{"id":430,"date":"2010-03-10T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T12:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/2010\/the-rough-and-the-smooth\/"},"modified":"2010-03-10T12:05:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-10T12:05:00","slug":"the-rough-and-the-smooth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/the-rough-and-the-smooth\/","title":{"rendered":"The rough and the smooth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">It&#8217;s bug city round here. Our home must have been put on the bug hotel map cos them little viruses just keep on coming. I have tried not to whinge on here about the amount of bugs we are getting but seeing as, right now, I am in bed instead of in my studio, I think I can justify a little moan?<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">Since January, I kid you not, we have had a bug a week. Just when one is over another strikes. The week before last was nasty colds, last week both kids got Mr Norovirus on his yearly visit (he was early this year &#8211; normally he comes on Neil&#8217;s birthday. I know this because for 3 years in a row, poor Neil has been showered in vomit on his special day). On Friday I got sinusitis again &#8211; 2 days of horrible stinging pain. It must now be over I thought? Oh no &#8211; last night, stomach cramps &#8211; all night. This morning, a little girl waking us up at 5.30am because she has <em>another<\/em> cold. So here I am, in bed when I want to be in the studio making that cheeky rooster come to life (good mosaic day yesterday and his character is emerging). Here&#8217;s a peek&#8230;<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_qsoYm16IPZk\/S5d7-DhABwI\/AAAAAAAAAtY\/9AE_t-dwUE8\/s1600-h\/100_7826.JPG\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_qsoYm16IPZk\/S5d7-DhABwI\/AAAAAAAAAtY\/9AE_t-dwUE8\/s320\/100_7826.JPG\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">Parent&#8217;s out there, please tell me, is this level of bug activity in our family normal? We dose up with vitamins, we eat well, we exercise (ehm&#8230;I have a 10K run to do on Sunday and I have not been able to do <em>any<\/em> training since last weds. Spare a thought as I run and do pop some money into the sponsor pot if you can &#8211; read about it <a href=\"http:\/\/glitteringshards.blogspot.com\/2010\/02\/running-with-purpose.html\">here<\/a>).<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">Is it to do with living in an urban setting? Should I move to the country to escape this assault of the bugs? As the saying goes, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired&#8230;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_qsoYm16IPZk\/S5d0xFfPp8I\/AAAAAAAAAtI\/FGynLh8cXz0\/s1600-h\/texture+1.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_qsoYm16IPZk\/S5d0xFfPp8I\/AAAAAAAAAtI\/FGynLh8cXz0\/s400\/texture+1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"266\" height=\"400\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">Whinge over. Let me finish on a creative note &#8211; a little idea for an <span style=\"font-size: large;\"><strong><em>art activity<\/em><\/strong><\/span> for you!<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">Last Autumn I did a unit of an art diploma course to try and get some &#8216;formal&#8217; learning on design principles. I wasn&#8217;t very enamoured with the course &#8211; no energy or enthusiam from the teachers, hardly any feedback. Ho hum. But I did have fun doing this <strong><em>study on texture<\/em> <em>and line<\/em>.<\/strong> These collages &#8211; one using lines and the other curves as the basis for the composition &#8211; involved photocopying random objects from round the house with different textures. It was hilarious and made for a great guessing game with the kids (what&#8217;s this a copy of? No, not a cat, it mummy&#8217;s fluffy cushion!). Bubble wrap, bath mats, hairbrushes, vacuum cleaner hose, crochet doilies&#8230;they all got shoved onto our cheap copier printer, then cut up and glued down used to create the two images of urban and rural landscapes.<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">\u00a0<a style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_qsoYm16IPZk\/S5d01Nl3N0I\/AAAAAAAAAtQ\/GSSsBjYuokM\/s1600-h\/texture+2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_qsoYm16IPZk\/S5d01Nl3N0I\/AAAAAAAAAtQ\/GSSsBjYuokM\/s400\/texture+2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"257\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">Great project. Give it a go\u00a0 &#8211; for yourself, with the kids &#8211; it is surprisingly fun&#8230;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s bug city round here. Our home must have been put on the bug hotel map cos them little viruses just keep on coming. I have tried not to whinge on here about the amount of bugs we are getting but seeing as, right now, I am in bed instead of in my studio, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,26,12,29,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artful-living","category-get-creative-arty-crafty-tutorials-and-ideas","category-deep-thoughts-and-reflections","category-parenting-and-family-life","category-soulful-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glitteringshards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}