When the henshed was a henshed it had doors and/or windows on all sides bar one. We made a window on that side so I would have the evening light. An unforseen consequence of this is that the birds can see straight through and therefore think that they can fly straight through. We've had a dead woodpecker, blackbird and a stunned bluetit. I hung a makeshift curtain up to prevent any furthur casualties but really didn't want to go down the curtain/blind/shutter path if possible. This is what we've tried then - masking the windows and painting them with opaque laquer. I hope it'll break the light up enough to alert the birds...

Still in painting mode, today I masked a rectangle on the wall over my desk and painted it with magnetic paint - Weird! I've still got another couple of coats to put on. Does it work?

tapestry weekend

I shall be teaching a beginner's tapestry course the weekend of the 21/22nd of August. 10-12am and 2-5pm both days. Bring a picnic lunch. If the weather is good we'll weave under the plane trees on the village square otherwise we'll be in the salles des fêtes. Warp and frames will be provided but please bring wool to use as weft. The cost is €50 and all proceeds go to Galerie La Tour . If you are interested please email me.

jacques mataly

We saw this stunning exhibition by Jacques Mataly at the equally stunning Abbaye de Beaulieu in the Tarn et Garonne last week. Metre square photographs which examine the horizon, they had something of Rothko about them. They were powerful yet subtle. Very moving.

A call for entries for ARTAPESTRY 3 here. Open to all tapestry weavers working in Europe. Tapestries must be a minimum of one square metre.

I'm in!

Moving in has been a gradual process. I was away in Tours and then had visitors so I've been doing it as and when. There are still more books to be barrowed up there and as yet there's nothing on the walls. This morning however I felt like I was properly installed - we tried out the wireless connection and listened to The Archers!

sooooooooo close!

lighting the stove

We are stove fanatics. Jotul stoves, Vermont Casting stoves and particularly Clearview stoves. We love burning wood (and planting trees) There has been enormous stove excitement this week. The stove from the hall was moved to the sitting room, the stove from the sitting room was moved to the henshed, the beautiful brand new Clearview stove was put into the hall and (keep up!) the new workshop stove that looks like a dustbin was put in the painting studio. I think we have reached our limit now!

Here's me and Dilly the dog lighting the henshed stove for the first time. It burns beautifully and the henshed is so well insulated and double glazed that I think I'll be able to run it on scavanged sticks rather than shop bought logs.

So close to moving in now...