August New (by sarah)

You may or may not have noticed a dirth of posts and onlineness from me - this is due to a slight no computer issue 🙁 But I've got a temporary solution currently!

So what shall I be upto in August? Well like the rest of the summer so far it will be full of craft and writing workshops - mainly for kids 🙂

I am also back on the papier mache thing and having made a giant sheep last month am working on a piece of textural art work for the visually impaired which I hope will be exhibated in September.

If I can extract stuff of my broken laptop there will be the long awaited for poetry book and of course there is a family wedding for which bunting is being made 🙂 There is the village feast, boundary walk, and Jean's birthday which is going to be in Essex this year hosted by my aunt 🙂 as there is a Christening on the Sunday we are going to!

Alaric's family are visiting too which is exciting as they haven't met Mary yet!

I do of course have lots of other things to share and write about which will be coming soon 🙂

Cute Street Party Girlies (by sarah)

Jean's school did a street party she was supposed to be dressed in red, white and blue but I discovered we really didn't have anything like that so she had puprly-blue and pinky-red and glittery unicorn white!

Friday I actually sent Alaric with the girls to the village street party at the Black Horse. Jean took her union jack she'd made at school.

The Royal Wedding – I didn’t go but… (by sarah)

The Royal Wedding is currently going live on TV's and computers all over the country - I have sent my family off to a street party to celebrate it more due to the fact it is a community thing than anything else. The truth is I can not imagine anything more boring than watching a wedding on telly. If I'd been well enough I may have gone and eaten hot dogs at the pub and watched the kids parade their hats and flags but I'm not so I haven't - they've gone anyway with a slightly perplexed Alaric.

I find all the hype really really annoying and the plates and things for sale everywhere with their faces on but I think meh it doesn't happen often and I know people from other countries etc... are probably flocking to buy the stuff so that's good for our economy (at uni alot of the oriental students would buy everything with a union jack on it!).

So I feel slightly put out by all the fuss but at the same time I see people getting excited and I feel that it is not right to take this away from them. I have friends who have been sewing (and even crocheting) bunting for weeks, others who have been baking cup cakes like deamons and everyone is pulling together to do community events.

I don't have the right to rain on their parade. Which is one of the reasons that I have been saddened to see some people smirking over the fact that this or that street party looks like it might be a flop. It's not nice - people have put in a lot of work and these things can be alot of fun and anything that gets people to talk to their neighbours is a good thing.

The slightly more alarming thing is the protest - now I like protests and think we need the right to be able to protest and people have this right if they really disagree with the wedding - I can see that in a time of cut backs that the amount of money being spent on police and things for the wedding must chaff. But part of the issue I think is that the media have whirled this whole thing up with encouragement from the government in an attempt to reinstate the constitution of mariage. This means that the main point has been missed - this is Their Wedding - it is them saying they love each other as people. What they have been turned into is celebratese - idols and as such people stop thinking of Will and Kate as well... people.

I hope that bombs are not set off even just 'distruptors' as I hope people will think about how they'd feel if someone did that because they were getting marraide or having a I'm moving in with my girlfriend/boyfriend party. If people had died because of mine and Al's wedding we would have been destroyed as people, it would have crushed us utterly.

As for the issue of weather we should have a monachy at all - I think I should save that one for another post.

And what about the police aka tax payer money going on this? Well one solution that presents itself is that maybe the royal family should pay - now I don't actually know what has happened about this but to me that would be the worse thing that could happen - if they pay for the police help then the police are no longer the police - they become a private army with an agenda that is not to protect the citizens of this country but to look after the interests of the rich. As for weather they should be offered the protection at all in that case - well how would you like it if you couldn't do anything in public for fear of being mobbed to death probably by people who adore you?

I would not swap places with Kate or any celeb to be honest - even before I met Alaric I loathed that celebs have no privacy. I have enough issue with the fact that I rarely go anywhere without being recognised by someone. This can be exhusting and everyone expects you to talk to them and remember who they are as well - and that is just by being me - I am not famous I've got maybe 100 people who follow my writing and art as 'fans' and most of those I've known for years. But even I have ended up having to go to the police about stalkers because people like me too much :/

So just thinking about it - I'll not watch the royal wedding I don't know them, I don't care what sort of dress she is wearing or anything like that but I do wish them happiness and I think it is going to be hard for them to have as all those little spats couples have are likely to be plastered all over the news - the strain that puts on relationships is not good.

p.s. I do like talking to people so don't take this as don't talk to me! Just be aware I get tired especially standing up on crutches!

Poetry and Piaf (by sarah)

I am going to be reading my poem Piaf tonight as part of the Poetry and Piaf event at Cafe Rouge Cheltenham as part of the Poetry Festival - event starts at 7 pm and tickets are £10. The singer is fantastic and even if you think you don't know the songs you will as alot of them where hits during the second world war and so appear in lots of films etc... The singer Eve Loiseau is brilliant and tells the story of Piaf's tragic life - it's well worth watching even if I wasn't going to be there 😉

There are also some other cracking events - I'm hoping to catch [A. F. Harrold]\9http://www.afharrold.com/wordpress/?page_id=32) and Peter Wyton at 6 pm (also at Cafe Rouge!) - tickets for that are £5 each.

And of course there is the opening night party at Slak (also in Cheltenham!) run by Calmer* which is £6. I really want to go to this but need to check my energy levels etc... and also see how Mary is with drinking out of a bottle whilst mummy is socialising!

Cult Fiction (by sarah)

As I mentioned before I have postponed my birthday until the summer and Alaric is organising me a 30th birthday party on the theme of cult fiction. We have settled on the date of the weekend 17th-19th of June. Al is going to be making an electonic invite page etc... and I will get around to facebook invites and things (but obviously if I've forgotten you then I probably think I've already invited you so prod me!).

Even though Al said he would organise everything I really wanted to do some sort of picture for the theme for the invites - hence the picture at the top. I just thought I'd share it all and give you all fair warning too 🙂

Who knows if I get time I might even print out some invites 🙂

The picture itself is ment as a frame from text saying things like 30th Birthday etc... When I it is themed I mean I want an excuess to ware a corset 😉 I am hoping that someone will bring a projector too so I can have my favourite films etc... running.

If you want to know more ask Al as he is organiser 😉