Today we travelled to Kidderminster to have lunch with my friend Jean. We met at work too many years ago to tell and hit it off immediately. We share the same maiden name and think we are probably related in some distant and convoluted way. We were invited for lunch and the bearded one was enticed with tales of the many excellent charity shops of Kidderminster. We arrived in time for coffee and pastries (pain au chocolat - yum!) and then while the bearded on went charity shopping, Jean and I gossipped and caught up on the goings on of each other's lives.
Jean went to art college and I always love to see her latest creations. She showed me many sketch books filled with beautiful, abstract drawings done with watercolour pencils. Some are Art Deco in style, others have a fantasy quality like abstract landscapes that you can imagine yourself stepping into. I could see some of them being turned into pieces of jewellery, or transferred on to silk scarves. I LOVED them! So you can imagine how thrilled I was when Jean said I could choose some to take home. I have come home with 4 amazing and original pieces of artwork, signed by the artist. I will have to get them mounted and framed and then work out where to hang them. The bearded one returned to share tales of his success in the charity shops, several DVDs and an immaculate book about the expeditions of Shackleton. He collects boots related to polar expeditions (especially the South Pole) and this was a rare find. He had also spotted a coffee sup (6 cups and saucers) and wanted my opinion. As the shop was only a short walk away I went back there with him and agreed that they were very pretty and we should buy them (a snip at £10).
