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| Picture from Wikipedia |
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| Broad beans |
Indoors, I have finished the scarf I have been crocheting. It has turned out well and it's warm but light and I have enjoyed the rhythm of making it.
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| One of the few times we've lit the fire recently |
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| Ta-da! |
Drawing, painting, crochet & craft. Learning as I go.
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Remembering.
Today was another damp and grey day, but very mild. I am glad it didn't rain this morning as the Teen was taking part in the Remembrance Day parade as part of the Girl Guides. For two minutes around the local war memorial people of all ages were silent, some remembering friends and loved ones and some thinking about what they had seen on the news or learnt in history lessons. But hopefully everyone was thinking of the same thing at the same time. I thought of my dad for whom remembrance Sunday was very important; he saw active service in Korea and lost friends. He never talked about his experiences but they helped to shape who he was. He was a large gentle man who loved his family and friends and would help anyone who needed it. His faith remained very strong throughout his life and he always said it was the prayers of his father that helped sustain him when he was fighting.
In the garden at home it is so mild at the moment that I have flowers on my broad beans (in November) as well as some very persistent slugs that have taken a liking to my broccoli.
Indoors, I have finished the scarf I have been crocheting. It has turned out well and it's warm but light and I have enjoyed the rhythm of making it.
I'm not sure what my next crochet project will be, maybe another scarf but in a silk or cotton yarn, as although this wool is soft, its still a bit scratchy next to the skin.
Indoors, I have finished the scarf I have been crocheting. It has turned out well and it's warm but light and I have enjoyed the rhythm of making it.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
Pen and Ink workshop
I have had a very nice weekend. I spent two days at a pen and ink drawing workshop in Bosham. I have never used pen and ink before so it was all new and very exciting.
There were some beautiful dried things to choose from as subjects and I went for a poppy seed head.
One day, before lunch, the "chef" had just chopped the onions when there was a power cut that lasted about an hour and a half so the chef went out and got fish and chips and very nice they were too, along with pickled onions and gherkins.
We were supplied with plenty of biscuits and a slice of black forest gateaux to keep our energy levels up; In fact at one stage you could have heard a pin drop we were all concentrating so hard, very unusual.
There were some beautiful dried things to choose from as subjects and I went for a poppy seed head.
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| Not a good photo, but you get the idea |
One day, before lunch, the "chef" had just chopped the onions when there was a power cut that lasted about an hour and a half so the chef went out and got fish and chips and very nice they were too, along with pickled onions and gherkins.
We were supplied with plenty of biscuits and a slice of black forest gateaux to keep our energy levels up; In fact at one stage you could have heard a pin drop we were all concentrating so hard, very unusual.
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It was, as usual, a very good workshop with excellent teaching and food. The only thing I found frustrating was I didn't feel I could get as much detail in as I would have liked so next time I do some pen and ink I will use a finer nib. Thursday, 29 October 2015A Damp Day
It was a wet and miserable day today, the sort of day I really don't like. It dampens my spirit and reminds me that winter is on the way. So, in effort to think positive I walked into town and went to the library where I borrowed the latest Wexford book on CD. I then had to buy an umbrella as the drizzle that had been falling was now proper rain. I squelched my way home.
I was booked in for a haircut in Wickham and after that I took myself to Lilly's for lunch. It was warm, cosy and welcoming, especially as I am a regular and the staff know that my first request is almost always a decaffe tea. 
A colleague from work had brought in a carrier bag full of cooking apples so the plan was for spicy cranberry and apple chutney and some apple crumble (the Engineer's favourite as long as there is plenty of crumble and some ice cream too).  
 Tomorrow I am off to a pen and ink drawing workshop. I am really looking forward to it as I've never used pen and ink before but I often used to use a biro over an initial sketch and use hatch marks for shading. In fact you can do some quite good shading using a biro and long as the pen tip doesn't go all splodgy. Sunday, 25 October 2015Su+2 and Harry Potter
You can hire a digital guide which plays audio and video clips for you while you wander around, this gives you information without giving you information overload. We moved around at our own pace, taking about 6 hours and it was all brilliant.
The sets really do take your breath away, they are almost all plaster and wood but look like stone or brick. The great hall really is great and the only bit that was real stone was the floor.
At the top end of the hall there are a set of mannequins wearing the costumes of the teachers and you can see the detail and care that has been put into them.
In fact everything looked amazing - it was all so detailed and you could see how much thought had been put into each thing, from the tapestry around the walls of the Gryfindor common room to the house elf armour.
We spent the day just staring and asking each other “did you see? did you notice?”. My favourite bit was the creature shop where many of the masks and mannequins used for the film are housed. I have to say they are stunning, its quite disconcerting to look up and see the head of John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick looking down at you.
We took lots of photos, of which I have only put a few on the blog. You can have a go at flying a broomstick using green screen magic (the Teen did that) and you can sit in a carriage of the Hogwarts Express so you can have your photo taken.
All in all there is so much to see and the sets are so big and interesting that we were there all day. The Teen started reading Harry Potter when she was about 7 years old is a die hard fan and can pick holes in the films. But she loved the attention to detail that is part of the film making process and the way they brought the magical creatures to life. Even the drawn plans for the props, sets and creatures were amazing. As you can probably tell we had a brilliant time.
Tuesday, 13 October 2015Slow down.
I have noticed over the past few of weeks that my life seems to be speeding by in a bit of a blur. Suddenly its October! The thing that really brought this speeding along home to me was a realisation that I was bolting my food; I would start to eat, clear my plate, look up and see that everyone else was still eating. This made me stop and think - what else have I been doing at breakneck speed? I seem to be trying to fit a lot in. Like everyone else who works part time, you have to fit the domestic and pleasure bits in when you are not at work and this seems to be causing me some problems of late.
So on Saturday I decided to have a slow day, when I woke up I asked the Engineer if he would mind bringing me up a cup of tea in bed: in over 20 years of marriage this is only the third or fourth time I have asked. He said of course and brought me up a steaming cuppa and I read the latest Louise Penny book whilst sipping my tea. Once I came down for breakfast I made sure I ate it slowly, then I had a slow shower - usually I am in and out, so it felt quite luxurious.
I had to do the shopping so off I went with a comprehensive list and I wandered rather than ran down the aisles. I even stopped for a cup of tea in the coffee shop and read some more of my book.
I took the rest of the day slowly too; I still put on the washing and put a nice bit of brisket in the slow cooker but I did everything a bit more mindfully. It was relaxing and everything still got done. I have nearly finished my pepper in colour pencil; amazingly coloured pencil work is something that hasn’t speeded up. Its still relaxing and sometimes it feels like everything is in slow motion, except when I look at the clock and see how long I have been at it and my neck and back are starting to complain.
Tuesday, 29 September 2015Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
I have been looking forward to last weekend for a number of weeks. The Teen had a Girl Guide camp to attend so the Engineer and I decided to do something just for us. In fact, as I have been allowing the Engineer to spend as much time building his workshop as he needs (and I've even been helping on occasion) he suggested we go to Kew gardens. My mum in law, C, had suggested I go to the Marianne North gallery at Kew and had bought me a book on her work for last Christmas, so I was eager to go and thoroughly approved of the Engineer's suggestion.
So, on Friday afternoon we dropped the Teen off at her camp and then drove to London. We had booked a room at a Travel Lodge near Kew Bridge. I have to say although the room was a little tired it was clean and well equipped. We had our evening meal in the hotel and the food was quite good, the bed was very comfortable and we both slept very well.
On Saturday morning it was sunny and bright - a perfect day for a visit to a garden. The view from our hotel window was across to some maisonettes and in the front garden of one was a lady sitting in the morning sun crocheting a blanket; this made a smile for the rest of the day.
Breakfast was good and we were joined by what must have been a school rugby team from Australia, large teenaged boys with voices that cracked. They were all polite and well behaved. There were a lot of other Australian voices too and one family who were from Wales. They were all in London for the Rugby world cup which we had forgotten about until we tried to book a room for the Saturday night and found that the Travel Lodge was the only place that had rooms left.
 
After breakfast we walked over Kew bridge to the nearest Kew gardens entrance - Elizabeth gate. It was a 10 minute walk which started on a typical city street, crossed the Thames and finished by a village green and cricket pitch and beautiful big houses with gorgeous gardens and huge ornamental gates outside. The whole area near the Elizabeth gate had a nice feel to it.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day; we walked and walked, so much that our feet were hurting. The Engineer liked the Alpine house as a piece of engineering, I just liked everything.
We visited the vegetable garden and I got very excited about the kale; it was such a wonderful colour that I wanted to take a leaf and draw it then and there. I pointed out the carrot fence to the Engineer who had not been convinced about the whole concept when I suggested I grow carrots. Next year it will be carrots and courgettes in our garden.
It was a lovely late summer's day and as we had arrived so early the gardens did not seem to get crowded until much later. Just before lunch we went to the Shirley Sherwood gallery of botanical art to look at the works on display; some of it took my breath away, it was so beautiful. The Marianne North Gallery was mind blowing too, not because of her work, which is lovely, but because of the sheer amount of it. Every wall is covered in paintings - there is absolutely no space between them. It really was an overload for the eyes.
I have no photographs of the art works as photography was not allowed in the galleries and I respected that, although some people didn't.
We left the gardens just as they were shutting and went back to the hotel via a shop for some real milk for my cup of tea later that evening. We had an early dinner and watched Dr Who and then the England - Wales rugby match which was nail biting.
The following day, Sunday, we had breakfast early and drove home, stopping off at the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens at Wisley as it was on our way.
Its a very different garden to Kew with some very formal areas which were beautifully kept. There was a sculpture trail in the garden and many were very nice but these two were our favourites: The hare is part of the trail but the bear is a permanent fixture.
After some lunch we drove back to pick up the Teen who had had a good time at camp. I think I would like to revisit Wisley on a week day as it may be a little less crowded.
I am now trying to finish off my pepper as I would like to draw some acorns and conkers, maybe a composition with both.
Sunday, 20 September 2015My day
What a beautiful day it was today, warm with a gentle breeze. Not like autumn at all, hooray!
I had a healthy breakfast:  Then I hung out the washing: it was a little misty outside to start with but I hoped that would burn off.   While the slow cooker was gurgling away I popped to the local garden centre. I had a cup of tea whilst sitting in the sun and then bought some cyclamen, beautiful colours and interesting leaves. The only down side was the Christmas decorations that were on sale, yes I said Christmas decorations! No wonder this year is seeming to speed by, retailers are blending one season into another.    All in all a busy and productive day. I even started to do a pepper in colour pencil .....watch this space.
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