Much of a muchness

Things that make you go 'hmm'…

Pink with polka dots

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If you thought yesterday’s book was girlie, this one is even more so… it’s very pretty. I love the cover paper it’s so fresh. My next one will have to be a lot different to the last couple – don’t want to get into a rut.

The good news is I have finally found a plan chest which should be delivered in a week or so. This means I can get all the paper stored safely at last. It has been lying all over the bed in the spare room ever since I reclaimed the kitchen table so it will be good to be organised.

It has been raining heavily overnight and all day today. I am watching the river which runs through my garden very anxiously! This photograph was taken in the summer and shows the river as it normally is – flowing very gently down to the sea.

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This is the river today – a couple of feet higher and flowing really strongly. Another couple of feet and it’s in my garden. I just saw a couple of ducks shoot past at high speed. They must love it!

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I like living by the river and I’m glad to say it hasn’t flooded my garden so far (touch wood!) but it is a bit nerve-racking when it is very wet…

12 responses to “Pink with polka dots

  1. DrowseyMonkey November 19, 2007 at 2:20 am

    Hey! That book looks just like Drowsey’s PJs!!! I LIKE IT!

    As for the river…hope it stopped raining! It looks kinda scary.

  2. strugglingwriter November 19, 2007 at 3:47 am

    That one was girly, but what’s wrong with that, right? I like that saying “touch wood” so much better than “knock on wood”, but if I said “touch wood” around here I think people would think I’m crazy.

    I hope you don’t get any flooding. We had our first real snow today that covered the ground. My daughter was fascinated by it.

  3. Diane November 19, 2007 at 10:39 am

    Drowsey! Ooh! I’d like some PJs like that!

    It has stopped raining although I was woken up by hailstones hitting the window – just as well as we had overslept, so t was a good wake up call :)

    SW – the river has gone right down again, thank goodness. It’s amazing how quickly it changes.

    I remember my son seeing snow for the first time (he spent the first three years of his life in Kuwait). He loved it but was astonished it was cold! He had only seen it in books and on TV, so had no idea it would be cold :)

  4. GO! Smell the flowers November 19, 2007 at 11:21 am

    Hi from Dubai Diane….

    We do miss river scenes like the snaps you show! At the back of Jims in Chester and at Ems parents in Devon…home sweeeeeeeeet home! You can’t beat it!

  5. tulibri November 19, 2007 at 11:26 am

    Isn’t that one of the funny things with making books that you can play out all parts of oneself … girlish, kitschy, stylish, modern, design-like :-)

    Diane, a plan chest! Now it’s me who’s envious!! I’m excited to see pictures when it has arrived.

    off-topic: since Falkiner’s still refuse to process my mailorder (although they offer delivery abroad on their new shop site, but the order stuck in the middle as they have a fault in their online routine) and still don’t answer my e-mails, I decided to without further ado pay them a visit – Ryan Air offers to-and-fro on one day for about 30 pounds. So I thought I take the chance to look for some lovely jumpers that day, too (british design is much more daring than german!) and checked ‘Next’, ‘Dorothy Perkins’ and ‘River Island’ online beforehand. And what did I find? Nearly everything is made of acrylics! I hate that plastic feeling on my skin. Now I wanted to ask you if you know some shops that sell more natural fibre clothes?

    ttfn,
    astrid

  6. Diane November 19, 2007 at 12:39 pm

    Jim’n’Em – at the moment, I’d happily swap you my river view for a bit of Dubai heat and sunshine….

    Astrid – I never thought of them as being extensions of me before – I think of them as having their own personalities – now that IS sad!

    If you are coming to London, your best bet is to head to Oxford Street where you will find Selfridges department store which has every brand you can imagine, the largest Marks and Spencer and all the chain stores have shops on Oxford Street. Bond Street which is just off Oxford Street has more ‘designer’ stores and Fenwicks department store which is also very good!

    I like Boden if you want something a bit different. They are mail order – their web site is http://www.boden.co.uk and they do deliver to Germany!

    Hope this helps. Do have fun!

  7. jon November 19, 2007 at 3:30 pm

    Oh Diane… you know what I’m going to ask now don’t you?! OMG it’s perfect. You get to choose 2 prints if we can work this out! :)

    You are so talented. :)

    Take a look at my trek photos. Our rivers are so thirsty from the drought that we’ve lost a good 50+ feet of shoreline on the Patuxent. I’ve never been so happy to see the rain as this week. :)

  8. Diane November 19, 2007 at 3:37 pm

    Well, I’m sure we have plenty to spare! I just heard from a friend that we had a flood watch in place yesterday (which has now been cleared). The Environment Agency is supposed to notify us when that happens so we can take precautions but not a word – my friend lives 80 miles away and knew before I did. Marvellous.

    If this is the one…it’s yours!

  9. tulibri November 20, 2007 at 11:18 am

    Diane, thank you for these London shopping tips!

    Well … hum … if you think about your creations as of them being their own personalities, I come to the very philosophical question wether your books are the creative expression of yourself or if you’re just a medium turning what’s somewhere in the air (or where mystics suppose that to be) into concrete ;-)

    I just wanted to say: I would never allow myself to dress completely in pink plus frills, or style my flat opulently with golden ornamented cloth … but making books, I allow those suppressed parts of me to come out :-) BTW, my male personality part loves that stripy one ;-)

  10. Diane November 20, 2007 at 1:12 pm

    Astrid – bookbinding AND philosophy – this blog has it all! I know what you mean about personality too. I am not a ‘pink’ person either yet I love this book. Maybe it’s my inner Barbie coming out…. :)

    I thought of somewhere else worth visiting if you are on a paper buying trip. There is a chain of shops called Paperchase – their main branch is on Tottenham Court Road (which is not too far from Oxford Street). They have a huge selection of wrapping paper, cards and gifts on the ground floor but on the first floor, they have a huge selection of fine art papers and decorative papers, suitable for bookbinding.

  11. tulibri November 21, 2007 at 2:21 am

    *squeak* so you know about the inner barbie concept, too!! I didn’t have the heart to speak it out loud yesterday :-)

    Now, that made my day!

    (Thanks for Paperchase!)

  12. Diane November 21, 2007 at 10:20 am

    You are very welcome. Who knows, I may bump into you in Falkiners… :)

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