Bye bye snow. It began falling on Saturday evening and lasted till close of play on Sunday. By Monday the pristine snow was slushy and grey, occasionally icy and treacherous underfoot. Today, it's almost a distant memory. Just the odd dusting here and there. I'm in West Yorkshire, but I understand North Yorkshire had it worse. Roads were closed on higher ground, trains cancelled or delayed, people advised to stay at home rather than travel, and farmers having to pull their sheep out of snow drifts. It really doesn't take a lot of 'bad weather' to make this country's infrastructure grind to a near-halt, does it? Of course, some areas of the country are now experiencing the flooding that comes after snow melts and rivers swell. I can't imagine the awful mess, expense and disruption to your life that happens when your home's flooded. It must be heartbreaking. Anyway, let's move on to less upsetting subjects. I've finished reading my first book of 2025, which was actually one I started last year. Gaynor Arnold, 'Girl in a Blue Dress'. It's superb, but - oh! - the 'hero' is an infuriating character! Brilliantly written, but maddening. The story's based on Charles Dickens, his unfortunate and callously cast-off wife Catherine, and Dickens' mistress Ellen Ternan. Gaynor Arnold re-writes them as the exuberant, charming bestselling author Alfred Gibson, the put-upon wife Dorothea and the mistress Miss Ricketts. The novel's narrated by Dorothea and begins soon after Alfred's death. She's looking back on her courtship and marriage to Alfred, the relationship's disintegration and her alienation from her children. At the same time as she's recalling past times, the story moves forward in terms of Dorothea's relationship with her estranged children and with her knowledge about the personality of Miss Ricketts and the actress's relationship with her husband. Despite me dawdling over finally finishing this book, it's actually a cracking story with vividly realised characters, especially Alfred Gibson, so I'd heartily recommend you read it!
When it comes to crafty stuff ... after 2024 being the year I started to learn about embroidery, I want 2025 to be when I learn the dos and don'ts of needlefelting. I've amassed a few bits & pieces - needlefelting wool, needles, a felting mat - and have been watching instructional YouTube videos on the subject. However, my 'makes' so far are three very basic mushrooms.
I'm hoping that in a year's time I'll be at least competent at making small animals, like cats and sheep, and will have progressed beyond simple fungi !
I also unearthed these two Jude Hill style pieces of slow stitching, and decided to sew them together, then add a pale grey border all around. I wasn't sure whether to make a third slow stitched piece and turn the whole thing into a wall hanging. But decided instead to turn what I'd already sewed into a book cover.
I cut out a long rectangle of cardboard from Amazon packaging, and stuck polyester wadding to one side of it. Then stretched my stitching over the cardboard to form a book's outer cover, sticking it in place with a mix of double sided tape and masking tape. The blue and yellow stitchy piece will be a fabric book's front, with the simpler grey, black, white and blue gracing the book's back-side, so to speak.
This is how it's ended up. I might line the inside with felt. I've no thoughts as yet about what pages it'll eventually contain. More Jude Hill style designs? Who knows!
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