while you're ahead...

– 2018/109 – music Friday

Monica Dunkley

June 15, 2018

On Sunday we’ll be taking a family trip to Wembley Stadium in London to see Ed Sheeran play.

To say I can’t wait it’s slightly an understatement…

It’ll be the boys’ first live concert and I hope it’ll be magical and they’ll remember it forever. I certainly remember all the concerts of my teenage years… REM… Spandau Ballet (ahem…)… U2… and mostly Bruce Springsteen… mainly Bruce actually! Oh, my darling darling Bruce…

Today I’m brushing up on some of the lyrics because you have no idea how harsh the boys are when I get them wrong AND my revenge is that I’m intending to sing as loud as I can to as many songs I can… am I right or am I right? And dance too… don’t you get annoyed when everybody stay sitting down at concerts? Get up! Have fun! Move, bop, hop, sway, jump… let it all out…

C’mon sing with me!

– 2018/8 – Nashville Star quilt

Monica Dunkley

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June 14, 2018

Back in 2013, Mr M and I visited Nashville. For me it was a dream come true, I love country music and was in music heaven… for Mr M it was a work trip and days of endurance… his feet are firmly grounded in 80s British music so that wasn’t really his thang. Bourbon helped. It helped a lot. As a matter of fact that was the trip where we discovered whiskey after visiting the Jack Daniel’s distillery and bourbon… whilst listening to live music.

Good trip.

Good trip because I also purchased some fabulous Anna Maria Horner fabric that she kindly dropped off at the hotel we were staying saving me international postage and import taxes.

When I got back I started making a quilt exclusively with this fabric… and then I stopped… and then I started again… and then I stopped working on it again… and then last year I picked it up again when I attended a workshop at The Village Haberdashery in London with Anna Maria herself… and then I stopped.

And then I started again a last week and then I FINISHED IT!!

Isn’t it incredible how if you work on something it’ll get done? … who would have thought, eh?

I might add some hand quilting embroidery in the four grey squares, I’m ok with it for now…

as they say… it’s a wrap!

I know, amazing… isn’t it? And it only took me 5 years…

sigh…

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– 2018/107 – 48 years of books (2009)

Monica Dunkley

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June 13, 2018

Let the great world spin by Calum McCann.

I loved this book. In fact, I might go as far as saying that it shot straight into my top ten ever favourite books in the company of ‘the narrow road to the deep North’ by Richard Flanagan and ‘all the light we cannot see’ by Anthony Doerr etc. etc. There are many others ‘up there’… but that’s a conversation for another day.

I have, once again, no idea how this book ended up under my bedside table (a place I’m sure where books multiply by themselves)… it looks and feels like an American book so perhaps I bought it at the airport on the way home a few years ago… who knows. I have no recollection at all… but something must have made me buy it.

Did I say it’s amazing? It’s one of those books that centres on a few characters somehow all connected to each other even if they don’t know each other, where the story goes back and forth but never looses its thread. A funambulist crosses the space between the two towers, a devoted priests with a crisis of conscience, a worried brothers, pimps, prostitutes, a drug infested Bronx, mothers who have lost their children in war, people in accidents… people who should be divided by beliefs, by race, by society… Life is a big circle and we’re never isolated because knowingly or unknowingly we’re all connected… we’re all part of a big ‘something’. The big circle of life.

I think it’s beautifully written too, just the way I like it… descriptive and yet surprising… what I call typically American, very different from and English voice.

This is how it begins:

Those who saw him hushed. On Church Street. Liberty. Cortlandt. West Street. Fulton. Vesey. It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful. Some thought at first that it must have been a trick of the light, something to do with the weather, an accident of shadowfall. Others figured it might be the perfect city joke—stand around and point upwards, until people gathered, tilted their heads, nodded, affirmed, until all were staring upwards at nothing at all, like waiting for the end of a Lenny Bruce gag. But the longer they watched, the surer they were. He stood at the very edge of the building, shaped dark against the gray of the morning. A window washer maybe. Or a construction worker. Or a jumper.
Up there, at the height of a hundred and ten stories, utterly still, a dark toy against the cloudy sky.

Or my favourite line: Long ago, long ago. The simple things come back to us. They rest for a moment by our ribcages then suddenly reach in and twist our hearts a notch backward.

and then it ends:

The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough.

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– 2018/106 – birthday weekend, part 2

Monica Dunkley

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June 12, 2018

I have so many things to talk to you about this week I don’t know where to start… three books (three!!), a tidy studio (rare occurrence), a finished quilt (even rarer than a tidy studio)… geesh… first things first though; what I want to share is the beautiful visit to Hauser & Wirth Somerset. We first stumbled on H&W in LA whilst strolling around the Art district looking for shelter from the rain. We were totally enchanted by the exhibition of mid-century art so imagine our surprise when we realised that this amazing gallery is actually part of a ‘series’ of galleries all over the world… including England.

I wanted to visit it last year for my birthday but one thing led to another (actually three reasons… three boys… moving swiftly…) and we never made it. This year though Mr M and I were staying really close to it so we had to do it.

It’s not just about art, and a guest house, and a fabulous garden… the food is pretty good too. I had a delicious avocado/poached eggs/bacon ensemble that was truly the perfect brunch after the g&Ts of the night before… ahem…

it’s not very often you can have breakfast with an original Clader ‘stabile’ in view… sigh… The bar is crazy cool and I love the ‘in-view’ kitchen just off it. I find it oddly reassuring when I can see a restaurant kitchen, don’t you?

The restrooms walls are lined with vintage mirrors and posters from past exhibitions from the other H&W galleries

And then there was the Alexander Calder exhibition. Oh my… don’t mind if I do…

just perfect. Mr M here is probably thinking how he could smuggle that painting inside his jumper….

I preferred this one.

and this little thing would look gorgeous on our shelves.

There was also a collection of domestic items he either had fixed or made out of everyday materials in true make do and mend spirit.

And then the garden. I’m not a gardener, as you know, but I do appreciate a well thought out planting arrangement and this was gorgeous. (lots of grasses!)

… a perfect combination of textures and colours… and a very odd structure at the end…

what’s not to like?

… wouldn’t you love to have a party in here?…

they even had a big pond with the biggest dragonflies I’d ever seen…

and if anybody knows what these are called I’d be very grateful, I need some in my life.

The attention to details in everything in this place was astonishing. There was nothing surplus, there was nothing missing, there was nothing out of place.

You all need to go.

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– 2018/105 – poetry Monday

Monica Dunkley

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June 11, 2018

… from a delightful birthday present…

The Knitter (by Jackie Kay)

I knit to keep death away
For hame will dae me.
On a day like this the fine mist
Is a dropped stitch across the sky.

I knit to hold a good yarn
For stories bide with me
On a night like this, by the peat fire;
I like a story with a herringbone twist.

But a yarn aye slips through your fingers.
And my small heart has shrunk with years.
I couldn’t measure the gravits, the gloves, the mittens,
The jerseys, the cuffs, the hose, the caps,

The cowls, the cravats, the cardigans,
The hems and facings over the years.
Beyond the sea wall, the waves unfurl.
I knitted through the wee stitched hours.

I knitted till my eyes filled with tears,
Till the dark sky filled with colour.
Every spare moment. Time was a ball of wool.
I knitted to keep my croft; knitted to save my life.

When my man was out at sea; I knitted the fishbone.
Three to the door, three to the fire.
The more I could knit; the more we could eat.
I knitted to mend my broken heart

When the sea took my man away, and by day
I knitted to keep the memories at bay.
I knitted my borders by the light of the fire
When the full moon in the sky was a fresh ball of yarn.

I knitted to begin again: Lay on, sweerie geng.
Takkin my makkin everywhere I gang.
Een and een. Twin pins. My good head.
A whole life of casting on, casting off

Like the North sea. I watch wave after wave,
plain and purl, casting on, casting off.
I watch the ferries coming back, going away.
Time is a loop stitch. I knit to keep death away.

– 2018/104 – birthday weekend, part 1

Monica Dunkley

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June 10, 2018

I had a fabulous birthday. Fabulous, daaaahling!

After sending the boys to school we leisurely drove to Babington House where we had a most delicious lunch with friends and then chilled out in the spa. You know when you’re so relaxed that you lose the sense of time? That.

Can you believe it was once someone’s home? If you fancy a read the history of the place it is here.

love the flower display in the lobby.. .in fact the whole place was full of lovely touches…

Our room was in the main building – and was gorgeous; home made cupcakes welcomed us… of course Mr M couldn’t wait till I took a photo… ahem..

I want a teal sofa. Want.

pretty flowers again…

and don’t get me started on the bathroom…

The Spa is in a separate building a few minutes walk away

Let me tell you, drinking fresh mint tea watching the beautiful garden was just what the doctor ordered…

… as was the leisurely stroll back to our room through the perfectly manicured grounds…

Isn’t it the cutest church? They have weddings every Thursday; must be dreamy.

Of course a pre dinner cocktail in the cool bar had to be done, right? Negroni for me, something colourful for Mr M…

I didn’t take any pictures of our meal… I wanted to because everything looked really pretty but we chatted instead… and made up lives for the other guests, which is totally our favourite activity. The guy behind me sounded like Schwarzenegger (he wasn’t of course) but Mr M said footballer in the 80s. Who knows.

I broke a glass. Which is totally not me… but I was being a little unnecessarily bitchy so it was totally karma and served me right.

Sigh.

Lovely night at the end of a lovely day.

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– 2018/103 – 48 years of books (1976)

Monica Dunkley

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June 5, 2018

‘Wilfred and Eileen’ by Jonathan Smith

One word for this book: delightful.

I wasn’t inspired by any of the books in the pile under my bedside table and so I contacted Persephone Books to explain my predicament and the challenge I set myself and they confirmed they indeed had published a few books from the period 1970 to 2018. Not many, but you can actually search their books by publishing year on their website so it was not a brainer.

I LOVE Persephone books. They are especially bound so they lie flat, which is genius… no more cracked spine! they lie flat on your legs so you can drink a lovely cup of coffee without the need of holding the book down… AND not only that… but they’re so gorgeous! Smooth, pale covers and with the most amazing end papers… I’m sure I’m preaching to the converted but it really is a total pleasure to read them.

The end paper of this one are the image of a furnishing fabric designed in 1913 by Vanessa Bell. Wouldn’t it make a fabulous dress?

… and the matching bookmark… such a fabulous touch…

Anyway, back to the delightful, enjoyable, well paced story… as it happens… it really happened: it’s a true story which, you’ll agree, makes it even more special. The author was an English teacher at the time when one of his students took him aside and told him the story of his grandparents during the 1st WW… one thing lead to another, he got in touch with the rest of the family and ended up writing the story of Wilfred and Eileen. The two main protagonist had met in Cambridge just before the war and fell in love and… well I won’t spoil it for you because I think you should absolutely read it…

It is a ‘war book’ but not as you know it. It’s not about battles (only indirectly), it’s not about the blitz…. but it is about society during the war,, the pressure of joining, a little about the suffragette movement, different classes… in fact it’s a perfect snapshot of how life was at the time. It offered me an angle and a window into a world I really didn’t know much about at all. Wilfred was training to become a doctor and there’s a lot about medicine and hospital at the time (not the gory stuff) that is really quite interesting.

And it’s a lovely love story… and who doesn’t like that!

It was also made into a four part TV series in the 80s… but before my time in England so I don’t know anything about it… anybody remembers it?

2018 Mr Hanckock and the mermaid

2017 – Magari domain resto (Lorenzo Maroni)

2016 – Upstream (Mary Oliver)

2015 –

2014 – Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer)

2013 – Careless people (Sarah Churchwell)

2012 – Wonder

2011 – The Paris Wife (Paula McLain)

2010 –

2009 – Let the great world spin (Colum McCann)

2008 – The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga)

2007 –Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver)

2006

2005 – Never let me go (Kazuo Ishiguro)

2004

2003

2002 – Everything is illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer)

2001 – American Gods (Nail Gainman)

2000 – Coram Boy (Jamila Gavin)

1999

1998

1997 – Paradise (Toni Morrison)

1996 – Wilfred and Eileen (Jonathan Smith)

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991- Regeneration (Pat Barker)

1990

1989 –The Joy luck club (Amy Tan)

1988

1987 – Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami)

1986

1985

1984

1983

1982

1981 – The colour purple (Alice Walker)

1980 –

1979– Sophie’s Choice (William Styron)

1978

1977

1976

1975

1974

1973

1972

1971

1970

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– 2018/102 – poetry Monday

Monica Dunkley

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June 4, 2018

Girl in a Miniskirt Reading The Bible Outside My Window (by Charles Bukowski)

Sunday, I am eating a
grapefruit, church is over at the Russian
Orthadox to the
west.

she is dark
of Eastern descent,
large brown eyes look up from the Bible
then down. a small red and black
Bible, and as she reads
her legs keep moving, moving,
she is doing a slow rythmic dance
reading the Bible. . .

long gold earrings;
2 gold bracelets on each arm,
and it’s a mini-suit, I suppose,
the cloth hugs her body,
the lightest of tans is that cloth,
she twists this way and that,
long yellow legs warm in the sun. . .

there is no escaping her being
there is no desire to. . .

my radio is playing symphonic music
that she cannot hear
but her movements coincide exactly
to the rythms of the
symphony. . .

she is dark, she is dark
she is reading about God.
I am God.

– 2018/101 – ‘Hay’ day…

Monica Dunkley

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June 3, 2018

I had the loveliest of Sundays… I hope you did too!

The Hay Festival is one of the most famous literary festivals in the world, it take place in the town of ‘Hay on Wye’ and it welcomes 250,000 visitors each year. A chap called Richard Booth is credited with transforming the town into a global attraction for second-hand book lovers after opening his first shop in 1962, (fun fact: n 1 April 1977, Mr Booth proclaimed Hay an independent kingdom and he was crowned king and ruler of the new state. His horse was named Prime Minister.

Joking aside, the town has gazillion books stores and the festival is great. I met a friend there and we spend a lovely time putting the world to right sipping on a delicious glass of Pimm’s waiting to sit through the most entertaining hour listening to great actors reading ‘letters’…

The weather was just perfect

people were just hanging about, reading books, chatting…

The event we attended was called ‘Letters Live’ and you can find out more on the website here.

Letters Live first took place in December 2013 at the Tabernacle in London and quickly established itself as a very powerful and dynamic event format that attracted outstanding talents to performing remarkable letters in front of a live audience.

Inspired by Shaun Usher’s international best-selling Letters of Note series and Simon Garfield’s To the Letter, Letters Live is a live celebration of the enduring power of literary correspondence. Each show always features a completely different array of great performers, reading remarkable letters written over the centuries and from around the world. One of the joys of Letters Live is that one never knows who is going to take to the stage or what letter they are going to bring alive.

We saw/heard some incredible performances/readings… from Toby Jones

to Jordan Stephens

to Louise Brealey…

from Tony Robinson

to Jessica Raine

to Ophelia Lovibond

to the incomparable Benedict Cumberbatch…

of the series he says: “Letters Live makes us pause and imagine the lives behind the letters read and the circumstances of their origin. It’s a privilege to read this most ancient of communications live to an audience. A truly inspiring event.”

… sigh…

It was the most unexpectedly delightful, moving, funny, serious, sad, hilarious thing I’ve seen in a long time and if you ever hear about it I urge you to go. You won’t regret it. It’s all done for charity and it’s uplifting even when it brings tears to your eyes. It also make you realise how much we have lost by not writing letters anymore… and how wonderful and powerful the written word can be.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

After we tootled into Hay itself for a little mooch about… such a pretty town it is too…

and then home… and yes, before you asked… of course I bought books! It would have been terribly rude not to.

(All for my 48 years of books cause)

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– 2018/100 – music Saturday

Monica Dunkley

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June 2, 2018

I’ve just been outside picking roses from the garden in my new dress and without realising I was humming this tune… not then happiest… but so so lovely…