Category: Posts of Note
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22 years of home haircuts
Good morning! As a few of you have been asking, here I am sharing my simple and shonky methods of home haircutting – frankly not something I thought I’d ever do. You may be surprised to learn that the last professional haircut I had was back in 1998. Before that, I’d never really enjoyed having…
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happy yeast and smoked porter
Morning! It’s Tom here. Many of you may know that I have a background in biology, but you might not be aware of how my scientific interests and my love of brewing beers and other beverages have, for many years, reinforced each other. I have been brewing for much of my life: from my first…
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Fabrication
Good morning! A poem today. Earlier this week saw the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Wordsworth – a poet who has, for the past couple of centuries, often set the ideological terms of the writing of landscape and nature. I’ve been thinking about Wordsworth’s particular “Romantic” landscapes quite a lot in recent months,…
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talking to myself
Good morning! Over the past few days, the air has really come alive with warblers, as more and more migrant birds reach our part of Scotland, and yesterday morning, skylarks began adding their voices to the chorus – always a happy sound. I’m now awaiting the return of our housemartins and, as we’ve seen the…
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Dizzy’s Business
Good morning! I’m here with a rather different kind of diversion today. If you’ve read Handywoman, you’ll know what a huge influence my creative dad has been on me. Dad grew up in Prestwich, and after teaching himself to play alto and tenor saxophone as a teenager, worked as a bebop musician in 1960s Manchester,…
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a coat for falling
Good morning! Are there garments in your wardrobes from which a particular event or association is difficult to shake? I have friends, for example, who after wearing a certain dress at a funeral, have found that putting it on again becomes difficult. I’m a particularly garment-attached person, and there’s perhaps no garment to which I’m…
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protective measures
Good morning, how are you all doing? Tom really enjoyed all of your wonderful (and hugely helpful) responses to yesterday’s post – and I suspect you’ll see him following up many of these paper folding leads quite soon. . . . It’s rather blustery and rainy here today (though the weather is less severe than…
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available light
Morning everyone, it’s Tom here. I thought I’d pop in today to share with you some of the odd but interesting things I’ve been doing recently with paper and light. As many of you know, I REALLY like paper! I’ve previously waxed lyrical about the properties of papers and how they fundamentally inform the final…
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findings
Good morning, all. If you’ve not read the comments on yesterday’s post, might I suggest you do so? From Parisian ducks and the red-legged partridges of Portpatrick, to the sometimes-silent parrots of Buenos Aires, Australian pelicans, the egrets of North California, and the hummingbirds of Tennesee, Arizona or Texas, it was wonderful to read your…
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snipe
Good morning, all! How is the weather in your part of the world? It’s a lovely, crisp morning here, with all the birds in full voice. As an early riser, at this time of the year it’s one of my greatest pleasures to go for a walk at first light, when the world’s awash with…
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walking words
Good morning, everyone. Today I thought I’d share with you one of the poems I recently read at Write by the Sea. I’m someone who loves walking, and since my stroke in 2010, I’m also someone who has a disabled body. If you’ve read Handywoman, you might remember that a really formative moment in my…
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light by the sea
“the times of dreamy quietude, when beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean’s skin” Herman Melville, Moby Dick Hello everyone, it’s Tom here. In today’s post I’m excited to tell you more about my latest body of work, which also comprises my first solo exhibition – Light by the Sea. (Otter Ferry) Like…
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light, write, colour
The past few weeks have seen some rather intense creative activity, as Tom and I prepare for an exciting weekend in Argyll. On Friday, Tom will be opening an exhibition of his new work at the Tighnabruaich gallery, Light by the Sea. As well as his beautiful photographic seascapes, each of which evokes the distinctive…
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wheesht
Wheesht is published! You can now buy the book in the KDD shop, find out more about it at its dedicated website and we’ve even produced a set of 12 jolly postcards featuring the wonderful illustrations that Tom created for each chapter of the book. If you were part of our club earlier this year,…
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International Women’s Day best practice award
We are thrilled and honoured to announce that our collaborative blanket celebrating 30 diverse creative women has received a “best practice award” from International Women’s Day. We are especially proud, because such awards are usually conferred on much larger companies, groups and organisations. We’ve always felt that, however small we are as a business, it’s…
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Soul Food Sisters
Hello again, it’s Tom here with my latest update on the People Make Glasgow photo-documentary project. In today’s post it is my huge pleasure to introduce to you the Soul Food Sisters. The Soul Food Sisters are an all-female, multicultural, not-for-profit food collective. Established in 2013, this group of women are chefs on a social…