Just about bordering on odd, I see things through different eyes.The heading says it all - I live, I love, I craft, I am me...

29/10/2018

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

26/10/2018

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 :)
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19/10/2018

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 ...

09/10/2018

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



06/10/2018

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!


03/10/2018

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!

28/09/2018

Link up party for September






Welcome to September'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 :)

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September's photo hunt

Not really sure where the day goes. I know I am a class one procrastinator, I know I am a fritterer of time and collector of dilly-dallying however I also know I am busy with an art festival, busy with the comings and goings of adult or near adult children (who drift in and out like wild birds - stopping long enough to rest and to feed then fly off again) I know I get involved with groups and friends and I know I need to have space and time to myself - more than I used to, much more.

I also know I berate myself each time with what ever I am doing.  I should be doing this or rather that or could be-should be-can be-would be. So, with that - I am now going try and complete this month's word hunt .... I would ask you to wish me luck however it would probably be wiser to look at me with a light look of despair and a pointedly folding of arms. Either would probably be helpful in giving me the essential punt of encouragement.

Tally ho.

Brightly coloured
I have this wonderfully eccentric friend who has a style all of her own. All through summer at our knit and natter group she randomly selects brightly coloured yarns and using two contrasting strands will knit herself a chunky winter scarf. There is no reason or rhyme to the pattern and by the end of each summer she has her scarf. There is always a ceremonial 'wrapping around of the neck' moment to check it is done, then with a self depreciating chuckle will cast off. Around her feet and tumbling out of her bag are her yarns in various stages of pupae - unraveling and tangling, label-less and in a colourful brawl. We all agree she has that 'effect' on yarn - for as soon as she is in touching distance - the ball of wool or yarn regurgitates itself in a labyrinth of knots and loops.

Upside down
I have been toting my camera around (not a chore as it is usually is my co-conspirator when I am out and about) in the hope of the perfect reflection.  After a month of windy, rainy inclement weather - I could see I was not going to have a current image and so resorted to a mug of tea and piece of fruit cake for comfort as I trawled through my archives.

A stone bridge not far from Chapel Style in the Lake District. Bosh.

Ink
Some times my brain can surprise me at her lateral thinking - this one is a perfect example. I was about to go and find the image I'd taken of inks as part of an art project when .... I was reminded of a moment, when I lay on the floor a week or two ago, on a stone chipping carpark and took a photo of these ....  Coprinus comatus - the shaggy ink cap mushroom - which according to the boffin that Professor Goodle - is a fungus often seen growing on lawns, gravel roads and waste areas.  You can see in the distance my other companion - Bob - I have not even closed his door in my haste to get this photo ....

Bag

I dislike the restrictive qualities of a 'coffin' shaped sleeping bag - the name itself is enough to put me off and for years I have used a rectangular one until eventually the zip broke. We tried rather unsuccessfully to replace like for like. Technology has moved on and for what we need - an affordable 3 season sleeping bag for some one with restless legs - a roomy one did not seem to exist. Until that is ... we discovered one described as ... for those star fish sleepers .... ME!
So now I have an almost circular red and acid green snuggle sack - big enough to sit cross-legged inside with the hood up and over my head - perfect for wild camping.  My photo is taken from the inside of my bag, sitting up as I wait for my coffee to cool enough to sip.

Pattern
Although, in my own art style,  I do not feature repetitive  'patterns' preferring landscape or sea and skyscapes - it is with photography I am drawn to shapes and repetition. Old benches with their ornate iron backs, decorated wrought iron gates or railings, striped fields freshly mown, sand bars ridged and furrowed as the tide recedes. The regularity of woven fabrics or knitted garments. Patterns that I find difficult to replicate by pencil or brush preferring to offer a representation rather than a faithful copy.

My own choice
An image from the walled garden during summer. After a rather disorganised and disheartening  beginning which myself and the other volunteer persistently slogged through, to the end of a happily colourful and bee and butterfly filled garden - we have loved 'our' walled garden. Sadly it looks like this particular gardeny-guise will vanish and the space will take on a new personae - we, the volunteers, are staying to assist the 'powers-that-be' and help make it as best we can - but, for us,  it will not be the same.

So. There. Completed it - as usual it has taken longer than I anticipated but seeing how driech it is out there - may be sorting images and drinking tea is not a bad option.

Off now to see what you lovely lot have got up to this last month.


23/09/2018

Dropping in

Despite today's unexpected and most welcome sunshine, it is definitely feeling more and more autumnal. These last few days feel have flown by either drenched by rain, battered by wind or covered in cloud. I have spent most of them either steadily working through my list of commissioned art or trying out new techniques.
I keep reading posts both on other blogs I read or on facebook, where this time of year is affectionately and  wistfully described as magical and mystical. Where cobwebs glisten and rose hips glow. I read lovingly written words describing this being a favourite time of year.
I see the reds, the russets, I see the decay and the cobwebs and I mourn the loss of the warmth of summer, I yearn for endless blue skies, I ache for summer. I feel bereft. Fortunately Himself is aware of my unease of this time of the year. My need to try and balance my mood with the seasons.
So we walk. 

Which is bitter sweet in a cruel way - I love being out, I love seeing the far horizon, I love being beneath the sky but I also constantly reminded of the winding down of the year, the ending of summer and the imminent arrival of winter.

Am I odd?
Do you feel the same?
Or do you revel in the turning of the seasons and the rise of decay?




10/09/2018

and today ...

Today the sun did not get up however we did.

Still - now, as I type - all we have a rather sullen sky and a dreary outlook. Hey ho.

Never mind I shall re-think on yesterday's walk and revel in the memory of the afternoon sunshine.
There are signs of autumn - blatant signs, 
no slipping in quietly and pretending to have been there all along. 
The hedgerows are full of berries - rowan, hawthorn, honeysuckle, sloe as well as apple and damson.
 
 

Right, best get on,
a fair bit to do.

So, if you'll excuse me, I must go and if I don't blog for a while,
don't worry - I am still here, just busy elsewhere.

xxxxx

03/09/2018

New words for September

A rather cross Pepper-cat as she realises we are off on a walk.

Thank you everyone for joining in with the photo hunt - once again they were a delightful mix of entertaining and sharing but I have to say that Louise using 'My Own Choice' to reveal a wonderful and carefully planned secret deserves the gold star this month - congratulations.

As I type this, the house feels very quiet and empty - every one is off out at work, the cats have slipped off for an all essential cat nap and Moss is at the vets having surgery. :(

We were out walking yesterday - a most wonderful one (bar the Moss and barbed-wire-fence-torn-leg-incident) which I will blog about properly later on in the week. 

What I will share with you today are this month's (September - what already?!?) words.

Brightly coloured
Upside down
Ink
Bag
Pattern
My Own Choice

A photograph inspired by a word, 
words inspired by the photos. 
September's Scavenger photo-hunt list 
enjoy!

Remember to think laterally, interpret as YOU fancy, be it a current photo or a favourite one from your past. We'll reconvene and post our words and photos from Friday 28th September -  have fun!