The Red Dress

“Stitching the world back together one stitch at a time” -  

Isla Macleod (Kirstie's sister)

I had the privilege recently of seeing The Red Dress on display at Oakwell Hall in Birstall. Created by British artist Kirstie Macleod, the Red Dress is the result of a 14-year journey (2009-2023). The 380 contributors, from 51 countries, stitched their personal and cultural stories into 87 silk panels.

Some used embroidery styles passed down for generations; others stitched reflections on trauma, resilience and healing. Viewing the dress and learning about it was an incredibly moving experience. There was a powerful energy contained within those silk panels.

Many women's voices were there, including those of Rwandan widows whose embroidery signified moving "from darkness to light" after their experiences in the genocide. Kosovan women stitched their messages in words, rather than symbols: "Better one winter in your own country than a hundred Springs away."

Click here to listen to artist Kirstie Macleod talk about the dress and what it means to her and the significance of choosing the colour red. Click here to listen to UK embroiderers talking about their contributions to the project. 

Thanks to my good friend Sharon Lingwood  for making me aware of this amazing project and accompanying me on my visit. 

Don't forget to click on the links and please do share your thoughts and writing and comments.

Writing prompts: 

• If you were to stitch something into one of the dress panels, what would it be? Write about it and especially its significance.
• Think about the colour red then write about whatever springs to mind.
• Do you feel connected to other people across the world? How would it be to have no borders or boundaries?
  
• Have you ever taken part in a collaborative project? If so, describe it in your writing.
• What are the therapeutic benefits for you of creative activities such as stitching or writing?
  

The Healing Power of Gardens

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden."  

Frances Hodgson Burnett ('The Secret Garden')

 

I recently enjoyed visiting the garden of Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd, at Gresgath Hall in Caton, Lancashire. 

 

Despite the showery weather, I found the garden an absolute joy and a place where it was easy to lose oneself, be calm, still and completely in the moment. 

 

There were terraces, a lake, a small bog garden, a wild garden, extensive kitchen garden, a bluebell wood, the millennium wood, the rhododendron hillside, herbaceous borders, and a serpentine walk. There were many different plants, shrubs and trees, including ferns, acers, lilacs, azaleas and magnolias. 

 

The gardens are situated in a valley carved over time by Artle Beck, a tributary of the River Lune.

 

Listen here to the sound of the beck. 

 

Click here to read what Monty Don has to say about the healing power of gardens.

Writing prompts:

• Listen again to the water flowing and this time close your eyes and imagine you are there. See the garden in your mind's eye and describe it in your writing, using all your senses, and explaining how you feel.
• Write about your own experience of how gardens can heal.
  

Don't forget to click on the hyperlinks. 

Share your thoughts in the comments box below. 

'Solitude's Haven'

The Shepherd’s Hut

is olive green outside,

on wheels

by our lake, camouflaged

like a twitcher’s hide

for watching heron, swan

and morning flash of kingfisher blue.

 (extract) by Jonathan Bate 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shepherds-Hut-Jonathan-Bate/dp/1783524294

The poet was inspired by his shepherd's hut, which he said was 'meant as solitude's haven' and ours certainly has been this week, being next to the sea, hidden away behind trees and overlooking the beach at Moat Farm, Aldingham.

This is a peaceful, tranquil spot, so it's hard to imagine what went on here some 900 years ago. Standing precariously on a cliff just behind our hut are the remains of a once impressive motte and bailey castle. Michael Le Fleming built this castle sometime between 1107 and 1111, after King Henry I had granted him  land that became the manor of Aldingham - known as 'Muchland', or 'Michael's Land'.

 

artist's impression of a motte and bailey castle

Click here and here to read more about this ancient monument and here to learn about Michael le Fleming and Muchland.

Legend has it that Aldingham itself was once much bigger, with the church (a resting place for the body of St Cuthbert) standing at its centre, but that cottages were washed away by the sea. Click here.

Click here to learn about the reading for wellbeing foundation 'Relit', the brainchild of  Jonathan Bates and his wife Paula Byrne.'

Please share your writing, or leave a comment. Thank you.

Writing prompts:

• Write about a peaceful, tranquil place that you know. How does it make you feel in body and mind?
• In 900 years what do you think will remain of the place where you now live? Explore this question in your writing.
• Do you dream of living in a place where you can enjoy solitude, peace and tranquility? Describe that place, real or imaginary, in your writing.
  

 

 

At Home With What You Know

Bempton Cliffs

A gannet glides through air above the sea.

They nest in thousands on the cliffs below,

returning to the same place every year,

the sheer rock-face, the rocky promontory,

a colony with right of passage here,

instinctively at home with what they know.

 

A novice with binoculars, I spy

two puffins on a ledge, a kittiwake

in flight, a guillemot, a razorbill,

a fulmar. Birds and more birds fill the sky

or dive into the sea to make a kill,

one rising with a fish caught in its beak.

 

The din is almost deafening, a sound

that carries inland over fields of grain

where sparrows dance to some quite different tune,

the seabirds like the souls of those who’ve drowned

clamouring to be heard. We leave too soon

but clouds on the horizon herald rain.

 

by Philip Lyons

 

This poet was inspired by a trip to Bempton Cliffs, somewhere I visited at the weekend. It's an awe-inspiring spot to watch the thousands of sea birds busily going about their business. Most visitors go at this time of year to spot puffins, but I was captivated by the gannets, our largest sea bird, with a wingspan of two metres. They pair for life and return to the same nest site each year. How they manage to find the exact right spot is a miracle. 

 

Click here to listen to Joni Michell's beautiful 'Song to a Seagull.'

 

Writing Prompts:

• Is there somewhere you return to every year? Write about it for a few minutes, explaining why you are drawn to this place.
• Write about what you are 'instinctively at home with'? 
• When was the last time you heard a 'din' that was 'almost deafening'? In your writing, describe the sound and how it made you feel.
• Can you remember a time when you had to leave somewhere, or someone 'reluctantly' and 'too soon'? Write about that memory.

What is the secret of success for couples who 'pair for life'?

 

Please 'Follow' my blog (see the box right).

 

Dementia Action Week

 Do Not Ask Me to Remember

Do not ask me to remember,

Don’t try to make me understand,

Let me rest and know you’re with me,

Kiss my cheek and hold my hand.

I’m confused beyond your concept,

I am sad and sick and lost.

All I know is that I need you

To be with me at all cost.

Do not lose your patience with me,

Do not scold or curse or cry.

I can’t help the way I’m acting,

Can’t be different though I try.

Just remember that I need you,

That the best of me is gone,

Please don’t fail to stand beside me,

Love me ’til my life is done.

– Owen Darnell

This week (May19-25) is Dementia Action Week, which is an awareness raising campaign. Each year, the Alzheimer's Society works with individuals and organisations across the UK to encourage people to act on dementia.This year the focus is on diagnosis and highlighting to audiences the most common symptoms of dementia.

Click here to find out more and watch a moving, short film about people with dementia.

My grandmother had dementia and so did my dad. Now I'm a volunteer with Memory Tree, a memory club, in five locations across the Bradford District, that brings together people with dementia and those who care for them. The club I go to in Low Moor is always great fun and, I'm sure, helps to raise the spirits of all those who attend, as well as improving everyone's general well-being.

Today we were talking about 'Well Dressing' as part of our topic on traditions, myths and legends. We even 'dressed' our own well! 

Click here to find out more about Memory Tree. 

Writing prompts:

• Set a timer for six minutes and write about your experience of dementia.
• If you were feeling like the person in the poem above, what would bring you comfort? Write about it. 
• Is there a club, or organisation that you attend regularly that helps to lift your spirits? Write about whatever it is and share your writing below by clicking 'No Comments' and posting in the box.
  

Gorgeous Greenway

 A Stoker’s Revenge!
Time and time again
she hears the same refrain,
“Do yer know she’s not pedllin’ at’back?!”
It’s usually some bloke
who thinks it quite a joke
to give the lass some flack.
The first time made her smile,
but after quite a while
she started to grow weary.
This repetitious wit
from some obnoxious twit
became a trifle dreary.
Others holler quips
renowned of PG Tips
like, “Can yer ride tandem?”
Comparisons with apes
and other playful japes,
by God she just can’t stand ‘em.
Some youth out on a jaunt
will throw at them the taunt,
“Geroff an’ milk it, mate!”
Her Captain doesn’t flicker,
despite the young lad’s snicker,
he won’t rise to the bait.
But being somewhat older,
she’s perhaps a little bolder,
and not scared of a spat
With vocabulary spectacular
she stoops to the vernacular
“Piss of you little prat!”

J. M Boardman

The Spen Valley Greenway was quiet on Sunday as we pedalled our tandem back home. There was the occasional cry of delight from a small child, but otherwise our ride was free from the usual witticisms. 

The greenway looked gorgeous with its profusion of May blossom, cow parsley and gorse. This lovely green corridor, linking Ravensthorpe in Dewsbury to Low Moor in Bradford, runs through urban areas and is well-used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. We're lucky to have it on our doorstep. 

Writing prompts:

• Spend a few minutes writing about your favourite green space.
• Blossom on trees and bushes has been spectacular this year. Write about your favourite kind.
• Set a timer for six minutes and write about a time when someone verbally abused you. How did it make you feel and what was your response?
• Do you remember the PG Tips tv advert with the chimps? Search your memory and write about a different tv advert that you recall. 

Don't forget to click on the hyperlinks for more information. 

Please share your writing, or your thoughts and feedback in the comments box (Click 'no comments' first). Thank you.

Keep Calm and Write

 

 Breathing in, I know I am
breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am
breathing out.
Breathing in, I notice my in-
breath has become deeper.
Breathing out, I notice that
my out-breath has become
slower…. Breathing in, I
calm myself. Breathing out, I
feel at ease.
Breathing in, I smile.
Breathing out, I release.
Breathing in, I dwell in
the present moment.ster
Breathing out, I feel it is a
wonderful moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh

(Source unknown) 

 

I found this poster pinned to a door in the staff toilet at a school where I volunteer. Yes, teaching can be stressful. 

 

How many of these calming strategies are you familiar with? I've found all of them useful at times, with the exception of holding and ice cube! (Apparently, icing the vagus nerve can help with anxiety). 

As I write, I'm listening to Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83, by Johannes Brahms, which is definitely having a calming effect. Listen here. I've already written in my journal today, as well as doing some yoga poses, practising a deep breathing exercise and making myself a cup of tea this afternoon when I felt upset about something. This evening I shall practise a mindfulness breathing meditation before going to sleep. Read the poem above and click here if you want to do the same. 

May I recommend the 'Smiling Mind' app for help in staying calm. Find out more here

 

Writing prompts:

• Write about a time in the past week when you have been anxious or upset and felt the need to be calm. How did you feel and what did you do?
• When was the last time you took a brisk walk? Spend a few minutes writing about that experience.
• If you wanted to bring about some calm by watching an uplifting video (film) what would you choose and why? Write about it.  
• What strategies do you find useful when you are anxious or upset to help calm you down? Make a list then share it by posting a comment below.