Sorry to have missed you last week, I was bed bound for a little while, and not feeling terribly creative.
In the words of a childhood neighbour,  'I wasn't feeling too clever'.

But back now to feeling clever (if not actually being clever) and creative.
Last week there was good news for me on the creative front.  I had submitted three works of art to the Stride selection committee.
Two works were rejected,

                                               rejection one…….

Awakening Conscience…….Is That It?

                                                            and rejection two…….

Deepening Conscience………..Ironing Away my Dreams.

They accepted my largest and most autobiographical piece from this year, which I will show you next week, when I have attended the Preview Exhibition.
 It's on at the Oxmarket Centre for Arts, Chichester, 20th October - 1st November.
Then it is your turn to go and visit. https://www.facebook.com/oxmarket

There is a strong link with the accepted work, and Woodfire, where chef son Sam works, as the 3 chefs who work there form an important part of the drawing. 2 out of 3 of them  love being featured, and the third is, luckily, oblivious to that fact.
And more good news, Sam is no longer the junior sous, he is now the actual sous chef at Woodfire.
And here I am at Woodfire in my supporting role, for one day only……….

………..K.P extraordinaire, pictured here just finishing some extremely tasty gorgonzola ice cream.
Served with poached pears, it is only delicious if you love gorgonzola cheese!

My other son's job at Butser Ancient Farm draws to a close, as the Saxon Longhouse nears completion.

the house is becoming wattled before being daubed…………

with a beautiful thatched roof topping all.

And as this job ends, so begins another part of John's career, as he begins another apprenticeship, this one given by the Hampshire Coppice group.

I did take an atmospheric photo for here of John with 'Old Ken', who will be one of his two mentors, but it was at a time when 'I hadn't been feeling too clever' and had managed to take photos without having a memory card in place. 

 So as well as teaching John about life as a coppicer and hurdle-maker, eighty year old Ken is also keen to get John to 'Keep them trousers up' and 'Lose that there belly'.  Good luck with that, Ken!

So as a small celebration, Darren, his other mentor, pictured above, came round with John for a 'festive feast' and red wine festival.  In honour of the occassion, I made a pat of butter embossed with a cow design, and also added to the decorations John's Easter gift to me of the Polish butter lamb.  

It is still looking just the same, but smelling rather different!

A lovely night of good music, good food, and best of all, great company.

In my bed bound few days I did an awful lot of reading.  So much so that I had to send Mr Cooper out for supplies.  He tried really hard to get books I would enjoy.  So much so that I had read a few of them already, but this one was a real treat, my best book for a long time.

Warning, do not attempt to read this book unless you find the following reviews deeply enticing.

'Playful and intensely imaginative' and 'A breathtaking feat of imagination, a flight of fancy that pulls you in and wraps you up in its spell.'  

Just right for the bookclub!  And thanks again for the beautiful flowers, girls. 

And, books are cheaper by far from Havant charity shops, rather than Emsworth.  

A thrifty fact to share with you from Mr Cooper.

Just before my enforced reading holiday, I attended the creative writing workshop at Tuppenny Barn, advertised as 'Creative Writing for Gourmets'. http://www.tuppennybarn.co.uk/

 It was such fun, and so lovely to write and to share writings.  There were seven of us there, all not knowing what to expect. We all enjoyed the 4 hours so much that we will be meeting every month.  We all had different reasons for being there, but united by the fact that we all want to write, and we all really enjoy to eat.  What lovely 'common ground' to have.

So do stay tuned ready for my offering next week.  I leave you with an almost closing picture of the Saxon Longhouse already nestling into the magic place of Butser Ancient Farm………..

Don't worry, next week there will be a more diverse selection of images. I do know this week has been a little 'Butser heavy', but the photo I must leave you with features Mr Cooper. 

 When I was feeling 'Not too clever' and definitely not clever enough to drive a car, Mr Cooper took me to Butser, the first visit to the Saxon Longhouse for him. 

 And here he is, looking thrilled to embrace the magic of timber frames, wattle, thatch….

See you all next week, now both me and my camera are up and running again!  

Take care, look after yourselves and each other, and have fun!