A Very Special Day

Back in March my dear hubby and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.  When we were thinking about it coming up Stewart suggested that we mark the occasion by renewing our wedding vows in St Ives which has a special place in our hearts.  We had found out during the Arts Festival last year that the little chapel on the island is available for hire for wedding blessings so where better to have our ceremony? 



The so-called 'island' dominates the lovely town of St Ives,





and Porthmeor beach sweeps away below it,



Fittingly, the tenth wedding anniversary is 'tin' and Cornwall is the home of tin and tin-mining and as my family roots are in tin-mining in Cornwall everything seemed to fall into place.  We were introduced to two wonderful ladies who make up Cornish Celebrants and they stepped us through the construction of the ceremony.  We were able to meet up with them the week before the ceremony at the Royal Cornwall Show where they had a stand.

 

Meet Nicola and Denise, two warm and supportive ladies.  They took all the potential worry out of the day and conducted the ceremony with sincerity but also joy and warmth.  We had about 20 friends and family to share the occasion and we had so much fun, along with a few lumps in the throat and a tear or two. 



A few mementoes to remember those who couldn't share the day with us.



Notice the chairs that the Council very kindly supplied for us poor pensioners to sit on; we both had poorly legs and thought we might find it uncomfortable to stand for half an hour.







I had read about hand fasting online and wanted to include this ancient symbol of binding us together as a couple and made a woven sash inspired by the beautiful colours of the sea and shore.





Stewart was dancing with joy by the end of the ceremony (to Dance the Night Away' by the Mavericks), despite having a torn muscle in his leg.



I'm not sure what he had said to Nicola but she obviously enjoyed it :-)  All too soon it was time to go back out into the glorious sunshine.







All our lovely friends and family who had either made the trip to Cornwall or live there already (lucky devils!).  Not least my lovely stepson Jamie who made a holiday for himself round our event.

Keeping with the informal tone we adjourned to the pub, The Lifeboat Inn to be exact, and I was completely overwhelmed to find that they had set up an area of the bar especially for our party.  We had asked them if they could cope with us bringing 20ish people for lunch as we knew they didn't take bookings but we were prepared to wait if they could just accommodate us.  It was just wonderful to find they had gone to so much trouble for us.



We had a lovely relaxed late lunch and everyone got on really well, considering most hadn't met before.  

The photographs here were mostly taken by a St Ives resident, Steve Lynton, who we've met through a Facebook group and who has become a very dear and warm friend.  


Thank you Steve.  I know there are many more photos to come from other friends so I'll share a few of those when they arrive.  We felt like we were being 'Papped' with all the cameras going off.  That's what happens when your friends are keen photographers :-)

Our special friends Carolyn and Margaret gave us a little tin mine made from the last of the Cornish tin to remember the day by,






Thank you Stewart for 10 busy, happy, wonderful years, for all your love and support.  You're one very special man xxx



This one's for you Mum xxx

A lot to catch up on

Do you realise it's 3 months since I wrote a 'proper' post on here?  Losing mum took a slice out of our lives and we continue to think about her and miss her.  Thank you to every single one of you who left messages or sent cards, it was appreciated at such a difficult time.

So, where do I start for the catch up?  Maybe I should start with a little creativity for a change.

With the coming of Autumn some friends and I had a go at getting impressions of leaves onto watercolour/rag paper by boiling in a strong tea solution with white vinegar.  I used some heavy weight paper that had some acrylic ink marks on it and I was pleased that they remained after the boiling.  This concertina book is about 4" square and I have plans to add some stitch to the pages eventually.  The concertina book was layered with leaves and clamped between some plastic sheets.  The little clamps I used to secure it all have gone very nicely rusty.

Did I mention that I had been experimenting with weaving?   So far I've mostly woven scarf size pieces.  I've just realised that I can't actually share them here until after Christmas Day but believe me when I say I am seriously taken with this new-to-me skill. 

This little sample is an experiment to work out how to include found objects in the weave.  Needless to say the seashore figures strongly in the theme.

On the subject of the seashore, after we got back from Ireland we travelled down to Cornwall for our usual pilgrimage.  We only had one week there as we had to rush back because of mum but we seemed to have packed a lot into that one week.  As it was September Arts and Music Festival while we were there, there were lots of events going on, not least a site specific installation by the ceramicist Jack Doherty. 

 
The pots shown here were displayed in St Nicholas Chapel on the Island in St Ives.  Their surfaces were beautiful and I liked the matt finish that the single firing gives them.  The colours spoke of St Ives. 

These beautiful vessels were in the smaller chapel on Smeatons Pier.

 I was also happy that some friends of mine, St Ives Textiles, were having their first exhibiton while we were there.  

 These beautiful figures were made by my friend Carolyn Saxby.

I thought I had taken more detailed photos of the exhibition but apparently not. 

As it was Festival I decided to do a couple of art workshops at St Ives School of Painting.  I did two classes with Liz Hough and while it was a bit daunting I really enjoyed it and brought away some skills to use in future work.  In the first class we explored some drawing techniques and in the second workshop looked at interpreting the landscape similarly to Peter Lanyon.  The drawing course involved a brief sketching trip on Porthmeor beach where we employed charcoal and rapid drawing techniques.

 We had to select our site quickly so I settled on the rocky outline above.  We were very lucky that it was a dry day.

 We had to make first a 10 minute sketch and then a rapid line drawing condensing the information into five lines.  The second sketch was looking out to sea.

The sketch and collage above came out of the drawings.  I'm not quite sure what I was channelling but a ship and a figure seem to have crept in!

The second workshop called for us to look at Porthmeor beach through the eyes of Peter Lanyon.  This involved more quick sketching from different viewpoints.

My finished collage is in the middle at the top.  Unlike the previous collage I was really pleased with this effort.  You can see some of the other students' work alongside.  It was interesting to meet new people and to work in a different environment and see how people worked given the same scene and process. Of course, the atmosphere of the famous Porthmeor Studios added to the experience.  The view from the window was a trifle distracting though.

Just by coincidence Peter Lanyon's son, Matthew Lanyon, was staging an exhibition at Porthminster Gallery and we called in in time to catch the end of a talk he was giving about his work. 

This mammoth painting is called, The Listening Seas.  Sadly we don't have the space or the money for it but I love that it tells a story as you move along it.  I do like his work, there is a lot to look at and enjoy in its shapes and colours.

Finally for this post, we were exploring St Ives burial ground and revisited the grave of Alfred Wallace.  

 This little shell had been left in tribute.

The March of Spring

It's a glorious day today and there is a definite feeling that Spring has arrived.  We're in a settled period of warmish days with enough sunshine to buck your spirits up so I thought I should pop in here and catch up a bit.  I'm happy to say Val phoned me a few days ago so I shall be taking her cushion to her tomorrow.  Fingers crossed she likes it.

March was quite a busy month and included one stitching Show and a little coach trip to England's magic corner. Ansom!  More of that in a minute.

Starting with some creative eye candy, I finally finished this little embroidery that I started last year!  It is about 5" square and is framed in one of those deep IKEA frames.  The idea was to use mostly french knots to cover the surface but I did move away from that a little as it was taking too long and my hands were complaining.  I was showing it to mum and saying all I had to do now was decide what to do with it.  She said, "You could give it to me!"  I had to smile because I had offered it to her a couple of weeks ago and she had said no.   Anyway, it will please me no end to know that it's in her room for her to look at and enjoy.

I've also made a lap quilt over the course of the last month but I can't show it yet as it's gift but it made me very happy to see it come together.  

Did I mention we went away?  It was a very quick coach trip down to St Agnes in Cornwall.  We had never been there before so we thought a late winter/ early spring break would be a chance to explore, especially as we didn't have to drive down.  We stayed at the Rosemundy House Hotel which was really lovely, tucked away in its own grounds and very welcoming.  They were very understanding about my special diet and made sure I had something appetising every evening.  The coach went out every day but we stayed behind and explored the village and its surroundings.  If you ever go to St Agnes be aware that it's very hilly, there is hardly any flat walking.  

These cottages running down the hill behind the parish church are on a lane called Stippy Stappy.  They were said to have been built for ship's captains and the bigger the ship the bigger the house the captain was accommated in.  Sadly these are now mostly holiday lets with only one having a permanent viallge resident.

Behind and above Stippy Stappy Is Wheal Friendly, the engine house pictured below.  We had a slow walk to it and clambered over a low wall to get a close look.  We decided the private sign referred to cars, not pedestrians ;-)  The view above, through the arched window, is across to Wheal Kitty which now houses various small businesses.

Apart from a link to my own Cornish family history these wheal houses fascinate me in their construction.  When you look at them they are beautifully constructed with features that are echoed in much grander buildings.

Why would they go to the trouble of making these beautiful and quite decorative brick faced openings in such a utilitarian building?  The walls are obviously so thick for strength but I did wonder why the lintel was made of wood?  You can of course see evidence of the buildings purpose in the pulleys and metalworks that remain attached.  Did you spot the tennis ball?

St Agnes doesn't have a seafront, per se, but it does have several beautiful coves and beaches.  We were only able to reach Trevaunance Cove through lack of time and more specifically energy.  

 This is looking north towards Perranporth and Newquay.

 
We learned in a talk at the hotel that this area to the left of the cove has been manipulated by man to accommodate machinery required to get the ore from mining down to boats in the harbour.  In all 5 harbours were built at St Agnes but none survived the ravages of the pounding sea.  Today the remains of the last harbour still sit on the beach and probably provide some protection for the cliffs.

We were lucky with the tides and were able to explore the caves in Trevaunace Cove for a while.

Lots of beautiful marks and inspiration here.

Being so close to St Ives we couldn't resist hopping on a couple of local buses for a visit.  We were so lucky with the weather and had a very pleasant few hours re-acquainting ourselves with the beach.  Unfortunately we found the sand was a bit squishier than usual and we both ended up with wet feet!  If you're at all squeamish you might want to skip over the next photo!

 Not a pretty sight!

Time to drag ourselves away from St Agnes and St Ives (St Ia) but we'll just say bye to my lttle friend on Stippy Stappy,

I tried to tempt him out with cake but he didn't care for lemon sponge.

The Show I went to in March was the Sewing For Pleasure Show at the NEC.  For some reason I didn't take many photos but it was a good show. 

I was particularly taken with the costumes from the tv drama, Mr Selfridge, the lace was gorgeous.  I suppose I had better admit to a little retail therapy,

And finally, did you see the solar eclipse on 20 March?  We were pathetic in our attempts to photograph it and finally managed to capture some images reflected in our pond, which is heaving with frogspawn,

It was nearly over at this point and we had experienced the weird change in light and sound around totality but in our neck of the woods it didn't go completely dark.  We won't see another total eclipse in the UK in our lifetime, the next is due in 2086, I think.  I'll be back before then.