Paper

I am currently having a sort out of all the textile books I have accumulated over the years and I came across one of the books I made as part of my City & Guilds Assessment. 

It is all about paper-making, which I did a lot of, and is full of samples of different techniques. I was intrigued by the work I had done and the way it was presented. I had included photos taken when we were in Thailand and watched paper being made using the bark of Mulberry trees. 

That reminded me of a hand-made (quite tiny) umbrella that I bought then and which has stood on the top of the book case very since. It is looking a bit the worse for wear now, as I remember the grandchildren liked to play with it - it actually works, in terms of opening and closing, not keeping rain off obviously!!

At the same time I have been watching several Hay Festival talks - I have learnt so much about Ukraine and Putin, about why Finland is the happiest country in the world and about how Ed Balls has always had a passion for cooking.