Compared to last month, this is pretty simple.
The shield in the middle is my old school badge, St Michael and Michaelmas is celebrate on 29th September.
That date also happens to be the birthday of my sister closest to me in age. She is 13 months younger than me and as a child I hated in only the way a sister can.
You will notice that the background is actually a bandage. This was another thing we had in common, eczema. The treatment when we were young was be covered in this oily ointment and then the afflicted areas were covered in bandages. I was fortunate as its only affected me on my knees and elbows but my poor sister could quite often been covered from head to toe as if she was a mummy. The red and yellow stones/beads represent the blood and then the yellowing crust of eczema.
One of the reasons I hated my sister so much when I was younger was that she also had really bad asthma. She spend much of her younger life in hospital, fighting for breathe or her eczema was infected. Her shoulders were constantly hunched over like a little old lady, wheezing away. So the buttons in the background represent her with her shoulders squeezed really tight.
Surrounding the badge, is the Harvet Moon. I loved this time of year in the UK when I was younger, the turning of the seasons. We would have a harvest festival celebration at the church and all the kids would bring some gift of food which was stacked at the altar.
The border is embroidered with my very poor stitching in "wheatear" to symbolise the harvest festival with its corn dollies and the crop from the fields. The colours are green and white of our school tie.
On the outer edge I grouped 6 red beads, knotted the thread and then put on more beads, always 6 to symbolize my family - 4 sisters and my parents. I used 3 threads, only one was beaded and then I plaited them together. I have learnt over the years that although I hated my sister when we were younger, despite all our differences, blood ties us together forever. We may have our disagreements, our falling outs (frequently) we will always be family.
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5 comments:
Oh Wow! I'm the youngest of 4 girls in our family and reading your description of your BJP page really touched me.
This is great, I hear you!
Oh no, I was the one with asthma. I was lucky not to have the eczma though and I mostly outgrew it for years, the asthma. We do have a special dislike that only pertains to family and siblings don't we!
Your page has evoked some amazing memories not only for you but any of us who had sisters and brothers while growing up.
Kathy V in NM
Thanks for the comments, they are much appreciated. Its kind of sad that we come to wisom much later in life.
You've come to this wisdom in such a gentle way... there is beauty in this piece about hardship and disfunction, as though harmony is being restored. I admire you very much for letting your heart address this difficult subject from your past.
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