Sending images of my Tao Art Book to Youtube

I was very lucky to meet a friend who introduced me to Zen Calligraphy and I found this to be a very useful form of meditation.

As an add on to this, I proceeded to make images from the unconscious, also meditational in origin and made a square keepsake book using a very inexpensive square memory book from the Works.

I then covered the book in hessian, from the internet and bought a yin and yang necklace from the internet also that I used for a way of closing the book with a buckle I had in my stash.

Altogether I enjoy making books of all kinds, but especially one off art books.  I would like to get better at doing this and become more accurate.  I think my health wasn't good when I completed it so please excuse any errors of measurement.  So here it is     click the link        Tao Square

Incidently my name means "life" in Greek so I have chosen this calligraphy to sign my book.

nk             .

Serious Art Exhibition

Since I last wrote I have had a setback with health in that I am now diagnosed with Polymyalgia instead of fibromyalgia which has meant a change in medication.  During that time I have undertaken to support Taunton Live 2016.

I did not realise how much work would be involved and I am very grateful to Chris Dart for helping me hang the exhibtion and also to Taunton Quaker Meeting for adopting me as an artist.

For those who would like to view an overview of the exhibition here is a link

Taunton Live 2016 - Creative Corner


The exhibition centred around my research into the origin of nursery rhymes and networking with other artists in the town and talking to visitors it was very successful.

Sound Studio

Sound Studio

In the up and down of my seventies, I had a special experience at Ignite at Somerset Film in Bridgwater Somerset.

I was lucky enough to be given a free run of the sound studio to record my children's stories to put as audio books on Amazon.

I try in my stories to give children hope.  Hope for the future and hope that they will succeed and be heard.

The stories are:

Miss Flimp's Destiny
Miss Patch
Miss Posey's Garden
Miss Flimp and the Celebration of Light ( This last book is free on Smashwords.)

They reflect my integrity from being a Quaker for thirty years.

I thank Somerset Film very much for this opportunity and hope that in the future I can do more work with them.

Sad Times for Britain? plea to young people.

Sad Times For Britain?

It is very sobering after all the dross of referendum campaigns that we now are faced with the reality of building our country and our economy in a very different way.  Hard times are on the way I fear.   I believe in democracy and will accept the majority view.

If there are any younger people reading this blog please, I would like to let you know that both myself and my husband are members of the Green Party and part of our commitment comes from wanting a better world for our children and grandchildren.

We were part of the 40% of older people that voted to remain, Please,please do not have a knock on effect of ageism  which is difficult for us as it is.  My husband delivered 500 leaflets on behalf of the remain campaign.

To young people out there, please don't let this referendum be divisive in society. Believe me, there are a lot of responsible older people really on your side.

Solidarity and Sorrow for Jo Cox - A personal tribute.

Tribute to Jo Cox

I have walked the talk.

In the past, I have campaigned

Your sacrifice is not in vain.

True socialism is not about

Party politics and being cut down

It is about protecting

The isolated, the poor and

People like your aggressor

Mentally troubled and insane.

I am a Quaker and believe

What you stood for.

We all have equal worth

When the world wakes up to equal rights

We will have peace on earth.

God Bless your family,

God Bless your part,

Your life’s work will remain in my heart.

Zoe Ainsworth-Grigg

Spondylosis and The Write Day

Spondylosis

I have been suffering for the last two weeks with this.  It has affected my balance and I feel that I am falling over quite often staggering about as though I am drunk.  I looked it up on the internet on google and found that a lot of GP's do not recognise that spondylosis can cause vertigo.  So no help there what a surprise.

I am getting accustomed now to helping myself through alternative treatments. I have a very good chiropractor called Mark Cop who practises in Bridgwater somerset and through his help the tight muscles in my neck relaxed and I had relief from the symptoms.

Has anyone reading my blog had similar experiences and that have they done to alleviate things?

I also put a wheat pack mildly heated on the affected area as advised by Mark.

Hopefully, I will be back in action.

I had a .very awful experience also with a person who organises The Write Day.  It was advertised on Creative Somerset.  She charged me double what I should have paid and an extra £20 for food for my husband.  I am afraid her advertising wasn't clear enough and through that I didn't realise that X2 meant two nights for one person and I thought it meant one night for two people.  I lost out by £65.  I am a little peeved. 

As I get older I find that I am taken for a ride over money matters more and more. I have to remember to check and double check.

Having just bought my specs for £225 I want to be sure I get my money back from Simply Health.

There are no easy answers, even when my husband and I put our heads together, things seem much more complicated these days.

Sixties Shift as per British Sewing Bee

Sixties Shift

I really enjoy the BBC2 Sewing Bee programme and last night they had to make a shift from a sixties pattern on a sixties sewing machine.  well my sewing machine in the sixties was my Grandmother's old Singer and didn't do zig zag stitch but I made a shift . The sixties were not sw

inging for me except that I married young and had three children in quick succession.

Here is the dress. That's me holding Tim's hand as Nigel rides a horse top left.  /the dress was of cream linen, I was still quite old fashioned then and had few contemporary friends but I made most of my own clothes and also my daughter's clothes. the biggest treat was when I bought something from a shop for her. this is Liz aged three at her party.

I remember when I bought a sewing machine for myself when I was about twenty-five because it did zig zag.  It cost £40 and I got it on HP.  I thought it was very extravagant. I recently had some inheritance and have just bought a and it cost over£400.

I do love to stitch and I do love fashion.  I like Prima patterns and hopefully I have a free weekend this weekend and will make a jump suite that are back in fashion. I hope to customise it, watch this space.

Meanwhile I have added more of my instructions for my craft on Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BackYardBooksandArt