July

In Scotland July is the main summer month.  This is when we have the longest, sunniest and warmest days which go on long into the night.  Not that it usually gets really warm, not Mediterranean style hot, for sure.  But pleasantly warm and just fine for golfing, walking or whatever activity takes your fancy.  So far July has been quite warm, though we have had some showers and lots of windy days.  All the schools have finished by the end of June, so there are young and not so young children - ie teenagers - everywhere.  With the economy in a poor shape and the pound rapidly losing value, more and more people are staying in Scotland for their summer holidays these days.  So it’s even more crowded than usual.  Still good for local shops and businesses. 

As one of the main summer months July is full of festivals and major sporting events.  For us in Scotland the main event will be the Open Championship which returns to St. Andrews once again.  I have fond memories of almost all of the St. Andrews Opens going back to 1955.  The most indelible moment was Seve Ballesteros’ winning birdie put in 1984.  He was so emotional to have won again.  This year Tiger Woods will be going for a hat-trick of Opens at St. Andrews.  Is he up to it, after all he has gone through.  We will know soon enough.  Hope the weather stays fair.We should have a better idea about the weather on the 15th.  This is St. Swithin's Day when tradition says that whatever the weather is like on St. Swithin's Day, it will continue so for the next forty days.  This little rhyme explains it all.

'St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain 

For forty days it will remain 

St. Swithin's day if thou be fair 

For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.'

July is also the month for two of the world’s most famous and celebrated national days.  The fourth of July was Independence Day in the good old USA.  This commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  One of the first to get free of Britain’s imperial clutches, some of us in Scotland would like to join you soon.  Anyway a belated greeting and well wishes to our American cousins and friends.  Yesterday, the 14th of July was of course, the French national holiday.    This commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789.  Amitiés á tous les français et françaises.

There are some wonderful festivals throughout the world during July.  Far too many to mention.  But one that I have always wanted to visit is the Montreux Jazz Festival which is on just now from 2-17 July.  This is one of the most prestigious European jazz festivals.  It always seems to attract a great line up and the setting by the picturesque shores of Lake Geneva only adds to its attractions.  Too late for this year, but if I start to save now who knows for next year.

Back in Scotland we have our fair share of festivals.  Three are worthy of mention.  T in the Park is now one of the biggest and most successful open air celebrations of popular music in the UK.  The event takes place in a vacant airfield on what was Balado farm in Kinross.  An added attraction for Rutherfords is that our ancestor James Rutherford was born in this part of the world, at Easter Balady in 1796.  So you can combine a bit of family history with some rocking.

If traditional Celtic music is more your scene then check out The Hebridean Celtic Festival, which claims to be Scotland’s premier Celtic music festival.  Runs from 14-17 July in Stornaway in Lewis, the capital of the Western Isles.

Even more local is the Dundee Blues Bonanza a free blues music festival held over 3 days, which is unique to the City of Dundee.  It takes place in over 30 city centre venues, all within easy walking distance of each other.  Apparently Dundee is now called the Blues Capital of Scotland, and some have claimed it is the biggest free music festival in Europe.

If you prefer something a bit more outlandish then here are a couple of unusual festivals to choose from.  The World Bodypainting Festival is the biggest annual event of the body painting culture and community. The festival is the first of its kind in the world and has become the "Mecca of Bodypainting". It draws over a hundred artists and models, and thousands of visitors, from all over the world every year.  It is held in Seeboden, Carinthia, Austria and this year it runs from 12-18 July.  This video will give you an idea of the artistic creations from the festival.

For something really bizarre why not try the The Wife Carrying World Championships which is held annually in July 2-3 in Sonkajärvi, Finland.   Here the husband has to carry his wife across a course that's over two-and-a-half football fields in length and punctuated with sand, hurdles, water obstacles, and gravel pits.  Not sure that Kathleen would put up with the indignity of me trying to carry her over this course.  But if you fancy a peep at what it looks like go here.

For the more religiously minded July sees two important festivals.  The eight of July was the Lailat al Miraj.  This is an important Muslim festival also known as the Night of Ascent.  This commemorates the ascent of the Prophet Muhammad into heaven accompanied by the Angel Gabriel.  He rose to heaven from the rock of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Dome of the Rock sanctuary now stands.

Sunday 25 July is Asalha Puja Day, which is one of the most sacred days in Buddhism. It is observed on the fifteenth day of the waxing moon of the eight lunar month (July). Asalha Puja Day is the anniversary of the day on which Lord Buddha delivered his first Sermon to his five Disciples at the Deer Park in Benares, over two thousand five hundred years ago. The day also marks the beginning of the worship of the Triple Gems, namely: the Lord Buddha, His Teachings and His Disciples.

As regards the ancestors of my branch of the Rutherford clan I have managed to discover a few important events.  There were three births and one marriage.  Elizabeth Laing was born on 20th July 1816 in the picturesque little East Fife village of Kilconquhar.  She married a Henry Rodger and their daughter, Catherine Rodger would marry James Rutherford.  This makes Elizabeth Laing one of my great, great grandmothers.  On my maternal side, one of my great grandmothers, Agnes Morrison Rae was born on 21 July 1854 in Perth.  Her daughter, Jessie married Henry Mohring Henderson, and they were the parents of my mother.  The other birth was that of my uncle and my father’s elder brother, James Alexander Rutherford, who was born on 12 July 1906 in Calcutta, India.  The marriage was between David Rutherford and Elizabeth Lily Philp, the parents of James Alexander and my father.  They were married on 18 July 1905 in St. Andrews.  James of course went to live and settle in America.  Lily, after her travels around the Empire returned to live in St. Andrews.  Though she did visit the USA in the 1930s.   Here she is holding my sister Pat.

Looking more to the future, my daughter Elena’s husband, Mark was born on 15th July in St. Andrews.  Happy birthday Mark.  They now have two sons, Liam and Jamie, so  the Rutherfords continue to expand, if not in name.

The birthstone for July is the Ruby.  Most traditions seem to have settled on the ruby as the gem for July.  It symbolizes devotion, integrity, courage and happiness.  A pretty good combination.  Here is a fine example of a ruby.

The birth flower for July is the lovely Larkspur.  This is a member of the same family as the Delphinium, but is an annual flower.  Larkspurs represent an open heart and ardent attachment.  A purple larkspur can be found at the beginning of this post.

Happy July to everyone and I hope you all have a lovely, warm and sunny summer.

Blue

Blue is the colour I most associate with summer.  Which is perhaps a bit surprising as blue is usually regarded as a cool or even cold colour.  However a bit of cooling and relaxing blue is most welcome in the heat of summer.  And even up here in Scotland we have had our fair share of warm summer days lately.  This is the sort of thing I mean.

Now of course we do not normally get that kind of peaceful sea around Scotland nor do we get it that hot.  Nevertheless blue is definitely a summer colour for me. 

Especially in the garden, where blues can be found in abundance during the summer months.  Here are some cornflowers, one of my favourite flowers.  These are the annual variety and part of this photo can be found at the top of this blog.

Next up are these lovely light blue irises.  T’is a pity they only bloom for such a short time.  But worth it though.

Here are some more blue blooms from the garden, though the delphiniums are from Falkland Palace gardens.

Also in the garden are these delightful ornamental ceramic balls.  We have to watch them closely though as our grandchildren still think they are just unusual mini footballs and like nothing better than to pick them up and play with them.

We are both very fond of ceramics and have acquired a few pieces here and there on our holiday travels.   Below are some examples.  The first is an original modern piece which we bought in Tarragona in a little studio just off the cathedral.  

The next collage shows some of the plates we bought in Sitges.  Most are modern reproductions of traditional Catalan designs.  The one on the bottom right though is from Mexico and I do not know if it is an original or a reproduction.  I just like it.

Blue also features in our table ware and here is an assortment of cups and mugs.

We have one or two rather special pieces.  The following photos show a couple of our Wemyss ware collection.  These are all modern pieces based on the traditions of the original Wemyss ware process.  The owner and main designer of the company is an acquaintance of ours, Griselda Hill.  Her workshop and studio can be found in the little village of Ceres in North East Fife.  Well worth a visit.

The one above is a loving cup and is one of a pair that we bought to celebrate the birth of our second grandchild, Jamie.  This has my lovely cornflowers painted on the surface.  For the birth of our other grandchildren we bought pairs of cats.  Below is an example of a Wemyss ware cat. 

Blue of course features prominently in my stitching projects.  There are so many wonderful shades of blue to choose from.  Below is a few of my current stash of blue threads in cotton.

In an effort to expand my horizons in my stitching work I have just acquired a couple of skeins of silk thread, one of which is an exhilarating light blue.  I have still to work out how to use these threads.  Any ideas welcome.

Below is one of finished pieces, part of my Five Easy Pieces collection.  Each little panel is stitched in a Bargello design.  Apart from the rectangle in greys, the other panels are all stitched in various shades of blue.

To end with a couple of photos from the outdoors.  The first is this night scene from our recent trip to Berlin.  There is an ultra modern glass building in there, but I like the darkening night blue sky.

The final photo is of Emma and Cosimo sporting two lovely fleece jackets.  This was on their trip to the Isle of Skye.  Here they are at a wonderful viewpoint looking over Loch Garry towards the rugged mountains of Knoydart.

Blog for Gaza

Today - July 9 is the day for bloggers to unite for Gaza.  According to Bloggers Unite, “On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion condemning Israel’s infringement of the Palestinian right to self-determination and violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The ICJ explicitly affirmed the international community that the burden also falls on them not to recognize or assist the illegal situation. This year, on 9 July, remind your own government of its own obligations not to recognize or assist Israel’s violations of international law. Urge that there must be an independent and international inquiry into the attacks on the Gaza aid flotilla.”  You can find more about the campaign here.   This particular campaign is promoted by The Palestine Legal Aid Fund, which is a global human rights fund to enable access to justice for the Palestinian people.   As my little contribution to this campaign, below are some unconnected comments on Gaza and Israel.

1.  Failure of Israeli hasbara (propaganda)   

In the USA of all places, it seems that Israeli propaganda is losing its power. The following is part of an article which appeared in Coteret, a blog by Didi Remez, who translates selected stories and article from the Hebrew media.   He writes, “The Israel Project (TIP), an American Hasbara outfit, commissioned Republican political consultant Frank Luntz to examine the effectiveness of Israel’s public diplomacy in the US on the Flotilla debacle. TIP gave the memo to the Prime Minister’s Office, where someone promptly leaked it to Chico Menashe, Channel Ten TV News diplomatic affairs correspondent.  Luntz’s findings are grim. Here’s a summary:

1. 56% of Americans agree with the claim that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza;
2. 43% of Americans agree with the claim that people in Gaza are starving;
3. [Only] 34% of Americans support the Israeli operation against the Flotilla;
4. [Only] 20% of Americans “felt support” for Israel following announcement of easing of Gaza closure.”

You can read the full post here.   

It is not only in the USA that Israeli hasbara is beginning to fail.  Further evidence can be found closer to home - in the letters page of the Courier of all places.  Dundee’s own daily newspaper has been the site of an exchange of letters on Gaza - the attack on the flotilla and the blockade itself.  Even yours truly felt compelled to fire off a letter.  What has been interesting about this correspondence is that the pro-Israeli letter writers never, ever, address the real facts - the cold blooded murder of the nine civilians on board the Mavi Marmara or the ongoing occupation which is the root of the problem.  They simply repeat tired old allegations about their opponents, a pathetic attempt at smear which merely highlights the complete bankruptcy of the entire Zionist project.

2.  The Occupation 

Ah, the Occupation - this seemingly never ending and always growing occupation.  The Independent has a story about Israel’s landgrab.  It seems that 42% of the West Bank is now occupied by Israeli settlers.  This is not exactly news as last year the Goldstone Report contained the same information.  Based on UN sources it seems that around 42% of the West Bank is now taken up by Israeli infrastructure associated with the settlements, including roads, barriers, buffer zones and military bases.  Still it is good that these facts are now getting published in some of the mainstream media.  All making the task of Israeli propaganda even more difficult.  You can read the Independent article here.  

3.  Boycott Divestment Sanctions 

This campaign is probably the one most likely to bring about an end to the Occupation.  And it is beginning to bite.  At all levels.  It seems that even very mainstream actors are now willing to say no to Israel.  For example it is reported in the Jerusalem Post that Hollywood actors Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman backed out of attending this year’s annual Jerusalem Film Festival, following the international outcry over Israel’s attack on the Turkish led flotilla that attempted to break the Gaza blockade.  Prince Albert of Monaco, son of legendary actress Grace Kelly, has also cancelled his programmed attendance at the festival.  It seems that the Prince’s advisors believed it would have been very negative for him to attend.

Further support for BDS has come from the Methodist Church of Britain which has agreed to launch a boycott against goods emanating from settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  Let's hope the other Christian Churches will follow this lead.

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign is one that everyone can participate in.  We can all begin to stop buying Israeli goods in supermarkets and other stores.  We can also complain about the presence of Israeli stalls that sells goods produced in the illegal settlements in the West Bank.  We have one of these in Dundee - Premier Dead Sea Products.  This company has a stall in the Overgate and sells cosmetics based on material from the Dead Sea.  Some of us have complained to the owners of the Overgate that it is wrong to have such a company operating in Dundee.  So far they have replied that their products are not made in the settlements but in pre 1967 Israel.  This seems unlikely and in any case if they market their cosmetics as from the Dead Sea then either they are using material stolen from Palestinian land or they are breaking the Trade Descriptions Act.  This is one that will run and run.

Also in Dundee we are lobbying the local Council to take a more forceful stand against the Israeli Occupation.  Specifically we are calling on the Council to support the following measures:

1. Not buy products from Israel or from Israeli-owned companies - this would include water from Eden Springs and Veolia waste contracts amongst others; as well as any company which supports Israel’s illegal settlements.
2. Fly the Palestinian Flag over the City Chamber until such time as Israel has ended its illegal blockade of Gaza. 
3. Support officially the next flotilla and get a ship loaded with goods sent from Dundee

The more people begin to take action locally the sooner Israel will begin to feel the pressure.  More more information about the BDS campaign can be found here.

Immigration - more nasty government

Our new coalition government is determined to never miss an opportunity to show how nasty it is.  The latest example is immigration.  The Home Secretary’s wheeze about an immediate cap on non EU immigration is a pretty pointless exercise.  All about showing how nasty the government is and playing to their hard core right wing fanatics in Parliament and in the media.

The reality is that the previous Labour government has already done the dirty work for the coalition with the introduction of a new points based system.  Add in the effects of the economic recession and the government’s target of reducing net migration to ‘tens of thousands’ will be met without the government having to do anything at all.  As is explained in an article in the Guardian: “The level of net migration – the number of people coming to work and live in the UK over people leaving to live abroad – has been falling sharply, from 220,000 in 2007 to 142,000 in September 2009.

Net migration has continued to fall in the past nine months and for the first time since Poland joined the EU in 2004 the number of east Europeans leaving exceeds those coming here. This trend is likely to accelerate next year as Germany lift its seven-year transitional restrictions on Poles working in the country.

This has been accompanied by a 15% fall in applications by skilled migrants from outside Europe – the group to be covered by the annual immigration cap – in the first three months of this year. It means that the coalition's aim of reducing net migration below 100,000 within five years is likely to be achieved whether or not the cap is in place.”

But of course that is not good enough for our nasty government.  After all in this case they could not claim credit for any reduction in net migration.  And that would not do for our macho government.  So they have to trot out a fairly meaningless cap before they impose a permanent cap on non EU migrants.  

The reason why this is nasty is that it is all a bit of a charade.  For this policy only covers legal migration from non EU countries.  There is nothing, short of leaving the EU altogether, which even this government is not prepared to do, that the government can do about EU migration.  And of course illegal migration is a completely different case altogether.  As is the issue of refugees seeking asylum.  So if we take the four routes of immigration into the UK - 1. legal EU migration; 2. legal non EU migration;  3. refugees and 4.  illegal migration;  the government is only proposing to tackle one of these.  And then only in a completely arbitrary way - imposing an cap on total numbers.  

The reason of course is the government, even as nasty a government as ours, can do nothing of practical substance about the other three routes.  Illegal migrants will find some way or another of getting into the UK.  But they will only stay if they can find and maintain some kind of work.  As illegals they are not entitled to state benefits, so they are not a burden on the rest of us.  A really, really deep and long lasting recession would presumably stop illegal migration in its tracks.  However I don’t think the current lot are that daft.  Let’s hope not anyway.  

Binding legal international obligations make it more or less impossible to do anything about the other two routes of immigration.  So we or rather the government is left with non EU migration to play around with.  And that is all they doing - playing a nasty little game.  Unfortunately it is a game that affects real people.  Not just those who might be denied an opportunity to find work here.  But also those businesses who will be denied the right to employ a needed worker.  For an arbitrary cap is just that - arbitrary.  The limit for workers from outside the EU is to be set at 24, 100 for the year to April 2011.  Why this particular figure?  What happens if 24, 100 workers have entered the UK by the end of this year?  How are businesses expected to meet any rise in demand if they cannot hire the labour they need?  Will the government be really nasty and stick to this arbitrary limit and harm UK business?  Or will they be forced to allow exceptions?  If so they would merely confirm that the whole exercise is a media charade and a nasty one at that.

World Cup - First Reflections

The World Cup has now reached the quarter finals stage, and this is a good point on which to reflect a little on what has happened so far.  The great and tremendously important plus point is that the tournament has so far been a resounding success.  The organization seems to have been spot on and the matches have provided a wonderful, if somewhat noisy, spectacle, at least for the TV viewers.  Alas the football has not always been up to the same standard.

As regards the football, the first thing to emerge from this edition of the World Cup is that it is probably the first truly World Cup, with countries from all five major federations represented in the last 16.  The first time ever, I believe.  A quick look at the details.  The following table shows how many countries from each federation progressed to the last 16 and shows this as % of the total contingent from that federation.

Federation	No of countries	No in last 16	% of total entered
South America	5	5	100%
North America	3	2	67%
Asia	4	2	50%
Europe	13	6	47%
Africa	6	1	17%
Oceania	1	0	0%
Total	32	16

This shows very clearly the incredible success of the national teams from the Americas.  In particular South America which managed the phenomenal feat of getting all five selections into the last 16.  Something never before achieved.  A great tribute to South American football.  North America continues to do well at the World Cup with two selections - Mexico and the USA - reaching the last 16.   Asia has also done very well this time with two national teams - Japan and South Korea - progressing.  This is also a first, at least other than when the World Cup was held in Japan and Korea.

This brings us, alas, to the relative failures.  Oceania with only one entry, New Zealand, were not expected to provide a team in the last 16, so this can hardly be counted a failure.  It may call into question the wisdom of an Oceania federation, but that is a question for another day.  However you look at it, both Africa and Europe have failed to live up to expectations.  In the case of Africa there are at least some mitigating circumstances.   Both South Africa and the Ivory Coast were in very difficult groups.  Though France were ultimately disappointing, both Mexico and Uruguay are selections with a strong World Cup pedigree.  It was always going to be difficult for South Africa, even with home advantage.  As for the Ivory Coast, who are probably the strongest African selection at the World Cup, they were even more unlucky, as they were drawn in the same group as Brazil and Portugal.   Very few selections would have progressed from this group.

While there are some mitigations on behalf of Africa, there are none for the European contingent.  France, Italy and Serbia were all pretty much appalling, offering very little in the way of positive football.  In this respect they were joined by England and Portugal, who would go on to play both badly and uninspiringly in losing their last 16 matches.  That this should happen to four of the supposedly strongest and richest nations in the world is a cause for some concern in these countries.  Thankfully Spain, Germany and to a certain extent the Netherlands, have shown us all that Europe can still offer the world some excitement and class on the football field.

When it comes to the quality of the football on offer, the impression so far is that just about all selections have become more defensive and cautious.  The main exceptions seem to be Germany and Argentina.  Germany in particular has from the off tried to win each match by attacking the opposition.  Often with some flair allied to their traditional aggression.  From what I can make out they don’t seem to play with a traditional defensive or even holding midfielder.  Schweinsteiger is the one charged with controlling central midfield and he is more an attacking player than a defender.  In addition Germany have two exciting youngsters as genuine attacking and creative midfielders in Özil and Khedira.  Up front they usually play with three goal scoring strikers, Müller, Klose and Podolski.   Though Podolski is often to be found helping out the midfield.  Another fascinating aspect to the current German team is the extent that they represent a new Germany.  So many of their key players clearly come from a non teutonic background.  This integration of new Germans into their national football team is as worthy of note as the quality and attractiveness of their football.

Argentina is the other team which has adopted a marked attacking approach.  Though unlike Germany, Argentina has as yet not quite found a team blend.  Their coach the irrepressible maestro Maradona, has clearly decided to go for  a squad filled with the most attack minded players available.  They seem to have more out and out strikers than any other squad.  Their line up seems quite similar to that of Germany.  They have one player to patrol and try and control the midfield - the elegant Mascheranno.  Ahead of him they play three strikers - Higuaín, Tevez and Messi, though Messi is no ordinary strker.  Two other attackers complete the team - so far Di María on the left and either Veron in central midfield or Rodriguez on the right.  Though Argentina have attacked well at times and have so far won all their matches, they still do not look a balanced side.  Too many gaps for a quality opposition team and most significant of all, they have still to figure out how to get the best out of Messi.  So far he almost plays as a midfielder and is often seen way back in his own half seeking out the ball.  He has played very well so far in a very disciplined way.  If Maradona can work out how to fit Messi into a balanced team then Argentina will be very hard to beat.  We will soon find out as Argentina play Germany in the match of the quarter finals on Saturday.  Should be a cracker.

The remaining selections all play a more conservative way.  This includes Brazil and the Netherlands who are very strong defensively and hope to win through a bit of brilliance by their forwards.  So far so good, but it is disappointing to see such pedestrian football from these two nations.  At least they meet each other in the quarter finals, so only one can progress.  

A case apart is Spain who excited everyone so much in winning the European Championship two years ago in Austria.  While they have stuck broadly to the same approach there has been one very significant change.  Two years ago Spain played with one defensive/holding midfielder - Marcos Senna.  In front they had three very talented and creative attacking midfielders - the incomparable Xavi along with Iniesta and Silva.  Torres and Villa were the two strikers.  This served Spain well as the three tiny midfielders interchanged positions and could spray the ball about at will.  In South Africa by contrast, Spain now play with two defensive/holding midfielders - Busquets and Xabi Alonso.  As Torres and Villa remain the two first choice strikers, this leaves space for only two attacking midfielders - usually Xavi and Iniesta.  

The result is that there are now less options and movement up front.  Though they still have a lot of possession they find it more difficult to create really good scoring chances.  The shape and balance of the team is out of kilter too.  While Villa operates, very effectively, on the left, there is no equivalent on the right.  Here Spain relies on the ever willing forays of Ramos their right back.  Thus Spain are still good and pleasing to watch, but a notch less adventurous and lethal up front.  To make matters worse, Torres is clearly not fully fit, after missing most of the season through injury.  If they are to go all the way they probably need Torres to be at his fittest and sharpest.  They play Paraguay in the quarter finals and if they win will face either Argentina or Germany in the semi-final.

Predictions are a mug’s game and I am not about to test fate.  Before the tournament started I stated that the three teams I most wanted to win were, in order, Spain, Argentina and Brazil.  So I still have a fair chance of getting lucky.  The one prediction I will make is that either Brazil or the Netherlands should make the final as the winner of their quarter final faces the winner of the Uruguay v Ghana match.  Still, an unfancied Uruguay did beat Brazil in the final in 1950, in Brazil too.  So I’m just going to sit back and enjoy what I hope will be some great matches during the rest of the tournament.

The Road Home

Rose Tremain’s The Road Home was the Reading Group’s book for July.  I had already read the book, so I decided to listen to the audio version this time.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the audiobook is also very good.  The reader is Steven Pacey and he does an excellent job in voicing all the different characters.

The Road Home is the personal Odyssey of Lev as he journeys from his homeland to London and back home again.  His homeland is an unspecified east European country, now a member of the EU.  From the descriptions of the place it sounds like one of the more deprived and desolated parts of the Ukraine.  But as the Ukraine is not in the EU, it is more likely to be some equally desolate part of Poland.

Lev has chosen to leave his home as he has lost his job in the local timber factory, which has closed as all the trees have been destroyed.  His wife, Marina died a few years earlier, from leukemia and he lives with his mother and young daughter.  The loss of his wife was particularly devastating, and a major theme running through the novel is how to deal with, and if possible, overcome loss.  With little or no prospects at home he decides to try his fortune in London.

Though Lev is the central character in the novel and every chapter is about him, this is not a straightforward voyage.  For a start, though most of the time Lev is in London, he is constantly reminiscing and reflecting on his life back home.  Thus we learn all about Lev, his parents, his wife, his daughter, and most significantly, about his best friend Rudy, who has remained back home.

While in London Lev of course meets up with a cross section of people form modern London.  While he does suffer some hardships and is at one stage mugged and robbed, on the whole he is met with kindness and friendship. He also comes across some of the other economic migrants from his homeland.   In some respects the novel is a paean to multi-cultural London, as Lev is helped on his way by people from all kinds of backgrounds.  

As a result of his forced sojourn in London Lev comes to re-evaluate his live.  He finds a regular job in an upmarket restaurant and discovers that he not only likes this work, but is in fact a very good cook.  His dream is now to return home and open his own restaurant, in memory of his dead wife, Marina.  The remaining part of the book is about Lev’s attempts to bring this dream to reality.  In this there is a parallel tale about Christy, with whom he lodges for most of his time in London.  Christy also has a daughter who he never sees as she now lives with his estranged wife.  Fast declining into drunkenness, Christy is revived by Lev and slowly begins to recover. 

Though entitled The Road Home, Lev doesn’t actually end up back home, though he does return to his own country.  By the end Lev has realized that there is nothing to be gained by trying to return to a past that has gone.  So, though home in one sense, it is not the home he left and Lev is no longer the same Lev who started out on his voyage.  A new life and new challenges beckon.

This is the second novel by Rose Tremain that I have read.  This was very good.  The first was Music and Silence, which is a wonderful tale about love and suffering in mid 17th century Denmark.  I would definitely recommend both books.

Bookbinding

In a bid to extend my artistic experiences I recently attended a two day course on Bookbinding at the DCA in Dundee.  This was a special course for beginners entitled From Tokyo to Timbuktu.  We got to sample bookbinding traditions from Japan, Nepal and West Africa.  As this was an introductory course we just used whatever material was lying around the workshop.

We started with the Japanese technique.  Though it could probably be just as much Chinese.  At any event the paper we used came from China.  This was a beautiful and delicate paper called Zuan, which our tutor, Emma, had brought back from her recent trip to the country.  You start by folding the large sheets into four and here are my eight folded sheets.

The process is fairly straightforward though it does involve a lot of cutting and trimming so that you eventually end up with about 32 folded pages.  Just to add a bit of colour you can include an inside page.  I used some cast offs that were lying about as you can see below.

The outer cover has to be made of something pretty firm and solid and again we could make use of old bits and pieces of work lying about the studio.  I used a rather bright and colourful print that reminded me of an African pattern.  For an extra special finish you can cover this with a translucent silk paper.  Which we all did, though it was a bit finicky glueing it onto the cover.  You finish off by hand stitching the papers.  This was not as difficult as we all thought it would be.  We used a very strong linen thread.  The stitching has to be done in a very precise order, but otherwise is pretty straightforward. The finished book is below.  

Here are some of the books made by my fellow students on the course.  As you can see we all used the orangey silk translucent paper to go over the outer cover.  This one book took up all the Saturday.

On the Sunday we had two completely different books to make.  The first was a very strange little book that is or was popular in Nepal and parts of northern India.  There the outer covers would be made of bamboo leaves, but we had to make do with plywood.  You start by cutting the wood to the size you want, using a Stanley knife.  I found this pretty hard and in fact impossible to keep a perfectly straight line.  Afterwards you sandpaper the surfaces and the edges to get a nice smooth finish.  This is what the finished product looks like.

As you can see this is not your typical book by any means.  In Nepal the inside paper would probably contain Buddhist sayings and images.  As we did not have the time nor the resources to do this, we made do with some of the colourful prints lying about.  Once again they need to be trimmed to size.  Then comes the putting it all together part.  This involves a bit of precision drilling.  With a hand held electric drill you bore through the centre of all the pieces.  It is then a fairly simple task to thread some ribbon through the holes, attach beads to either end and hey presto you have a little Nepalese booklet.  Here is what mine looks like when opened out like a fan.

The final book was another strange affair.  This is based on West African traditions.  Emma, our tutor is particularly interested in this work, as previously it was assumed that Africans relied on an oral tradition.  But it seems that books were produced in West Africa.  The type we tried to copy comes from Timbuktu and there the outer shell would be made of leather.  We of course just used card.  I along with another student used a card printed in black and dark grey diagonals.  It is quite a laborious and precise process to make the outer shell as it involves lots of folding and cutting.  This is what the shell looks like before the final stitching.

The stitching and inserting the paper sheets was quite simple by comparison.  In Timbuktu these little books might contain some verses from the Koran.  The outside covers would also be decorated, often by cutting out shapes from the leather.  We tried to do something similar, but it  was very difficult without proper cutters.  Anyway here is the final product.

And here are some of the books made by my companions.

To finish here are the three books I made over the weekend.  A most unusual collection!  But it was all great fun and I certainly enjoyed it all.  I would now like to learn a bit more about bookbinding.  Another course perhaps?