she will manage it, and we had a 'dummy run' of the distance last week just to see how she managed.

When we were children our family home was always filled to overflowing.  My mother loved company, and visits from Grandparents were always top of the list at Christmas.  My uncle and aunt would also visit on Christmas Day and again on Boxing Day.  What fun we had.  Presents under the tree! Delicious food! Always a walk after lunch, probably not as long as necessary to walk off all the excess food, but long enough to build up an appetite for delicious Christmas Cake and Mince Pies......

As my mother grew older the mantle slipped in my direction.  For many years the we had a similar scenario at our home.  But circumstances change, and now there are times when sons and daughters must visit other families!

If you followed the link above you will have read about the arrival of my grandparents.  Very soon after my maternal grandmother arrived it would be time to make 'Yule Bread'.  This is a very special recipe that has been handed down through several generations of our family.  It has the usual ingredients of  flour, eggs, fresh yeast and butter, but also stacks of top quality raisins, glace cherries and crystallised fruits.  Made in advance and allowed to 'mature' (much like a Christmas Cake) it was duly wrapped in waxed paper and stored in tins.  No tasting was allowed as it really did imrove with keeping.  The first loaf was cut on Christmas morning and served buttered for Breakfast.  It has an unusual texture and is truly delicious.  We always knew that it was Christmas when we saw it on the plate.

Regrettably, although we still have the list of ingredients, the method for making this delicious bread died with my grandmother.  We have tried a number of variations but have not yet managed to find the one that makes the perfect loaf.  Sadly it was a failure again this year.  No, I won't share the full list of ingredients, or the quantities, but if we are ever successful I can guarantee that I will post that fact somewhere!

In Summery

Summer has come and gone. The Metrological Office announced that the arrival of September 1st officially opened the season of Autumn. So, where did summer go? Did we have one? This would mean that officially summer belongs to the months of June, July and August, and workwise these are some of our busiest. Officially, then, I spent the summer working.

So, what does 'working' mean? It means dyeing, selling, teaching, writing.

Dyeing means building up stock for my etsy shop, and also for our mail order and selling venues. During busy times I dye each day I'm home. Unless it's for a wholesale order (here is just one of our suppliers) I dye in small quantities to get as large a range of colours as possible. My Serendipity range is dyed using a technique that I discovered by accident, and which, to my knowledge, no-one else is currently using. It takes about 24 hours plus drying time from start to finish for each batch.

So, on to selling. Apart from the Etsy shop, which only features our Serendipity range, we have an unusual way of getting our stock out to the customers. Our main business is called Winifred Cottage, and the website is here, but painfully under stocked! We actually have HUNDREDS of items that aren't listed, and I just can't seem to find the time to update it on a regular basis. Our main way of selling is to take our stock, by invitation, to Guild branches, mini exhibitions and also into Colleges and Courses. We frequently attend places like Missenden Abbey, Urchfont Manor and West Dean College. All of these offer wonderful residential short courses in a wide variety of subjects and are well worth considering if you are looking for somewhere to learn. The summer is the time for them to offer a Summer School, so each week during this time we will make a visit. At other times of the year we visit at weekend. We also attended the Festival of Quilts, and as this is an international show lasting 4 days it took an awful lot of preparation.

More and more days and dates are taken up with teaching, too. I teach a variety of stitching techniques, but also an easy dyeing technique (no, not the Serendipity technique, yet!) and of course the Embellisher. My textile life changed for ever when I purchased my machine, and then again when I published my first book. I now travel around the country, and also teach a regular once a month course locally.

Finally, writing, I write the occasional article for magazines, but am also preparing my next book. This is a slow process, I'm determined not to jump on the bandwagon and get another out there against all odds, I have a specific goal with this one, and it is well under way.

There were family highlights too. Firstly, in spite of failing health, my mother reached the grand age of 90. We had a family party for her which she thoroughly enjoyed.

She loves having the family around her, and this was no exception. June was also the month that our youngest grandson learnt to crawl. You can see him in the arms of our daughter in law in the same photograph, with proud father behind. Our daughter and other grandchildren are also in the photograph, as is my husband, uncle and aunt, brother, sister in law and niece. We had fun.

The end of August should have been a time for holiday, but circumstances caused us to cancel, and no doubt there will be more about that if we have a summary of autumn!