Several people have asked me what I would be doing on Christmas Day - so here are the details.
On Monday, we will be joined by Heather and Alberto, Alyssa, Charis and Joel. Malcolm will also be here. Alistair has gone home to Suffolk to spend the holiday with Julie and James. Evie and Andrew, along with Dessi and Indiana have gone to Wiltshire to spend a week with Andrew's parents.
It will be church in the morning followed by Christmas Dinner and present opening in the afternoon. Later there will be performances by those who can sing or dance or recite poetry, and some games Tea will be bread and butter and Christmas Cake which Alyssa has been completely responsible for.
Heather and Brian will see to the cooking and Alberto will , hopefully, make the most delicious gravy.
For New Year , the Erulins will be going to France and Brian and I will be going to south London to take Andrew and Evie out somewhere ( children too)
But on Friday 29th we will have both Heather and Evie with their husbands and children, and Malcolm. I will cook potato pie - a favourite of my mother and grandmother and now my children .
In between I intend to pay a visit to a museum or a gallery, a cinema and a certain art shop . . . all that may or may not transpire!
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Black and White Photo Challenge
This seemed like an easy enough challenge - no people, no explanations - so I decided to take part - especially as I was challenged by 2 separate people !
This first one was taken while I waited for a bus on the Isle of Skye
I liked the texture of the towels and the rug on the hotel bed !
Over the sea to Skye
The Forth Road Bridges
My slippers are not particularly comfortable but I love the shiny blue green colour !
The Cross of Lorraine overlooking Gourock, commemorates the Free French using the Scottish port during World War 2
These trees are Pinus Alba, white pines , growing on the Mount Stuart Estate on the Isle of Bute. The sitting room of my childhood home was panelled with white pine from this estate. It had been the priest's house, and there was a strong link between Cumnock and Mount Stuart through the Bute family.
I was coming down this staircase thinking it was a suitable location for wearing a crinoline when I got a skelf under my finger nail from the bannister. That brought my dreams to a rapid end !
These trees are Pinus Alba, white pines , growing on the Mount Stuart Estate on the Isle of Bute. The sitting room of my childhood home was panelled with white pine from this estate. It had been the priest's house, and there was a strong link between Cumnock and Mount Stuart through the Bute family.
I must say I enjoyed this challenge. The lack of colour makes you look more at the patterns and composition. But I did miss the colours !
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Day 1 in Paradise Garden
The reason for the green suitcase
In 2008 and 2009 I was lucky enough to be able to visit the West Indies.
When I arrived at Pointe a Pitre, I did the usual airport thing of waiting my suitcases from the carousel. I could see my grand children up on the balcony waiting to welcome me.
My suitcases were both plain black with no ribbons or anything to identfy them.
The only mark was on the lid of one where the cat had been sick the night before I left home. But wouldn't you know it, the case was upside down and this mark wasn't showing.
I had to wait until every other piece of luggage had been reclaimed and there was only my black suitcase left.
Never again, I thought. In the years that I have had the green suitcase I have only seen one vaguely similar.
The silver lining to this cloud was that by the time I reached the customs desk, all the officials had gone home and I was able to get an apple into the country without any problem. Heather was missing her apples and had specially asked me to bring her one.
In 2008 and 2009 I was lucky enough to be able to visit the West Indies.
When I arrived at Pointe a Pitre, I did the usual airport thing of waiting my suitcases from the carousel. I could see my grand children up on the balcony waiting to welcome me.
My suitcases were both plain black with no ribbons or anything to identfy them.
The only mark was on the lid of one where the cat had been sick the night before I left home. But wouldn't you know it, the case was upside down and this mark wasn't showing.
I had to wait until every other piece of luggage had been reclaimed and there was only my black suitcase left.
Never again, I thought. In the years that I have had the green suitcase I have only seen one vaguely similar.
The silver lining to this cloud was that by the time I reached the customs desk, all the officials had gone home and I was able to get an apple into the country without any problem. Heather was missing her apples and had specially asked me to bring her one.
Day 1 in Paradise Garden
A history of hens at Cobham Rd.
Four hens took up residence on our return. from a family holiday in Lyme Regis. That was in 2011.
They came as day old chicks and started off life in the kitchen under a warm light - it was around Easter time.
There was the hen with attitude Piou Piou - who pecked Joel's legs mercifully (mind you , he wasn't exactly blameless with a big stick!)
There was Clochette, who was snatched at a very young age by Slinky Malinky, a neighbourhood cat.
She was replaced by another Clochette who turned out to behave as if she was deaf and not one of the group.
Then there were Lucy and Lily. I never was able to tell the difference.
The first eggs were laid that summer so I kept them safely till the children returned from holiday.
Thats the order in which the hens died too. Piou Piou and Clochette had decent Christian burials and afterwards we drank irn bru instead of rum - as at a wake in Guadeloupe. All the rum had gone in the Christmas cake and a Simnel cake that year. Not that we'd have had it anyway - rum makes me dream of giant spiders.
From here on Lucy and Lily are interchangeable.
One of them was killed by a fox. Charis was in the garden at the time and heard a furious flapping and saw the branches of the bush moving.
And the other one lives to this day. She is now called Henny. Recently we thought she was ill but it turned out she was broody! I ask you! at 5 years old! A neighbour who also keeps hens brought 15 eggs for her to sit on, which she has done faithfully for the last couple of weeks. Two of the eggs hatched out on Friday morning and today the neighbout has taken Henny and the 2 chicks to his house along the road where they will be looked after.
The garden is so quiet with no hens pecking around.but I shall visit them soon and take some photos.
I will move my garden chair to a part of the garden where I can see the bee hives. Its a bit more difficult to form a relationship with bees though.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Art Journal Jan-Mar2015
This is very much my own version of such a journal. No one else in the group did the same sort of thing.
I made the book from scratch - the cover is from an old book and covered with fabric. It will eventually get a proper title page insert.
The covers are held together by the hair bands you use for pony tails, and the pages are tied in with wool. On the covers I used chopsticks to hold the bands in place.
I kept a space on each page for a diary - this is important to me, but wasn't to the others.
We had a prompt each week and interpreted it in our own way.
Feel free to ask any questions.
The whole thing is made from bits and pieces - junk mainly.Stuff I already had and stuff I found along the way.
The second half of the photos I took of the book upside down - the light was better that way - and the stripes are Agnes's venetian blinds!!
I made the book from scratch - the cover is from an old book and covered with fabric. It will eventually get a proper title page insert.
The covers are held together by the hair bands you use for pony tails, and the pages are tied in with wool. On the covers I used chopsticks to hold the bands in place.
I kept a space on each page for a diary - this is important to me, but wasn't to the others.
We had a prompt each week and interpreted it in our own way.
Feel free to ask any questions.
The whole thing is made from bits and pieces - junk mainly.Stuff I already had and stuff I found along the way.
The second half of the photos I took of the book upside down - the light was better that way - and the stripes are Agnes's venetian blinds!!
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