Selwyn & Ink
As web developer and visual designer I’ve been working on ZippedyZoom.club which is part of TWTC’s response to Covid-19 – providing both a portal for kids to access fun activities and awesome stories, and a place for creative practitioners of all sorts to keep working. With funding for an initial 12-week run, we’re focussed on delivering content beyond that endpoint. Have a look here.
This poem was written with a particular story in mind, one I heard from a volunteer I work with in our community’s response the lockdown. We’ve been lucky so far in ColGlen I think, but it staggers me how stupid some folks can be, particularly those who think ‘they know better’ than the full weight of scientific consensus.
Tinfoil At dusk I stood at his gate, His sanitizer in my hand, A greeting stuttering On my lips as he crossed The head of my shadow And entered Covid range. I stepped away into the lane My hands warding against him, And my penumbra pursuing His steps, until a bramble Bit my neck.”You are sweet” He said, “but this we do not need.” Later, collar soaked in water, Hands washed to Dion, tongue Whetted with Jarl, I explained The fear this gentle man provoked – With his jaunts South, his weekend guests, The tinfoil hat of his credulity.
It only takes a knee to comfort a child, To receive a knighthood, To listen to a god - to be inspired; Just a knee for grouting around tiles, To ask a girl if she will, To loosen bolts and change tyres; Perhaps two for French cricket, To warm a lamb as its fed, To chase mice, all smooth and sleekit. It only takes a knee placed very precisely To stop a man’s breath, To fully express centuries of othering.
Including a tour of the cleared castle and news on the ongoing works for the restoration.
After several requests, and given that we are nearing the festive season, I thought I would finally try my hand at developing a cross-stitch pattern! The results can be found here and below is a gif of the unrestricted palette version (you’ll need 95 colours!!).
Rough and ready take of overflying Dunans, showing the cleared castle and practicing for detailed aerial survey! Unfortunately the quality is also rough and ready, but you’ll still get a feel for the height and shape of the castle as well as the plan of the interior!
Graphic and product design has always been a passion of mine, particularly in relation to restoring Dunans (of course!). Our new red boxes are spectacularly lovely, and I just wanted to share the design (and the rest of the package) which includes a square foot of the castle itself. If we can sell every square foot of the castle, we will be able to restore the building fully. So that’s the target for the next 12 months or so.
The clearance of the back two compartments of the castle has taken much longer than the others, simply because they aren’t accessible by the minidigger and there’s not enough room for more than a couple of workers. Our luck continues with the floors, which are all concrete, making clearance much much easier than suspended floors.
If you want to help with castle or bridge we have two volunteer fortnights in May 2020 and September 2020 – available here.
All about the progress we’ve made this month, including a walk around the castle and under the bridge.
Our AIP Jammers have been working incredibly hard and the results have been fantastic. Eland Stuart has been teaching a variety of skills including washing out joints gently and using lime slurry to provide a keying texture for vertical joints!
