Just to get things off to a perfect start we decided to go to London for a couple of days at the beginning of the month. We couldn’t get the cheap Bargain Berths i.e. the proper sleepers so we opted for the “couchettes” which although saving you having to find accommodation in London aren’t really a substitute for a proper night’s sleep. Still once in a while isn’t a problem.
We had a smashing day wandering about the touristy bits and then doing the Tate Modern. We lucked into one of the free guided tours and learnt a little bit about some of the early abstract painters and the view back across the Thames to St Paul’s Cathedral from the cafe certainly caught my eye. Afterwards, we wandered past the Imperial War Museum and went in for a look. We weren’t up for Haulocaust exhibitions and some of the other displays looked a bit tired so we didn’t hang about. In the evening, Suse went to her media seminar (which was the main point of the visit) whilst I explored St Pancras Station and some of the surrounding pubs. The former is a bit special.
After we got home, we met up with Lucinda who had arranged for the plywood “tree” to be sandblasted by an acquaintance in Lochgilphead. It didn’t quite work out as expected but we got the finish we were looking for with some mechanical sanding and both Suse and I would have been delighted just to have put the sandblasted “tree” on display. Little did we know what we had in store!
Meanwhile our good fortune continued and Thomas Waterhouse phoned to say that the new dining room chairs were ready and could he deliver them? Now, it had been several months since we’d heard anything of substance from Thomas other than he was in Perth and he’d run out of wood. Our recollection of what we’d commissioned was a bit dim and we held our breaths a little when he carried the first chair around the corner of the house. We couldn’t believe what we saw. The chairs were stunning! Beautifully made and finished. A perfect match and fit for our dining room table and comfy too! Thanks Thomas. We’ll miss the patio chairs that we’ve been using all these years but what brilliant replacements.
The following Tuesday, Lucinda appeared in her very well maintained Land Rover with the “tree” and a plastic box full of bubble wrap. Again, we both smiled nervously as she started to unwrap the individual bundles checking the curious labels as she went. “One below the Lemon”, “Two above Gigha”. As she gradually laid out the pieces on the “tree” as it lay on the hall floor, our smiles almost turned into tears – of joy! We couldn’t believe the subtlety of the shapes and colours and the craftsmanship of each part of the “tree-map” Then, when we stood back and and saw them all together we couldn’t believe our luck. “Well” said Lucinda, “that’s as far as I can take it. Just make sure you take plenty of photographs so you know where all the pieces go and let me know how you get on ” It was done and dusted in time for Lucinda and Neil to be toasted and praised on the following Saturday evening when more of the subtleties of the glass pieces were explained as they shone in all their glory! It now takes several more minutes to go up and down stairs, pausing as you do to examine another segment of glass which you hadn’t really seen properly before. We aren’t doing “Artmap Argyll” this year but thinking back, it was at the event that we first met Thomas and Lucinda and both Suse and I are grateful that we did.
In between our artistic moments, the mundane tasks of everyday existence continued. We managed to fill the big log store and to make a start on the smaller one, both of which should get us through the winter. Fingers crossed. The veg. garden also got a serious weeding and mulching while Suse was away in Stirling. We’ve also been gradually filling up the garage with booze and some of the other non perishables for the “Rubydo” and the menus are finalised and things seem to be falling into place. More about this later.