Sunday.

With reference to previous blog - poppy head bench end- nothing to do with actual poppy heads. We have just anglicised (this really means improved on) the original French word poupe(with a grave accent over the 'e' but my machine, being English, isn't fitted with foreign accents) head , meaning doll's head, but to my mind they look as if they originated as stylised acanthus heads. Talking of doll's heads- for the last day or so I've been working on a mid Victorian jointed wooden doll for a friend. It had both lower legs missing, one arm missing, and both shoulder joints broken- all these being the sort of jobs that can be done when there is twenty minutes to spare between bigger jobs. Finished her off yesterday evening and I think Diana will be pleased with the result. Problem is -it's not the sort of job one can charge for- being completely ouside my usual sort of work. Did much the same sort of thing last week with a family portrait - a Regency oil painting in dreadful condition - the old canvas splitting in all directions. I scrounged a piece of nice solid old linen from Gran, and backed the canvas with it using a water soluble glue so that the whole thing could be reversed at some future date if need be, then touched in the front over the joins. Young Patrick had even kept the few missing pieces of canvas. It was rather jigsaw puzzle work, and although not quite an invisible mend, the repairs weren't easy to see and it was a lot more stable than it had been in years. I learned a lot from doing it. The nice thing is that the young gentleman to whom it belongs has just had a son (well his wife did the heavy work but you know what I mean) and I think there's strong family likeness running through the old portrait, Patrick and his son.
Socially been a nice busy week, and as we're giving a scrabble tea this afternoon I'd better go up and help Ann get ready for it. May add more later if scrabble exciting enough to justify a further entry. Regards, Mike.