A Boat? In the woods?

A boat in the woods?

Yeah!  

On the outskirts of a busy city lies an area of National Trust woodland.  Yesterday, it would appear that half the city had decided on visiting the woods.  Was it the burst of sunshine?  Was it the draw of an unusual, quirky art installation?  Was it because parents were at a loss of what to do with their children that didn’t involve spending money?  I saw one irate lady trying to stop her two children bickering in the back of her car while she awkwardly reattached the bicycle rack and her son’s push bike to the rear of her car after a day out!

The art installation was bang in the centre of the woodland and, despite wearing white plimsoles and it being muddy, I got away with keeping my footwear remarkable clean as I dodged the crowds to get photographs of the boats without people obstructing the view.  I tried my best!

    

  

  

  

  

  

  
      

Black and white

Copyrighted images.  Please do not copy or share without my express written permission.  Thanks 🙂

Trees have always fascinated me.  My DH and I had a discussion about what makes a perfect tree.  Does it have to have evenly spread branches, be covered in snow or blossom, or should it be standing solo, tall and magestic?

Some of the most magical trees I’ve seen have been deep in forests covered in moss.  I love also how in the saddest places such as abandoned cemeteries, among crumbling tombstones, life returns in the form of meandering branches, tree trunks and wild plants.

I took several black and white images the other day and loved the eeriness of them; so what do you think?

   
           

Daily Post photo challenge : motion

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/motion/

This was taken while at a vintage fair. I was drawn to the dancer’s dress as she spun around and this made me want to dance too; we were transported back in time :-). While music blarred out and feet stomped, punters popped inside to explore the vast selection of wares from 50s clothing to remnants of lace and waxed flowers being entwined on wire for bridal headdresses.

Photo of the day

Alien abduction?

Can you think of a good caption for this photograph?  Comment below this blog post and let’s see how creative everyone can be!

We were waiting for traffic to pass and my daughter suddenly exclaimed, “Hey mum!  Look over there!”

Reminds me a little of the film, ET and the boy on the bicycle with the moon in the background …

Haiku noughts and crosses

The cross is a kiss
For every blocked nought you play.
Let’s count it a draw!

Eighth pair of wristies

What do you do when the car’s in for repairs, an MOT or service? Shopping? Visit a cafe? Stay in the garage workshop and wait? Well today, we had a product recall on our family car. Driving there in the snow, the DH and I chatted about tomorrow’s party and wondered whether the snow would settle this time.
The car was booked in for an hour, so my DH and I went to buy some school sports socks for my daughter – her pair had mysteriously fallen out of her bag after a sports lesson on Friday. She also broke her zip on her school skirt and therefore it needed a new zip. We then didn’t need much persuasian to sit in the cafe and nope, I couldn’t just sit there, could I?

I wrist-knitted this scarf in between sips of cappuccino using wool that was in the reduced box. Then I headed home with the repaired car and tried out a new crochet pattern for my next pair of wristies 🙂

I’ve not done zig-zags before, so I’m pleased with the result 🙂

Haiku for 2015

New memo to self:
Turn a house into a home:
Personalise it.

How many different words can you think of for house or home or living accommodation? If you were asked to draw a house, what would it look like? Would it look like a square with four evenly spaced windows and a door set centrally?
If you were thinking of buying or renting are you drawn to the actual name of the address or the house name? My uncle used to live in a bungalow called Cobwebs and its front door had a stained glass image of a spider’s web, while my father-in-law named his house ‘Hardgraft’ because he bought the biggest house he could and then worked many hours to pay for it!
Here’s a list I’ve come up with and each carries a different story (it may prompt you into some poetry writing!)…

Squat
Abode
Palace
Mansion
Terraced
Cottage
Maisonette
Apartment
Semi
Igloo
Yurt
Tent
Digs
Flat
Residential home
Lodge
Cabin
Caravan
Stately home
Nursing home
House
Den
Tree house
Home
Wigwam
Teepee
Studio flat
Bungalow
Castle

Can you think of any more?

Drawing and story a day #3

Ever forgotten something on a really important day? How about forgetting to put a 35mm film in the camera for your engagement party? We did. Many years ago my father gave me a Fujica camera for my birthday while studying for my ‘A’ Level art and design. He’s an avid photographer who likes to do nature shots of flowers and he’s got a multitude of boat pictures in his collection of slides and displayed in photo albums.
When it came to the momentous occasion of doing a studio photo shoot for my future husband, one of the 35mm reels of film jammed in the camera and without a darkroom, my future father-in-law thought he was being helpful by opening up the back (big no-no as the light destroys the film). Both my boyfriend and I stood mouth agape at the unravelled roll dangling from the back of the camera like the intestines of a cadaver during autopsy.
Later, during our engagement party, we snapped away photo after photo of the cake and the riotous game of skittles only to find that we’d forgotten to include a camera film when it was too late. The drawing of the Fujica camera was an attempt at creating a picture without removing the fineliner pen from the page. There were occasions when I did have to lift the pen though, such as for the lettering to be readable! It was tricky gauging the right dimensions and trying to keep to scale (reason for wonky lens).

My son, now also an avid photographer, enjoys using the Canon and I’ve watched him create and delete photos he’s not happy with and I’ve observed the glee on his face when he’s captured that perfect moment: sunsets and portraits, deer feeding while surrounded by ground frost. I wonder how he’d get on with a 35mm film in a camera where you can’t check the shot and then have to wait a fortnight for it to be developed and printed like back in the 80s? I hope he likes the rubber stamp I cut this evening for him. He can use it over and over again on letter heads or business cards … Or he can use the eraser and gradually the camera will fade away! Lol!
Meanwhile camera fans who read this blog might appreciate a photograph of my son’s kitten he named Nikon, after another camera. Here she is playing around with the dismantled Christmas tree …

Happy Christmas Everyone :-)

Just a short post to wish everyone on WordPress a very merry and happy Christmas! Things have been hectic these past few weeks, but I promise I’ll have some more craft to share in the future. In the meantime, I thought you’d all like to see Nikon, the kitten’s new favourite sleeping place … In the Christmas tree!

Have fun everyone 🙂

Christmas mini bobble hats

Today I took a trip to The Hive … A newly opened craft and wool shop which also has a fabulous cafe for knitters, stitchers and crafters to sit and chat among the gorgeous blends of woollen skeins, buttons and reels of cotton and reams of fabrics.
I went specifically to find some festive yarn to make a bobble hat garland – reason: we’ve decided not to put up a tree because the cat is so full of energy that she’s almost certain to pull it over – she’s already pulled the curtain pole out of the wall (we went through three trees with our previous cat one Christmas until she outgrew her kitten phase!). We’ve bought a six inch real tree for now, which might grow with Nikon

There was one ball of Christmas wool left when I reached the shop, which I thought was perfect for the garland. Traditional colours of red, white and green with the added touch of glitter… what do you think? I have a few more to make before I hang them up in a line across the living room ceiling and next year they may adorn the Christmas tree!

Nikon liked playing with the left overs from making fork pom poms too 🙂