Sunday 28 February 2016

An Indigo Twentysix

 Twentysix is one of those nondescript ages; twentyfive is the mid twenty hurdle that sneakily reminds you that thirty is a little closer than what you realised a year ago. Twentyfive nudges you to evaluate what you have and haven't done with your life and compare it to what you thought you'd be doing at this age five years ago...... so for me, I haven't had a baby, got married, travelled OR established a career, however since I am at the end of a three year degree and am applying for Nursing jobs as we speak I'd like to think that- actually- I've done quite abit more than what I planned career wise. A baby is on the cards, however I refer back to said career (and maternity pay!), my idea of marriage has changed somewhat in five years and I'm now neither for or against marriage before children (something I was adamant on previously!). I'm in a very stable relationship were we talk openly about these things and we're very happy with how things are developing and how our plans for the future are looking.

I've wondered off topic here....

So twentyfive was slightly more poignant to me than twentysix. The only thing this number means to me is that its got a two and a six in it, and that I'm thankful the two is before the six!

 I celebrated my birthday in what I'd like to think was a very creative and relaxing way: 

I woke at 6am to the most spectacular sunrise. 




Once I'd spotted it out the kitchen window I donned my farm boots to wander into the middle of our lambing field to take a snap of the beginning of what was going to be the most wonderful day, because....

I went to a Shibori workshop!

 But what is Shibori? Well basically its tie dying material, however the workshop I went to incorporated elements from nature to draw inspiration from. It was based at an enviromental centre in Saltwood, a little village close to where I live which overlooks the coast from its hilly seat. The dye we used was grown by our instructor on her allotment, the roots from a particular plant produces the most beautiful indigo which we used to dye our Peace Silk

 First off we took a stroll through the park to gather twigs, leaves, branches and bark to use in our dying. The park is quite lovely and has its own natural waterfall.




 I imagined that when us galumphing, clumsy footed humans weren't around fairies, nymphs and pixies came out to splash around in the water, flutter and flitter in between the ferns and meandre in the fallen leaves.

 Once we had collected our natural treasures and explored the park a little more, we headed back to our training room to get on with the task of dying.


 Our instructor demonstrated the many different techniques used in Shibori dying, I settled on a method which required you to roll your material round a branch, adding leaves while rolling to create different patterns and shapes, then twisting string round and round to produce a crisscross pattern and then securing it with a simple knot at the end.



 Once you had done this it was soaked in water for a minute, then dipped into the dye vat for 5 minutes. Once this time was up you released it from the string, twigs, branches, pegs, buttons or whatever else you had chosen to add into your developing method, hung it on the line and let the air develop the initial green tinged dye to oxygenate and transform into the beautiful indigo. 


  This was the classes finished product. Don't they look amazing?!? Mine is the 4th in from the left, with the criss cross pattern. I'm very happy with my scarf and intend to wear it with a simple white linen dress in the summer to add a pop of colour.

 After the class had come to an end I made my way home to freshen and glam up for the evening plans:

The Light Festival!

 Hosted in Cheriton this festival is in its third year and attracts thousands of local resident to flock to the towns high street to see what the local artist had created to wow them!


 This fish (?) was majestically floating along down the road, it was rather large about the size of a bus but the way it moved in the wind made it so graceful and slithery. It's tailing kept skimming across the ground, much to the delight of all the children who tried to catch it as it whipped past.


 The projection onto the Church was really spectacular, it ranged from Peacock feathers, to geometric shapes, to stain glass windows. There was music playing in the background that made the whole experience quite trance like and you had to blink yourself out of the little world you were drifting off into as you watched the installation. 

 After a while we started to get quite chilly and decided an Italian was in order. We trundled off into Folkestone and found a wonderful family run Italian restaurant where I ate my weight in brochette, pizza and the most amazing lemon cheesecake. I wont eat for weeks after the sheer amount of food I consumed at that table!!

 I was also very lucky to receive some very lovely presents. Including a couple of Joules vouchers that I am itching to use to purchase some rather stunning dungarees! I also received some rather snazzy washi tape and gold and silver stamp pads for my little stamp collection I am building up!



 And being the spoilt, little being that I am I also bagged myself a new Chromebook from Mum and an updated (PURPLE!!!!) FitBit from my boyfriend. 

 I feel so lucky to have had such a wonderful day, with wonderful people and wonderful gifts. Its back to reality now as I start my FINAL (gulp) placement as a student nurse and finish up my last few months at uni..... I cant wait :)







3 comments:

  1. I think it's wonderful what you're working towards, being a children's nurse. It's lovely to discover your blog. All Best wishes to you ...
    23millymay25.blogspot.co.uk
    millymayamelia.com

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    1. Ah, thankyou so much <3 I will have a peek at your blog, its always fab to discover new content :) xx

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    2. Thanks so much for your reply. I am very much enjoying exploring through yours. Xx
      millymayamelia.com.

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