Blue Beaded Wall Hanging

This is one of my 'Beaded Wall Hangings', which are for sale in my Etsy shop. It is made of four 3D blue alpaca crocheted hearts stuffed with scraps of material (I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible in my work!), strung together with a mixture of colourful clay, glass and wooden beads with the help of a beading and tapestry needle. It is very pretty and vibrant, perfect for home decor or a gift for a friend! You can find out more, buy the item and check out the rest of my shop at https://www.etsy.com/listing/105148333/beaded-wall-hanging-blue?ref=pr_shop . Happy browsing!

I have started an Etsy account!

I've started an Etsy account! You can find my shop here http://www.etsy.com/people/zoeduffy At the moment I'm not selling very much because I've just finished my A Level exams so I've been pretty busy... But in time my shop, Zeridian, will be full of lovely crocheted, knitted, and beaded goods (and any other craft that takes my fancy!). Thanks for looking! Zoe

Do you realise...?

Do you realise that 2012 is the last year where there is a date with three identical numbers for a whole millenium?

This is weird and kind of scary. Happy new year, by the way...

Ode to Fast Food

In my (C. of E.) primary school, a lot of the songs we learnt were about God. There is one I remember particularly, called 'God is Good to Me' and it went like this...

God is good to me
God is good to me
He gave me lips to eat my chips
God is good to me

God is good to me
God is good to me
He gave me jelly to fill my belly
God is good to me

Well that's about all I can remember but I think it pretty much gives the gist of the whole song. So, there are two things you might notice about this song we learnt: one, as a primary school that tried desperately to make little sweet-loving children eat fruit at playtime, they obviously weren't trying very hard and two, who ever heard of people eating chips with their lips? For the sake of rhyme I think this is particularly chilling... And the thought that God actually approves of kids eating all that gelatin-filled wobbly junk...

Parents must love this song.

Chapter Eight - the Birds of Stone

Another bird landed, and another. They were crows, all of them. One of them hopped in a circle then leant forwards to touch her foot with its shiny beak; she leapt back with a small shriek and stumbled, falling inelegantly into the dirt.

They weren’t frightening. Not yet.

“Who are you?” Maria whispered.

Instantly the birds fell silent.

“What do you want?” There was nothing else she could say. “Do you want…me? Me? Do you want me?”

She pointed to herself.

And at that moment each and every one of the birds stopped moving.

They were completely silent.

Completely still.

Maria shuffled forwards a step. Slowly, she bent down and took off her sandal.

She threw it.

One by one the crows toppled over, like dominoes, in a perfect circle. One coal-black feather lay on the ground.

“Well,” she said, quietly.

They had turned to stone.

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This is an extract from the novel I'm writing. It's called Into the Blue (this is just a working name and may be changed to something different) and it's basically about angels.

Abolish SATs!

Ohhhhh yes.

Click on the link and pleeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase sign my petition to abolish SATs!! Wales has done it, why can't we?


http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/abolish-sats.html

On Waking

One, two, three.

You could sneeze now anywhere in the world and I would hear it.

All around me there is silence. I could hear anything but nothing is moving. The world is frozen, trapped in eternal ice.

Until you melt it with your sneeze. Go on, now. Imagine the warmth that is expelled in that brief explosion of sound - cracking the ice already with its force. Imagine the warmth as it gusts across the frosty landscape, melting and thawing.

The world is beginning to wake.

Hear the trees as they yawn and stretch, the rivers as they shatter into life. Hear the oceans rise and swell as the moon continues in its orbit and the fragile waves smash as they finally fall. Hear the chatter of birds as they shake the melted droplets from their wings.

Are you listening?

Go on. Sneeze.