Norfolk makers festival

I felt blessed to be picked up by Marion and driven to Norwich to go to an =nmf-wellbeing]event at the Forum.  Not so long ago 8.30 at mine would have been impossible for her so even that was impressive.  Chatting so much that we missed our turn was amusing if not impressive and we arrived slightly later than we could have, heading straight to the on site cafe for tea and an unimpressive bagel alongside a lady with pretty cool yellow panniers.  Apparently Norwich is quite navigable on a bicycle.

The ground floor space.was arranged with a mixture of spaces where you could.try activities and exhibits.  I couldn't resist a big table of pens, choosing a white one and some black paper for some pattern making, filling my square 'quick and loose' . Marion yearned for instruction and worked 'neat and methodical'.  I celebrated our differences and could have sat doodling for hours.

We moved to the next tables where Caroline told us about her remembrance quilt project, inviting us to create a panel in memory of someone we'd lost. Others joined and left as we selected materials from an array of different boxes and stitched and chatted.  There was a lady who had just come from her nieces funeral,  one who was desperately lonely and depressed and one who gifted Marion a crochet owl made at another stand. Before we new it we had sat there for several hours and needed to move on.

There was lots more we could have tried but we wanted to look at the exhibition.  First of all was a display of lanterns hanging in the entrance to the ground floor hall.  Made by David Shenton and constructed from textiles and paper they "record instances of queer hate crimes over the last 100 years, describing brutality, discrimination, assassinations and suicide'

I could write more about each of the artists work. There was some amazing work; dresses and waistcoats with the tiniest of stitches. Handmade buttons and felted pictures inspired by nature that I could have enjoyed for hours, a whole collection of mini amigurumi dolls. The list goes on.

Next we headed downstairs to some amazing knitting by Margaret Seaman.  Buckingham Palace, Sandringham and a hospital. Wow. Margaret was there too, continuing her quest to raise money for charity.  

As the Forum closed we headed off for tea and cake in one of the nearby lanes before travelling North to see Marion's mum who I last saw, we think, at Peters funeral 23 years ago.  She showed me her garden and her craft room and we enjoyed a chat before, as Marion said she would, she'd had enough and sent us on our way.

Arriving at Marion's we quickly left again for the pub opposite where we enjoyed food and wine, with me perhaps influencing Marion to drink a bit more than usual but resulting in an entertaining modelling session when we got home (couldn't resist adding as an extra)

The jumper was initially much too big.  It has been undone and redone. It is now a little short in the body.

We went to bed tired but happy. What more could you wish for.