blogging - when in reality ....

........what I should be doing is needle felting!

Edited to add - gosh you are a sharp eyed lot! I shall put back the word that had been there but I remember deleting coz I miss counted! Cant get away with AnYtHinG with you around (thank you xxxx)

I thought I would pop in and catch up with the Scavenger photo hunters - thank you everyone, again there has been such a lovely selection of photos and stories - I look forward to reading them each month :D

Here, for your delectation and delight (and groans of despair!) are November's words...

Post/mailbox

Decay

Secondhand
Strand

Fold

My own choice

We will show and share our stories and pictures 

Friday 30th November

This will be the last one for 2018 - December always gets a little busy!

We will start again in the new year x

Enjoy!

And if you are new, tempted or have forgotten - the gentle rules of our game are:

A photograph inspired by a word, words inspired by the photo.

It can be a freshly captured image or one from the archives - all you need to do is waffle a few words to accompany it.

Try to think out of the box - not always easy and not compulsory - but adds a little zing to the ol' grey matter :D

The needle felting I should be doing?

A Hare checks his back foot whilst hare waiting for ears and front legs......  (blurred to keep his identity a secret - he has been commissioned for a gift)

til next time - with love xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

While I wait for the kettle to boil ...

Yesterday, beneath a brilliantly clear blue sky, Autumn tiptoed around the garden on frost feet. Last night Winter dropped by and teased us with what's to come.

The droplets hanging from the trees are shiny dripping beads of ice and the small stone trough where the birds drink, is a thick frozen sheet.

There is a strange sepia glow to the sky enhancing a feeling of being steeped in cold tea. 

The kettle has boiled, time to make a move.

Speak soon x

Monday

Back.


Tired. But back.

Working my way around my studio.

Returning it from show room to work room.

I ache.

Was it worth all the effort, the planning, the physical work...?

Yes.


However, I will need some time to repair. Some time to sleep and some time to be.

Speak later

October's Link up Party!

Hello All - I've not had time to join in this month - been flat out with the organising of our village art festival - please do forgive me!
I shall, however, be back to blogging a little more regularly once my feet hit the ground - I might even share some stories from the weekend :D

So without much further ado .....

 Welcome to October's Scavenger Hunt Link up Party !  

Are you ready? 

Remember it is a photo inspired by a word 

and words inspired by photos.

Let's get started - just add your name and let the party begin :)

*

*

The scent of tea

There is a gentle stream of sunlight warming the back of my left hand.
My fingers are brittle cold despite me being wrapped up and as I pour hot water into my mug, the steam fills the air with tendrils and curls of damp vapour.

The studio fills with the scent of tea ... a sweet ethereal perfume that swirls around my head. I am grateful I can finally catch the aroma - I have been 'wearing' a slight but irritating cold with a lingering cracked throat voice and 'on-the-edge-of-a-sneeze' tingling nose. Enough now - please.

I have a list looking at me - not as long as it has been, but never the less - a list that requires doing and doing now .... preferably yesterday.

I tried to soften the impact, make it look less demanding by practicing my faux calligraphy. All it has served is my need to improve my hand-lettering and to accentuate how soon we all have to be ready for TAM18. One week to go.

A raft of new artists, new to the village, new to the event, will need cossetting, shepherding and directing - making sure that what we supply is as promised and what they supply is as promised too. We have have been let down before and it reflects on the event(us) rather than just the artist.

That sunshine I mentioned earlier? Gone. Fortunately my mug of tea is providing what that ray of light did not manage - warmer hands.

Going back to the scent of tea - I struggled to give that smell a description - I could have used words like grass or floral, earthy or leafy - none felt right. Tea often imparts the scent of things which influenced the mother plant's surroundings - the soil, the rain, the climate - the way it is processed and finally how it was stored. However, it is a scent that, like freshly brewed coffee or newly baked bread - is delicious and seared in my memory.

Tea drunk, blog post waffled, list temporarily ignored postponed -

Have a good weekend x

My pip-grown 12 year old avocado tree.

He lives outside during the summer,

returning home for the winter where he snuggles up against the radiator ...

Cossetted plant ...

A brief stop before relaunching off

A quiet moment at home - a precious thing. A fleeting visit before I set off for the day.

Yesterday I met a friend and with Moss we walked through fields and alongside canals.

We talked and laughed, we shared food and secrets.

The colours around us were softening, autumn in places is gently shedding her coat revealing bare branches.

The sky a delicate transparent grey, nondescript clouds drifting by and beads of geese heading to better feeding grounds.

Floating fallen leaves knitted into rafts drifted along the canal waters. Fooling the eye and the dog ... into thinking they were islands. We were not fooled, however Moss was and stepped onto a leaf island. Fell through and ended up having to be hauled out. She recovered her dignity by racing up and down with a inane grin on her face. Finally throwing herself at our feet and rolling around, tongue out and legs in the air to show her defiance as being 'tricked' by the leaves.

 Sunday, we - Himself, Youngest and I (and Moss) walked the hills around a neighbouring village. Treading paths both new and old. Places where a dog can run in huge dizzy circles and not seem tired. Streams to step over or wallow in (depending on your needs...) Views, views to drink in and feel sated.

Again the colours were of autumn. In places rich and sumptuous and in others drab and faded.

The breeze - a tricksy one, light and teasing cut through clothing, pulled leaves down and joyfully tossed them around before discarding them on the floor.

The rest of the week will be 'nose to the grindstone' - I have played too long and although it was wonderful to feel that air on my face, feel the miles vanish beneath my feet, at the back of my mind were the lists of things that need completing, delegating, starting with new tasks quietly joining the bottom of queue.

Bring it on x

Autumnal fecundity and inner otter issues

It has been, I have to say,  a full on day. Now, as an already wet and driech day slides in to a wet and dismal evening - I am glad to be sitting down in front of the fire with a cat sprawled out like a molten furry jelly on the carpet. The radio is barely on and the sounds of the homeward bound traffic rumble like distant grumbly-thunder.

Yesterday was lovely. Just him and I (and the dog), our walking boots, a set of clues and a packed lunch - we walked and laughed and talked about everything and nothing - and we agreed that this was how it was before we had children.

The cool damp meadows above Grassington

The narrowest bridleway I have ever seen.

I'd not take a horse through this - even a giraffe would have to

walk with all four legs in single file, never mind

a barrel bodied horse breathing in! 

Our super fast, slim-jim dizzy dog thought 

that dashing along this slinky path was brilliant.

The abundance of fungi was impressive,

there seemed to be cascades of gilled fleshy plates

on nearly every stump or decaying tree trunk.

There were flashes of brilliant colour amidst the softer

damp autumnal foliage.

One of our party was determined to test out

every puddle, river, pond, ditch or stream.

We think her inner otter got the better of her.

 Trees baring fruit seemed laden,

hedgerows full of bright berries glistening in the low light.

 

And one last final image,

a walking party of mature adults, I say mature,

I am referring to only their ages

because we were delighted to watch

as two of them grabbed the bridge and began rocking it

making the rest of the party

squeal, chortle and totter as if they'd just stumbled straight out of the pub.

Himself and I were greatly amused

and agreed that we will stay as youthful as that!

October kicks in

Thank you everyone for joining with September's Scavenger Photo-hunt - once again your stories and photos were most enjoyable and it was lovely reading them all.

Right a quick post to supply October's list and to show you a photo taken from today - Moss posing at the end of a lovely path near the river Lune (Lancaster). We'd helped Eldest move back to uni (how does one lad have SO MUCH STUFF??!) any hoo as a reward, we packed a picnic, took a giddy dog and went geocaching - completely incorrectly dressed, we had a lovely lovely day - really enjoyed it.

We'd forgotten how much we love the simplicity of walking and the pleasure of the hunt of geocaching - so we are going to do again and soon.

October's words

Print

Leaves

Spot

Boundary

Flame

My Own Choice

Remember - photos inspired by a word, words inspired by the photo, it can be a recent image or one from your archive.
It should be fun and don't forget to write a little about your image - then on Friday 26th October we shall reconvene and share our posts - look forward to seeing your stories and pictures then!