Author Archives: ballsofwool

Norman MacCaig: three, yes, three poems about frogs and toads from his collection One of the Many Days.  Just Because I love frogs too; because toadstones; because the toad under the door reminds me of Roger Deakin’s house*; because my husband is … Continue reading →

270,000 ceramic buttons.  Take me to your leader. There isn’t any other stair quite like it.   Sitting on the dock of the bay 

“May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dustgreen trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst.” These are the first lines of The … Continue reading →

It was the night before my 30-year school reunion. I should’ve been on WhatsApp excitedly swapping stories with old friends I haven’t seen for more than a quarter of a century – but I decided to go to Glastonbury to … Continue reading →

Last year in a textiles exhibit at the local museum I got to see a bit about the tools and tough manual labour that went into the manufacture of linen. Until recently, everyone wore linen undergarments next to the skin, under … Continue reading →

The haberdashery adventure continues with some ribbon for another Japanese pattern.  When I use Googletranslate it tells me to “insert the race on the frogs at the end” which, I have deduced means “put lace on cuffs”. For another pattern … Continue reading →

Victoria begins its 138 minutes at about 4am in a Berlin club with Victoria dancing.  When it ends at 6:18am you haven’t left her side, not once, not even for a moment.  All you need to know about this film … Continue reading →