Addison Embroidery
at the
Vicarage

Mary Fedden: Enigmas & Variations by Christopher Andreae (Lund Humphries); pbk 2014)

One of the books I bought in Tetbury was Christopher Andrae’s Mary Fedden: Enigmas and Variations (Lund Humphries, pbk. 2014). A gorgeously produced book – the publisher has not stinted on the colour illustrations – the text is every bit as good. Brilliantly readable and fast moving Andrae whips on making all sorts of connections anybody interested in C20th art will enjoy.

Mary Fedden: little soft lion (from Mary Fedden: Enigmas & Variations by Christopher Andreae: Lund Humphries); pbk 2014)

After reading my blog on Eric Kennington, and his Checkendon sculpture someone rang me to pass on interesting bits of information – well, rather ancient gossip, I suppose you could call it. Did I know that a member of the family who bred the sheep that we used to have grazing in the field behind us had married a Russian artist called Polunin? Polunin, a scene painter for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, knew Eric Kennington and upon hearing that he and his wife (met while Kennington was painting her then husband) felt the heavy breath of moral censure in Chiswick over their liaison, advised them to head for Checkendon where he assured them no one would bat an eyelid. (Chiswick more censorious than Checkendon – surely not?!) So settle in Checkendon they did – well technically Ipsden.

Mary Fedden: little soft lion (from Mary Fedden: Enigmas & Variations by Christopher Andreae: Lund Humphries); pbk 2014)

From Andrae I now discover that the same Polunin not only taught Mary Fedden at the Slade but was the most important influence there. “Polunin was the only person at the Slade who really interested me. He was an inspiration.” For a while she considered theatre design but realised that team work didn’t suit her. However, Polunin’s love of strong colours and use of semi geometric patterns hit an empathetic nerve and set her off developing her own distinctive and much loved style.

Mary Fedden: little soft lion (from Mary Fedden: Enigmas & Variations by Christopher Andreae: Lund Humphries); pbk 2014)

I lived in Chiswick for many years and often took walks past Mary Fedden’s house/studio, Durham Wharf, but there was never anything to see except for a couple of big blue doors in a brick wall. A friend was fortunate enough to visit the studio and came away having bought three paintings! Were I the jealous sort… (I’ve just done an internet search for  Durham Wharf and found it had also been Kennington’s studio before Mary Fedden and her husband Julian Trevelyan bought it!! I can’t quite work out whether the property is about to be redeveloped or whether it has been already but the architects’ drawings look a bit too smart for my taste.)

Mary Fedden: little soft lion (from Mary Fedden: Enigmas & Variations by Christopher Andreae: Lund Humphries); pbk 2014)

But I have digressed once more, for beyond wonderful as the book is what I loved almost more than anything else are Mary’s little soft lions. It is always a joy to discover an acknowledged artist picking up the needle and what a delight it was to discover that she made more than a hundred of these to give to babies. Here are the 4 pictured in the book.  You do wonder how many others survive and suspect most were probably loved quite literally to bits!

Mary Fedden : Irish Lion – in a private collection (from Mary Fedden: Enigmas & Variations by Christopher Andreae: Lund Humphries); pbk 2014)

Another delicious straightforward biscuit and truth to tell, a bit of a white knight on galloping steed for me last Saturday evening. Fortunately I had begun biscuit making early in the evening and was congratulating myself on it being before 8 pm when out of the oven I took two trays of Mary Berry’s pecan and stem ginger florentines.  Looking wonderfully golden and glossy, I left them to cool for a few minutes before trying to remove them from the greaseproof paper beneath. To begin with I nudged gently at their filigree edge with the end of a palette knife. With a bit more force I tried to slide the knife beneath the caramel base. And then I tore at the paper, turned the florentine over and realised there was no chance that we – or anyone -would ever be eating them as the paper had set hard and was now part of the biscuit itself.

White chocolate chunk cookies (from Philippa Vanstone’s 500 cookies (Apple Press, 2005)

Having no baking parchment I had lined my trays with ordinary old greaseproof paper. I now know this was a very bad idea.

This recipe  from Philippa Vanstone’s 500 Cookies (Apple Press, 2005) not only saved the day but was easy to make and everyone at church really enjoyed them.

115 g unsalted butter

200 g golden caster sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla essence

190 g self raising flour

50 g oatmeal

225 chopped white chocolate chunks (I used 150 g of Green and Black’s white chocolate and any more would I think have been very sickly)

Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C/350°F/ Gas Mark 5)

White chocolate chunk cookies (from Philippa Vanstone’s 500 cookies (Apple Press, 2005)

Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment or wipe the trays over with Lakeland’s Cake Release.

Beat butter and sugar, then add the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour into the mixture, add  the oatmeal and mix in. Then add the chopped white chocolate.

Scoop up a teaspoonful of the mixture, roll it into a ball and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the dough with your hand or the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the tray for five minutes and then put them on a wire cooling rack. (As I make mine quite small, I wiped and re-greased the baking trays and added the remaining uncooked biscuits.) When cool they will keep for 4-5 days in an airtight container.

Makes 30 – 36 depending on size.

White chocolate chunk cookies (from Philippa Vanstone’s 500 cookies (Apple Press, 2005)

Today the church flower arranging group had its annual jolly – an outing to the garden of Highgrove, the Prince of Wales’s home near Tetbury in Gloucester. Heavy mist in the Thames Valley gave way to brief sunshine though it was warm enough to wander round without a coat most of the time. Our lunch stop in Tetbury found me diverted by a well stocked locally owned bookshop – where I bought 5 books – and an equally good second hand bookshop – now an increasingly rare discovery – and there I bought 3 books. All were gems and some of them had been on my must find list for a long time. (Well, I would say that wouldn’t I? Somewhat horrifyingly, since stating my firm intention to reduce the books on our shelves, I seem to have bought at a rate more furious than ever before.)  A sudden yearning for meat was satisfied by the best of steak sandwiches and thus fortified the 2 miles ambling round the gardens was a doddle accompanied by moments of garden induced joy. Tea in the Arts and Craft restaurant was a delight. Now for that pile of books…