Ilkeston BDL

BDL (Booth Decorators League) was our own race as a running club. We have done this route for a couple of years now and its a tough one compared to our old course. We arrived in style with a lift of Lord Coe who was the first to put in a sick note with his Plantar faccilitis. A complaint as I understand that is very debilitating, this was not good as he's a good solid runner who the club  rely on. We then met with a good majority of the club who were also not running due to various ailments ranging from others with Plantar faccilitis   to "I've just had a new knee" (I personnally think thats going to far just to get out of a club race, although i do agree with Tonys comment that maybe we should just be a marshalling club .)

We all gathered for the 7.30pm start at Shipley country park and off we went.  It was a quick start as its an open field so no-one gets in your way.Out through the wide gate and down the path ,I'm possibly in the top 50 at this point and in second place out of our club as the young Adam had gone flying by. I,m now thinking I ought to have used my bad back as a get of race card but know it will stand for the 4.5miles. we then turn and head up a slight incline and head for the new tarmac path,this was better when it was a gravel track as it suits my running more. Next we are at the top of cardiac hill and belting down, myself and Adam are flying by a good handful of people and then it starts to level out and we resume a more level pace and push on into the loop with its undulations and turns. I'm pleasantly surprised to be yelled at by a couple of our Marshals that I've not seen for a while .At the start of the loop I'm two places behind Adam but by the next mile I manage to over take and start to pull away,trying to encourage him to work with me.

We are soon out of the loop and with encouragement of the two Marshalls I'm now heading back up cardiac hill and I'm struggling because last weeks Castleton fell race is taking it's toll, I'm passed by a Heanor runner who's flying up the hill. we get to the top and its a mile or so of undulations to get back to the start I'm over taken by another runner near the end and have a mad sprint/push to be pipped at the post to end up in 29th position in 27.59mins. Adams next back for our club in 36th place in 28.43. Good positions all round from our team.

colin

No time to stand still

The wreck is thankfully going full steam ahead - Cols busy trying to keep up plasterboarding for the plasterer, and I'm following around with the paintbrush.  Yesterday we made the most of the sunshine and worked on the garden for a while, to be honest theres plenty enough to do on the inside and the outside isn't really a priority, but its in danger of feeling like a never ending chore if we're both always stuck inside.
I haven't got any art fairs until next month so I'm trying to get my other neglected tasks done, I haven't done a decent length run for ages, and my homework is neglected too, the problem with drawing people is that Col just won't sit still.  Even though he usually doesnt come back from the wreck until 9pm and must be shattered, he's still busy doing things when he gets home, and even if he does sit down and read a book, he's still fidgetting around.  Consequently, I'm having to do loads of self portraits, i guess this causes less ill feelings, I'm not one for doing flattering drawings, but its not easy to do.

Making fathers day cards

I can't claim the credit for this idea for a fathers day card, but I thought it was really effective, and its very easy to make - there's no need to use a sewing machine; you could hand sew it or just glue it.  You could always substitute paper for the material, or if you wanted to make a really big one and give your dad a really big suprise, you could I suppose, cut up one of his shirts!!!!

Castleton fell race

I turned up for Castleton Fell Race, I was one of the first cars there and was allowed to park on the muddy field, although after 6 cars the field was turning into a mud bath and wasn't foreboding well.  The marshalls said that they'd been deliberating whether to cancel the race because of the torrential rain and the high winds.  The streets on the journey there were not to dissimillar to the waterfalls coming down the sides of the hills.  The race itself was a slow start as the beginning is narrow laned and the path was running like a river, the cold made it hard to get going and it was a long long slog up to Lose Hill, once on the top it was a head wind all the way over to Back Tor, Hollins Cross and finally to Mam Tor.  The driving rain made it really hard to see where you were placing your feet, and the wet stones were really slippy and slidey.  Once we reached Mam Tor it was a tail wind back down to Hollins Cross and the final descent down to the Rugby Club.  I'm quite slow on the downhills and so thats where I lost most of my places.  It was a good race despite the weather, it was the worst weather that I've run a race in and I felt very sorry for the marshalls standing on the hills, getting really cold - if it hadn't been for their dedication the races wouldn't go ahead - a big thank you to them all.

Colin

All stitched up.

Today I've made the most of a bleak rainy day -
I've spent the day appliquing the name Treehuggery and stitching alliums onto a tablecloth, in anticipation for the next Art fair (it became apparent at the last fair that people seemed to really like the name Treehuggery, but because my branding was quite subtle, it wasn't really obvious)
With Colin's help my picture is now framed, and I'm trying to pluck up the courage to enter it for a competition (I haven't entered a competition since I was at Brownies - so a very long time ago!)

And I'm trying to get back to grips with the drawing module of my textile course - which has been very neglected - At the moment I'm working on self portraits, scarey stuff, and to be honest I'm starting to appreciate why Col hates me drawing him so much; my technique is always so dark, that even when I try to be flattering, my work is really heavy and lined.....Interestingly  my drawing tutor has just written a really (honest but) damning report on Damien Hirst , while some of the textile lecturers have written a really interesting report on different textilers - ones produced a deep fried jumper, another has digitally reproduced images from the contents of a found box (containing random items such as household letters and weathered spoons)- roll on the days when I can  leave sketching and get back to the textile modules.......



I bet Tracy Emin doesn't have to put up with this...

I'm sitting outside cutting out some applique letters to stitch on to a blanket, and Dave (next doors cat) is sitting on my knee, everytime I ignore him for more than a couple of seconds, he diggs his claws in - grrr, I bet Tracy Emin doesn't have this problem...

What a difference a day, and a couple of chairs makes!

The first day of the arts and craft fair was really slow, not much footfall, and my stall felt all wrong - today I changed the look of my stall, I borrowed some fold up chairs and displayed the cushions how they're supposed to be; upright and on chairs. The effect was so much better, they were much more noticeable and people seemed to be much more attracted to them - they did the one thing I'd always intended; people wanted to touch them - treehuggery, textile, tactile and unique!!!  I got some really really lovely comments and am really hoping that its the start of something......