I didn’t really mean to cut off the face of this consumate artist, but it is the best one I have showing his nimble hands at work.

While all the families were here we rented a holiday cottage at Piriapolis, west of Montevideo but not so far as Punta del Este and far less crowded and, of course, quieter. For the various grandkids nephew and niece present it was wonderful to be an easy block’s walk from the safe beach which offered plenty of space for the patient digging of large holes to sit in, castles surrounded by moats, and the usual beach contructions that kids will engage in day after day, up to a certain age anyway. There was a lot of swimming and kicking around of the soccer ball. Some walked and gathered shells and stones of note…. and we spent many hours each day out in the well equipped parrilla area – perfect for a large number to breakfast together and cook bbq meals at other times. Cooler, too, than being inside the house until late most evenings.

On a particularly hot day we withdrew from the beach around 12.30 to a shady table on the sidewalk where we had lunch and many cool drinks, and, as it turned out, caught the very few breezes around on a day which we later learned had topped over 41C in the shade. It was so hot I slept out on the upstairs deck of the house that night until a cool change blew in with a rush around 3 am. We later learned that in one of our friend’s family a couple of people were treated for heatstroke and dehydration.

Anyway, weaver-sculptor Fernando here was one of the passing parade that day (which included a not-very-good-palm reader and some ladies selling kitchen knives, for some reason) Here he is shown making a spear fish from palm fronds – other creations he did were a turtle, several different flowers and fans. A couple of the kids and I were particularly fascinated and bought several of them.

I seem to have a reasonably regular reader who occasionally posts anonymous comments, which I don’t mind at all, but her comments always address me as “Judy” which of course is not my name , not even my middle name. What I think is, she is a blogger, named Judy, with an account but choosing to go Anoymous when commenting – but having to log in to publish her computer names her, anyway. I don’t know if there is a way round this but surely Judy has noticed and cares enough to not address me with her name, somehow? I just can’t believe that with the various ways my blog is named etc that she has me mixed up with another”Judy” quilter from Aus living in Montevideo….

One day last week I found myself on the beach at Carrasco, ie about 7 blocks down our street – on a windy afternoon with weak sunshine. I was not aware it had rained but clearly it had just there only a short time before I came along. The raindrops in the coarse sand produced a pattern that has me thinking … but maybe for after I finish the piece I am working on, with metallic leathers and metallic-waxcoated leathers applied as surface design onto a large piece of fabric, to then be quilted. I have had quite a few visitors this week and all have oohed and aahed encouragingly. The weather is becoming cold, rain threatening, ideal for hunkering down with a large quilt project to finish with some deadlines in view.

Saturday I had a visit from Graciela my new quilting friend who has produced bits of leather – this time she produced Inez and Soledad, two more quilters. Apart from sharing coffee and some books together we shared some freehand aka intuitive a piecing technique, and it will be interesting to see where they take this – as it has been with everyone who has leaned the simple steps. Already I could see that although she was interested it probably won’t go far in one set of hands – but I know it will in one of the others.

Editing the photo I included today was interesting – I cropped a bit and then turned it one way – it looked so very wrong and then the other way as it is now, it is just right. Seems to me it’s a light and shadow thing : but up in the northern hemisphere it would be round the right way – so would it still look wrong viewed from there ? 

Yesterday there was another gift of leather, two shopping bags of scraps, from my new quiltmaking friend here, Graciela. She called to say how much she is enjoying the book I lent her, and said some more pieces of leather would be dropped off by a family friend living nearby- my goodness these pieces of suede and leather are in almost every colour of the rainbow, including a brown slightly metallicised or pearlised piece. Since then the colours have just been going round in my head, and I simply must do something that uses some of the chartreuse piece.

I feel I am approaching a fork in the road – assembling leather applied to look like patchwork of some kind, in rather traditional colours like blues, pinks and beiges ? ; and organic shaped earthy coloured pieces to continue exploring on with the landlace or sandlace ideas.

This has always been one of my favourites in the Old City part of Montevideo. It caught my eye on my very first visit here in 1989, and I have always admired it even although until recently the exterior was rather delapidated.

Quite a few older buildings are being brought back from the brink in this area and down near the port. All of them remind the visitor and the resident of the rise and fall, several times, of wealth and importance of this city through it’s almost 500 year history.